Calories?

npacc705

Hey guys,

I apologise if this has been put in the wrong group but I wasn't sure where to post. This time last year I set out to lose weight as I was getting very overweight. A year later I have managed to lose 22kg and go from the obese BMI to only just in the Healthy range which I am so proud of.
I did this by strictly eating a calorie amount of 1200 cals a day and doing 5 days of exercise per week which include (1 day of Yoga, 2 short runs of 5k-7k, 1 long run 10k+, 4 days of strength where I alternate body area each day e.g. Monday legs). I feel like I have improved both in my cardio therefore increasing my fitness but also in strength as my lifting has really improved.

My question is now what to do next? I have still got a layer of fat and very little definition due to this. I have looked online and worried I am not eating enough, an online calculator says I should be eating 2236 on my exercise days but I am pretty worried to increase them as I don't want to put weight back on.

Does anyone have any advice on what to do to increase tone and muscle definition without putting on fat? I currently don't track macros but would appreciate any advice if anyone knows how that works! I am a female 1.67 meters and 67kg. I am thinking I might need to lose a few more kgs before trying to increase muscle as I am dangerously close to the overweight category of BMI.

Thank you in advance for the advice I really appreciate it,

Nicole

mazdauk

Track your exercise and eat back most of your exercise calories. (I doubt yoga burns many but is good for general flexibility). Try mixing your routine around, not doing the same thing on the same day each week. Your muscle will increase but you won't necessarily see it until more of the covering fat layer goes.

npacc705

Hi, thank you so much for your response! I already track my calories using a fitbit which sends an automatic adjustment to mfp which is brill! I don't tend to eat back my cals as I used to think this was counter intuitive (for weight loss goals), is this not the case?

I agree that I wont see my muscle gains without removing the last of the fat and getting more into the healthy BMI. When I flex my arms I can definitely see definition and huge improvements but when relaxed they don't look toned at all

LivingtheLeanDream

If you should be eating over 2200 cals to maintain then that is what you should eventually be aiming for. If you feel you still need to lose a few pounds as its that layer of fat that's hiding most of your muscle definintion, then work your way up to maintenance calories slowly so you will still lose fat albeit it slower. e.g add a few 100 cals on to your daily calories. You will see a temporary water weight gain when you start eating more but its temporary and will soon even out within a few weeks.

As you are currently incorporating lifting in your workouts, keep up with that. Its takes a while for the body to recomp, I'm over a year in to doing a recomp myself whilst eating around maintenance calories and still have a way to go until I will be happy with my tummy. I'm only 5ft 2 and maintain on approx 2000 calories. (used to maintain on more calories but cut back on some cardio so had to reduce my intake accordingly).

dancing_daisy

If you're looking for definition but still feel/see the layer of fat in the way you could now try the slower process of losing the last of the fat and gaining muscle. I'm in a similar position after losing nearly 30lbs of fat I think I've gained about 4-5 back in muscle. I have slightly more tone but its not as visible because of the remaining fat.
I've been following the idea of 'body re composition'. I eat a small deficit (of about 10%) so I have enough energy to exercise but still lose fat. I also make sure I eat my macros of protein to gain muscle. Its a much slower process than losing weight but I feel great underneath. I feel tauter than I look and thats great motivation to keep going.

You’re obviously doing a good job of logging and you have a great mix of strength, cardio and stretching in your exercise routine.

Two things I would advise you of going forward – stop looking at your scales or BMI and start listening to your body. The scales and BMI will not account for all the good muscle you are building. If you want a good tone your weight will increase, its hard to learn not to be scared of this. This picture (found in an MFP thread) is what gave me the motivation to switch my thinking about my body journey.




https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10435227/body-recomposition-pic-scale-weight-doesnt-matter

I hope this has been helpful! Feel free to add me if you like 

EDIT: Love that some got in about body recomp before me

sijomial

4 days of strength where I alternate body area each day e.g. Monday legs).

Do you mean you are only hitting one body area once a week? That would be dreadfully inefficient way of training (especially for a beginner) - or do you mean upper/lower split so hitting each area twice a week?

Better to pick an established routine if you can find one to fit in with your other training commitments. It's your strength training that will have the biggest impact on your body composition progress and you need to get that right.

Worth skim reading the recomp thread for ideas and inspiration.....
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

npacc705

Hey everyone,

Thank you all so much for your helpful advice. I think from the general consensus it seems that what I am talking about it called "body recomp", I will definitely read more into this. With regard to ditching the scales/BMI I know you are totally right, I guess its a bit daunting thinking about my weight increasing after all this time trying to get it down. I will take your advice and increase by 100 cals slowly as I have got really used to a 1200 diet so it might take some time to get my body used to more food! That picture is so good and I totally agree that weight means nothing so I will definitely ditch the scales.

Do you know if body % scales work? Is that a better measurement or unreliable? I know people measure various areas of their body or take progress pictures, what do you guys do?

With regard to the strength that I do sorry if I wasnt very clear, I currently do the following schedule, Monday - Legs, Tuesday - Chest and Shoulders, Wednesday - Triceps and Bicpes and Thursday - Back and Abs. Each day has about 7 exercises where I do 3 sets of 10-15 reps whereby I aim to increase the weight when I can do the full set of reps for all 3 sests. If I have reached my top weight I usually aim to do reps of 12, 10, 8 until I can increase slowly. I hope that made sense! I usually either start or finish with the short (5-7K) runs on the same day as this strength. Does this sound sensible? Would it be better to do a fully body workout on each day?

Thank you again to everyone for your amazing advice,

Nicole

LivingtheLeanDream

Body % scales don't work that well/aren't accurate, the best way to have bf calculated is with calipers or having a DEXA scan. For me personally I don't really care, its about how I feel, what I see in the mirror that tells me where I'm at in regards to BF. There are a few online sites that calculate BF roughly and they ask for all sorts of body measurements, but it would only be a guide for you.

Strength training is generally best done before cardio, there was a helpful link for this but I can't remember where I saw that...sorry!

You say you have reached your top weight, what weights are you using? generally its keep increasing the weight rather than number of reps. Check out Stronglifts 5 x 5, which will help you see what I mean.

Ruth

sijomial

Most beginner routines tend to be full body three times a week and heavily focussed on the big compound lifts.
But you do have to factor in your running commitments and just how it fits in your overall schedule and likes/dislikes.

I think you could do a lot better in terms of efficiency and results than your current routine.

dancing_daisy

Body fat % is difficult to calculate accurately and though I agree with the comment above that calipers are a better way to measure they aren't available to everyone. I use a scale with electrical impedance at a local chemist (note: not suitable if you have a heart condition). It can vary widely depending on things like hydration but if taken as a guide and over a long period I find it to be helpful.

npacc705

Thanks for the advice about body fat %, I will look into the various suggestions

With regard to my routine I am a bit worried that you think its inefficient, I have a busy lifestyle so I really want to make sure my workouts are the best they can possibly be. I would hate to waste time ! When I say reach my top its because I don't have a spotter, for example with the dumbbell shoulder press I can't physically get them above my head without assistance and I feel very nervous doing heavy chest press without a spot. So as a result I went for lower reps and higher weight but I have reached the ceiling for some of the weights so I just increased the reps.

I will have a look at doing a full body strength routine three times a week as to be honest I would like to cut down my gym days as it is quite a lot at the moment.

Thanks again everyone really appreciate it!

sijomial

Calling the ever helpful @psuLemon - can you provide a link to your compendium of strength routines please?

psuLemon

sijomial wrote: »

Calling the ever helpful @psuLemon - can you provide a link to your compendium of strength routines please?

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

There you go.

npacc705

Thank you!!

psuLemon

Depending on what you are looking for in terms of a program and how you respond in terms of volume, I would either look at a program like strong curves (especially if you like lower body), NROW4L; or if you like the 4 day, I would suggest either Wendler 5-3-1 (if you mainly care about getting really strong) or PHUL (great balanced program).

trigden1991

sijomial wrote: »

4 days of strength where I alternate body area each day e.g. Monday legs).

Do you mean you are only hitting one body area once a week? That would be dreadfully inefficient way of training (especially for a beginner) - or do you mean upper/lower split so hitting each area twice a week?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with hitting a bodypart once per week.

sijomial

trigden1991 wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

4 days of strength where I alternate body area each day e.g. Monday legs).

Do you mean you are only hitting one body area once a week? That would be dreadfully inefficient way of training (especially for a beginner) - or do you mean upper/lower split so hitting each area twice a week?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with hitting a bodypart once per week.

For you? For me? Or for the OP?

trigden1991

sijomial wrote: »

trigden1991 wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

4 days of strength where I alternate body area each day e.g. Monday legs).

Do you mean you are only hitting one body area once a week? That would be dreadfully inefficient way of training (especially for a beginner) - or do you mean upper/lower split so hitting each area twice a week?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with hitting a bodypart once per week.

For you? For me? Or for the OP?

In general. You claimed that it was "dreadfully inefficient".

sijomial

trigden1991 wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

trigden1991 wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

4 days of strength where I alternate body area each day e.g. Monday legs).

Do you mean you are only hitting one body area once a week? That would be dreadfully inefficient way of training (especially for a beginner) - or do you mean upper/lower split so hitting each area twice a week?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with hitting a bodypart once per week.

For you? For me? Or for the OP?

In general. You claimed that it was "dreadfully inefficient".

For the OP.
As a beginner with her goals. Thought that was obvious?

trigden1991

sijomial wrote: »

trigden1991 wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

trigden1991 wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

4 days of strength where I alternate body area each day e.g. Monday legs).

Do you mean you are only hitting one body area once a week? That would be dreadfully inefficient way of training (especially for a beginner) - or do you mean upper/lower split so hitting each area twice a week?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with hitting a bodypart once per week.

For you? For me? Or for the OP?

In general. You claimed that it was "dreadfully inefficient".

For the OP.
As a beginner with her goals. Thought that was obvious?

I am not subscribed to the thought that you must hit each bodypart multiple times a week. I have only ever done a PPL split for 6 months and didn't feel like there was any benefit.

sijomial

trigden1991 wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

trigden1991 wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

trigden1991 wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

4 days of strength where I alternate body area each day e.g. Monday legs).

Do you mean you are only hitting one body area once a week? That would be dreadfully inefficient way of training (especially for a beginner) - or do you mean upper/lower split so hitting each area twice a week?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with hitting a bodypart once per week.

For you? For me? Or for the OP?

In general. You claimed that it was "dreadfully inefficient".

For the OP.
As a beginner with her goals. Thought that was obvious?

I am not subscribed to the thought that you must hit each bodypart multiple times a week. I have only ever done a PPL split for 6 months and didn't feel like there was any benefit.

Interesting, my experience has been somewhat different, rough rule of thumb for me:
x1 week - some progress if undertrained, lose strength if fully trained.
x2 week - good progress if undertrained, maintaining strength if fully trained.
x3 week - best progress.

psuLemon

trigden1991 wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

trigden1991 wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

4 days of strength where I alternate body area each day e.g. Monday legs).

Do you mean you are only hitting one body area once a week? That would be dreadfully inefficient way of training (especially for a beginner) - or do you mean upper/lower split so hitting each area twice a week?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with hitting a bodypart once per week.

For you? For me? Or for the OP?

In general. You claimed that it was "dreadfully inefficient".

For a beginner, it largely is inefficient. Your gains will be significantly slower. If you look at pretty much every reputable trainer, they all suggest no less than 2x a week; there is a lot of debate if 3x is better or worse since MPS occurs over a 36-48 hour period of time.

trigden1991

Posted this as a question in "Which Lifting programme is best" thread to not go off topic here.

shred_me_up

First of all congrats on your weight loss, that's amazing I wouldn't track your exercise cals because those can be very misleading (it's hard to measure exactly how much is being burned). If i were you I would go the TDEE route-- on MFP they have that page where they ask you to say how active you are, and so you should put it to the option that sounds like your workout schedule (Active 5 days a week or whatever it says). Then on the page where it asks how much weight you want to lose, you can put it to 0.5 lbs a week- this will keep you at a small deficit so you will continue losing, but slowly.

At this point (as everyone has said) you should be focusing on putting on muscle, and if you are eating at 1200 cal there's no way that can happen! I myself went down this route when I first lost weight (not wanting to eat more cals out of fear of gaining everything) and I ended up losing a lot of my muscle mass. As soon as I upped my calories the results came pretty quickly. I'm sure they will for you too seeing as you already have a solid workout routine.

Also, I know it can be overwhelming on this site when everyone tells you different things to do (what to eat, how to workout, etc), but for beginners I think sticking to something is the most important part. If you stick to a workout routine, you will see results.

shred_me_up

Oh and another thing, if you are trying to put on muscle you don't really need as much cardio. I know the cardio helped you with faster weight loss, but you will definitely need to be eating a lot more to support both activities. If it scares you to be eating 2200+ cals then maybe you can cut back a bit on the cardio and focus more on the strength training.