Is my Weight Loss Plan correct?

mcorsaletti

Hi guys!

a little bit about me:
18 year old Male, 186cm/6 foot 2 inches, 85kg/187lbs, workout at least 5 times a week. 2800 calorie intake for weight maintenance, eating at around 1500-1800 NET calories every day

So, last year I started to use MFP because I got to 98kg/212lbs and wanted to get skinnier. For about 4-5 months I was able to get good results, varying from 1-2 pounds per week when I was eating at a 1000 calorie deficit from my calorie maintenance level everyday. According to the calculator this would achieve me a 2 pound weight loss every week. In the 5th month i noticed it became a lot harder to lose weight and didn't see any results for a month.

So I started doing some strength training by lifting weights (not heavy weights, about 12 pounds per dumbbell) then i noticed I was actually gaining a bit of weight. I know now that I might have been gaining muscle but at the time i was discouraged from weight lifting because I thought the only way you could gain muscle was to eat at a caloric surplus, and i was eating at a deficit of 1000 calories everyday.

About 2 months ago I decided to really push myself hard this time and not stop until I had the body I wanted. I started at 88kg/194lbs and dropped down to 86kg in about 3 weeks. I felt VERY good about this seeing as I hadn't lost weight in a while. Again I was eating at a 1000 caloric deficit, BUT i was not lifting weights at this time. I researched various forums and they all said that weight lifting/strength training was good for increasing muscle which is a good way to increase your metabolism, so I started to lift weights again. Only this time I increased the weight I was lifting from 5kg per dumbbell to 12kg per dumbbell.

I have seen not a weight increase really, but more of a weight maintenance. This time around I have been eating much more healthy foods (wholegrain foods, slow digesting carbs, lots of protein, non-refined foods, fruits and veggies, and less than 50g of fat per day) and I have been keeping my NET calorie intake CLOSE to my TDEE everyday (my TDEE is 1970 calories because I want to lose 2 pounds per week and I exercise at least 5 times a week, sometimes multiple times a day).

My exercises include 30-40 minute walks at 3.0mph, and 4 different weight lifting/strength training days that take 50 minutes, 48 minutes, 40 minutes and 30 minutes.

I would believe that i should be seeing smaller numbers on those scales seeing as I have been eating at a 1000 caloric deficit everyday for 2 months, thats around 16 pounds that are supposed to be gone, yet I am at the same weight. I have started to see some fat loss in areas such as my jaw and cheeks, but not much anywhere else, in fact places like my arms and legs seem bigger. I don't believe that I am losing fat and gaining THIS MUCH muscle at the same time because it's impossible to gain that much muscle with a calorie deficit so low. So either i am not losing much fat at all and gaining a little bit of muscle or....i dunno another explanation!

I would like to gain muscle as well as lose fat but i have seen people say numerous times that this cant be done and you should focus on fat loss first and THEN gaining muscle, but then people say that when you want to lose fat you should lift weights! And i know from experience that if you're new to lifting weights you can in fact gain muscle even when you're at a caloric deficit.

SO, my questions are:
1) Do you see something wrong with my workout plan? If so what?
2) If i want to focus on fat loss before gaining muscle should I stop lifting weights altogether or stop lifting them as often?
3) Should I just stick to my program I have going for a while longer and see If i see more visible results?
4) Is there anything wrong with my Calorie intake? Should i be eating/netting more/less calories?

Any help is greatly appreciated! Sorry for the long story, this is just something I need to get answers on or it will drive me crazy! thanks

kaydeedoubleu1

I'd try upping your cardio-instead of the walks, go jogging, or do interval training like sprints, hill running etc. Anything to get HR up and torch decent calories.

hfox9707

To lose fat, eat at a calorie deficit. If you want to bulk eat at a surplus, if you want to do both, eat at TDEE. Make sure your protein intake equals at bodyweight of LBM.

goldmay

I think your TDEE calculations might be off. I ran your info through a BMR calculator and it estimates your daily calorie burn being completely sedentary would be around 2054, which means that with exercise, you would probably burn more calories than that. Also, you should be netting at least your BMR.

mcorsaletti

Thanks, I will make sure to do more running!

mcorsaletti

First off, thanks for the quick response

Secondly, are you saying I should be netting my BMR even if i plan on losing around 2 pounds a week?
Because of my exercise level should I only net my BMR calories and no more than that? Limit myself to 2054 net calories?

trogalicious

First off, thanks for the quick response

Secondly, are you saying I should be netting my BMR even if i plan on losing around 2 pounds a week?
Because of my exercise level should I only net my BMR calories and no more than that? Limit myself to 2054 net calories?

eat at least your BMR.

erickirb

SO, my questions are:
1) Do you see something wrong with my workout plan? If so what?
2) If i want to focus on fat loss before gaining muscle should I stop lifting weights altogether or stop lifting them as often?
3) Should I just stick to my program I have going for a while longer and see If i see more visible results?
4) Is there anything wrong with my Calorie intake? Should i be eating/netting more/less calories?

Any help is greatly appreciated! Sorry for the long story, this is just something I need to get answers on or it will drive me crazy! thanks

1) Yes, not eating enough as your weekly weight loss goal it too aggressive: OP you should not be aiming to lose 2lbs/week, you don't have enough to lose to expect to lose that quickly, unless you plan on losing lean muscle along with fat. I would suggest a goal of 0.5lbs/week instead. You are already at a good weight for your height, so no point losing much more.
2) No, keep lifting, if your deficit it small and you get enough protein as a newbie, you may see small gains in muscle, but most importantly you wont lose muscle you already have, if you didn't lift a larger % of your loss would come from lean muscle, not the fat you want to lose.
3) You didn't give us your program so how can we provide advice on it. Though I would say since you are new to lifting you may want to look into Starting Strength, or Stronglifts 5x5. But I recommend picking up the book starting strength for tips etc.
4) see #1 above

mcorsaletti

thanks man, this has really helped.
I will aim to lose less then, perhaps my metabolism has taken quite a hit from my large deficit, cheers!