New to the group, need some advice
angelaypolite
Posts: 63 Member
Hello all,
I am trying to lose 50 pounds and it seems like the scale isn't moving. I do Orangetheory classes 3-4 days a week, since mid April. My bodyfat went down from 45% to 40%, but I notice in the last week, my bodyfat is creeping back up (it's at 41.6 today). According to my Fitbit, I burn an average of about 2600 calories a day, and my net caloriesI eat are about 1600 a day. I eat within my calories, but I do like to have my wine with dinner, I do save calories for that.
Since beginning (4/1/17), I've only lost 4 pounds. I also am hypothyroid and on medication.
Any ideas on what I should do differently?
I am trying to lose 50 pounds and it seems like the scale isn't moving. I do Orangetheory classes 3-4 days a week, since mid April. My bodyfat went down from 45% to 40%, but I notice in the last week, my bodyfat is creeping back up (it's at 41.6 today). According to my Fitbit, I burn an average of about 2600 calories a day, and my net caloriesI eat are about 1600 a day. I eat within my calories, but I do like to have my wine with dinner, I do save calories for that.
Since beginning (4/1/17), I've only lost 4 pounds. I also am hypothyroid and on medication.
Any ideas on what I should do differently?
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Replies
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Your fitbit says you burn 2600 cals, and you are only eating 1600?
You are not eating enough. You are in deficit by 1000 calories, which is over 40% of your daily requirement.
I would suggest reading our quick start guide to get you started, and then read through the links posted in our community stickies so you have a better understanding of what EM2WL is all about and why your body is refusing to lose any fat.
once you have a read through feel free to ask any questions and we can help you from there:)
Kelly
Team EM2WL
www.em2wl.com/start
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Could my Fitbit be overestimating??0
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Have you calculated your estimated TDEE? Go here and type in your stats. http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
You may be eating only 100-200 calories over your BMR, the calories you need just to lay there and keep your organs functioning. That doesn't include any daily activity or exercise. The TDEE number is what you need for total daily calorie intake, for all your activities and exercise.
I used to be low on my calories too. It's so hard to believe that we need to eat more than that! But we really do. We've been brainwashed to think we need to keep cutting calories in order to lose weight. I'm even struggling now to have the courage to keep upping my calories, in order to find my true TDEE. (Check out the EM2WL links, and read the Metabolism Reset Guide.)
Welcome to the group, and to a journey to better health!1 -
Yeah, I guess I'm afraid of eating more (without feeling guilty). I put this question out there in the general MFP forum, and basically everyone was telling me that my FitBit was wrong and I was eating too many calories (and I agreed with them!)
Thank you!0 -
Fitbit is a decent indicator if you are doing nothing but cardio based activities. The second you start lifting weights, Your TDEE is actually HIGHER than what fitbit will tell you simply because it cannot account for the afterburns that lifting gives you.
This is why our community exists.. we arent like the "general" MFP population because they are all still on the diet trains..
Your body actually needs far more food than we have been trained to believe over the years. And yes you arent the only one who has the guilt of eating more. We all got that when we began... but once you start seeing how different your body reacts, how your energy levels increase, your moods don't swing so wildly, sleep is better etc.. those are signs you should watch for,
Its a big misconception that drastic reduction of calories will sustain weight loss... yes you can lose weight, but eventually the body *kitten* down and says NO MORE! and refuses to budge.. so then the choice is to lower even more. Eventually we are so low in cals its impossible to reduce further.
Start slowly.. add in 100 cals a day and slowly make your way up in your cals. keep track of your moods, how much sleep you are getting and just generally how you are feeling..
Kelly
Team EM2WL1 -
It is totally normal to not believe we can eat that much! It's contrary to everything we have been taught to believe, especially as women.
Our journey stories are full of people who couldn't believe they could eat that much more!
http://eatmore2weighless.com/brianna/
Yet they did!
It is essential for long term, sustainable fat loss.
http://eatmore2weighless.com/understanding-tdee-and-bmr/
After years of eating like this, I can't believe I ever ate even below 2000 calories! More calories gives you so much scope to not only eat a range of wholesome foods, but also get in your favourite treats, every day if you choose!
Ichel
Team EM2WL1 -
Thank you guys so much!
I do Orangetheory 4-5 days a week, so I'm pretty active. I've been eating an average 1600 (net) calories, but I'm burning so much more (my Fitbit's monthly average is 2600 calories), I can't wrap my head around it! I need to be eating 2000-2100 a day at the bare minimum!
Holy cow!!0 -
What is the reps, and sets, and rests for Orangetheory?
And what Fitbit model?
The older ones that are step-based calorie burn are of course no good for lifting since barely any steps despite great amounts of work.
But the HR-based calorie burn of newer ones is inflated for true lifting.
Either device - it's best to manually log on Fitbit's site, a workout that is correct, Weights or Circuit - depending on those reps, sets, rests.
It could be very close to cardio, in which case the HR-based calorie burn isn't inflated that bad.
Also - anything besides Bodpod/water method or DEXA scan aren't going to be accurate enough for bodyfat% to discern what you think you are seeing.
The best of scales or handhelds is it being consistent within a 5% range, so 35 - 45.
And even that's only if you can present the exactly same hydrated body to it - which is rarely possible with normal water weight fluctuations.
So I wouldn't rely on changes that minor for being meaningful.0 -
Each OTF class is different, so I couldn't give you an exact amount. It's basically 30 minutes of strength training then 30 minutes of cardio.
I use the Fitbit Blaze.
My biggest issue besides eating between 2000-2200 calories a day, is getting all my protein in.0 -
Don't try to do everything all at once. Just focus on increasing your protein until it's a habit to eat more of it. Then work on the next little thing. Chipping away is more sustainable than taking a chainsaw to your lifestyle and diet.2
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I'll say this for manually logging on Fitbit's site then to improve accuracy (in this case inflated calorie burn using HR).
If you can nail the time of the 30 min of lifting - like it's all in one block with start/duration time, you have it easier, and can only log what is needed - the lifting.
If it's 5-15 reps, 2-5 sets, and rest are 2-4 min between sets - then log that as Weights.
If it's 15 or higher reps, not really sets but moving on to another lift, and rests are about 1 min - then log that as Circuit Training.
The cardio part of it can be tracked by HR with a good enough estimate.
If it's all mixed together and you can't separate the block of lifting for logging - then I'll bet it's closer to Circuit training anyway - in which case the HR-based calorie burn is close enough for that short amount of time weekly.
You'll have more inaccuracy built into nutrition labels than the exercise.0 -
Don't try to do everything all at once. Just focus on increasing your protein until it's a habit to eat more of it. Then work on the next little thing. Chipping away is more sustainable than taking a chainsaw to your lifestyle and diet.
I definitely need to do this. I tend to be an all or nothing type
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I'll say this for manually logging on Fitbit's site then to improve accuracy (in this case inflated calorie burn using HR).
If you can nail the time of the 30 min of lifting - like it's all in one block with start/duration time, you have it easier, and can only log what is needed - the lifting.
If it's 5-15 reps, 2-5 sets, and rest are 2-4 min between sets - then log that as Weights.
If it's 15 or higher reps, not really sets but moving on to another lift, and rests are about 1 min - then log that as Circuit Training.
The cardio part of it can be tracked by HR with a good enough estimate.
If it's all mixed together and you can't separate the block of lifting for logging - then I'll bet it's closer to Circuit training anyway - in which case the HR-based calorie burn is close enough for that short amount of time weekly.
You'll have more inaccuracy built into nutrition labels than the exercise.
I really don't manually log any of my workouts. I just go by the steps that Fitbit says.0 -
Which begs the point - what are the workouts?
If you had an older step-based only device, no HR ability, and you did 6 x weekly 45 min lifting routine - your very few steps would be a terrible estimator of calories burned.
But same if HR-based device - except it would inflate calorie burn.
Hence trying to help figure it out for you. Neither is good direction.0 -
The workouts are basically 30 minutes or cardio and 30 minutes of strength training. You need to be at 85% heart rate (the orange zone) for 12-24 minutes to get the "after burn" effect.
I did notice that one night while making dinner (stirring) my steps were increasing and I wasn't walking.0 -
I'll bet the distance given to those bogus steps was minor and resulting calorie burn was very low, so nothing to worry about.
Now bogus steps given to some driving for hours on end is usually enough to worry about correcting.
The EPOC (if that's what you mean by afterburn) is the result of a high-end aerobic or anaerobic cardio workout.
It's not really that much as it's played up to be for calorie burn.
https://www.onnit.com/academy/boost-epoc-burn-calories-youre-done-working/
"While boosting post-workout calorie burn is certainly beneficial, it’s not the be-all, end-all of workout goals. Even if you maximize your post-workout burn, you’re still only looking at an additional calorie burn of about 6-15% of your during-workout burn.
In other words, if your workout burned about 400 calories, EPOC would only account for an additional calorie burn of about 24 to 60 calories.
Finally, because human bodies are so freakin’ efficient, the more fit you become, the less significant EPOC becomes."
The increased metabolism during 24-48 hrs of repair from a good hard strength training routine is higher.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2862249/
"There was a significant (P<0.05) increase in 24-hr EE in the RT (527 ± 220kJ/d) and C (270 ± 168kJ/d) groups, however, the difference between groups was not significant (P=0.30). Twenty-four hour fat oxidation (g/day) was not altered after RT, however; reductions in RQ assessed during both rest (P<0.05) and sleep (P<0.05) suggested increased fat oxidation in RT compared with C during these periods. SMR (8.4±8.6%) and RMR (7.4±8.7%) increased significantly in RT (P<0.001) but not in C, resulting in significant (P<0.001) between group differences for SMR with a trend for significant (P=0.07) between group differences for RMR."0
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