Eating less and working out, but not losing any weight
Replies
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Lifting weights will help you increase your muscle mass. Muscle does burn more calories at rest than fat. Take those measurements and track to see if you are losing inches. Are your clothes fitting better?
You are also doing a lot of cardio, so you may actually want to look at your carbs and that you have enough. Protein helps with muscle repair and growth. Carbs (the good kind!) will help fuel your workouts/performance.
Lifting will help you increase your muscle mass in a calorie surplus. You can't really gain muscle in a deficit. Also the difference in how much muscle burns vs how much fat burns is minimal.
Really? between my last two body tests (about a month in between them) I had lost 1,5 kg, 1 kg of fat and gained 300 g of muscle. I do 5:2 and it seems to work fine.8 -
rikkejohnsenrij wrote: »Lifting weights will help you increase your muscle mass. Muscle does burn more calories at rest than fat. Take those measurements and track to see if you are losing inches. Are your clothes fitting better?
You are also doing a lot of cardio, so you may actually want to look at your carbs and that you have enough. Protein helps with muscle repair and growth. Carbs (the good kind!) will help fuel your workouts/performance.
Lifting will help you increase your muscle mass in a calorie surplus. You can't really gain muscle in a deficit. Also the difference in how much muscle burns vs how much fat burns is minimal.
Really? between my last two body tests (about a month in between them) I had lost 1,5 kg, 1 kg of fat and gained 300 g of muscle. I do 5:2 and it seems to work fine.
I agree - I found 5:2 (a very different IF protocol to 16:8) really good at supporting a heavy exercise workload while losing weight as you are at maintenance calories 5 days a week. So the majority of the time you are fully fuelled for your training and recovery.
And gaining some muscle in a deficit isn't at all unusual, it's harder but your body doesn't switch off MPS due to an (unspecified) deficit.
Infographic from https://sci-fit.net/bulking-deficit-gaining/
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rikkejohnsenrij wrote: »Lifting weights will help you increase your muscle mass. Muscle does burn more calories at rest than fat. Take those measurements and track to see if you are losing inches. Are your clothes fitting better?
You are also doing a lot of cardio, so you may actually want to look at your carbs and that you have enough. Protein helps with muscle repair and growth. Carbs (the good kind!) will help fuel your workouts/performance.
Lifting will help you increase your muscle mass in a calorie surplus. You can't really gain muscle in a deficit. Also the difference in how much muscle burns vs how much fat burns is minimal.
Really? between my last two body tests (about a month in between them) I had lost 1,5 kg, 1 kg of fat and gained 300 g of muscle. I do 5:2 and it seems to work fine.
I can't speak for others, but my point - on this thread - was that OP isn't gaining enough muscle in a short time to outpace a meaningful amount of fat loss. I agree that there are conditions under which some muscle mass can be gained alongside fat loss. But that isn't likely to be the reason OP isn't seeing the scale move.
Optimal condition for muscle mass gain is a surplus. Maximal realistic gain under optimal conditions is still slow.
You've done a wonderful job . . . but your fat loss outpaced your muscle gain. That was my point: Muscle gain in a calorie deficit is too slow to outpace any meaningful rate of fat loss.10 -
I am strict with logging my intake and keep my calories burned estimates on the lower end vs what my fitness tracker and some websites say.
I'm in that whole perimenopause phase of life, so the weight doesn't come off just because I keep my calorie intake below a certain point and stay active.
There are so many variables.
I feel ya, OP. I do so wish that we could all count on seeing consistent changes. It's especially hard when we know we are doing it "right." But what we often forget is that every single human body will react differently.
I am going with "trust the process." One tiny step at a time and we will get there!
Lots of love to you!4 -
LeeshaSeal wrote: »Lifting weights will help you increase your muscle mass. Muscle does burn more calories at rest than fat. Take those measurements and track to see if you are losing inches. Are your clothes fitting better?
You are also doing a lot of cardio, so you may actually want to look at your carbs and that you have enough. Protein helps with muscle repair and growth. Carbs (the good kind!) will help fuel your workouts/performance.
Lifting will help you increase your muscle mass in a calorie surplus. You can't really gain muscle in a deficit. Also the difference in how much muscle burns vs how much fat burns is minimal.
Where are you getting that information? Being in a fasted state is being at a calorie deficit and building muscle is quite possible.
Considering you have 21 woo's, if I were you, I'd check your own "facts". The only time you can be in a caloric deficit and build muscles is if you fit under or a few of these criteria:
1) New to weight lifting
2) Obese
3) Steroid user
4) Freak Genetics
5) Former lifter who is getting back to lifting weights (muscle memory)
For the rest of the mortal souls, gaining muscles while losing weight is hard to do or downright impossible. Most of us will have strive to at least maintain what we have.
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Agreed. Gaining strength is another story. I've seen my workouts go from 8 to 25-lb dumbbells and it feels great. But I know that since I only started strength training about 6 months into weight loss, I probably didn't even qualify for newbie gains.1
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The woo factor doesn't seem to mean much, really. People will woo things when their opinions are different. I've had people woo things I have said that aren't offensive, are pure opinion and stated as such, or something that can be legitimately backed up.3
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The woo factor doesn't seem to mean much, really. People will woo things when their opinions are different. I've had people woo things I have said that aren't offensive, are pure opinion and stated as such, or something that can be legitimately backed up.
I've had woos for thanking someone for posting something that was inspirational. Where there are a couple, I wouldn't worry about it too much. I have one post that has 5 of them, I'm guessing it's because the tone of it likely came across pretty harsh. Where any of them to have 20 some odd woos, I would review the content of the post to see if I were missing something.10 -
I was going to say, like the chart above mentions, you may need to see a doctor to rule out thyroid issues that will make weight loss difficult. Also be sure to really look at your macros and sugar throughout the day. Sugar is awful, and I am the worst sugar addict ever, so I know for sure that it packs the pounds on and eats away at your health.13
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RockinOilyMomma wrote: »I was going to say, like the chart above mentions, you may need to see a doctor to rule out thyroid issues that will make weight loss difficult. Also be sure to really look at your macros and sugar throughout the day. Sugar is awful, and I am the worst sugar addict ever, so I know for sure that it packs the pounds on and eats away at your health.
Sugar, in and of itself, doesn't pack on pounds. It will only result in weight gain if one consumes more energy than one is using.
Weight loss is determined by whether or not one is in a calorie deficit, not how much sugar one consumes.
Some people do have problems moderating their consumption of sugar (or some particular foods with it) and that is something they'll have to address to consistently achieve the calorie deficit required for weight loss. But assuming it isn't causing one to consume more calories than they need, it's not a problem for weight loss.12 -
LeeshaSeal wrote: »Lifting weights will help you increase your muscle mass. Muscle does burn more calories at rest than fat. Take those measurements and track to see if you are losing inches. Are your clothes fitting better?
You are also doing a lot of cardio, so you may actually want to look at your carbs and that you have enough. Protein helps with muscle repair and growth. Carbs (the good kind!) will help fuel your workouts/performance.
Lifting will help you increase your muscle mass in a calorie surplus. You can't really gain muscle in a deficit. Also the difference in how much muscle burns vs how much fat burns is minimal.
Where are you getting that information? Being in a fasted state is being at a calorie deficit and building muscle is quite possible.
From Dr. Brad Schoenfeld: https://www.dymatize-athletic-nutrition.com/en_GB/why-dymatize/blog/intermittent-fasting-fat-loss-and-better-health
Excerpt:Is intermittent fasting a suitable method for weight loss in Fitness enthusiasts and Bodybuilders?
Dr. Schoenfeld: “The weight loss benefits of intermittent fasting appear to be solely a function of restricting caloric consumption. By limiting the window in which food is eaten, intermittent fasting helps to control caloric consumption and thus facilitate fat loss. It should be noted that the same results can be achieved simply by controlling calories via portion control in a standard dietary approach. Therefore, the best practice dietary approach for weight loss depends on the individual.”
Through intermittent fasting body fat level can be reduced via energy deficit. But how about the maintenance of valuable muscle mass in athletes?
Dr. Schoenfeld: “Food, dietary protein in particular, is anabolic. Intermittent fasting will put an individual in a state of catabolism for a majority of the fasting day – not an ideal muscle-building environment. Based on applied logic it would be prudent to consume protein more frequently throughout the day to maximize the training-induced hypertrophic response and to support muscle maintenance/growth.”
Starving the body during fasting kick-starts positive health benefits for the immune system - True or false?
Dr. Schoenfeld: “I have seen no compelling evidence to support that hypothesis.”
So I read this article and it says something slightly different than what we're talking about. It says that fasting is not an ideal condition for a body builder or athlete to maintain muscle mass. I also went further to read the study that was cited for reference and found this: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26384657 (related to fat loss not muscle building). I do love gathering information so thanks for sharing!0 -
I know that when I start a new workout program I retain water like crazy because my muscles are recovering! If you're counting your calories accurately (I use a food scale to measure in grams) then you are losing weight but you might have to wait a while for the scale to show it. Recently I started a new program and my time of the month at the same time and I gained 12 pounds in two days! It took over a week for it to come off. I could see it in the tape measure too, my waist went down 1.5 inches after I dropped the water.
You should not be gaining muscle either since you are in a deficit plus female. (It is very hard and very slow for us to gain muscle even in a calorie surplus.)
Small sedentary people like us have little wiggle room when it comes to calories so you have to be very careful. I would make sure you are counting calories correctly and just give it more time.2 -
LeeshaSeal wrote: »LeeshaSeal wrote: »Lifting weights will help you increase your muscle mass. Muscle does burn more calories at rest than fat. Take those measurements and track to see if you are losing inches. Are your clothes fitting better?
You are also doing a lot of cardio, so you may actually want to look at your carbs and that you have enough. Protein helps with muscle repair and growth. Carbs (the good kind!) will help fuel your workouts/performance.
Lifting will help you increase your muscle mass in a calorie surplus. You can't really gain muscle in a deficit. Also the difference in how much muscle burns vs how much fat burns is minimal.
Where are you getting that information? Being in a fasted state is being at a calorie deficit and building muscle is quite possible.
From Dr. Brad Schoenfeld: https://www.dymatize-athletic-nutrition.com/en_GB/why-dymatize/blog/intermittent-fasting-fat-loss-and-better-health
Excerpt:Is intermittent fasting a suitable method for weight loss in Fitness enthusiasts and Bodybuilders?
Dr. Schoenfeld: “The weight loss benefits of intermittent fasting appear to be solely a function of restricting caloric consumption. By limiting the window in which food is eaten, intermittent fasting helps to control caloric consumption and thus facilitate fat loss. It should be noted that the same results can be achieved simply by controlling calories via portion control in a standard dietary approach. Therefore, the best practice dietary approach for weight loss depends on the individual.”
Through intermittent fasting body fat level can be reduced via energy deficit. But how about the maintenance of valuable muscle mass in athletes?
Dr. Schoenfeld: “Food, dietary protein in particular, is anabolic. Intermittent fasting will put an individual in a state of catabolism for a majority of the fasting day – not an ideal muscle-building environment. Based on applied logic it would be prudent to consume protein more frequently throughout the day to maximize the training-induced hypertrophic response and to support muscle maintenance/growth.”
Starving the body during fasting kick-starts positive health benefits for the immune system - True or false?
Dr. Schoenfeld: “I have seen no compelling evidence to support that hypothesis.”
So I read this article and it says something slightly different than what we're talking about. It says that fasting is not an ideal condition for a body builder or athlete to maintain muscle mass. I also went further to read the study that was cited for reference and found this: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26384657 (related to fat loss not muscle building). I do love gathering information so thanks for sharing!
Retaining muscle mass and building muscle mass involve the same physiological processes. Just to a different degree.1 -
RockinOilyMomma wrote: »I was going to say, like the chart above mentions, you may need to see a doctor to rule out thyroid issues that will make weight loss difficult. Also be sure to really look at your macros and sugar throughout the day. Sugar is awful, and I am the worst sugar addict ever, so I know for sure that it packs the pounds on and eats away at your health.
Being overweight eats at your health no matter what you ate to get there.3 -
Good point @nutmegoreo0
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