New and advice needed

MDL1418
MDL1418 Posts: 50 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Hi all. I am new here and will probably be asking questions many have posted before me. I am 42 and am struggling. I recently started strength training 3 days a week doing about 9 excercises at 12 reps/3 sets each workout and about 10-30 minutes of cardio those days. On the alternate days I try to do about 30 minutes of cardio. I also started increasing my calories last week as I have learned through this app that I wasn’t really eating the calories I should be based on MFP. I have noticed my energy already has improved but I am concerned because I got on the scale and notice a 2 pound increase since I have started increasing my calories. I am 5’5”, 211 pounds, and my goal is to be about (at least) 180. I am a large frame, athletic build - any suggestions on whether or not this is normal? MFP is (on average) saying I should eat about 2300 calories a day. I’ve read a lot of different information but all I know is what I was doing isn’t working as I have not lost 1 pound in the past year. Any feedback would be appreciated and helpful. Thank you.
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Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    i would suggest you follow an actual programme:

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

    and stick with your calorie goal for 4-6 weeks before you decide whether its working or not.
  • MDL1418
    MDL1418 Posts: 50 Member
    Thank you - I will certainly look into that. I appreciate it. It can take some time I guess to see those changes with the calorie climb.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    mdlee2722 wrote: »
    Thank you - I will certainly look into that. I appreciate it. It can take some time I guess to see those changes with the calorie climb.

    how much were you eating before?

    do you weigh your food?
  • MDL1418
    MDL1418 Posts: 50 Member
    I will tell you I eat very healthy- I do- I’m not just saying that. I was eating (example) 2 eggs for breakfast with a cucumber, an arugula salad with chicken or beef, a few mushrooms and purple onion for lunch, and dinner would be a lean protein a veggie (or two) and maybe some wild rice (rare) and that is it. I was exhausted. And everyday was about the same. I have not began weighing my food yet. I am going to purchase a food scale to get a better measurement - I have changed my diet in the past two years so much that I can’t eat bad foods anymore, they make me sick. I even by all of my meats from a farmer and have them delivered. Certified organic* I have struggled with losing weight now for years. I am not really gaining, just cannot budge downward. I am at a lost. So, I joined here. I can feel (energy wise) now that I was not eating enough.
  • MDL1418
    MDL1418 Posts: 50 Member
    Oh and I’m sorry I listed my foods that way, it wasn’t until I joined here that I e really been “counting” my caloric intake
  • MDL1418
    MDL1418 Posts: 50 Member
    I understand what you’re saying. But I was tired all of the time, and so hungry by the time I got home. I am just confused by the calorie thing. I know for fact I was not eating what I am now based on the recommendations MFP has given me. (2300 calories) because I am having a hard time eating that much.
    As far as salad dressing, it is sugar free, oil and vinegar.
  • MDL1418
    MDL1418 Posts: 50 Member
    And no, I don’t use cooking oil with meal prep
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    If you're increasing calories eaten, you should be expecting weight gain. Have you set up MFP for weightloss, gain or mantenance?
  • MDL1418
    MDL1418 Posts: 50 Member
    edited September 2018
    I set up MFP for weight loss and apparently it says I should be eating 2300 calories a day. And the thing is I felt so tired and lethargic before and when I increased my caloric intake I did from a tired standpoint begin to feel much better. A lot of what I’ve read about this says I wasn’t eating enough calories. I understand what you’re saying, that’s what I knew to be true. However, I am understanding what the others are saying also about if you’re not eating enough calories it can cause you to stall in loss too.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    What rate of loss did you pick? And what activity level? Remember that MFP is keeping exercise out of this calculation; you're supposed to log and eat back exercise calories.
  • MDL1418
    MDL1418 Posts: 50 Member
    Help me here if I don’t give you the answer you’re looking for. But I choose 0.5 pounds per week. And moderate activity level. Maybe that’s the problem because I do exercise everyday? (One day off)
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    The alternatives are Sedentary - Lightly Active -Active - Very Active, and each increment adds 200 or 300 calories. This is your assessment of your daily - normal, work and living - activity level, not counting planned/designated exercise.

    At your weight, you can pick 2 pounds per week. (Just reduce it after you're lost some weight, so that you never exceed 1% of your bodyweight per week.)
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    You said MFP is (on average) saying I should eat about 2300 calories a day - does this mean have you tried many different settings? Could you have accidentally picked male instead of female (males get more calories for same height, weight, activity level and age)?
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    MDL1418 wrote: »
    Help me here if I don’t give you the answer you’re looking for. But I choose 0.5 pounds per week. And moderate activity level. Maybe that’s the problem because I do exercise everyday? (One day off)

    Moderate activity level would mean you have a fairly active job and lifestyle before exercise. .5 lbs per week is pretty conservative and would require your weighing and measuring to be dead on. A larger deficit would give you more margin for error. As stated above, you could go as high as 2lb but that might be hard to maintain. 1.5 or 1 lb per week would be reasonable.
  • MDL1418
    MDL1418 Posts: 50 Member
    I want to first say, thank you for your response. I am new to all of this EXCEPT diet (choices). I am new to calorie counting and strength training. I have seen nutritionists that help me get the diet piece corrected. I have been eating healthy for about two years now. I was able to lose (just through dietary changes) 15 lbs. Nothing has moved since. Not one pound for a year. :( So, without boring you with my diet, let me assure you I have that under control. Tons of veggies, lean/healthy protein, organic - to the point I purchase my meats from a farmer directly. I really do have the food part down. Trust me. This past weekend I was a little off, but still under my calories suggested but only because I was on a vacation. Even then most of what was bad about my diet over the weekend was saturday I had a few drinks. That being said, I chose very active. Let me also clarify what I meant about fatigue. Before I started MyFitnessPal, I was very fatigued. Though I was eating the right foods, I don't think I was eating enough. And to your point, that plus the fact that I do excercise like I do, I was extremely tired. Now that I have increased my calories (only a week) I am beginning to feel more energy. I am not trying to excercise out of a bad diet, I am just trying to tone/build some muscle. My diet consists of a good amount of protein, I wish I could be specific, but I am JUST begining to monitor/track that. I have been doing strength 3 days a week now for about a month. I only did the cardio on these days to warm up, "get things going" so to speak. I will check out what you suggested about the strength training. I will also see what 2 pounds a week looks like. I just want to find out why I am not moving at all. (either way) except today I see a 2 lb increase :( from what my weight was on Thursday of last week.
  • MDL1418
    MDL1418 Posts: 50 Member
    Kimny72, I appreciate your response. That makes sense. I just need to get a grasp on all of it. I will take your advice and do just that. Kommo- here is the thing. I am not an idiot. I am not overweight because of my food intake. It is a matter of me adjusting my calories/exercise. I had a hysterectomy over 10 years ago and things have been out of whack for me since then. Unless you have been through something similar and have followed me for the past 10 years, I would caution accusing someone of not eating or living a healthy lifestyle. I do not eat junk food nor do I sit on my butt and not move. I am exceedingly cautious of what I eat. Now, another factor for me are hormones which are difficult to balance once you are thrown into surgical menopause at age 30. This has been the biggest contributing factor for me. And I do appreciate your responses, but do not appreciate you making assumptions on something you only know a small piece about. I am also not afraid to admit if I screw up - no matter what it is. Therefore, if I was eating poorly and choosing to be in the situation I am in, I would have no problem admitting to it. If you are here to support people, please, be a little considerate. I have never been one to struggle with this and have spent many hours researching, seeking professional help, including dieticians and nutritionists, HRT specialists. The concerns I have are those I take very seriously and do not intend on stopping until I have reached my desired outcome. I sought this site for support and it is not to learn how to stop eating ice cream and little debbies, ok?
  • YoYodejavu
    YoYodejavu Posts: 51 Member
    Just something that happened to me, when I increased intensity of cardio and or strength training I usually see a gain on the scale. It seems to settle after a week or 2....remember it's not all about the scale, you can lose inches and the scale stay the same or go up. Best of luck to you
  • MDL1418
    MDL1418 Posts: 50 Member
    Thank you very much. I appreciate that. I am trying to remind myself of those things as well. I am just frustrated because it’s been a long stretch with good diet and exercise with no movement. But you are right in what you are saying.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    MDL1418 wrote: »
    ...I recently started strength training 3 days a week doing about 9 excercises at 12 reps/3 sets each workout and about 10-30 minutes of cardio those days. On the alternate days I try to do about 30 minutes of cardio...

    If you recently started your workout routine, there's a good chance that some of that weight gain is water/glycogen retention in your muscles - very common when starting a workout routine, especially a strenuous one.

    Then again, depending upon how accurately you're measuring your intake, it's also possible that you're taking in more calories than you think. You may want to try using a food scale for all solid foods and measuring cups/spoons for all liquids for a while, to make sure your logging is on point. Eating "healthy" doesn't make you lose weight - eating less calories than you expend does.

    You may also want to look into using a weight trend app such as Happy Scale (iOS), Libra (Android) or trendweight.com (web) to track your overall trend rather than looking at the (perfectly normal) daily scale fluctuations in isolation.

    Yes! I had a 4 week stall when I started strength training, then whoosh, big drop.

    In the meantime, tighten up your logging. It's eye opening. People can overeat while eating healthy.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    edited September 2018
    I'm on the side of, "Log your food. Eat what you like within calories. Adjust if results don't match goals."

    It's about calories, Full Stop. If I were you I would use the GOAL wizard as designed, i.e. set it to lose 1 pound per week (as suggested, and it's a good moderate goal while you are just starting to log.) Be realistic/reasonable on your "Activity Level," AND the Activity Level is only concerned about your daily work/school/house routine - NOT any added exercise. On days you do exercise, enter that exercise into the Exercise tab, and eat the additional calories you are given. Do that as accurately and consistently as possible for 4-6 weeks.

    Then run your experiment. Log food like it's your job. That's the most important part.

    That's how this site works best. Good data, over time, small infrequent tweaks.

    Here: (from the help desk and from the Sticky Posts.)

    https://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/en/portal/articles/410332-how-does-myfitnesspal-calculate-my-initial-goals-

    and

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10503681/exercise-calories-do-i-eat-these-a-video-explanation/p1
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    My scale went up seven pounds when I started lifting weights again, and it did take a few weeks for that water weight to come back off.
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
    It's all CICO. If you eat more calories than you need, you gain weight. Less calories than you need, lose weight. It sounds like you are in maintenance, so you need less calories. And yes, adding exercise can show an increase on the scale at first because of muscle recovery.
  • MDL1418
    MDL1418 Posts: 50 Member
    mmapags wrote: »
    MDL1418 wrote: »
    Thank you very much. I appreciate that. I am trying to remind myself of those things as well. I am just frustrated because it’s been a long stretch with good diet and exercise with no movement. But you are right in what you are saying.

    Sounds like you diet is good from a nutrient point of view for health but just too many calories. You are in calorie balance and you need to be in calorie deficit to lose no matter how healthy the food is. I gained 35 lbs eating mostly healthy food.

    It takes some experimentation to get your own numbers correct. Start with a 1 lb goal on MFP (or whatever you choose) and do that for eight weeks and see what your actual results are. Then adjust accordingly. The stats here are averages and each of us has to dial it in for ourselves. But to be only set up for .5 lbs is only a 250 calorie per day margin and it is easy to have a margin of error that takes you out of calorie deficit.

    If energy level is a problem in a larger deficit, dial back the exercise. Don't eliminate it. Just dial it back. BTW, my warm up for strength sessions is 10 minutes, not 30. Just enough to get a little warm and get blood flowing. Some folks warm up with doing warm up sets with an empty bar before each exercise just to activate those muscles.

    Thank you very much. I only do cardio for 10 min prior to my strength training. The 30 min. are on the opposite days. I see what you are saying about even eating healthy can cause weight gain. That makes sense. I will up my goal to at least 1 lb and try to stay in that window. I will also begin following everything strictly on the calorie count. I am determined to figure this out one way or another and I appreciate any/all the advice I can get.

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