Working out and eating less but at plateau

Indrus

Hello!
I've lost 40 lbs this past month through a combination of eating less and working out. For a while I worked out with someone who had me doing cardio mixed with some lifting but now I'm working with a trainer once a week who has be doing only strength training. My weight loss slower way down and now has seemed to almost stop. Is this normal? He's having me do my ore complex lifting, and after last week's workout I gained 5 pounds. Is that also normal? I drink a protein shake every morning for breakfast but the meter still has me gaining body fat %. That is the most frustrating thing. I still have a long way to go. I started at 325 lbs and am now at 285. Recent lowest was at 283 until my last workout. I did biking cardio yesterday and burned 400 calories but the trainer says that since I am protein deficient and am doing cardio I am my body is breaking down muscle.
Thanks in advance for any help or advice!

gemiller87

40lbs this last month? That math doesn't add up. If you lost 40lbs in one month, your not at any plateau your body is literally in utter and total confusion and probably doing some emergency shut down systems thing because that is not healthy at all.

puffbrat

40lbs in one month is a lot. Most of that is initial water weight loss and you can't expect to maintain that rate of loss. The general recommendation is that it is safe to lose 1% of your body weight per week, which would be ~12lbs per month for you.

You lose weight by eating fewer calories than you burn. Exercise can help with that but diet is the most important thing. Strength training burns significantly fewer calories than cardio. Are you tracking what you eat?

The 5lb gain after your workout last week is water retention. That is common when starting a new exercise regime.

Lietchi

Water retention is very common after strength training, so those 5 lbs gained after a workout could be just water.
Slowed weight loss could also (partially) be explained by muscle gain compensating partially for fat loss.
Also, most devices for measuring bodyfat are very unreliable and easily influenced by varying degrees of hydration etc.

I strongly suggest taking body measurements (waist circumference, chest, hips, etc.) as a more reliable (extra) way of monitoring your progress.

Unknown factors though:
- what does your trainer mean by saying you are protein deficient? Why would you break down muscle by doing cardio?
- you're not giving us any precise info on your diet, so there is the question of: are you sure you are eating less calories than you are burning? Weighing and logging everything accurately?

cmriverside

My $0.2 ?

Keep doing your cardio. Maybe stop listening to a trainer about the whole protein deficiency/don't do cardio thing.

Yeah, eat your protein. But everyone loses some muscle when going from 300 pounds down to a healthy weight and you are doing strength training so you are preserving as much as is possible for you right now. The cardio is also good for you and does burn fat.

I agree that the 40 pounds you lost was a good percentage water and as a heavier person you have more water to move around when exercising and other variables. Most people lose a lot when first starting new diet and exercise routines.

Here: this will help:

https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/

heybales

Indrus wrote: »

Hello!
I've lost 40 lbs this past month through a combination of eating less and working out. For a while I worked out with someone who had me doing cardio mixed with some lifting but now I'm working with a trainer once a week who has be doing only strength training. My weight loss slower way down and now has seemed to almost stop. Is this normal? He's having me do my ore complex lifting, and after last week's workout I gained 5 pounds. Is that also normal? I drink a protein shake every morning for breakfast but the meter still has me gaining body fat %. That is the most frustrating thing. I still have a long way to go. I started at 325 lbs and am now at 285. Recent lowest was at 283 until my last workout. I did biking cardio yesterday and burned 400 calories but the trainer says that since I am protein deficient and am doing cardio I am my body is breaking down muscle.
Thanks in advance for any help or advice!

Your trainer is a goofball for that last inaccurate comment. At the least.

Protein - eaten or from muscle - is not the first desired fuel source. It has to be converted to be useful.
Fat is, and as intensity goes up more and more carb is.

The point where the body is using some protein from normal muscle breakdown would be in some endurance cardio for hours and running out of glucose for intensity being done.
Your 400 cal is no where near that level yet.


Also, your BIA scale with BF% can only be accurate to at best 5% if you presented the exactly the same hydrated body to it.
That isn't going to happen, therefore it'l easily off by 10%. In other words - not trustworthy for a single reading.
If presented about the same hydrated body, it can be useful to see a trend over time.

5 lbs water fluctuations is easy with change of workouts. Frankly, you should have seen some of those up to now merely from differences in sodium levels.


Over 1 lb a day weight loss is either research study level or weight loss Dr supervised level. (not family Doc, specialist)
Even taking off some initial water weight - that's some dangerous levels unless you are being highly monitored.

If concerned with muscle loss - that's the aspect that causes muscle loss - too fast weight loss.
Your body breaks down some muscle everyday anyway, and with adequate protein and nutrient intakes builds it back up.
Too low though, the body will build up the organs and other required systems and let the muscle loss occur.
I'd be more concerned with that effect.


So no you aren't in a plateau, you may have even reached the level where the body is so stressed that cortisol is increasing and retained water from that. Upwards of 20 lbs possible that way.
Use measurements as better indicator than scale weight.
But be concerned that if that is the reason - the body is stressed out and that's not a great state to be in - either to help only fat loss, or to get the best from efforts put into workouts.

Indrus

Sorry, I'm an idiot. I mean 40 lbs in a year!

Indrus

Is there a way to edit the post?

cmriverside

Indrus wrote: »

Sorry, I'm an idiot. I mean 40 lbs in a year!

Well that certainly changes things.

Keep doing what you like to do. Cardio and weights are both important/good.

Are you logging food? That is the most important thing, food and a reasonable calorie deficit.

Indrus

To be extra clear, my peak weight was 385, but my recent highest since I started doing this in a serious way was 325, hence the 40 lbs in a year.

BarbaraHelen2013

Indrus wrote: »

To be extra clear, my peak weight was 385, but my recent highest since I started doing this in a serious way was 325, hence the 40 lbs in a year.

That’s 60lbs though, not 40. A little over a pound a week. Really healthy rate of loss if you continue that way.

sijomial

Indrus wrote: »

I did biking cardio yesterday and burned 400 calories but the trainer says that since I am protein deficient and am doing cardio I am my body is breaking down muscle.

Your trainer sounds a bit of a dummy!
Cardio doesn't use muscle for fuel and avoiding any cardio means you are neglecting your CV fitness and heart health.

Is there a genuine concern about your protein intake? (Over the whole day - not just your breakfast choice.)

Perhaps restate your actual recent loss in more detail following your update that 40lbs lost was over a year?

Yes it's normal to have water related gain (or weight stall) from soreness following a change in exercise.

Your BIA scales could well be misleading you - especially following a change in exercise routine/water retention.