I can't seem to lose any weight
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janejellyroll wrote: »
"Drinking water instead of any beverage with calories (including milk, juice, soda, coffee, tea, sports drinks, alcohol) reliably lowers the total calories, carbohydrate, and protein that people consume at their meal..."
Breaking news: consuming fewer calories in a meal results in consuming fewer calories in a meal.
Cracks me up when people post links to things that don't say what they think it does. 😂10 -
janejellyroll wrote: »
"Drinking water instead of any beverage with calories (including milk, juice, soda, coffee, tea, sports drinks, alcohol) reliably lowers the total calories, carbohydrate, and protein that people consume at their meal..."
Breaking news: consuming fewer calories in a meal results in consuming fewer calories in a meal.
Cracks me up when people post links to things that don't say what they think it does. 😂
Reading things as saying something other than what they say is a pretty good route to believing things that are marginally (if at all) true/useful . . . as well as vice-versa via confirmation bias.
Once again, for clarity: I think adequate hydration is important, for a variety of reasons. What I disagree with is the idea that it's a major factor (or even a significant factor) in weight loss rate for someone who is consuming a reasonable amount of fluids (of all hydrating sorts) and who doesn't have any other symptoms of dehydration. The one possible exception is that subset of people who personally and individually find that drinking more water reduces their appetites, so makes it easier to stick to a sensible calorie goal.7 -
Thanks so much for all of your helpful advice! I really appreciate it.
To clear a few things up:- I drink between 2-3 litres of liquid per day just naturally (water, herbal tea and a bit of black tea). I tend to let my thirst be my guide on this as much as possible. I don't believe drinking water is a weight loss cure-all, but I like to be hydrated.
- In terms of calorie burn, I have an apple watch that I've worn pretty much every day for 4 years. I burn between 100-350 calories in a half hour workout session (higher end for something like HIIT, lower end for something like light yoga or flexibility work). I have a tough time getting my heart rate up, as I have a low resting heart rate (between 53-59bpm). My activity has changed slightly during quarantine, as I can't walk or dance nearly as much as I used to. To compensate, I've really been trying to focus on my home workouts, but it is a shift for me. I think that could mean that I have some inflammation or water retention going on.
- I don't eat back my exercise calories, as I usually assume there might be some sort of counting error and the margins already seem razor thin. The only time I add a little extra in (50-100 calories) is if I've done one of my heavier workout sessions. I also eat between 1200 and 1300 per day with the goal of losing 1lb per week.
- I've tried eating higher calorie for weight loss, but it hasn't worked for me. I gained about 8lbs when I did 1800 calories for 1 month and another 3lbs when I tried 1600 for another month. This was when I was working with a plant-based dietician. She didn't seem to understand why and neither did I...
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Thanks so much for all of your helpful advice! I really appreciate it.
To clear a few things up:- I drink between 2-3 litres of liquid per day just naturally (water, herbal tea and a bit of black tea). I tend to let my thirst be my guide on this as much as possible. I don't believe drinking water is a weight loss cure-all, but I like to be hydrated.
- In terms of calorie burn, I have an apple watch that I've worn pretty much every day for 4 years. I burn between 100-350 calories in a half hour workout session (higher end for something like HIIT, lower end for something like light yoga or flexibility work). I have a tough time getting my heart rate up, as I have a low resting heart rate (between 53-59bpm). My activity has changed slightly during quarantine, as I can't walk or dance nearly as much as I used to. To compensate, I've really been trying to focus on my home workouts, but it is a shift for me. I think that could mean that I have some inflammation or water retention going on.
- I don't eat back my exercise calories, as I usually assume there might be some sort of counting error and the margins already seem razor thin. The only time I add a little extra in (50-100 calories) is if I've done one of my heavier workout sessions. I also eat between 1200 and 1300 per day with the goal of losing 1lb per week.
- I've tried eating higher calorie for weight loss, but it hasn't worked for me. I gained about 8lbs when I did 1800 calories for 1 month and another 3lbs when I tried 1600 for another month. This was when I was working with a plant-based dietician. She didn't seem to understand why and neither did I...
At your current size, an accurate 1200-1300 calories ought to result in weight loss, even eating back exercise calories. Do you have any kind of calorie-estimate idea of how much your daily-life (non-exercise) calorie burn has changed during quarantine? That could be a source of variation.
Don't get me wrong when I say this, because I think the amount you're drinking for hydration should be fine, but I think the problem is as likely to be water weight fluctuation, especially if you've changed up your exercise routine recently (because of quarantine), as it sounds like. Muscle repair results in additional water retention, and that can mask fat loss on the scale temporarily. Further, you're female, and probably (?) not menopausal yet, and water weight during our reproductive years is an entertaining ride. This would be a good read:
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
I think maybe 2 weeks has just not been long enough to see fat loss that's actually happening. I'd suggest giving it at least a full menstrual cycle on this routine, before tweaking things, so you can compare body weight at the same relative point in two different monthly cycles . . . maybe even 3 cycles, given the exercise changes. (I know that's frustrating.)
Beyond what may be at play in your weight loss scenario, I'd suggest learning a bit more about heart rate, exercise, and calorie estimation.
It's hard to unpack, but I think you're thinking some things I don't think are fully accurate.
I've been about your size (started weight loss at 5'5", 183 pounds), and very active for over a decade at that weight (competing athletically, for a while). 350 calories per half hour is quite a significant calorie burn rate at that size. Is it possible? Sure. Is it likely . . . hmmm.
I don't know what the HIIT activity is, but if there's a strength component (as in bodyweight exercises or weight circuits), especially an overhead strength component, then a HRM/fitness tracker is likely to overestimate the calories. (I'm sure you realize your Apple watch, like every other tracker, is not measuring calories, but estimating them based on your personal data plus inputs from HRM, motion sensors, etc.).
Trackers are good at estimating some things, and pretty inaccurate at estimating others. HIIT tends to be one of the "others", even near-pure cardio HIIT, let alone anything with a strength aspect.
A low resting heart rate, per se, doesn't prevent getting HR up, though it does affect the intensity level needed in order to do so, and some activities allow for more intensity than others. (When I was training, vs. just doing active stuff for fun as I am now, my resting HR was reliably in the upper 40s/low 50s even while obese. I could still reach 180bpm, which is around my tested HRmax (age estimate max would've been more like 160 at the time, BTW - difference is mainly genetics, not fitness).
It's actually possible, too, to have a lower HRmax than age estimates. (Age estimates tend to be inaccurate for a fair fraction of people, inaccurate enough to be a poor training guide.) However, if that were true for you, RPE (rate of perceived exertion should give you clues). It isn't obvious to me, from what you've posted, whether you're a relative beginner at being vigorously active, vs. have been doing it for years, or something in between.
Not being able to increase heart rate is more a matter of fitness level, or specific activity type intensity limitations, or mis-estimated HRmax, IMO. A lower resting rate is just the point you start from, not anything super special that should affect how high you can get in your actual range. A person can attain a lower resting rate as they get fitter, but we can have a lower rate even when of average fitness just from genetic factors. Either way, intense exercise should move HR up into higher ranges.
As a starting point, there's some good info in this post (an oldie but goodie) about calories and HRMs (which also generalizes to the more recent fitness trackers, to the extent they rely on HR in estimating):
https://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/the-real-facts-about-hrms-and-calories-what-you-need-to-know-before-purchasing-an-hrm-or-using-one-21472
Best wishes!5
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