Weight refusing to drop- lifting & cardio

Mechatree
Mechatree Posts: 14 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello all!
I've started up a routine that's a bit different than what I've done before so I wanted to get some pointers on how to get this moving.

I am going to the gym 3-4 days a week, with 15 minutes minimum of hard upper body exercises until I can't lift anymore, then go to 30 minutes of elliptical to the point that I'm soaked.

I walk a lot, but also sit in a truck a lot at my job. I eat high fat-protein snacks, like jerky and protein bars, then eat chicken and veggies at night. I have been careful of portion sizes and calories and I'm definitely always burning more than I'm eating (burning 2600 per day according to my Garmin Vivo watch)

However, my weight has almost completely refused to budge. I've lost 2lbs the last 5 weeks and am only fluctuating now. I do not look much different in the mirror so I wonder if there's anything I need to try differently.

Replies

  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
    What're your stats? How much are you trying to lose? How accurate is your calorie counting? You may be eating more than you think or your Garmin is not giving you a correct calorie burn rate.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    Why exactly are you training like that?
    What are your training goals and current capabilities/exercise experience?

    If you are trying to induce fatigue, soreness and inflammation then that sounds like a good way to do it - along with resulting water retention which can mask fat loss..
    But I'd hope you realise that fatigue, soreness and sweating are not actually training goals.

    Making your diary public would give more clues as would lettting people know something about your stats as that information is private to you. Your watches 2600 estimate could be in relation to a 6ft 200lb person of a 5ft 100lb person.



  • Mechatree
    Mechatree Posts: 14 Member
    L1zardQueen wrote: »
    What're your stats? How much are you trying to lose? How accurate is your calorie counting? You may be eating more than you think or your Garmin is not giving you a correct calorie burn rate.

    Do you mean stats as in weight, height, etc?
    I'm 5'5, 173lbs female. I eat 1500 calories or less per day (or so I think) and I have a goal of 120lbs.
    Most of my packaged food goes into the diary, but I can't account for home-cooked meals as far as complete accuracy but I feel like it's close.
    And that would make sense that Garmin may not be accurately counting my calories. Is there a good calculator to estimate calories for activity that I can manually calculate? Thanks!
  • Mechatree
    Mechatree Posts: 14 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    Why exactly are you training like that?
    What are your training goals and current capabilities/exercise experience?

    If you are trying to induce fatigue, soreness and inflammation then that sounds like a good way to do it - along with resulting water retention which can mask fat loss..
    But I'd hope you realise that fatigue, soreness and sweating are not actually training goals.

    Making your diary public would give more clues as would lettting people know something about your stats as that information is private to you. Your watches 2600 estimate could be in relation to a 6ft 200lb person of a 5ft 100lb person.


    sijomial wrote: »
    Why exactly are you training like that?
    What are your training goals and current capabilities/exercise experience?

    If you are trying to induce fatigue, soreness and inflammation then that sounds like a good way to do it - along with resulting water retention which can mask fat loss..
    But I'd hope you realise that fatigue, soreness and sweating are not actually training goals.

    Making your diary public would give more clues as would lettting people know something about your stats as that information is private to you. Your watches 2600 estimate could be in relation to a 6ft 200lb person of a 5ft 100lb person.



    I used to be able to shed some weight doing strictly cardio, but I decided to add in weight lifting to build muscle and that's why my training is like that. My upper body is weak so I can't do weights for a long time.

    I don't understand what you mean by fatigue, soreness etc. Doesn't exercise always result in that, but in the long run lead to muscle tone and weight loss? What do you mean?

    My training goal is to get in shape. Build some muscle, get to a healthy weight and stay that way.

    My watch has my height and weight put in, so it's measure for 5'5, 173 lbs.
  • LisaGHM
    LisaGHM Posts: 4 Member
    I didn't read through all the replies, but it seems to me that you're likely building muscle.
    You may want to have your thyroid checked. It is the gland in your body responsible for tons of things,
    particularly metabolism and weight :)
  • Mechatree
    Mechatree Posts: 14 Member
    LisaGHM wrote: »
    I didn't read through all the replies, but it seems to me that you're likely building muscle.
    You may want to have your thyroid checked. It is the gland in your body responsible for tons of things,
    particularly metabolism and weight :)

    Okay, gotcha. So building muscle may be why my weight is kinda in limbo?

    That's a good idea. I have a yearly checkup coming up and I'll mention it to my doctor and see if he can add that to my bloodwork.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    If you are lifting to exhaustion, you are causing inflammation, which can show up on the scale.

    However, the real issue here is that 2 =/= 0. That is, you are actually losing weight.

    As for logging, it is far easier to accurately log a home made meal than a packaged meal - you just weigh and measure ingredients. On the other hand, packages can be up to 20% both in their nutrition calculations and in the actual weight that ends up being in the package. If a particular package underestimates calories per serving by 20% AND weighs 20% more than advertised, you could be off my almost half again as many calories.
  • cwaller7
    cwaller7 Posts: 25 Member
    Hey Mechatree!

    at first I was thinking that your weight wasn’t changing because you were simultaneously losing body fat while gaining muscle mass but your workout routine isn’t sufficient enough to tone your body in the way you would like to. so the issue probably lies within your diet, but no worries, this is a simple fix!

    you’re going to have to do your very best to track EVERY single calorie you put into your body, EVEN your home cooked meals (this might even be the most important to track because that’s where you’re probably underestimating). there are resources you can buy like measuring cups/spoons, food scales etc. ..... for example if you eat a waffle for breakfast but don’t track the syrup you pour correctly, you could be adding an extra 150+ calories to your meal without even realizing it. so try your hardest to pay attention to the nutrition labels & serving sizes of eeeeeverything and you’ll more than likely discover you’re going over your daily caloric goal.

    now while I don’t agree with your current workout program, your diet alone looks like it would be a sufficient deficit on its own given your height and weight if you’re really only consuming 1500 cals per day. but since I’m here I will say that instead of doing “upper body lifts” for 15 minutes till failure, you’ll probably be better off looking up “20 minute HIIT workouts for beginners” on YouTube and doing on of those workouts like 3-5 times per week. if you pair that with cycling 3 days per week, you will certainly lose weight at a faster rate.
  • LisaGetsMoving
    LisaGetsMoving Posts: 664 Member
    You should take measurements. You might be losing some fat but gaining some muscle so it won't register much on the scale at first, but it will show up in measurements. Don't trust your own eye, we don't always see our progress clearly.
  • Mechatree
    Mechatree Posts: 14 Member
    Okay, got it about the food portions; I will be more careful about what I input and make sure all my calories are accurate. That could very well be one of my problems.

    As for the exercise, I am not very strong, so I can't work out for a long time doing weights. I lift as heavy as I can as much as I can. If my routine is not good, what can I do to change it? Surely if I'm this out of shape, I'm building at least some muscle mass?

    Not trying to sound snippy! Just want to understand so I can improve.
  • nanastaci2020
    nanastaci2020 Posts: 1,072 Member
    It is hard to build muscle mass AND lose weight at the same time. That is not an area I know a huge amount about, but in general eating at a deficit means you lose weight. The human body is not perfectly efficient to only lose fat. So strength training and eating enough protein WHILE eating at a deficit can help maintain the muscle you have so what you lose is mostly fat.

    Being more accurate on calories logged can help improve your rate of loss. If you're eating foods often made by others, that is hard to keep accurate logs. You can try to be more in control over what you eat & how much, or you can assume there are more calories than you would like to think in food made by others. Keep in mind for items you can scan: its still wise to weigh them. The packaging is often wrong. Not every egg weighs the same as every other egg. Not every slice of bread in the loaf is the same size. Not every banana, chicken breast, etc. is a uniform size.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    "I used to be able to shed some weight doing strictly cardio, but I decided to add in weight lifting to build muscle and that's why my training is like that. My upper body is weak so I can't do weights for a long time.

    I don't understand what you mean by fatigue, soreness etc. Doesn't exercise always result in that, but in the long run lead to muscle tone and weight loss? What do you mean?"

    Great idea to add strength training but that's a simply awful way to go about it.
    No exercise doesn't always result in excessive fatigue and soreness if you do it properly. Going all out all of the time isn't how to train.

    Some time with a good personal trainer would serve you well.

    Weight loss focus needs to be in the kitchen and not the gym.


  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,935 Member
    edited April 2021
    On the strength training front, it's better to follow an established, well-designed program than to just go to the gym and Do Stuff. They will suggest some approach for regulating the amount of weight you lift, how often to do particular exercises, how many to do. There is a list of such programs here, with much discussion of pros/cons:

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

    If you have questions about the programs, ask on that thread, or post a specific question about that as a separate thread. (Specific questions tend to get more focused answers.)

    Since you say that your current strength is not high, you may find that the entry level of some programs asks you to lift more weight than feasible (i.e., you can't get the reps/sets they prescribe). If that's true, it's generally fine to drop back to a lighter weight. Some of us find we start with an empty bar, a *short/light* empty bar, or begin with a bodyweight program, and work our way up. That's fine. Lifting to failure, generally, is not an effective approach - risks injury, over-fatigue, more. You want gradual, steady progress. One single program is unlikely to work forever, as needs change.
    LisaGHM wrote: »
    I didn't read through all the replies, but it seems to me that you're likely building muscle.
    You may want to have your thyroid checked. It is the gland in your body responsible for tons of things,
    particularly metabolism and weight :)

    Sadly, any realistic rate of muscle gain is unlikely to outpace any satisfying fat loss rate, to the point of looking like zero progress on the scale. Under truly excellent conditions, a quarter pound of new muscle mass gain per week would be a very good result, for a woman (maybe twice that, for a man). Truly excellent conditions include a calorie *surplus*, relative youth, a well-designed progressive strength training program faithfully performed, good nutrition (especially but not exclusively adequate protein), favorable genetics, and more.

    On the flip side, half a pound of fat loss per week is about the slowest observable fat loss rate, and even that will take weeks to show up clearly between daily water-retention fluctuations of a couple of pounds or more, even with a weight-trending app in use.

    The very sad conclusion - and I wish it were otherwise - is that muscle gain will not outpace fat loss in virtually any real-world weight loss scenario, no matter how much I might wish otherwise.

    I'm not saying the OP cannot gain strength and muscle mass. She can, assuredly. It is just likely to be slower than that quarter pound a week kind of muscle gain.

    The good news is that strength gain can be really fast, especially for a beginner to strength training, with a good program. It comes from better recruiting and using existing muscle fibers - neuromuscular adaptation - not from actually growing new muscle fibers (that's the slow part). Even for strength gain, it will be helpful to get good nutrition, and not try to lose weight super fast. Strength increase is a wonderful thing in itself, very worthwhile.

    It can even be possible to look more "toned" rather soon, especially if some fat loss is happening alongside to help reveal muscle structure. When we work those muscles, they hold onto some water weight, for repair. That can create a bit of a "pumped" appearance, making the muscles look larger or more defined. It's not necessarily a sign of new muscle mass being grown quickly. Those appearance improvements can be really motivating & satisfying, good stuff

    Some people are deceived by those things - the strength gains, appearance improvements - into thinking they've gained muscle mass (new muscle fibers) when they haven't, much, yet.
    Mechatree wrote: »
    LisaGHM wrote: »
    I didn't read through all the replies, but it seems to me that you're likely building muscle.
    You may want to have your thyroid checked. It is the gland in your body responsible for tons of things,
    particularly metabolism and weight :)

    Okay, gotcha. So building muscle may be why my weight is kinda in limbo?

    That's a good idea. I have a yearly checkup coming up and I'll mention it to my doctor and see if he can add that to my bloodwork.

    Your strength training may be a factor in why your scale weight is in limbo . . . from water retention for muscle repair. When I take a long break from strength training (something I do dysfunctionally often because I don't enjoy it), then start up again, I will routinely gain a couple of pounds or so on the scale (water retention) and hang onto that for as long as I keep training on a regular, progressive schedule. It's just water weight, not worth worrying over, IMO. If I'm losing fat at the time, the fat loss will eventually outpace the water retention, and start showing up on the scale again.

    This is useful information for you, OP, in this context (and your overall situation):

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

    Thyroid? Yeah, get that checked. Hypothyroidism is surprisingly common in women as we age. I'm severely hypothyroid, have been for 20+ years, and as long as properly medicated it has zero impact on my life.

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