Weight Loss Goals

habtamuyabsira

Hey guys, I’m having trouble trying to lose weight. I’m a 5’6 male, im at 153 lbs and i don’t know what my bfp is yet, i took a test to find that out and im waiting for my results. What i can say is that i’ve reached a bfp where i have some vascularity but it only shows when my arms are resting, but when i raise them they disappear. I want to hit a goal of 140 lbs. I actually hit 149 lbs but gained it right back due to my lack of discipline. I’ve been struggling recently with my calorie deficit, my maintenance calories is 2,653 and im trying to eat at around 1700 calories, but i’ve been struggling with that recently ever since i started wrestling. I exercised 4 times a week and had no issues with staying around 1700 or even less on some days, with a cheat day once a week. But now since I started wrestling we practice everyday and sometimes on saturdays, so that’s 6 times a week for about 2 hours a day. I frequently find myself craving more food or feeling unsatisfied. I’ve started having wash days, where i eat at maintenance and i feel a lot better doing so, but that won’t help me lose the weight that I need to lose. Should I eat more due to doing more exercise? And if so how many calories should i eat so that I can lose at least 1lb a week?

cwolfman13

I used to wrestle in high school. 1700 calories is way too low if you're wrestling. And if you're maintenance is indeed 2,653 calories, you're basically setting yourself up for an almost 2 Lbs per week weight loss goal which is way too aggressive for the weight you want to lose. I'd wager your maintenance is also higher than that.

You're being way too aggressive. You're eating like a more or less sedentary, older male trying to lose weight rather than a young very active person engaged in competitive wrestling.

westrich20940

Are you concerned with losing weight due to your wrestling? Like are you trying to get to a lower weight class for that or actually trying to lose weight?

1st --- Your weight loss goal should be as low as possible (on this app that would be .5lb/week). You do not have much weight at all to lose to get to a healthy weight range/140lbs.

If you know that your maintenance calories is 2,653 (how did you calculate this?) --- then trying to eat 1700 cals per day is .... really ill-advised. That's a 1,000 calorie deficit. What's your BMR?

You need to choose a mild calorie goal that is higher than your BMR and lower than your TDEE...and with little weight to lose, that is going to be a small range to mess with....

You are simply hungry it sounds like....so eat more.

sijomial

If you are doing 12 hours of exercise a week, I doubt your maintenance calories are that low and taking a massive cut from a low estimate is a recipe for failure. Lots of exercise and a massive deficit only works for a very short amount of time. If you want to benefit from all your training you have to fuel it properly or you are wasting your efforts.

Where did that 2,653 come from?
If it was from MyFitnessPal that is only for a day with no purposeful exercise and so the answer to the question "Should I eat more due to doing more exercise?" is a definite yes. As your exercise varies your daily calorie goal varies in line with that change.

Even if you used an average TDEE calculator you should revisit that calc if you have had a significant change to your combined activity and exercise and pick the category that accurately reflects your current routine.

I think even aiming for 1lb a week is probably too fast. I'm taller/heavier and at the time had a less strenuous exercise routine and my 1lb a week resulted in some adaptive thermogenesis. That your occasional maintenance days have such a noticeable impact may well be a sign you are simply trying to cut too fast.

habtamuyabsira

cwolfman13 wrote: »

I used to wrestle in high school. 1700 calories is way too low if you're wrestling. And if you're maintenance is indeed 2,653 calories, you're basically setting yourself up for an almost 2 Lbs per week weight loss goal which is way too aggressive for the weight you want to lose. I'd wager your maintenance is also higher than that.

You're being way too aggressive. You're eating like a more or less sedentary, older male trying to lose weight rather than a young very active person engaged in competitive wrestling.

Okay, so upon further research I found that my maintenance would be 2,831 calories while working out 6 times a week for wrestling. I forgot to mention that I workout at the gym on the weekends if that makes any difference. And as for wrestling, I might have to leave the sport just because Im in high school and my dad doesn’t think I can get good grades and do wrestling at the same time. So if I was to go back to the 2-4 workout/week range would that be reasonable to stay around 1700 calories? And if I were to stay in Wrestling and go to the gym on weekends, what would my new caloric deficit be with that 2,831 caloric maintenance threshold?

habtamuyabsira

westrich20940 wrote: »

Are you concerned with losing weight due to your wrestling? Like are you trying to get to a lower weight class for that or actually trying to lose weight?

1st --- Your weight loss goal should be as low as possible (on this app that would be .5lb/week). You do not have much weight at all to lose to get to a healthy weight range/140lbs.

If you know that your maintenance calories is 2,653 (how did you calculate this?) --- then trying to eat 1700 cals per day is .... really ill-advised. That's a 1,000 calorie deficit. What's your BMR?

You need to choose a mild calorie goal that is higher than your BMR and lower than your TDEE...and with little weight to lose, that is going to be a small range to mess with....

You are simply hungry it sounds like....so eat more.

I’m concerned with losing weight just in general. It would help me in wrestling yes, but I feel that overall 140 is a safer weight for me and it has always been my goal. I used a TDEE calculator and I found that with this new training regiment my maintenance is 2,831 calories and my BMR is 1,662 calories. Also I might have to end up leaving wrestling and go back to working out around 2-4 times a week, so if I were to do this then would my a proper calorie deficit be 1,700 then?

And assuming I stay in wrestling how many calories should I consume now?

(P.S. I’m 18 and I heard that age affects how many calories I should be eating so, could my TDEE be wrong?)

habtamuyabsira

sijomial wrote: »

If you are doing 12 hours of exercise a week, I doubt your maintenance calories are that low and taking a massive cut from a low estimate is a recipe for failure. Lots of exercise and a massive deficit only works for a very short amount of time. If you want to benefit from all your training you have to fuel it properly or you are wasting your efforts.

Where did that 2,653 come from?
If it was from MyFitnessPal that is only for a day with no purposeful exercise and so the answer to the question "Should I eat more due to doing more exercise?" is a definite yes. As your exercise varies your daily calorie goal varies in line with that change.

Even if you used an average TDEE calculator you should revisit that calc if you have had a significant change to your combined activity and exercise and pick the category that accurately reflects your current routine.

I think even aiming for 1lb a week is probably too fast. I'm taller/heavier and at the time had a less strenuous exercise routine and my 1lb a week resulted in some adaptive thermogenesis. That your occasional maintenance days have such a noticeable impact may well be a sign you are simply trying to cut too fast.

I used a TDEE calculator for the 2,653 calories and I did this when I was working out 2-4 times a week and after re-inputting the info because I’m doing more exercise I found that my maintenance is 2,831. Is that still too low? If so what would it be and what is my new calorie deficit? I may also have to leave wrestling and go back to working out 2-4 times a week. Would 1,700 still be too low?

sijomial

habtamuyabsira wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

If you are doing 12 hours of exercise a week, I doubt your maintenance calories are that low and taking a massive cut from a low estimate is a recipe for failure. Lots of exercise and a massive deficit only works for a very short amount of time. If you want to benefit from all your training you have to fuel it properly or you are wasting your efforts.

Where did that 2,653 come from?
If it was from MyFitnessPal that is only for a day with no purposeful exercise and so the answer to the question "Should I eat more due to doing more exercise?" is a definite yes. As your exercise varies your daily calorie goal varies in line with that change.

Even if you used an average TDEE calculator you should revisit that calc if you have had a significant change to your combined activity and exercise and pick the category that accurately reflects your current routine.

I think even aiming for 1lb a week is probably too fast. I'm taller/heavier and at the time had a less strenuous exercise routine and my 1lb a week resulted in some adaptive thermogenesis. That your occasional maintenance days have such a noticeable impact may well be a sign you are simply trying to cut too fast.

I used a TDEE calculator for the 2,653 calories and I did this when I was working out 2-4 times a week and after re-inputting the info because I’m doing more exercise I found that my maintenance is 2,831. Is that still too low? If so what would it be and what is my new calorie deficit? I may also have to leave wrestling and go back to working out 2-4 times a week. Would 1,700 still be too low?

If you used the MFP way of accounting for exercise your daily goal would adjust as your training changes. The average TDEE method works better for people with regular exercise habits who also want to eat at the same level every day.

BTW - these numbers are estimates and require personal "test driving" over an extended period of time. Even if you get lucky and the estimate for a population average personally works out well for you the accuracy of your food logging changes your actual calorie balance.

If you want a guess then yes I would think if you reverted to training 2-4 times a week at your age 1,700 would be too low. My opinion is coloured by me at age 61 maintaing between 3,000 to 4,000 calories which no doubt isn't mainstream for my demographic.
But when I lost my weight as a moderately exercising office worker my calorie goal was 1800 - 2000 PLUS exercise calories.

If you are serious about your training I would err towards keeping a smaller deficit, there's no real downside to that beyond taking a little longer and there's a high chance of reaching goal weight in better shape compared to rapid loss and under-fuelling your training.

AnnPT77

habtamuyabsira wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

If you are doing 12 hours of exercise a week, I doubt your maintenance calories are that low and taking a massive cut from a low estimate is a recipe for failure. Lots of exercise and a massive deficit only works for a very short amount of time. If you want to benefit from all your training you have to fuel it properly or you are wasting your efforts.

Where did that 2,653 come from?
If it was from MyFitnessPal that is only for a day with no purposeful exercise and so the answer to the question "Should I eat more due to doing more exercise?" is a definite yes. As your exercise varies your daily calorie goal varies in line with that change.

Even if you used an average TDEE calculator you should revisit that calc if you have had a significant change to your combined activity and exercise and pick the category that accurately reflects your current routine.

I think even aiming for 1lb a week is probably too fast. I'm taller/heavier and at the time had a less strenuous exercise routine and my 1lb a week resulted in some adaptive thermogenesis. That your occasional maintenance days have such a noticeable impact may well be a sign you are simply trying to cut too fast.

I used a TDEE calculator for the 2,653 calories and I did this when I was working out 2-4 times a week and after re-inputting the info because I’m doing more exercise I found that my maintenance is 2,831. Is that still too low? If so what would it be and what is my new calorie deficit? I may also have to leave wrestling and go back to working out 2-4 times a week. Would 1,700 still be too low?

I think 1700 would be too low, too. You don't have lots to lose in total. Under those circumstances, with athletic, body composition, or performance goals alongside, sloooow loss is your friend, like half a pound a week (250 calorie daily deficit).

That maybe sounds stupid-slow, but it favors your chances of adding muscle mass as you lose fat (assuming you do the strength work needed), and you're in perfect circumstances (male, young, etc.) to gain muscle if you run a good program, get decent-ish nutrition, don't try to lose fat super-fast.

I admit I'm mysteriously a good li'l ol' calorie burner for some reason, but I'd lose weight too fast for my own good these days at 1700 gross intake as a 5'5", mid-120s pounds . . . woman . . . age 66. You're heavier, taller, way younger, and 100% male-er.

Use an MFP calorie estimate, setting your activity level based on pre-exercise life, and log your exercise; or use a TDEE calculator and average in your planned exercise (adjust if it changes!). Either one can work. Take a sensibly moderate deficit off the daily maintenance number, like 250 or *certainly* no more than 500, and give it a 4-6 week test drive, see what happens to your bodyweight.

The result (averaged over that timespan) will be mostly fat changes. Significant muscle-mass changes will be a little slower, probably, but you're at the perfect time to maximize them. Couple of pounds of mass added per month is possible, with a good strength program, maybe . . . the calorie deficit is a counter-force, though.

I know that longer timespans are a really frustrating thought, I really do. You're at point, though, where patient investment can pay off big time. It's good practice for other patient investments you'll be making in other ways, in future years, for other reasons (education, career, family, etc.).

Give it some thought. There are some young men in my MFP friend-feed who've achieved really *astounding* results over a couple of years, by being smart and patient.

Best wishes!

JBanx256

OP, I'm about an inch shorter than you, within ~8 lbs of your bodyweight, not competing in a very physically demanding sport, AND am female...But I'm currently maintaining on 2700-2900 cal/day. If you are legitimately only eating 1700 cal/day, you are drastically undereating, which either is, or will ultimately, cause a loss of muscle tissue and hurt your performance on the mats.

If you're trying to drop weight in order to get into a lower weight class, it's one thing to lean out a bit, but doing it too fast is not smart (for reasons mentioned above). If there's still a few pounds between your "walking around" weight and the cut-off for the next class down, certainly your coach can walk you through the basics of an easy, safe water cut to make up the difference.

If vascularity is all you're concerned about though, you're still shooting yourself in the foot, as vascularity depends on a variety of factors, not just low bodyfat %. So rest assured JUST losing weight doesn't guarantee you're going to get what you want, either. How many semi-starved, skeletal supermodels have poppin' ab & quad veins?