Losing weight (fat) vs exercise

bex1086

I've been on a 300-400 calorie deficit since January and have lost 3kg so far now getting me back into a healthy BMI but to be at my optimal size I need to lose more.

However, I run a lot and I lift heavy weights and am trying to get heavier because I'm nowhere back to where I could be but I've noticed I'm struggling in the gym and also running as well, I seem to have no energy or strength.

So I'm thinking of increasing my calories by 100 a day but I have no idea if that will impact the fat loss too much. It's a very difficult balance, I love food and hate eating so little, I want to improve my athletic performance but I also want to look less blobbish!

I feel like I have conflicting goals...

Help?

sollyn23l2

bex1086 wrote: »

I've been on a 300-400 calorie deficit since January and have lost 3kg so far now getting me back into a healthy BMI but to be at my optimal size I need to lose more.

However, I run a lot and I lift heavy weights and am trying to get heavier because I'm nowhere back to where I could be but I've noticed I'm struggling in the gym and also running as well, I seem to have no energy or strength.

So I'm thinking of increasing my calories by 100 a day but I have no idea if that will impact the fat loss too much. It's a very difficult balance, I love food and hate eating so little, I want to improve my athletic performance but I also want to look less blobbish!

I feel like I have conflicting goals...

Help?

It does appear you have conflicting goals. You can get smaller or bigger. Not both. You're going to have to decide which one you want. Do you want to get smaller or gain muscle? Once you know which you want to do, you can take the steps to get there.

bex1086

Well I guess I want to be a bit smaller in size but firmer and more defined. Hence where the weightlifting comes in, I'm a 5'1 female pushing 40, I will never and wouldn't to look like Arnold S but I just want to look better overall.

cmriverside

Well, you said it yourself, it's a delicate balance. Recomposition isn't a fast process. Here's the very helpful recomp thread:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

tomcustombuilder

When you add calories it slows down fatloss however it may give you a bit more energy. The only way to find out is to do it for a month and review things.

bex1086

tomcustombuilder wrote: »

When you add calories it slows down fatloss however it may give you a bit more energy. The only way to find out is to do it for a month and review things.

I think that's what I'll do, I've increased by 100 calories a day, ordered some different protein powder for a variety and some creatine to see if that helps too.

rileysowner

The only thing I would add to ask if you are giving yourself enough recovery time? Working out intensely is great, but if it is not accompanied by sufficient recovery time, it will lead to overtraining and a symptom of that is lack of energy.

PAV8888

Creatine will add water weight, won't it?

Further throwing the scale watching for a loop.

Really though. If you have athletic and health goals and are already at a normal bmi... what's your hurry?

A 150 to 250 Cal deficit should let you trend down slowly over time when looking at your trend while giving you (relatively) max energy.

You could also play with carbs timed before/during exercise activity depending on format and size of bolus. Supporting with nutrition after. So in the end back to very small deficit to have room for it all

AnnPT77

PAV8888 wrote: »

Creatine will add water weight, won't it?

It can, but not certain. I didn't notice a water retention bump when I started taking it. Some people are non-reponders, but I don't know whether lack of a water weight bump implies that I'm a non-reponder. I perceive some benefits (subjectively), but no way to be sure whether there's placebo effect in play. (Don't care, personally. Benefits are benefits.)

Further throwing the scale watching for a loop.

Really though. If you have athletic and health goals and are already at a normal bmi... what's your hurry?

A 150 to 250 Cal deficit should let you trend down slowly over time when looking at your trend while giving you (relatively) max energy.

You could also play with carbs timed before/during exercise activity depending on format and size of bolus. Supporting with nutrition after. So in the end back to very small deficit to have room for it all

I agree with the overall advice from PAV, and share the previous question from Rileysowner about whether you may be over-exercising. I know it's OhSoTempting to attack exercise energetically, but doing too much can impair fitness progress. "Too much" can be too often, too intensely, for too long a duration, or a combination of different activities that tax the same systems (leg day + long run, as a possible example).

How often are you hitting the same muscle groups when lifting? What's your training plan with respect to running pace/duration/frequency?

In all activities, recovery is where the magic (rebuilding) happens. It's an essential part of the process. I'm not assuming you're overdoing, but it's a potential trigger of the current situation you describe.

Also, how's your overall nutrition? Sub-ideal nutrition can also let us down, especially in the context of a challenging exercise program.

You mention losing 3kg since January: I've been assuming that that's since January 1, but is that correct? Losing weight too fast for current size is a sure-fire way to feel fatigued and weak. (I did that to myself accidentally while losing weight. It took multiple weeks to recover. Now that I know I need more calories than MFP thinks, I am absolutely not going to repeat that, because it was a Bad Plan.)

It sounds like you don't have lots left to lose, if you're in the normal BMI range. Under those circumstances, I'd be looking for 0.25kg per week loss or less. (From experience: That loss rate can take a month or more to show up on the scale, even with a weight trending app. That doesn't mean fat loss isn't happening. If you have at least a month of logging data, you can figure out a personalized calorie needs estimate and hit that loss rate pretty accurately - at least that was true for me.)

bex1086 wrote: »

Well I guess I want to be a bit smaller in size but firmer and more defined. Hence where the weightlifting comes in, I'm a 5'1 female pushing 40, I will never and wouldn't to look like Arnold S but I just want to look better overall.

Any route to "a bit smaller in size but firmer and more defined" is going to require patience and persistence. Fat loss can be semi-fast (though I wouldn't advocate that if little left to lose, as mentioned above). Any form of muscle development is a thing of many weeks to months or even years (the latter for drama-type changes). Strength gains when new can be much faster (neuromuscular adaptation, not new muscle mass). There may even be a little bit of a pump earlier on related to water retention in the muscles for repair that looks like muscle development, but real gains in muscle mass are pretty slow. How I wish it were otherwise!

Best wishes!

ETA context: I'm female, 5'5", 68 now, late 40s when I started being athletically active, 59-60 during weight loss, now in maintenance. I can empathize with a 5'1" female pushing 40! Athletic gains of all sorts are possible, and will be part of your future as long as you stick with a reasonable training program and decent overall nutrition. I'm cheering for you!