Has my metabolism tanked already?

debris_ship0e

TLDR: Dieting and exercising for the last few weeks. Lost 3.8 KG. I ate 1000 calories in deficit for a few days early in my diet. Gaining weight this week. What happened?

Start weight: 105 KG
Goal weight: 90 KG
Current weight: 102 KG

About me: 6'3". I have fat around my belly and some love handles. PhD student working mostly at a desk all day.

Goals: Lose the fat. Be more active. Build a healthier body.

Diet: I am a vegetarian from India. I mostly eat lentils or beans and rice in my meals. I am still hitting about 120-150 grams of protein per day through two scoops of protein, a bar, greek yogurt, and some through my meals. I eat lunch outside three times because of my schedule. Mostly from a food truck or Chipotle, and I eyeball the calories. I eat out once every weekend with friends. If I am aware that I am going out tonight, I will try to save calories by eating soup or something calorie-light. I do some cardio (about 20-25) but do not log the calories burned in MFP.

I downloaded MFP a month ago and started logging in every day. My daily goal was set to 2080 by MFP. Early on, I ate 1000 calories in deficit for a few days because I was in deficit but not feeling hungry. I lost about 3.6 KG in less than 3 weeks, lost 2 inches of my belly, I feel leaner, and the pants that used to just fit need a belt now. But the last 10 days have been very confusing. My weight keeps going up and down for some reason (Figure 1). Even though I am eating in deficit. I definitely didn't eat this much in surplus (Figure 2).

Figure 1

Figure 2

What changed this week? Has my metabolism slowed down so much that I am gaining weight? Should I just wait a few more days and keep doing whatever I am doing? What should I change?

I am bothered by this because I want to keep losing weight. I do not wanna keep doing the wrong thing for a month and make no progress.

Retroguy2000

Welcome.

You can estimate your BMR and TDEE here:

https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/

Your metabolism is fine. However, you are stressing the body with some days there at what looks like 1,400 calories or less, which is well below your BMR. As for the recent days weight, that's noise. Water retention (due to body stress), waste in your system, sodium adding water, etc.

It would help if you got a bit more protein since you're a vegetarian. If you were lifting and vegetarian I'd say closer to 200g, but if you're not lifting I'd still suggest more than 120g.

It's entirely possible your eye-balling of calories is off. Food trucks maybe have cooking oil, sauces, etc. If there is cheese you may under-estimate the portion size, which can mean a lot of calories not accounted for.

So my suggestion: aim for at least 2,000, increase protein a bit, and be more diligent with the calorie tracking. Don't forget drinks in there too. Ideally, lift too.

trixsterjl31

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10923945/keeping-your-metabolism-from-tanking#latest Here is a discussion I started with some good replies on the topic of tanking metabolism.

My last 30 days: Keep in mind i often skip logging upticks.


Some questions:
Do you weight in the same clothing every day at the same time in the same conditions. I get up for work, shower and then step on the scale.
Did your bathroom activity change. When i got low I start retaining matter and water more readily.

Even if everything else is the same for me my weight will go up during the work week and then reach it low point normally after a day or two of good sleep. **are you getting a full nights sleep*

When I changed my habits on july 4 I dropped like a race dog chasing a rabbit. For me that lasted for a month. I went on vacation for a month. When I came back it dropped again for a month. I had 150 LBS to lose though. Now i'm at the point where my weight will tick up then drop and go to a new low. Tick up drop, Tick up... drop.... I've been through this process a few times in my life. Stay the course and keep checking your numbers. It will catch up and have the drop you already earned at some point.

Lietchi

It's extremely common for people to have a 'whoosh' (big loss, which includes a lot of water weight) at the start of weight loss, the first week or two, then followed by a stall or increase. Its just your body rebalancing its water weight levels.

If you use a weight trending app, like Libra or Happyscale it's a bit easier to see the trend through the fluctuations. But whether or not you use an app that like that, just know that you need a period of preferably 4 to 6 weeks (of the same routine) to determine your true weight trend.

csplatt

Weight loss is not linear because so many “things in our body” have weight. (Water, waste, etc). You will see little spikes and dips. As long as it keeps trending down, you’re great. This is perfectly normal. It doesn’t mean you gained fat. It means something else in your body that “has weight” is up a little.

Don’t look for progress one WEEK to the next. Look for progress one month to the next.

Also, the other comments about losing a big chunk at the beginning is also true.

Finally, of course you will want to make sure you are being safe here. If you are TRULY eating 1000 per day (using a digital food scale), why? You may be happy with the way the scale goes down, but that’s because you’re losing muscle in addition to fat.

Retroguy2000

Losing about two pounds per week and no mention of lifting, they are probably losing at least 25% of that from muscle.

debris_ship0e

Retroguy2000 wrote: »

Losing about two pounds per week and no mention of lifting, they are probably losing at least 25% of that from muscle.

I realized I should have mentioned that as well. I got to the gym 4 days a week, lift 3 times a week, do a PPL split, and one day for the core. I do 20 minutes of cardio every day after lifting.

Retroguy2000 wrote: »

It would help if you got a bit more protein since you're a vegetarian. If you were lifting and vegetarian I'd say closer to 200g, but if you're not lifting I'd still suggest more than 120g.

I see there is a lot of conflicting information about how much protein one should eat. I see 0.8 grams per kg in some places. Some references say a gram per pound. I thought I would just stick to the lower limit because that is more convenient for me. But I can try to eat more protein now.

Retroguy2000 wrote: »

It's entirely possible your eye-balling of calories is off. Food trucks maybe have cooking oil, sauces, etc. If there is cheese you may under-estimate the portion size, which can mean a lot of calories not accounted for.

Although this is entirely possible, I try to log a higher number of calories when I eat out in general. But I can be more accurate in terms of logging.

Retroguy2000 wrote: »

So my suggestion: aim for at least 2,000, increase protein a bit, and be more diligent with the calorie tracking. Don't forget drinks in there too. Ideally, lift too.

Thanks for the help.

debris_ship0e

csplatt wrote: »

Finally, of course you will want to make sure you are being safe here. If you are TRULY eating 1000 per day (using a digital food scale), why? You may be happy with the way the scale goes down, but that’s because you’re losing muscle in addition to fat.

Thanks for the comment. I might want to add that I did not stay hungry while eating 1000 calories in deficit. For example, one of those days, I went to a Chipotle for lunch and ordered my usual, which is 830 calories and 40 grams of protein. After eating about half of it, I started feeling full and packed the rest for dinner. It might be that the portion was bigger, so I might have gotten 1200-1300 calories instead of the 800. But after eating that, I felt very full and was not hungry at all.

debris_ship0e

trixsterjl31 wrote: »

Some questions:
Do you weight in the same clothing every day at the same time in the same conditions. I get up for work, shower and then step on the scale.
Did your bathroom activity change. When i got low I start retaining matter and water more readily.

Even if everything else is the same for me my weight will go up during the work week and then reach it low point normally after a day or two of good sleep. **are you getting a full nights sleep*

When I changed my habits on july 4 I dropped like a race dog chasing a rabbit. For me that lasted for a month. I went on vacation for a month. When I came back it dropped again for a month. I had 150 LBS to lose though. Now i'm at the point where my weight will tick up then drop and go to a new low. Tick up drop, Tick up... drop.... I've been through this process a few times in my life. Stay the course and keep checking your numbers. It will catch up and have the drop you already earned at some point.

Thanks for sharing insights from your journey. For the questions, I weigh myself every day after coming out of the toilet in the morning. Yes, bathroom frequency has changed a bit. Sleep at least 7 hours a day, mostly 8. After going over the replies, I get the feeling that I should just keep doing the same for a month and see how much my weight changes in expectation.

Retroguy2000

debris_ship0e wrote: »

I realized I should have mentioned that as well. I got to the gym 4 days a week, lift 3 times a week, do a PPL split, and one day for the core. I do 20 minutes of cardio every day after lifting.

I see there is a lot of conflicting information about how much protein one should eat. I see 0.8 grams per kg in some places. Some references say a gram per pound. I thought I would just stick to the lower limit because that is more convenient for me. But I can try to eat more protein now.

That 0.8g/kg is for a typical person. There are many factors which increase or decrease the amount that a specific person would benefit most from. I may have even forgotten some:

Increasing protein goal:
- Lifting for muscle growth. Studies are showing 0.7g/lb is all that is needed for muscle growth. The previous "bro myth" of 1g/lb has been shown to be overkill.
- Vegetarian.
- Elderly.
- Large calorie deficit. More protein will help to retain muscle, and it's satiating which will help with sustaining the deficit.

Decreasing protein goal:
- Obese. Your lean body mass needs the protein, your fat doesn't.

Regarding PPL. That's ideal for a 6-day split. If you enjoy it, carry on. Getting sufficient volume at sufficient intensity plus progressive overload and total protein are all far more important than training split or exercise choice. However, more frequency is better than one per week for a muscle group. If you could find a way to do each of chest, back, shoulders, quads, hams twice per week during your three visits, while still meeting the same weekly goal for muscle growth (probably 10-15 working sets) that would be better than doing all those sets once per week.

AnnPT77

debris_ship0e wrote: »

Retroguy2000 wrote: »

Losing about two pounds per week and no mention of lifting, they are probably losing at least 25% of that from muscle.

I realized I should have mentioned that as well. I got to the gym 4 days a week, lift 3 times a week, do a PPL split, and one day for the core. I do 20 minutes of cardio every day after lifting.

Retroguy2000 wrote: »

It would help if you got a bit more protein since you're a vegetarian. If you were lifting and vegetarian I'd say closer to 200g, but if you're not lifting I'd still suggest more than 120g.

I see there is a lot of conflicting information about how much protein one should eat. I see 0.8 grams per kg in some places. Some references say a gram per pound. I thought I would just stick to the lower limit because that is more convenient for me. But I can try to eat more protein now.

If you'd like some specific, focused information summarizing the state of protein needs research, the guide at this link is very good:

https://examine.com/guides/protein-intake/

That's a site that's regarded as neutral; their business is reviewing and summarizing nutritional research, not selling supplements. If you use their calculator, someone who is very obese can reasonably use goal weight in the calculator.

Retro's summary above is reasonable IMO, if you're not looking for supporting details. I'd underscore the point that vegetarians tend to benefit from a bit more protein, to the extent that we rely on less essential amino acid (EAA) complete and less bioavailable plant sources. (I've been vegetarian for over 50 years.)

Retroguy2000 wrote: »

It's entirely possible your eye-balling of calories is off. Food trucks maybe have cooking oil, sauces, etc. If there is cheese you may under-estimate the portion size, which can mean a lot of calories not accounted for.

Although this is entirely possible, I try to log a higher number of calories when I eat out in general. But I can be more accurate in terms of logging.

Retroguy2000 wrote: »

So my suggestion: aim for at least 2,000, increase protein a bit, and be more diligent with the calorie tracking. Don't forget drinks in there too. Ideally, lift too.

Thanks for the help.

debris_ship0e wrote: »

trixsterjl31 wrote: »

Some questions:
Do you weight in the same clothing every day at the same time in the same conditions. I get up for work, shower and then step on the scale.
Did your bathroom activity change. When i got low I start retaining matter and water more readily.

Even if everything else is the same for me my weight will go up during the work week and then reach it low point normally after a day or two of good sleep. **are you getting a full nights sleep*

When I changed my habits on july 4 I dropped like a race dog chasing a rabbit. For me that lasted for a month. I went on vacation for a month. When I came back it dropped again for a month. I had 150 LBS to lose though. Now i'm at the point where my weight will tick up then drop and go to a new low. Tick up drop, Tick up... drop.... I've been through this process a few times in my life. Stay the course and keep checking your numbers. It will catch up and have the drop you already earned at some point.

Thanks for sharing insights from your journey. For the questions, I weigh myself every day after coming out of the toilet in the morning. Yes, bathroom frequency has changed a bit. Sleep at least 7 hours a day, mostly 8. After going over the replies, I get the feeling that I should just keep doing the same for a month and see how much my weight changes in expectation.

Yes to the bolded . . . with the exception that it's really not a good idea to lose weight fast, unless severely obese and under close medical supervision for deficiencies or complications.

For someone your size, eating as few as 1400 calories any more than very rarely is a bad plan.
Doing this risks excessive muscle loss, is likely to trigger compensatory overeating (or weakness, fatigue) eventually, increases various health risks (some serious), makes it difficult to get adequate nutrition, and more.

If MFP told you to eat 2080 for a sensibly moderate weight loss rate, then try to eat close to 2080 calories for a month, then adjust.

I get the appeal of losing fast, and the gratifying nature of quick drops on the scale. Don't do it. Put priority on finding new, sustainable, healthy habits. That's a path to thriving.

Best wishes!

trixsterjl31

Sticking to it for a month is a good plan. It should randomly reach new lows. When you compare that to the high point it should be pretty steady over time. Got my new low today .55 a day consistent after over 3 months, last week i went up another 3 lb didn't log above.

debris_ship0e

trixsterjl31 wrote: »

Sticking to it for a month is a good plan. It should randomly reach new lows. When you compare that to the high point it should be pretty steady over time. Got my new low today .55 a day consistent after over 3 months, last week i went up another 3 lb didn't log above.

I hit a new low twice this week. Thanks for giving all the information. Feeling even more motivated now.

trixsterjl31

debris_ship0e wrote: »

I hit a new low twice this week. Thanks for giving all the information. Feeling even more motivated now.

NP. It is good to remind myself. I've been at it for 3 months and i'm down 47 lbs on the scale for a week now i've been flat on the scale with small up then back down, repeat. I'm still averaging half a lb a day. I know I'm still going down because the waist dropped another inch. It is frustrating though. So i totally understand how it feels.