what if my calories have been low for a long time..

Hezzietiger1

Hey guys.. just joined your group today, thanks.

So me..

I've been eating pretty low calorie for about 5 months now.

125 carbs 100 pro 25 fat

I log everything I eat, sometimes on mfp, but always in notebook form. I'm trying to get in the habit of logging here as well. I've had a lot of success. Prior to dropping my cals to this level I had lost a good amount of weight but stalled out for about 6 months. In May when I dropped cals I was at 168 today at 135. I workout a lot. I'm a crossfitter. I do 3 days of heavy lifting- push day, pull day, squat day and aux lifting as well. I do 4-5 Crossfit WOD's each week usually between 7-25 minutes long and 60 minutes of cardio 4-5 days a week.
I work in a gym and am on my feet all day long. In my experience when I eat more, I gain weight. My concern is when I hit my goal in probably about 10 more lbs (23%bf now, looking to be about 18%)..what then? I hear people saying my metabolism is going to be shot, that I will always have to eat super low calories, etc. I am just looking for your thoughts first and any advice second.

Thanks.

SideSteel

I think there's merit to the idea that you can incrementally increase your calories, slowly, over a period of several weeks, and potentially maintain bodyweight on a higher intake than you're currently at.

Do you use a food scale and weigh everything?

Hezzietiger1

I do.

SideSteel

What rate are you losing at on a weekly basis now? Say for the last 6 weeks?

Hezzietiger1

It was around 2 lbs til I hit the 130's.. then about 1/2 a lb and then I started adding 60 min of cardio 4-5 days a week and bumped back to 2 lbs. I usually put on 3 with my cycle and it falls back off. So over the last 6 weeks I had a 2,1, .5, .5, 2, then this week (so far) +3.

Sarauk2sf

Tagging.

SideSteel

It was around 2 lbs til I hit the 130's.. then about 1/2 a lb and then I started adding 60 min of cardio 4-5 days a week and bumped back to 2 lbs. I usually put on 3 with my cycle and it falls back off. So over the last 6 weeks I had a 2,1, .5, .5, 2, then this week (so far) +3.

How do you feel, how is your performance in the gym, are you having any physiological issues/hormonal issues, and how is your fruit and vegetable intake?

Lozm1980

Following

Hezzietiger1

Well.. honestly I feel great. I do have some mid day energy issues, but once I eat lunch and have a cup of coffee i'm usually good to go. Gym- This week I hit a PR Clean 105, PR Deadlift 205, PR Jerk 105, my first Handstand pushup full depth and ran my fastest mile at 7:55. Fruit good, veggies could be better. Just ordered a dynamic greens supplement to help.

I did get sick last week, like a head cold and fever for 2 days.. but everyone in my house had it first. No other issues.

Sarauk2sf

Hi!

On looking at your diary, you have a lot of missing days (as you mention), but also the days that you are logging look incomplete.

I would recommend logging as accurately as possible in MFP going forward so we can get a better idea of your caloric intake as well as macros. The nearer you get to goal, the more important it is to dial these things down. It is also important to understand macro levels to make sure you are getting sufficient protein and fats (especially when at a deficit and without accurate (or as accurate as possible) logs, we have no data to assess.

Also, when reversing up, it is not only important to understand your caloric intake, but your macros. If you have been dieting for a while, especially on low calories, then you would ideally want to reverse up slowly so you can bring you metabolism up. Our metabolisms will be suppressed due to diet induced adaptive thermogenics - it is normal, but the extend depends on a number of factors, including genetics, size and length of deficit, macos etc.

So, with that being said, we would recommend that you log all your food on MFP as accurately as possible - include everything - fruits, veggies, condiments, drinks, sneaky licks of spoons. Weigh were possible. Then follow up with us when you have at least 2 weeks of consistent logging on MFP - please also weigh at least weekly during this period so we can also monitor your weight.

Hezzietiger1

Yes, lately I'm bad about logging food in MFP but I do log EVERYTHING. The only days I've been using MFP lately is when I preplan using it to incorporate different stuff. Normally I just eat the same boring stuff all the time, LOL. Macros stay near 100 pro, 125 carbs, and 25 fat.. and I generally eat 4-5 times a day between 11am and 9pm. I will log consistently into MFP over the next 2 weeks and followup. I weigh every morning as well.. so not an issue to keep that up. Talk to you in 2 weeks.

SideSteel

Locking this thread, please PM one or both of us on your scheduled update date, or sooner if you have issues.