Almost 3 months and very little success.....

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Replies

  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    Personally I don't see the point of burning up all those calories and then eating them back. It's different once you're on maintenance. Give yourself a couple of weeks just on your calorie allowance and see how you do then. Don't forget as well, if you are doing a lot of excercise you'll be building muscle. It weighs more than fat.
    No and no.
    +1

    You can't build muscle while eating at a deficet.

    You need to open your diary.

    typically when you think you are doing everything right and not losing weight one of two things or a combination of the two is happening.

    Over esitmating burns and/or under estimating intake (which happens when you don't weigh your food on a kitchen scale)

    I disagree, people new to exercise CAN add weight from their muscles, though some of it is water, it can be significant and offset fat losses.

    I wouldn't open your diary, either, or you'll get all kinds of comments about things that don't matter to weight loss-- water intake, sugar, protein, processed foods, meal skipping, etc.

    I would forget 'eating back' and just shoot for eating around 1500/day. Good luck!

    The first area I bolded above is probably the case.

    As for the second area I bolded, that is false. Newbie gain, especially in a woman, are not significant. A pound or 2 at most if strength training. More info here on this http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/adding-muscle-while-losing-fat-qa.html

    Looks like some people need a lesson in basic biology and physiology.

    Nice manners. This is from your own link:

    "There are a handful of situations where the combination of muscle gain and fat loss occur relatively readily. The first of those is in overfat beginners. I want to really stress the term overfat in the above sentence. This phenomenon doesn’t happen in lean beginners for reasons I’m going to explain in a second.
    A second situation where this phenomenon occurs readily is folks returning from a layoff. "

    I'm not saying she built 10 lbs. of muscles out of thin air. I'm saying water and some slight muscle changes could be at play.
    In all honesty, it doesn't even matter. Water retention and slight muscle gains wouldn't result in a 3 month plateau... a few weeks, maybe, but not months.

    The more likely culprit is under estimating calories in vs out.

    Correct. A pound or 2 of newbie gains would not cause this.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    I do agree the main culprit is most likely measurement error. Though if she really has lost 3cm (assuming that's off one body part), she's changed something, unless that too is measurement error.

    I also wonder about 'almost 3 months' and 'no real results'. Has it been 2.5 months and 'no real results' means only lost 5-7 lbs.?
  • lauren3101
    lauren3101 Posts: 1,853 Member
    Surely if you're working your muscles and eating a good amount of protein you will build muscle?

    I'm no expert but from my experience over the last 2 months I have been eating at a deficit and can definitely feel more muscle and have seen a marked increase in strength and endurance. I'm in my last week of insanity and whilst I have not lost much scale weight I have lost inches, gained muscle and my fit test results have all improved massively.

    I measure calories burned using my hrm, religiously log and weigh all my food/drink and aim for a daily net of 1300 so even if my calculations are out a little I am sure I'm at a deficit and gaining muscle. That said I totally understand your frustration, I feel the same over my lack in weight loss!

    No. To actually gain muscle you need to eat at a slight surplus.

    You can't feel more muscle, you've just lost fat so your existing muscle is more obvious. Your endurance should be improving, but that's a sign of fitness levels improving, not muscle gain. You also certainly wouldn't be gaining muscle from doing Insanity.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    Surely if you're working your muscles and eating a good amount of protein you will build muscle?

    I'm no expert but from my experience over the last 2 months I have been eating at a deficit and can definitely feel more muscle and have seen a marked increase in strength and endurance. I'm in my last week of insanity and whilst I have not lost much scale weight I have lost inches, gained muscle and my fit test results have all improved massively.

    I measure calories burned using my hrm, religiously log and weigh all my food/drink and aim for a daily net of 1300 so even if my calculations are out a little I am sure I'm at a deficit and gaining muscle. That said I totally understand your frustration, I feel the same over my lack in weight loss!

    Losing inches, feeling more muscle, increase in strength, and increase in endurance doesn't mean increase in muscle mass.

    By performing strength training while in a deficit you can lose inches of fat while maintaining muscle mass. By doing this it can give the illusion of gained mass. Gains in strength doesn't indicate gains in mass. The body is adapting to the exercise.....becoming more efficient, not actually getting bigger.

    Also, with being a female it is extremely difficult to pack on muscle mass, especially enough to stall out the scale. A professional body building female would be hard pressed to put on more than a lb of muscle in 4-6 weeks, of heavy lifting.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    MFP is designed for you to eat back an estimate of your exercise calories...however, most people rely upon shoddy data base calorie burns that greatly exaggerate their burn and make no allowance for estimation error. Also, people routines underestimate their intake...the combination of the two is why "it just doesn't work" for a whole lot of people.

    Calorie counting for weight loss and using the MFP (NEAT method) method in particular requires a lot of precision. Until you have a really good feel for you actual burn you should be comparing it to a few different sources...people simply do not burn as much as they think they do and when you're eating back exercise calories as per the MFP method it is very important to make some allowance for estimation error. If you're not using a food scale to weigh out foods, and in particular, calorie dense foods then it is further likely that you are underestimating your intake significantly.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    Also, with being a female it is extremely difficult to pack on muscle mass, especially enough to stall out the scale. A professional body building female would be hard pressed to put on more than a lb of muscle in 4-6 weeks, of heavy lifting.
    I think females have an easier time packing on the water weight, easily enough to stall the scale for 4-6 weeks of loose measuring. They're not journal articles but I see a lot of bodybuilding sites that mention it. Anecdote is meaningless but it's been my own experience, too... I gain and lose in big whooshes.

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat.html

    It looks like the Minnesota starvation study and Brad Pilon both refer to it as dieter's edema.

    I wonder if it's partly behind the popularity of the 'eat more' thing here--- because people avoid the edema plateaus?
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Do you weigh all your food? If not, it could be why you're not seeing much progress. It's easy to overeat if you don't. Or you could be overestimating your exercise calories. You're supposed to eat some back though... Or use TDEE-20% (http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/) so you don't even have to worry about it.
  • twooliver
    twooliver Posts: 450 Member
    You are going to get some strong opinions on this. Please listen to your body...it'll let you know if you are hungry. My trainer says no to eating burned calories... but if you work out intensely and feel hungry...then eat...

    Also watch your sodium and drink lots of water!!!!
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    You are going to get some strong opinions on this. Please listen to your body...it'll let you know if you are hungry. My trainer says no to eating burned calories... but if you work out intensely and feel hungry...then eat...

    Also watch your sodium and drink lots of water!!!!

    Eating back exercise calories depends upon what you're using. If you're using TDEE -%, then no you wouldn't because your exercise is built into your daily goal. If you're using MFP you would because exercise isn't built into your daily goal. The calories MFP gives you has a deficit built in for you to lose without exercise at all. That's why you get exercise cals back. Now, with that said, MFP can greatly over exaggerate caloric burns, so it's good to start by eating back a percentage of your exercise cals (I do 1/2 to 3/4) and adjust from there.

    If I didn't eat exercise cals back, I'd net anywhere from 850-1100 per day.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    You are going to get some strong opinions on this. Please listen to your body...it'll let you know if you are hungry. My trainer says no to eating burned calories... but if you work out intensely and feel hungry...then eat...

    Also watch your sodium and drink lots of water!!!!

    Your trainer has no idea what he's talking about. You need to eat at least 1200 calories NET a day... more if you have a lot to lose.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,422 MFP Moderator
    You are going to get some strong opinions on this. Please listen to your body...it'll let you know if you are hungry. My trainer says no to eating burned calories... but if you work out intensely and feel hungry...then eat...

    Also watch your sodium and drink lots of water!!!!

    Keep in mind, most trainings include exercise is your TDEE calculations.. In fact, most other websites do the same thing.
  • LuvonLuv
    LuvonLuv Posts: 68
    This discussion thread is very informative.:smile:
  • LuvonLuv
    LuvonLuv Posts: 68
    The answer is here http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/

    Whao! The tone of this article was hilarious but I do get the point. I have to check my inputs in MFP and be more realistic in estimating my caloric intake and burns. The article pointed out something really important though...even though I hadn't seen weight loss on the scale, I have been keeping up with measurements and I have lost on chest, waist and hips. I cannot focus on scale only then. Thanks for sharing that article.
  • uconnwinsnc
    uconnwinsnc Posts: 1,054 Member

    By performing strength training while in a deficit you can lose inches of fat while maintaining muscle mass. By doing this it can give the illusion of gained mass. Gains in strength doesn't indicate gains in mass. The body is adapting to the exercise.....becoming more efficient, not actually getting bigger.

    A 3.8 liter flat six engine can outperform a 7 liter v8 out of an old muscle car. Size and volume doesn't mean everything when it comes to output in cars, and it is the same with human muscle. Weight training on a deficit should be done by most people to improve overall body health even though they won't "gain muscle mass" they will still get stronger.
  • Ang108
    Ang108 Posts: 1,711 Member

    Also, with being a female it is extremely difficult to pack on muscle mass, especially enough to stall out the scale. A professional body building female would be hard pressed to put on more than a lb of muscle in 4-6 weeks, of heavy lifting.

    As a former dedicated weight lifter I not only agree with you, but would like to add that for a female to develop an extra 10 pounds of muscle in three month, steroids would have to be involved and I think furthermore that even with chemical help it would not be possible in such short a time.
    I would think that such a stall is caused by burning less calories than given, taking in more calories than the OP thinks and probably some water weight increase also. It is difficult to tell if the OP does not open her food diary and all advise would be guesswork and as such not worth the energy it takes to type a response.
  • Ang108
    Ang108 Posts: 1,711 Member
    [/quote]

    A 3.8 liter flat six engine can outperform a 7 liter v8 out of an old muscle car. Size and volume doesn't mean everything when it comes to output in cars, and it is the same with human muscle. Weight training on a deficit should be done by most people to improve overall body health even though they won't "gain muscle mass" they will still get stronger.
    [/quote]

    This is true, but has nothing to do with " ten pounds of muscle gained " the problem the OP addressed in her post. She is not complaining that she is not strong, she is however complaining that she is not losing weight.
  • CorlissaEats
    CorlissaEats Posts: 493 Member
    If you havent already done so, buy yourself a food scale. They cost $10 and up.
    ACCURATELY weigh and log for at least 3 weeks. Using only the most recent 2 weeks, one is just to get a base line. Write down any weightloss in pounds and multiply that by 3500. Write that down. Then go to your diary and add up all the calories you ate in those 3 weeks. Write that down too. Add the total calories with the weightloss calories (gain would be a subtract). Then divide that number by 14 days. That is the number of calories your body uses just to maintain. Subract around 500 calories to create a deficit. That is your new daily calorie goal. Of course the data is only as good as your ability to log HONESTLY and accurately. Any binge/low days should be leveled out as your span increases from 2 weeks to more. Good luck.
  • looberella
    looberella Posts: 2 Member
    HI Everyone,

    Thank you all for all your advice. I am on the right track now by doing a few things - weighing my food and sticking to 1200cals per day. I'm not entering my exercise but I'm using a HRM so I know how much I burn and I'm happy with that.

    I joined Michelle Bridges 12WBT, doing the 10km running program and that is getting great results for me.

    Cheers,
    :happy:

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