P90x vs Lifting?

gmthisfeller

Don't let trollers get you upset, you are on the right track. I think either option will work and you can always change up your workout routine to keep your body guessing and to keep from getting bored. It's just important to stay consistant on just working out several times a week.

+1

You also have the option to "block" people as well.

Changing your exercise routine is a great approach. It can help you keep an upbeat attitude along with a fresh perspective. When you feel bored, change it up! Exercise hard, whatever you do, cardio, weightlifting, in-place aerobics; make your fat cells cry out for relief, but show them no mercy. Couple that with a calorie deficit and you have a recipe for success.

jimmmer

There's something going on with the TDEE/logging/measuring/etc. If you are in a deficit and consistently following a programme, then you'll lose weight. It's that simple.

I log/track consistently. I also eat back my calories..I guess the program aspect of it is screwed up? Because my diet has been pretty good

If you are a programme hopper, you'll be getting a lot of water-weight fluctuations. A week or two into a consistent programme these things normally even out and you can see the true effect of whatever surplus/deficit you are actually hitting.

Also you say you eat back your exercise calories, but how do you calculate those?

Do you log cooking oils and stuff like that?

Could be a combination of factors. You just need to make sure you are doing everything right and then give it time. Re-evaluate every couple of weeks.

ndj1979

p90x does not make you lose body fat%….

eating in a deficit, hitting macros, and working out will lead to this..

It really is the diet…

If you are not losing then you need to re-evaluate your diet and how much you are eating.

kassiebby1124

**See post below**

kassiebby1124

No. What's your height, weight, age, activity level?

5'4
194.6
19
30-60 mins of cardio 4 days out of the week, 1 day HIIT (15-20mins kettlebell/sprinting), 3x lifting (minimum)
I've been on this deficit for 3 months now. I was for my TDEE -20 but I did that for 5 months and saw nothing different. In fact, I gained that entire time and I measured/weighed everything

Unknown

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kassiebby1124

If you are a programme hopper, you'll be getting a lot of water-weight fluctuations. A week or two into a consistent programme these things normally even out and you can see the true effect of whatever surplus/deficit you are actually hitting.

Also you say you eat back your exercise calories, but how do you calculate those?

Do you log cooking oils and stuff like that?

Could be a combination of factors. You just need to make sure you are doing everything right and then give it time. Re-evaluate every couple of weeks.

I log all the oils, sauces, etc when I cook, too. I have a HRM and I use a food scale

ndj1979

No. What's your height, weight, age, activity level?

5'4
194.6
19
30-60 mins of cardio 4 days out of the week, 1 day HIIT (15-20mins kettlebell/sprinting), 3x lifting (minimum)
I've been on this deficit for 3 months now. I was for my TDEE -20 but I did that for 5 months and saw nothing different. In fact, I gained that entire time and I measured/weighed everything

if you gained on TDEE -20 then you were not in a deficit and were actually in a surplus..

unless you have some kind of thyroid or other medical condition?

what is your lifting regimen?

jimmmer

No. What's your height, weight, age, activity level?

5'4
194.6
19
30-60 mins of cardio 4 days out of the week, 1 day HIIT (15-20mins kettlebell/sprinting), 3x lifting (minimum)
I've been on this deficit for 3 months now. I was for my TDEE -20 but I did that for 5 months and saw nothing different. In fact, I gained that entire time and I measured/weighed everything

Jesus that's a lot of activity for such a low calorie intake. Fitness frog puts you at about 2600 for maintenance at that activity level and height/age/weight. I'd be trying for at least 1800 with that schedule.

ndj1979

OP - no offense intended but i have seen some of your other threads and you do appear to be all over the place with respect to training and diet..

my advice…find a lifting regimen, make sure you are in a deficit, repeat until you reach desired goals…

if you are constantly changing programs/regimens then you are never going to get to where you want to go…trust me I have been there….Best thing I ever did was commit to a program of compound movements, stick to it, and hit my macros ….

calibriintx

No. What's your height, weight, age, activity level?

5'4
194.6
19
30-60 mins of cardio 4 days out of the week, 1 day HIIT (15-20mins kettlebell/sprinting), 3x lifting (minimum)
I've been on this deficit for 3 months now. I was for my TDEE -20 but I did that for 5 months and saw nothing different. In fact, I gained that entire time and I measured/weighed everything

What was your calorie goal when you were doing TDEE-20?

ndj1979

No. What's your height, weight, age, activity level?

5'4
194.6
19
30-60 mins of cardio 4 days out of the week, 1 day HIIT (15-20mins kettlebell/sprinting), 3x lifting (minimum)
I've been on this deficit for 3 months now. I was for my TDEE -20 but I did that for 5 months and saw nothing different. In fact, I gained that entire time and I measured/weighed everything

Jesus that's a lot of activity for such a low calorie intake. Fitness frog puts you at about 2600 for maintenance at that activity level and height/age/weight. I'd be trying for at least 1800 with that schedule.

based on the fact that she gained weight she was probably not eating 1400….

kassiebby1124

What was your calorie goal when you were doing TDEE-20?

A little over 1700. I don't remember precisely.

@ndj- I just recently started tracking macros a few weeks ago and up until this week I was following a 5 day split. I did cardio for a while paired with lifting but I hurt my ankle again so I'm starting to get back in the swing of it because I do like it. I think I'm going to follow All Pro's and commit to it and see where I go from there.

@jimmer- When I did the maintenance it set me a 1919, which is why I eat 1400 o.o

ndj1979

What was your calorie goal when you were doing TDEE-20?

A little over 1700. I don't remember precisely.

@ndj- I just recently started tracking macros a few weeks ago and up until this week I was following a 5 day split. I did cardio for a while paired with lifting but I hurt my ankle again so I'm starting to get back in the swing of it because I do like it. I think I'm going to follow All Pro's and commit to it and see where I go from there.

@jimmer- When I did the maintenance it set me a 1919, which is why I eat 1400 o.o

are you doing compound movements…machines…what kind of split?

kassiebby1124

are you doing compound movements…machines…what kind of split?

The 5 day split was a combination of compound and isolation movements. My friend who is a competitive powerlifter drafted it up for me
This is what I was following:

Lleldiranne

Sorry, I missed something I think … are you following MFP recommendations or are you using TDEE? If you're doing TDEE, you shouldn't be eating back exercise calories as they are already accounted for. I prefer that method, personally, since the majority of my exercise is lifting, which is much harder to estimate exercise calories (HRMs don't work well for lifting, they are intended for cardio). FWIW, I put your stats into a TDEE calculator, and at -20% it says to be eating 2100 calories. You could even do 1800, but if you are really working out that much I wouldn't go much lower. (There are days when you don't even hit 1400, I noticed!)

I would watch your macros, too. You often aren't getting anywhere near your protein goal. Make that a priority.

As far as which program you should do to help reduce your body fat, I think either one will work, as long as you are doing it properly. If you go with the p90x, stick with it. And if you are eating in a deficit, you should lose weight, but sometimes some of that loss is hidden at first by water retention in your muscles (normal when you start a new program). If you aren't losing weight, you aren't in a deficit. Either there is some miscalculation in calories in (do you use a kitchen scale for everything?) or there is something affecting calories out. If you haven't been to a doctor recently, it may be worth the time to go in. Thyroid issues and ovarian cyst issues can affect your metabolism, making it harder to lose weight.

calibriintx

What was your calorie goal when you were doing TDEE-20?

A little over 1700. I don't remember precisely.

@ndj- I just recently started tracking macros a few weeks ago and up until this week I was following a 5 day split. I did cardio for a while paired with lifting but I hurt my ankle again so I'm starting to get back in the swing of it because I do like it. I think I'm going to follow All Pro's and commit to it and see where I go from there.

@jimmer- When I did the maintenance it set me a 1919, which is why I eat 1400 o.o

I can see why you're frustrated and I can't say that I wouldn't be tempted to make a bunch of changes if I was following a program and not seeing results...but depending on how long you were giving various calorie goals, plus other variables, like TOM, water retention, etc. it's possible that at some point you hit the right number and just didn't give it long enough. Generally if someone is maintaining for a long period of time, they need to lower their intake, but I don't know how long you've been at 1400 and I wouldn't eat lower than that if I were you. I would decide on a specific training program and stick with it. 3 days lifting, period, not at least. 2 days cardio, period. 1 day HIT if you enjoy it. Or do something entirely different, but whatever it is, do the same thing every week and make sure you have rest days. Personally, I would start eating closer to 1600 or 1700 for a month and see what happens. If you maintain, lower by 100 for a month. But I would only do this if you're certain that you're tracking accurately and weighing everything. And if you're not already doing it, start measuring your body so you can see changes on the tape measure and not just the scale.

I'm not an expert and I wouldn't take my statement as advice and run with it. This is just what I would do if I had your stats and activity level. If you asked one of our experts they might tell you to keep your goal at 1400 and work on accurate tracking, or something entirely different. I know for sure they'd tell you to stick with something for at least a month or two. Do some more research, and then stick with something for awhile. Good luck!

ndj1979

are you doing compound movements…machines…what kind of split?

The 5 day split was a combination of compound and isolation movements. My friend who is a competitive powerlifter drafted it up for me
This is what I was following:

that seems like a pretty intense program for a beginner…

My recommendation would be to go to more of a total body work out where you hit legs/arms/back/shoulders/chest three days a sweet and do cardio three times a week….then after about three months when you drop some weight and body fat% you can go to more of a upper/lower split routine with less cardio ….

kassiebby1124

that seems like a pretty intense program for a beginner…

My recommendation would be to go to more of a total body work out where you hit legs/arms/back/shoulders/chest three days a sweet and do cardio three times a week….then after about three months when you drop some weight and body fat% you can go to more of a upper/lower split routine with less cardio ….

I've been lifting for around a year now (but CONSISTENTLY for around 7 months).
I followed Stronglifts last year when I first started but adding weight began to hurt me lol.

@mathjulz- I technically "am" following the TDEE method but I eat a bit under that. I'm supposed to eat 1515, but I eat 1400 instead. When I exercise, I eat back up to 1400. i use a kitchen scale but I do know that I can't eat a lot of salt. Therefore, I lowered my salt intake, haha.

@cali- thank you for being so helpful. I'm gonna finish this month out at 1400 and see if I need to up my intake (:

doorki

Just to get everything on the table, you say that you are not seeing weight loss but have you measured your waist or other body dimensions? I know that when I started out I saw a weight gain initially but a drop in waist size before my weight started coming off.

kassiebby1124

Just to get everything on the table, you say that you are not seeing weight loss but have you measured your waist or other body dimensions? I know that when I started out I saw a weight gain initially but a drop in waist size before my weight started coming off.

There's not much change in how my clothes fit either. I know the scale lies. It's evil.

birdiecs

I've done P90x and I'm heavy lifting now. I keep a measurement log and here is my results from both at almost the exact weight.

P90x @ 131.8 lbs. I came down from 143.4 in 3 months

Bust 36.5
Waist 29.5
Hips 38.75

Today with heavy lifting @ 132.2lbs

Bust 38.5
Waist 27.75
Hips 38.5


I regained weight this past year when my husband's heath issue got pretty bad. Stress eating and generally not giving a ****.
Gained some weight and restarted MFP @ 137.2 lbs but decided to not focus on cardio and do mainly lifting. So I'm down about 5lbs and have not lost any breast volume but my waist and *kitten* are getting firm and tight. That's a big deal to me as I was really hating how my normally full boobs were looking deflated with p90x.

kassiebby1124

I've done P90x and I'm heavy lifting now. I keep a measurement log and here is my results from both at almost the exact weight.

P90x @ 131.8 lbs. I came down from 143.4 in 3 months

Bust 36.5
Waist 29.5
Hips 38.75

Today with heavy lifting @ 132.2lbs

Bust 38.5
Waist 27.75
Hips 38.5

Virtually the same weight but I have 2 inches more boob and almost 2 inches less waist. Lifting has really accentuated my hourglass shape much more than P90x.

Awesome
So..I should start using measuring tape? I usually use the little body fat calculator thingy every few months

birdiecs

Definitely use a measuring tape. I have kept a log since the start and it keeps me motivated to see the inches lost. It also makes it easy to compare what works and what doesn't for me. My goal weight was 110lbs and I did at one point get down to 116lbs with mainly cardio, but I hated my body composition. Now I'm shooting for 120lbs or even 125lbs if my inches keep melting off with lifting.

kassiebby1124

Definitely use a measuring tape. I have kept a log since the start and it keeps me motivated to see the inches lost. It also makes it easy to compare what works and what doesn't for me. My goal weight was 110lbs and I did at one point get down to 116lbs with mainly cardio, but I hated my body composition. Now I'm shooting for 120lbs or even 125lbs if my inches keep melting off with lifting.

Awesome :DD Okay

jimmmer

The tape is definitely the way to go.

Measure at the same time of the day each time. I personally track my measurements once a week - first thing Monday morning. If my weight has gone up, but my measurements have gone down or stayed the same then dollars-to-donuts it's fluid retention. If the weight's creeping up and my measurements are creeping up (and I'm not bulking) then I know something's gone wrong somewhere and I can re-examine everything with a cold, calculating eye.

A spreadsheet is an excellent way to keep track of this stuff, btw...

moment_to_arise

For the things I've "stuck with" (which, I might add, is longer than a month or whatever you presume I follow), I've not seen results.

you need to stick with a program for at the VERY LEAST 2-3 months before you will see actual results. not saying you won't see any results during that time period, but at least 2-3 months for good stuff.

amberlykay1014

Hold on. If you're doing TDEE - 20%, you should NOT be eating your exercise calories back. They are already accounted for. That could explain a lot.

Unknown

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