Suggestions on what to do here...

nikkihk

So I've been working at this for four and a half weeks, I learned half way through to balance my meals at 40/30/30 with the emphasis on protein (though suggestion here) and am strength training 3 times a week with just enough cardio each time to get my muscles warm. My goal is weight loss but not muscle loss...

My calories at at 1500 a day and I allow for one eat up day a week but still try to stay around the 1800-2000 mark. Problem is? I'm hovering. I still have yet to drop below my weight from the first week of Jan and I also think I gained an inch around the waist. SO what the heck am I doing wrong here? I'm wondering if I should increase the calories or something? Or give it another three weeks and see if things change. I know this isn't an overnight thing but I'd assumed I would have at least dropped below my starting weight even a pound by now. Or maybe I'm just building muscle?

Any thoughts?

Cortelli

If you are new to working out your body is likely retaining more water to help rebuild your muscles. I'm not sure what your expected TDEE or MFP calorie goal should be because we don't know your stats - but this early in a new diet and workout approach "eat more" is rarely the correct answer to lose weight. I would suggest you give it another few weeks, make sure you're logging everything accurately and being honest with yourself, and reassess again in a few weeks. If still stalled the right answer will almost surely be to reduce calories, but I wouldn't jump to that just yet. Good luck :drinker:

ETA: stupid tablet spell correct

jeffpettis

The only thing absolutely required for fat loss is a calories deficit. If your not losing fat you are either eating more than you think or you are burning less than you think (if you're logging exercise calories).

Sounds like you have the right idea. You want to try to hang on to as much muscle as possible while losing fat. The more muscle you have the more calories your body will burn. The only way to do that is to lift weights and get plenty of protein.

I know you will have a ton of people tell you that you need to increase your calories, but if you're not losing with the amount of food you are currently eating think long and hard about adding more calories to that. I'll never understand that one I guess... :huh:

And if you are in fact in a calorie deficit, or even at maintenance, you are not building muscle, especially not enough to counteract the fat you are losing, you are at best just maintaining what muscle you have, which is what you should be doing while dieting.

caraherch

Cardio really helps me. I balance it out enough with strength/resistence training that I don't lose the muscle like many people think. That could just be my goals though- I want higher endurance and a healthy heart along with the strength. Cardio along with weighing my food when logging and being honest with what I eat has helped me lose 5 lbs in the first week or two. (I also have a lot to lose which affects the rate as well)

ndj1979

1 where did you get 1500 a day from?
2. are you logging every single thing?
3. do you have a food scale, and are your weighing everything?
4. How accurate is your cheat day logging?

From what you posted, I would ditch the cheat day and see what kind of an impact that has. If you are working out a lot you can have water retention and then your cheat day will result in additional bloat/water retention, so kind of a double whammy there..

If you want something like ice cream, pizza, etc, maybe try to fit into your day and eat at maintenance instead of going over..??

what is your strength training regimen like? You could mix in some cardio on off days to help with burns ...

nikkihk

1. MFP says 1200... and I used Scooby's calculator to get around 1600 so I figure 1500 should work well.
2. Absolutely and religiously.
3. Yes and yes... and 1500 still FEELS like alot.
4. I over estimate.

I can certainly treat cheat day like any other day...

As for strength training I do 8 exercises each time (every other day) 10 reps 3 sets and have been increasing weight as I feel stronger. I also do 5-10 minutes of warm up cardio each time. I'm certainly getting stronger and the cardio is easier, and I want to say this is a combo of water retention and muscle mass? But it's like a jigsaw puzzle to get this working.

Like Cortelli said, I'll give it a few more weeks to see if it changes.

ndj1979

1. MFP says 1200... and I used Scooby's calculator to get around 1600 so I figure 1500 should work well.
2. Absolutely and religiously.
3. Yes and yes... and 1500 still FEELS like alot.
4. I over estimate.

I can certainly treat cheat day like any other day...

As for strength training I do 8 exercises each time (every other day) 10 reps 3 sets and have been increasing weight as I feel stronger. I also do 5-10 minutes of warm up cardio each time. I'm certainly getting stronger and the cardio is easier, and I want to say this is a combo of water retention and muscle mass? But it's like a jigsaw puzzle to get this working.

Like Cortelli said, I'll give it a few more weeks to see if it changes.

if you are in a true deficit then I would say it is not muscle mass …I am thinking water retention …

My advice…over the next week drink a crap ton of water, to the point where you are like peeing like a race horse and see if that helps …I did that one and dropped like four pounds in water weight in a week ….

You might find this article interesting …

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

nikkihk

THANK YOU NDJ!!! I will do that and see what happens..

ndj1979

Are you doing TDEE method or MFP method?

nikkihk

The TDEE method. But using MFP macros.

ndj1979

OK - BC when I checked your profile it said that you had burned x amount of calories from strength training so I thought you were doing MFP method..

You are not eating your exercise calories back are you ?

The burns that MFP gives you for strength training are really not accurate at all…that is why I never log them….I was thinking it you were using those burns and eating back the exercise cals that might be your issue….