Question about exercise and muscle gain

spideywebb77

So this weeks weight loss was pretty non-stellar. A loss is a loss though so I will take it. My first week was a 10 lb loss but I understand that the first week is not normal for weight loss. My second week was a little over 4 lbs and I felt that kind of weigh loss could be sustainable. This week I only show 1 lb.

My exercise has primarily been cardio and almost exclusively on the treadmill. I use the polar FT7 to calculate calories burned and I feel like it is accurate. I am curious if you the community think that this could have caused enough muscle gain to offset this weeks weight loss?

I am using a scale to measure my portions. I know that there is some estimation involved here and I not dead set on seeing 4 lbs every week. I would like to see at least 2 lbs though...

Couple of other questions.
I cooked a 2 lb roast yesterday and presplit that into portions. When all was said and done I only had 6 4oz poritons. Are the calories based on pre cooked portions?

How would you measure that after cooking?

Thanks for any feedback!

rileysowner

Doing cardio it will not be muscle gain. Even doing strength training the gains in a calorie deficit will be small, and certainly not going to offset fat loss. It is possible, assuming your are measuring your food carefully, that you are retaining some water. Also, 4 pounds a week is a very aggressive goal which would be very difficult to maintain for a long period of time.

I would suggest you add some strength training to your exercise. If you don't go to a gym, do some bodyweight program.

I always measure my meat raw if I am cooking it myself. Cooked if it is prepared a head of time. Both are in the database.

easjer

It is unlikely that you have put on enough muscle without specific strength training (while maintaining a caloric deficit) to cancel out fat loss. What is much more likely is that your metabolism is trying to adjust to an increase in activity until your body figures out that you aren't starving or entering a deprivation period (that you haven't been thrown into a Siberian gulag with active work detail). Your metabolism will shift downwards to protect your body (survival mode), and it may take a little while before things pick up again. While it may be frustrating 1-2 lbs per week is a normal, sustainable weight loss.

spideywebb77

Thanks for the replies.

I understand that 1-2 is still good, great even. My frustration comes for shooting for 4 and only getting 1. :laugh:

I don't expect to maintain 4 but I thought with all the extra work load it should come off easier at first and slow down as I get to my goal weight.

I intend to add some weight training. Right now I just want to get started. The last 2 times I have tried to loose weight the weight training has been at the center of discouraging me. (Mostly because I try to start off to hard)

rileysowner

Weight loss is about diet, eating the right number of calories one way or another. If you are measuring your food carefully using a scale for solid foods and liquid measuring cups for the liquids and powders, logging everything you eat then you will lose if you eating less calories than you burn in a day regardless of exercise. Exercise is for health and to maintain muscle mass while losing fat.

In terms of strength training, was it the muscle soreness that caused you to give up?

In terms of losing 4 pounds a week, while it is possible, because you have lots to lose, at the same time it may or may not happen even with a large deficit, not because fat is not being burned, but for other factors outside of your control.

You are making a good start of things. Keep going.

serindipte

Looking through the last week or so of your diary, your numbers are all over the place. You may want to consider planning out your day the evening before or that morning, log it in so you can better manage your calorie intake. I would also suggest going with protein for your morning meal(s) rather than the high carb/sugar that you've been hitting with your poptarts and biscuits. There were some days that you were as low as 1500 and for a 36 yr old man, that seems extremely low.

ETA: Part of getting control of your intake includes accurately weighing your portions. If you aren't doing that, call it step 1.

ell_v131

So this weeks weight loss was pretty non-stellar. A loss is a loss though so I will take it. My first week was a 10 lb loss but I understand that the first week is not normal for weight loss. My second week was a little over 4 lbs and I felt that kind of weigh loss could be sustainable. This week I only show 1 lb.

My exercise has primarily been cardio and almost exclusively on the treadmill. I use the polar FT7 to calculate calories burned and I feel like it is accurate. I am curious if you the community think that this could have caused enough muscle gain to offset this weeks weight loss?

I am using a scale to measure my portions. I know that there is some estimation involved here and I not dead set on seeing 4 lbs every week. I would like to see at least 2 lbs though...

Couple of other questions.
I cooked a 2 lb roast yesterday and presplit that into portions. When all was said and done I only had 6 4oz poritons. Are the calories based on pre cooked portions?

How would you measure that after cooking?

Thanks for any feedback!

I'm glad you have adjusted your expectations. In the photo you don't seem huge so consistent 4lb loss is not going to happen, 1-2lb a week should be sustainable and you should be happy for each week that goes that way. I pound of fat is a lot!

I think strength training would be great for you. It doesn't have to be lifting if you don't enjoy it, why not master your own body weight? There are great programs for home like Nerd Fitness or Convict Conditioning that are challenging and fun.

As for the cooking, yes, most foods lose moisture during the cooking process and they end up more calorie dense. What I do is either portion pre-cooking (not suitable for all) or I weigh before cooking, the whole piece after cooking, and calculate the ratio by which it lost weight. Then when I cut it up, I multiply each piece by that ratio.

You could use the listings in the database that are for "cooked roast" etc but these will be inaccurate as it depends on how long you have cooked it etc.

Hope this helps!

deksgrl

2 pounds per week should be your goal. It is unhealthy and unsustainable to lose more than that. Also the loss will not be linear. It is normal to lose different amounts based on a variety of factors.

spideywebb77

My meal plans are fairly simple. What ever I cook for my supper is also my last meal of the day and lunch the next day. There are occasional variance for this but at this point it has become about portion control. Though when I cook a meal thats higher caliores It can tank the day.

Yes i have been all over the map for calorie consumption. I am working on that. Apparently for the weight that I am at I was consuming over 3300 calories a day. Also I think that from a few of the response I need to go back and look at how I have my meals set up. Seems the most likely place I am off some will be the meats. Not because they are weighed wrong but because I am using calorie / weight ratio for uncooked meats.

Morning is the one time of day that I dont have time to cook. The poptarts were in the pantry and used to cover the fact that i ran out of muffins. The muffins looked healthy to me.... half and half white flour and Wheat flour. Applesauce, brown sugar, blueberries and oats. over 14 muffins they average out to 127 caliores i think and are quite filling (One has been doing the job)

Thanks for the pointers and words of encourgement. (Saying that I am not that large)


Oh and on the strength training. I can live with muscle soreness. Its a mental thing for me.. The fact that I cant do a lot of these exercises with my on body weight is quite discouraging. So.. I would wear myself out in a short workout and then not have time for cardio feel like I wasted my time. You have me thinking about it now. Maybe I can do something tomorrow or Saturday to get rolling down that path.

ell_v131

My meal plans are fairly simple. What ever I cook for my supper is also my last meal of the day and lunch the next day. There are occasional variance for this but at this point it has become about portion control. Though when I cook a meal thats higher caliores It can tank the day.

Yes i have been all over the map for calorie consumption. I am working on that. Apparently for the weight that I am at I was consuming over 3300 calories a day. Also I think that from a few of the response I need to go back and look at how I have my meals set up. Seems the most likely place I am off some will be the meats. Not because they are weighed wrong but because I am using calorie / weight ratio for uncooked meats.

Morning is the one time of day that I dont have time to cook. The poptarts were in the pantry and used to cover the fact that i ran out of muffins. The muffins looked healthy to me.... half and half white flour and Wheat flour. Applesauce, brown sugar, blueberries and oats. over 14 muffins they average out to 127 caliores i think and are quite filling (One has been doing the job)

Thanks for the pointers and words of encourgement. (Saying that I am not that large)


Oh and on the strength training. I can live with muscle soreness. Its a mental thing for me.. The fact that I cant do a lot of these exercises with my on body weight is quite discouraging. So.. I would wear myself out in a short workout and then not have time for cardio feel like I wasted my time. You have me thinking about it now. Maybe I can do something tomorrow or Saturday to get rolling down that path.

thanks for taking everybody's pointers in consideration, it's refreshing meeting someone with an open mind.

I understand what you feel like with the strength training. I am not too overweight anymore but I can't do a pull up/push up and never could. I feel better lifting weights cause if I can bicep curl 18lbs that is an achievement, while it would be a fail on the pull up lol. It's a process and mental is a big part of it. Try to push yourself a little every day but I would not say push yourself to do it if you really don't enjoy. You'd come to resent it and it's better to find something that works for you. I find resistance bands good in terms of variation and being able to adjust the difficulty of the workout.