Weight loss plateau - Am I building muscle

sjacobs106
sjacobs106 Posts: 6 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have been eating less that my allotted calories daily and running on the treadmill about 4 times a week for an hour at a time. My treadmill says that I am burning about 700 calories each time a run. At this rate I would expect the weight to be falling off. I have lost 17 pounds and my waist size has gone down by two inches. However, now I seem to have plateaued. Am I building muscle which is causing my lack of additional weight loss? HELP !!!! what can I do differently.
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Replies

  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
    If you are just running and eating at a deficit you will not gAin muscle. What is your diet like?
  • sjacobs106
    sjacobs106 Posts: 6 Member
    This is my usual day with some small variation

    Breakfast - one cup multi grain cheerios and a cup of coffee
    Lunch - vegetables with tuna on low calorie bread or turkey on low calorie bread
    Dinner - chicken with vegetables
    Snacks - carrots, peppers, apples, Luna bar (when starving)
    Lots of water
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
    I have been eating less that my allotted calories daily and running on the treadmill about 4 times a week for an hour at a time. My treadmill says that I am burning about 700 calories each time a run. At this rate I would expect the weight to be falling off. I have lost 17 pounds and my waist size has gone down by two inches. However, now I seem to have plateaued. Am I building muscle which is causing my lack of additional weight loss? HELP !!!! what can I do differently.

    Treadmill is probably lying to you. Dont use them. Run in the road. Treadmills do some of the work for you.

    If you eat at a calorie deficit, you lose weight. No such thing as a plateau.

    You dont gain muscle from running anyway.
  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
    How many cals per day? My kids could eat more than that, so if that's truly what you are eating you should be losing.
  • sjacobs106
    sjacobs106 Posts: 6 Member
    1000 - 1250 a day
  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
    1000 - 1250 a day

    Then you should be losing quite rapidly. You might want to see your doctor. You do know that as a male, you should be eating at least double that? Are you trying to kill your metabolism completely?
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    not that I think this is the case given how low the numbers are (which I agree- TO LOW FOR A MALE)-

    people forget as they lose weight- the target number also goes down- so if you were losing at 2000- and you drop 15 lbs- you're 2000 will become maintenance- and you'll have to drop to like 1700.

    something people forget- it's a moving target and it's not a fixed point.

    I don't think this is the case for this guy- but it's something to think about for anyone else who pops in here to get some info.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    How long has it been since you've seen a drop on the scale?
  • sjacobs106
    sjacobs106 Posts: 6 Member
    Good News - as of this morning I am at 198.6. Looks like I must have been building muscle from running.

    Thanks everyone.
  • blahblah1990
    blahblah1990 Posts: 19
    You can't build muscle from running though...
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    You can't build muscle from running though...

    He's also not building any significant amount of muscle on 1000-1200 calories. He's more likely to be losing muscle than gaining it at those levels.
  • bagge72
    bagge72 Posts: 1,377 Member
    Good News - as of this morning I am at 198.6. Looks like I must have been building muscle from running.

    Thanks everyone.

    This is why people lose it on the forums sometimes. You let somebody know that they can't build muscle with what they are doing, and they come back with a post like this, and then thanking people for advice you didn't take.

    Pretty much the opposite. You are eating way too little calories, and your body is eating your muscles. That's probably what makes you think you have a lot more to lose at that weight, because you are losing a lot more muscle than fat. I believe it only take something like 620 calories to burn a pound of muscle, and 3500 to burn a pound of fat.
  • bagge72
    bagge72 Posts: 1,377 Member
    also your BMR is around 2,000 so you should at least be eating that.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    Good News - as of this morning I am at 198.6. Looks like I must have been building muscle from running.

    Thanks everyone.

    No, you are not building muscle running four days a week and eating 1200 calories a day.

    To give you a point of reference, I am 5-10 about 172 and I am eating 2100 calories a day, and lifting four times a week, and that is a cut for me and I am definitely not building muscle.

    Running and eating in a calorie deficit does not equate to building muscle.

    if you want to build muscle you would need to be eating in a calorie surplus and lifting weights.

    think of it this way, you cannot build a house and tear it down at the same time; you need a calorie surplus to build new muscle; you need a calorie deficit to reduce weight and lose body fat, so the two processes are diametrically opposed to one another...
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    Good News - as of this morning I am at 198.6. Looks like I must have been building muscle from running.

    Thanks everyone.

    I feel like you don't understand how building muscle really works. herrrmmmm
  • cpusmc
    cpusmc Posts: 122
    at 1200 calories on a male that weight 200lbs, he is soon, if not already, in starvation mode and his body will simply retain every calorie it can due to being so far under what he needs to survive, especially when you add in the calorie expenditure from running.

    "i am building muscle from running". i second the misunderstanding on how building muscle works...
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    at 1200 calories on a male that weight 200lbs, he is soon, if not already, in starvation mode and his body will simply retain every calorie it can due to being so far under what he needs to survive, especially when you add in the calorie expenditure from running.

    "i am building muscle from running". i second the misunderstanding on how building muscle works...

    OP is not in starvation mode if he is consuming 1200 calories a day that is not possible.

    Yes, OP is confused about muscle building.
  • cpusmc
    cpusmc Posts: 122


    OP is not in starvation mode if he is consuming 1200 calories a day that is not possible.


    with a bmr of 2000 calories for his ht and wt and and adder of 500 calories/day for the exericse, he is consuming half the calories of what the body requires. 2500 to 1200. so i would disagree with your belief that "that is not possible".

    http://caloriecount.about.com/forums/weight-loss/truth-starvation-mode
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member


    OP is not in starvation mode if he is consuming 1200 calories a day that is not possible.


    with a bmr of 2000 calories for his ht and wt and and adder of 500 calories/day for the exericse, he is consuming half the calories of what the body requires. 2500 to 1200. so i would disagree with your belief that "that is not possible".

    http://caloriecount.about.com/forums/weight-loss/truth-starvation-mode

    disagree all you want..you are still wrong...
  • sjacobs106
    sjacobs106 Posts: 6 Member
    So based on this back and forth, I truly don't understand what I need to do in order to continue to drop the pounds. According to MFP, if I want to drop 1.5 pounds per week I should be eating about 1500 calories a day. If I exercise I get to eat more calories.

    I am honestly eating about 1250 calories a day and running 4 times a week. While at times I am hungry, drinking water gets me to meal time and snack time. This has worked for me so far as I have lost about 18 pounds in two months. Pounds of what I don't know (fat or muscle) and 2.5 inches on my waist !!!

    Would eating more calories cause me to actually burn more?

    At 5' 8" and 198 pounds I still have about 20 pounds I want to drop. Suggestions?
  • vincents697
    vincents697 Posts: 5 Member
    I recently had the very same problem. I was barely getting in 1200 calories per day and walking 6 miles 5 days per week with absolutely no weight loss. The answer for me was to increase my calories. Looks like your simply not eating enough. Once I bumped up to 1400 calories I lost 3.6 lbs the following week. Here is a calorie calculator that I found helpful. http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm Good Luck!
  • vincents697
    vincents697 Posts: 5 Member
    FYI: I stick with the calories I am alloted each day. I never eat the extra calories earned with exercise.
  • LianaG1115
    LianaG1115 Posts: 453 Member
    1000 - 1250 a day

    You ain't eating enough to even build any muscle...you've put yourself in starvation mode.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    FYI: I stick with the calories I am alloted each day. I never eat the extra calories earned with exercise.

    are you using MFP's method or TDEE?
  • vincents697
    vincents697 Posts: 5 Member
    You must be kidding? lol I have no idea what that means. I started w/ 1200 calories per day. I never ate what I consider "my exercise points". Once I hit my plateau I used the calculator I posted above to figure out my calorie allotment and it worked. I have no idea what method was used, all I know is that it worked.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    How long has it been since you've seen a drop on the scale?

    Don't ignore the questions people are asking you. There's a reason I asked this one up above. The answer to this question will determine what kind of advice is going to be useful for you.

    Weight loss is not linear. Our weight fluctuates around 3-5 pounds from day to day. Carbs, stress, exercise, dehydration, and a lot of other factors can change the number on the scale enough to look like weight loss or gain when nothing is actually happening.

    If it's only been a week or two without a loss then it's just probably normal water weight fluctuations. They're temporary and you can wait them out. Drink plenty of water to help flush out any excess and the scale should start to move in the right direction.

    If it's been a month or more then you're looking at more serious problems. You're either underestimating your calories eaten, overestimating your calories burned, or have a medical condition of some kind that needs to be treated. My advice would be to make sure you're logging accurately and get a food scale if you're not already using one and stop relying on gym machines or MFP estimates to determine your calorie burns.

    Go back. Read the advice that's being given. Answer the questions that were asked of you.

    And then read through these:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide

    Read through all of the linked posts as well. Set yourself a better goal, adjust your expectations, and keep going.
  • vincents697
    vincents697 Posts: 5 Member
    Not sure what TDEE is but I kinda gave up on MFP's method because I thought that 1500 calories was pushing it



    :smile: :smile:
    FYI: I stick with the calories I am alloted each day. I never eat the extra calories earned with exercise.

    are you using MFP's method or TDEE?
  • Annie_01
    Annie_01 Posts: 3,096 Member
    This is my usual day with some small variation

    Breakfast - one cup multi grain cheerios and a cup of coffee
    Lunch - vegetables with tuna on low calorie bread or turkey on low calorie bread
    Dinner - chicken with vegetables
    Snacks - carrots, peppers, apples, Luna bar (when starving)
    Lots of water

    Do you drink milk with that cereal...eat it dry...or put it in your coffee???

    What you can do differently...EAT!

    I am female...I eat more than that.

    I eat ice cream bars for my snacks...peanut butter and crackers...all kinds of stuff. I am still losing 6lbs a month.
  • Evilito
    Evilito Posts: 2 Member
    I would agree that you need to eat more. It sounds like you burn a lot. I eat about 3000 calories a day and that might not be enough for my activity level - I am having a bit of the same issue as you. 1500 seems real light for an active male.

    You might want to try switching out the treadmill for say swimming for a while, your body, efficient machine that it is, will adapt to your regular workout routine, finding the best way to power you with the least amount of body fat burned.

    How are your 1200 calories? How many calories are you burning a day?
  • richardheath
    richardheath Posts: 1,276 Member
    You are NOT building muscle.

    While in a calorie deficit, your body will use existing protein (i.e. muscle) to fuel it's activities. When exercising, your body breaks down and rebuilds muscles. Combine these two, and you could be losing 150 g of muscle per day. Now, the food you eat you will help replace what is lost, but 150 g of protein is half of your daily calorie intake.

    The aim of this game (for most people) is to lose the FAT (not simply weight, which could be fat + muscle). To do so, eat at a MODEST deficit and make sure you get enough complete protein (and do some form of resistance training, if possible). Eat the maximum number of calories required to lose weight. Not the minimum. For a 200 lb male, that is going to be a lot more than 1200 calories per day. Use the MFP numbers, and eat back some of the exercise calories too.

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