Help with losing!

okulyd

I started CF the first week of Dec. Admittedly I had a slow start and lots of trouble figuring getting the form and technique for lifting done right. The past month or so however I am starting to love it! I know how to do the moves and people in my class have complimented my technique. I think I am lifting more but its hard to tell because I didn't track the first several months and I haven't had any repeat workouts yet.

Anyway, my problem is that although I am trying to eat right, doing CF 5 times per week and pushing myself in each WOD my weight isn't dropping as much as I would like. Secondly my clothes no longer fit. I am spending a ton of money on CF and can't really afford to go up a size. I think some maybe muscle but I had lots of fat to lose as well. I realize I'll never be super thin, I'm ok with this. I have actually been the same size +/-10 pounds since high school. I am 36 years old, female, 5'4 and weight ~170. I have always been kinda muscular and since doing CF I do think I see more muscles when I look in the mirror.

The issue is that I have been a 34 band size since high school and suddenly my bras are all way, way too tight in the band. Additionally my button down shirts also are suddenly too tight through the shoulders. Is this all muscle, will fat loss get me back into my usual size? My Omron scale tells me I am 38-40% muscle and 16-18% fat, 24.9 BMI. Are what I think are healthy eating choices what's messing me up? What tweaks can I do to get the scale moving the right way? I'm trying to lose some fat for a wedding in Sept and I am fearful it just isn't going to happen for me. Thanks for you help and advice!

StaciMarie1974

I looked thru you food diary for the past week. There were 2 days at a deficit, the others were at or majorly over your calorie goal. Do you weigh & measure your food, all of it? If you are gaining weight then its because you're not eating at a deficit. Instead you're eating at a surplus. You could be gaining muscle as well, but to lose weight you need to eat at a deficit. The only way to do that realistically is to track everything, weigh everything, and eat less per day than you burn. Having occasional days at maintenance is no harm, but constantly going over will cause you to gain.

Even if you were eating at maintenance and gaining muscle (no net change on the scale) I think your clothes would fit better as muscle is sleeker, takes up less space.

Greenrun99

I think you are overestimating your exercise calories.. I am kinda surprised your not at 1200 calories but I think you are eating at your maintenance.. at 5'4, doing CF 5 times a week maybe you should stick to 1600-1800 calories

okulyd

Thanks Greenrun99! Staci! I didn't even realize that I had the numbers setup wrong. I just changed the settings so that the goal is to consume 1200 calories. I'm not sure why it was set so high before. Now looking at it, its obvious why the numbers are not going down. I am eating way too much every day. Thanks!