Can't get into first gear. Should I cut the carbs?

healthyscratch1978

OK, so I've been at this for four weeks. Logging accurately. Weighing with a food scale. Measuring with cups. Nothing lost. Not one single pound. I'm a 5'8 35 year old man. The TDEE calculators say I should be able to lose a pound a week at 2032 calories. I actually thought that sounded a hair high, so I backed off of that by ~5% and tried to eat around 1900 cals for the first three weeks of this weight loss attempt. Last week, I found I hadn't lost any weight at all, so I backed off another ~10%, down to 1700. Again, this week, nothing. Weighed yesterday and today to account for minor fluctuations in water retention, and it's steady-Eddie at 188 pounds.

When logging, I would say I overestimate in most cases, to be conservative. Like, when my wife roasts something in the oven, such as kale, I log that I've eaten a tablespoon of olive oil, to account for the amount on the kale. I know the first response is for people to think I'm not logging accurately, but I actually work in a clinical laboratory setting. I'm quite comfortable and adept with measurements. The logging is accurate in cases where I'm preparing the food. My wife makes dinner before I get home from work, and as I mentioned, I generally assume she's got a heavy hand with stuff, to be safe.

I work on a college campus and walk at least a quarter of a mile a day--again, conservative estimate, it's probably more. I converted to a standing desk at the beginning of the new year, so when I'm not walking, I'm standing. I'm on my feet for 8-10 hours Mon-Fri. I do some minor work in my garden on the weekends, and chase around my toddler & 11 month old.

I've been exercising with Stronglifts 5x5. Three times a week, since this started. I love it. I have been making progress, and I feel great. Although I'm discouraged about the weight loss, I feel my fitness and strength have improved. But my clothes aren't fitting any differently, and I'm not seeing any movement on the scale. I do not log anything for the exercise calories burned for these sessions, so obviously, I don't eat the cals back.

I don't feel like I should cut calories any more. I go to bed a little hungry some nights, but have been trying to fight this by eating some 0% yogurt. I've had success in the past by going on extremely low carb diets, but I have been trying to avoid that, this time, because it really changes the way I eat, and I find it to be burdensome and inconvenient to constantly figure out ways to avoid eating a sandwich.

I have read/heard a lot of anecdotal advice about low-carb stuff, and as I mentioned have even had some success with it, myself. Are there studies saying some people are just better at utilizing the caloric energy in carbs than others? For the carbs I'm eating, is my body somehow holding onto those calories?

feliscatus84

Perhaps you could be retaining water from starting the lifting program?

xcalygrl

I did low carb for a while. I stopped because I didn't have enough energy and had a hard time eating all of my calories. Now, I eat brown rice, whole wheat bread, or sweet potatoes.

If you're lifting, you may be losing inches and fat but gaining muscle. If that is the case, you won't see a budge on the scale.

Also, you may be overestimating calories eaten and actually undereating. Undereating is just as deterimental to weight loss as overeating.

cdnokie

Totally agree with xcalygrl - you might be losing inches rather than actual weight. I have barely budged on the scale but I have lost 2 sizes and almost 25 inches overall. ITs most likely due to being more active and doing more strength training. Take some measurements of your body and then check them again in a month or so. I also agree with the whole low carb thing not being the best as your body needs that for energy and typically once people go low carb then end up eating way more meats and processed foods.

healthyscratch1978

I did low carb for a while. I stopped because I didn't have enough energy and had a hard time eating all of my calories. Now, I eat brown rice, whole wheat bread, or sweet potatoes.

If you're lifting, you may be losing inches and fat but gaining muscle. If that is the case, you won't see a budge on the scale.

Also, you may be overestimating calories eaten and actually undereating. Undereating is just as deterimental to weight loss as overeating.

Thanks for the feedback.

Yes, I have heard that theory, but I should have been down at least 4-5 pounds by now. As someone who has lifted pretty seriously in the past, I can say that putting on that amount of muscle is grueling, difficult, and time consuming. It just doesn't seem possible. Especially considering that I've been in what should be a 700 cal deficit, if all things are equal.

Hmmm...so under eating? That does strike me as a lot more likely than inaccurate logging. But I thought the calorie in/calorie out folks say that you'd have to be losing in a case like that. Jeez, there is just so much conflicting information. I'm not looking for miracle results after a month, but I'd imagine I'd see something by now. A couple pounds, at least.

healthyscratch1978

Totally agree with xcalygrl - you might be losing inches rather than actual weight. I have barely budged on the scale but I have lost 2 sizes and almost 25 inches overall. ITs most likely due to being more active and doing more strength training. Take some measurements of your body and then check them again in a month or so. I also agree with the whole low carb thing not being the best as your body needs that for energy and typically once people go low carb then end up eating way more meats and processed foods.

Thanks, yeah. My wife says she sees some change. But as I mentioned, I work in science, and I like to quantify things. Being that my body fat % is quite high at the moment, the scale should be moving. Maybe the measurements will help. Are there specific sites that are indicators to measure body composition changes?

healthyscratch1978

Regardless of weather you work in a clinical setting or not and you feel you're comfortable and adept with measurements, in this case you are wrong. You are simply guessing. Which easily would mean you could be over eating.

Maybe I muddled my point a bit. I use a food scale. The only guessing I do is for dishes my wife has prepared, like the kale or sweet potatoes. In those cases, she's prepared it before I get home, roasted in the oven, with some amount of olive oil. In those cases, I estimate that I've eaten at least a full tablespoon of olive oil. Does that not seem like an overestimate? Should I be guessing I'm eating 2 tablespoons of olive oil? I mean, the food is not swimming in oil, it seems like a reasonable assesment to me--conservative, in fact--but I guess it could be an underestimate. She's with the two kids, and is nice enough to make me delicious food, so I'm not adding a step where she meticulously measures anything she makes for me, I'd rather just estimate conservatively.

waxwingdesign

You know, I did everything exactly right for the first 7 weeks and saw nothing change and then all of a sudden it started coming off fast. Just hang in there, keep doing everything right and your body will adjust. That's my advice.

healthyscratch1978

You know, I did everything exactly right for the first 7 weeks and saw nothing change and then all of a sudden it started coming off fast. Just hang in there, keep doing everything right and your body will adjust. That's my advice.

That's really my plan. For at least another 2 or 3 weeks, mainly because I've done the low carb thing before, and it's really a drag for me (& my family). I was hoping to put out some feelers for other ideas, to see what people thought. Thanks for the feedback.

BarbieAS

Regardless of weather you work in a clinical setting or not and you feel you're comfortable and adept with measurements, in this case you are wrong. You are simply guessing. Which easily would mean you could be over eating.

Maybe I muddled my point a bit. I use a food scale. The only guessing I do is for dishes my wife has prepared, like the kale or sweet potatoes. In those cases, she's prepared it before I get home, roasted in the oven, with some amount of olive oil. In those cases, I estimate that I've eaten at least a full tablespoon of olive oil. Does that not seem like an overestimate? Should I be guessing I'm eating 2 tablespoons of olive oil? I mean, the food is not swimming in oil, it seems like a reasonable assesment to me--conservative, in fact--but I guess it could be an underestimate. She's with the two kids, and is nice enough to make me delicious food, so I'm not adding a step where she meticulously measures anything she makes for me, I'd rather just estimate conservatively.

That makes sense, when you're figuring out ingredients and stuff. But, are you weighing the food on your plate? Let's go with the sweet potatoes, and say she's roasted them in the oven tossed in olive oil. You log a tb of olive oil to account for the cooking oil, great. But I'm assuming that you do actually then weigh the potatoes before they go on your plate, so that you know that you're eating, say, 80 grams of potatoes plus the oil? (Well, I guess the oil weighs something, too, but you catch my meaning.)

Cleo58

Some things which are helping me are: LOTS of lemon water, adding beans to my lunch salad, amazing peanut butter-honey-craisin balls in the fridge for an energy boost in the afternoon and many kinds of fruit. Keep on being healthy-you will see results soon!

parkscs

Give it some more time man. While I don't think you've put on 4-5 pounds of muscle that quickly, starting a weight lifting program up is known to cause a bit of water retention as your muscles hold a bit of extra water during the repair process. That uptick in water weight can hide fat loss when it comes to the scale, but eventually you should start to see a downward trend.

healthyscratch1978

Regardless of weather you work in a clinical setting or not and you feel you're comfortable and adept with measurements, in this case you are wrong. You are simply guessing. Which easily would mean you could be over eating.

Maybe I muddled my point a bit. I use a food scale. The only guessing I do is for dishes my wife has prepared, like the kale or sweet potatoes. In those cases, she's prepared it before I get home, roasted in the oven, with some amount of olive oil. In those cases, I estimate that I've eaten at least a full tablespoon of olive oil. Does that not seem like an overestimate? Should I be guessing I'm eating 2 tablespoons of olive oil? I mean, the food is not swimming in oil, it seems like a reasonable assesment to me--conservative, in fact--but I guess it could be an underestimate. She's with the two kids, and is nice enough to make me delicious food, so I'm not adding a step where she meticulously measures anything she makes for me, I'd rather just estimate conservatively.

That makes sense, when you're figuring out ingredients and stuff. But, are you weighing the food on your plate? Let's go with the sweet potatoes, and say she's roasted them in the oven tossed in olive oil. You log a tb of olive oil to account for the cooking oil, great. But I'm assuming that you do actually then weigh the potatoes before they go on your plate, so that you know that you're eating, say, 80 grams of potatoes plus the oil? (Well, I guess the oil weighs something, too, but you catch my meaning.)

Yes, Barbie, I do weigh the food before I eat it. Don't always do the "grams" conversion for solids, sometimes go by cups, depending on the available units from the food in the database. I could improve there, I guess. It's hard to believe that would be the source of my "failure to launch", though. Considering I'm so far under what my TDEE is saying I need to be at for 1 lb/week loss. Even if I account for some error in logging, which of course everyone has, it's tough to see how that could be more than +/- 150 calories.

healthyscratch1978

Thanks Cleo and Parks! I'm going to stick with it. I am an extremely impatient person--at least I realize this!

brandiuntz

You know, I did everything exactly right for the first 7 weeks and saw nothing change and then all of a sudden it started coming off fast. Just hang in there, keep doing everything right and your body will adjust. That's my advice.

I agree with this. I didn't lose any weight the first month after I started and hit lots of "no loss" weeks off and on. Weight loss isn't linear. A good sign is that your wife has noticed changes. Be a little more patient and keep track of other progress like strength gains (I do Strong Lifts, too). :flowerforyou:

RodaRose

Give it more time before you make some changes

healthyscratch1978

You know, I did everything exactly right for the first 7 weeks and saw nothing change and then all of a sudden it started coming off fast. Just hang in there, keep doing everything right and your body will adjust. That's my advice.

I agree with this. I didn't lose any weight the first month after I started and hit lots of "no loss" weeks off and on. Weight loss isn't linear. A good sign is that your wife has noticed changes. Be a little more patient and keep track of other progress like strength gains (I do Strong Lifts, too). :flowerforyou:

haha, I'm just worried she's being too nice to me

eomuno215in541

Sounds like you're building muscle. Try not worrying about carbs for a couple weeks. You need those for the quick burn. Try maybe strict cardio most days, and strength 1 or 2 days a week. You know, cardio will burn calories. How many lbs are you trying to lose?

healthyscratch1978

Sounds like you're building muscle. Try not worrying about carbs for a couple weeks. You need those for the quick burn. Try maybe strict cardio most days, and strength 1 or 2 days a week. You know, cardio will burn calories. How many lbs are you trying to lose?

I'm trying to lose about 30 pounds, total. Even though 160 might be on the high end of BMI for my height, I know from experience that it's a good weight for me to walk around at. I don't have a specific timetable for the loss, just want to see some--any--progress.

Cardio is a thought, as a way to increase what should be a caloric deficit, it's just that I find it so tedious. I really enjoy weightlifting, and was hoping the caloric deficit from the decreased food intake would be enough to avoid cardio entirely. I used to do a 40 minute uphill walk at 3.5 miles an hour in a past weight loss experience, and it was effective at helping me drop weight.

sati18

Also, you may be overestimating calories eaten and actually undereating. Undereating is just as deterimental to weight loss as overeating.

ERM no it isn't. If you under eat you will most definitely still lose weight you will just feel rubbish whilst losing it. There is no way that not eating enough is stopping the OP losing weight. That's so unbelievably misleading.

If under eating stalled weigh tloss people wouldn't starve to death and anorexics COULDN'T exist.

OP, Either you are eating more than you think, exercising less than you think, retaining massive amounts of water, or you need to go to a doctor and have your metabolism tested to check its working properly.

check your salt levels, if you're eating masses then that can stop the scale budging. My guess is that you're accidentally taking in more calories than you are burning. it's the most likely explanation especially since you say you do lose weight with a low carb diet so obviously it is possible for you to lose weight

EDITED TO ADD: If the TDEE method isn't working for you, try investing in a fitbit which will monitor every step you take (since you do a lot of walking), and setting your activity level to sedentary on MFP and logging your exercise as and when you do it.

With TDEE my understanding is that you tell the calculator how much exercise you do and it factors that in when it tells you how many calories you are burning. If you have in any way overestimated how much daily exercise you're doing that could account for it giving you a bigger number to eat than you actually need. Just a thought