Can't get smaller when weight training

13»

Replies

  • lb628
    lb628 Posts: 75

    Honestly if you aren't properly logging then you are simply eating too much.

    Start logging and try to talk to someone about the binges - one binge can undo all the good work you have put in for the week.

    Yeah I'm going to get better about it. I use to do it religiously. What do you think of the foods I fill my pantry with? ^^^

    I think the binging came from a few weeks before bc I was averaging 1700 cals a day. I guess my body is too smart to let me eat that little and not come back with avengeance. I'm really bad with the yo yo thing.
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member

    Honestly if you aren't properly logging then you are simply eating too much.

    Start logging and try to talk to someone about the binges - one binge can undo all the good work you have put in for the week.

    Yeah I'm going to get better about it. I use to do it religiously. What do you think of the foods I fill my pantry with? ^^^

    I think the binging came from a few weeks before bc I was averaging 1700 cals a day. I guess my body is too smart to let me eat that little and not come back with avengeance. I'm really bad with the yo yo thing.

    To be honest - as long as you enjoy what you are eating and you're getting adequate protein and fats as well as vitamins and minerals it doesn't matter what you eat.

    You can spread your calories about - i.e. more on days you lift if that is when you get extra hungry (or the day after), as long as you average your goal over the week.

    And yeah - 1700 at your height and activity level seems very low.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member

    Honestly if you aren't properly logging then you are simply eating too much.

    Start logging and try to talk to someone about the binges - one binge can undo all the good work you have put in for the week.

    What do you think of the foods I fill my pantry with?...

    Whatever you want. Just track how much you eat of it, and eat less than maintenance.
  • hookilau
    hookilau Posts: 3,134 Member
    Is there anyone else who has issues with maintaining a caloric deficit while weight training?

    I'm 5' tall, 45 yr old woman. I had no issues whatsoever maintaining my weight at 2000-2300 cal while weight training. However, I'm still trying to drop 10-15#'s so I've cut my deficit to 1800 cal. My CW: 123-127# goal weight is somewhere around 110-115 or so.

    It's only been a couple of days so far, but I'm not hungry at all. In fact, the opposite seems to be true. Yesterday, I'd only consumed about 1300 cal just prior to heading to the gym.

    Didn't have any issues with my work out & had a big chef's salad for dinner with still calories to spare when I got home. I tried to beef it up a bit by adding peanut butter & jelly, but couldn't eat any more than that. When that was all said & done, it was like 10pm so I called it a night.

    I eat HFLC so that might be why I don't have a problem with satiety. To cut calories, I just added a big salad & shaved some fat from my regular diet.
  • lavendy17
    lavendy17 Posts: 309 Member
    Dear OP- do yourself a favor and toss those nut butter jars to the nearest trash can.

    I myself have them around but at most have a tablespoon a day.
    You on the other hand, are eating them like it's nothing. They are NOT nothing. Downing a jar is ruining it for you.

    The problem they pose for you is that it's so easy to eat it mindlessly and pack on thousands of unnecessary calories.

    THROW THE PB OUT!
  • lb628
    lb628 Posts: 75
    Dear OP- do yourself a favor and toss those nut butter jars to the nearest trash can.

    I myself have them around but at most have a tablespoon a day.
    You on the other hand, are eating them like it's nothing. They are NOT nothing. Downing a jar is ruining it for you.

    The problem they pose for you is that it's so easy to eat it mindlessly and pack on thousands of unnecessary calories.

    THROW THE PB OUT!

    Haha thank you, trust me it is GONE. I was getting so ridiculous with it, but I would crave it so bad that I felt like I should listen to my body. Guess that's just another excuse.. I now use PB2. I love the stuff. Wish it wasn't so pricey.
  • lavendy17
    lavendy17 Posts: 309 Member
    Dear OP- do yourself a favor and toss those nut butter jars to the nearest trash can.

    I myself have them around but at most have a tablespoon a day.
    You on the other hand, are eating them like it's nothing. They are NOT nothing. Downing a jar is ruining it for you.

    The problem they pose for you is that it's so easy to eat it mindlessly and pack on thousands of unnecessary calories.

    THROW THE PB OUT!

    Haha thank you, trust me it is GONE. I was getting so ridiculous with it, but I would crave it so bad that I felt like I should listen to my body. Guess that's just another excuse.. I now use PB2. I love the stuff. Wish it wasn't so pricey.

    My WW leader told us he cannot have PB in the house but one day he really craved it so he went to a diner and ordered a pb&j.
    Starbucks has this protein bistro box that comes with a small honey pb with a little bun, an egg, cheese, grapes. That can be your fix. If you really want some get it from someplace outside your house. Similarly, i don't have cookies and cake in the house. If I want some, I gotta make an effort to get it. That's a simple trick, but a helpful one.
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    You are burning fat but building muscle. Cardio is best to shred fat. Weight training does burn it off as well but is usually replaced by muscle if using heavy weights. Remember...muscle weighs more than fat

    1349110594814.gif

    No. All of this is wrong.
  • lizarddev
    lizarddev Posts: 100 Member
    Yes, I have leveled off and still have 50 pounds to loose. I have restructured my eating where I take in more protein than I did before. I have went to eat two to four egg whites in the morning. Chicken Fish three times a day and 1/4 cup of rice two times a day and broccoli throughout the day. I also take a supplement regiment that incorporates the rebuilding of muscles when in my off days. I also do the treadmill or elliptical 20 minutes before the workout and 20 minutes after. I am weight training different parts each day between my lower and upper body. There needs to be a medium that you will need to play with that works for you. I can give you a regiment or point you in the right direction but you will still need to polish it for you. IT takes roughly about 2 to 4 weeks to notice a difference in the new plan. Let me know if I can help you out.
  • Annie_01
    Annie_01 Posts: 3,096 Member
    I just checked my jar of peanut butter...

    200 calories per serving
    14 servings per jar...(16oz jar)

    2800 calories per jar. If you were eating 1/2 a jar of peanut butter a day...do the math. Add in the other 1/2 jar of nut butter that you were eating and you are up to 2800 calories. Surely you were eating other things also beside nut butters.

    Even if you track your calories on paper you had to know that you aren't losing weight because of weight training but because you are over eating.

    To be successful at this...you have to be honest with yourself.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    To clarify - your strength training routine is sports specific?

    Yes it is sports specific.
    Dead lift, squats, single arm dumbell press, farmer's walk, pull ups, glute ham raise, step ups, pallof press, push ups, box jumps, hang cleans, etc.

    For your sport performance, then it would appear that stopping/limiting weight training is not really an option (nor would I generally recommend it in any event).

    As has already been discussed, you should look at your food choices, possibly not having trigger foods (or those you cannot portion control) in the house, especially if calorie dense, be less restrict/binge/restrict, and look to tighten up your logging. Do not try to over-restrict - pick a reasonable calorie level, even if it means losing weight really slowly.
  • Annie_01
    Annie_01 Posts: 3,096 Member
    Yes, I have leveled off and still have 50 pounds to loose. I have restructured my eating where I take in more protein than I did before. I have went to eat two to four egg whites in the morning. Chicken Fish three times a day and 1/4 cup of rice two times a day and broccoli throughout the day. I also take a supplement regiment that incorporates the rebuilding of muscles when in my off days. I also do the treadmill or elliptical 20 minutes before the workout and 20 minutes after. I am weight training different parts each day between my lower and upper body. There needs to be a medium that you will need to play with that works for you. I can give you a regiment or point you in the right direction but you will still need to polish it for you. IT takes roughly about 2 to 4 weeks to notice a difference in the new plan. Let me know if I can help you out.

    You eat the same thing every day? I would have given up a long time ago...right after I lost my mind.

    Life is supposed to be fun...not about torture.

    There is a whole world of food out there...beautiful wonderful food. All of it can be worked in to a healthy lifestyle and still lose weight.
  • sccet
    sccet Posts: 141 Member
    You are burning fat but building muscle. Cardio is best to shred fat. Weight training does burn it off as well but is usually replaced by muscle if using heavy weights. Remember...muscle weighs more than fat
    So if you had 10lbs. of muscle in a bag and 10lbs. of fat in a bag, which would weigh more?

    Muscle. DUH.

    But neither weighs as much as 10lbs of excrement.

    It's science.
  • Laurenloveswaffles
    Laurenloveswaffles Posts: 535 Member
    You are burning fat but building muscle. Cardio is best to shred fat. Weight training does burn it off as well but is usually replaced by muscle if using heavy weights. Remember...muscle weighs more than fat
    So if you had 10lbs. of muscle in a bag and 10lbs. of fat in a bag, which would weigh more?

    Muscle. DUH.

    But neither weighs as much as 10lbs of excrement in a bag.

    It's science.

    FIFY :flowerforyou:
  • lb628
    lb628 Posts: 75


    You eat the same thing every day? I would have given up a long time ago...right after I lost my mind.

    Life is supposed to be fun...not about torture.

    There is a whole world of food out there...beautiful wonderful food. All of it can be worked in to a healthy lifestyle and still lose weight.

    I eat pretty much the same thing every day - mostly to save money since I eat pretty much everything i buy on a daily basis.
  • sccet
    sccet Posts: 141 Member
    You are burning fat but building muscle. Cardio is best to shred fat. Weight training does burn it off as well but is usually replaced by muscle if using heavy weights. Remember...muscle weighs more than fat
    So if you had 10lbs. of muscle in a bag and 10lbs. of fat in a bag, which would weigh more?

    Muscle. DUH.

    But neither weighs as much as 10lbs of excrement in a bag.

    It's science.

    FIFY :flowerforyou:

    MOAR SCIENZE! :drinker:
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    You are burning fat but building muscle. Cardio is best to shred fat. Weight training does burn it off as well but is usually replaced by muscle if using heavy weights. Remember...muscle weighs more than fat

    No. You can't build muscle while in a deficit.

    That said, OP, if you are having 5,000 calorie binges, it is very likely that you are blowing you deficit for the days that you eat low-cal, and that is why you are not losing inches. You are eating too much. Get your eating under control, track your calories accurately (meaning weighting everything) and reassess after a few weeks of consistent logging.
  • ecphillips1286
    ecphillips1286 Posts: 331 Member
    You are burning fat but building muscle. Cardio is best to shred fat. Weight training does burn it off as well but is usually replaced by muscle if using heavy weights. Remember...muscle weighs more than fat

    No. You can't build muscle while in a deficit.

    Please explain that to the 1/2 inch I have gained on my arms and the 1/4 inch I have gained on my chest while being lower on my cal intake. As well as the inch I have lost on my waist.
  • First off, do you need to lose weight? Not saying you don't, but you're not overweight according to you BMI, and it sounds like you're also pretty athletic.

    If you're famished all the time, it doesn't seem like the answer is to eat LESS. I've been seeing a nutritionist for over a year (I've lost about 50 lbs overall so far, with a lot more to go) and one thing she said that really stuck with me is that when we train ourselves to ignore our hunger, is it surprising that we also ignore our satiety and keep eating past fullness? We need to work on listening to our bodies, not ignoring them.

    Use MFP and a kitchen scale to track your food so you have an accurate idea of what you're eating. If the diary entries you've completed so far are typical, you would probably be served by upping your protein. The closer I get to 40C/30P/30F, the better I feel.

    Take measurements. Maybe pay more attention to how you look and feel than to the scale. If your diet and fitness routine is making you miserable, it's not sustainable, so I think you're doing the right thing reassessing it.
  • lb628
    lb628 Posts: 75
    First off, do you need to lose weight? Not saying you don't, but you're not overweight according to you BMI, and it sounds like you're also pretty athletic.

    If you're famished all the time, it doesn't seem like the answer is to eat LESS. I've been seeing a nutritionist for over a year (I've lost about 50 lbs overall so far, with a lot more to go) and one thing she said that really stuck with me is that when we train ourselves to ignore our hunger, is it surprising that we also ignore our satiety and keep eating past fullness? We need to work on listening to our bodies, not ignoring them.

    Use MFP and a kitchen scale to track your food so you have an accurate idea of what you're eating. If the diary entries you've completed so far are typical, you would probably be served by upping your protein. The closer I get to 40C/30P/30F, the better I feel.

    Take measurements. Maybe pay more attention to how you look and feel than to the scale. If your diet and fitness routine is making you miserable, it's not sustainable, so I think you're doing the right thing reassessing it.

    I don't think I NEED to lose weight, but I'd like to get by BF down to help my game and my confidence.

    Appreciate that! Yes I've been logging for the past week, and I'm finding it much easier to go below my calorie goal. I've decided that if I do go below 2000, I better not have done a tough workout that day. Yesterday I was at about 1700 and I just did yoga, so I think that should be fine. There is something to my weight lifting theory though. I haven't lifted since last Thursday morning, and I can eat much less and still feel satisfied.
  • KBmoments
    KBmoments Posts: 193 Member
    I had a similar experience... After researching some, I thought the best way to lose fat/weight was to stop so much cardio and just focus on lifting (and BARELY any cardio). I didn't realize how little calories I was actually burning, but still eating like I was doing 45 min of cardio everyday. I ended up gaining weight and BF % over the course of 3 months, all while still lifting regularly and eating healthy. Very depressing...couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong up until about 3 months ago... I was eating too much!! Figured out realistically what I was burning while lifting, adding more cardio to help the deficit and then ate accordingly. Lost 9.5 lbs in 2 1/2 months that wasn't moving before... Just need to figure out your correct deficit!
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    You are burning fat but building muscle. Cardio is best to shred fat. Weight training does burn it off as well but is usually replaced by muscle if using heavy weights. Remember...muscle weighs more than fat

    No. You can't build muscle while in a deficit.

    Please explain that to the 1/2 inch I have gained on my arms and the 1/4 inch I have gained on my chest while being lower on my cal intake. As well as the inch I have lost on my waist.

    tumblr_m89pbdAbvc1r5hm2z.gif
  • ecphillips1286
    ecphillips1286 Posts: 331 Member
    You are burning fat but building muscle. Cardio is best to shred fat. Weight training does burn it off as well but is usually replaced by muscle if using heavy weights. Remember...muscle weighs more than fat

    No. You can't build muscle while in a deficit.

    Please explain that to the 1/2 inch I have gained on my arms and the 1/4 inch I have gained on my chest while being lower on my cal intake. As well as the inch I have lost on my waist.

    tumblr_m89pbdAbvc1r5hm2z.gif

    And the judgmental prick of the year goes to.....(drum roll) RGv2. Give advice to try to help people not try to be a d*ck. I was saying what I have noticed with myself. That's what a lot of people on here do. I could be wrong and have no problem admitting that. Once again tho explain it to my gains while in a deficit. I'm not here to debate. Only here for advice not negative criticism. Correct me if I'm wrong.... Cardio burns fat better than weight training. Weight training builds muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat.
  • anglergirl3
    anglergirl3 Posts: 113 Member
    You are burning fat but building muscle. Cardio is best to shred fat. Weight training does burn it off as well but is usually replaced by muscle if using heavy weights. Remember...muscle weighs more than fat

    Um...no.

    You literally just told a female with less than 20lbs to lose that she's burning fat and building muscle........at a rate that is keeping her the same size. That is virtually impossible.

    Cardio isn't the way to "shred fat". Diet with a regimen of some cardio and weight training is how you shred fat. To "shred fat" you need some sort of overload weight training program to maintain your muscle mass that would otherwise be lost through your deficit.

    Op, yes you could be retaining water, but if you're not getting smaller it's because you're probably eating right at maintenance...or over. If you were truly under TDEE you would be getting smaller, no matter the exercise.

    Excellent input - Thank you!
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    You are burning fat but building muscle. Cardio is best to shred fat. Weight training does burn it off as well but is usually replaced by muscle if using heavy weights. Remember...muscle weighs more than fat

    No. You can't build muscle while in a deficit.

    Please explain that to the 1/2 inch I have gained on my arms and the 1/4 inch I have gained on my chest while being lower on my cal intake. As well as the inch I have lost on my waist.

    tumblr_m89pbdAbvc1r5hm2z.gif

    And the judgmental prick of the year goes to.....(drum roll) RGv2. Give advice to try to help people not try to be a d*ck. I was saying what I have noticed with myself. That's what a lot of people on here do. I could be wrong and have no problem admitting that. Once again tho explain it to my gains while in a deficit. I'm not here to debate. Only here for advice not negative criticism. Correct me if I'm wrong.... Cardio burns fat better than weight training. Weight training builds muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat.


    If you read the thread, I actually did advise the OP with
    Op, yes you could be retaining water, but if you're not getting smaller it's because you're probably eating right at maintenance...or over. If you were truly under TDEE you would be getting smaller, no matter the exercise.

    Cardio burns calories, yes, weight training burns calories, yes. Cardio burns fat better than weight training, false. Weight training builds muscle..false.

    You're not here to debate, just to give scientifically proven incorrect information?

    Can you build miniscule muscle in a deficit....sure. Your diet has to be completely spot on and the deficit needs to be within about 5% of TDEE. It's called a recomp, and takes a lot of time and an insane amount of work. Now, a way lifting is as good for burning fat. When a person eats at a deficit they lose water, fat, and lean body mass. When you lift while in that deficit you work to RETAIN that body mass (muscle) so you lose mostly just fat an water, thus "shredding fat".

    And I'll stand by this statement "You literally just told a female with less than 20lbs to lose that she's burning fat and building muscle........at a rate that is keeping her the same size. That is virtually impossible."

    If you don't want to argue, that's fine, but be prepared that statements that are myth, won't help the OP, and have been proven to be false (especially in this context) will be corrected.
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
    Is there anyone else who has issues with maintaining a caloric deficit while weight training?

    No.

    It's very simple. Eat less than you burn.

    Stop making excuses.

    This! ^^

    I do both cardio (walking) and lifting and I am losing weight, though it's slow cause I am within a few pounds away from goal weight, eating 1600-1800 calories.
  • This content has been removed.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    In for the fun.