Doing everything but not losing fat?!!!

Calichick94

I agree with you, dropping my carbs to 90 is too little for me. I tend to get lightheadedm can't focus and no energy. I'll go down to 1,800 and weigh exactly how much I'm eating and see where that takes me. Yes, those are my goals; lose fat and retain lean body mass.

davert123

Going below my BMR is bad from what I've read and I've tried it in the past, hasn't worked.

you need to hit your macros. If this is below your BMR then that is ok :-)

davert123

By -TDEE I meant 15% less than maintence. My only concern is that I don't want my metabolism to slow down, and since my fitness classes are pretty intense then I don't want to create a large deficit that my body goes into starvation mode, that's the whole idea why I upped to 2,107 cals. I'm not sure if you've heard of Les Milles classes? For example Bodycombat and Bodyattack burn around 700 cals for the average 160lbs person and bodystep around 600 and bodypump (strength training) around 500. I don't have an HRM so I'm not exactly sure how much I'm burning and right now I can't really afford it.

Don't worry about exercise burns, those calculations are most likely inflated anyway and aren't important if you are using the TDEE method. And HRMs are useless unless you are doing steady state cardio.

You are not going to go into starvation mode, that's a myth. Even at 1800 you would be ok.

The first step is to use your new food scale to weigh and measure your food, and start logging so you know how much you are eating. You could be eating more than you think, so make sure you've tightened up your food intake. Give that a few weeks and see where you are, then consider gradually dropping your calories if you need to. The goal is to eat as much as you can and still lose weight. And keep your protein shakes if you like them and they help you reach your protein goal. A good protein intake helps retain LBM.

Remember that BodyPump does use weights, but it is more cardio than strength training. The high number of reps and lower weights are good for muscle endurance, and you might see some small strength gains, but it is not true strength training. You would probably benefit from switching out one or both of your BodyPump classes for lifting heavy weights in the gym.

davert123

By -TDEE I meant 15% less than maintence. My only concern is that I don't want my metabolism to slow down, and since my fitness classes are pretty intense then I don't want to create a large deficit that my body goes into starvation mode, that's the whole idea why I upped to 2,107 cals. I'm not sure if you've heard of Les Milles classes? For example Bodycombat and Bodyattack burn around 700 cals for the average 160lbs person and bodystep around 600 and bodypump (strength training) around 500. I don't have an HRM so I'm not exactly sure how much I'm burning and right now I can't really afford it.

Don't worry about exercise burns, those calculations are most likely inflated anyway and aren't important if you are using the TDEE method. And HRMs are useless unless you are doing steady state cardio.

You are not going to go into starvation mode, that's a myth. Even at 1800 you would be ok.

The first step is to use your new food scale to weigh and measure your food, and start logging so you know how much you are eating. You could be eating more than you think, so make sure you've tightened up your food intake. Give that a few weeks and see where you are, then consider gradually dropping your calories if you need to. The goal is to eat as much as you can and still lose weight. And keep your protein shakes if you like them and they help you reach your protein goal. A good protein intake helps retain LBM.

Remember that BodyPump does use weights, but it is more cardio than strength training. The high number of reps and lower weights are good for muscle endurance, and you might see some small strength gains, but it is not true strength training. You would probably benefit from switching out one or both of your BodyPump classes for lifting heavy weights in the gym.

???? Your TDEE is your Total Daily Energy Expenditure and by definition includes calories used for exercise - and you should add them

Calichick94

I'm focusing on my macros and calories. Are my macros good? 137-139g protein, carbs around 180-211g and fats 82g which I'm usually under anyways. Please dont tell me to go more on protein, lol I'm already struggling to get it upto 137-139g with the protein shakes.

f0r54ken

These guys are on the right track. Drop your carb intake and calorie intake. Calories to 1450 and carbs to less than anything 90

With your metabolism in high gear you would greatly benefit from less calories.

Also Don't take the protein supplement everyday. If your body is building muscle AND burning fat you'll have trouble seeing progress in your weight.

Your calories right now exceed your body weight 1800c = 180 maintained pounds.

No. OP has not been weighing and measuring her food, so we have no idea whether or not she has actually been eating 1800 calories, or if she has been eating more than that. There's no need to drop her calories until she verifies that she really has been eating what she thinks she has. It is also not necessary to reduce carbs.

The protein supplement will not prevent her from seeing weight loss. She's not building muscle because she is not doing any kind of strength training, and a protein supplement within a calorie deficit will give her more protein, but will not cause increased muscle mass.

You do not need to eat less calories than your bodyweight, that's just ridiculous. I'm 141.5 lb and eat 1900 calories per day to lose weight. Your calorie intake is determined by your activity level as well as your age, height, gender, and weight.

"OP has not been weighing and measuring her food"
Agreed, We Need Evidence of her journey before we can make a accurate assessment. However speculation is not frowned upon unless you are in the business of telling someone else they are wrong. I disagree on your carb statement. If your body is burning carbs then it's not burning fat and visa versa. Carbs get priority over Fat storage typically.

"The protein supplement will not prevent"
She's doing 5 classes a week for an hour each. Those Classes aren't easy, Trust me, Her body is building muscle to compensate for that difficult task. The protein is in place assisting in making that muscle mass as opposed to what her body would have to harvest from otherwise. (hope that makes sense.)

"You do not need to eat less calories"
Right, To be more specific. my assessment is made for a sedentary person who does not work out at all. I was meaning to say You'd probably see a 20% increase of calorie needs for someone working out often or a 20% decrease for he who is sedentary.

My rating tells me I need 2,500 calories for daily maintanence. I could eat 2000 daily and still gain weight. These "numbers" are made from the assumption that the person Doesn't literally lay down or sit all day.

f0r54ken

I agree with you, dropping my carbs to 90 is too little for me. I tend to get lightheadedm can't focus and no energy. I'll go down to 1,800 and weigh exactly how much I'm eating and see where that takes me. Yes, those are my goals; lose fat and retain lean body mass.

You might be right, I double checked my carbs I eat more of those then I thought

Ludka13

I'm a 20 year old female, 5"3 and around 172 pounds. I'm a full time university student and just recby got a parttime job and will try volunteering in Nov. As you an see I'm a busy girl lol. After a year break is tarted going to the gym consistinely since March 18th. I do bodypump 2x a week, bodystep 1x, BODYCOMBAT 1x and recently started body attack 1x. Each class is an hour long.
Since March till last week I focused mostly on calories eating at 1,800 a day. And I haven't been seeing any progress in the past 5 months, the difference is very minimal with regards to fat loss. I'm so frustrated and discouraged. I don't know what more to do. Ive always had major self esteem issues regards to my body. I've been researching and starting Aug 22nd I started to focus more on macros and increased my protein intake. I eat all healthy and no junk and if I do in moderation which is rare.
Using the scooby site it says my TDEE is 2,479 and BMR 1,599 and at a -15% body fat I should be eating 2,107 calories..
I upped my cals hoping that it would help. Im taking in on most days about 137-139g protein, carbs about 200g and fat 82g. On most days I'm meeting my protein and carb intake, though with protein and fats it can be a struggle. I even bought protein powder to help me meet my protein (magnum quarto) which is 30g per scoop and once or twice depending on what I've eaten during the day. I bought a nutritional scale today to make sure I'm not going over. I'm going crazy, I don't know what else to do to lose fat!!!! I don't rely on the scale because my focus is fat loss not weight. I don't have a certain amount of pounds I want to lose, I want to like what I see in the mirror! Please help me, I don't know what else to do. I feel like my body is immune to losing weight. I even went to the doc to check my hormones and I didn't get a call back so I'm assuming it's all normal.

I broke down today out of frustration. I don't know what else to do. Any advise or tips would be appreciated

Thank you,

Eat less, move more. It's very easy to overestimate calories and underestimate calories burned. Use a food scale and weigh everything and log it. Food, drinks, snacks, supplements. Even if you have just a taste of something log it. Eat out less often, make your own food, that's the only way you can be sure how many calories you're getting. Also don't drink anything with calories if you can help it. It won't satisfy your hunger the way food can.

I calculate my activity level as sedentary and then earn calories thru exercise, but I don't eat back all of my exercise calories. I eat back about half of them.

Weight loss happens from eating fewer calories than you expend. Eating more protein won't change your body composition. Maybe try dropping your calorie intake by 100 calories per day. If no change in a week then drop it another 100 calories per day.

I am 5'2" and I was 168 pounds and am very sedentary, so far I have lost 10 pounds. I tried losing last year and actually gained 4 pounds (from 164 up to 168) and was hungry all the time. This year I adjusted my weight loss goal to half a pound a week and eat more protein and less carbs. Much less hungry and more able to control my eating. Also I bought a food scale and it's helped quite a bit. I've actually put on muscle too. My chest is 2" bigger but my hips and waist are each an inch smaller.

I don't use TDEE to calculate my calorie goal, other than to know what my maintenance level is and not to ever exceed that. Otherwise I let MFP calculate my calorie goal for me.

kgeyser

By -TDEE I meant 15% less than maintence. My only concern is that I don't want my metabolism to slow down, and since my fitness classes are pretty intense then I don't want to create a large deficit that my body goes into starvation mode, that's the whole idea why I upped to 2,107 cals. I'm not sure if you've heard of Les Milles classes? For example Bodycombat and Bodyattack burn around 700 cals for the average 160lbs person and bodystep around 600 and bodypump (strength training) around 500. I don't have an HRM so I'm not exactly sure how much I'm burning and right now I can't really afford it.

Don't worry about exercise burns, those calculations are most likely inflated anyway and aren't important if you are using the TDEE method. And HRMs are useless unless you are doing steady state cardio.

You are not going to go into starvation mode, that's a myth. Even at 1800 you would be ok.

The first step is to use your new food scale to weigh and measure your food, and start logging so you know how much you are eating. You could be eating more than you think, so make sure you've tightened up your food intake. Give that a few weeks and see where you are, then consider gradually dropping your calories if you need to. The goal is to eat as much as you can and still lose weight. And keep your protein shakes if you like them and they help you reach your protein goal. A good protein intake helps retain LBM.

Remember that BodyPump does use weights, but it is more cardio than strength training. The high number of reps and lower weights are good for muscle endurance, and you might see some small strength gains, but it is not true strength training. You would probably benefit from switching out one or both of your BodyPump classes for lifting heavy weights in the gym.

???? Your TDEE is your Total Daily Energy Expenditure and by definition includes calories used for exercise - and you should add them

TDEE estimates are based on amount of time exercising and intensity. OP increased her calories based on supposed calorie burns from her workouts - it is likely that these burns are overinflated. If she just uses TDEE and selects the 3-5 hours moderate exercise, she'll probably end up with a more realistic calorie goal than if she supposes she is doing intense exercise because a class is advertised as "burn 600 calories an hour!"

kgeyser

I disagree on your carb statement. If your body is burning carbs then it's not burning fat and visa versa. Carbs get priority over Fat storage typically.

Is the person in this scenario exclusively on a diet of Kalteen bars to burn up all their carbs?

If one is in a calorie deficit, it really doesn't matter. Some people lower their carbs due to medical issues, personal preference, or dietary adherence, but it is not necessary. It certainly isn't necessary to lower them to 90 g or less. There are people here who eat over 200g of carbs per day and still lose fat.

Vermilliana

You need more muscle. Muscle burns fat. Sucky thing is that, yes, it will make you look bigger to begin with (more than likely) but it`ll take your body from requiring 1500-1800 a day to needing 2000+. Keep eating the way you have been, though maybe break down your macros and see about eating more protein than carbs (and making sure you are getting enough POSITIVE fats. I made this mistake. I cut my fat down really low and found I got stuck. I added avocados to my diet and BAM I was back to losing! I felt a lot better too!) and the extra lean muscle tissue will totally eat up the extra your body is storing as fat. Looking at your workout schedule, yes there is weight work involved..but try adding in a full body weights-only circuit and push your body past its current comfort zone. I`m almost willing to bet it will get your body out of its rut!

Calichick94

That's why I want to gain ,lean muscle so it helps me with burning the fat lol. It's not that I don't eat healthy fats because I don't want to but I can't seem to add them in anywhere. LOL. Is the IIFYM calculator reliable? http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/


Based on the numbers I put in it's telling me BMR 1518, TDEE 2154 for 4 times a week exercising (because I go the gym 4 times a week for an hour but only on Saturdays I do 2 hours, instead of an hour for 5 times a week) and for -15% for fat loss 1,831cals and macros are: 237g carbs, 117g protein and 53g fat. Isn't the carbs a bit too high and protein too low?

What i'm doing now is more protein and less carbs than that. I'm trying to not go over 211g carbs and keeping protein consistent between 130-139g.

I want my weightloss/fat loss to be a lifestyle change, not losing and gaining every month.

f0r54ken

Well...Knocking off all carbs entirely is one way, (an unhealthy way) but none the less a way to lose weight as well.
But then again like you said, A dietary preference or medical condition could come into play.

I don't know, I guess Site's like these exist because there's not a tried and true weight loss plan for everyone and it gives them a place to congregate and present reasonable ideas and Methods another may try.

Unless you are considering my theories (for my physical results: facts) To be unreasonable It confuses me why you are protesting my methods and suggestions outloud in the first place when 1500c a day is completely reasonable for a woman of her size.

do you find my logic unreasonable?

lemurcat12

The usual protein recommendation is one gram per lean body mass, so you are probably eating more protein than you need, but no harm in that, many find it satiating. Carbs are a matter of personal preference. I vary mine depending on the amount of cardio I do, but generally have them at 40 percent or less. I'd say experiment with them, but generally no need to cut out healthy fats to fit in more carbs unless you find that works better for you.

DaughterOfTheMostHighKing

the only way i got the scale to move in my favor was to watch portion size. seriously!

999tigger

just surprised you waited 5 months before asking the question. If you read the forums then youll know the most common biy of advice is about the importnace of calorie deficit and peoples number one reason for mysterious non weight loss is because they arent measuring accurately and underestimating what they eat plus overestimating what they burn.

If theres not enough resistance training then maybe do a few dedicated workouts of just weights.

Calichick94

I waited because I was giving it time, but the loss wasn't significant and I just feel like my body is tighter from bodypump. That's all.