The last few lbs...

psuLemon

That's exactly how I feel, I am killing myself doing these workouts and I'm getting discouraged seeing no weight loss for weeks!

There is a good chance you aren't eating enough and that is why you aren't seeing the results. You do need to set your goal at .5 lbs per week. It will take months to get there as well. I did post an approach above which can help eliminate body fat and increase your BMR.


If you want to open your food diary we can take a look. It is important to eat the right foods at this stage. I know from experience and working to correct it now.

RoseBlanc

Actually, the person you're arguing with is right.
I burnt as much laying in bed every day due to my height, weight, and muscle mass at the peak of my fitness the last time I wanted to get in shape- as someone that was over weight that was on their feet all day.

I was smaller, fitter, and healthier.. but I burnt as much if not more than the person who was the opposite.
My metabolism didn't slow down.. it sped up.

Now if you have two people with the same bmi but they're different heights the taller person will need more calories, generally due to the need to supply the fuel necessary to maintain a higher weight normally.

It's not that your metabolism slows down, it's that as you get thinner your body has less to burn- especially if you're weight training and giving your muscles the proper recovery after wards- body can't burn what you won't let it.

kated930

That's exactly how I feel, I am killing myself doing these workouts and I'm getting discouraged seeing no weight loss for weeks!

There is a good chance you aren't eating enough and that is why you aren't seeing the results. You do need to set your goal at .5 lbs per week. It will take months to get there as well. I did post an approach above which can help eliminate body fat and increase your BMR.


If you want to open your food diary we can take a look. It is important to eat the right foods at this stage. I know from experience and working to correct it now.

I opened my diary. My problem somedays is that I'll eat and exercise normally, and then by the end of the day I'll have all these calories left over but I don't want to eat them all at night! Should I eat them anyways? I also feel as though its going to be hard to increase my calories, I've trained myself NOT to eat so much, but if that's what it takes..

psuLemon

I opened my diary. My problem somedays is that I'll eat and exercise normally, and then by the end of the day I'll have all these calories left over but I don't want to eat them all at night! Should I eat them anyways? I also feel as though its going to be hard to increase my calories, I've trained myself NOT to eat so much, but if that's what it takes..

If you are going to the gym 6 days a week, i can tell you for a fact,that you are not eating enough. Most days you barely hit 1000 calories which isn't enough for a person to have proper bodily function. Do me a favor and calculate your body fat using the link below (unless you have BF calipers and then use those). If you can let me know your estimated BF and your weight (over private message is fine). I can tell and show you how many calories you burn at rest (your BMR) and what you need to eat in order to lose weight.

http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html

rockstarmike000

The more you eat, the higher your metabolism is. Its like the more coal you throw in a fire, the higher the flames get. The metabolism adjusts for the amount of food you eat. This goes against popular belief because people tend to think skinnier people have higher metabolisms and more overweight people have slower metabolisms (generally its the opposite). Beliefs like this lead to people thinking metabolism is all you need to lose weight and be skinny. Metabolism is more like the device that allows you to lose weight, and you can control it to an extent by boosting it with exercise and eating less food more often. But that doesn't change the fact that it does slow down as you get thinner. Think of it this way: The metabolism is activated when food goes in the body. If it stayed the same in a person who used to be 300 pounds and is now 150, all of their digestive organs would still be working twice as hard when the stomach was empty and didn't have anything left to burn. This would probably flat out kill you, but the body is smart enough to adjust to it by slowing the metabolism down as less food enters the body. What kind of person are you if you're losing weight? A thinning person. This means you're probably decreasing the amount of food you used to eat. Decrease the amount of food, and you decrease the use of the metabolism. Pretty simple.

That being said, there seems to be debates about this all over the internet. A lot people really believe skinnier people have higher metabolisms, rather than different eating habits. I am absolutely positive this is true in some cases. Everyone probably knows at least a handful of people who seem to scarf down whatever they want and never worry about weight. Whatever you believe, metabolism does vary from person to person. Figuring out your own can even be a headache. I'm not a doctor, I'm not a nutritionist, and I'm not a trainer. I'm just a guy who's lost 55 lbs. There are a lot of popular beliefs that turned out to be myths and a lot that turned out to be true. I'm not saying I can't be wrong. I'm just saying all logic seems to point to the more food you put in your body, the more your metabolism is activated, and the higher your metabolism is.

Just took 2 seconds to google it:
http://baye.com/fat-loss-myths-part-1-overweight-people-have-slow-metabolism/
http://www.weightlossforall.com/metabolic-slowdown.htm

psuLemon

Once again, skinny has absolutely nothing to do with it because you define skinny. There are a few factors that determine your metabolic rate and I will back this up with a real life example to prove it. The two factors are body fat and lean body mass. These are the two keep factors in the Katch-McArdle formula which calculates basal metabolic rate (BMR). I have been weight training on and off for awhile but really have been pushing it for the past six months. When I started I was 22% body fat (testd by calipers) and weight 210 lbs. Now I am 190 lbs and 12% body fat.

Previous

LBM = Weight - (Weight x BF%)
BMR = 370 + (9.79759519 x LBM)

LBM = 210 - (210 x.22) = 163.8
BMR = 370 + (9.79759519x 163.8) = 1974

Current

LBM = 190 - (190x.12) = 167.2
BMR = 370 + (9.79759519x167.2) = 2008.2

So as you can see, wtih a 10% drop in body fat (which could classify me as skinny) I actually slightly gain in both the lean muscle mass and BMR. Higher BMR equal higher metabolism. Now, I understand there are outside factors (some genetics, thyroid, etc..) that can affect it.

The problem I see with your logic is you are leaving out BMR and lean body mass. Skinny and overweight don't affect it. It seems what you are thinking about is when most girls lose weight, it's because they tend to under eat and it effect their metabolism due to the muscle loss from malnutrition. If a person was sedentary, your theory would work. A lot of my friends have done weight watchers with great resutls due to weight loss, but a lot of the weigthloss was muscle, which lowers your metabolism. Look at any althete, many of them have rediculously low body fat, good muscle tone and they eat like a horse. Micheal Phelps is a good example, he has liek 6% body fat but east 15,000 calories a day.

Below is an article to pounder.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Factors-That-Affect-Metabolism&id=5515983

kated930

I opened my diary. My problem somedays is that I'll eat and exercise normally, and then by the end of the day I'll have all these calories left over but I don't want to eat them all at night! Should I eat them anyways? I also feel as though its going to be hard to increase my calories, I've trained myself NOT to eat so much, but if that's what it takes..

If you are going to the gym 6 days a week, i can tell you for a fact,that you are not eating enough. Most days you barely hit 1000 calories which isn't enough for a person to have proper bodily function. Do me a favor and calculate your body fat using the link below (unless you have BF calipers and then use those). If you can let me know your estimated BF and your weight (over private message is fine). I can tell and show you how many calories you burn at rest (your BMR) and what you need to eat in order to lose weight.

http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html

I'm not so sure I did this right because it gave me a different number for my BMI than myfitnesspal, it says that it is 20.9. My BF %is 20.2. Right now, I am at 118 (given I teeter at this number, some days I can be 116, some days i'm 120..) but my goal is to be 115. I know it seems kind of silly since I am so close, but that was my original goal and Ill feel like I'd be giving up if I didn't make it. I am more concerned with toning up/ gaining muscle and getting my BF % down, So I'll be interested with what you have to say

psuLemon

Sorry it took me awhile to respond, I am almost never home for the weekends.



Now based on the fact you go to the gym 5 or 6 days a week and your estimated body fat is 20% I would recommend 1750 calories daily. You should aim for this number every day, regardless if you workout or not. The benefit of doing this, is your always know your daily caloric need. What will happen is some days you may only burn 200 additional calories and some days you may burn 1000 calories working out. Due to this, you cause a zigzag in deficit and overall diet. This is good to help prevent some plateauing. Now, my suggest is to get body fat calipers and a measuring tap to measure your body. Every 30 days, you should track your progress by re-measuring. Now keep in mind, when you increase lean body mass, you may or may not lose weight. It really depends on how fast you burn the fat off and how fast the muscle grows.


In terms of your ratio of carbs/protein/fat, I would suggest 40/40/20. This is what is recommended when you do programs like p90x and other beachbody programs. After 30 days or when you feel dizzy during workouts, I would suggest bumping up yoru carbs and reducing your proteins by 5%. After 30 more days, do the same thing. I have sustained 50/30/20 for a few months. When I plateau, I tend to bump up my calories and even bump up my carbs by 5% more. Once you reach your goal weight/size, I would suggest doing 60/20/20 which is more of a maintenence mode.

I hope this is helpful and feel free to contact me is you want more specifics. I can tell you, this has worked for me (obviously from my previous post) and several other men/women, I have helped. There are two quick sayings that should stick with everyone; food is fuel and muscle burns fat.

kated930

Sorry it took me awhile to respond, I am almost never home for the weekends.



Now based on the fact you go to the gym 5 or 6 days a week and your estimated body fat is 20% I would recommend 1750 calories daily. You should aim for this number every day, regardless if you workout or not. The benefit of doing this, is your always know your daily caloric need. What will happen is some days you may only burn 200 additional calories and some days you may burn 1000 calories working out. Due to this, you cause a zigzag in deficit and overall diet. This is good to help prevent some plateauing. Now, my suggest is to get body fat calipers and a measuring tap to measure your body. Every 30 days, you should track your progress by re-measuring. Now keep in mind, when you increase lean body mass, you may or may not lose weight. It really depends on how fast you burn the fat off and how fast the muscle grows.


In terms of your ratio of carbs/protein/fat, I would suggest 40/40/20. This is what is recommended when you do programs like p90x and other beachbody programs. After 30 days or when you feel dizzy during workouts, I would suggest bumping up yoru carbs and reducing your proteins by 5%. After 30 more days, do the same thing. I have sustained 50/30/20 for a few months. When I plateau, I tend to bump up my calories and even bump up my carbs by 5% more. Once you reach your goal weight/size, I would suggest doing 60/20/20 which is more of a maintenence mode.

I hope this is helpful and feel free to contact me is you want more specifics. I can tell you, this has worked for me (obviously from my previous post) and several other men/women, I have helped. There are two quick sayings that should stick with everyone; food is fuel and muscle burns fat.

Wow, all of this is very helpful. Now, in terms of the carb/protein/fat ratio, I just changed them to your suggestion, 40/40/20. Should I try to reach each goal everyday?Because I usually don't reach my allowed carbs/fat numbers, is that bad?

And this may be an opinion question, but what usually happens to me is that I'll have busy days, and by the end of the day... I still have 600-1000 calories left to eat. Do you think I should try to eat them just to fill the deficit, even if it is later at night? This is a problem that I've been facing but I never know what to do, because I've heard you shouldn't eat at night or that you shouldn't have carbs at night, I just don't know what to believe. On the other side, I know that I am not supposed to be way under my daily calorie goal!

Thank you so much for all of this information and your help, Im excited to get going on this

psuLemon

Wow, all of this is very helpful. Now, in terms of the carb/protein/fat ratio, I just changed them to your suggestion, 40/40/20. Should I try to reach each goal everyday?Because I usually don't reach my allowed carbs/fat numbers, is that bad?

And this may be an opinion question, but what usually happens to me is that I'll have busy days, and by the end of the day... I still have 600-1000 calories left to eat. Do you think I should try to eat them just to fill the deficit, even if it is later at night? This is a problem that I've been facing but I never know what to do, because I've heard you shouldn't eat at night or that you shouldn't have carbs at night, I just don't know what to believe. On the other side, I know that I am not supposed to be way under my daily calorie goal!

Thank you so much for all of this information and your help, Im excited to get going on this

You really do need to hit your carb and fat goals. It is just as important to hit those numbers. From my personal experience, I didn't eat enough fat, didn't eat enough calories and was high on my sugars and even afte doing 90 days of p90x, I lost nothing. No inches, no bf% change and no weight. Keep in mind, unsaturated fats are very important to your body. They help provide a protective layer for your organs.

Now, the biggest thing you need to plan on is taking snacks with you. You make time to exercise, you have to make time for your body to eat. You are better off eating your calories during the day, but if you have to eat calories at night, just try to do it 3-4 hours before bed. Also, if you notice you don't have a lot of time to eat 5 times a day, have bigger meals. Increase your calories during breakfast and lunch.

It is very very important to take care of yourself. If you make more of a consious effort, you will get there.

good luck.