Am I eating too little / working out too much or am I just n

davidmeans

Hello everyone. I started my journey with MFP on June 1 and so far have lost 15 lbs (started at 229 and am now 214) with a goal of losing 30 - 40 additional lbs. For the first month I was a cardio fiend, doing 60 - 90 minutes of cardio rough 6x a week burning 1000 or so calories (I used a HRM to measure the calories I burn).

Since July 5, I have cut back on doing as much cardio and have incorporated weight training. I am trying to work out 6x a week doing 3 days of weights (M,W,F) for roughly 50 - 60 minutes and then doing cardio (elipitcal, treadmill, stairmaster) for 30-40 minutes after doing weights. On the other 3 days (Tu,Th,Sat) I am doing 60 minutes of cardio (walking or doing elpitcal, treadmill or stairmaster). I have been trying to burn between 700 - 1000 a calories through exercise a day.

MFP is saying I should be eating around 1600 - 1700 calories a day without exercise. With working out, MFP says I can eat closer to 2200 - 2400 calories a day. I have been trying to stay under 1600 calories a day every day of the week, even when exercising.

I have noticed, since I have started the weight training on July 5, I am not losing weight as fast as I once was (been stuck in this range of 214 - 217 over the past week - yes I weigh myself every day. However, I have noticed my body fat % has decreased slightly). Am I at the point where my weight loss is going to be slower (I really want to continue to lose 1.5 to 2.0 lbs a week)? Does my body think I am starving myself and I need to eat more? Am I working out too much and need to ease up on the cardio? Or am I just nuts and I am progressing just fine and I need to learn to be more patient and settle for .5 to 1 lbs of weight loss a week?

Anyone who has been in this situation or has any helpful hints on what I could do to stay on track to lose 1.5 to 2 lbs a week, I would welcome your input.

Thanks for reading.

DM

Wifeykimm

Try increasing your protein intake to help with building muscle, but keep your fat intake lean and lower. I personally don't eat all the calories MFP suggests..but 1600 calories at 215lbs is low. I would think you should need to be eating closer to 1800. You should google it. Lots of great tools on the internet.

ukhennin

I suggest you eat more and take it easy on the cardio. Your body needs to recover at some point so that it can build the muscle that will increase your metabolism which will burn the fat. So, take it easy and eat some of those exercise calories back.

GypsyRose25

You are turning fat into muscle. So instead of losing a lot of weight you are building muscle and losing inches.

swinginchandra

A lot of people's weight loss slows when they start adding in weight training... that doesn't mean your fat loss is slowing though! I'd recommend taking measurements.

LorinaLynn

I'm a 132 pound GIRL (ok, woman) and I eat about 1800 a day and I'm still losing.

You really should be eating back your exercise calories. You'll burn through muscle if you're not eating enough and mess up your metabolism.

millymoozie

am just putting this so can find you again after i copy & paste you something i wrote on here not long ago !! hope it helps ,,ive sort of been in your situation ,hang on ill find it

dieselbugparrot

Under 1600 calories for a man sounds low to me. Cardio burns fat and weight lifting builds muscle. And we all know that muscle weights more than fat which is why now that you have substituted some cardio with weight lifting you're not really seeing a difference on the scale. You'll definitely need to take in more protein when you're weight lifting.

Keep up the hard work.

millymoozie

ok voila ,,it was written to someone in a different situation to you so have edited & changed bits
,this is all from my own personal experience
i started this on a mission to lose weight & i was doing at the begining approx 800 cals burn per day & sticking to a low cal diet of 1200 cals & was very proud of myself when i was well under ,it was fantastic & i lost a lot in a short time & felt strong & good & got a real buzz from the workouts .
sounds great huh !
yeh not so much
then i started feeling like **** ,weak ,looked pale ,zero energy ,,on many occasions in the week would be happily going about my day & would come over in a hot sweat ,clammy & pale looking ,,my eyesight would be distorted ,shaking all over & feeling close to passing out ,as for the exercise it ground to an absolute hault ,didnt put on anymore weight but didnt lose any & i felt quite rough , it recently in the last few months got to the stage i was losing appetite & missing meals ,like a whole day with a meal at night & felt sick & bloated after the meal .
i blamed it on the heat as i live in a hot place ,until i spoke to a friend on here & she explained what i had done ,i had starved myself & my body had lost some fat but was in starvation mode & this is why i had no energy ,,i have thought about all this & it hit me like a ton of bricks of what i was doing to myself ,unintentionally ! i allways thought eat way less cals than you burn off & thats it ,simple ,i was so wrong & i am back now on healthy eating & have upped my daily cals to 1500 & have been exercising happily .
low cals & workouts are NOT the way to go & you are setting yourself up for some serious issues ,believe me it does not feel good ,i struggled to get through my day as i had no energy atall ,would be exhausted within 1 hour of waking in the morning
do not do this ,stick to small healthy snacks every few hours & get those cals in & do your workouts ,feed your body with the energy it needs to burn off the extra cals ,,for you to lose weight effeciently you need your body to be working at top performance
for you my friend with the workouts you are doing i think you should be on 2400 cals for sure & you defo would do good with some whey protein shake & or protein bars ,,,if you dont give your body the cals it needs to work properly it will store what it allready has to survive ,,my story is how i got after a while of that routine & would not wish that on anyone ,,didnt end up editing as have to go out if there is anything that doesnt apply to you ,then apologies ,as i said was originally to help another girl on here ,,,good luck & up those cals ,,help your body to help you x

BradNC

Almost exact same weight / almost the exact same situation as you (1600 cals/day w/o exercise calories counted in). Felt like I had put myself back into shape enough to start lifting again. Started StrongLift 5x5s about 3 weeks ago. Since then, I haven't lost a pound (@ 212 current), but continue to lose inches. As a previous poster says - take measurements.

I find it difficult to eat back all my calories as well, so I keep a protein bar around to try to keep my protein amount higher.

So far, so good. Feel free to add me if you'd like, and we can keep each other honest

changeisgood55

I agree with eating more and giving your body a break from all the cardio maybe one day a week. Your muscles need down time to revive and be ready for the next workout. And remember, you are building muscle and muscle is denser than fat.

KeriA

Since you haven't lost 10% of your original weight I would say you aren't in a plateau yet but may be slowing down. You can keep losing with lowered calories and exercise. You shouldn't stay under net calories of 1800 calories a day for a man for an extended period so you may want to make sure that you at least get this. Upping Protein sounds like it may help. Strength training may correct your metabolism.

Jenlynphi

It sounds like you need to eat more. You need to feed those muscles that you are working. I increased my calories when I started weights and it worked. Good luck!