More of what? Protein?

mdfeller

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How much are you eating on your spike/refeed/cheat day? Also, don't eat breakfast if you don't want to. Just be sure and get some protein in at your last meal.
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A lot? Sort of? This weekend we ate Mexican food, so lots of chips and cheese, and a couple enchiladas, then some pad see ew, (noodles, chicken and lots of veggies). I end up with a doggy bag, and I opted to skip the fair food though.

I can do fruit in the morning. What fruit has a lot of protein? apples? Trainer said not to do bananas because they only give you enough energy for a short period of time, which is why he has me doing the almonds.

mdfeller

I have thought this as well. But on the days that I work out more, I feel less hungry so I struggle to fill in the calories, and end up eating doritos and drinking some wine, which I gotta say, when I was filling it in with the wine in the evenings, I was losing more. I'm sure that filling up with the junk though, isn't quite so healthy?

blanky889

How many times a day are you eating?
How many calories are you eating now?
what do you eat/consume post work out? (also very important to fat loss)

As other have said you need 1g/pound of body weight.

I think your not consuming enough calories, not enough caories throws your body into fat storage mode. Your currently working out 5 times a week so your body will need penty of carbs, protein and fat ( 40% protein, 40% carbs and 20% fat). If your working out as frequently as you are and not eating enough your body thinks its starving and it will thus store everything you consume as fat. Increasing your calorie intake maybe the solution and keeping your metabolism at a high rate is also key so eat plenty of meal ( 3 meals and 2 snacks)

mdfeller

How many times a day are you eating?
How many calories are you eating now?
what do you eat/consume post work out? (also very important to fat loss)

As other have said you need 1g/pound of body weight.

I think your not consuming enough calories, not enough caories throws your body into fat storage mode. Your currently working out 5 times a week so your body will need penty of carbs, protein and fat ( 40% protein, 40% carbs and 20% fat). If your working out as frequently as you are and not eating enough your body thinks its starving and it will thus store everything you consume as fat. Increasing your calorie intake maybe the solution and keeping your metabolism at a high rate is also key so eat plenty of meal ( 3 meals and 2 snacks)

My calories fluctuate... For example yesterday I did not exercise. I ate 1200 cals. I eat about 5x/day. Breakfast is generally almonds and coffee, was having a boiled egg white, but changed that to add to my lunch salad. Mid morning snack is one deli flat with peanut butter. For lunch I am having a salad. Lots of greens, with a boiled egg white and italian dressing, or light ranch. My greens are romaine, spinach, and red leaf lettuce. If I have fresh carrots from the garden I also throw those in with a few slices of cucumbers, oh and cheese. Afternoon snack is generally chocolate - snickers, kit kat, butterfinger, cookie- and the "fun size". I can cut this out and have a protein shake maybe? I still have a case of slim fast. Dinner, when I cook is a meat (tonight is pork chops) carb (tonight is red potatoes) and a veggie (tonight is fresh green beans) I have tried to cut out after 9 snacking, even though I really wanted those doritos last night. When I work out, I find it difficult to eat healthy and eat my exercise calories. I just put in all of these foods and it's still only 900 calories.

On days that I don't cook, then it's very easy to go over or eat my exercise calories, because it's not healthy eating. But when cooking at home I find it very difficult to eat more.

4theking

How much are you eating on your spike/refeed/cheat day? Also, don't eat breakfast if you don't want to. Just be sure and get some protein in at your last meal.
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A lot? Sort of? This weekend we ate Mexican food, so lots of chips and cheese, and a couple enchiladas, then some pad see ew, (noodles, chicken and lots of veggies). I end up with a doggy bag, and I opted to skip the fair food though.

I can do fruit in the morning. What fruit has a lot of protein? apples? Trainer said not to do bananas because they only give you enough energy for a short period of time, which is why he has me doing the almonds.
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You need to track your calories on your free day and aim for 2000-2400. You would be better off skipping breakfast or doing a protein shake instead.

mdfeller

What makes a protein shake? Does Slimfast count?

blanky889

From what you describe i think you could be consuming too few calories (im not a professional, just my opinion). Maybe try bumping it up a little more for a few weeks and see what happens. I would also cut out the chocolate bars and doritos, restrict those to your cheat day on saturday as a spike in calories for one day a week is good. I would bring up your protein consumption, i think this would help, carbs cant be cut out entirely as you do need carbs for energy (brown rice, whole wheat bread, whoel wheat pasta, quinoa) . Cheese also needs to be cut out as dairy products (more specifically lactose can prevent fat loss). Eat often (every 2 to 3 hours) and dont skip meals. Another thing to keep in mind is that everyones body will react differently, what might work for me may not work for the person beside me! Experiment, document and adjust!

In respect to breakfast, it is one of the MOST important meals of the day, eating some egg whites, whole egg or even oatmeal can make a tremendous difference (protein shake is a good alternative). If you skip this meal you will be hungrier later in the day/night.

_GlaDOS_

Are your calories really set at 1200 per day? This doesn’t seem to be enough, and it doesn’t look like you eat back the calories you burn, leaving your net calories far too low. The hard work you put in when you exercise is pretty much wasted when you don’t eat enough.

MrsCon40

If you're losing body fat - why do you care about your weight?

8rules

Does anyone else get skeptical when they read how someone is losing fat but not losing weight? Muscles do not build nearly as fast as we lose fat.

You can lose 2 pounds a fat in a week EASY.

You can gain 2 to 4 ounces of muscle in a week, MAYBE, if you do it perfect and bust your *kitten*. as a women, even slower

Something else is at play. If you drink more water, you will register as higher lean tissue on the electronic body fat scale. There are other things.

I guess my point is, if you are not losing weight, do not assume it is muscle. As well, it is nearly impossible to build muscle while simultaneously losing a lot of weight. This is the holy grail of body building, and they have really yet to discover it.

mdfeller

If you're losing body fat - why do you care about your weight?

Hmm, um probably the same reason that anybody on here is. I don't want to weigh what I do being only 5 feet tall.

mdfeller

Does anyone else get skeptical when they read how someone is losing fat but not losing weight? Muscles do not build nearly as fast as we lose fat.

You can lose 2 pounds a fat in a week EASY.

You can gain 2 to 4 ounces of muscle in a week, MAYBE, if you do it perfect and bust your *kitten*. as a women, even slower

Something else is at play. If you drink more water, you will register as higher lean tissue on the electronic body fat scale. There are other things.

I guess my point is, if you are not losing weight, do not assume it is muscle. As well, it is nearly impossible to build muscle while simultaneously losing a lot of weight. This is the holy grail of body building, and they have really yet to discover it.

So you're skeptical? Maybe you should elaborate more on that. Do you think I'm lying? I went in to bootcamp on August 31. The scale read 117.4. I held the little body fat tester thingy that I had never seen before and the guy said, you are at 33% body fat. I went in again on Sept 8 (after a full week of bootcamp) that same scale said 117.6. I held the same little machine thing and it said 30% body fat. So in actuality I guess I gained .2, so if you want to say that so as to not make you so skeptical, then I can edit it to reflect that... The trainer did say something along the lines of fat being burned and water going into where those fat pockets were, but I didn't really understand what he was saying. I am not body building. I don't care about muscles. I just want to lose weight.

mdfeller

Are your calories really set at 1200 per day? This doesn’t seem to be enough, and it doesn’t look like you eat back the calories you burn, leaving your net calories far too low. The hard work you put in when you exercise is pretty much wasted when you don’t eat enough.

Yes, when I set it up automatically, it says
Nutritional goals Target
Net Calories Consumed* / Day 1,200 Calories / Day
Carbs / Day 165 g
Fat / Day 40 g
Protein / Day 45 g

*Net calories consumed = total calories consumed - exercise calories burned. So the more you exercise, the more you can eat!
Fitness goals Target
Calories Burned / Week 620 Calories / Week
Workouts / Weekends 5 workouts
Minutes / Workout 30 minutes

If you follow this plan...

Your projected weigh loss is: 0.5 lbs/week

You should lose 2.5 lbs. by October 19

_GlaDOS_

Are your calories really set at 1200 per day? This doesn’t seem to be enough, and it doesn’t look like you eat back the calories you burn, leaving your net calories far too low. The hard work you put in when you exercise is pretty much wasted when you don’t eat enough.

Yes, when I set it up automatically, it says
Nutritional goals Target
Net Calories Consumed* / Day 1,200 Calories / Day
Carbs / Day 165 g
Fat / Day 40 g
Protein / Day 45 g

*Net calories consumed = total calories consumed - exercise calories burned. So the more you exercise, the more you can eat!
Fitness goals Target
Calories Burned / Week 620 Calories / Week
Workouts / Weekends 5 workouts
Minutes / Workout 30 minutes

If you follow this plan...

Your projected weigh loss is: 0.5 lbs/week

You should lose 2.5 lbs. by October 19

Still doesn't sound like enough to me, even at 5'0" tall, and especially if you're not eating back the calories you burn from exercise.

http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced

mdfeller

I'm not sure what that is, but I put in the numbers for a normal bootcamp day, and these are the numbers it gave me.

1265kcalbmr
2178kcaltotalenergyexpenditure

for a non bootcamp day, the bottom number changes to 1849.

What does this mean exactly?

And when eating healthy, how do you find enough healthy calories to eat? Cause I am stuffed right now, and I added a piece of chicken to my salad for lunch which I normally do not. But trying to get more protein & calories in.

_GlaDOS_

I'm not sure what that is, but I put in the numbers for a normal bootcamp day, and these are the numbers it gave me.

1265kcalbmr
2178kcaltotalenergyexpenditure

for a non bootcamp day, the bottom number changes to 1849.

What does this mean exactly?

And when eating healthy, how do you find enough healthy calories to eat? Cause I am stuffed right now, and I added a piece of chicken to my salad for lunch which I normally do not. But trying to get more protein & calories in.

Your BMR (basal metabolic rate—the first, lower number there) is what your body basically needs to do absolutely nothing. And, since everyone (hopefully) does more than absolutely nothing, like get out bed everyday, walk around a bit, sit on there butts at work, exercise like crazy, etc., the number of calories you are actually burning is more than your BMR. This is your TEE (total energy expenditure—the higher number there). This is the amount of calories your body uses/burns doing whatever activities you specified below. Although this is an online calculator, it’s not entirely accurate, but in general, it would be best to set your net calories to somewhere in between these two numbers, and not lower than your BMR, and eat back the calories you burn during exercise to maintain your deficit. Too much of a deficit is not a good thing.

As far as increasing the amount you eat, it’s best to do it gradually. I started MFP on 1200 net calories per day. As someone who is 5’10”, this was terrible for my body. I gradually increased to 1350, then 1650, then 1750. I plan on increasing even more as I do more strength training. Start eating a little more and maybe even a little more often (every 2-3 hours) and eventually you’ll probably start feeling hungrier anyway.

journey2swole

Several things stick out at me here:

1. Carbs - when trying to loose weight I have always been a firm believer that all carbs should be consumed with your breakfast and lunch but never after 2 PM.
2. You are cutting bodyfat and not loosing weight, it may be that your body is recomping and that is not a bad thing. As fat is lost and you gain/replace that with muscle mass you will become thinner and more toned.
3. Many times with new exercise programs the weight loss begins after the program has and nutrition program has had time to work. (I generally will start loosing after week 3) each of our bodies respond differently but your situation is not uncommon.
4. Higher protein is always beneficial to weight loss and toning, eating low Glycemic Index foods for carbs such as Oatmeal or sweet potato are good Carb choices.
5. After lunch get your carb sources from green leafy vegetable like green beans, spinach, broccoli.
6. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, do not skip this. Protein, Carbs, healthy fats, and fiber are essential.
7. Don't undereat. 6 small meals divided throughout the day are the best option to keep your metabolism working and your body burning fat.

Troll

first of all, losing 3percent body fat is no small feat! If your weight is the same it means you lost the gooey layer and added muscle, which means you're right on. Now, i dont know where the low 60g protein mess is coming from. I have always been told to get 1-1.5 g per pound of bodyweight, and if you do a lot of cardio do carbs the same way. When i hit a plateau i cut carbs by 10g and up my protein (i try to get 2g per pound anyway) by about 15 g for a few days. This always works for me. But really, the weight follows BF percentage so be happy you are on your way to tight and toned!

mdfeller

Thank you all, above, for your information and your advice! I really appreciate it.