HELP! What am I doing wrong???

dawnemjh

Ok. 10 months here and gaining. 2 rounds of p90x, daily logging and staying under...HElp!!

I have been struggling with losing the last 10 pounds or so and now I am having to lose the last 18 pounds since I am going in the wrong direction.
I started Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle which basically is just keeping track of calories and working out and here is my result log:

week 1 ate 2100 calories, weight 164.6
week 2 ate 2074 cals weight up to 166.6???
week 3 ate 2194 weight up to 168.8
week 4 ate 2000 weight 167.2
week 5 ate 1995 weight 167.4
week 6 ate 1900 wgt 168.8
week 7 ate 1967 wgt 166.8
week 8 ate 1891 wgt 166.8

Macros are 40/30/30.
I just finished second round of p90x. Clothes fit the same. BF% is maybe down from 24 to 23% if I trust my husbands use of the calipers...I am 5'8". My BMR is about 1650 and my TDEE is 2500. I usually workout 6 days of the week and 3-4 of those days is running.

Thoughts, suggestions?? I dont get why I can eat 2100 and weight in at 164, and then eat 1900 and be at 168????and then eat 1950 and be 166 and then eat 2000 and go up to 168. So hard to figure out where to go with calories. I have tried as low as 1600 gross calories over the past 10 mos and that wasnt working either.

THanks!!!!

dawnemjh

Anyone??

Sidesteal

What are you using to determine your caloric intake (what are you using to estimate your TDEE in other words), what are your current stats (h/w), during which of the above weeks did TOM occur (personal I know but very relevant to this discussion), how active are you outside of the gym/outside of your workouts?

SchollinJ

It might be your body has just settled into your p90x routine. I would mix it up.

sheilarosella

I am not a professional but when I started to gain or plateau I increased my calories and I started losing..body thinks you are starving it if you are not eating enough for your workouts.

tecallahan

Not sure really -- I have had a similar problem for years. I am post-menopausal and insulin resistant, so the exercise really was not doing it for me. For me, Nutrition + exercise is the key. I just can't eat too many carbs - and too many is really ANY. I can eat 1,800 calories a day and if it''s more than 20% carbs, I will gain weight no matter how much I am exercising (I cycle, swim and power-walk). So, I am now eating 1,400 cal a day but only 13% carbs. It is coming off slowly.

For me, I have conned myself for years that the exercise is the most important thing -- but it really more what I eat, when I eat, etc. I have a dietician now and he helping me to tweak it weekly and I am finally seeing results - in inches lost - weight should come soon.

Rae6503

If you are sure of your TDEE I'd recommend eating 300 under that. The trick to losing the last few pounds (or so I've read, I stopped dieting w/ 10lbs to go) is having a SMALL calorie deficit. But you have to be a little more careful on measuring things and going over since one bad day could blow your deficit for the whole week. This should have you losing about a half pound a week. Also make sure to eat 1 gram of protein for every pound of lean body mass. This should help preserve muscle as you lose.

I'm 5'8.75" and I was losing eating around 2000 net over the summer.

1smemae94

Well what are you eating? If it's all crap food, this might be why because it's normally higher in salt. So it could be water weight. Also your body could be use to your exercise routine. Maybe you should switch it up and see if anything changes.

xHelloQuincyx

dont do the same types of workouts. do taebo and yoga and pilates and p90x and jilliam miachels. swimming joging jump rope. weights etc. i would give yourself more then 1 rest day per week too. other people may disagree with me but im talking from personal experience. its worth a try to see if it would help.

hopebuck

i think that looks like a LOT of calories.....

Helloitsdan

Sticking with 1 plan is a good thing.
Takes the body up to 3 weeks to adjust.
If you are eating over tdee then you would be adding weight.
If you are eating below TDEE you are cutting weight.
Eating at TDEE you maintain.

Have somebody run your numbers for you.
Google the name "Flex Diaz" and look for the BB.com thread "I will calculate your BMR and macros".
This guy helped me out a ton.
I have a calculator like his if you want me to run numbers for you but i'm not a professional.

Wendysworld13

You have to feed your body, even through your burn. Your body has decided to go into starvation mode. Make sure you are eating every calorie alotted you because your body is saying FEED ME or I am saving what I've got. Give it one month and for GOD'S sake, stop geting on the scale every day. Once or twice a week max- seriously give your mind and your body time to adjust without all the stress. It should take about a month for your body to get back into the ruetine of losing. If you don't it could permanently change your metabolism and that would be bad for you!

servilia

You don't mentioned how much you're burning through that exercise. You might be overestimating your TDEE.
I would lower cals for 2 weeks and see how that works out unless you're already at a ridiculously low NET.

leane1

Hello: I can tell you what works for me. I started tracking my foods using My Fitness Pal at the end of August, when I weighed 162 pounds, and set a goal of 1500 calories per day as 1200 was too low for me to be able to eat reasonable meals without feeling like I was starving myself. For breakfast I usually have a bowl of cereal with milk, and some fruit (ie. raspberries). For lunch I have a banana and two low fat yogourts, and then I can have a larger dinner. (ie. two slices of thin crust pizza, soup and a sandwich, chicken breast with mashed potatoes, etc.). In the evenings if I have a few calories left, then I may have a cup of tea and a small snack. I try to exercise by walking when I can. On the occasion when I treat myself to a larger calorie meal, then I know that my weight will bounce up but will drop again in a few days. My problem was always eating too much at meals. Now by reducing my calories and cutting out unhealthy snacks, and high calorie foods, I have lost about 3 pounds each month. I currently weigh 148.6, and plan to keep on tracking my calories until I reach my goal of around 130 pounds. Also, when I go to meetings at work, I avoid even going to the food table, so I am not tempted to eat too much. My goal is too train myself to eat smaller portions so that this becomes a lifestyle change, and something I can maintain. Now that I ahve been doing this for over 3 months, I am used to eating less, so I don't feel like I am really dieting, only eating better. Hopefully these suggestions will work for you. Cheers, Leane

ocsk3

I'm not an expert at this; I don't think any of us are, but have you considered that as you workout you are gaining muscle mass and muscle weighs a lot more than fat. One pound of muscle is a much larger mass than one pound of fat. Just look at a pound of steak vs a pound of butter. Although you may not be able to see it in how your clothes fit you are getting stronger and building some mass through your workouts.

Also, when are you weighing yourself? It's best to weigh in first thing in the morning before you begin an intake of fluids. Do you know that one gallon of water weighs 8.3 lbs?

If there was one simple answer the fitness and nutrition industry wouldn't be a multi billion dollar industry.

Personally, I just keep mixing it up so the body does not fall into a routine.

Good luck

koosdel

What's your weekly deficit?

tigersword

You're at 23% body fat. That's a very healthy body fat level, it's classified as "fit." Any weight you try to lose at that point is going to be very slow, because you're already in a normal, healthy range. If your body fat is dropping, then you are most likely storing water and glycogen, p90x is a very high intensity exercise and your body will hang onto a lot of water for muscle repair, as well as increase your glycogen stores (causing more water storage as well) in anticipation of your next workout.

_GlaDOS_

I think I gave you my opinion on our group forum, but I'll say it here too in case you didn't see it.

My thought is that you spent a lot of time (before p90x and eating 2,000+ calories per day) undereating, like myself, and then increased calories, lost a little, and then gained it back. This is the story of my life here the past 6 months, until I took a break from exercise completely and ate at maintenance for a week. I lost 1.4 lbs last week doing this and it has stayed off. I honestly think your body could probably use a break from a deficit.

dawnemjh

You don't mentioned how much you're burning through that exercise. You might be overestimating your TDEE.
I would lower cals for 2 weeks and see how that works out unless you're already at a ridiculously low NET.

I have the bodymedia fit, and I use a HRM. The HRM seems to correlate with the bodymedia. Usually the bodymedia will show average daily burn between 2500-3000 but I lower that to allow for 10% error.

I appreciate all the feedback!!

I do eat healthy!! Organic, nothing processed, lean cuts of chicken, one serving of grain per day usually in the form of sprouted bread or quinoa. No white carbs/flour/pastry/sugar/pasta/etc

dawnemjh

What's your weekly deficit?

according to MFP my total exerise burn was 2446. My deficit from calories for the week 1236. Usually my burn is higher, as I only worked out 4 days this week and had a christmas party, so deficit is also usally bigger. When I review data from my bodymedia, I usually have 450-700 per day deficit.

I weight and measure everything that goes in my mouth also!!!

dawnemjh

You're at 23% body fat. That's a very healthy body fat level, it's classified as "fit." Any weight you try to lose at that point is going to be very slow, because you're already in a normal, healthy range. If your body fat is dropping, then you are most likely storing water and glycogen, p90x is a very high intensity exercise and your body will hang onto a lot of water for muscle repair, as well as increase your glycogen stores (causing more water storage as well) in anticipation of your next workout.

yes this is true. I just figured I would build muscle and lose fat which is why I increased my intake to about 2000 to help reduce lean body mass weight, but clothes and measurements are not changing.....

dawnemjh

You don't mentioned how much you're burning through that exercise. You might be overestimating your TDEE.
I would lower cals for 2 weeks and see how that works out unless you're already at a ridiculously low NET.

I am not sure what my net should really be anymore. I am starting not to trust any of the calculations. Usually I net around 1400-1600. I have been told that I should never go below my basal metabolic rate which is 1650....

chevy88grl

i think that looks like a LOT of calories.....

Not everyone needs a low amount of calories. Some people simply need more. I can easily maintain my weight consuming upwards of 2500 (or more!) calories a day.

The last week or so I've been netting around 2800 and still maintaining right around 147lbs. It all depends on your activity level.

hperowl

It might be your body has just settled into your p90x routine. I would mix it up.

Ditto. And, if you're gaining muscle mass that could add pounds.

dawnemjh

What are you using to determine your caloric intake (what are you using to estimate your TDEE in other words), what are your current stats (h/w), during which of the above weeks did TOM occur (personal I know but very relevant to this discussion), how active are you outside of the gym/outside of your workouts?

I am 5'8" 167.4 pounds this morning. I did attribute this past weeks loss to the TOM from the week before, but still overall I am up 5 pounds from when I started here in Feb. and my intake overall is decreasing,..When I look at info from feb. my weight was 161 and I averaged 1930 intake and burned avg 2500 per day....

chevy88grl

Are the calories you have listed net calories or total calories?

I'm trying to figure out if you are creating too large of a deficit calorie-wise or what is going on, but am confused by all the different responses.

You have some kind of a HRM, so you know that your calorie burn is accurate?

Have you checked your BMR and found out your TDEE? Or are you simply guessing?

nurse_chris

I am no professional, but you are near your goal, but doing a very rigorous workout. You have probably gained a fair bit of muscle and now your scale is misleading. For the remainder, i would change your goal to a certain body fat% or measurements and only use the scale for poops and giggles.

There was an earlier post about increasing your cals, and i would go with that. What i do know about the human body, is that it will go into self preservation mode if you further drop calories. You burn a lot of calories, so up your protein and greens and see if that works.

No matter what you decide, it will take a few weeks for your body to adjust, so don't despair after a week into your change.

good luck!!!

koosdel

Probably time for a break.

Aeriel

Every time I stalled out in my loss, I cut back my rate of loss 1.5 pds/week->1pd/week->0.5pd/week, giving me more calories to eat, just a few hundred at a time. I eat back about 1/2 my exercise calories, or more/less depending on hunger levels. Each time, I jump started my weight loss again within a week. Eating more really does help if you are active.

A huge thing for me is sodium. If I have one day of high sodium, I see a gain of several pounds that takes a week to get off. Several days and I can see a gain of 10 pounds or more from water weight. That can take me a few weeks to reverse.

Good luck!

dawnemjh

Are the calories you have listed net calories or total calories?

I'm trying to figure out if you are creating too large of a deficit calorie-wise or what is going on, but am confused by all the different responses.

You have some kind of a HRM, so you know that your calorie burn is accurate?

Have you checked your BMR and found out your TDEE? Or are you simply guessing?

my BMR is based on several different calculations, and I also had it checked with by calimetry where you breath in a tube for like 15 minutes or so and have a bag over your head etc. I also had it checked where they attach electrodes to you foot and hand and both time was around 1650, so according to everything, its about that. My gross total intake for the past 2-3 mos has been 1800-2200, netting 1400-1800 or so.

Otter1971

Even though you are at 40/30/30 you may just simply need to change the scale of your macronutrients. the 40/30/30 is a balanced nutrition.. that is what I suggest everyone start out with for a month or so and see how things go.. some peoples weight drops right away, others stay at the same weight but when I measure them they have lost several inches and suggest staying with the balanced approach..

everyone is different.. I use myself as an example.. I have insulin sensitivity so a very low Carb High Protein medium to higher fat nutrition approach works for me very well. I have no Starchy carbs but only 1 or 2 times per week. I stay very full and satisfied, have great energy and lean out.. It can take a long time to figure out what works best with your body because you have to try different things out and it may take a few weeks for your body to adjust.. however I have seen once someone has tweeked their Nutrients they have had a fat loss rather quickly.. everyone is different.. Just keep moving forward.. Nutrition is always the key with exercise.. the right nutrition you will thrive with your workouts and feel great all day long..

and remember your Water intake... I have all my Clients drink a gallon a day.. start off the Morning by downing 20 to 30 oz and go from there.. always have water with meals.. Ice cold water..

Hope it helps.. just keep plugging away..