Plateau Help!!

ehines91

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html

Dude, great article. Thanks!

_GlaDOS_

Does your activity level you entered (very active) include your exercise? This is one way to set up your calorie goal here, but it doesn't sound like what you are trying to do. Your activity level should be based on your daily activity on a day without exercise. So, for example, if you work a desk job, you may want to set your activity level at sedentary. If you work on your feet all day, maybe lightly active or moderately active. Then you add in your deficit by saying you want to lose 1 lb per week (I really recommend 1 lb per week - I think others would too, but if you want to try 2 lbs per week, by all means). Then when you add in the calories you burn from exercise, you eat those calories back, especially if you already set your goal to lose 2 lbs per week. If you didn't eat those calories back, you would have an even larger deficit (which doesn't usually equal more weight loss, especially if you don't consistently eat those calories).

And since your BMR (the number of calories you would burn basically laying in bed all day) is 1893, you should probably be eating at least that.

Yes, my activity level was including my exercise... oops. I will change it to sedentary, since most of the time I am at a desk or with a client.

When I set my goal to 2lbs/wk I was given a budget of 1360 calories, and when I set it at 1lbs/wk, it bumped it up to 1860 (which I guess makes sense given 500x7days = 3500 cals = 1lb)... so help me with this logic here as now I'm a little confused.

If I wanted to lose 2lbs/wk... I would limit my calories to 1360. If my BMR is 1893 and I'm taking in only 1360, I have a deficit of 500 calories (which over a week would equal a lb). However, since I'm working out, I should eat whatever I burn, and since I'm sedentary, I'm burning more than my BMR, which means I'll have more than a -500 calorie intake daily.

Hopefully, I got it... I was basically doing what I just said (minus eating what I was burning) and having a huge deficit of calories, which may have shut down my metabolism causing a plateau.

I think I just talked myself through this problem! Thanks

Well, your BMR is different than your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure). Your TDEE is your BMR + what your burn doing everything else you do. For example, my BMR is around 1700. This is what I would burn if I were to lay in bed all day. But since I don't do that (I get up, I walk around, I take the bus, I sit at work, etc.), my TDEE on a day without exercise is about 2200-2400. You want to essentially eat under your TDEE, but not below your BMR.

I would not recommend, for a male who is not obese, a net calorie goal of 1360. On a rest day, you would be eating under your BMR. I would really try the 1 lb loss per week. 1860 would be your NET calorie goal. On a rest day, you would eat that much. When you exercise, you would eat 1860 + most of your exercise calories.

karishmaroye

hahahahahaha.......... rofl :laugh:

:glasses: Try eating 900 calories for one day and 1/2 cantaloupe before bedtime with 16 ounces of water....and if that works. Do the same every 3rd day of the week to see if it will start moving again.

Also, you have to do a cartwheel every morning before 5am and bury an eye of newt in a graveyard during a full moon.

karishmaroye

hahahahahaha.......... rofl :laugh:

:glasses: Try eating 900 calories for one day and 1/2 cantaloupe before bedtime with 16 ounces of water....and if that works. Do the same every 3rd day of the week to see if it will start moving again.

Also, you have to do a cartwheel every morning before 5am and bury an eye of newt in a graveyard during a full moon.

IronSmasher

Edited since I read your post on your current exercise

firefighter12

I would recomend more protein, at least 1g/lb of lean muscle mass, keep your fat between 50-75g and carbs, .25-1g/lb of lean muscle mass. Try adding in a day of high carb a week to restore glycogen levels, about double of what you do for the week.