Ask me anything about fat/weight loss....

TheOfficialEpic

Hi,
Was wondering if anyone can help with some motivation/advice.
During the week I am really good sticking to 1200 a day. Two times a week I do boxing class for an hour which burns heaps of calories and I dont eat them all back. Then other days I walk for 30 mins or so or do DVDs. Exercise about 4-5 times a week.

Weekends I seem to just get a bit slack and eat a little more than I should.
Ive lost about 5 kilos .. 2 since I have been using my fitness pal.
But the past 3 weeks I have not lost anything at all. Should I change my routine?

I still have 10 more kilos to go.

Thanks,

Give it another week. Don't get impatient. Stick to what you're doing and if you stall out, then readjust your calories or up your activity as necessary. Stop being slack on the weekends too as it ALL adds up.

TheOfficialEpic

This question is for the OfficialEpic I am a 35yr old mother of two, I am 5'3". I started my healthier lifestyle on Jan. 2/12. My starting weight was 213.

I set my calories at 1350 and did JM dvds 5-6 times a week or rode my bike. I was able to lose 11lb this way by about March. Then i hit a plateau for about three weeks at which point i switched to not eating any grains (staying around 1350) and i lost three pounds that week. Then another plateau.

Through a lot of reading, i thought perhaps my calories were too low. So i upped them to 1570, end of March and continued to exercise, adding weight training and uphill sprints to my routine. I lost one pound in Apri.....one pound!!

So here i sit at 198 pounds, down 15 from where i started. I've lost 4 inches off my waist and 3 off my hips. I don't know which way to go........I did speak with a registered dietician who said to lower calories more.

So i dropped them back to 1200 about four days ago, but i've been eating back the exercise calories (which doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me but most people on this page swear by it). And the scale is not moving. HELP! I've read this entire thread and taken bits and pieces of what you've said to other people but i thought i'd throw my story at you.......thanking you in advance:)

Depending on where you are in your journey, and how accurate your estimation of exercise calories is, eating them back can be the best or the worst thing for you. If you're overestimating them, then it makes sense that you're not losing. Keep it simple though. Don't focus on the whole 'eating your exercise calories back'.....focus on where you are on the weekly. If you're eating your exercise calories back and you're not losing, then I'd adjust overall calorie intake down. Don't keep it down TOO too long though, or the body will readjust to it too! That is why when you added back calories for a while, you started losing again. Your metabolism upregulated but OVERcompensating putting you into a further deficit! Awesome! Sounds like you're on your way though. You say you've read the entire post, so you've obviously heard me talk numerous times about learning your body, how fickle the metabolism is, constantly readjusting, and not being afraid to take a step back with an occasional refeed in order to take two steps forward. Keep up the fight yeh. You're doing it. Great work so far this year yeh.

waldo56

Awesome thread.

There is a lot written, pretty much everywhere, about starting to lose weight and losing weight, however the other end, stopping, gets much too little ink. I've been gradually reducing my deficit; after many months of very smooth weigh loss, low day to day variance and highly predictable results, things have totally changed. My deficit started at 1000/day, dropped to 750/day, and now is at 500/day (maybe). I'm at a about 9-10% BF. My deficit is calculated from results instead of an estimate formula. Until 500/day, where I have been for 3 weeks, everything went very smoothly and the results matched predictions pretty much precisely (I weigh daily).

Now my weight is big time undulating, over 5+ lbs/day variance, even at reliable weigh in times that used to have very low variance. I'm fine with that variance, but the question is - is this the new normal and something I should expect, is it part of the transition that should be expected to disappear as I increase my intake further, or is this a temporary state of readjustment, and I should hold steady on this deficit. My plan for transition was to raise my deficit by 250 every other week until I hit maintence. I'd like to verify my maintenece level intake before attempting a surplus. With these big undualtions, there is a slight downward trend, but not at the level I'd expect. My current plan is to sit tight here for another week to see if things settle down and the long term trend becomes clearer, as if the current trend is right my metabolism dropped and I'm much closer to maintenence than I believed. I've never heard of this phenomenon before but it would somewhat makes sense to occur as glycogen levels rise. Is my plan to hold this deficit a bit longer a good one, or should I just stick to my original plan and keep raising my intake. My main goal for now is to verify my maintenence level intake, the daily calorie goal that will flatline my weight.

jennifeffer

Thanks again:) I really appreciate it.

TheOfficialEpic

Awesome thread.

There is a lot written, pretty much everywhere, about starting to lose weight and losing weight, however the other end, stopping, gets much too little ink. I've been gradually reducing my deficit; after many months of very smooth weigh loss, low day to day variance and highly predictable results, things have totally changed. My deficit started at 1000/day, dropped to 750/day, and now is at 500/day (maybe). I'm at a about 9-10% BF. My deficit is calculated from results instead of an estimate formula. Until 500/day, where I have been for 3 weeks, everything went very smoothly and the results matched predictions pretty much precisely (I weigh daily).

Now my weight is big time undulating, over 5+ lbs/day variance, even at reliable weigh in times that used to have very low variance. I'm fine with that variance, but the question is - is this the new normal and something I should expect, is it part of the transition that should be expected to disappear as I increase my intake further, or is this a temporary state of readjustment, and I should hold steady on this deficit. My plan for transition was to raise my deficit by 250 every other week until I hit maintence. I'd like to verify my maintenece level intake before attempting a surplus. With these big undualtions, there is a slight downward trend, but not at the level I'd expect. My current plan is to sit tight here for another week to see if things settle down and the long term trend becomes clearer, as if the current trend is right my metabolism dropped and I'm much closer to maintenence than I believed. I've never heard of this phenomenon before but it would somewhat makes sense to occur as glycogen levels rise. Is my plan to hold this deficit a bit longer a good one, or should I just stick to my original plan and keep raising my intake. My main goal for now is to verify my maintenence level intake, the daily calorie goal that will flatline my weight.

A ton of stuff that could effect that yeh. You hit on one yourself with the glycogen levels. Overall water retention is a big one also. Five pounds DOES seem a bit high, but still nothing that would seem crazy to me. Just think about fighters and how for weigh-ins some will drop up to 8 pounds in a day just by sweating it out with cardio and sauna. I'm a big time sweater myself, and going into my workout and directly after I say I skew 2-3 pounds.

As far as what happens after you reach your goal. You're always obviously gonna be watching your weight and or calorie intake. Do like most of my clients do after they hit their goal and give yourself a 5 pound leeway up and down. Say your goal weight is 180....goin' to the beach, drop down to 175 and enjoy some extra calories while vacationing......just make sure not to overindulge OVER 185. This keeps a good cage on life. You're staying healthy while at the same time giving yourself freedom to live. Hope this helps, man. Huge congrats on the progress yeh. That's good stuff

Brandongood

As you lose more weight, you're going to be constantly readjusting calorie levels.

Can you explain this bit in basic terms please. Does it mean increasing your calorie consumption or decreasing it? I've definitely lost weight since joining MFP. Does it mean I up my calories or lower them? I've got a lot to learn (sigh)

What is fat?.....Stored energy. If you are not ingesting enough calories to maintain it, then it gets burned. So who is going to need more calories to maintain their weight, a 300 pound person or a 200 pound person? Obviously the 300 pounder. So say the 300 pound person decides to diet down. He loses 50 pounds. What it takes to maintain himself at 250 is less than what he needed at 300(all things equal). Because of this, what may have been a deficit at 300 pounds, might be maintenance now that he is 250. If that is the case then he will most likely need to readjust his calories lower to continue to lose. I myself, when I start a cut, my maintenance is usually around 3,000+ calories a day just sitting on my bum.....towards the end it drops as low as 2,250. Make sense?....

How does one figure out their maintenance? Trial and error?

TheOfficialEpic

As you lose more weight, you're going to be constantly readjusting calorie levels.

Can you explain this bit in basic terms please. Does it mean increasing your calorie consumption or decreasing it? I've definitely lost weight since joining MFP. Does it mean I up my calories or lower them? I've got a lot to learn (sigh)

What is fat?.....Stored energy. If you are not ingesting enough calories to maintain it, then it gets burned. So who is going to need more calories to maintain their weight, a 300 pound person or a 200 pound person? Obviously the 300 pounder. So say the 300 pound person decides to diet down. He loses 50 pounds. What it takes to maintain himself at 250 is less than what he needed at 300(all things equal). Because of this, what may have been a deficit at 300 pounds, might be maintenance now that he is 250. If that is the case then he will most likely need to readjust his calories lower to continue to lose. I myself, when I start a cut, my maintenance is usually around 3,000+ calories a day just sitting on my bum.....towards the end it drops as low as 2,250. Make sense?....

How does one figure out their maintenance? Trial and error?

Pretty much yeh unfortunately. Don't get me wrong, the calcs will give you a pretty good estimate for the most part, but depending on your body comp, it can change a good bit. Take two 180 pound men, one of which is 24% body fat and the other is 8%. The chappie at 8% is going to have a much higher resting metabolic rate because of the extra muscle mass. Once you have your estimate though, it's pretty easy to figure it out just by tracking your consumption and activity for a week or two.

georgedarling

Bumping -

cmccorma

Stats:
Female
5'4"
247.4 lbs.
was eating 1900 PLUS my exercise calories, been gaining weight. My BMR is 1864, my TDEE is 2500.
When I ate 1600 calories PLUS exercise calories I was losing weight...that worked for me, but the whole "must eat BMR" confuses me, is that FOOD or NET, because if it's "food" and not "net" I am getting that with the 1600 Net calories.
I make sure I walk 10,000 steps a day, and calculate 500 calories for that (1600+500 =2100 food eating), would you say that's enough??? It seemed to always work, but I also hear about eating and NETTING your bmr (which for me would be 1864) but I wind up gaining and it's so frustrating for me. :-/

If you're losing, you're losing. Don't overcomplicate it with the bmr(it's usually way off anyways). Bmr, eating back your calories, netting....all this make such a simple thing so complicated. If you're losing, then keep on doing what you're doing. When you stall out, readjust your calories downward or add in a little more activity.

This makes more sense to me than anything I have seen on these forums. Thank you!!!

kendrajoyk

technical issues....sorry for the useless post!

kendrajoyk

Hi Please help!!! Im 5"7 and currently 143lb after dropping from 172 in January and my weight loss has now began to stall. Its possible that im not eating enough? When i started in January i ate 1200cals and NEVER ate my exercise cals back and lost around 2lbs per week right up until a few weeks ago. I know its not what everyone suggests but it worked so i stuck with it. Now im smaller its stopped working. A few weeks ago i began eating back some of my exercise cals (i work out about 5days a week, zumba, running, boxercise) and since starting this i have been going up a 1lb/back down a 1lb. Getting annoyed i decided to go back to my 1200cals and the past 2weeks have saw me gain 2lb!! Getting frustrated as i am eating well and working out alllllll the time and its beginning to feel like its all for nothing now as my body is happy where it is! My goal is to reach 133 but at the moment it feels like ill never get there :sad:

Either something is being calculated wrong or your system needs a reset. Also keep in my that their are other extraneous factors that can cause weight gain, but NOT fat gain. Water retention, "that time of the month", time of day, stress levels, etc. I think you may have freaked a little too early. Don't eat back TOO many calories now, but I do think you should just relax and give yourself a little more time.

Just a quick note to say I've been where you are. I started eating cleaner and added in strength training and it gave my body just the jumpstart I needed.

(TheOfficialEp: I'm impressed with your answers. Thanks for doing this!)

tashaa1992

My bodyfat is 20.8, what is a healthy bodyfat for my height?
I'm 5ft, would I need to lose weight to drop my bodyfat?
I have been doing just cardio up till now, but I would like to start up with weights, just don't know where to start really yet.
I would love to be toned, I don't want abs as such, just the toned look.

Body fat isn't dependent on "height" it's dependent on sex.

For women:
32% is obese
31 - 25% acceptable
24 - 21% fitness
14-20% athlete
10-12% essential fat.

Oh that makes a bit more sense thank you:)

tashaa1992

My bodyfat is 20.8, what is a healthy bodyfat for my height?
I'm 5ft, would I need to lose weight to drop my bodyfat?
I have been doing just cardio up till now, but I would like to start up with weights, just don't know where to start really yet.
I would love to be toned, I don't want abs as such, just the toned look.

All toning up is is leaning out to the desired level. You can do all the triceps work in the world, but your arm is still gonna jiggle if you don't burn the bodyfat on them. Same with the stomach, butt, thighs, etc. Fatloss is achieved through a calorie deficit. This can be accomplished through more activity, less food, or a combination of the two.

Ohh I didn't know that, so if my calories are just over 1900 for me to maintain my goal weight(3lbs less than I am now), do I cut calories from there or just eat for my goal weight maintenance?
Also my exercise calories have already been added in(I workout four times a week, for forty minutes), but usually I am quite active at work as I work at a nursery, do I add in those calories or do you think they were already added in when I selected my activity level?
Note: the activity level I selected was moderately active - three-five days of exercise, is this correct?

neti_call

I hope I'm not too late to this party. I've been playing with the same 5 lbs for 6 months. Started my weight loss journey about a year ago after my last kid was born, but I've been active and a gym rat my whole life. I'm sick to death of trainers telling me to eat 1100 cals and drink 2 protein shakes a day. I want to lose weight eating REAL food. I aim for 1200-1500 calories a day, lots of lean protein. I'm 5'4 and weigh 155. I work out 5 days a week and hit it HARD. I usually kill between 500 to 1000 cals a day. I'm in really great shape as far as fitness goes, but I can't get this damned weight to come off. I'd love to be about 140. I am careful about measuring food, too, so I'm pretty sure my calorie count is right.
I am just coming back after a couple of weeks of being discouraged and I need to fix this. Please help?

edited to add my body fat is 32.5%
Horrible. Something needs to be done!

" I am careful about measuring food, too, so I'm pretty sure my calorie count is right." Yes it is!....If your goal is to MAINTAIN! If you're not losing, then you're taking in too many calories. You're missing the big picture I keep talking about. As you diet down, you are going to need to readjust calories as necessary. A person may start at a certain amount of calories for a deficit, but as they diet down....eventually that same caloric level will eventually become maintenance because it takes more calories(all things equal) to maintain a heavier person. Depending on your LBM, 1500 is pretty high for a cut given your stats. Many professional bikini and physique competitors go as low as 1200 stat, and that is with next to NO subcutaneous fat on their bodies save their bums! As for having protein shakes, if you can get your protein from real food, then why take them?....It's a supplement! I MIGHT have 2-3 shakes a week, but if I can get real food, I'm gonna go for the real food every time. Hope this helps yeh.

ok, so I need to readjust my calories. It makes sense, but there are so many people who say you have to eat more to lose or that eating 1200 will put me in starvation mode. Just so many opposing viewpoints it's confusing!

Lol. Try this: Eat twice as much as you normally do for a week....See if you don't gain weight. I understand the logic of keeping the metabolism high, but either way....if you're not in a deficit consistently, whether that's at 1200 calories a day or 2000, then you're not going to be losing. As for starvation mode, lol on that. I almost fall out of my seat everytime I hear it. So when Muslim fast for instance, they are all in starvation mode?....I highly doubt that. What the hell does that even MEAN starvation mode?! Your body is a LOT smarter and resilient than that. Simply dieting in and of itself will eventually lower your metabolism! Takes more calories to maintain a 200 pound person than a 150 pound person(all things equal). Don't fall into believing the hype. You're just gonna end up wasting time and a TON of money.

Awesome. I always thought that but all that "info" out there just is overwhelming. I read as much as I can about fitness and nutrition but really what I wanted was someone who really knows what they are talking about tell me what to do. And now you did. Thanks.
Cheers.

gonna_do_it_56

bumpity bump:flowerforyou:

Shanaedunn

bumb for further reading....

Thanks for the best information

skybird455

bump

smith1977

bump for later

SpazzyMal

Someone pointed me here from a thread I made asking if it's possible to build muscle/strength or not in a deficit? My curiosity was caused because I notice I'm stronger in my workouts than when I started. I was curious as to whether your body sort of makes up the difference, if you've got fat stores to break down and use as energy to build the muscles? Or is it just that, like someone suggested in my thread, your body just sort of starts working more efficiently with the muscles it already has?

freeindeed33

BUMP

Riggly27

Bump

TheOfficialEpic

Thanks for all the love yeh. Keep the questions comin' if you have them. Have wonderful night yeh. Cheers

TheOfficialEpic

My bodyfat is 20.8, what is a healthy bodyfat for my height?
I'm 5ft, would I need to lose weight to drop my bodyfat?
I have been doing just cardio up till now, but I would like to start up with weights, just don't know where to start really yet.
I would love to be toned, I don't want abs as such, just the toned look.

All toning up is is leaning out to the desired level. You can do all the triceps work in the world, but your arm is still gonna jiggle if you don't burn the bodyfat on them. Same with the stomach, butt, thighs, etc. Fatloss is achieved through a calorie deficit. This can be accomplished through more activity, less food, or a combination of the two.

Ohh I didn't know that, so if my calories are just over 1900 for me to maintain my goal weight(3lbs less than I am now), do I cut calories from there or just eat for my goal weight maintenance?
Also my exercise calories have already been added in(I workout four times a week, for forty minutes), but usually I am quite active at work as I work at a nursery, do I add in those calories or do you think they were already added in when I selected my activity level?
Note: the activity level I selected was moderately active - three-five days of exercise, is this correct?

Le argh.....STILL missing the bigger picture. You can add in whatever you want, but the question is ARE YOU LOSING? If not, then you need to either eat less or train more or a combination of the two. Understand?....

TheOfficialEpic

Someone pointed me here from a thread I made asking if it's possible to build muscle/strength or not in a deficit? My curiosity was caused because I notice I'm stronger in my workouts than when I started. I was curious as to whether your body sort of makes up the difference, if you've got fat stores to break down and use as energy to build the muscles? Or is it just that, like someone suggested in my thread, your body just sort of starts working more efficiently with the muscles it already has?

Lol. You don't need to build muscle to get strong. There's correlation, but it's definitely not the end-all. Look at Olympic lifter Pyrros Dimas. The guy is 175 pounds soaking wet, but routinely throws 400+ pounds over his head like it's dirty laundry! And lord knows there are plenty of extremely big people that are weak as hell. You can get stronger while being in a deficit. No big eal there, but growing MUSCLE while in a deficit, well that is exTREMELY hard unless you're experiencing noob gains. Most think they're gaining muscle, but the fatloss is just making the muscle they already had more visible.

s0ready

bump to read later!

fishergreen

If you had limited time and had to chose between doing cardio and weight lifting, what would be more beneficial? I'm working on losing weight and ideally want to do both cardio and weights, but sometimes I don't have time for it all so I'm forced to chose. Which one?

shan_0517

bump.. gotta get back to work

TheOfficialEpic

If you had limited time and had to chose between doing cardio and weight lifting, what would be more beneficial? I'm working on losing weight and ideally want to do both cardio and weights, but sometimes I don't have time for it all so I'm forced to chose. Which one?

Neither. Much more easier to focus on the food. I can eat 800 calories in 5 minutes, but that's basically over an hour of cardio on an elliptical. Good forbid you have the chips too. ;D

Alzzak

how do you prepare whey protein drinks?


Mine taste yuk

fishergreen

If you had limited time and had to chose between doing cardio and weight lifting, what would be more beneficial? I'm working on losing weight and ideally want to do both cardio and weights, but sometimes I don't have time for it all so I'm forced to chose. Which one?

Neither. Much more easier to focus on the food. I can eat 800 calories in 5 minutes, but that's basically over an hour of cardio on an elliptical. Good forbid you have the chips too. ;D

Yeah I'm watching the calories closely and losing weight. I just feel guilty if I'm not moving in some capacity. So I'll do what I can and just keep watching the food. And yes some days that does include chips. thanks!