Your thoughts?

caribougal

Hi friends. Advice needed.

I'm now lifting heavy 3x a week. I started with StrongLifts 5x5, but quickly realized that I couldn't max my larger muscles the way that program requires until my smaller muscles gain strength, so my trainer is just doing her own thing with me. Lots of the same complex moves as 5x5 like deadlifts, OPs, etc. But also lots of work on my arms, shoulders, and abs. I've also learned that due to a little bout I had with DeQuervain's Syndrome when I was nursing my boys (aka Mommy's Thumb), my left hand isn't worth sh**. I have a really hard time holding onto the bar or dumb bell with my left hand. My fingers just start to uncurl and the bar/dumbbell just rolls out of my hand. It's annoying. I've tried gloves but they don't help. I'm squeezing those damned grippy things to try to strengthen my grip.

But, the point of this rambling post is that I haven't changed my food since I started lifting. This is week 3. I don't feel hungrier, and I figure I'm only burning 200-300 cals during these workouts, and maybe another 50 in "post-burn". I don't log that calorie burn. I still have 5 more lbs to lose to hit my goal weight, 10 lbs to lose to hit my "I don't really expect to get there but that would be awesome" weight, and 15 lbs to lose to hit my "I haven't weighed that since high school" weight. But, I also acknowledge the whole "lose inches more than pounds" thing, so another way to say it is that I'd love to be down from a size 8/10 to a size 6.

I know I'm not doing my best in my strength training because I've been pulling a lot of all-nighters lately. I often only sleep from 9p-1p and then work the rest of the night. I've done that for the past 2 nights, and today's workout was painful. I knew I was pooping out quickly because I was tired. I know that lack of sleep is totally anti-Paleo, ha ha. I'm just crushed with work, and I tend to only be able to write creative stuff in the middle of the night. Bad habit.

I'm rambling again. You can tell I'm on a bad teleconference and I haven't slept. So... anyway, bottom line... check my diary. Should I be eating more on lifting days? I'm only 5'1 and 129 lbs, and my BMR is about 1360ish. My weight loss has been slow but steady. Or, should I just not stress about it and let it play out for a month or so? Whatcha think?

zellagrrl

Don't stress, just try to get more sleep Let it play out for a month or so and see where you are.

Flowers4Julia

Hi there

Just looked through some of your yummy diary entries.... :drinker:

What I was wondering is if your BMR is 1360 and your calorie goal is 1400, might you actually need to eat slightly more? I know we keep reading not to eat under our BMR's, but then there is also the RMR which is what you burn above your coma state but not including extra daily exercise and activities.... (million calculators online to figure that....) and I wonder if we should be more concerned with that sometimes.

Another thought I had was that if you really are burning 200-300+ during a lifting session, then that is a significant amount given you daily is 1400. So, if it were me, I'd have to log it and then eat back a majority of the calories so as not to be too much under my RMR.

The whole darn thing is frustrating I know:grumble: ...so I agree with try not to stress. Give it the month and then experiment with more calories, or more protein, etc. Keep noticing how your body feels and just play with it, I guess is what I'm saying.

p.s. I'm in your same sleep boat....:noway:

hope this could help

shar140

When I was lifting heavy, I'd generally be hungrier the day after and eat more based on my hunger (it took a few times to remember to bring more food to work with me the following day! lol).

There are also straps you can wrap around the barbell/dumbbell to help (though some avid heavy lifters don't believe in them).

caribougal

Thanks, Flowers, for your reply. I usually log at the end of the day and see where my cals fall out, and I'm usually under goal or close. It just sort of works out that way, plus I figure that when I "estimate" amounts I'm probably underestimating since most people do, so reality is probably a bit higher than the log. For example, there are little things every day that miss the log. For example, this morning I made my kids turkey and cheese cut into a hand shape with a cookie cutter. I ate the "leftover" cheese and meat that was in between the fingers and around the hand. I didn't log that, but it was probably an ounce of meat/cheese. Or, I eat the apple skin from their apple. Or I pop a grape or three while I'm cooking. Doesn't seem like much, but I bet it accounts for 50+ cals on a given day, on top of whatever else I'm underestimating. Who knows.

It's funny... I feel like I'll be more willing to "try eating more" AFTER I lose the next 5 pounds. It's hard to accept that more food = weight loss, but that's why I asked the question... maybe I should try.

Flowers4Julia

It's funny... I feel like I'll be more willing to "try eating more" AFTER I lose the next 5 pounds. It's hard to accept that more food = weight loss, but that's why I asked the question... maybe I should try.

I know what you mean! "Eat more to lose" is a theme in many thousands of posts in the main forums. And, from what I've read over the last year and a half, it is a really difficult idea to let sink in for sure! :sad: But, it also makes a lot of sense. If the body isn't getting enough calories/nutrition then it does sort of "lock down" in my experience. There is a lot of arguing between people about "starvation mode" being real or not real, etc.....

What I got out of that is that a person would need to underfeed themselves for quite some time (not just a day or week, etc.) for the true starvation mode syndrome kicking in... and I don't think that's where you are at.

I guess, eating more is what worked for me. It was explained to me that if a person had lots to lose, then there is more play with calories, etc. I didn't have that much, so being as accurate as possible was going be my ticket. But it wasn't easy figuring out the magic number, etc. It just took time to experiment and then once I found it..... Losing was simple.

So it meant: weighing every fork full of food to the gram and using a quality HRM and recording NET calories burned (rather than gross) & and eating about 100 calories over my RMR (not my BMR).

It seems silly to be concerned about every calorie in or out vs. just living and eating primal (which I love the thought of), but I am more of a science and math nerd than that - LOL :smokin:



I'm not sure if I'm helping but I just wanted to let you know anything I did that worked as options to consider!

Julia

Akimajuktuq

Don't stress, just try to get more sleep Let it play out for a month or so and see where you are.

This^ Sleep, sleep, sleep. Must sleep. (It's my absolute favourite thing to do!). Also, because I get adequate sleep, when I couldn't sleep 2 nights ago (3 hours sleep) it didn't bother me at all the next day. Of course, my primal diet probably helped with that too. (Lesson learned: do not drink 3 cups of coffee right before bed time because it leads to disturbing, wakeful delusions that I might get laid off at work.)

I really am inspired by you and I think you are doing great. Give yourself a break, you aren't over weight (yes, that's MY opinion) and you do what you can and don't stress the rest.

twinmom01

It could be if you are lifting you may not see any more weight drop being as you are pretty low to begin with - but might actually see a weight increase...

I wouldn't worry about the overall calorie count as you are using your muscles - I would focus on getting lots of water and good protien sources to repair your muscles and make them stronger...

While you may not see anything on the scale you may notice changes in your body.

I know while I have only lost about 30 lbs...people think I have lost 50+ lbs because my body shape has totally changed.

Check out this

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

caribougal

Thanks for your advice, folks.

I'm going to try to get more sleep and more water. I never drink. I'm a camel.

I'm going to give it time and see how the lifting changes my shape. I can definitely feel my muscles now, especially biceps. I'd really love to lose that saggy arm thing I've got going. Today I worked out a million times better than yesterday... amazing what 7 hours of sleep will do for you. I was able to lift heavier and push harder, and not feel so crushed at the end of the hour.

I love that Stacy story on Nerd Fitness. Inspiring.

Tomorrow starts C25K! I think.