I could use some reassurance and/or feedback please!!

twinmomtwice4

I'm not a newbie to EM2WL but still would love some reassurance or at least some feedback!

Over the last few weeks, I've been gaining and losing the same 2 pounds, which is beyond frustrating since I feel like I'm doing everything right.

According to my BMF, my average TDEE is 2800. When I take in the consideration for the 10% margin for error, that makes it around 2500, which is right in line with the Scooby estimate. I take a 20% deficit since I'd like to lose at least .5 to 1 pound a week. I eat 2000 cals a day with my macros set at 30% carbs, 35% protein and 35% healthy fats. I have no problem reaching my protein and fat macros, which are the ones I'm most concerned with anyway.

I eat very clean! 95% of my diet is clean, unprocessed foods, mostly homemade. I try to lower my carb intake towards late afternoon, meaning most of my carbs are consumed in the morning through early afternoon. I drink a TON of water and nothing else, other than skim milk in my protein shakes. No juice, no soda.

As far as exercise, here's my schedule:

Monday: ChaLEAN Extreme (strength training) & 20 minutes HIIT
Tues: 45 min cardio (usually a Shaun T Rockin' Body DVD or Zumba) and 10 minutes ab work
Wed: CLX & 20 minutes HIIT
Thurs: 45 min cardio & 10 min ab work
Fri: CLX & 20 minutes HIIT
Sat: 45 min cardio & 10 min ab work
Sun: rest

ETA: I don't add in my exercise cals. I do log them but add them in as only 1 cal burned so it doesn't skew my macros. My food diary is open so feel free to take a look.

I'm a SAHM so I'm constantly on my feet doing stuff with my kids. I very rarely sit down!!!

So what's the deal? What am I doing wrong? Am I not eating enough? Eating too much? Maybe doing too much cardio?

Or am I doing everything right and I just need to suck it up and keep working until I finally get over this hurdle???

Thanks for any input you can provide!!

amandacepstein

I hope someone more experienced replies, but maybe 2000 is a little too low given your activity level? And especially if you've been low calorie in the past.

there is a great activity calculator you should plug your numbers into; my TDEE was way higher on this because it took everything into account:

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

misskym

What activity level are you selecting?

Are you tracking your caloric expenditure to ensure you aren't netting below BMR? Hypothetically speaking, if you're cut value is 2000 and your BMR is 1500, you have 500 calories to expend on work outs. If you work out and expend 800 calories, your net calories for the day will be 1200. I'm assuming that is below your BMR, so you would want to eat back a minimum of 300 calories to get you back at BMR.

KGTraxler

It sounds like you may be eating too little. You workout 6 days per week, plus you have an active lifestyle as a SAHM. Maybe try putting the deficit up to 15% and see what happens. I know eating more is scary (I still struggle with it), but if 20% isn't working maybe your body requires more energy. You will accomplish your goals--you have already come so far and you can do it! :flowerforyou:

ANewLucia

Ok, lets think about the fact that the 10% margin of error could be up or down...plus we don't suggest 20% cut because that is just too steep of a deficit...so with both of those factors I think you aren't eating enough.

Anytime I bumped up and started to bounce for at least four weeks then I would increase by 100 cals. You are way under your TDEE even if going with scooby. Now I have heard the BMF is pretty accurate. I would suggest bumping calories up by 200 and eat that consistently for 4wks and see what happens. .

I am not familiar with CLX, is it a strength training program? You also do a lot of cardio, you may want to consider giving yourself an extra day of rest. Just some thoughts.

twinmomtwice4

Thank you so much for the feedback!!

After reading the responses, I agree that my cut is probably too steep. And then when I add in the extra cals I'm burning with the cardio, my deficit is probably way too large.

Following the advice I've been given, I'll go ahead and bump up my cals by 200 and maybe cut back on 1-2 days of cardio. Until I looked at my schedule, I don't even think I realized I was doing cardio every single day, except for Sun when I take a rest day!! I'm trying to burn off as much as fat as possible and I guess I thought doing so much cardio would help with that but it seems to be working against me.

Lucia, CLX is a strength training program. It's all about lifting heavy and slowly. I'm 8 weeks into my 2nd round and my strength has grown immensely!!! I'm now doing squats with 75 lbs!!! And today I increased my weights again so my chest fly was 57 pounds (using dumb bells for all strength moves) and my chest press, I did 60 pounds!! I was able to get to failure, though that 8th rep and the breakdown sets pretty much killed me but I did it....:bigsmile:

elleryjones

I'm also wondering if it isn't time to change up your exercise routine? I don't know too much about the CLX program, but maybe doing 2-4 weeks of low rep compound exercises and cutting back on the cardio? Or doing some more bodyweight only exercises? I have some links I can post if you're interested.

I think our bodies get used to a workout and adjust and you have to change it up if you want to shock your body and have it start responding again. (My personal theory, please don't ask me to post studies)

Edited to add: I saw this article posted somewhere else (I am queen of lurking) and found it interesting. http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/the_hierarchy_of_fat_loss

twinmomtwice4

CLX is a 90-day program with 3 phases. So every 30 days I'm switching it up and I'm consistently increasing my weights so I'm not too worried about my strength routine.

I have 4 more weeks left and then I'll be doing Brazil Butt Lift so that will be a big change for me!!

So essentially I am changing up my workouts every 4 weeks.

Thanks for sharing the link...I'll check it out!

twinmomtwice4

ElleryJones, that article was VERY interesting!!!!! I'm thinking I fall into the weight lifting and HIIT category since that's pretty much all the time I have to workout! Hmmmm, gonna think about this a little bit and adjust my workout schedule. Maybe cut out the 45-minute cardio on Tues, Thurs and Sat and do HIIT workouts on those days instead of on my strength training days??