Stuck, Frustrated, Unsure? Start here.

medic2038

One other method is bodyweight X10-12 to create a deficit. So if you weigh 150lbs you can GENERALLY eat 1500-1800 calories per day and be at a deficit.

So I looked here because I have sort of hit a plateau.
Since the beginning the calorie calculating method I quoted above has basically been my method. (Just the x10, not highter)
But now that I weigh less it seems to not work so well.


My thought was that my body got used to eating so little. So I'm bumping up my calories over the past few weeks.
Going to BW x 11 seems to have helped a little but I won't know for sure until more time has passed.

Anyone have thoughts or experience with this as well?
insight from shorties greatly appreciated! (I'm 5'1")

I personally go through spurty losses, which is what really got me away from worrying about what the scale says.

When I first started, the first 2 months I had severely under-par results (I was shooting for 1-1.5lbs per week, and getting .5 or 0 losses). That went on for 8 weeks! Then over the next 2 weeks I dropped something like 4 and 5lbs respectively.
So I realize just how awful the scale can be mentally. In reality I was losing the whole time, and finally my body just let go of the extra fluid (which we really have no control over).

So in short I wouldn't mess around with your intake too much, until you're really sure that you're stalled. In that case upping your calories isn't going to help either (think about it, if you "slowed" your metabolism, eating more would make you fatter).

There are some underlying things that can happen to somewhat create a downshift in metabolism, but they're not nearly on the scale that most people think, nor do they happen (or reverse) quickly.

skinnylynnie74

Sam thing happens to me... Like a rubber ball bouncing down the steps.

Nothing... Up...then, way down...

Don't doubt the science.

jpolinisse

Great post. A lot of good information presented simply.

Amazon_Who

bump, RL

Trisha_e

Bump!

snelson1966

Good info, thanks

kw85296

A lot of good info here and I appreciate the time you took to post it. However, I disagree with you somewhat on the toning. I know you cannot necessarily target areas of body fat, but if I never used my legs and only used my arms, my legs are going to definitely show signs of atrophy. Working certain muscles is going to tone or condition them as oppose to the ones you are not targeting.
Otherwise, what's the purpose of people going to physical therapy, etc., because targeting the areas necessary isn't going to do any good based on what I interpret you to say.

LeeDahlen38

awesome Post!! I say this alot to my team. Glad someone else is as well!! Ditch the freakin scale!!

chickey920

A lot to take in, but great info. Thanks for sharing!

neanderthin

A lot of good info here and I appreciate the time you took to post it. However, I disagree with you somewhat on the toning. I know you cannot necessarily target areas of body fat, but if I never used my legs and only used my arms, my legs are going to definitely show signs of atrophy. Working certain muscles is going to tone or condition them as oppose to the ones you are not targeting.
Otherwise, what's the purpose of people going to physical therapy, etc., because targeting the areas necessary isn't going to do any good based on what I interpret you to say.

Why would someone never exercise their legs if their taking the time to improve their physical being and if they had a injury that prevented them to do that, then I woulds say that's an extreme example of the general population and if your making this an example of why the post is wrong, it's a bit of a stretch.......

kw85296

A lot of good info here and I appreciate the time you took to post it. However, I disagree with you somewhat on the toning. I know you cannot necessarily target areas of body fat, but if I never used my legs and only used my arms, my legs are going to definitely show signs of atrophy. Working certain muscles is going to tone or condition them as oppose to the ones you are not targeting.
Otherwise, what's the purpose of people going to physical therapy, etc., because targeting the areas necessary isn't going to do any good based on what I interpret you to say.

Why would someone never exercise their legs if their taking the time to improve their physical being and if they had a injury that prevented them to do that, then I woulds say that's an extreme example of the general population and if your making this an example of why the post is wrong, it's a bit of a stretch.......

I did not say the post was wrong, in fact, I said there was a lot of good info that I appreciated. What I said was I disagreed somewhat on the point that you can not tone certain areas, and yes, the example is extreme, but it was only used to show that you can condition/tone muscles in certain areas to a point.

Maccbow

Putting this on my reading list! Thank you for so much info.! Thanks for your time and effort, and thoughtfulness of putting this out for people!

neanderthin

A lot of good info here and I appreciate the time you took to post it. However, I disagree with you somewhat on the toning. I know you cannot necessarily target areas of body fat, but if I never used my legs and only used my arms, my legs are going to definitely show signs of atrophy. Working certain muscles is going to tone or condition them as oppose to the ones you are not targeting.
Otherwise, what's the purpose of people going to physical therapy, etc., because targeting the areas necessary isn't going to do any good based on what I interpret you to say.

Why would someone never exercise their legs if their taking the time to improve their physical being and if they had a injury that prevented them to do that, then I woulds say that's an extreme example of the general population and if your making this an example of why the post is wrong, it's a bit of a stretch.......

I did not say the post was wrong, in fact, I said there was a lot of good info that I appreciated. What I said was I disagreed somewhat on the point that you can not tone certain areas, and yes, the example is extreme, but it was only used to show that you can condition/tone muscles in certain areas to a point.

You can't tone a muscle. It either stays the same, gets bigger or smaller, that's it. toning as most interpret it is to work out so they have more muscle definition. The muscle definition comes from reduced body fat, that's it, there is no magic ways to make that happen in one part of the body, other than what's in someones genetic makeup.

Confuzzled4ever

So I weigh 200 lbs..

so.. eating 2000 calories a day is at deficit?? going by the 10 rule?
and my LBM would be 163 so I should eat 164g of protein daily??

That's gonna be tough.. for both things.. I don't weigh my foods, but I do measure..

also means that 646 calories needs to come from protein for me.

As it stand now.. i have lost a bunch. been at the same spot according to the scale anyway for 2 weeks or so now. I'm not really stressing about what the scale says.. rather the fact that I feel larger then I did a month ago.

Could be water weight right?

I exercise a lot.. is that good or bad?

medic2038

A lot of good info here and I appreciate the time you took to post it. However, I disagree with you somewhat on the toning. I know you cannot necessarily target areas of body fat, but if I never used my legs and only used my arms, my legs are going to definitely show signs of atrophy. Working certain muscles is going to tone or condition them as oppose to the ones you are not targeting.
Otherwise, what's the purpose of people going to physical therapy, etc., because targeting the areas necessary isn't going to do any good based on what I interpret you to say.

You're talking about 2 completely different things here.

Atrophy is muscle loss, and yes in the long run if you don't do proper diet/exercise you can lose weight, and still be "skinny fat". Skinny fat would be someone losing X amount, but not having significant improvements to composition.
However with stuff like PT you're talking about muscle and strength preservation.
Basically anytime you "cut" losing some amount of muscle is inevitable (likewise when you "bulk" you simply can't just put on muscle).

Also strength and hypertophy are 2 totally different things. Strength is what most competitive lifters care about, whereas "looks" are what most bodybuilders care about.

Strength is a relative term though. So while bodybuilders get stronger over time, they don't typically aim for the same strength goals as competitive lifters. By the same token when I was lifting at 200lbs, and was lifting the same at 190lbs I actually got stronger. This make sense?

medic2038

So I weigh 200 lbs..

so.. eating 2000 calories a day is at deficit?? going by the 10 rule?
and my LBM would be 163 so I should eat 164g of protein daily??

That's gonna be tough.. for both things.. I don't weigh my foods, but I do measure..

also means that 646 calories needs to come from protein for me.

As it stand now.. i have lost a bunch. been at the same spot according to the scale anyway for 2 weeks or so now. I'm not really stressing about what the scale says.. rather the fact that I feel larger then I did a month ago.

Could be water weight right?

I exercise a lot.. is that good or bad?

Yeah 2000 calories per day should be a deficit for you. Ultimately the 10 rule is general, and just HOW MUCH of a deficit depends on a lot of things.

I'd definitely invest in a food scale, I think I got one from walmart for like 20 bucks maybe less. As you get leaner, your tracking becomes much more important (it's always important). Basically as your bodfat level lower, your tracking has to be more accurate, because the deficits are going to be proportional to your TDEE (thus getting smaller).

If you're having trouble actually eating that much protein, go get some whey/ whey isolate. I try to get as much "real" protein as I can, but I still do shakes too. Some people go crazy and get MOST of their protein from shakes/bars, which I'm not a huge fan of, but it's doable.

Larger can be a few things, and yeah fluid does have an effect on that. Usually in women the bloated feeling during PMS is from fluid. I sometimes feel bloated based on carb intake (glycogen is mostly water). When I carb up, it's not uncommon for me to gain 5-10lbs (it's all water weight).

Now exercise:
It really depends on what you're doing. If you like it and it's working, then really there's no need to stop. I love lifting but absolutely LOATHE gym cardio. Now that it's nicer out I'll do things outside (walking,bball, tennis,etc), but I just can't bring myself to jog on a treadmill with any regularity.

I think a lot of people (when trying to lose) overdo it and burn themselves out. Basically I'd say most people when trying to cut weight simply start going to the gym. This works to an extent but whenever you don't have your diet taken care of; and you STOP going to the gym 6 days a week, you're right back to eating at a surplus.

Saying something like "I want to do 5 classes per week, AND 3 hours per week on the elliptical" is fine, but such a heavy time investment in the gym doesn't usually last forever. Life gets in the way!

My workouts take anywhere between 60-90 minutes usually. When I was working 12 hour shifts overnight, it wasn't uncommon for me to get "held over". So after working 14-15 hours (and having to be back at work in approximately 8-9) I'd miss workouts. So if life got in the way of my 3 hours per week, imagine how easy it is to skip out when people are shooting for a gym time equivalent to a part time job.

Confuzzled4ever

I started out (unintentionally) eating less then 1,000 (more like 700-800) calories and have been trying hard to bump it up cause i know that's not enough. I get to 1500-1700 pretty easily now, 2,000 seems like too much. I am usually stuffed when I hit around the1600 mark .. I'm trying to switch out some carbs for more protein, but I love my veggies and fruit. I can't imagine not eating them and that's the where the majority of my carbs are from. I do use protein powder occasionally and I am experimenting with different protein bars, so try to find one I like that is good protein and not millions of calories/chemicals. I eat 85% organic, so an organic high protein bar that tastes good is not easy to find. lol

I'll eventually get a food scale.. it's not about the money, its that I don't want to weigh everything all the time. Seems like such a chore and I don't want to do it forever. If I put myself on a "diet" i'll fail.. if I chnage my behavoir and make better choices i'll succeed.

I lift, I do Zumba, Turbo kick and HIIT class, I swim. I hate the treadmill. I also do a lot outdorrs. Bike riding, tennis, basketball, hiking the incling is on the list too (when it's nice of course) I spend an average of 90 minutes working out per day. Usually doing weight for 30m and a 60m class. Soemtimes it's lnoger if I feel like swimming to or decide I want to be crazy and do 2 classes in one day. Usually, if I go outside and do that stuff I'll usually weight lift too. I dont' take a lot of rest days.. I feel lethargic when I don't exercise However if I go away for the weekend, I don't stress out about missing the gym or about my diet. I feel like I have to live too.

I've been getting the protein to around 100g for a week or so now.. which is an increase and a struggle.

medic2038

I started out (unintentionally) eating less then 1,000 (more like 700-800) calories and have been trying hard to bump it up cause i know that's not enough. I get to 1500-1700 pretty easily now, 2,000 seems like too much. I am usually stuffed when I hit around the1600 mark .. I'm trying to switch out some carbs for more protein, but I love my veggies and fruit. I can't imagine not eating them and that's the where the majority of my carbs are from. I do use protein powder occasionally and I am experimenting with different protein bars, so try to find one I like that is good protein and not millions of calories/chemicals. I eat 85% organic, so an organic high protein bar that tastes good is not easy to find. lol

I'll eventually get a food scale.. it's not about the money, its that I don't want to weigh everything all the time. Seems like such a chore and I don't want to do it forever. If I put myself on a "diet" i'll fail.. if I chnage my behavoir and make better choices i'll succeed.

Really making a bigger deficit doesn't matter. If you feel good eating 1600, by all means eat 1600. If your LBM estimate is good I'd still try to get about 600c/day from protein.

Organic protein looks insanely expensive. Keep in mind if you're going to be using this stuff to get a substantial portion of your protein, you're going to pay a fortune. I don't even use THAT much and I go through 2-3lbs/month.

You have your choice of really expensive stuff:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/now/certified-organic-whey-protein.html

Or obscenely expensive stuff:
http://theorganicwhey.com/purchase/

Personally I think it's more beneficial to "start off" measuring meticulously, it definitely helps get you in the habit of label reading and knowing what contains what.

I'm one of those people that can eat the same stuff all the time. So I can just flat out tell you that for example 1 can of tuna (starkist chunk lite)is 100 calories and 20g protein. If you're doing something like me, you can be a little less "strict" with the scale, but i imagine most people like variety.

Confuzzled4ever

Yea.. the meat is the reason i'm stating 85% lol. I can't afford it.. i do get it about half the time though. and i'm not a nazi about it. Actually if it says non-gmo and no hormones/chemicals etc.. then i'll get it even if it's not labeled organic. Since that's my main issue with organic versus non-organic.

I love food therefore I need variety. i'll probably end up with a scale eventually. I tend to over estimate. i don't think I ate 8oz of chicken. My son ate over half what I made and I only cooked a pound of chicken. but it's gonna be close.

For me just eating more what a great way to start off. Cause I was eating under 1000 calories gross, so now that i am eating normally.. I want to make sure I don't go back to over eating (cause obviously I got fat somehow lol) I'll probably stick to my calorie goal range for now and see if it works. I am full and feel pretty good at it. I do want t increase my protein though, since I work out so much I've read everywhere that protein is what you need to focus on when you exercise like i do. I noticed too that days when I get my protein goal, i get my others by default. Pretty cool

taaaters

Thanks for taking the time out to post this