Doctor says I don't need to lose anymore weight :(

So, I'm 40 years old, 6' 2", and at 189 lbs. I work out every day but Sunday. 30 Day Shred 4 times a week, and jogging twice a week.

I drink lots of water, I don't eat much processed junk at all, eat lots of fruits and veggies, and have my protein intake up to around 25%. I am on the high healthy range of the BMI scale.

I just got my physical today, and my doctor doesn't think I need to lose any more weight. She thinks the BMI scale expects people to be a lower weight than they should be. I asked about the spare tire I still want to lose, and she thinks that will happen if I keep working out, without a calorie deficit.

I know she's my doctor, but I still wanted to see what you guys thought.

Thanks for any feedback!

Work out, eat back your calories. Do a lot of muscle building exercises, like weight training, pushups, etc. It'll burn the body fat but keep the weight.

My Advice...


Listen to your doctor... begin eating at maintenance level.. Change up your work outs with more weight training and less cardio.. This will cause you to gain weight in the form of sexy lean muscle.. That spare tire will be gone.

GREAT ADVICE

The idea of weight lifting has me overwhelmed I know I can figure it out, I just need a good place to start.

Check the "New Rules of Lifting" books from the library. I'm following the Abs title, which focuses on a strong core - not on a six pack.

I prefer shorter, compound lift sessions, and (so far) the Abs book has kept my attention and improved my core strength.


My SO's weight and height is similar to your own, and he is not a naturally bulky guy (I would consider him between small and medium in frame). He could certainly lose a couple more pounds of fat and still be healthy.

Additionally, just as doctor's typically do not have a good nutrition background (and generally do not have a strong basis for giving such advice), I worry that many of them have their "healthy human" cues reset to "healthy enough." You might consider consulting a dietitian or nutritionist for a second opinion.


For everyone, please remember that doctors are not perfect, cannot know everything, and mainly went to school to heal sickness, not improve the healthy. I've fired more doctors than I can list because their stock answer to a health question is like being in a commercial, "I have a pill for that!" So not the kind of answer I am seeking.

Thanks guys.

What scares me is I already changed my calorie intake from 2 lbs lost a week to 1 lb lost a week, and I gained 4 lbs! Now, I know that could be because of a range of reasons. Maybe it's muscle? Maybe I didn't poop yet? Who knows. It still makes me nervous to up my calories AGAIN

Every time you change up your diet or exercise, your body will respond by holding on to water. It's nearly impossible to gain 4 pounds of actual fat in one week (it takes 3500 calories to make a pound of fat), and I don't think even men can put on 4 pounds of muscle in one week... So don't panic, drink extra water to help flush your system, and don't fear the calories. Just up them a little bit at a time until you hit maintenance and you should be fine.

My doctor has said the same thing. But that doesn't prevent me from re-shaping my body and changing its composition. You can lose fat but be gaining muscle if you are exercising the right way.

I've got a medium to large build which means in terms of BMI, I don't look too good if I go below the middle of the BMI scale - I start to look scrawny. My BMI is now 24, which seems high, but I can now focus on fitness and body fat reduction.

BMI is an inexact science. At 6'2" 189 pounds, your BMI is 24.3. At 5'11" 160, mine is 22.3. Both are in the normal range.

Well, I'm definitely not in my comfort zone

I COULD do the 30 Day Shred instead of one of the days of cardio, but the last time I did 30 Day Shred every day, I inured myself. Maybe I could replace the cardio with JUST weight lifting?

Is it possible to do some good weight training without a lot of equipment? Right now I have a dumb bell set.

You can do good workouts with just bodyweight. You may want to check out some of the links in the bodyweight training group here. All you would need is a pull-up bar and maybe a couple of other things. I am just trying out the "You Are your own Gym" app on my droid. I highly recommend the book it is based on "You Are your own Gym" by Mark Lauren as one of the best bodyweight training books out there.

Weights will get you there quicker as you can increase the resistance easier. In my opinion a minimal weight setup would be a power cage, bench and preferably olympic style barbell set of probably about 300 pounds. Shopping around on things like Kijiji and Craigslist could find you those for a decent price, and there are some stores out there that have good prices on them as well.

As for your initial question, that weight sounds reasonable for someone who is 6'2".

As for the weight gain going from 2 pounds to 1 pound per week, my guess is at 2 pounds per week you were eating well below your BMR which has negatively effected your metabolism because you have been doing so for a long time. (One of the reasons 1 pound per week is better unless a person is morbidly obese). Your body will adjust, but it will take time. You will likely see some weight gain because of this. If I did the 2 pounds per week here I would be eating 1200ish calories plus my exercise calories because the cut off here is set for women not men. The generally recognized minimum for men is 1500 calories not 1200. BTW, I did do 1200 for a while until I realized the long term effect of that. Now I eat around 2000 calories a day and still lose.

Yep, you don't need to lose more just shift what you have. That is what I am working on too. Try upping your protein to about 30-40%. I do 40% carbs, 40% protein, and 20% fat ( good fats) everyone is different but this seems to work best of rme. I am 5'8 and 141 right now.
I switched to weights in addition to cardio and I have lost one inch off my waist and only lost 1 pound.
I am following the Body For Life for women.

I am 6'2" and should be in the 189 -191 range by the end of this week. Like you I still have a "small sparetire" that I would like to lose, I just cannot make my self do the lifting I would need to do to get rid of it. I am a cyclist and I still would like to lose between 5-8 lbs (that is a ton of weight off the bike) and then switch over to maintenance. However, like you I did change my loss per week rate and saw a small spike, but it is gone and was more than likely mostly water / my body holding onto food. BMI may be crap, but as someone else said is it easy to get your head wrapped around.... I just want top be in the upper 25% of it.


all that said, as a cyclist everytime I climb a hill I find myself telling myself I am too fat for this sport....