Calorie Deficit don't want to gain weight

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Taundry
Taundry Posts: 21
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all,

After some advice please, I'm 5'2 and currently 129lb my goal is 120lb. Over the past 2 months I have being using the gym and started calorie counting. I have been eating 1200 calories a day and burning between 300 and 800 cals every session 5 times per week, I've lost 11lb doing this but over the past 2 weeks I've been burning the higher end of cals (7-800)

My weight loss has slowed right down and from what I've read I should be eating more but I'm scared that if I increase my calories I'll gain weight, I would like to be losing 2lb a week any advice?

Currently I do 5x 1 and a half to 2 hour gym sessions which usually consist of 1 hr cardio and 30 - 60 mins of strength training, from next week I'll be adding an extra day doing a 45 min toning class and a 30 min legs, bums and tums class will fit into one of my existing workout days.

Any help would be appreciated :smile:

Replies

  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
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    2 pounds a week is not advised given your size. You should be aiming for half a pound to one pound a week. No more.

    Eat more protein. All that exercise definitely needs extra protein in your diet.

    And eating a few more calories will not cause you to gain weight. Eating more than you need will.
  • kellicci
    kellicci Posts: 409 Member
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    You do need to eat more. I'm about your size and I got in a rut a while back and ended up eating fairly heathy but way too little for a couple months and when I finally did eat enough (actually too much ona trip) I packed on the pounds. Maybe to counteract that you should add the calories gradually now before you have the problem I had. Add maybe 150 calories a week until you are eating back most of your workout calories (I don;t eat back all of mine b/c I'm probably underestimating my intake anyway). It will seem like you are eating WAY too much because you burn so many calories through exercise but when you get to your goal weight this will help you not gain weight quickly and when you go into maintenance or if you slip for a weekend.

    I'm not an expert though so if I'm worng someone correct me.
  • MissMaryMac33
    MissMaryMac33 Posts: 1,433 Member
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    The most you should be set to lose per week with only 9 lbs to go is 1/2 pound a week.
    Your body is in desperate need of fuel... you're starving it -- especially if you're not eating any of those exercise calories back.
  • kairisika
    kairisika Posts: 131 Member
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    You may well gain a little if you start eating more. but it's very likely that after a couple weeks, you'll lose it and then continue to lose better through once your body realizes it is getting enough fuel for the workouts.

    And, as mentioned, you can't sustainably lose 2lbs/week and expect to keep it off when you're only 9lbs overweight.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    The truth is that you may gain a little weight if you up your calories, but it won't be fat unless you eat over your TDEE. It will be water weight and should disappear in a few weeks. You have to decide whether the number on the scale right now is more important than a sustainable plan that will carry you through to your goals.
  • Shannon2714
    Shannon2714 Posts: 843 Member
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    You're definitely not eating enough. You should at least aim to NET 1200 calories. JMO.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,191 Member
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    In the long run eating more will be better for you than doing what you are doing right now. With so little to lose you cannot expect to lose 2 pounds per week. Will you potentially gain a few pounds when you increase your calories, especially if you have not been eating back your exercise calories because your body has been negatively effected by the sever calorie deficit you have put it through. Frankly, I think you should eat more and lift heavy weights. Here is an example of what heavy lifting will do for your body http://tinyurl.com/cs9gg5w and this as well http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/722432-darn-hit-heavy-lifting-left-me-toned
  • zechks
    zechks Posts: 224
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    Train heavy, eat more.. Gain muscle and lose fat. Don't trust the scale, the mirror should be your judge. Don't be afraid to gain weight, if it's from muscle then that's good. You can gain weight and look great at the same time by increasing your LBM.
  • Silvergamma
    Silvergamma Posts: 102 Member
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    Like others have said, 2 pounds per week is too much for as little as you have to lose. The last 10 pounds are extremely difficult to lose, and take a lot of time and tweaking to get you body to let them go.

    When you are down to those last 10 the name of the game is body composition. The scale doesn't matter, it's all about body fat versus lean muscle mass. If your goal is to be strong, look ripped and take up less space -> you need to train in a way that preserves your muscle tissue. The way you are going right now, your body is going to start cannibalizing that muscle as a fuel source, while holding on to the fat tissue because it's under sever stress and is trying to preserve those emergency stores.

    Reset your calorie goal to 1/2 pound per week. Figure out what the difference is between that, and what you are currently eating, start adding calories slowly, and cleanly. I've found that nuts, meat, eggs and other dense sources of protein are great choices. You can dial back the chronic cardio a bit as well, and start focusing more on lifting weights. Might sound counter intuitive, but hours and hours of cardio can stress the body out -> releases cortisol -> maintains fat supply.

    It's possible you will see the scale go up a little, but again, weight isn't the be all end all. Body composition it. You want to reduce the fat, and build the muscle, and that requires more calories, and more nutrients than you are currently getting.
  • escloflowneCHANGED
    escloflowneCHANGED Posts: 3,038 Member
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    You're definitely not eating enough. You should at least aim to NET 1200 calories. JMO.

    This
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
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    I hope you listen to the great advice you have already been given. What you are doing is not healthy and if you are unable to change you may need to get some help.

    lift weights 3 days a week.
    Limit cardio to about 3 hours per week.
    Eat enough calories everyday to NET at least 1200 and make sure you try to get around 75-100 grams of protein.
    Throw the scale in the garbage.
  • californiagirl2012
    californiagirl2012 Posts: 2,625 Member
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    First of all calorie burning for exercise is highly inaccurate. You do burn, but way less than any calculator says. I ignore it pretty much.

    Weight loss slows down as you get closer to your goal. Your calorie deficit can be higher when you have body fat reserves, but as those reserves are reduced you need to eat more, still at a deficit but more of a fine line. It's a slower part of the process and requires more patience (as if the earlier part of the process didn't require enough!) Only you can determine the exact amount of calories by how you feel and what the trend is. The amount of calories in all these programs are ball park estimates, usually slightly too high.
  • Taundry
    Taundry Posts: 21
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    Thank you all for reassuring me thst I do need to increase my intake and that it may make me increase a little but in the long run its better for me, I knew I should be but its hard to think eating more is better.

    At the min I eat the following:

    Breakfast: Cereal approx 150kcal
    Lunch: Beans / egg on toast / sandwich approx 3-400kcal
    Dinner: varies but usually around 7-900kcal

    I've read loads of different things and were considering the following,

    Breakfast: Porridge made with milk, glass of fruit juice and a few pinapple chunks Approx 350kcal
    Snack: low fat yoghurt and a handful of mixed nuts Approx 200kcal
    Lunch: ham/turkey salad sandwhich on brown Approx 160kcal
    Snack: Hard Boiled Egg Approx 85kcal
    Dinner: Variety still 7-900kcal

    i'd be looking at a minimum of approx 1500 kcal this way, and think the protien in take is better, what do you guys think?

    Many thanks for your help and suggestions so far :bigsmile:
  • 70davis
    70davis Posts: 348 Member
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    Bump
  • 70davis
    70davis Posts: 348 Member
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    Bump
  • Taundry
    Taundry Posts: 21
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    Thank you all for reassuring me thst I do need to increase my intake and that it may make me increase a little but in the long run its better for me, I knew I should be but its hard to think eating more is better.

    At the min I eat the following:

    Breakfast: Cereal approx 150kcal
    Lunch: Beans / egg on toast / sandwich approx 3-400kcal
    Dinner: varies but usually around 7-900kcal

    I've read loads of different things and were considering the following,

    Breakfast: Porridge made with milk, glass of fruit juice and a few pinapple chunks Approx 350kcal
    Snack: low fat yoghurt and a handful of mixed nuts Approx 200kcal
    Lunch: ham/turkey salad sandwhich on brown Approx 160kcal
    Snack: Hard Boiled Egg Approx 85kcal
    Dinner: Variety still 7-900kcal

    i'd be looking at a minimum of approx 1500 kcal this way, and think the protien in take is better, what do you guys think?

    Many thanks for your help and suggestions so far :bigsmile:

    Bumping for suggestions please :) also do I eat 1500 on exercise days and 1200 on days that I don't work out?

    Thank you :D

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