fear of 213.8 lbs and all muscle

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I am 5'4, 213.8 lbs. ( used to be 135 lbs 6 years ago ) I work out 3 hours a day, one hour running, one hour walking, one hour strength training. It has been 12 days since I started, and I eat clean, rarely have junk. I burn about 3000 calories a day, and eat about 2100. My BMR is 1700. I have not lost any weight yet. I am a bit nervous since it has been almost 2 weeks.. I know muscle weighs more then fat, and so on and so forth, but I have like 90 lbs to lose! mathematically I should be losing weight.. but I am not! How is this possible? I also drink a **** ton of water everyday, no less then 15 cups. I am doing everything right... so what am I doing wrong?

I'll tell you how it' possible you're not losing weight, you're estimations of how much you burn, your BMR, and how much you eat are off. I can't imagine a 5'4" women eating 2,000 calories to lose weight.

^^ I'm 5'5, my activity level is moderate, and I eat around 1,600. This is really close to maintenance for me.

maybe you are burning too many calories, so the calories you do take in, your body stores as fat....just a thought?

what?????

Wow, so much information in this thread. The things that stick out to me are the rather aggressive exercise routine and the fact that you said you were hungry all the time.

May I ask what your primary goal is? If it's just to lose weight (it doesn't sound like it is) then you are making it much harder than it has to be. Is it the marathon - that's a big milestone! Or just becoming generally physically fit and athletic? It seems to me like you are trying to do a lot at the same time, but others have said that already. I love your focus on exercise! Maybe you are overtraining, but you will figure that out in time.

I have a radical suggestion. While doing such an intense training regimen I would not worry about counting calories at all! Instead focus on eating healthy and pay attention to the nutrition you are getting. I'd shoot for at least 100g of protein a day, 150 would be better. Eat lots of vegetables, fruits, and grains. Add fiber to your tracking, and just look at how much protein and fiber you eat a day while trying to eat very healthy foods. Exception: go sparingly on fruit drinks and calorie dense things like OJ and nuts.

You absolutely will lose fat, and with such a diet you will be unlikely to overeat. If you do this for 2-3 weeks while you body adjusts to your workout regimen you will likely start losing weight, and if not you will get a good idea for what your maintenance level is.

@psulemon

I am taking the advice, I rest 2 days a week, Saturday and Sunday.

If I use a cortisol supplement, such as a powder and mix it with my protein shakes.. that wouldnt help? why?

@dave198lbs

Can you tell me why not to take a cortisol supplement without doctors orders??

@tavistocktoad

anything you will look into to, anywhere, says you need to burn more calories then you eat to lose weight, eat the same as you burn to maintain, and to gain well eat more then you burn. simple math. I am eating enough to be healthy, not overeating, and not under eating. I burn more then I eat to lose weight. What I eat is at least 80% healthy. Weekends for me a bit more relaxed, but I still eat generally healthy. So I am sorry I dont agree ...

because you don't want to mess with you hormones as it can affect a lot of other stuff. Why don't you just eat more if you plan on being that active. Try to eat 2500 calories for a month.. it's a smaller deficit based on your fitbit. (about 20% reduction). I would alter macro's to 35% carbs, 40% protein and 25% fats.

show previous quotes

I am 5'4, 213.8 lbs. ( used to be 135 lbs 6 years ago ) I work out 3 hours a day, one hour running, one hour walking, one hour strength training. It has been 12 days since I started, and I eat clean, rarely have junk. I burn about 3000 calories a day, and eat about 2100. My BMR is 1700. I have not lost any weight yet. I am a bit nervous since it has been almost 2 weeks.. I know muscle weighs more then fat, and so on and so forth, but I have like 90 lbs to lose! mathematically I should be losing weight.. but I am not! How is this possible? I also drink a **** ton of water everyday, no less then 15 cups. I am doing everything right... so what am I doing wrong?

I'll tell you how it' posible you're not losing weight, you're estimations of how much you burn, your BMR, and how much you eat are off. I can't imagine a 5'4" women eating 2,000 calories to lose weight.

I am a 5'4" (and likely ten years older than the OP) and losing weight on 1800 calories. She is exercising about 4-5 times more than me, so you need to expand your imagination.

@psulemon

I am taking the advice, I rest 2 days a week, Saturday and Sunday.

If I use a cortisol supplement, such as a powder and mix it with my protein shakes.. that wouldnt help? why?

@dave198lbs

Can you tell me why not to take a cortisol supplement without doctors orders??

@tavistocktoad

anything you will look into to, anywhere, says you need to burn more calories then you eat to lose weight, eat the same as you burn to maintain, and to gain well eat more then you burn. simple math. I am eating enough to be healthy, not overeating, and not under eating. I burn more then I eat to lose weight. What I eat is at least 80% healthy. Weekends for me a bit more relaxed, but I still eat generally healthy. So I am sorry I dont agree ...

To the last point - then why aren't you losing weight if you just know you are doing the simple math correctly?

Perhaps wrap your mind around the fact you don't understand it all, and isn't that simple when you make it more complex as you've done.

You misread the comments about cortisol - the last thing you need is constantly elevated cortisol.

Perhaps actually go look up what it does, and when it's produced. You are already producing too much of it on constant basis, because of the excessive stress.

You do realize all these suggestions, per your questions, are just to protect you from yourself.

But I might suggest get your measurements down, and weight down, log this day, and keep doing what you darn well want to do because you just know you must be doing it right.

Come back in 4 wks with new stats and let us know how it went.

Some folks can't learn from the experience of others, they must go through the school of hard knocks, no matter how much damage that may do to themselves.

So go for it.

I'll even give you a plan to enhance that exercise routine to really lose weight if it's strictly weight you want to lose - it's easy to burn up muscle and lose the lbs. No one has taken me up on it yet, or at least not reported back in yet if they did it and survived. But I know many do it unintentionally for months and then come back complaining of what happened and the effects then.

Use a diet plan that is low carb, 125 grams or less per day. 1500 cal goal.

First workout of the day is in fasted state, no breakfast, intense as you can make it cardio for 60 min.
Eat normal low carb breakfast.

Do your other meals same low carb.

Do the hour of walking about 30-45 min after a meal. Fast pace as possible. No snack afterwards.

Do the strength training routine to however you want to.

Put the 2 days of cardio back again since you really don't want to give them up. But 5 days in a row will still work wonders.

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To those who say that a 5'4" woman shouldn't lose on 2100 calories a day, that's ridiculous! Maybe for a sedentary person but this woman is working out for 3 hours a day!! It is quite believeable that her TDEE is over 3000.

I know I'm a bit taller (5'8) but I am also lighter (which needs less calories a day in general) and I can lose weight on around 2300-2500 calories a day. I lead a relatively active lifestyle and workout for around 45 minutes to an hour, 5 times a week. I am by the sounds of it, nowhere near as active as the OP and yet I lose on more. It can be done, just saying!

To answer the OP's question, keep at it, it will come with time. I would consider lowering the exercise though, you don't need 3 hours a day! There is such a thing as overtraining and it can definitely hinder your weight loss! If you are still experiencing problems, then maybe there is some innaccuracy to the amount you're eating. Check everything that you enter, the database is often wrong.

Do you or anyone else have an example of a woman who has a normal body fat % and eats more than 2k or more calories to lose weight? Normal body fat is someone who's not over weight or obese...oh and of course average height 5'5"

Why would such a woman be trying to lose weight if they are not overweight?

show previous quotes

To those who say that a 5'4" woman shouldn't lose on 2100 calories a day, that's ridiculous! Maybe for a sedentary person but this woman is working out for 3 hours a day!! It is quite believeable that her TDEE is over 3000.

I know I'm a bit taller (5'8) but I am also lighter (which needs less calories a day in general) and I can lose weight on around 2300-2500 calories a day. I lead a relatively active lifestyle and workout for around 45 minutes to an hour, 5 times a week. I am by the sounds of it, nowhere near as active as the OP and yet I lose on more. It can be done, just saying!

To answer the OP's question, keep at it, it will come with time. I would consider lowering the exercise though, you don't need 3 hours a day! There is such a thing as overtraining and it can definitely hinder your weight loss! If you are still experiencing problems, then maybe there is some innaccuracy to the amount you're eating. Check everything that you enter, the database is often wrong.

Do you or anyone else have an example of a woman who has a normal body fat % and eats more than 2k or more calories to lose weight? Normal body fat is someone who's not over weight or obese...oh and of course average height 5'5"

Why would such a woman be trying to lose weight if they are not overweight?

I am a 'normal' body fat and have been for quite a few pounds and I am trying to lose weight. The non-overweight category is pretty wide - it's personal preference.