Opinions Please.....Lifting, Eating, What's going on!

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Will_Thrust_For_Candy
Will_Thrust_For_Candy Posts: 6,109 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm wondering for those of you who have been achieving fat loss while doing SL (or just lifting heavy in general), did it take awhile before you started to notice your inches move? I'm not so overly concerned with my scale weight.....although I have been stalled there for quite some time too.

The reason I ask is because I'm just really not moving in the inches department with the exception of my thighs (and I am certainly thrilled about that!). The last time I took my measurements and got on the scale was October 26. Granted I was on holidays for 11 days since then and also away for work for a few days and had next to no control over my diet. I have lost 1 lb and my inches haven't moved! It will be 3 weeks tomorrow since I started SL and I have no intention of stopping, I am just wondering if I am missing something!

I did run my numbers this morning.....

BMR 1558 (Fit2Fat recommends I eat 2334 daily). I do track my calories, just not through the site. I weigh everything and stuff that I can't weigh is measured. I strive to eat 1700/day and on lifting days I will go up to 2000 if the mood strikes. I calculate my activity as moderate as I do SL 3x/week and cardio at least 1x, but I'm now going to try for 2.

Also, I do aim to eat a clean, well balanced diet. I have omitted many processed foods and try to eat 130g of protein, including lean meat each day.

Any words of advice or wisdom? I'm not giving up, but this heavy lifting is obviously very new to me and I'm want to get my head around will be like on a go forward basis. I will also add that I only have 12 lbs to get to my goal weight (according to Fit2Fat it's the weight I should be at to achieve my BF% goal).


Thank you in advance for your help :)

Replies

  • lilteeraw
    lilteeraw Posts: 261
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    In my opinion I think you should keep doing what your doing
    Results take time to see so just keep working at it
    Also make sure you feed your muscles enough protein.before and after your workout.
    And maybe if you want to see a change in weight... play with how many calls you eat:)
    And maybe add some cardio to lose fat so you can see the muscles:)
  • jasonp_ritzert
    jasonp_ritzert Posts: 357 Member
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    One thing that stood out to me is that you calculate your activity level to be 'moderate' because of your exercie. Do you then log your exercise as well? That may be something to consider if you are doing that. Since I am a desk jockey 9-5, I set my activity level to 'sedentary' since I do sit most of the day and then I add in my exercise later.

    Sometimes lifting takes some time to see some results. Also, adding in some additional cardio may help you along as well.
  • prokomds
    prokomds Posts: 318 Member
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    Sounds like there were a lot of days in there were you had little control over your diet/exercise... which happens to everyone.

    I think you're doing everything right, probably just need to stick with it. It could be that your body is retaining water as it repairs your muscles from the workouts, or maybe you had some high sodium days when you measured, and that made you a little more bloated...

    Maybe give it another month or two, and if you're still at a standstill, consider revising? But I really like your plan as it stands now! "Be patient" is miserable advice to hear, but I think that's all I have for you. Good luck!
  • Will_Thrust_For_Candy
    Will_Thrust_For_Candy Posts: 6,109 Member
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    Thanks for the feedback!

    Also, I set my activity level to moderate (not on MFP but on Fit2Fat and any other site I use) because of a combination of both my exercise and my daily life. It's certainly something for me to think about though. If I go with sedentary on Fit2Fat radio, I'm still given 1807 calories/day to eat and I tend to eat closer to 1700 on a daily basis so for all intents and purposes, I'm still in a deficit.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
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    In my opinion I think you should keep doing what your doing
    Results take time to see so just keep working at it
    Also make sure you feed your muscles enough protein.before and after your workout.
    And maybe if you want to see a change in weight... play with how many calls you eat:)
    And maybe add some cardio to lose fat so you can see the muscles:)

    Unless you really enjoy doing cardio, there's no need for it. I'll run 3-5 miles every few weeks just for conditioning purposes but it yield very little results. You're much better off continuing to lift and maybe eat a little less.
  • Will_Thrust_For_Candy
    Will_Thrust_For_Candy Posts: 6,109 Member
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    Yeah I don't want to increase my cardio too much....but at the same time I know that it's the way to burn calories. As much as I find 1700 calories sometimes too much to eat, the thought of only having 1600 is awful lol I don't know if I can go back to VLCD again to be honest.....I guess that's where I may have to reevaluate my goals :(
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
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    3 weeks is not enough time to see real results, give it 8-10. If you find nothing is moving after that time lower your calories slightly, but keep on lifting.
  • Will_Thrust_For_Candy
    Will_Thrust_For_Candy Posts: 6,109 Member
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    3 weeks is not enough time to see real results, give it 8-10. If you find nothing is moving after that time lower your calories slightly, but keep on lifting.

    Thank you :)
  • nvanprooyen
    nvanprooyen Posts: 4
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    Lifting heavy at a calorie deficit is a bad combination in one man's humble opinion (especially for long durations). Lean muscle simply cannot synthesize out of thin air. It takes a surplus of kcals to do so. What do you mean by heavy? E.g. what is the frequency (how often you lift, what the splits look like) / what is the volume (exercises X sets X reps) and what is the intensity level (weight used, e.g. 65% of 1 rep maximum)? What are your goals? If it is purely inches lost (via reducing body fat %), I would think something more metabolic would be appropriate (at least in tandem with the heavy stuff). A combination of intense tension oriented lifting w/ some metabolic mixed in might help.

    Also +1 on the comment about 3 weeks not being enough time to gauge anything.

    Another thing is water retention. "Whoosh effect" is something to be aware of (can also be impacted by your menstrual cycle).

    Awesome results so far btw, great job!
  • Rynatat
    Rynatat Posts: 807 Member
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    Clean eating, lifting weights, light cardio, yoga & pilates got me where you see in my profile pic. I wasn't bad before, but I completely revamped my food & exercise & in 4 weeks lost 5 lbs but clothes that fit me when I weighed almost 10lbs less are actually now too big.

    Something as simple as adding in yoga or pilates can be what you need to boost your body & mindset to get the results you're looking for.
  • Will_Thrust_For_Candy
    Will_Thrust_For_Candy Posts: 6,109 Member
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    @nvanprooyen....I am doing the StrongLifts 5x5 workout. Squats, bench press, row, deadlift, and overhead press. It's a 3x/week routine with 3 exercises per workout. "Heavy" is relative to the person. For example, my current weights are Squat 5x5 @85#, OHP stalled at 47#, and DL 1x5 at 115#. Each workout I aim to progress in weight.

    At this point my concern is fat loss, not building muscle, but increasing strength.

    Thank you for your advice :)

    @Rynatat.....Where are you at in terms of how much you are eating? I do eat a pretty clean diet....and consistently try to hit my protein requirements. The only thing I'm missing from what you have described is the yoga or pilates! Thank you for your advice as well!
  • Rynatat
    Rynatat Posts: 807 Member
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    I think my diary is open to all to view, feel free to peruse it for ideas :smile: Just PM me with any questions (or friend me if you like to see what I do for more ideas)
  • nvanprooyen
    nvanprooyen Posts: 4
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    I'm not familiar with the SL routine, but it sounds like a lot of other 5x5 applications focused on compound movements...split up in some fashion where the specific exercises rotate on the 3 day schedule. Volume and frequency sound very reasonable from what I gathered from your post.

    One thing I would zero in on, is the fact that you are increasing intensity over time (weight on the bar). That's pretty tough to do without stalling out at some point. To get stronger generally requires building lean muscle mass after a certain point, and muscle simply cannot synthesize without the appropriate building blocks (calories, macros etc). Also get that heavy is relative. More of a question on where you are on rep 5 of those sets (e.g. barely able to get it out vs. have some room to get another rep or three out at the end). Based on your comment about adding intensity, I would guess the former.

    I'll drop a few links here that might be helpful in keeping the progress flowing:

    Weight Training For Fat Loss, Part 1 - http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/training/weight-training-for-fat-loss-part-1.html
    Weight Training For Fat Loss, Part 2 - http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/training/weight-training-for-fat-loss-part-2.html

    Please note, this is the second set of links I posted to the same site. I am in no way affiliated with it (or have any commercial motive). This site basically has the best (no BS) info I've found out there on fat loss / training etc.
  • Will_Thrust_For_Candy
    Will_Thrust_For_Candy Posts: 6,109 Member
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    I think my diary is open to all to view, feel free to peruse it for ideas :smile: Just PM me with any questions (or friend me if you like to see what I do for more ideas)

    Thank you so much :) I have actually never looked at anyone's diary before and it was nice to do so as now I am feeling even more confident that I am eating well :)
  • Will_Thrust_For_Candy
    Will_Thrust_For_Candy Posts: 6,109 Member
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    I'm not familiar with the SL routine, but it sounds like a lot of other 5x5 applications focused on compound movements...split up in some fashion where the specific exercises rotate on the 3 day schedule. Volume and frequency sound very reasonable from what I gathered from your post.

    One thing I would zero in on, is the fact that you are increasing intensity over time (weight on the bar). That's pretty tough to do without stalling out at some point. To get stronger generally requires building lean muscle mass after a certain point, and muscle simply cannot synthesize without the appropriate building blocks (calories, macros etc). Also get that heavy is relative. More of a question on where you are on rep 5 of those sets (e.g. barely able to get it out vs. have some room to get another rep or three out at the end). Based on your comment about adding intensity, I would guess the former.

    I'll drop a few links here that might be helpful in keeping the progress flowing:

    Weight Training For Fat Loss, Part 1 - http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/training/weight-training-for-fat-loss-part-1.html
    Weight Training For Fat Loss, Part 2 - http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/training/weight-training-for-fat-loss-part-2.html

    Please note, this is the second set of links I posted to the same site. I am in no way affiliated with it (or have any commercial motive). This site basically has the best (no BS) info I've found out there on fat loss / training etc.

    Thanks for the links! When I first started the program I would say that I could get more reps out at the lower weights however I was (and still am) trying to get my form right before I get into the heavy weights where I'm stalling and having difficult. I am getting there, especially on the OHP and Bench as well as my DL. Now I can't squeeze out any more reps.

    Thank you so much for your thoughtful responses :)
  • nvanprooyen
    nvanprooyen Posts: 4
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    Last one! I think anyways :)

    If you want to read an awesome book on form (especially on the kinds of lifts you are talking about), would highly recommend this book:

    http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-3rd-Mark-Rippetoe/dp/0982522738/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355453541&sr=1-1&keywords=starting+strength

    It's a classic and insanely detailed. I revisit all the time.
  • Will_Thrust_For_Candy
    Will_Thrust_For_Candy Posts: 6,109 Member
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    Last one! I think anyways :)

    If you want to read an awesome book on form (especially on the kinds of lifts you are talking about), would highly recommend this book:

    http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-3rd-Mark-Rippetoe/dp/0982522738/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355453541&sr=1-1&keywords=starting+strength

    It's a classic and insanely detailed. I revisit all the time.

    Oh yes! I have actually googled many of his videos on youtube on form. I think he is the reason that my squat has been so effective to be honest!

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