Why am I still gaining?
calypso11
Posts: 24 Member
To make a long story short, between June 2011-February 2012 I went from 145 pounds to 115 pounds. This was by no direct effort on my part. I graduated from college, started working full time, planned a wedding, got married, and generally ate less than I did in college (where I was knocking back 2200+ a day by my calculations now). I was not concerned about my food intake (ie I ate whatever I wanted basically) and did not exercise. I am 5'4.
In March of this year I decided I needed to be more active in general, and started running (C25K) and doing exercise DVDs (JIllian Michaels, etc.) on alternating days (rest on Sundays). By April I was up to 117, but I shrugged it off to starting a new exercise routine/gaining muscle. By July, I was up to 119. In September I started doing Insanity, and by the end of the month I was up to 121. Now it's nearing November and I'm at 123.
I honestly do not understand why I keep gaining weight. I am not doing the weight lifting necessary (in my opinion) to justify 8 pounds of muscle gain. My inches have also gone up, a whole inch around my hips, waist and thighs. For perspective, I was no waif at 115. My hips were 37 inches, and my thighs were 21 inches. Now my hips are 38, and my thighs are 22. My waist has gone from 25 to 26.
I have a bodybugg, which puts me at an average burn of 2100 a day. This fits in with my Katch calculations, which puts me around 2000. A 15% reduction is 1700. My average calories (according to bodybugg and MFP) are 1717. I religiously log everything, even if it is just one chocolate chip morsel. I actually started eating better when I started working out, but never did a complete diet overhaul and rid myself of everything I used to eat. I figured if I could lose 30 pounds doing what I used to do, I should be fine exercising and eating moderately better, right? I ate little treats throughout the day when I wasn't religiously logging food and working out, so I don't understand how suddenly that could possibly be the problem. Before I never counted out my M&Ms or measured my bread, and now I do... and now I'm gaining!
I wouldn't be so upset about this if I didn't feel like starting to exercise/log food became all for nothing. I was losing weight without even trying, and now seven months after attempting to become a healthier individual I have gained an average of a pound a month and gained inches. My clothes are tighter. And I've also become overly conscientiousness about food. I wish I could go back and tell my March self not to change what I was doing, because I was able to eat and live my life without constantly obsessing over calories or how it was going to affect my macros. I was happy with how I looked and how much I weighed in March. I didn't want to lose anymore weight, I just wanted to be healthy. I would have been fine if my weight had gone up and STAYED there permanently, instead it keeps going up and I can't brush it off anymore.
Any insight you could give me would be much appreciated. After I finish Insanity (this Sunday!!) I am seriously considering laying off the exercise for a couple weeks and trying to ignore calories/MFP in attempt to revert myself back to my old way of thinking. I don't want to stop exercising, because I do feel like I am a healthier person in general because of my higher activity level, but I don't want to keep gaining two pounds every other month either and end up back where I started (at 145).
In case you are wondering about weights, unfortunately I cannot join a gym to get access to them. However, I have been saving money to purchase my own .
Thanks in advance!
In March of this year I decided I needed to be more active in general, and started running (C25K) and doing exercise DVDs (JIllian Michaels, etc.) on alternating days (rest on Sundays). By April I was up to 117, but I shrugged it off to starting a new exercise routine/gaining muscle. By July, I was up to 119. In September I started doing Insanity, and by the end of the month I was up to 121. Now it's nearing November and I'm at 123.
I honestly do not understand why I keep gaining weight. I am not doing the weight lifting necessary (in my opinion) to justify 8 pounds of muscle gain. My inches have also gone up, a whole inch around my hips, waist and thighs. For perspective, I was no waif at 115. My hips were 37 inches, and my thighs were 21 inches. Now my hips are 38, and my thighs are 22. My waist has gone from 25 to 26.
I have a bodybugg, which puts me at an average burn of 2100 a day. This fits in with my Katch calculations, which puts me around 2000. A 15% reduction is 1700. My average calories (according to bodybugg and MFP) are 1717. I religiously log everything, even if it is just one chocolate chip morsel. I actually started eating better when I started working out, but never did a complete diet overhaul and rid myself of everything I used to eat. I figured if I could lose 30 pounds doing what I used to do, I should be fine exercising and eating moderately better, right? I ate little treats throughout the day when I wasn't religiously logging food and working out, so I don't understand how suddenly that could possibly be the problem. Before I never counted out my M&Ms or measured my bread, and now I do... and now I'm gaining!
I wouldn't be so upset about this if I didn't feel like starting to exercise/log food became all for nothing. I was losing weight without even trying, and now seven months after attempting to become a healthier individual I have gained an average of a pound a month and gained inches. My clothes are tighter. And I've also become overly conscientiousness about food. I wish I could go back and tell my March self not to change what I was doing, because I was able to eat and live my life without constantly obsessing over calories or how it was going to affect my macros. I was happy with how I looked and how much I weighed in March. I didn't want to lose anymore weight, I just wanted to be healthy. I would have been fine if my weight had gone up and STAYED there permanently, instead it keeps going up and I can't brush it off anymore.
Any insight you could give me would be much appreciated. After I finish Insanity (this Sunday!!) I am seriously considering laying off the exercise for a couple weeks and trying to ignore calories/MFP in attempt to revert myself back to my old way of thinking. I don't want to stop exercising, because I do feel like I am a healthier person in general because of my higher activity level, but I don't want to keep gaining two pounds every other month either and end up back where I started (at 145).
In case you are wondering about weights, unfortunately I cannot join a gym to get access to them. However, I have been saving money to purchase my own .
Thanks in advance!
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Replies
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Wow. You are definitely working hard... it's a tough one.... I'd like to know a couple of things please
What are your macros set at?
What is your BMR? Do you ensure that you net over it every day?0 -
Macros are 45/30/25, however, I rarely make them. Usually I'm more like 50/20/30. Keep in mind though that before I started logging my food I ate the exact same way - perhaps even worse! I may have been lucky to get to 15% protein in my pre-workout days but I usually always make it to at the very least 20% now.
My BMR is 1250 or so (Katch) and I never go below it. I don't burn enough to get close. The most I've ever burned from a 60 minute long Insanity workout is 400 calories, which would put me at 1300, and I only do that once a week max. Before Insanity the most I ever worked out was 30 minutes, and there is no way I burned more than 200 calories doing that.0 -
Hmmm the only thing I can think of at this stage of the game is that perhaps your body is becoming more sensitive to carbs and producing more insulin than you need, meaning more fat is stored. Things change as we get older :ohwell:
Can you test a week or two on 35/35/30 (c/p/f) and see how that goes? I would be interested in seeing how your body responds to less carbs and if it might start letting go a bit. There's a good article on what I'm talking about here: http://www.naturaltherapypages.com.au/article/Insulin_Weight_Loss
If there is no change on that... and I rarely ever say this... it might be time to get the ol' thyroid checked.
Anyone else have any ideas? I am by no means an expert, it just sounds like you are doing things pretty right and something should be happening so I'm trying to think outside the circle.0 -
bump...... can relate to almost everything...0
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I am 5'4.
In March of this year I decided I needed to be more active in general, and started running (C25K) and doing exercise DVDs (JIllian Michaels, etc.) on alternating days (rest on Sundays). By April I was up to 117, but I shrugged it off to starting a new exercise routine/gaining muscle. By July, I was up to 119. In September I started doing Insanity, and by the end of the month I was up to 121. Now it's nearing November and I'm at 123.
I honestly do not understand why I keep gaining weight. I am not doing the weight lifting necessary (in my opinion) to justify 8 pounds of muscle gain. My inches have also gone up, a whole inch around my hips, waist and thighs. For perspective, I was no waif at 115. My hips were 37 inches, and my thighs were 21 inches. Now my hips are 38, and my thighs are 22. My waist has gone from 25 to 26.
I have a bodybugg, which puts me at an average burn of 2100 a day. This fits in with my Katch calculations, which puts me around 2000. A 15% reduction is 1700. My average calories (according to bodybugg and MFP) are 1717. I religiously log everything, even if it is just one chocolate chip morsel. I actually started eating better when I started working out, but never did a complete diet overhaul and rid myself of everything I used to eat. I figured if I could lose 30 pounds doing what I used to do, I should be fine exercising and eating moderately better, right? I ate little treats throughout the day when I wasn't religiously logging food and working out, so I don't understand how suddenly that could possibly be the problem. Before I never counted out my M&Ms or measured my bread, and now I do... and now I'm gaining!
Any insight you could give me would be much appreciated. After I finish Insanity (this Sunday!!) I am seriously considering laying off the exercise for a couple weeks and trying to ignore calories/MFP in attempt to revert myself back to my old way of thinking. I don't want to stop exercising, because I do feel like I am a healthier person in general because of my higher activity level, but I don't want to keep gaining two pounds every other month either and end up back where I started (at 145).
In case you are wondering about weights, unfortunately I cannot join a gym to get access to them. However, I have been saving money to purchase my own .
Thanks in advance!
First, you can't gain muscle at that rate. Male body builders would love to gain muscle at that rate while bulking - ain't happening.
But you got more reasons for weight to go up, glucose stores with water, and those demanding workouts are high carb burning, especially day after day.
Now, there is a limit to that, so that's maybe 1 to 1.5 lbs max.
Plain old water retention from a stressed body.
You are doing all these workouts, and I doubt greatly your BMF is anywhere near close on non-walking/jogging activities.
Plus, how far off is the Harris BMR from the Katch BMR? Because BMF is using Harris BMR as foundation to adjust to calculate calories.
Diet is a stress on the body.
Intense frequent exercise is a stress on the body.
You got others stress, like the weight loss stress?
Stress messes with hormones that fight weight and fat loss.
You need a break. 1 week. Figure out your TDEE for Lightly Active. And eat that, and only walk 30 min each day, 3.5 mph or slower.
Keep eating well, no sodium busting meals.
My initial thought is your TDEE calc is very off, and you have still suppressed your metabolism for your level of exercise, meaning anytime you have been going over in calories, it is indeed surplus.
During that break, follow above advice on getting the macros more balanced, just in case that helps too. Do keep logging, don't give it up, keep the goal calories. You need to learn a lesson from this, or you'll be doomed to repeat it again.
You may already know, if you eat a bagel in the morning, or 4 hrs past your last meal, do you get perhaps an energy boost, but more importantly, tired in about 20-40 min, perhaps hungry too?
May be sensitive to carbs, in which case confirm every meals starts with protein and fat and carbs after.0 -
Maybe you have been under-eating for a while, when you were losing all that weight? Now that you are eating more again and also exercising more, your body wants to store it all in order to be sure to have fat storage in case of low cals.
Maybe you would benefit of doing a reset. Eating at TDEE for a few weeks.
Also you are doing a lot of Cardio. Insanity is basically pure cardio with a little bit of body weight work thrown in.
I think the best thing would be to consider a diet break or doing a reset. Also tale a break from exercising. Once you have your weights, go and rock them. You will see, things will improve. Maybe not purely on the scale ut your body will become firmer and stronger.0 -
First I want to thank all of you for responding. I really appreciate you taking the time to try to help me figure this out and I am taking all your comments and suggestions seriously.
Heybales: I took your comments piece by piece and asked some more questions so I'd be happy to get your responses again.Hmmm the only thing I can think of at this stage of the game is that perhaps your body is becoming more sensitive to carbs and producing more insulin than you need, meaning more fat is stored. Things change as we get older ohwell
Can you test a week or two on 35/35/30 (c/p/f) and see how that goes? I would be interested in seeing how your body responds to less carbs and if it might start letting go a bit. There's a good article on what I'm talking about here: http://www.naturaltherapypages.com.au/article/Insulin_Weight_Loss
I have considered that my body may be growing more sensitive to insulin, although there is really nothing about my age (21) or health history (no diabetes in my family) that would suggest I have a predisposition to this problem.First, you can't gain muscle at that rate. Male body builders would love to gain muscle at that rate while bulking - ain't happening.
Like I said in my first post, I do not believe for one second that any of the weight I have gained is muscle. Well, I'd like to think that I gained at least a miniscule amount of muscle seeing as I'd never done any type of exercise prior to March, but I've never believed my weight gain was due to muscle so that isn't my problem.But you got more reasons for weight to go up, glucose stores with water, and those demanding workouts are high carb burning, especially day after day.
Now, there is a limit to that, so that's maybe 1 to 1.5 lbs max.
Plain old water retention from a stressed body.
You are doing all these workouts, and I doubt greatly your BMF is anywhere near close on non-walking/jogging activities.
Plus, how far off is the Harris BMR from the Katch BMR? Because BMF is using Harris BMR as foundation to adjust to calculate calories.
My Harris BMR is 1430, but I have never used that as my standard because I read early on that it wasn't very accurate. I've also been adding a 10% margin of error to my bodybugg results (which means 2100 burned ends up being 1910 burned, etc.).Diet is a stress on the body.
Intense frequent exercise is a stress on the body.
You got others stress, like the weight loss stress?
Stress messes with hormones that fight weight and fat loss.
You need a break. 1 week. Figure out your TDEE for Lightly Active. And eat that, and only walk 30 min each day, 3.5 mph or slower.
Keep eating well, no sodium busting meals.
Once I finish Insanity on Sunday (I really would kick myself if I quit with only five days to go), I am definitely doing this.My initial thought is your TDEE calc is very off, and you have still suppressed your metabolism for your level of exercise, meaning anytime you have been going over in calories, it is indeed surplus.
I am slightly confused by what you mean here. Do you mean my TDEE calc has been off in terms of being too high or too low?During that break, follow above advice on getting the macros more balanced, just in case that helps too. Do keep logging, don't give it up, keep the goal calories. You need to learn a lesson from this, or you'll be doomed to repeat it again.
You may already know, if you eat a bagel in the morning, or 4 hrs past your last meal, do you get perhaps an energy boost, but more importantly, tired in about 20-40 min, perhaps hungry too?
May be sensitive to carbs, in which case confirm every meals starts with protein and fat and carbs after.
I was never conscious of macros before I started working out, and was probably eating even more carbs and less protein than I do now. I definitely feel more full when I concentrate on protein and fiber rich meals. It is so infrequently that I just eat a bagel (or some other carb) and then call it a day that I couldn't even tell you if it makes me sluggish. It never did before, I know that.Maybe you have been under-eating for a while, when you were losing all that weight? Now that you are eating more again and also exercising more, your body wants to store it all in order to be sure to have fat storage in case of low cals.
I'm pretty confident I was not undereating before, as I was eating roughly the same I am eating now (probably more) and not working out. I'm eating between 1550-1800 calories a day now, and I know I was eating that at least before just based on my routine at work.Also you are doing a lot of Cardio. Insanity is basically pure cardio with a little bit of body weight work thrown in.
I think the best thing would be to consider a diet break or doing a reset. Also tale a break from exercising. Once you have your weights, go and rock them. You will see, things will improve. Maybe not purely on the scale ut your body will become firmer and stronger.
Once Insanity is over I am pretty much done with crazy amounts of cardio. I totally agree that I need an exercise break and a greater focus on weights.0 -
[/quote]First I want to thank all of you for responding. I really appreciate you taking the time to try to help me figure this out and I am taking all your comments and suggestions seriously.
Heybales: I took your comments piece by piece and asked some more questions so I'd be happy to get your responses again.Plus, how far off is the Harris BMR from the Katch BMR? Because BMF is using Harris BMR as foundation to adjust to calculate calories.
My Harris BMR is 1430, but I have never used that as my standard because I read early on that it wasn't very accurate. I've also been adding a 10% margin of error to my bodybugg results (which means 2100 burned ends up being 1910 burned, etc.).
I am slightly confused by what you mean here. Do you mean my TDEE calc has been off in terms of being too high or too low?
I'm pretty confident I was not undereating before, as I was eating roughly the same I am eating now (probably more) and not working out. I'm eating between 1550-1800 calories a day now, and I know I was eating that at least before just based on my routine at work.
So, actually taking a 10% bigger deficit off an already underestimated burn estimate. That's what I mean by under-eating for your level of activity.
Your BMF is, guaranteed, underestimating calorie burn for those types of workouts. And you lower it another 10%.
And you have observed, you used to eat this amount before without any problem, but was NOT working out.
In the end, yes, your TDEE is under-estimated based on BMF.
The Harris BMR compared to Katch BMR applies to possible over-estimate of calorie burn during all the resting period, so that may, or may not, balance out under-estimate for intense exercise.
Get your bodyfat% estimate here, and then use the BMR calc with BF% for Katch, and then without for Harris.
http://www.gymgoal.com/dtools.html
Or use that spreadsheet I referenced to log and store everything, and get all those values in one place.0 -
So, actually taking a 10% bigger deficit off an already underestimated burn estimate. That's what I mean by under-eating for your level of activity.
Your BMF is, guaranteed, underestimating calorie burn for those types of workouts. And you lower it another 10%.
And you have observed, you used to eat this amount before without any problem, but was NOT working out.
In the end, yes, your TDEE is under-estimated based on BMF.
The Harris BMR compared to Katch BMR applies to possible over-estimate of calorie burn during all the resting period, so that may, or may not, balance out under-estimate for intense exercise.
Get your bodyfat% estimate here, and then use the BMR calc with BF% for Katch, and then without for Harris.
http://www.gymgoal.com/dtools.html
Or use that spreadsheet I referenced to log and store everything, and get all those values in one place.
Wow, this is the first time anyone suggested to me that the bodybugg/BMF might be underestimating calories!
I completed your worksheet and it said I had an average body fat of 29% (woah... never had it come up that high before!!) and using 3A and section 2 it put my TDEE at 2,100. Like I said previously, I eat on average around 1700 calories... but I do believe I might have a pretty sizable margin of error, so I'd say it's likely I average more like 1850. Regardless, I know I have only eaten 2100 a few times in the past couple of months. No more than five or six for sure since I started working out.
So where are you recommending I go from here? Like I said, once Insanity is done I'm over with the super long cardio sessions, so I won't be averaging 2,100 anymore. I'll take a break from exercising and stick to 30 minute walks for a week or so. Beyond that though I feel like I'm starting back at square one. I really want to re-lose the weight I've gained and get rid of this massive amount of BF.0 -
Wow, this is the first time anyone suggested to me that the bodybugg/BMF might be underestimating calories!
I completed your worksheet and it said I had an average body fat of 29% (woah... never had it come up that high before!!) and using 3A and section 2 it put my TDEE at 2,100. Like I said previously, I eat on average around 1700 calories... but I do believe I might have a pretty sizable margin of error, so I'd say it's likely I average more like 1850. Regardless, I know I have only eaten 2100 a few times in the past couple of months. No more than five or six for sure since I started working out.
So where are you recommending I go from here? Like I said, once Insanity is done I'm over with the super long cardio sessions, so I won't be averaging 2,100 anymore. I'll take a break from exercising and stick to 30 minute walks for a week or so. Beyond that though I feel like I'm starting back at square one. I really want to re-lose the weight I've gained and get rid of this massive amount of BF.
Those devices are great for normal daily activity of moving around, and walking, and jogging slow for exercise. Once above that range for the workouts you were doing, very underestimated usually.
Using the better BF% estimate, use the MFP Tweak tab for a week or two.
Use the Katch BMR as basis, Sedentary as activity level, it'll take correct deficit, and show what to tweak in MFP to hit that value.
Then just do your walks.0 -
Those devices are great for normal daily activity of moving around, and walking, and jogging slow for exercise. Once above that range for the workouts you were doing, very underestimated usually.
Using the better BF% estimate, use the MFP Tweak tab for a week or two.
Use the Katch BMR as basis, Sedentary as activity level, it'll take correct deficit, and show what to tweak in MFP to hit that value.
Then just do your walks.
Thank you so much again for replying - I really appreciate it!
So basically what you think happened is I kept increasing my activity level without adjusting the cals enough and therefore still ended up suppressing my metabolism? Therefore when I eat anything above that still too low amount of calories, my suppressed metabolism sees it as a surplus, which translates into a gain? With that in mind, does that mean I need to do a metabolism reset now in order to try to correct the problem?0 -
Those devices are great for normal daily activity of moving around, and walking, and jogging slow for exercise. Once above that range for the workouts you were doing, very underestimated usually.
Using the better BF% estimate, use the MFP Tweak tab for a week or two.
Use the Katch BMR as basis, Sedentary as activity level, it'll take correct deficit, and show what to tweak in MFP to hit that value.
Then just do your walks.
Thank you so much again for replying - I really appreciate it!
So basically what you think happened is I kept increasing my activity level without adjusting the cals enough and therefore still ended up suppressing my metabolism? Therefore when I eat anything above that still too low amount of calories, my suppressed metabolism sees it as a surplus, which translates into a gain? With that in mind, does that mean I need to do a metabolism reset now in order to try to correct the problem?
I have found quite a few people on the forums who believe that ^^ (exercising yourself into 'starving your body' while at the same time eating a sufficient amt of calories). i am still def on the fence about that theory. have a hard time wrapping my mind around it.0 -
Those devices are great for normal daily activity of moving around, and walking, and jogging slow for exercise. Once above that range for the workouts you were doing, very underestimated usually.
Using the better BF% estimate, use the MFP Tweak tab for a week or two.
Use the Katch BMR as basis, Sedentary as activity level, it'll take correct deficit, and show what to tweak in MFP to hit that value.
Then just do your walks.
Thank you so much again for replying - I really appreciate it!
So basically what you think happened is I kept increasing my activity level without adjusting the cals enough and therefore still ended up suppressing my metabolism? Therefore when I eat anything above that still too low amount of calories, my suppressed metabolism sees it as a surplus, which translates into a gain? With that in mind, does that mean I need to do a metabolism reset now in order to try to correct the problem?
Correct, if you have no weight or measurement loss for 3 weeks, you must be eating at TDEE. And any little blip is surplus, not enough for your body to decide to increase metabolism.
But you will be, you'll be letting your body know there is plenty of food to start taking care of ALL the functions of metabolism, and allowing your normal NonExerciseActivity to increase again.
That's why you only increase calories 100 per day for a week, and then another 100 for a week - to minimize the gain that could come.
The walking is just more great daily activity that is mainly fat burning, so it doesn't need to be refed.0 -
I have found quite a few people on the forums who believe that ^^ (exercising yourself into 'starving your body' while at the same time eating a sufficient amt of calories). i am still def on the fence about that theory. have a hard time wrapping my mind around it.
So one would think if a group of people all had the same TDEE, all took the same deficit calories, they'd likely have the same weight loss.
Now, have 2 groups besides the one doing no exercise, one doing resistance, one doing cardio, burning very different amount of calories.
One would expect the weight loss to be different, right. More deficit with the exercise, and different amounts burned.
This study's main focus was other things, but this tidbit as to the results was interesting. What this means is the body does adjust how much it is burning overall to exercise being added to a deficit that might have been half-way decent by itself (not really with the results). In this case, they all lost the same amount of weight, the Diet only group more LBM. But despite the differences in energy expenditure for exercise, no differences in loss amounts.
The body will adjust.
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/25/3/431.full#T2Evaluation of diet and exercise Dietary analysis.
With few exceptions (<2%), complete dietary intake records were submitted, as required by all subjects. The daily diet records indicated that the average dietary-induced energy deficit for the DO, DA, and DR groups were 1,222 ±293, 1,299 ±215, and 1,209 ±211 kcal/day for the 16-week treatment period. The corresponding fat intakes were 21 ±5, 25 ±5, and 22 ±5%. There were no group differences for the energy deficit or fat intakes (P > 0.1).
Aerobic exercise.
Attendance for the exercise sessions averaged 92% (range 85–98%) in the DA group. The duration of the exercise sessions was 34 ±6 min at an intensity of 77 ±4% of the maximal heart rate. The total energy expenditure for the DA group was 19,167 ±4,461 kcal. In response to the aerobic exercise program, VO2max (l/min) increased (P < 0.02) by 9 ±9%. VO2max did not change in the DO or DR groups (P > 0.02).
Resistance exercise.
For the DR group, attendance for the exercise sessions averaged 94% (79–100%). The estimated total energy expenditure for the DR group was 5,348 ±318 kcal. In response to the resistance exercise program, lower-body and upper-body training load increased by 29 ±15 and 38 ±15%, respectively (P < 0.01).
Effects of weight loss on anthropometric variables
Body weight and waist circumference were reduced within each group (P < 0.001) (Table 2); however, these changes were not different across treatment (P > 0.1). WHR did not change (P > 0.1) within any group (Table 2).
Effects of weight loss on MRI variables
As indicated in Table 2, significant reductions in total, abdominal subcutaneous, visceral, and intermuscular fat were observed within each group (P < 0.01). The changes in these fat depots were not different across treatment (P > 0.05). The observations for visceral and abdominal subcutaneous fat area (cm2) at the L4-L5 image were the same as those for visceral and abdominal mass (kg) calculated using all five abdominal images. Skeletal muscle mass was preserved within the DA and DR groups (P > 0.1); however, a significant (P < 0.001) reduction in skeletal muscle mass was observed in the DO group (Table 2).0 -
Correct, if you have no weight or measurement loss for 3 weeks, you must be eating at TDEE. And any little blip is surplus, not enough for your body to decide to increase metabolism.
But you will be, you'll be letting your body know there is plenty of food to start taking care of ALL the functions of metabolism, and allowing your normal NonExerciseActivity to increase again.
That's why you only increase calories 100 per day for a week, and then another 100 for a week - to minimize the gain that could come.
The walking is just more great daily activity that is mainly fat burning, so it doesn't need to be refed.
So basically next week when I finish Insanity and start just doing the walks I'll essentially be entering a reset. What exactly do you mean by normal NonExerciseActivity?
Then when I do decide to start exercising more intensely again, I should just tack on 100 calories a day until I reach the level I need to sustain that level of activity? And do the same in reverse if I decide to decrease my activity again?0 -
So basically next week when I finish Insanity and start just doing the walks I'll essentially be entering a reset. What exactly do you mean by normal NonExerciseActivity?
Then when I do decide to start exercising more intensely again, I should just tack on 100 calories a day until I reach the level I need to sustain that level of activity? And do the same in reverse if I decide to decrease my activity again?
Been a lot of info in these posts, might want to reread as mixing some stuff up.
Basically for the rest weeks coming up.
Walk 30 min only.
Eat at sedentary level minus correct deficit.
If that goal is more than 300 away from current eating level - add 100 per day for 1 week, then another 100 for next week, ect. So you get this clearly, if eating 1200 now, Mon 1300, Tue 1300, Wed 1300 .....
When exercise starts, you recalc TDEE for what that means TOTAL DAILY - so with exercise included, and take your deficit.0 -
bump0
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So basically next week when I finish Insanity and start just doing the walks I'll essentially be entering a reset. What exactly do you mean by normal NonExerciseActivity?
Then when I do decide to start exercising more intensely again, I should just tack on 100 calories a day until I reach the level I need to sustain that level of activity? And do the same in reverse if I decide to decrease my activity again?
Been a lot of info in these posts, might want to reread as mixing some stuff up.
Basically for the rest weeks coming up.
Walk 30 min only.
Eat at sedentary level minus correct deficit.
If that goal is more than 300 away from current eating level - add 100 per day for 1 week, then another 100 for next week, ect. So you get this clearly, if eating 1200 now, Mon 1300, Tue 1300, Wed 1300 .....
When exercise starts, you recalc TDEE for what that means TOTAL DAILY - so with exercise included, and take your deficit.
I was just a little bit confused with how you worded some things so I wanted to make sure I was understanding you correctly before I took off.
I'm pretty sure I understand everything now, bar one last thing (hopefully! hah). You say I need to eat at sedentary level minus correct deficit during these rest weeks. So using that spreadsheet you made I should still calculate a deficit and eat at that even though I'm in the rest week? The only reason I'm asking this is because I gathered based on your very first response that I needed to eat lightly active TDEE during the rest.
Thanks again for explaining all of this for me. It's been a real eye opener and I'm really hoping that with this new found wisdom I can get myself back on track as of Monday. I will return and report my progress.0 -
I was just a little bit confused with how you worded some things so I wanted to make sure I was understanding you correctly before I took off.
I'm pretty sure I understand everything now, bar one last thing (hopefully! hah). You say I need to eat at sedentary level minus correct deficit during these rest weeks. So using that spreadsheet you made I should still calculate a deficit and eat at that even though I'm in the rest week? The only reason I'm asking this is because I gathered based on your very first response that I needed to eat lightly active TDEE during the rest.
Thanks again for explaining all of this for me. It's been a real eye opener and I'm really hoping that with this new found wisdom I can get myself back on track as of Monday. I will return and report my progress.
From everyone that wears a FitBit on sedentary job, they actually do discover that on non-exercise days, they are still at Lightly Active level.
So actually, first suggestion is best, Light Active. That 30 min of walking will make sure that at least matches.0 -
I just wanted to give you all a little update, because I think it helps newbies to see situations evolve!
I have not worked out seriously since making this post in October. I needed to seriously reevaluate why I was working out and what I was expecting to get out of it. It wasn't until TODAY that I finally felt that urge again to get up and commit myself to a serious session of activity. Even then, it wasn't as vigorous as my previous workouts, but it was still more than I've been doing since before the holidays.
Shortly after I took my exercise break, I went on a vacation and didn't care at. all. for the first time in nine months about what I ate. I ended up gaining four more pounds and clocked in at 127. I lost about one and a half pounds in the aftermath, but a month later I was still stuck at 125. I started to panic even more. I then went back to heybales spreadsheet and did some serious calculations. I took my Katch results and compared them to my Harris results. The difference was over 110 calories.
I immediately decided I was going to ratchet back my caloric intake based on the Katch formula. Over the next month and a half (over the holidays!!), I lost three pounds and am now down to 122 - the first time I have lost weight since last March. What's more, I looked even closer at my spreadsheet the other day and realized I had made a HUGE error. Where it says "thigh measurement" I had put the measurement of both my thighs when together rather than one thigh on its own. This took my body fat to an average of 22.5%, which made 10x more sense than the 29% number I came up with originally, and that resulted in a difference of 35 calories. When you are only at a 10% cut and NOT exercising regularly, this is a monumental number.
I am currently eating 1535 calories a day and set to lose about .33 pounds a week. I'm hoping to get down to 118, which is still on the high end for my frame size, and then reevaluate if I'd like to go further. I am also going to incorporate more moderate exercise back into my routine again, mainly for HEALTH and not for weight loss. When I do that, I will up my calories accordingly.
My explanation for what happened? When I first started exercising, I didn't bother looking at my calories at all and was severely undereating. When I finally realized I was undereating, I upped the calories, but by too much for the type of exercising I was doing. Then I started doing Insanity, which was more appropriate for my caloric intake, but this time it was again (!!) too little and I ended up undereating for the second time. Moral of the story? Seriously take some time to think about your activity level and whether or not you are really eating enough or too much. Also, don't put all your faith in electronics... they can only do so much.
Anyway, I hope my story helps somebody and I want to give a shout out to heybales for all his advice and his wonderful spreadsheet that made this all possible!0 -
My explanation for what happened? When I first started exercising, I didn't bother looking at my calories at all and was severely undereating. When I finally realized I was undereating, I upped the calories, but by too much for the type of exercising I was doing. Then I started doing Insanity, which was more appropriate for my caloric intake, but this time it was again (!!) too little and I ended up undereating for the second time. Moral of the story? Seriously take some time to think about your activity level and whether or not you are really eating enough or too much. Also, don't put all your faith in electronics... they can only do so much.
Anyway, I hope my story helps somebody and I want to give a shout out to heybales for all his advice and his wonderful spreadsheet that made this all possible!
Thank you, and great job with a back ground understanding to know what was going on, and fortitude to change what needed to be changed.0 -
My explanation for what happened? When I first started exercising, I didn't bother looking at my calories at all and was severely undereating. When I finally realized I was undereating, I upped the calories, but by too much for the type of exercising I was doing. Then I started doing Insanity, which was more appropriate for my caloric intake, but this time it was again (!!) too little and I ended up undereating for the second time. Moral of the story? Seriously take some time to think about your activity level and whether or not you are really eating enough or too much. Also, don't put all your faith in electronics... they can only do so much.
Anyway, I hope my story helps somebody and I want to give a shout out to heybales for all his advice and his wonderful spreadsheet that made this all possible!
Thank you, and great job with a back ground understanding to know what was going on, and fortitude to change what needed to be changed.
i just want to see if i am understanding this correctly: OP is saying she gained weight by undereating, is that correct? if so, it couldn't be all water weight...i mean she put on approximately 10 pounds. i am still having a hard time wrapping my head around gaining while undereating.0 -
My explanation for what happened? When I first started exercising, I didn't bother looking at my calories at all and was severely undereating. When I finally realized I was undereating, I upped the calories, but by too much for the type of exercising I was doing. Then I started doing Insanity, which was more appropriate for my caloric intake, but this time it was again (!!) too little and I ended up undereating for the second time. Moral of the story? Seriously take some time to think about your activity level and whether or not you are really eating enough or too much. Also, don't put all your faith in electronics... they can only do so much.
Anyway, I hope my story helps somebody and I want to give a shout out to heybales for all his advice and his wonderful spreadsheet that made this all possible!
Thank you, and great job with a back ground understanding to know what was going on, and fortitude to change what needed to be changed.
i just want to see if i am understanding this correctly: OP is saying she gained weight by undereating, is that correct? if so, it couldn't be all water weight...i mean she put on approximately 10 pounds. i am still having a hard time wrapping my head around gaining while undereating.
So imagine the days where the activity wasn't really that great, but you ate at the same level as the harder days. The metabolism is suppressed such that on avg, you are eating at TDEE, evidenced by no weight or measurement changes.
Some days though you actually have excess, but it's just one day, maybe just one meal. Metabolism isn't increasing over just one meal. Shoot, as many here have experienced, it takes weeks for it to move on up eating in basically surplus.
So anyway, some days and meals you have excess, stored as fat. That sticks around.
Some days you burn a tad more, carbs though since it was exercise. So carbs get replenished and no excess for that day from the meals. Next day, same thing. Or worse, discouragement and 1 big meal. Carb stores are helped out, but so is fat.
There can be real fat build up eating at a deficit.
It's the same effect but opposite body part when LeanGains promotes and when follows works for gaining muscle by eating more after the lifting, but then slightly less when not so as to not increase the fat.
Slow gain, but just muscle. Eating at maintenance, because no fat is gained.
Same effect here, slow gain, but fat. While on a deficit. It's just an overall deficit, and too severe for metabolism to be running fully.
But you are correct too, water weight is easily some of it.0 -
So imagine the days where the activity wasn't really that great, but you ate at the same level as the harder days. The metabolism is suppressed such that on avg, you are eating at TDEE, evidenced by no weight or measurement changes.
Some days though you actually have excess, but it's just one day, maybe just one meal. Metabolism isn't increasing over just one meal. Shoot, as many here have experienced, it takes weeks for it to move on up eating in basically surplus.
So anyway, some days and meals you have excess, stored as fat. That sticks around.
Some days you burn a tad more, carbs though since it was exercise. So carbs get replenished and no excess for that day from the meals. Next day, same thing. Or worse, discouragement and 1 big meal. Carb stores are helped out, but so is fat.
There can be real fat build up eating at a deficit.
It's the same effect but opposite body part when LeanGains promotes and when follows works for gaining muscle by eating more after the lifting, but then slightly less when not so as to not increase the fat.
Slow gain, but just muscle. Eating at maintenance, because no fat is gained.
Same effect here, slow gain, but fat. While on a deficit. It's just an overall deficit, and too severe for metabolism to be running fully.
But you are correct too, water weight is easily some of it.
I really believe this is what happened to me, because most of my gains occurred after I had one day or one weekend where I let myself go just a little bit (I'm talking like 2300 instead of 1700 calories one day, hardly a binge). I would say at least four of the roughly ten pounds were the result of this. I don't think the ten pounds was all fat, it couldn't have been. I'm sure some of it was a little bit of muscle, plus LBM (water, blood, whatever).
So when I say I was gaining while undereating, I'm not saying I was eating 1500 calories a day every day and putting on tons of weight. I'm saying I was eating 1500 a day while running daily when I should have been eating more like 1675. Then you have to couple that with the fact that every once and a while or so I would go over 1500 by a sizable amount (500-600) for a day or two, and then within a few days after that a pound would appear that wouldn't go away. The same thing happened later when I upped my calories and then started doing Insanity. 1700 calories a day, a 2200-2300 calorie day every month or so... weight gain shortly after.0 -
So imagine the days where the activity wasn't really that great, but you ate at the same level as the harder days. The metabolism is suppressed such that on avg, you are eating at TDEE, evidenced by no weight or measurement changes.
Some days though you actually have excess, but it's just one day, maybe just one meal. Metabolism isn't increasing over just one meal. Shoot, as many here have experienced, it takes weeks for it to move on up eating in basically surplus.
So anyway, some days and meals you have excess, stored as fat. That sticks around.
Some days you burn a tad more, carbs though since it was exercise. So carbs get replenished and no excess for that day from the meals. Next day, same thing. Or worse, discouragement and 1 big meal. Carb stores are helped out, but so is fat.
There can be real fat build up eating at a deficit.
It's the same effect but opposite body part when LeanGains promotes and when follows works for gaining muscle by eating more after the lifting, but then slightly less when not so as to not increase the fat.
Slow gain, but just muscle. Eating at maintenance, because no fat is gained.
Same effect here, slow gain, but fat. While on a deficit. It's just an overall deficit, and too severe for metabolism to be running fully.
But you are correct too, water weight is easily some of it.
I really believe this is what happened to me, because most of my gains occurred after I had one day or one weekend where I let myself go just a little bit (I'm talking like 2300 instead of 1700 calories one day, hardly a binge). I would say at least four of the roughly ten pounds were the result of this. I don't think the ten pounds was all fat, it couldn't have been. I'm sure some of it was a little bit of muscle, plus LBM (water, blood, whatever).
So when I say I was gaining while undereating, I'm not saying I was eating 1500 calories a day every day and putting on tons of weight. I'm saying I was eating 1500 a day while running daily when I should have been eating more like 1675. Then you have to couple that with the fact that every once and a while or so I would go over 1500 by a sizable amount (500-600) for a day or two, and then within a few days after that a pound would appear that wouldn't go away. The same thing happened later when I upped my calories and then started doing Insanity. 1700 calories a day, a 2200-2300 calorie day every month or so... weight gain shortly after.
got it. thanks both of you for explaining this. i will process it for a while... meanwhile congrats on your loss thus far!0
