Entering my 6th week...when does it start to come off?
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FireTigerSoul
Posts: 274 Member
6 weeks ago I increased my calories from 1200 to 1600. I read IPOARM and calculated my calories to be around 1580, so I bumped it up to 1600.
I'm 4'11, (WAS) 143, now 147. I gained 4 lbs after increasing my calories and the scale has stayed at 147 for 6 weeks. No inch loss. I feel like I can actually FEEL more muscle in my legs than was there before, but pics look the same, so I'm thinking maybe they're just retaining water?
I work out about 5-6 times a week, and alternate between: pilates, ballet conditioning, dance, and one day a week where I'll hop on an exercise bike or treadmill. I work out for at least 40 minutes every work out.
I don't understand why this is taking so long to work. Maybe eating more just won't work for me? I really wish it would, because I love having 1600 calories to play with. If I just had some MEASURABLE way of knowing for sure that something's happening, I wouldn't be asking for opinions, but...sadly, I don't.
I had a lot of success at 1200, and I'm wondering if I should drop down for a week or two to try and jump start something?
Any ideas? Suggestions? I'm honestly sick and tired of this weight loss thing and all its frustrations and guessing games. It's been a year and a few months since I started, and I can't tell you how unbelievably frustrated I am to not be anywhere near my goal by now. I only had 50 lbs to lose!
Help?
I'm 4'11, (WAS) 143, now 147. I gained 4 lbs after increasing my calories and the scale has stayed at 147 for 6 weeks. No inch loss. I feel like I can actually FEEL more muscle in my legs than was there before, but pics look the same, so I'm thinking maybe they're just retaining water?
I work out about 5-6 times a week, and alternate between: pilates, ballet conditioning, dance, and one day a week where I'll hop on an exercise bike or treadmill. I work out for at least 40 minutes every work out.
I don't understand why this is taking so long to work. Maybe eating more just won't work for me? I really wish it would, because I love having 1600 calories to play with. If I just had some MEASURABLE way of knowing for sure that something's happening, I wouldn't be asking for opinions, but...sadly, I don't.
I had a lot of success at 1200, and I'm wondering if I should drop down for a week or two to try and jump start something?
Any ideas? Suggestions? I'm honestly sick and tired of this weight loss thing and all its frustrations and guessing games. It's been a year and a few months since I started, and I can't tell you how unbelievably frustrated I am to not be anywhere near my goal by now. I only had 50 lbs to lose!
Help? 0
Replies
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Hi there!
Have you considered weight lifting? If you begin lifting weights you will build lean muscle mass and your metabolism will increase. I have heard of a good book that gets you started if you are new to weight lifting called "New Rules of Lifting for Women".
Just a thought!
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I have thought about it, but I don't have access to a gym. I also have M.E., which means I need to stick to low-impact exercises if I don't want to suffer for it the next day.
I'm also currently doing weight-bearing exercises, which are also supposed to build lean muscle, yes?0 -
I came up with a BMR of 1426 and TDEE of 2211 (using 3-5 hours a week of moderate exercise). A 15% cut would put you at 1879.
What is your diet history - have you been restricting calories for a long time? You probably need to eat full TDEE for 8-12 weeks to reset your metabolism, then try a 15% - 20% cut. You increased your calories, gained, but have maintained since then, so I think you need a full reset. Hopefully someone wiser in the process will come along.0 -
I am no fitness expert... but from any research I have done, the exercises you are doing are going to be more muscular "endurance" type exercises. As far as I know... and like I said I'm no expert...these types of exercises don't really build muscle. However, I'm not familiar with M.E. or what types of physical activity you could do. Would you be able to do basic weight lifting movements like bench press, rows or even things like push ups and pull ups?0
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I know that feeling too well! I've been at the gym since dec and on here for over a month and only 2lb weight loss!!! Talk about disheartened, it gets me so down!
I've tried doing various things food wise but nothing!
Try not to give up Hun ... I've decided to just keep going, I upped my cals from 1200 to 1300 so will c where it takes me.
Good luck xxxx
Donna xx0 -
I came up with a BMR of 1426 and TDEE of 2211 (using 3-5 hours a week of moderate exercise). A 15% cut would put you at 1879.
What is your diet history - have you been restricting calories for a long time? You probably need to eat full TDEE for 8-12 weeks to reset your metabolism, then try a 15% - 20% cut. You increased your calories, gained, but have maintained since then, so I think you need a full reset. Hopefully someone wiser in the process will come along.
I fluctuated between 1200 - 1400 + exercise calories all last year.0 -
Bump. Anybody?0
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The longer you do low cal the longer it takes to recover. What I had to do was a full reset after I crashed and burned on 1,200. I went to around 2,000 calories with only light exercise. Then the first of February I dropped to 1,500 and bumped up the exercising and dropped 6 pounds in four weeks. Then I was able to calculated my ACTUAL TDEE which is lower than the charts and am now at 1,650 and still losing. So if I was you try going higher before you go lower. Good luck. You can add me if you want daily assistance with this craziness.:flowerforyou:0
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The longer you do low cal the longer it takes to recover. What I had to do was a full reset after I crashed and burned on 1,200. I went to around 2,000 calories with only light exercise. Then the first of February I dropped to 1,500 and bumped up the exercising and dropped 6 pounds in four weeks. Then I was able to calculated my ACTUAL TDEE which is lower than the charts and am now at 1,650 and still losing. So if I was you try going higher before you go lower. Good luck. You can add me if you want daily assistance with this craziness.:flowerforyou:
Is a reset really required when I've been eating 1600 for 6 weeks? Wouldn't eating that much (400 more than usual) reset my metabolism?0 -
The way I've found it to be is this:
For example, lets say you were eating 1200. And you plateaued. Great. So the obvious answer is to increase your calories - which you've done. From what I've gathered in my experience is if you increase, your body will treat that as a "reset". So for more success you SHOULD do a full reset, and then take your cut after. In order to lose some pounds you have to increase, THEN decrease.
Does that make sense?0 -
Is a reset really required when I've been eating 1600 for 6 weeks? Wouldn't eating that much (400 more than usual) reset my metabolism?
Yes, I feel a reset would be required in your case. No, eating 400 more than 1200 will not reset your metabolism.
Nikkit wrote: "I came up with a BMR of 1426 and TDEE of 2211 (using 3-5 hours a week of moderate exercise). A 15% cut would put you at 1879. "
You're eating 1600 calories, which is approximately 200 calories more than what sustains you. This means you only have 200 calories to spend on your work outs. Unless you are eating back your exercise calories, you're eating too little. If you are eating back your exercise calories, you need to make sure you're netting 1426 at bare minimum.0 -
Is a reset really required when I've been eating 1600 for 6 weeks? Wouldn't eating that much (400 more than usual) reset my metabolism?
Yes, I feel a reset would be required in your case. No, eating 400 more than 1200 will not reset your metabolism.
Nikkit wrote: "I came up with a BMR of 1426 and TDEE of 2211 (using 3-5 hours a week of moderate exercise). A 15% cut would put you at 1879. "
You're eating 1600 calories, which is approximately 200 calories more than what sustains you. This means you only have 200 calories to spend on your work outs. Unless you are eating back your exercise calories, you're eating too little. If you are eating back your exercise calories, you need to make sure you're netting 1426 at bare minimum.
So a full reset would be 2200 calories? That sounds really scary...but I'm trying to keep an open mind. How long would I have to do this? Would a week or so be okay?
Actually, when I used IPOARM, I came up with 30.7% fat, which gave me 2023 TDEE? That's how I came up with 1600 (-20%). Does that sound about right?
So should I eat 2000 for the reset?
Also, I don't eat back exercise calories. I thought I read that those numbers included exercise calories (at moderately active).0 -
Hi there,
Here's my experience, maybe it will help?
I too was netting below my BMR (1430) for a year because I wasn't eating back my exercise calories from my 4-5X/week workouts.
As a result, I was hungry all the time, my weight plateaued, and I felt a sense of desperation that I was going to have to starve myself EVEN MORE to lose the 15 pounds I would like to lose.
I started my reset a little over 4 weeks ago at 158 pounds. I weighed in yesterday at 160.2. Yes, I "gained" 2 pounds but this could be anything - more muscle (I lift heavy), water retention, etc. Here's the thing - I have been eating between 2100 and 2400 calories a day and that's ALL I have "gained" on the scale. But more importantly, I've gained the peace of mind that comes from being able to enjoy dinners out with my husband, the comfort of actually being FULL, and the flexibility to add some nutritious and tasty foods back into my diet that I previously avoided because they were "too many calories". Nuts, coconut, full fat yogurt when I can get it - all back on the table and I'm a happy happy lady!
So ... my weight has remained basically the same for the past three weeks and though I might be okay to cut, I'm going to hold off a little bit longer. I'm still not convinced I have found "true maintenance" but it's looking like it.
I have to tell myself every day to be patient and let the process work, so I know how hard it can be!0 -
It's good that you are keeping an open mind. My first thought is: You are still eating too little...you seem very active. I would strongly consider weight lifting --- it has made a huge difference in my body shape. I also gained a few pounds when I first bumped up calories, but have now gone back down and am just a few pounds from GW. More importantly, my clothes fit better and I have muscle for once in my life! I am on stage 6 of NROL and I would never go back to just doing cardio!0
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It's good that you are keeping an open mind. My first thought is: You are still eating too little...you seem very active. I would strongly consider weight lifting --- it has made a huge difference in my body shape. I also gained a few pounds when I first bumped up calories, but have now gone back down and am just a few pounds from GW. More importantly, my clothes fit better and I have muscle for once in my life! I am on stage 6 of NROL and I would never go back to just doing cardio!
I wish I could lift, but my ME/CFS prevents me from doing more intense exercises. I do have a set of 4 lb hand weights that I use, and I also use a resistance band when doing pilates. I have noticed a lot of difference in my thighs lately. I can actually feel more muscle (or so I think...maybe they're just retaining water, and so they're sticking out a bit more).
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Your BMR is the beginning of the math.
If you used IPOARM, you probably used fat2fit.
While it has calcs to estimate your bodyfat %, and asks for it in the BMR calc, and shows the resulting Katch BMR, it uses the least accurate Harris BMR in the eating goal table.
There are many I've run numbers for that used an inflated BMR, and even with 25% deficit from the inflated TDEE, were actually still above or at the best estimated TDEE using the Katch BMR.
So they were eating at maintenance.
Now, it allowed for great improvement to their lifting and exercise, but of course no weight loss. And usually that effect happens to those that really need to get the extra weight off their joints before they worry about body recomp. Which actually, with that much to lose, was going to happen at the same time anyway.
So you might get best estimates here. Plus perhaps more measurements. Track progress. And better TDEE calc. Plus it will give deficit appropriate for your type of workout, and give macro recommendations based on LBM.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/813720-spreadsheet-bmr-tdee-deficit-macro-calcs-hrm-zones0 -
Thanks for your help. I used the spreadsheet, but it came out to 1520 calories. I had been doing 1600, which is very close.
I took a look at my reports, and I haven't been eating 1600 for six weeks...I have been eating between 1400-1600 for TEN weeks, since the beginning of January.
That's even longer than I originally thought!
So, if there haven't been any changes in 10 weeks (no pounds, no inches, and now my jeans feel tighter)...is it possible that eating more won't work for me? 0 -
Bump0
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Thanks for your help. I used the spreadsheet, but it came out to 1520 calories. I had been doing 1600, which is very close.
I took a look at my reports, and I haven't been eating 1600 for six weeks...I have been eating between 1400-1600 for TEN weeks, since the beginning of January.
That's even longer than I originally thought!
So, if there haven't been any changes in 10 weeks (no pounds, no inches, and now my jeans feel tighter)...is it possible that eating more won't work for me?
Eating more than a very restrictive calorie level will work for everyone.
All you must eat is less than your real maintenance level, and you will lose. Too much, and body may find that stressful with all the other stresses you pile on it, and it may fight that fat/weight loss. Too little, and may take a while to notice, or there can be a trade between exercise body improvements that add weight and fat loss.
So have you eaten more to confirm you got the TDEE right, did you do a reset to test your metabolism running at full steam.
You've eaten at 1400-1600 with no weight gain or loss.
So are you really eating at maintenance then, and must reduce more?
Are you under 5 ft and no exercise to have such a small goal?
Or are you actually not high enough and body is stressed out enough it's not going to allow a deficit, because it is just running suppressed?
Eat 250 more daily for 2 weeks. If you have a big initial gain, then that is water weight, and that means you were not eating enough.
If you truly were eating at TDEE, then 250 more daily over 2 wks with no change to exercise should mean 1 lb gain. That's all.
If you end up not gaining except initial water weight, your TDEE is higher.0 -
I'm sorry, there were a lot of questions in that reply, and I'm not sure if they were real or rhetorical. I am under 5 foot (I'm 4'11) but I do exercise. I have a HRM and burn about 250-300 per day, 5-6x a week.
According to the spreadsheet, my TDEE is 1986, and suggests I eat 1518. Are you saying I should add 250 for 2 weeks and eat 1768?0
