Losing vs. gaining muscle - when?
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VicPuff
Posts: 18 Member
Hello,
I have another question for you guys.
At what point does it make sense to stop trying to lose weight?
I'm 5'6(ish, a little shy of 6 inches) and 122 lbs. I started about a five weeks ago around 125 or so. I've noticed my weight loss has seemed to have slowed down in the last couple of weeks (I know this isn't much time to really assess). During the week I eat pretty strictly, around 1200-1300 calories a day. I lift 3 days a week (pretty heavy for me, I'm almost always significantly sore somewhere on a given day! :-)) and do some cardio 3 days a week. I am more relaxed on the weekends with my eating, but I don't go crazy either.
I just wonder if I should stop trying to lose weight (and not restrict calories so much) at this point or if I should continue doing what I've been doing. My goal is sort of random - I want to see my abs! :-)
I'm getting a Dexa scan tomorrow but I estimate my bodyfat to be around 22-23%. I'd like it to be 17 or so. What is the best course of action? Keep on doing what I'm doing?
To be honest, with as much as I've changed in my lifestyle over the past 5-6 weeks I'm surprised I'm not seeing bigger results (not that I expected to be a bikini model) but to go from just randomly exercising with weights and eating whatever, to logging everything and following an actual lifting plan, I'm surprised. Seems like so much effort/work for not much gain! Or maybe I'm just feeling a bit negative today.
Edited to add: As far as the time frame goes, I know it takes a long time etc, but my husband did body for life a few years ago when it was all the rage (and before I met him). To see his changes in 12 weeks (he has pictures) is AMAZING. He wasn't overweight to start with but to see how lean he got and the muscles he gained, impressive! So I guess I feel like 6 weeks in, I should see more results? I don't know, I'm probably being too impatient?
I have another question for you guys.
At what point does it make sense to stop trying to lose weight?
I'm 5'6(ish, a little shy of 6 inches) and 122 lbs. I started about a five weeks ago around 125 or so. I've noticed my weight loss has seemed to have slowed down in the last couple of weeks (I know this isn't much time to really assess). During the week I eat pretty strictly, around 1200-1300 calories a day. I lift 3 days a week (pretty heavy for me, I'm almost always significantly sore somewhere on a given day! :-)) and do some cardio 3 days a week. I am more relaxed on the weekends with my eating, but I don't go crazy either.
I just wonder if I should stop trying to lose weight (and not restrict calories so much) at this point or if I should continue doing what I've been doing. My goal is sort of random - I want to see my abs! :-)
I'm getting a Dexa scan tomorrow but I estimate my bodyfat to be around 22-23%. I'd like it to be 17 or so. What is the best course of action? Keep on doing what I'm doing?
To be honest, with as much as I've changed in my lifestyle over the past 5-6 weeks I'm surprised I'm not seeing bigger results (not that I expected to be a bikini model) but to go from just randomly exercising with weights and eating whatever, to logging everything and following an actual lifting plan, I'm surprised. Seems like so much effort/work for not much gain! Or maybe I'm just feeling a bit negative today.
Edited to add: As far as the time frame goes, I know it takes a long time etc, but my husband did body for life a few years ago when it was all the rage (and before I met him). To see his changes in 12 weeks (he has pictures) is AMAZING. He wasn't overweight to start with but to see how lean he got and the muscles he gained, impressive! So I guess I feel like 6 weeks in, I should see more results? I don't know, I'm probably being too impatient?
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Replies
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I'll let the folks that know talk about the lifting and muscle building aspect of your question.
But on the weight loss slowdown, it could be climate related. I've personally seen that as soon as I start spending more time outside, my weight loss slows until I become acclimatized. At that point I'll drop all the weight from the previous couple of weeks, over a short period of time.
It's happened to me twice this season already, once when we had a early false start to summer, and then again when summer began in earnest.
So before making any decisions based on a perceived slow down, I'd wait until you've had at least a month where you are regularly spending the same amount of time indoors/outdoors, with relatively consistent weather conditions.0 -
I'm certainly not one of the ETP gurus and will leave it to them to officially answer but since our stats are similar I wanted to comment. I think while you don't necessarily need to lose weight, you might find that you naturally will if you keep lifting and (and here's is what I wanted to say) eat more. That calorie range is pretty low for all the work you're doing. You need the food to fuel the workouts. I started at 122 pounds and have gotten down to 111 all while eating more than 1600 calories on most days*. Currently I'm set to 2100 calories and certainly average about that, if not more, over the course of the week and am not gaining. I know the whole eat more thing can be hard to swallow sometimes but from my experience, eating more is a good thing.
* Went lower for a bit while I was on the DL due to an injury but wasn't "fueling" any workouts at the time0 -
Tagging to respond to shortly0
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I'm certainly not one of the ETP gurus and will leave it to them to officially answer but since our stats are similar I wanted to comment. I think while you don't necessarily need to lose weight, you might find that you naturally will if you keep lifting and (and here's is what I wanted to say) eat more. That calorie range is pretty low for all the work you're doing. You need the food to fuel the workouts. I started at 122 pounds and have gotten down to 111 all while eating more than 1600 calories on most days*. Currently I'm set to 2100 calories and certainly average about that, if not more, over the course of the week and am not gaining. I know the whole eat more thing can be hard to swallow sometimes but from my experience, eating more is a good thing.
* Went lower for a bit while I was on the DL due to an injury but wasn't "fueling" any workouts at the time
Thanks for this! You look great!! Maybe I should try upping my calories. To be honest, I do have a hard time hitting my macros at this level. But with that said, I do relax it on the weekends (nothing like I used to do) but I typically go out to eat at least once and will have wine. I don't usually log my restaurant meals as I have a really hard time estimating. If I do log, I just do a best guess type of thing, so I do wonder if my calories on a weekly basis (rather than daily) are a large enough deficit. I will say I do weigh everything I eat during the week though, so I feel my cals are correct there.
Thanks for sharing your experience! Your results are exactly what I'm after.
Edited to add one more thought: I have a desk job and I'm not very active during the day (I've been making more of a point to walk around but in general, I'm sitting). I usually sit around in the evenings too. (I work out first think in the morning). So I don't think I burn a whole heck of a lot.0 -
Edited to add one more thought: I have a desk job and I'm not very active during the day (I've been making more of a point to walk around but in general, I'm sitting). I usually sit around in the evenings too. (I work out first think in the morning). So I don't think I burn a whole heck of a lot.
Pretty much the same here too! Workout at 5am and desk job all day. I try and remind myself to get up and move more during the day though. Nights & weekends tend to be more active though between the kids and their sports, new puppy and general house/errand type stuff.0 -
To be honest, with as much as I've changed in my lifestyle over the past 5-6 weeks I'm surprised I'm not seeing bigger results (not that I expected to be a bikini model) but to go from just randomly exercising with weights and eating whatever, to logging everything and following an actual lifting plan, I'm surprised. Seems like so much effort/work for not much gain! Or maybe I'm just feeling a bit negative today
This is key to why you haven't seen the results you "expect" to see. You have taken on probably a much heightened exercise regimen, in addition to ensuring you are in a significant calorie deficit at the same time. It is a pretty big shock to the body to make large changes. The body will adjust, my guess is your body is past its "learning" curve now, and you should start to see significant changes over the next few months. The good news is everything you've done is creating the pavement for your body to travel down the road to your desired body. I wish you great success in your efforts.0 -
I'm certainly not one of the ETP gurus and will leave it to them to officially answer but since our stats are similar I wanted to comment. I think while you don't necessarily need to lose weight, you might find that you naturally will if you keep lifting and (and here's is what I wanted to say) eat more. That calorie range is pretty low for all the work you're doing. You need the food to fuel the workouts. I started at 122 pounds and have gotten down to 111 all while eating more than 1600 calories on most days*. Currently I'm set to 2100 calories and certainly average about that, if not more, over the course of the week and am not gaining. I know the whole eat more thing can be hard to swallow sometimes but from my experience, eating more is a good thing.
* Went lower for a bit while I was on the DL due to an injury but wasn't "fueling" any workouts at the time
Not to be intrusive, but isn't 111Ibs at 5'6 rather underweight ?0 -
Not to be intrusive, but isn't 111Ibs at 5'6 rather underweight ?
Not intrusive at all! I'm 5'5" so an inch shorter but still I get your point. I honestly did not try to get to this weight. I changed my diet and started lifting more. While I did likely not eat enough for a brief period while I was figuring it all out, I have never done the 1200 calorie thing. I've upped my calories along the way but I still maintain at this level. In fact, I've seen lower on the scale but increased my calories because I didn't want to be lower. I'm set to 2100/day and when I average over the week it's usually even higher than that. I think it's just where I naturally sit when I am aware of eating a healthy diet and maintaining a level of lifting/fitness.0 -
Not to be intrusive, but isn't 111Ibs at 5'6 rather underweight ?
Not intrusive at all! I'm 5'5" so an inch shorter but still I get your point. I honestly did not try to get to this weight. I changed my diet and started lifting more. While I did likely not eat enough for a brief period while I was figuring it all out, I have never done the 1200 calorie thing. I've upped my calories along the way but I still maintain at this level. In fact, I've seen lower on the scale but increased my calories because I didn't want to be lower. I'm set to 2100/day and when I average over the week it's usually even higher than that. I think it's just where I naturally sit when I am aware of eating a healthy diet and maintaining a level of lifting/fitness.
So how long did it take you make your transformation from "before" to "after"?0 -
So how long did it take you make your transformation from "before" to "after"?
It's been about 10 months since I changed my eating and drinking ways and got my *kitten* back to the gym and about 8 months since I ventured over to the "other side" of the gym and started lifting.0 -
Not to be intrusive, but isn't 111Ibs at 5'6 rather underweight ?
Not intrusive at all! I'm 5'5" so an inch shorter but still I get your point. I honestly did not try to get to this weight. I changed my diet and started lifting more. While I did likely not eat enough for a brief period while I was figuring it all out, I have never done the 1200 calorie thing. I've upped my calories along the way but I still maintain at this level. In fact, I've seen lower on the scale but increased my calories because I didn't want to be lower. I'm set to 2100/day and when I average over the week it's usually even higher than that. I think it's just where I naturally sit when I am aware of eating a healthy diet and maintaining a level of lifting/fitness.
Ah right, well you seem to have some nice muscles there.
May I ask what sort of diet you keep now? Did you switch to clean eating or ... ?0 -
HI!
There are a couple of points here that I will try to cover in a non rambling way (and probably fail).
To me, it makes sense to stop losing weight in a number of circumstances. 1) assuming that you do not have BDD, it is when you are at a weight that you are happy with in the mirror 2) if you are getting too thin and are not happy with your body comp, at which stage you should bulk or look to recomp 3) you are at a healthy weight and it is just not worth the effort of getting rid of those last 'vanity pounds'. Only you can answer when is the right time for you to stop trying to lose.
Weight loss tends to slow down the nearer you get to goal. You also want it to slow down as the leaner you are, the more risk of muscle loss you have with larger deficits. A three pound loss over 5 weeks at your weight is very respectable and may well be masked by water weight. Did you started exercise, and specifically lifting during that time? You cannot compare yourself to others as the bigger someone is, the quicker the weight loss usually. Have you taken measurements? To be honest, I think you are being too impatient.
Is the 1,200 - 1,300 gross calories? This is pretty low for someone of your size and activity levels. Do you weigh your food on a digital scale? I only ask to determine whether you are eating more than that. If you do not and are still seeing losses, it Is not a big deal.
At your current weight, to get to 17%, and assuming you are about 22 - 23%, you will actually end up slightly underweight per the BMI. I am not a huge believer of hanging your hat on the BMI as there are exceptions to whether you are healthy or unhealthy at weights that say you are either over or underweight as your frame and muscle mass is not taken into account (it has me at overweight). However, it is usually a good indicator for people with average frames and average muscle mass. A 17% bf% is an arbitrary goal that does not really mean anything in and of itself - it's just one tool among many to track progress. The mirror and how your clothes fit means far more.0 -
May I ask what sort of diet you keep now? Did you switch to clean eating or ... ?,
I don't want to take away from VicPuff's thread so I'll answer in a PM.0 -
HI!
There are a couple of points here that I will try to cover in a non rambling way (and probably fail).
To me, it makes sense to stop losing weight in a number of circumstances. 1) assuming that you do not have BDD, it is when you are at a weight that you are happy with in the mirror 2) if you are getting too thin and are not happy with your body comp, at which stage you should bulk or look to recomp 3) you are at a healthy weight and it is just not worth the effort of getting rid of those last 'vanity pounds'. Only you can answer when is the right time for you to stop trying to lose.
Weight loss tends to slow down the nearer you get to goal. You also want it to slow down as the leaner you are, the more risk of muscle loss you have with larger deficits. A three pound loss over 5 weeks at your weight is very respectable and may well be masked by water weight. Did you started exercise, and specifically lifting during that time? You cannot compare yourself to others as the bigger someone is, the quicker the weight loss usually. Have you taken measurements? To be honest, I think you are being too impatient.
Is the 1,200 - 1,300 gross calories? This is pretty low for someone of your size and activity levels. Do you weigh your food on a digital scale? I only ask to determine whether you are eating more than that. If you do not and are still seeing losses, it Is not a big deal.
At your current weight, to get to 17%, and assuming you are about 22 - 23%, you will actually end up slightly underweight per the BMI. I am not a huge believer of hanging your hat on the BMI as there are exceptions to whether you are healthy or unhealthy at weights that say you are either over or underweight as your frame and muscle mass is not taken into account (it has me at overweight). However, it is usually a good indicator for people with average frames and average muscle mass. A 17% bf% is an arbitrary goal that does not really mean anything in and of itself - it's just one tool among many to track progress. The mirror and how your clothes fit means far more.
Thanks Sara! Really appreciate your thoughts.
Oh my! Just got back from Dexa body scan. I was (in my mind) pretty far off! I'm at 26%!! Crazy, who would have thought?!?! I weigh in on Friday mornings and was down a lb this morning. I have been lifting the last five weeks. I didn't/haven't taken measurements.
So I think I'm going to up my calories a bit to 1400. (I definitely find it challenging to eat at 1200 a day. I have been eating 1200-1300 gross calories) and I'm going to reset my macros to get 1 gram per per lb of lean body mass. I pretty much eat a vegan diet, so this will take some effort!
Agree with you about 17% being arbitrary, now I'm thinking I would be happy with 20-21%! Knowledge is power, eh? :laugh:
Thanks to all of you, that replied to my thread. I appreciate hearing your thoughts. I probably am being too impatient and I thought that was an interesting comment about the weather! It is HOT in Houston these days!0 -
Starting lifting can increase your weight by an average of about 4lb due to your muscles retaining glycogen and water as they 'heal'. So, you have probably lost quite a bit more than it appears on the scale.
I would highly recommend upping your calories, especially if you are getting really hungry. I would actually look to get 1,500 - 1,600 (which is probably actually a little higher due to estimation errors) as 1,400 is still a little low for the amount of weight you have to lose. Try to eat to that level - your weight may pop up a little - do not panic, it is just higher food + water weight. Eating at too low a level runs the risk of LBM loss. You seem to be wanting to lose BF and a slightly slower approach when you do not have too much weight to lose is the best way to go.
If you can do that and get back to us with how your weight is doing in 2 weeks we can give you further recommendations once the water weight has settled down.0 -
Locking so we can keep track of active threads. If you wish for the thread to be unlocked so you can update us or have further questions, please feel free to PM either myself or SideSteel, including a link to this thread and we will unlock it so you can.0
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