Eating well and exercising but very slow fat loss
Trytotryharder
Posts: 41
Hello,
I feel like I’m not losing fat fast enough for the amount of effort I’m putting in to working out. Over the past 1.5 months it has been very unnoticeable. I go to the gym for a minimum of 5 days a week but I always aim for 6. I do 3 cardio days, which consists of 20min rowing, 10min fast running and 20min elliptical machine. In total the machines say iv’e burnt about 600 calories but I know they’re not 100% accurate so I say about 550 calories burnt. On the other 3 days I do about 35/40min cardio (less intense) and still burn about 450 calories but I also do strength training for 30mins on these days. This is my new routine that I have changed because I read that if you keep doing the same workouts they become less effective so I stopped doing as much time on the running machine and started with the elliptical machine.
I’m 22 years old, weigh about 182 pounds and my BMR is calculated to be 1,950
I eat well, I don’t eat any foods high in carbs or saturated fats and try to eat a lot of protein. I do however eat carbs before my work out for energy. Here’s an example of my calorie intake from my diary:
Monday -
Goal – 1,300
Food intake – 1,250
Exercise – 450
Tuesday –
Goal – 1,300
Food intake – 1,541
Exercise – 580
My weekly calorie breakdown is 46% Carbs, 29% fat and 25% protein. It did say I was 4,571 net calories under my weekly goal.
You can see Monday is my day with weights and Tuesday is my cardio day. This is pretty much the same outcome I get on a weekly basis. I don’t understand how I can be putting in this much work and burning so many calories. I have read that eating too little can slow down the process but I am still consuming 1,550 calories on my cardio days, surely this is enough? Will eating more actually make me lose fat faster? Some how it just doesn’t seem to me that eating more is going to help me here.
any input would be greatly appreciated!
I feel like I’m not losing fat fast enough for the amount of effort I’m putting in to working out. Over the past 1.5 months it has been very unnoticeable. I go to the gym for a minimum of 5 days a week but I always aim for 6. I do 3 cardio days, which consists of 20min rowing, 10min fast running and 20min elliptical machine. In total the machines say iv’e burnt about 600 calories but I know they’re not 100% accurate so I say about 550 calories burnt. On the other 3 days I do about 35/40min cardio (less intense) and still burn about 450 calories but I also do strength training for 30mins on these days. This is my new routine that I have changed because I read that if you keep doing the same workouts they become less effective so I stopped doing as much time on the running machine and started with the elliptical machine.
I’m 22 years old, weigh about 182 pounds and my BMR is calculated to be 1,950
I eat well, I don’t eat any foods high in carbs or saturated fats and try to eat a lot of protein. I do however eat carbs before my work out for energy. Here’s an example of my calorie intake from my diary:
Monday -
Goal – 1,300
Food intake – 1,250
Exercise – 450
Tuesday –
Goal – 1,300
Food intake – 1,541
Exercise – 580
My weekly calorie breakdown is 46% Carbs, 29% fat and 25% protein. It did say I was 4,571 net calories under my weekly goal.
You can see Monday is my day with weights and Tuesday is my cardio day. This is pretty much the same outcome I get on a weekly basis. I don’t understand how I can be putting in this much work and burning so many calories. I have read that eating too little can slow down the process but I am still consuming 1,550 calories on my cardio days, surely this is enough? Will eating more actually make me lose fat faster? Some how it just doesn’t seem to me that eating more is going to help me here.
any input would be greatly appreciated!
0
Replies
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What do you mean by slow loss? How much have you actually lost?0
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Are you consuming 1.550 calories or 1,550 net calories? If you eat 1500, burn 500 and don't eat them back, you're only netting 1000 calories which will be too low.0
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you dont need the cardio on strength days, and look into HIIT for your cardio.
you are eating way under your BMR, which isnt neccessary to lose weight and is bad for you if you do it long term.0 -
You say you have had slow fat loss - but hey! You've had fat loss! Do you realise how much 1lb actually weighs?! Go grab a bag of sugar and check it out - it's a lot heavier than you realise so congratulations!!0
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What do you mean by slow loss? How much have you actually lost?
A year ago I lost a lot of fat within the space of 3 months, I'm comparing my weight loss to then. I have hardly lost any weight at all on the scales but I Can tell I've lost fat but the lack of weight loss I am assuming is from gaining a bit of weight with strength training0 -
Are you consuming 1.550 calories or 1,550 net calories? If you eat 1500, burn 500 and don't eat them back, you're only netting 1000 calories which will be too low.
So how many calories do you think I should be eating in total if I'm burning up 500 at the gym?0 -
you dont need the cardio on strength days, and look into HIIT for your cardio.
you are eating way under your BMR, which isnt neccessary to lose weight and is bad for you if you do it long term.
Are you sure about no cardio? Surely it's better than not?
I have actually just started looking into HIIT but I don't want to start doing it and then it slow down my progress even more. Is HIIT best achieved on something like rowing/elliptical machine?0 -
You say you have had slow fat loss - but hey! You've had fat loss! Do you realise how much 1lb actually weighs?! Go grab a bag of sugar and check it out - it's a lot heavier than you realise so congratulations!!
Yeah I'm happy I've lost some but I've lost weight quicker in the past and I feel like I've done so much but can hardly see any difference in the past month0 -
What do you mean by slow loss? How much have you actually lost?
A year ago I lost a lot of fat within the space of 3 months, I'm comparing my weight loss to then. I have hardly lost any weight at all on the scales but I Can tell I've lost fat but the lack of weight loss I am assuming is from gaining a bit of weight with strength training
Most people drop a lot of weight when they started and it tapers off over time. How much have you lost in the past 1.5 months? Unless you are overweight by 100+ lbs. 1-2 lbs a week is a healthy rate of loss.0 -
Are you consuming 1.550 calories or 1,550 net calories? If you eat 1500, burn 500 and don't eat them back, you're only netting 1000 calories which will be too low.
So how many calories do you think I should be eating in total if I'm burning up 500 at the gym?
I can't tell you how many calories you should be eating each day but you need to eat back your exercise calories. Netting less than 1200 a day is not really a good idea.0 -
you dont need the cardio on strength days, and look into HIIT for your cardio.
you are eating way under your BMR, which isnt neccessary to lose weight and is bad for you if you do it long term.
Are you sure about no cardio? Surely it's better than not?
I have actually just started looking into HIIT but I don't want to start doing it and then it slow down my progress even more. Is HIIT best achieved on something like rowing/elliptical machine?
you dont need to do cardio for fat loss. yes some cardio is good for your overall health, but you dont have to do it.
Why would you think HIIT would slow down your progress? it is more effective for calorie burning than steady state cardio0 -
What do you mean by slow loss? How much have you actually lost?
A year ago I lost a lot of fat within the space of 3 months, I'm comparing my weight loss to then. I have hardly lost any weight at all on the scales but I Can tell I've lost fat but the lack of weight loss I am assuming is from gaining a bit of weight with strength training
Most people drop a lot of weight when they started and it tapers off over time. How much have you lost in the past 1.5 months? Unless you are overweight by 100+ lbs. 1-2 lbs a week is a healthy rate of loss.
Well it was a year ago I lost that weight quickly then I put it on again. Since February I went back to the gym but wasn't getting results with the amount I was doing do may I started going a lot. The last 1.5 months I'm finding it hard to notice any fat loss, looking at all areas on my body. I have now started to take measurements so I can track my progress. My weight has stayed at 13st +/- a couple of pounds for the past 2 months0 -
you dont need the cardio on strength days, and look into HIIT for your cardio.
you are eating way under your BMR, which isnt neccessary to lose weight and is bad for you if you do it long term.
Are you sure about no cardio? Surely it's better than not?
I have actually just started looking into HIIT but I don't want to start doing it and then it slow down my progress even more. Is HIIT best achieved on something like rowing/elliptical machine?
you dont need to do cardio for fat loss. yes some cardio is good for your overall health, but you dont have to do it.
Why would you think HIIT would slow down your progress? it is more effective for calorie burning than steady state cardio
I tried it before and found it didn't have much effect however I was doing it on a running machine, even though I was doing it as fast as I could handle I was told after that its not as effective on a running machine because you can't go at your maximum speed however it still put me off. Do you recommend doing cardio, HIIT & str training?0 -
Hello,
I feel like I’m not losing fat fast enough for the amount of effort I’m putting in to working out. Over the past 1.5 months it has been very unnoticeable. I go to the gym for a minimum of 5 days a week but I always aim for 6. I do 3 cardio days, which consists of 20min rowing, 10min fast running and 20min elliptical machine. In total the machines say iv’e burnt about 600 calories but I know they’re not 100% accurate so I say about 550 calories burnt. On the other 3 days I do about 35/40min cardio (less intense) and still burn about 450 calories but I also do strength training for 30mins on these days. This is my new routine that I have changed because I read that if you keep doing the same workouts they become less effective so I stopped doing as much time on the running machine and started with the elliptical machine.
I’m 22 years old, weigh about 182 pounds and my BMR is calculated to be 1,950
I eat well, I don’t eat any foods high in carbs or saturated fats and try to eat a lot of protein. I do however eat carbs before my work out for energy. Here’s an example of my calorie intake from my diary:
Monday -
Goal – 1,300
Food intake – 1,250
Exercise – 450
Tuesday –
Goal – 1,300
Food intake – 1,541
Exercise – 580
My weekly calorie breakdown is 46% Carbs, 29% fat and 25% protein. It did say I was 4,571 net calories under my weekly goal.
You can see Monday is my day with weights and Tuesday is my cardio day. This is pretty much the same outcome I get on a weekly basis. I don’t understand how I can be putting in this much work and burning so many calories. I have read that eating too little can slow down the process but I am still consuming 1,550 calories on my cardio days, surely this is enough? Will eating more actually make me lose fat faster? Some how it just doesn’t seem to me that eating more is going to help me here.
any input would be greatly appreciated!
If I'm reading this right.....
"4,571 net calories under my weekly goal." That should be as closer to zero... Your NET calories IS your GOAL
On Monday you only have a net of 800 calories. 1250 - 450 = 800 NET. Your GOAL is 1300 NET. SO you need to eat back more of your exercise calories, you are losing lean muscle tissue along with fat. Hence a slower fat loss. Sounds like you are doing a ton of cardio.. I'd suggest you do 3 days weights and 2-3 days cardio. Make sure you have at lest one rest day. Every other month take off 3-5 days.
Read this : http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo0 -
1. 182 lbs. x 13 calories = 2366 calories daily intake P= 45 C= 35 F = 20
try that for 2 vveeks and see if you vvill lose 1-2 lb. ( considering the activity you already mentioned)
2. Progress vvith your cardio by increasing intensity before increasing duration. ( slovv progress is key )
As previously mentioned HIIT vvill yield an optimal fatloss vs. steady state cardio in saying that both vvill vvork but HIIT being more optimal but harder!
3. VVhen you hit a sticking point re-adjust your calorie intake ( ideally 150-200 calories ) and increase intensity of cardio
Summary:
Slovv progress is key.... you should only be losing 1-1.5 lb of vveight every vveek. Revvard yourself vvith a treat meal once a vveek. Goodluck to you!0 -
I tried it before and found it didn't have much effect however I was doing it on a running machine, even though I was doing it as fast as I could handle I was told after that its not as effective on a running machine because you can't go at your maximum speed however it still put me off. Do you recommend doing cardio, HIIT & str training?
i would reccommend strength 2/3x a week, and cardio 2/3x a week. with a moderate deifict. so set MFP to lose 1lb per week and NET that figure (eat back exercise calories).0 -
1. 182 lbs. x 13 calories = 2366 calories daily intake P= 45 C= 35 F = 20
try that for 2 vveeks and see if you vvill lose 1-2 lb. ( considering the activity you already mentioned)
2. Progress vvith your cardio by increasing intensity before increasing duration. ( slovv progress is key )
As previously mentioned HIIT vvill yield an optimal fatloss vs. steady state cardio in saying that both vvill vvork but HIIT being more optimal but harder!
3. VVhen you hit a sticking point re-adjust your calorie intake ( ideally 150-200 calories ) and increase intensity of cardio
Summary:
Slovv progress is key.... you should only be losing 1-1.5 lb of vveight every vveek. Revvard yourself vvith a treat meal once a vveek. Goodluck to you!
Wow! 2,366 is a lot! I just don't know how I can eat that much without eating too much fat and carbs?0 -
Hello,
I feel like I’m not losing fat fast enough for the amount of effort I’m putting in to working out. Over the past 1.5 months it has been very unnoticeable. I go to the gym for a minimum of 5 days a week but I always aim for 6. I do 3 cardio days, which consists of 20min rowing, 10min fast running and 20min elliptical machine. In total the machines say iv’e burnt about 600 calories but I know they’re not 100% accurate so I say about 550 calories burnt. On the other 3 days I do about 35/40min cardio (less intense) and still burn about 450 calories but I also do strength training for 30mins on these days. This is my new routine that I have changed because I read that if you keep doing the same workouts they become less effective so I stopped doing as much time on the running machine and started with the elliptical machine.
I’m 22 years old, weigh about 182 pounds and my BMR is calculated to be 1,950
I eat well, I don’t eat any foods high in carbs or saturated fats and try to eat a lot of protein. I do however eat carbs before my work out for energy. Here’s an example of my calorie intake from my diary:
Monday -
Goal – 1,300
Food intake – 1,250
Exercise – 450
Tuesday –
Goal – 1,300
Food intake – 1,541
Exercise – 580
My weekly calorie breakdown is 46% Carbs, 29% fat and 25% protein. It did say I was 4,571 net calories under my weekly goal.
You can see Monday is my day with weights and Tuesday is my cardio day. This is pretty much the same outcome I get on a weekly basis. I don’t understand how I can be putting in this much work and burning so many calories. I have read that eating too little can slow down the process but I am still consuming 1,550 calories on my cardio days, surely this is enough? Will eating more actually make me lose fat faster? Some how it just doesn’t seem to me that eating more is going to help me here.
any input would be greatly appreciated!
If I'm reading this right.....
"4,571 net calories under my weekly goal." That should be as closer to zero... Your NET calories IS your GOAL
On Monday you only have a net of 800 calories. 1250 - 450 = 800 NET. Your GOAL is 1300 NET. SO you need to eat back more of your exercise calories, you are losing lean muscle tissue along with fat. Hence a slower fat loss. Sounds like you are doing a ton of cardio.. I'd suggest you do 3 days weights and 2-3 days cardio. Make sure you have at lest one rest day. Every other month take off 3-5 days.
Read this : http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo
Very interesting read, thanks a lot0 -
From what I understand if you're netting below 1000 calories your body is going to hold onto your fat rather than burn it. Starvation mode fat retention.0
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I tried it before and found it didn't have much effect however I was doing it on a running machine, even though I was doing it as fast as I could handle I was told after that its not as effective on a running machine because you can't go at your maximum speed however it still put me off. Do you recommend doing cardio, HIIT & str training?
i would reccommend strength 2/3x a week, and cardio 2/3x a week. with a moderate deifict. so set MFP to lose 1lb per week and NET that figure (eat back exercise calories).
Thanks a lot for the input!0 -
From what I understand if you're netting below 1000 calories your body is going to hold onto your fat rather than burn it. Starvation mode fat retention.
When I read about this before I had the impression you'd be able to tell if you we're starving you're body. I've never felt hungry and not ate purposely but I just pick low calorie choices0 -
Just like to say thanks everyone for the replies0
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I've done HIT doing sprint drills. I did this for 3 days and lost 10 pounds the first week (this was on top of my 2 hours of weight lifting 4 days a week). I had to scale it back since it was doing havoc to my body, but does it ever work. I do it once a week now with 1 hour of strength 3 times a week and I'm still losing about 2 pounds a week. I'm a lot heavier than you are so keep that in mind.
PS: I also recommend eating more like the rest of the people recommended. But don't adjust it all at once, instead do 200 more calories every few days until you get to your new caloric intake goal. It's funny since I did something similar, I was eating about 1600 calories, moved up to 1800 calories a week later and then 2000. After a few weeks of 2,000 I was always hungry so had to increase to 2,200 and still losing my average of 2 pounds a week, plus feel a lot stronger on weights and more explosive on the sprints.
As far as your concerns on healthy food choices, eat a lot of chicken, egg whites and turkey for a lot of protein.0 -
just realised you are a man.... there is no way your calorie goal should be 1300 cals....0
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I've done HIT doing sprint drills. I did this for 3 days and lost 10 pounds the first week (this was on top of my 2 hours of weight lifting 4 days a week). I had to scale it back since it was doing havoc to my body, but does it ever work. I do it once a week now with 1 hour of strength 3 times a week and I'm still losing about 2 pounds a week. I'm a lot heavier than you are so keep that in mind.
PS: I also recommend eating more like the rest of the people. But don't adjust it all at once, instead do 200 more calories every few days until you get to your new caloric intake goal. It's funny since I did something similar, I was eating about 1600 calories, move up to 1800 calories a week later and then 2000. After a few weeks of 2,000 I was always hungry so had to increase to 2,200 and still losing my average of 2 pounds a week, plus feel a lot stronger on weights and more explosive on the sprints.
As far as your concerns on healthy food choices, eat a lot of chicken, egg whites and turkey for a lot of protein.
Thanks a lot, definitely going to try out everything you said
0 -
just realised you are a man.... there is no way your calorie goal should be 1300 cals....
Yeah I was basing that on the 'you need to eat over 1,200 so your body doesn't go into starvation mode' I've put it up to 1,600 now and I'll slowly increase to 2,0000 -
A few years ago i was exercising and eating what I now know was a low cal intake. I lost almost 3 stones. As soon as I ate normally again the weight would come back on really fast. I eventually put on half of what I lost. The only reason its not more is due to the fact I was still logging food here and there. In March this year I started going to the gym but never lost anything until April and it was only a few pounds. That's when I saw on mfp about bmr-tdee-body fat% importance rather than scale weight. I think I had really messed up my metabolism and i've gradually been eating up to 1500 which is my tdee-20%. Before I was only eating 1100 cals. I also make sure i'm eating 1g of protein x my body weight so that what I do lose isn't lean muscle. My saving grace the last time was that I was doing resistance training.0
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just realised you are a man.... there is no way your calorie goal should be 1300 cals....
Agreed. Eat more.0 -
just realised you are a man.... there is no way your calorie goal should be 1300 cals....
Yeah I was basing that on the 'you need to eat over 1,200 so your body doesn't go into starvation mode' I've put it up to 1,600 now and I'll slowly increase to 2,000
Just saw this, glad you are eating more.0 -
1. 182 lbs. x 13 calories = 2366 calories daily intake P= 45 C= 35 F = 20
try that for 2 vveeks and see if you vvill lose 1-2 lb. ( considering the activity you already mentioned)
2. Progress vvith your cardio by increasing intensity before increasing duration. ( slovv progress is key )
As previously mentioned HIIT vvill yield an optimal fatloss vs. steady state cardio in saying that both vvill vvork but HIIT being more optimal but harder!
3. VVhen you hit a sticking point re-adjust your calorie intake ( ideally 150-200 calories ) and increase intensity of cardio
Summary:
Slovv progress is key.... you should only be losing 1-1.5 lb of vveight every vveek. Revvard yourself vvith a treat meal once a vveek. Goodluck to you!
Wow! 2,366 is a lot! I just don't know how I can eat that much without eating too much fat and carbs?
VVatch this video to knovv hovv to count macros:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUh3tmfM35w0
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