Is my inch loss rate too low?

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minus15pounds
minus15pounds Posts: 23
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm 30 years old, weigh 138.8 pounds and am 5'6" in height. My goal weight is 130lbs but I've barely lost any weight in over three months.

But I've lost around an inch and a half off my butt since May. I'm getting very frustrated given how slow the process has been for me. What should I be doing? I've consistently increased my cardio intensity and am currently walking at 3.6 miles per hour at a 7.5 incline for 40-60 minutes and burn close to 350-400 calories per session as per my heart rate monitor (I have weak knees so running is still a challenge.) I'm trying to slowly transition to HIIT 3 days a week and cardio the other 3 but I am taking it gradually as I don't want to push my knees too hard.
I've also been trying to stick to the MFP 1200 calories/day goal but I do tend to go over the prescribed limit on weekends (max to 1500-1600)

So is my inch loss rate too slow? What should I change about my workout/diet routine to get better results? Do I even need to change anything at all? I don't have a deadline per say. Just wanted to get lean and fit and make some healthy dietary changes for life.

Replies

  • abnerner
    abnerner Posts: 452 Member
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    Everybody's body is completely different so it's hard to say if someone's rate of loss is slower than someone elses.

    In my personal opinion, you should probably be eating more than 1200 calories a day for sure, considering how much you are working out. And maybe add some weight lifting in instead of all cardio.
  • beezales
    beezales Posts: 7
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    I've spent the last six months lifting and seeing really slow results fat-loss wise (but wow am I stronger/buffer!). But recently, I bumped my calorie intake up 200 calories and that really helped. 1200 is really too low: I'm only 107 pounds, almost no cardio, and I eat 1500. Try a few weeks at 1500 calories and see if that helps.

    Also, do you do any weight training? I was a serious runner for years and I've never had smaller measurements than I do now, and all the fat loss has come from regular strength training and keeping my eating in check. If you check out the forums you'll see over and over that you need to lift (heavy, like 5-8 reps per set) to really get lean.

    Good luck!
  • ChrisLindsay9
    ChrisLindsay9 Posts: 837 Member
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    Congrats on the progress you've made thus far.
    In my personal opinion, you should probably be eating more than 1200 calories a day for sure, considering how much you are working out. And maybe add some weight lifting in instead of all cardio.
    This is my opinion too. If you've not done weight lifting prior, then I'm certain it'll be just the jump start you need to get you to your goal weight. If you can find two days to do some full body strength training, and either do cardio afterwards (or replace the cardio days entirely), I think this will be of some benefit. The positive is that weigh weight lifting, you can eat a little bit more because your body will utilize some of those calories to build lean muscle, strengthen bones and tendons, etc. instead of wanting to be stored as bodyfat.
  • minus15pounds
    minus15pounds Posts: 23
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    Ok, so lifting weights seems to be the consensus. Can anyone point me to how I should get started? And will it be ok on the knees considering I avoid deep squats and lunges?
  • tracieangeletti
    tracieangeletti Posts: 432 Member
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    Ok, so lifting weights seems to be the consensus. Can anyone point me to how I should get started? And will it be ok on the knees considering I avoid deep squats and lunges?

    Check out Starting Strength, Stronglifts 5x5, or Thinner Leaner Stronger. These are all beginner programs and many people on here recommend them. I am doing the Thinner Leaner Stronger program now. I have an awful right knee that limits a lot of what I can do, but I have to tell you that the barbell squats have seemed to improve it some. You will really need to pay attention to your form and remind yourself to keep your knees pointed out out and make sure they don't go over your toes. If you take your time and work on form I think you might see some improvement with your knees as well. Good luck!!
  • ChrisLindsay9
    ChrisLindsay9 Posts: 837 Member
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    If you focus on the technique and are able to squat so that your hips are parallel to the ground, then that actually will take stress off the knees. So work on hitting parallel with light weight first.

    Here's a video of a dumbbell squat: http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/dumbbell-squat
    Here's a video of a barbell back squat: http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/barbell-squat
  • dieselbyte
    dieselbyte Posts: 733 Member
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    Ok, so lifting weights seems to be the consensus. Can anyone point me to how I should get started? And will it be ok on the knees considering I avoid deep squats and lunges?

    Looking at your diary and reading the description of your activities, over the past couple of months you either (a) haven't logged everything and are eating more than your required deficit calories or (b) are consuming less than 1200 calories on a weekly basis - even with the occasional days of eating 1500 calories. I'm leaning more towards (b). That, coupled with hours of steady state, low intensity cardio, can cause something called metabolic adaptation (sometimes refered to as slowdown or damage as well). It's a debated topic, but most likely you cut your calories too low, too fast. Yes, you lost weight in the beginning, but now you find over the last couple of months you haven't lost anything - and its not healthy to cut any lower than 1200 at this point, although it seems you have. Basically, you aren't taking in enough calories now, and over time your body has adapted to this reduced caloric intake. Introducing weight training at this point can cause further damage. Your body wants to survive, and doesn't care as much as you do about losing another 8lbs... in fact, it's fighting to keep every lb on.

    My suggestion is to actually eat 1200/day, then increase your daily intake by 100 calories each week from there. If you increase too fast, you may actually increase fat stores. You may see weight gain, but it should be followed by increased weight loss.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
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    Ok, so lifting weights seems to be the consensus. Can anyone point me to how I should get started? And will it be ok on the knees considering I avoid deep squats and lunges?

    Looking at your diary and reading the description of your activities, over the past couple of months you either (a) haven't logged everything and are eating more than your required deficit calories or (b) are consuming less than 1200 calories on a weekly basis - even with the occasional days of eating 1500 calories. I'm leaning more towards (b). That, coupled with hours of steady state, low intensity cardio, can cause something called metabolic adaptation (sometimes refered to as slowdown or damage as well). It's a debated topic, but most likely you cut your calories too low, too fast. Yes, you lost weight in the beginning, but now you find over the last couple of months you haven't lost anything - and its not healthy to cut any lower than 1200 at this point, although it seems you have. Basically, you aren't taking in enough calories now, and over time your body has adapted to this reduced caloric intake. Introducing weight training at this point can cause further damage. Your body wants to survive, and doesn't care as much as you do about losing another 8lbs... in fact, it's fighting to keep every lb on.

    My suggestion is to actually eat 1200/day, then increase your daily intake by 100 calories each week from there. If you increase too fast, you may actually increase fat stores. You may see weight gain, but it should be followed by increased weight loss.

    Also OP, you only have 8 Lbs to lose...that's going to be and should be very slow. You don't have the requisite fat stores to lose weight quickly...it doesn't work that way.
  • cingle87
    cingle87 Posts: 717 Member
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    If you have only 8lbs to lose you should not be looking for lose 2lb per week which you have set it to. When your body gets close to its ideal weight, it will fight you every step of the way to keep that last bit of body fat. Set it to lose 0.5lbs a week this will give you a lower net deficit per week, but ask you have only 8lbs to lose is fine. The higher calories goals will persuade your body to give up that last bit of body fat because you are showing it your are going to to eating enough calories to sustain itself. Thats what our bodies are good at keeping us alive. If you are low on bf% and not eating enough to sustain it without the fat then its not going to move!
  • minus15pounds
    minus15pounds Posts: 23
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    Thanks for all the info guys. Appreciate it!

    I have acquired Thinner Leaner Stronger which is going to be my weekend reading. Couple of points-

    1. I am not starving myself. Its just that when I get hungry, I opt for either fruits or vegetable juice. But now that some of you mention it, I was losing more weight last year when I was eating food higher in calories (think steak!) I was focusing on my carb intake rather than my calorie intake. I switched my diet because I knew it would be a challenge to stick a carb-free diet in the long run. I'm still controlling my carbs but don't mind eating a little rice here and there. I want this to be for life, not just for the next 8 weeks.

    2. I've changed my profile settings from 1 lb per week weight loss to 0.5lb weight loss per week. I'll be increasing my weekly calorie intake by 100 per day, like @cwolfman13 suggested, and see how that goes.

    3. Frankly, I'm in no rush to get to my "goal weight" as long as I make progress at a healthy rate. And am able to keep those inches off! Just that, there are days when I feel discouraged and wonder if it's worth it at all given how slow it is.

    Anyway, so moving forward, the plan of action is to work on my knees and gradually incorporate weights, focus on form, move away from a cardio heavy routine, eat more, and have patience. A LOT of patience! :)

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