Gain and lose?

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tmbartle
tmbartle Posts: 6
in Health and Weight Loss
Okay, I just want to start out by saying that I'm a biologist but pretty new to thinking about human nutrition, so bear with me.

I've been exercising (mostly elliptical and lifting) for a few months... I can bench 190, and my core and legs are very strong from carrying my weight, but mostly I am just a fatty. The exercise alone wasn't cutting it, so I started using myfitnesspal to track calories.

I started 11 days ago at 290 lbs (I'm 5'11" and 31 years old). My workout now is fairly rigorous, and I try to net 1600 calories a day. I work out for 1.5 hours three days a week, and try to ride my bike for 20 minutes in the off days. I'm down six pounds in the last 11 days, and my energy level and strength do not seem to be slipping at all.

My explicit goal is to lose 2 lbs a week while maintaining as much lean muscle mass as possible. Heck, what I'd really like to do is to get a little stronger.

So I have two questions for the community.

1) Am I losing to fast by underestimating my exercise? I'm obviously happy with my weight loss, and don't expect it to continue to drop so precipitously. However, I have noticed that when I enter an exercise, the app always thinks I have burned MUCH more than the machine tells me, and I manually correct it to what the machine says I burned. Which should I trust? I've been going with more conservative estimates to be safe, but I don't want to underestimate my workout and accidentally starve myself. Furthermore, how can I measure calories from weight lifting? I sure feel like I spent a lot of energy, and I've heard that weight lifting burns calories during the act, raises your metabolic levels for hours after a session, and develops muscle that raises your basal metabolic rate. The app doesn't take any of this into account, and again, I don't want to starve myself. Alternatively, is it normal to lose extremely quickly in the first week or two? Should I just keep at it?

2) Am I deluding myself into believing it's possible to continue to make strength gains while losing serious weight? I try to eat about 1 protein:1 carbohydrate:1 fat (in terms of calories, not grams), although I routinely come up in the high 20's for protein. I try to eat a healthy, balanced diet, and generally adhere to 1600 calories a day net. I try to eat high protein after a workout. Will this work, or are my twin goals working at cross purposes?

Of course, any other input about how I might reach my goal is welcome. I'm willing to keep working hard, so any reasonable advice is welcome. I will say that, as a scientist, I would especially appreciate advice that is not only sound but scientifically documented where possible... I have a hard time accepting anecdotes!

Replies

  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    For many people, the first week or two of going into a Caloric deficit = a lot of weight lost due to water weight getting flushed out. Chances are, you've lost 5-6 lbs of water weight (a fairly common amount) and lost 2 lbs of fat.

    1) I wouldn't worry too much about it - yet. When in doubt with regards to the Calories burned via exercise, go with the lower amount. Give yourself about a month. After four weeks, take a look at where you are in regards to actual weight loss vs. expected/theoretical weight loss and reassess, if necessary.

    2) Strength gains are not the same as muscle gains. Strength gains are mainly neuro-muscular adaptations. As such, you can still make very good strength gains (as you train your mind-muscle connection) while on a defecit. True, there will come a time when you approach the limits of what you can do - where more muscle will allow you make more strength gains - but it likely won't be necessary for quite some time. So, no - your goals are not at odds with each other, provided you're looking to maintain muscle, but not gain it.

    I'm not sure what program you're doing, but @ 290 lbs, benching 190 lbs (once, I take it?) puts you in a novice/beginner level. If you look into StrongLifts or Starting Strength, those are proven strength training programs that should help you out immensely.
  • tmbartle
    tmbartle Posts: 6
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    Thanks! Yes, I am a novice weightlifter. I only started a few months ago. That being said, I've gone from 135 to 190, which I'm happy with.

    My numbers aren't consistent because I'm still increasing weight almost every time, but I generally do about seven reps at maximum weight. If I can't do it more than five times, I drop back down.

    I'm not doing any particular program. I go to the gym three days a week with a friend who is an experienced weightlifter. I do free weights where convenient, and machines otherwise. I generally do at least three sets of at least five-20 reps (with a goal of 10 reps), starting at a high weight and dropping down (increasing my reps with decreasing weight). I work opposing muscle groups on the same day, and try to target regions of my body (chest/upper back/shoulders on one day, core the next, arms and legs the next, etc.). I usually warm up with 20 minutes of elliptical and intersperse cardio to keep my heart rate high. I am happy with the gains I've made so far, which average about 50% increase in most exercises over the past few months. Some muscles are much stronger then my chest: as you might expect from a big guy, my legs are quite strong, and I once maxed out the abductor (~300 pounds) with three sets of 100 reps.

    Also, I forgot to mention that I take whey protein supplements after workouts and before bed. Will that help my body avoid catabolizing my muscles? Is it possible to prod your body into burning relatively more fat with a high-protein diet?
  • tmbartle
    tmbartle Posts: 6
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    I would also like to share this with you: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC333231/pdf/jcinvest00645-0194.pdf

    It pretty clearly shows that on a mixed diet, which is what I'm pursuing (my carbohydrate levels are certainly not ketogenic), water weight loss is not necessarily that pronounced.

    Water weight loss is definitely a real phenomenon, but seems to be more pronounced in starvation and ketogenic diets than in mixed diets.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,411 MFP Moderator
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    1. I would suggest changing your profile to very active or active at least and not worry about eating exercise calories. This way you don't have to worry about over or under estimations. For example, I am 31 years old, 5'11, desk job and exercise 5-6 hours a week and I eat 2300-2500 calories daily. If you eat the same calories each day, then you will know your TDEE which can become useful over time.

    2. Strength gains at some point will plateau, especially on a large deficit. At some point, you might need and probably would want a smaller deficit to continue your progress.

    3. Realistically, you can aim for 1g of protein per lb of lean body mass and .35g of fat per lb of lean body mass and the rest can be carbs. I generally follow the 40/30/30 (c/p/f) rule as for me, it allows me to hit both the pro and fat goals

    4. If you only go to the gym 3 days a week, I would suggest 3 full body routines. Either find a designed one or make one up with emphasis on compound lifts.

    5. There is no need to take whey before and after. Your overall protein intake seems to be more important than timing of nutrition.
  • tmbartle
    tmbartle Posts: 6
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    Thanks! I don't take whey before and after, I take whey after lifting and before bed each night.

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