Difference of Opinion!!!

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JustJennie13
JustJennie13 Posts: 218
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been seeing a Registered Dietitian for the last 4 weeks. My plan prior to starting with her was a form of TDEE. I went in for help because I had been stuck for 4 months at my current weight. The first change I made after being "stuck" for 2 months was buy to buy a food scale and started weighing all of my food (as recommended in a forum). After an additional 2 months with no change I began her classes and she changed my calorie goals. My calorie intake was around 1850 a day. She changed my calorie goals from 1850 to 1450. I work out with cardio and heavy lifting 5 days a week. It is usually a 30 minute cardio session followed by 45 minutes to 1 hour of lifting. My average calorie burn is around 500 calories each session and the data comes from using a Polar HRM. Before beginning the nutrition classes I did the "Bod Pod". After four weeks on her plan I reported back to the Pod to evaluate the progress. In 4 weeks I lost 6 pounds!!! I was excited! I hopped into the pod expecting awesome results... When I stepped out I was very disappointed. I had a 3% INCREASE in body fat!!! Ok, here is where the differing opinions come in. The Exercise Physiologist feels that with her plan my calorie goals are too low and I am losing lean body mass. She believes that it is my body adjusting to my new eating plan. He thinks I should eat more. She thinks I should follow her plan for 4 more weeks and re-evaluate to make sure that I am actually losing lean body mass. After they both argued their points with each other I just left feeling confused. As a woman I have a preconcieved idea in my head of what I believe in an acceptable weight for my build. I have been trying get away from this idea by measuring my success in inches and body fat %. Just looking for opinions on my issue here... Thanks :indifferent:

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  • ladynocturne
    ladynocturne Posts: 865 Member
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    Are you using your HRM to tell you how many calories you are burning during your lifting? If so, your burn is incorrect. There is no way you are burning 500 calories on 30 mins of cardio, plus some lifting.

    I think the most apparent answer is that you were over estimating your calorie burn and eating at maintenance for 4 months.

    That said... 1450 is probably too low, unless that is net.

    If it were me, I'd split the difference of the advice, do 1600 calories and continue to workout, but stop wearing the HRM during lifting.

    I'm also not entirely familiar with the "bod pod" test, maybe someone else can chime in, but I thought I heard that those things can have a 6% + or - accuracy. How hydrated you are can throw off the test.. So... don't freak out.
  • JustJennie13
    JustJennie13 Posts: 218
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    Yes I am using the HRM for lifting. My cardio is around 300 calories sometimes a little more. I run a 5k in 30 minutes. I wear the HRM during lifting to monitor and keep my heart rate at 135 between sets of lifting. I do this by dancing or jogging in place. The HRM usually gives me anywhere from 147 to 200 calories burned in a 1 hour lifting session. According to the staff at the health and wellness center the Bod Pod is accurate within 2%.
    ***edit to add*** 1450 total. Initially she told me not to eat back my exercise calories. After a week of netting around 900 and feeling like poo we agreed on a 1200 net. My BMR 1562.
  • ladynocturne
    ladynocturne Posts: 865 Member
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    Yes I am using the HRM for lifting. My cardio is around 300 calories sometimes a little more. I run a 5k in 30 minutes. I wear the HRM during lifting to monitor and keep my heart rate at 135 between sets of lifting. I do this by dancing or jogging in place. The HRM usually gives me anywhere from 147 to 200 calories burned in a 1 hour lifting session. According to the staff at the health and wellness center the Bod Pod is accurate within 2%.
    ***edit to add*** 1450 total. Initially she told me not to eat back my exercise calories. After a week of netting around 900 and feeling like poo we agreed on a 1200 net. My BMR 1562.

    Anyone can tell you (and so can the instructions on your HRM) that you are not suppose to wear it during anything except steady state cardio. Like I said, record your cardio with it, but nothing else.

    Any time someone regularly nets below their BMR, they are taking a risk of losing a higher muscle to fat ratio. And since you "look" like you're very close to your goal weight, you should probably be aiming close to .5lbs a week loss. And I feel that if you start to net your BMR, you will achieve this.

    Besides, if you're lifting, due to body recomp, you might not see much change in the scale, so perhaps you should just measure inches.
  • JustJennie13
    JustJennie13 Posts: 218
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    Cool! Thanks for the help :)
  • ladynocturne
    ladynocturne Posts: 865 Member
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    Cool! Thanks for the help :)

    No problem =) Good luck, I'm sure you'll do awesome.
  • BluesGuitar
    BluesGuitar Posts: 34
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    You first do cardio and then you do some "dancing around or jogging in place" between sets as you weight train?

    If you are concerned about your body fat %, then you should be concerned about retaining your lean body mass during your cut, correct? Well, in order to do that you need to make sure you are concentrating on lifting heavy enough weight. Cut out the dancing and focus on your weight training when its time to push weights, as it seems you are getting plenty of cardio at the start.

    If you are doing a full body weight lifting routine and you are either increasing the weights you are doing week after week (or at a minimum staying constant), you are likely not losing lean body mass. Focus on progressive overload during your weightlifting and your bf% will track just fine.

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