Feeling discouraged

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tkbuc
tkbuc Posts: 66 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok, I know this might sound ungrateful, but I'm not. I started out at 253lbs and lost 30lbs over the course of 2013. I am assuming that is very slow. I would like to lose another 30 in 2014. For the last few weeks, my weigh tloss has been very sluggish. I have kept to the same type of diet and am wondering now if I need to adjust my macro's. I work out 4 days a week for roughly 1.5 hours/day. I do 30 min of cardio and 45 mins of moderate to heavy weight training. I only lost 1/2lb since last week and before that I was the same weight for a week or two.

Any recommendations? I have been using a real good hrm for when doing cardio and I try to eat back all of the calories I burn doing the cardio. I don't eat back any calories I burn with weight training because I don't know how to gauge how many I burn. On average, I leave about 200 calories or so left at the end of each day (not always, but on average =) )

My macros are currently 40C/30P/30F and I'm wondering if the 40% should be changed to protein. My hesitation to that is that I find it very hard for me to eat a lot of protein over the course of the day.

My log should be unlocked if anyone wants to see my patterns.
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Replies

  • tkbuc
    tkbuc Posts: 66 Member
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    Shameful bump
  • SusanL222
    SusanL222 Posts: 585 Member
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    Hey, just dropping in to say "hi" and let you know someone hears you. :wink: However, I wouldn't presume to try to help you figure out what to change. I could recommend that you check out the open group called "Eat, Train, and Progress". They have some really helpful info pinned on their boards that might help answer your questions. Best of luck! :drinker:
  • juzaam
    juzaam Posts: 17
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    Hey man,
    No discouraging allowed :-)

    I would advise you to revise your calories intake and by doing so, also quit eating back your cardio calories.
    You should try these steps :
    1) Find your maintenance level and eat that for 7 days
    2) Every 7 days reduce 200 calories
    3) When you are eating a nice deficit (let's say 1600-1800) , you can take it slower and keep the same amount for two weeks instead of one
    4) Don't go below unsafe amounts, you can choose 1200 as your safety net.

    Just focus on the calories and the proteins, don't eat back the cardio nor workout calories: those measurements are very inaccurate and your body will adapt to consume less than you think.

    About proteins, if you train properly you would want to keep the same amount In grams throughout the diet, not the same percentage. I am 1,84m 84kg and my amount is around 160-180 grams. I should try to hit that even inside a 1600 calories day. I know it's not easy but it's worth it :)

    When you end up with a week or two at 1200 and you can't take it anymore, calculate your new manteinance level and slowly increase your calories up to that (it will be less than the beginning , because you will have lost weight, be sure about that ;)

    Then you can take a week or two of break on a small caloric deficit and when you are ready you can repeat the steps.

    Please note that this approach does not rely on cardio , hence every time you hit the treadmill will be a nice bonus and a compensation for the underestimations that we all make with myFp.

    Hope this helps !
  • Jkn921
    Jkn921 Posts: 309 Member
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    Ok, I know this might sound ungrateful, but I'm not. I started out at 253lbs and lost 30lbs over the course of 2013. I am assuming that is very slow. I would like to lose another 30 in 2014. For the last few weeks, my weigh tloss has been very sluggish. I have kept to the same type of diet and am wondering now if I need to adjust my macro's. I work out 4 days a week for roughly 1.5 hours/day. I do 30 min of cardio and 45 mins of moderate to heavy weight training. I only lost 1/2lb since last week and before that I was the same weight for a week or two.

    Any recommendations? I have been using a real good hrm for when doing cardio and I try to eat back all of the calories I burn doing the cardio. I don't eat back any calories I burn with weight training because I don't know how to gauge how many I burn. On average, I leave about 200 calories or so left at the end of each day (not always, but on average =) )

    My macros are currently 40C/30P/30F and I'm wondering if the 40% should be changed to protein. My hesitation to that is that I find it very hard for me to eat a lot of protein over the course of the day.

    My log should be unlocked if anyone wants to see my patterns.

    Well done for losing what you have - don't forget it is not a race! The slower you lose it, the more likely you are to keep those pounds off. I would suggest a general comment that you need to change something - your intensity of workout or maybe you can increase your calories to create a smaller deficit? It's a lot harder when you're near your goal.
  • tkbuc
    tkbuc Posts: 66 Member
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    Would my maintenance level be what MFP recommends without any reduction?
  • juzaam
    juzaam Posts: 17
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    Would my maintenance level be what MFP recommends without any reduction?

    That could work, but I feel that sometimes there is some unreliability in that. I prefer Old Scooby's calculator ;)
    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
    This guy spent a lot of time creating a beautiful bull****-free website. You can select the objective "Gain muscle, lose fat" as your starting point.

    However, since you are progressive decreasing your calories by 200 every week, It really won't matter much. In the end you'll get the results, no matter how good your liver gets in fighting back your calorie restriction.

    When you go below 1800 I would recommend integrating with a multivitamin. It's not that they are proved to be essential, but there are some oligoelements that you really want to be sure you are eating. Zync, for example, will keep your sexual life on, whereas every hypocaloric diet will shut it down. (tested on myself..)

    This is my choice, but you can search for your favorite :

    http://www.nowfoods.com/Adam-Mens-Multiple-Vitamin-180-Softgels.htm
  • ekd23
    ekd23 Posts: 89 Member
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    Not very good at all the science of everything, but dropping in to cheer you on! You can do this! :)
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    Can you give us some more stats? Height, current weight, how much you have MFP set to lose per week? Are the 30 lbs you want to lose 30 lbs from your goal weight, or is it a mini goal? How long have you been doing your exercise routine, and what cardio are you doing? Are you accurately weighing and measuring all of your food? Any medical issues or new medications in your life?

    From your diary and what you've said, it seems like you are on the right track, just that some of the data in the calories in/calories out formula may need some tweaking. The good news is that you're still losing weight, not stalled completely.
  • tkbuc
    tkbuc Posts: 66 Member
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    Thank you all so much for taking the time to help me.

    kgeyser - To answer your questions I am 5'9"" and currently 223lbs (Started at 253). I have MFP set to lose one pound/week. I have had this since last February when I started. My goal weight is around 180-185lbs. I have been doing my exercise routine since July 2013. I do the elliptical for 30mins and burn roughly 400 calories as reported by my Polar FT7 hrm. I weigh and measure all of my food.
  • hannibal28
    hannibal28 Posts: 32 Member
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    if you want to track your calories burned by lifting I use my garmin hrm with chest band to track my calories burned. maybe you can use yours as well.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
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    I do the elliptical for 30mins and burn roughly 400 calories as reported by my Polar FT7 hrm.

    That seems high to me for a person at your weight. When I was 210 lb., to burn 800 calories an hour I would have to be working out so hard that sweat was running into my eyes and my legs were saying, "Sweet baby Jesus, let this stop now!" I've used several HRMs, and the ones that I have found to be most accurate are my Garmin units that compare heart rate data with how far and fast I have biked or run, and how hilly the terrain was. They usually read 20-30% less than regular HRMs.

    There have been several studies suggesting that HRMs overestimate calories: One study of the Polar F6 showed that, even calibrated with subjects' actual VO2max and HRmax, it overestimated energy expenditure by 27% (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21178923). An earlier study showed that the Polar S410 overestimated energy expenditure in women by 12% (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15292754). Another study found that the Polar S810i overestimated expenditure when exercising lightly but not moderately (http://www.jssm.org/vol9/n3/21/v9n3-21abst.php).
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
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    Just a couple observations ...

    With your food diary everything is bunched into breakfast. It's hard to tell how you're spreading your calories throughout the day and how you're combining your nutrients. I'd really detail it out more.

    In general, you're consuming a lot of sodium. If you can switch from some of the processed foods to some less processed, that'll help.

    You really do have to be cruising hard on the elliptical for 30 mins to burn 400 calories. What zones is your hr in for the workout? You'd pretty much have to be in zone 4 (no zone) on your watch to pull that off (your watch shows zones 1-3). Maybe check your settings or redo the fitness test. (?)
  • QETAKO
    QETAKO Posts: 2
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    At some point, your body becomes accustomed to your diet and exercise routine. Add a recreational sport, or reduce your red meat intake to once a week.
  • tkbuc
    tkbuc Posts: 66 Member
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    On the eliptical, I set the resistance to 11 and I use the mode where it is up and down hills. With my HRM, my heart rate is between 150 - 160 for the 30mins. And I am sweating insane where I have to change my shirt before I start my weight training...

    Also, the Elpitical will say I burned anywhere from 430-445 calories in that 30 mins where my Polar FT7 states around 400. I was assuming the Polar was more accurate than the machine since the machine doesn't take in height (just age and weight).
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
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    The hrm is always more accurate--usually by more than that. Yesterday, the Precor said I burned 665, while the HRM said 382 for an hour's worth.
  • tkbuc
    tkbuc Posts: 66 Member
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    So should I only eat back half of the hrm calories?
  • WhyLime113
    WhyLime113 Posts: 104 Member
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    First, I would say ignore Juzaam's advice regarding the 1200 calorie thing. 1200 calories is way too low for most people, let alone someone as tall as you! As for eating back calories, that's totally fine if you didn't consider it already in your daily allowance. A good, general rule of thumb is don't eat much lower than what you'd want to eat at your ideal. If your ideal is 180, don't eat lower than what would be maintaining for that weight.

    I would say if you aren't losing any weight at all, or very little, you are likely eating and exercising at maintaining. Reducing your intake by a few calories should be all you need to 'jumpstart' more weight loss. Looking at your diary, it appears you've already recently reduced your daily intake goal by about 400 calories. I personally think that's a bit drastic all at once, but I'm not a cold turkey sort of person. If you think you'll be able to go for 1900 steadily then you should be fine. I also recommend calculating your BMR, which is how much you need to eat minimum, and eat back calories, or your TDEE.

    Best bet though: go see a nutritionist. They're schooled in that stuff and will help you much better than a lot of internet randoms (especially since they can also look into your medical history)
  • tkbuc
    tkbuc Posts: 66 Member
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    First, I would say ignore Juzaam's advice regarding the 1200 calorie thing. 1200 calories is way too low for most people, let alone someone as tall as you! As for eating back calories, that's totally fine if you didn't consider it already in your daily allowance. A good, general rule of thumb is don't eat much lower than what you'd want to eat at your ideal. If your ideal is 180, don't eat lower than what would be maintaining for that weight.

    I would say if you aren't losing any weight at all, or very little, you are likely eating and exercising at maintaining. Reducing your intake by a few calories should be all you need to 'jumpstart' more weight loss. Looking at your diary, it appears you've already recently reduced your daily intake goal by about 400 calories. I personally think that's a bit drastic all at once, but I'm not a cold turkey sort of person. If you think you'll be able to go for 1900 steadily then you should be fine. I also recommend calculating your BMR, which is how much you need to eat minimum, and eat back calories, or your TDEE.

    Best bet though: go see a nutritionist. They're schooled in that stuff and will help you much better than a lot of internet randoms (especially since they can also look into your medical history)

    When you say the reduced intake of 400, are you referring to the 400/500 MFP reduces to hit my 1lb/week?
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,306 Member
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    Hang in there...listen to the good advice. these smart bodies of ours think they're helping us by hanging onto fat. you got to be smarter...and wait it out. You are doing great... shake it up...flex your calories and work outs. Even take some rest days.. i bet that will get things moving. Throw in a cheat day too.

    I had a friend once who ran every day. She got the flu and was in bed for a week and lost more weight then when she was running many miles a day. Her body didn't feel threatened by all the exercise and let go of the weight.
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,306 Member
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    Hang in there...listen to the good advice. these smart bodies of ours think they're helping us by hanging onto fat. you got to be smarter...and wait it out. You are doing great... shake it up...flex your calories and work outs. Even take some rest days.. i bet that will get things moving. Throw in a cheat day too.

    I had a friend once who ran every day. She got the flu and was in bed for a week and lost more weight then when she was running many miles a day. Her body didn't feel threatened by all the exercise and let go of the weight.

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