Eat More 2 Weigh Less

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Pleateaus, exercise habit changes, and calorie intake

knitbytes
knitbytes Posts: 114
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So, for the last 15 months or so I've been steadily going to the gym 3x/week for 15-20 min heavy lifting and 20-30 min interval cardio, with an occasional yoga class thrown in for variety. I've been using Scooby's Accurate Calorie Calculator, set at "1-3 hours light exercise per week". I was losing steadily up until about November, when I had some personal life issues that meant I lost some momentum and by mid-January had gained back about 5lb. Starting then, I got back on track, eating about 1850cal/day and going to the gym 3x/week, same story. In the following months I've lost that 5 lb again, but no more than that-- it's been VERY slow going. I have, however, noticed a correlation-- if I eat MORE than usual, the mornings after those days I notice significant loss on the scale. On the one hand, this seems to tell me I should be eating more. On the other hand, I really don't think three 40-60 minute gym sessions per week warrants the next activity level up on the calculator.

At the end of April, my spouse and I are moving to an area where I can walk to work (1.2 miles each way) and to most places we'd go for errands. I'm setting a rule that if the place we want to go is less than 1.5 miles away, we have to walk there (both to get us more active and to stop us from going out quite as much as we'd otherwise be tempted to do!). Also, the gym we go to will no longer be convenient, so I'm probably going to quit the gym and do at-home bodyweight lifting and yoga classes at a local studio. At that point I'm thinking it WOULD be wise to bump my activity level up on the calculator, correct? Even though the majority of my activity will be moderate-pace walking? It's light exercise, but it's likely to be a minimum of 3 miles per day, likely closer to 4-5 miles per day on average.

Should I already be eating more than I have been? Should I bump my activity level up twice after moving? How do I break this pseudo-plateau and get back to my regular weight loss, or am I stuck losing a paltry 1.5lb/month forever? (I know that's not actually that bad but I had been very reliably losing 1 lb/week before Thanksgiving)

if it helps, I'm 28, 199 pounds, 5'7". SW 270. Hoping to hit 155-160 with 20-25ish% BF.

Replies

  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    If you are curious about TDEE based on better activity calc actually looking at your type of exercise and time, use the spreadsheet on my profile page. Stay on Simple Setup and Progress tabs only.

    The problem will be with that extra walking. I'd really treat that as too iffy to plan on, when you do it, log it minus the same deficit amount.
    And once you have the distance down using a mapping program, and your normal time and pace, you can get very accurate calorie burn on it.

    Use this, use the NET option, and then take the same % off for eatback.

    http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/WalkRunMETs.html

    Because true while not as intense as something else, it does count. And some weeks it may be little, some weeks could be often.
  • knitbytes
    knitbytes Posts: 114
    Interesting. Haybales, I used your spreadsheet and it says I should be eating LESS than I currently am, not more. I'll try that amount for the remaining month until we move and then update it with the new amounts. The walking to and from work will be reliable-- I've already timed it out, 1.2 miles in 24 min, twice a day every weekday-- it's just the errands, walking for pleasure, to/from restaurants, etc. that I'll have to average out or just add in MFP.

    Thanks.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    That's where the fact 1 hr of walking is not the same as 1 hr running as 1 hr lifting.

    At least the TDEE tables that use hours is better than days (is 3 days of walking 45 min equal to 3 days of biking for 2 hrs?), but even by hrs has its limitations.

    That activity calc is based on weight moving at that average pace too, whereas TDEE tables hours of exercise is based on BMR.
    And the hope is to keep BMR up by retaining LBM, even as weight drops. But as weight drops, calories burned in exercise does drop too.

    Since it appears you have been eating at maintenance, your workouts should have had a good effect, as in inches dropped.
    That did happen?
  • knitbytes
    knitbytes Posts: 114
    No. I haven't lost any inches at all. That's the whole reason I'm concerned.

    I have trouble believing that ~1860 is maintenance for someone who has been reliably lifting (stronglifts and various resistance machines) and doing HIIT cardio (elliptical and bike, alternating) three times a week for two months.

    I've definitely gained muscle, so that could explain my weight number not decreasing, but it doesn't explain the lack of inches lost.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    No. I haven't lost any inches at all. That's the whole reason I'm concerned.

    I have trouble believing that ~1860 is maintenance for someone who has been reliably lifting (stronglifts and various resistance machines) and doing HIIT cardio (elliptical and bike, alternating) three times a week for two months.

    I've definitely gained muscle, so that could explain my weight number not decreasing, but it doesn't explain the lack of inches lost.

    Sadly you likely have not gained muscle, not in a diet as a woman, not enough to mask fat loss.

    You can gain strength and current muscles can look better, especially if fat is dropping off there - but gaining muscle specifically - no.
    Most use that as a lose term to muscle looking bigger with more stored glycogen with attached water.

    Did you read the TDEE line or the TDEG line - just want to confirm.

    Curious how you space out your workout routine for max benefit?

    Since true HIIT is like a lifting workout for muscles used, and you should never lift with the same muscles day after day because it allows no recovery, how do you have it spaced out with those?

    Or is it more just intervals after you do the weight lifting?
    Because if the lifting was good, you shouldn't have the muscle strength to push the HR high enough to accomplish HIIT. Intervals sure, HIIT no.

    Was the BF% calc higher than your 20-25% mentioned originally? And what did you use in the BF% cell?
  • BluthLover
    BluthLover Posts: 301 Member
    My input... Did anything else change? To increase activity ? Work? Like starting when you tried to start losing again in Jan?
  • knitbytes
    knitbytes Posts: 114

    Did you read the TDEE line or the TDEG line - just want to confirm.

    TDEE line. According to the spreadsheet, my TDEE is 2293 and with my previous workout levels (gym 3x/week, lifting & cardio in same session) my calorie intake should apparently be 1751. For the last two months I had my calories set to about 1860 and ate very close to that amount daily.
    Curious how you space out your workout routine for max benefit?

    I don't. I space my workout routine for maximum fitting-into-my-life, and expected SOME benefit, since it's essentially the same workout routine I've been doing-- and having regular loss from-- for over a year. I'm not really interested in min-maxing my benefit, because I want exercise to be my lifestyle, not a means to an end. I want to lose SOME weight, regularly. I don't want to get fit as fast as possible and make myself miserable in the process. Obviously this worked fine until last November when I lost momentum and didn't really work out for a few months, and for some reason it's still not helping now that I am back to it.

    HIIT is probably the wrong term. It's interval cardio. My gym schedule was Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, lift (Stronglifts 5x5 and a couple of machines like dip machine & ab machine) for about 20 minutes, then interval cardio on bike or elliptical for 20-25min, then 10 min planks and yoga stretches.

    Obviously all that has changed now that I quit the gym, and my workout schedule is much more variable now. I still do strength training 3x/week, but now it's bodyweight exercise, and I do a LOT more daily walking (brisk walking, but still just walking). I try to do higher-intensity cardio a few times a week but it's variable as to what I do and when I do it, since I'm still in a transition period.
    Was the BF% calc higher than your 20-25% mentioned originally? And what did you use in the BF% cell?

    I haven't had my BF% checked by a professional since last May, when it was 47%, but the spreadsheet calculates it at an average of 33% and my friend's scale said it was 30%, so somewhere in the low 30s.
  • knitbytes
    knitbytes Posts: 114
    My input... Did anything else change? To increase activity ? Work? Like starting when you tried to start losing again in Jan?

    not to my knowledge, but I'll admit I wasn't paying VERY careful attention. I was not in a great place mentally until about mid-March. I've had a lot of stressors, which I imagine hasn't been helping my loss.

    The only major change since I was having regular consistent loss of 1lb/week is that I stopped doing yoga classes because I couldn't afford them AND the gym. Now that I've quit the gym, I'm going to go back to doing yoga classes, so maybe that will help!
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Ok, so when you said hard time believing 1860 was maintenance, actually the TDEE is 2293 estimated. Hopefully that sounds better as maintenance.

    And yes, the TDEG given is max to prevent muscle mass loss and maximize reasonable fat loss, not to increase performance.

    And that was a good program then, get whatever you can from intervals after the lifting. Many do it the day after while muscles would like to be trying to heal, and tiring out the muscles for lifting the next day.
    Terrible combo, tired muscles not lifting as hard as they can, and what repair they do need is getting ruined the next day.
    That eventually leads to no progress overall and just one big stress on the body.

    Just wanted to confirm the BF% cell had your calc result in it. Some have left it there at sample 44%, and for many that causes a much lower BMR and TDEE calc than using their own figure.

    So your new bodyweight resistance training is not likely the weight lifting line anymore, but either high cardio if you do lots of reps and 60 sec or less rests between movements, or even medium cardio if you think it feels as intense as walking those speeds.
    Sounds like you had a diet break period lately, but may be time for another since stress level had changed.
    Take a TDEE eating weeks and really unstress. Then back at it.
  • knitbytes
    knitbytes Posts: 114

    Just wanted to confirm the BF% cell had your calc result in it. Some have left it there at sample 44%, and for many that causes a much lower BMR and TDEE calc than using their own figure.

    Yeah, I made sure to enter 33% in the spot provided. It looks pretty good right now, I was just surprised that it estimates my TDEE about 150 lower than other calculators, but it seems likely to be quite accurate.
    So your new bodyweight resistance training is not likely the weight lifting line anymore, but either high cardio if you do lots of reps and 60 sec or less rests between movements, or even medium cardio if you think it feels as intense as walking those speeds.

    I had no idea, that's great to know. Thanks for the info! I'll mark it as heavy cardio. I've been doing 5 circuits of 20 push ups (counter), 10 squats, 10 lunges, 10 sit-ups, and I'll be adding chin-ups once I get a bar-- very little time between movements.
    Sounds like you had a diet break period lately, but may be time for another since stress level had changed.
    Take a TDEE eating weeks and really unstress. Then back at it.

    Also good to know. I might have to wait until after we move to take the TDEE eating week, but I'll definitely do that as soon as I have an opportunity to really de-stress. Thanks for all your help.

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