Not losing weight - lifts increasing

DirtyTrickster
DirtyTrickster Posts: 202 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So the problem is, I'm not losing any weight. I also realized that all of my lifts are increasing.

Here are the details.

33 year old male
5'11"
Desk job 1/2 and labor 1/2 so I put 1.5 as my activity level in the TDEE formula
Total TDEE 2796.3
TDEE - 20% 2237.04
Grams Calories
Protein .8g per LB bodyweight 190.4 761.6
Fat .45 per LB bodyweight 107.1 963.9
Remaining Calories @ discretion 127.885 511.54
Total Calories 2237.04



Lifting schedule:
Currently I go to the gym over my lunch break. I cram everything for the day into roughly 45 minutes. I'm definitely moving as fast as possible.
Monday: Legs
Tuesday: Chest
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Shoulders/arms
Friday: Back W/ Deadlift
Saturday: Off
Sunday: Off




Bench 1RM cut start: 325
Squat 1RM cut start: 335
Deadlift 1RM cut start: 405
OHP 1RM cut start: 135



Estimated 1rm
Bench 1RM current: 332
Squat 1RM current: 344
Deadlift 1RM current: 417
OHP 1RM cut current: 171

typical days food intake:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/dia...ate=2014-05-15

Cut start date: 3/10/14
Cut Start Weight: 245
Cut Start Calories: 2400

Current date: 3/10/14
Current Weight: 238
Current Calories: 2200

Date Weight Daily Calories
3/10/2014 245.0 2445
3/17/2014 238.0 2445
3/24/2014 240.0 2445 ***Loaded creatine last week***
3/31/2014 240.0 2350
4/7/2014 236.0 2350
4/14/2014 235.0 2200
4/21/2014 240.0 2200
4/28/2014 241.0 2200
5/2/2014 238.0 2200
5/9/2014 236.0 2300
5/16/2014 238.0 2300


Should I cut more? Sub 2000 calories?

Replies

  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    It looks like you lost 7 pounds in 2 months. That's about an average of a little less than a pound a week.

    1. Make sure you are being 100% accurate. Weigh and measure everything.
    2. You are taking in a lot of sodium, make sure you are also drinking lots of water.
    3. It's possible that your TDEE is lower than you think it is.

    Do you take measurements? Sometimes the scale doesn't reflect weight loss. Sometimes our fat cells retain water after the fat is used, which masks fat loss.
  • JossFit
    JossFit Posts: 588 Member
    It looks like you lost 7 pounds in 2 months. That's about an average of a little less than a pound a week.

    1. Make sure you are being 100% accurate. Weigh and measure everything.
    2. You are taking in a lot of sodium, make sure you are also drinking lots of water.
    3. It's possible that your TDEE is lower than you think it is.

    Do you take measurements? Sometimes the scale doesn't reflect weight loss. Sometimes our fat cells retain water after the fat is used, which masks fat loss.

    Agree... you're losing at a respectable pace, and not only maintaining but INCREASING in strength is nothing to shake a stick at.

    If you don't measure already, do so. I would also recommend photos and of course, judging with your EYEBALLS. How do you look? How do your clothes fit? Fu*k the scale... seriously. Its the biggest issue I have with my clients; get off the damn thing. :)
  • DirtyTrickster
    DirtyTrickster Posts: 202 Member
    Yes I lost 7 pounds, but I also lost 7 pounds in the first week which I attribute to water weight.

    I can't really see a difference in the mirror and I haven't had to tighten my belt anymore, so I don't know what is going on.


    I can't wrap my head around a 2300 calorie TDEE when lifting heavy 4 days a week.
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    Looks like you just started creatine. That could be masking weight loss. I'd give it two more weeks then reduce calories if at that point you are still stalled.
  • DirtyTrickster
    DirtyTrickster Posts: 202 Member
    Creatine was loaded 9 weeks ago
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    Creatine was loaded 9 weeks ago
    Oh, then it's not that... How confident are you on your calorie tracking? Are you weighing all your food? Do you have cheat days/meals, are you eating back exercise calories?
  • DirtyTrickster
    DirtyTrickster Posts: 202 Member
    Creatine was loaded 9 weeks ago
    Oh, then it's not that... How confident are you on your calorie tracking? Are you weighing all your food? Do you have cheat days/meals, are you eating back exercise calories?

    I weigh everything on a digital scale. I do have cheat meals once a week, typically on a Saturday evening.

    I don't eat back exercise calories.
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    How bad are the cheat meals? If you are in a 500 calorie deficit for 6 days and have a 3000 calorie over maintenance day you are effectively at maintenance for the week. I know I could easily eat away an entire week's deficit in 1 meal. It just depends how bad your cheats are.
  • lindsey1979
    lindsey1979 Posts: 2,395 Member
    I also thought that the creatine will cause you to retain water like crazy. I may be wrong on that, but that's what I thought I heard.
  • DirtyTrickster
    DirtyTrickster Posts: 202 Member
    How bad are the cheat meals? If you are in a 500 calorie deficit for 6 days and have a 3000 calorie over maintenance day you are effectively at maintenance for the week. I know I could easily eat away an entire week's deficit in 1 meal. It just depends how bad your cheats are.
    They're not that bad. Since I'm on a cut, my cheat meal is just a larger portion of my regular meal. So instead of 1 hamburger, I'll have 2 or 3.

    Throw in a bowl of ice cream and that's about it.
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    I also thought that the creatine will cause you to retain water like crazy. I may be wrong on that, but that's what I thought I heard.
    It's usually only a lb or two worth of water plus it's only when you first start. Since he is 9 weeks in to it, that wouldn't be the cause at this point.
  • DirtyTrickster
    DirtyTrickster Posts: 202 Member
    I also thought that the creatine will cause you to retain water like crazy. I may be wrong on that, but that's what I thought I heard.
    It does, but those water gains should have stopped after a few weeks.
  • Koldnomore
    Koldnomore Posts: 1,613 Member
    I weigh everything on a digital scale. I do have cheat meals once a week, typically on a Saturday evening.

    I don't eat back exercise calories.

    According to your diary, you do not wight everything. You are still using spoons for peanut butter & honey, slices for bread, cups for milk (all those can be weighed) quite frankly looking at your diary over 2 weeks I saw very little that was weighed at all. You eat out..that will automatically introduce error in your counting, especially when you eat out more than once in a while.

    If you aren't losing, you aren't in a deficit. In your case it looks like it's inaccurate logging combined with cheat meals. Your eating more than you think by probably at least 200 calories / day.
  • futurejedi
    futurejedi Posts: 111
    So the problem is, I'm not losing any weight. I also realized that all of my lifts are increasing.

    Here are the details.

    33 year old male
    5'11"
    Desk job 1/2 and labor 1/2 so I put 1.5 as my activity level in the TDEE formula
    Total TDEE 2796.3
    TDEE - 20% 2237.04
    Grams Calories
    Protein .8g per LB bodyweight 190.4 761.6
    Fat .45 per LB bodyweight 107.1 963.9
    Remaining Calories @ discretion 127.885 511.54
    Total Calories 2237.04



    Lifting schedule:
    Currently I go to the gym over my lunch break. I cram everything for the day into roughly 45 minutes. I'm definitely moving as fast as possible.
    Monday: Legs
    Tuesday: Chest
    Wednesday: Off
    Thursday: Shoulders/arms
    Friday: Back W/ Deadlift
    Saturday: Off
    Sunday: Off




    Bench 1RM cut start: 325
    Squat 1RM cut start: 335
    Deadlift 1RM cut start: 405
    OHP 1RM cut start: 135



    Estimated 1rm
    Bench 1RM current: 332
    Squat 1RM current: 344
    Deadlift 1RM current: 417
    OHP 1RM cut current: 171

    typical days food intake:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/dia...ate=2014-05-15

    Cut start date: 3/10/14
    Cut Start Weight: 245
    Cut Start Calories: 2400

    Current date: 3/10/14
    Current Weight: 238
    Current Calories: 2200

    Date Weight Daily Calories
    3/10/2014 245.0 2445
    3/17/2014 238.0 2445
    3/24/2014 240.0 2445 ***Loaded creatine last week***
    3/31/2014 240.0 2350
    4/7/2014 236.0 2350
    4/14/2014 235.0 2200
    4/21/2014 240.0 2200
    4/28/2014 241.0 2200
    5/2/2014 238.0 2200
    5/9/2014 236.0 2300
    5/16/2014 238.0 2300


    Should I cut more? Sub 2000 calories?

    you got badass profile pic
  • lrmall01
    lrmall01 Posts: 377 Member
    It's simple, if you aren't happy with your weight loss, then eat less.

    Try 200 calories less per day and re-evaluate in a few weeks.
  • sheltol
    sheltol Posts: 120 Member
    As mentioned above you are down 7 lbs and your lifts are increasing. What's your body fat %? Who cares about weight. The goal is fat loss not weight loss. Looks to me like you've gained some lean muscle and you are just offsetting some fat loss. #winning.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    I looked through your diary all the way back to April 1st. In general you seem to eat around 2000 calories (sometimes 2300 and sometimes 1700). There are multiple days that are either empty or not filled in completely (unless you stopped at 1200 calories). If you don't log it you/we can't tell if you are blowing a week's deficit in a day. I can easily do that with a homemade or restaurant double cheeseburger and some ice cream.

    Stop with the cheats. Log accurately every day. If you want a snack make it fit (you seem like you already do). If you go over your goal log it. If you stick to your calorie goal for two weeks try a refeed. In a refeed you increase your calories to about your TDEE or a bit higher (TDEE+200 calories). Under 20g fat, 100g protein and the rest is carbs (not from fruit).
  • DirtyTrickster
    DirtyTrickster Posts: 202 Member
    I weigh everything on a digital scale. I do have cheat meals once a week, typically on a Saturday evening.

    I don't eat back exercise calories.

    According to your diary, you do not wight everything. You are still using spoons for peanut butter & honey, slices for bread, cups for milk (all those can be weighed) quite frankly looking at your diary over 2 weeks I saw very little that was weighed at all. You eat out..that will automatically introduce error in your counting, especially when you eat out more than once in a while.

    If you aren't losing, you aren't in a deficit. In your case it looks like it's inaccurate logging combined with cheat meals. Your eating more than you think by probably at least 200 calories / day.
    I weigh my PB by laying the slice of bread on the scale and spreading 32g of PB on it. Then I drizzle 10g of honey ontop of that and spread it with a knife. How is that not measuring>?

    Some of the restaurant logs are because I couldn't find anything else to put in. For example, the KFC was actually a charity grilled chicken fundraiser. It was just a grilled chicken quarter. With this I peeled all of the meat off the bone, put it in a dish and weighed it before eating.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    Are you taking measurements? I'm curious to see how those have gone. I've stayed the same weight and lost inches off of my chest, waist, hips etc before.

    If your measurements and weight have stayed the same the only options are to increase activity or cut calories (or a combination of both). Having said that, you weigh 20lbs more than me and we both lift 4x a week. On my last cut I was barely losing any weight at 2300-2400 a day (2lbs/month usually). So you're in the ballpark. If you want to lose more you're probably going to need to need to be consistently around 2000 a day, every day. To be honest, 45mins of weight lifting doesn't burn a whole lot of calories. It's a bummer but it's true.
  • DirtyTrickster
    DirtyTrickster Posts: 202 Member
    Are you taking measurements? I'm curious to see how those have gone. I've stayed the same weight and lost inches off of my chest, waist, hips etc before.

    If your measurements and weight have stayed the same the only options are to increase activity or cut calories (or a combination of both). Having said that, you weigh 20lbs more than me and we both lift 4x a week. On my last cut I was barely losing any weight at 2300-2400 a day (2lbs/month usually). So you're in the ballpark. If you want to lose more you're probably going to need to need to be consistently around 2000 a day, every day. To be honest, 45mins of weight lifting doesn't burn a whole lot of calories. It's a bummer but it's true.

    Thanks. Will try 2000 and see how that goes.

    And to usmcmp, I'll attempt to log everything, including my cheat days!

Categories