Having a difficult time maintaining, so confused.
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Entaro
Posts: 23 Member
So, basic info - I've lost 250ish pounds. From 428 to 168-180 (The range is part of my problem).
I went to a Hydrostatic weigh-in and found that I was at 9.9% body fat when I was at 180.
Now I've been trying to figure out what I need to do to maintain my weight now that I've reached my goal, and I'm having a difficult time of it.
I set myself to eat a bit more and exercise a bit less, so my basic work out rate and calorie rate were going to be this: 2 and a half hours of cardio a day and 2000 calories a day. With 3000 calories on the weekend days because I enjoy going to breakfast with my family and I tend to get a bit more out there in the real world.
This is down from 4 hours of cardio a day and 1000 calories a day.
I stayed at 180 for a while, and then had a really weird week where I lost and got down to 176, and then another week where I went down to 168.
I stayed at 170ish for a couple weeks, and now suddenly I've started climbing back up towards 180 again. Last week I was 175, and then this week I've been looking at 178. I'll admit, when I found myself gaining again I freaked out a bit and did extra cardio, going back to the four hours of cardio again. The extra doesn't seem to do anything.
I just.. I don't really care about the number. I care about consistency. I want to be able to live a life where I'm not doing 4 hours of cardio a day, but I seem to be not maintaining and gaining even though I feel like I'm doing more work than I should have to in order to keep my body in order.
Everything kind of fluctuates from week to week sometimes, and it freaks me out when I gain. It doesn't seem consistent, even though I've kept my eating habits to the same 2000 a day and the same foods every single week.
And at the end of the day, I'm still concerned that I'm doing too much cardio to live a normal life. I don't feel like 2 and a half hours a day and 2000 calories a day should be my end goal to maintain. Everyone else seems to be able to do less, and I'll admit it bothers me a bit.
I guess I'm just kind of confused and lost about what to do. My body doesn't make sense to me. And I want to be able to do less cardio in order to maintain, because at this point I feel like I'm dedicating my life to running and elliptical, and it doesn't really feel good. My weight fluctuates over weeks and I can't tell rhyme or reason for it, but the lack of consistency terrifies me and makes fear that I'm not doing enough even though I dedicate so much of my time to exercise.
I suppose I should also mention that I do at least 45 minutes of weightlifting a day. Forgot to mention that, and I don't know where to stick that info in up there at this point.
Sorry to rant at you folks a bit. Just lost.
I went to a Hydrostatic weigh-in and found that I was at 9.9% body fat when I was at 180.
Now I've been trying to figure out what I need to do to maintain my weight now that I've reached my goal, and I'm having a difficult time of it.
I set myself to eat a bit more and exercise a bit less, so my basic work out rate and calorie rate were going to be this: 2 and a half hours of cardio a day and 2000 calories a day. With 3000 calories on the weekend days because I enjoy going to breakfast with my family and I tend to get a bit more out there in the real world.
This is down from 4 hours of cardio a day and 1000 calories a day.
I stayed at 180 for a while, and then had a really weird week where I lost and got down to 176, and then another week where I went down to 168.
I stayed at 170ish for a couple weeks, and now suddenly I've started climbing back up towards 180 again. Last week I was 175, and then this week I've been looking at 178. I'll admit, when I found myself gaining again I freaked out a bit and did extra cardio, going back to the four hours of cardio again. The extra doesn't seem to do anything.
I just.. I don't really care about the number. I care about consistency. I want to be able to live a life where I'm not doing 4 hours of cardio a day, but I seem to be not maintaining and gaining even though I feel like I'm doing more work than I should have to in order to keep my body in order.
Everything kind of fluctuates from week to week sometimes, and it freaks me out when I gain. It doesn't seem consistent, even though I've kept my eating habits to the same 2000 a day and the same foods every single week.
And at the end of the day, I'm still concerned that I'm doing too much cardio to live a normal life. I don't feel like 2 and a half hours a day and 2000 calories a day should be my end goal to maintain. Everyone else seems to be able to do less, and I'll admit it bothers me a bit.
I guess I'm just kind of confused and lost about what to do. My body doesn't make sense to me. And I want to be able to do less cardio in order to maintain, because at this point I feel like I'm dedicating my life to running and elliptical, and it doesn't really feel good. My weight fluctuates over weeks and I can't tell rhyme or reason for it, but the lack of consistency terrifies me and makes fear that I'm not doing enough even though I dedicate so much of my time to exercise.
I suppose I should also mention that I do at least 45 minutes of weightlifting a day. Forgot to mention that, and I don't know where to stick that info in up there at this point.
Sorry to rant at you folks a bit. Just lost.
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Replies
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Your body has gotten accustomed to extreme cardio just to maintain... Once you cut back on the cardio, your weight will start to climb... I would replace any reduction in cardio with increases in weight training.....you need to build muscle to increase your metabolic rate...0
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What is your height? No you should not have to do 2.5-4 hrs of cardio a day, most people don't go to such drastic methods. His closely do you track your food?0
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Your body probably freaked out a little from all the changes. Especially going from 1000 calories a day to up to 3000 a day on the weekends. My advice to you would be to drop to whatever amount of cardio seems do-able to you for the long-term future. Maybe that's 90minutes. Then build how many calories you eat in a week around that. Try it for a month. If you gain, adjust your calories down a little, if you lose, bump them up a little, and try at that new number for another month. Evaluate again, and adjust as needed.
To repeat, I would give it a month or so between each adjustment, and also only adjust calories, not cardio.0 -
First of all, congratulations on the tremendous weight loss and getting yourself to 9.9% body fat! That is an amazing accomplishment, congratulations!
Secondly, just know that you are in good company in terms of feeling nervous about weight fluctuations once you reach maintenance. Most people experience this phenomenon, as well as the emotions that come along with it. You are definitely not weird, and you're definitely not alone.
Just out of curiosity, have you really sat down and figured out your official TDEE? Or did you arbitrarily set your numbers based on what you believe you should do? I ask because four hours of cardio a day on only 1,000 calories falls, IMHO, into the "dangerously anorexic" zone for most human beings. I would love to know where you came up with that equation?
If you don't mind sharing your stats w/us I'd love to calculate a basic TDEE for you and just see how it compares to what you're currently doing. Do you mind posting your age, height, current weight, and activity level on a normal day (not exercise, but like your daily routine at work such as sitting at a desk vs. construction work, etc.)?0 -
Bump...and Thanks!0
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bump0
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What is your height? No you should not have to do 2.5-4 hrs of cardio a day, most people don't go to such drastic methods. His closely do you track your food?
5'8". Very closely. I keep my meals exactly the same week to week.0 -
First of all, congratulations on the tremendous weight loss and getting yourself to 9.9% body fat! That is an amazing accomplishment, congratulations!
Secondly, just know that you are in good company in terms of feeling nervous about weight fluctuations once you reach maintenance. Most people experience this phenomenon, as well as the emotions that come along with it. You are definitely not weird, and you're definitely not alone.
Just out of curiosity, have you really sat down and figured out your official TDEE? Or did you arbitrarily set your numbers based on what you believe you should do? I ask because four hours of cardio a day on only 1,000 calories falls, IMHO, into the "dangerously anorexic" zone for most human beings. I would love to know where you came up with that equation?
If you don't mind sharing your stats w/us I'd love to calculate a basic TDEE for you and just see how it compares to what you're currently doing. Do you mind posting your age, height, current weight, and activity level on a normal day (not exercise, but like your daily routine at work such as sitting at a desk vs. construction work, etc.)?
Age: 23
Height: 5'8"
Current weight: 175 last weigh-in.
Activity level: Not high, mostly desk with some walking around during the day for errands. My "job" for the past few years has been to lose weight.0 -
There is no possible way you were at 9.9% BF.
10-13% for women is the bare minimum for life. That is competitive body builder status.
The "ideal" category for women is 20-24%. As a reference point I am 5'2, 121lbs, have a muscular build and am 23% BF.
Drop the cardio, start lifting weights. Heavy ones. What are you doing in your 45 minutes of lifting a day?0 -
Bump0
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There is no possible way you were at 9.9% BF.
10-13% for women is the bare minimum for life. That is competitive body builder status.
The "ideal" category for women is 20-24%. As a reference point I am 5'2, 121lbs, have a muscular build and am 23% BF.
Drop the cardio, start lifting weights. Heavy ones. What are you doing in your 45 minutes of lifting a day?
OP is a male0 -
Specific advice aside, the biggest thing is patience.0
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Possibly:
-Reduce cardio by small amounts.
-Increase resistance training to develop the LBM you lost at 1000 cals
Expect a while before you find a new equilibrium
Track track track.
-Take diet breaks at the upper level of maintenance: add 200 cals to your 2000 and hold for a few weeks, then up again until you begin to gain, that really the upper limit.0 -
-Take diet breaks at the upper level of maintenance: add 200 cals to your 2000 and hold for a few weeks, then up again until you begin to gain, that really the upper limit.
I fully recommend this.
I also think that you might be eating at the bare minimum for maintenance and so your body keeps trying to refill and then shedding glycogen stores in response to calorie variations that bring you over and under that level. That might be what's causing the fluctuations. You should eat a little more, expect an increase of about 5 pounds and then consistently holding that steady weight.0 -
it's more possible for a male but 180 at 5'8" it sounds off.There is no possible way you were at 9.9% BF.
10-13% for women is the bare minimum for life. That is competitive body builder status.
The "ideal" category for women is 20-24%. As a reference point I am 5'2, 121lbs, have a muscular build and am 23% BF.
Drop the cardio, start lifting weights. Heavy ones. What are you doing in your 45 minutes of lifting a day?0 -
it's more possible for a male but 180 at 5'8" it sounds off.There is no possible way you were at 9.9% BF.
10-13% for women is the bare minimum for life. That is competitive body builder status.
The "ideal" category for women is 20-24%. As a reference point I am 5'2, 121lbs, have a muscular build and am 23% BF.
Drop the cardio, start lifting weights. Heavy ones. What are you doing in your 45 minutes of lifting a day?
He would be pretty jacked at that height and weight with only 9.9% BF%... would love to see the pics of the OP, big and ripped, nice combo. That said OP 2000 would not be nearly enough with that much LBM. Try 2600 and 3500 on weekends.0 -
There is no possible way you were at 9.9% BF.
10-13% for women is the bare minimum for life. That is competitive body builder status.
The "ideal" category for women is 20-24%. As a reference point I am 5'2, 121lbs, have a muscular build and am 23% BF.
Drop the cardio, start lifting weights. Heavy ones. What are you doing in your 45 minutes of lifting a day?
I think its a male...0 -
First of all, congratulations on the tremendous weight loss and getting yourself to 9.9% body fat! That is an amazing accomplishment, congratulations!
Secondly, just know that you are in good company in terms of feeling nervous about weight fluctuations once you reach maintenance. Most people experience this phenomenon, as well as the emotions that come along with it. You are definitely not weird, and you're definitely not alone.
Just out of curiosity, have you really sat down and figured out your official TDEE? Or did you arbitrarily set your numbers based on what you believe you should do? I ask because four hours of cardio a day on only 1,000 calories falls, IMHO, into the "dangerously anorexic" zone for most human beings. I would love to know where you came up with that equation?
If you don't mind sharing your stats w/us I'd love to calculate a basic TDEE for you and just see how it compares to what you're currently doing. Do you mind posting your age, height, current weight, and activity level on a normal day (not exercise, but like your daily routine at work such as sitting at a desk vs. construction work, etc.)?
Age: 23
Height: 5'8"
Current weight: 175 last weigh-in.
Activity level: Not high, mostly desk with some walking around during the day for errands. My "job" for the past few years has been to lose weight.
Great, thanks!
I'm using the following calculator to figure out your TDEE: http://www.incrediblesmoothies.com/tools/Calculator-Daily-Calorie.html
I'd love for others to double-check my work as well.
Here are the numbers I'm getting for maintenance (and this includes exercise calories, you would not eat them back, in this case). BTW, I'm using the "Very Active" category for the "Your Activity" setting, since you exercise 2+ hours each day but sit at a desk for work, and also said you might want to scale the cardio back a little more.
Your BMR is 1860.71 and you would eat 3,210 calories a day for maintenance.
Is this what other people are getting?0 -
Indeed I am male.
I mean, I don't know what to say about the 9.9% body fat. I went to the hydrostatic weighing, got tested for breathing, dunked in a tub, weighed multiple times, and got a whole official neat-oh paper telling me about the 9.9% calculation and result.0 -
Indeed I am male.
Not to sound weird, but why not post a photo of your new, fit body! Wear it proudly! 0
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