Losing Weight Too Fast?

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BStayer
BStayer Posts: 22
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm a guy, 31yrs. old and I'm trying to burn fat and build lean muscle at the same time. I'm weight training 3 days a week and doing cardio 6 days a week. I'm counting my calories and trying to make the calories count, that is, eating quality calories - high quality protein (chicken, turkey, fish), equal amounts of healthy carbs (whole grain rice, baked sweet potatoes), and veggies with every meal. My goal is to loose around 1-2 lbs a week, to help ensure I'm losing fat, not lean tissue. However, this past week, I lost 3.5 lbs, in one week. I'm afraid maybe that's too much weight, that maybe some of that was my precious muscle/lean tissue that I'm trying to increase. Am I over reacting or should I do something different to slow up the weight loss?

I should also say that I haven't been working out for a whole month yet. Just 2 days past 3 weeks today. Also, I don't look any different or really feel any different, other than being to go harder in my cardio. Maybe this is just excess water I'm losing? Anyways, thanks in advance!

Replies

  • koosdel
    koosdel Posts: 3,317 Member
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    It depends on your goals.
    Do you want to be thin, or ripped. I would say ripped.
    You are doing way to much cardio for weightlifting. Yes, you can build muscle and loose weight at the same time... but, its very tricky.
    On your weight listing days, do your cardio after your workout. It will help with soreness, and give your muscles a little extra push. You definitely need rest after lifting weights. They grow when they rest. If you were to prioritize weightlifting over weights, you should see much better gains. At first it will seem to take longer to loose weight, but that is the demon in your scale that doesn't tell you how much muscle mass you have gained.

    Different muscle groups need different amount of recovery times also. For example our calves can recover from the most intense workout in just a few hours, whereas our lower back muscles may need 100 hours or more.

    It's way too easy to over do it. Rest days should be just as important as workout days. You may say to yourself,"I worked out hard yesterday, I feel fine..." true, you may feel fine but that is the various chemicals in your body that were activated during your workoutnow on stand by waiting for more. Wait more time, then you will start to feel the soreness. It was there all along you just weren't aware.

    So;
    Diet #1
    Weightlifting #2
    Rest #2.5
    Cardio #3

    This should be your priorities. Remember, when you do cardio you loose weight in fat and muscle. Keep that in mind.
    Good luck.
  • chuckanderson
    chuckanderson Posts: 97
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    Above poster is correct. Also - make sure you're eating a TON of protein. I didn't check to see if your diary is open or how much you weigh - but I weigh 170 @ 14% and I'm trying to cut to 8% and I'm eating around 190g a day.
  • BStayer
    BStayer Posts: 22
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    Well, I'm 6'0 tall and currently weigh 208.5, down from 215 a little over three weeks ago. I'm very self-conscious of how fatty my body is right now. I've never been this heavy before. If it was mostly muscle, I'd be happy, but it's by far mostly fat. I used to be an avid runner, running 2 miles a day, 4x a week, and weighed 180 lbs. I wasn't overly skinny either. But then I developed a hip injury about 8 years ago and that started my downward spiral.

    I understand that too much cardio can and will burn muscle as well. One reason why I do so much is because I get so hungry. This site has me on 1440 calories daily to lose 2 lbs. a week, not counting exercise. With doing exercise, I've been averaging around 1850 calories a day. I've been wondering if maybe that's too few calories.
  • koosdel
    koosdel Posts: 3,317 Member
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    For building muscle, absolutely.
    I weight 168 and take in an average of 2,880 calories per day. I'm not saying you need that much, but definitely more than 1,400. My BMR is 1,600 so yours should be close to mine.

    I'm 5' 10 by the way.
  • ShrinkinMel
    ShrinkinMel Posts: 982 Member
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    Some people will lose bigger the first week or two. Keep at it and if it's still coming off too fast you can add calories by eating what you burn.

    I used to lose a lot more the first week or two then slow down. This time I seem to be steady and slow.

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