I lost more when I didn't work as hard?

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xruss7
xruss7 Posts: 9
in Health and Weight Loss
For three months I had maintained the same weight of 165. It was a roller coaster, from 165 to 167 to 161. It really frustrated me because I wasn't losing. I started eating less and exercising more, but found that it didn't help at ALL, and I was actually sometimes gaining. I was doing at least 3 hrs of workout a day and kept my calorie count to around 1200.

Then I just gave up pushing myself like that, and ate 1500 calories (which included a lot of rice!!) and exercised only 60-70 minutes. I even skipped a few days (although not consecutively) and to my surprise, I HAD REACHED 158. This was last week.

On Sunday I had pigged the heck out, eating ribs and rice and fish tacos, but today I had weighed myself and saw a solid 157.

Why is this so? Does moderate amount of exercise really work better than vigorous amount of exercise?
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Replies

  • misskarihari
    misskarihari Posts: 104 Member
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    You ate more. You obviously ate too little when you were exercising vigorously . If you eat too little you won't lose weight. Read about BMR (basal metabolic rate) and TDEE (total daily energy expenditure. You should not eat below your BMR.
  • _lyndseybrooke_
    _lyndseybrooke_ Posts: 2,561 Member
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    misskarihari wrote: »
    If you eat too little you won't lose weight.

    Nope. Not true at all.

    Intense exercise causes the body to retain water. Three hours of exercise per day with a 1200 calorie goal? What the...why?! Your body probably just realized you're not trying to kill it and shed some excess fluid retention.

    Either way, please continue to eat more, especially if you're working out as much as you do. 60-70 minutes per day is still quite a bit.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    This very same conversation is going on in one of my other groups. The consensus is they lose more weight when they tone down the exercise. .. No one has an answer to why yet.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    LyndseyLovesToLift wrote: »
    misskarihari wrote: »
    If you eat too little you won't lose weight.

    Nope. Not true at all.

    Intense exercise causes the body to retain water. Three hours of exercise per day with a 1200 calorie goal? What the...why?! Your body probably just realized you're not trying to kill it and shed some excess fluid retention.

    Either way, please continue to eat more, especially if you're working out as much as you do. 60-70 minutes per day is still quite a bit.

    All of this
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    christinev297 wrote: »
    This very same conversation is going on in one of my other groups. The consensus is they lose more weight when they tone down the exercise. .. No one has an answer to why yet.

    One answer will be that the body doesn't need to retain as much water during muscle repair
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    TavistockToad wrote: »
    christinev297 wrote: »
    This very same conversation is going on in one of my other groups. The consensus is they lose more weight when they tone down the exercise. .. No one has an answer to why yet.

    One answer will be that the body doesn't need to retain as much water during muscle repair

    Yes, exercise causes quite a bit of fluid retention. I will often lose 5-8 Lbs of fluid when I take a week or so off.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    christinev297 wrote: »
    This very same conversation is going on in one of my other groups. The consensus is they lose more weight when they tone down the exercise. .. No one has an answer to why yet.

    One answer will be that the body doesn't need to retain as much water during muscle repair

    Yes, exercise causes quite a bit of fluid retention. I will often lose 5-8 Lbs of fluid when I take a week or so off.

    ahaa Thanks guys. Makes total sense.

  • Mediocrates55
    Mediocrates55 Posts: 326 Member
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    I take two weeks off, I drop some pounds.
    I lift my bum off for two weeks, I lose some inch-age.

    Which matters more to me? Which meets my goals better?
    That 'tis the question.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,159 Member
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    misskarihari wrote: »
    You ate more. You obviously ate too little when you were exercising vigorously . If you eat too little you won't lose weight. Read about BMR (basal metabolic rate) and TDEE (total daily energy expenditure. You should not eat below your BMR.

    Good points.

    Not everyone is into or understands the science involved with long term successful.

  • rachellll98
    rachellll98 Posts: 25
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    What some of you are saying is that if you stop exercising for a week you will lose 5 pounds of water weight?
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    What I've noticed is that eating a large meal encourages a bowel movement. This can easily account for pounds of weight loss. But eating less cannot prevent you from losing weight. The world doesn't work that way.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    A lot of people report that they break plateaus by eating more for a short time. If it works for you, yay!

    Most people find that eating less seems to help them lose and eating more helps them gain.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    misskarihari wrote: »
    You ate more. You obviously ate too little when you were exercising vigorously . If you eat too little you won't lose weight. Read about BMR (basal metabolic rate) and TDEE (total daily energy expenditure. You should not eat below your BMR.

    No!
  • mymodernbabylon
    mymodernbabylon Posts: 1,038 Member
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    elphie754 wrote: »
    misskarihari wrote: »
    You ate more. You obviously ate too little when you were exercising vigorously . If you eat too little you won't lose weight. Read about BMR (basal metabolic rate) and TDEE (total daily energy expenditure. You should not eat below your BMR.

    No!

    There is some truth about not eating below your BMR...but it's true that you will lose weight eventually if you under-eat.

    BUT you are also stressing your body a lot by so much cardio and they have found that this will keep you from losing weight quite at the pace you'd expect. Cut back on the cardio, eat a bit more and see what happens.
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
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    You were probably not eating enough. Also over-exercising results in weight gain, not loss.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    rachellll98 wrote: »
    What some of you are saying is that if you stop exercising for a week you will lose 5 pounds of water weight?

    It depends on how much water your body is retaining, which is determined by your diet and exercise.

    Exercising too much while eating too little causes excess cortisol in your body which is a stress hormone. Our bodies are programmed to hang on to weight when it is stressed. So, for those people, eating more or exercising less can result in the weight being released.

    Of course that is not general advice for *everyone*, just people who are over exercising and not fueling enough.

  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,159 Member
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    If I keep hydrated it helps keep the weight loss moving sometimes. I have to drink about a gallon of water a day to do that. If I do not drop 2-3 pounds at my first trip to the bath room each morning I know in my case I am not drinking enough. I try to keep % of moisture at 48-50% on the Health O Meter scales.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    My most recent weight drop-off was following a week with a flu where I was practically immobile. I dropped all my activity while I recovered.

    Like pincushion noted, I had to decide what was more important; the numbers on the scale or overall health and energy? I picked health and energy. I figure the added activity won't hinder weight loss....in the long run.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    LyndseyLovesToLift wrote: »
    misskarihari wrote: »
    If you eat too little you won't lose weight.

    Nope. Not true at all.

    While I'd agree that the assertion that is one eats too little one won't lose weight is nonsense, my own experience of undereating was illuminating. When I was undereating, for a couple of months in the middle of 2013 my background activity levels reduced significantly. Essentially my settings on here were wrong. I was opting to send an email, rather than run up a couple of flights of stairs for a conversation and similar decisions.

    The effect of eating too little was driving unhelpful behaviours, rather than being a contributor itself.
  • higgins8283801
    higgins8283801 Posts: 844 Member
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    If you over exercise there is a chemical your body produces that will slow down weight loss. Idk what it is at the moment, but it does happen.

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