Strange, but can a lot of exercise slow down weight loss?

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  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
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    Honestly it's way too little food for your activity level. Go to http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ and figure out a 20% deficit and eat that - it's WAY healthier to have a REASONABLE deficit.

    But 2 weeks stalls happen all the time and usually don't mean anything. If your period is due soon, that explains it too, I usually gain a couple pounds of water weight beforehand.
  • rayrayfitz
    rayrayfitz Posts: 80 Member
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    Sorry I thought it was open. I'll open it now.
  • MKEgal
    MKEgal Posts: 3,250 Member
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    You've been quite successful so far - 51 lb lost, halfway to goal! Yay, you!!
    What are your measurements doing? Are you dropping inches? Are your clothes fitting better?
    Then you're seeing progress. Keep at it.
    If you're not seeing progress in any way, consider dropping 50 calories/day or increasing the intensity or time of your exercise. (At this point, faster would probably be better than longer; better use of time.)
    .
    rybo wrote:
    I think you need to eat more for all that swimming
    rayrayfitz wrote:
    But I'm not losing weight as it is... I think if I ate more, I'd put weight on.
    Exactly right.
    If you're not losing weight at your current calorie/exercise level, the solution is _not_ to raise calories or lower exercise. That will just make the problem worse.
    Your body does not hang onto calories if you're eating in a deficit (which with so much exercise & a low calorie level you certainly are).
    If you're eating less than your body needs (and again, with so much exercise & so little food taken in, if you're being accurate, then you certainly are eating at a deficit) you will lose weight. You can't not.

    One thing you could try is adjusting your macros. Eating higher protein & lower carbs leads to more weight loss. Links to the studies here. Try 45% carbs, 20% fat, 35% protein to stay within the healthy macro ranges.
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  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
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    Find an activity that does not give you the munchies after.
  • rayrayfitz
    rayrayfitz Posts: 80 Member
    edited February 2015
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    Thanks guys, I don't really get munchies after exercising, but I have breakfast then usually swim over lunch as it's the lane swim, then I walk the mile and half home so don't get lunch usually until 2pm, I have breakfast before 8 so usually
    have a quick snack when I come out of swimming to keep me going.... I walk past two chip shops going home!
  • Therealobi1
    Therealobi1 Posts: 3,261 Member
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    hiyah, uk lady here too. Well done on you weight loss so far. Are you being really strict with your logging. Its very likely that you are eating at maintenance at the moment.
  • rayrayfitz
    rayrayfitz Posts: 80 Member
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    I'm really strict with my logging, I log everything even drinks and weigh everything on digital scales.. My diary is open. I can't possibly be eating to maintain as I exercise a lot and only eat 1370 cals. It must be the recent increase in cardio and adding strength training that's doing it. It seems physically impossible not to e able to lose on my ingoing and output. Stay away from the scales an keep with it I guess!
  • kr1stadee
    kr1stadee Posts: 1,774 Member
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    I have always found that exercise slowed down the scale loss, but ramped up the inch loss.

    I've heard diet is for weight loss, exercise is for fitness and strength.

    Take measurements, use that to track as well as the scale. Pounds lost isn't the only indication of success!

    Good luck!!
  • terar21
    terar21 Posts: 523 Member
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    Your diary still isn't open. You probably just have it open to your friends only. Can you open it to public?

    But as far as swimming calories burned, it's really not as much as you think. MFP estimates are high and what it categorizes as a easy swim really isn't an easy swim for most people.

    As others have mentioned, it's also very common for weight loss to stall with new exercises since your muscles will retain water. It by no means suggests that workout is keeping you from losing weight because it's not fat. So it's definitely worth it. If you're doubling up on workouts as well, that would also contribute to an increase in retained water. You're losing so I wouldn't be overly concerned, provided your logging is good.
  • rayrayfitz
    rayrayfitz Posts: 80 Member
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    I've never taken measurements, I have some today. I didn't think I'd lost any inch wise this past 6 weeks whilst I've only lost 3lb. But I put a belt on that I was on last notch and I'm over an inch over that now. I can't get my head around losing inches but not weight!!

    I actually really wish I had taken before fat photos and logged measurements.
  • Therealobi1
    Therealobi1 Posts: 3,261 Member
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    rayrayfitz wrote: »
    I've never taken measurements, I have some today. I didn't think I'd lost any inch wise this past 6 weeks whilst I've only lost 3lb. But I put a belt on that I was on last notch and I'm over an inch over that now. I can't get my head around losing inches but not weight!!

    I actually really wish I had taken before fat photos and logged measurements.

    since you are being strict with logging, then i would keep at it, you may have a big loss shortly. I had test shorts that i couldnt button up. every two weeks i would but on these shorts until one day they fell off. This was what i used to help with my scale frustration. I am useless at measuring so the shorts worked for me.
  • rayrayfitz
    rayrayfitz Posts: 80 Member
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    I can't not keep going, it's a way of life now. I'm going to stop completing my diary as I never weigh anywhere near what it keeps telling me I will in 5 weeks. I'm also laying off the scales. I weigh myself twice a week and hate it when you don't lose for a couple of weeks. I'm just going to keep at it, log everything and something will have to give t some point!!
  • gemm30
    gemm30 Posts: 110 Member
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    rayrayfitz wrote: »
    I'm really strict with my logging, I log everything even drinks and weigh everything on digital scales.. My diary is open. I can't possibly be eating to maintain as I exercise a lot and only eat 1370 cals. It must be the recent increase in cardio and adding strength training that's doing it. It seems physically impossible not to e able to lose on my ingoing and output. Stay away from the scales an keep with it I guess!

    Definetly stay away from the scales, I have got rid of mine and now only weigh at the gym same time every week.
    I took photos and measurements and check them once a month,
    Even though I'm not losing weight I can see my shape is changing and the inches dissapering. Stick with it. X
  • CaeliGirl11
    CaeliGirl11 Posts: 108 Member
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    I swim with a HRM on and I get probably about a 400-500/hr calorie burn with drills and long sets in there. But seeing as you don't eat back your calories that's ok that it's not really accurately calculating the burn right. I was ramping up my training from sprint tri's to oly distance triathlons last summer and found that at what MFP had my calories set to (somewhere in the 1300's) I was stalled weight-loss wise and kind of hungry. I opted to up my calories myself (and scared that I was going to gain weight.) But you know what?? I actually lost some weight within a week or so of increasing my calories by about 300. I am comfortable at 1650 now and while I went off track over the holidays (and now getting back into it again) I am happy that I upped my calories. sometimes your body just needs more to burn in order to function properly. If you just started this workout regimen then you might need to increase your calories to keep up (seems odd, but it's actually worked for a lot of people)...look for the eat more, weigh less area in MFP....
  • squirrelzzrule22
    squirrelzzrule22 Posts: 640 Member
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    could be water weight in your muscles. training for my first half marathon I only lost like 3 lbs. Then the first two weeks after I stopped working out so vigorously I dropped like 5 lbs without changing my diet. Take a few days off and drink a crap load of water. Might do the trick.
  • jstout365
    jstout365 Posts: 1,686 Member
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    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html/

    I've been posting this article a lot lately and I think you may be seeing this with your current exercise/calorie goals.

    The tl/dr version is that diet and exercise both put stress on your body. Stress increases cortisol which can, in turn, increase water retention which can mask weight loss on a scale. It doesn't mean you are not losing fat, just that you are raising your water weight up so much that it is hiding the loss on the scale. If your belt is getting smaller, something is moving in the right direction. So...the question becomes do you want to try and reduce the amount of stress you are putting your body through (decrease exercise or increase calories) and see if that helps balance out the water gain, or do you want to just keep going as you are and patiently wait for your fat loss to outpace your water gain? It is a personal choice, but eating just a few hundred calories extra per day (think like 200) may be enough to lower the cortisol production and start tipping the scale back down. Counter intuitive, yes, but just one of many factors that plays a part in why the scale won't move. So when someone says "eat more to lose" this is often the key reason it can help. In the end, there is a good balance of exercise and caloric intake that allows a person to see optimal progress toward their goal, it can just take a lot of trial, error, and frustration to figure it out.
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
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    rayrayfitz wrote: »
    Sorry I thought it was open. I'll open it now.

    I still don't see your diary. Honestly, with things like this, if 6+ weeks have past, it is probably a logging issue. You could be choosing inaccurate entries.

    Also, what is your day job? You may want to lower your activity level. I have mine set to sedentary and then log each of my exercises.
    Sedentary: Spend most of the day sitting (e.g. bank teller, desk job)
    Lightly Active: Spend a good part of the day on your feet (e.g. teacher, salesman)
  • rayrayfitz
    rayrayfitz Posts: 80 Member
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    britishbroccoli wrote: »
    rayrayfitz wrote: »
    Sorry I thought it was open. I'll open it now.

    I still don't see your diary. Honestly, with things like this, if 6+ weeks have past, it is probably a logging issue. You could be choosing inaccurate entries.

    Also, what is your day job? You may want to lower your activity level. I have mine set to sedentary and then log each of my exercises.
    Sedentary: Spend most of the day sitting (e.g. bank teller, desk job)
    Lightly Active: Spend a good part of the day on your feet (e.g. teacher, salesman)

    I've just checked and my diary is Defo open?

    I have it set to lightly active. I'm a mum and student. I walk 3 miles a day to the gym and back and don't log these cals, I have a jawbone and usually do my 10k steps. I have 1370 cals on sedentary it's 1200 and with the exercise I do it's just not enough. I'd rather raise the cals slightly each day than have to be eating exercise cals back. I exercise 5 days a week and am fairly active at weekends with the kids. I swim 5x a week, badminton once, started weight training and putting a aerobic and yoga and Pilates in this week.
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
    edited February 2015
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    rayrayfitz wrote: »
    britishbroccoli wrote: »
    rayrayfitz wrote: »
    Sorry I thought it was open. I'll open it now.

    I still don't see your diary. Honestly, with things like this, if 6+ weeks have past, it is probably a logging issue. You could be choosing inaccurate entries.

    Also, what is your day job? You may want to lower your activity level. I have mine set to sedentary and then log each of my exercises.
    Sedentary: Spend most of the day sitting (e.g. bank teller, desk job)
    Lightly Active: Spend a good part of the day on your feet (e.g. teacher, salesman)

    I've just checked and my diary is Defo open?

    I just went to the link where yours would be and got this:
    This Food Diary is Private
    This user is not allowing others to view his or her diary.

    Back to rayrayfitz's profile

    You can change your diary settings here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/profile_privacy
  • betuel75
    betuel75 Posts: 776 Member
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    diary is defo NOT open...

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