1 month in and pretty discouraged...
ftfck
Posts: 5 Member
I started strong lifts about a month ago and have worked my way up to the following weights:
Deadlift - 145 lbs
Squat - 125 lbs
Bench Press - 85 lbs
Overhead Press - 70 lbs
Row - 85 lbs
I have also been doing a little cardio afterwards (10 min interval training) and cardio 2x per week on my off days. My goal for caloric intake is 1550 which leaves me starving on lift days and light headed on cardio days. I always end up going over and hover around 2000 calories. I have a slight gain in weight over the last month. My diet isn't the best, but do I really need to cut calories that severely or just consume better calories? I'm struggling with the diet aspect of this and the fact that I have gained weight in the last month is getting me down.
Deadlift - 145 lbs
Squat - 125 lbs
Bench Press - 85 lbs
Overhead Press - 70 lbs
Row - 85 lbs
I have also been doing a little cardio afterwards (10 min interval training) and cardio 2x per week on my off days. My goal for caloric intake is 1550 which leaves me starving on lift days and light headed on cardio days. I always end up going over and hover around 2000 calories. I have a slight gain in weight over the last month. My diet isn't the best, but do I really need to cut calories that severely or just consume better calories? I'm struggling with the diet aspect of this and the fact that I have gained weight in the last month is getting me down.
0
Replies
-
A few things.
First, you will gain some water weight when you first start lifting. When you lift weights, you make microtears in your muscles. Your body repairs them and that is what makes you stronger. Your muscles retain water to help with the repair process. So you might gain weight but it is not fat.
Second, what are your height, weight, activity level, and age? I know that you say you've been eating over your goal calories but I am wondering if you are eating back your exercise calories or just going over without regard to exercise calories. Lifting will make you hungry. You may be able to raise your calories overall or eat in a zigzag pattern so that you feel a bit better. Some people eat more on lifting days and less on the days in between. If you workout in the morning you might feel better to eat more on the in between days and a bit less on lifting days. You have to experiment a bit to figure it out.0 -
Maybe you're not eating food that's filling enough? Are you eating a lot of calorie dense food? To lose weight you don't need to cut calories severely if you're fine with the progress being a bit slow. Also, your muscles may be retaining water since you started a new workout program. Be patient, don't keep your deficit too big and eat food that makes you feel full
0 -
I'd go look at the Eat More to Weigh Less and the Eat, Train, Progress forums, or maybe at the Eat to Perform website. I think there are calculators in the stickies where you can enter your stats (height, weight, activity level broken down into minutes/week) that will help you get a pretty dang accurate estimate of how much you should actually be eating.
Also, have you been doing any measurements besides your weight? It is hard to get a real idea of what you look like by looking in the mirror, because everyone tends to see their trouble spots and not what's changed. Keep track of your waist, hips, thighs, etc, so you know if you are getting smaller, even if your weight isn't changing, or is going up a tiny bit.
Nice lifts, too! OHP is the hardest for me, I don't know if I ever made it to 70 lbs for reps. Are you enjoying lifting, at least? Even if you have to tweak your diet, keep going with the weights 0 -
I highly suggest using a measuring tape while you're doing this. I've been lifting for almost a year. I haven't lost much weight but I'm much smaller. I'm fitting into clothes I could only wear previously when I weighed about 10 pounds less and I'm 5'4" so 10 pounds is a lot!
If you aren't counting your exercise calories into your daily goal do so. Even lifting burns some but not as much as cardio work. Disregarding them in what you're allowed to eat is counter-productive. You shouldn't be starving on a regular basis.0 -
You either aren't tracking your food properly or you're eating too little. Water weight fluctuation is a reality with dieting and lifting. Play with your macros and definitely give it more time than just one month.0
-
You may not necesarily have to cut your daily calories drastically but I would definitely recommend taking a good look at what you are eating to get in your calories. My current caloric intake is 1500 calories a day and I'm finding it hard somedays to even get to that many.
I'm right there with jemhh on the eating a little bit more on lifting days. I tend to increase my carb intake on leg and back days.
I hope this helps
Good Luck!! 0 -
Second, what are your height, weight, activity level, and age? I know that you say you've been eating over your goal calories but I am wondering if you are eating back your exercise calories or just going over without regard to exercise calories. Lifting will make you hungry. You may be able to raise your calories overall or eat in a zigzag pattern so that you feel a bit better. Some people eat more on lifting days and less on the days in between. If you workout in the morning you might feel better to eat more on the in between days and a bit less on lifting days. You have to experiment a bit to figure it out.
I'm 5'7", 155 lbs, 27 yr old female, and I work at a desk. Lift 3x a week, cardio x2-3. I seem to always eat back my exercise calories.0 -
What is your height and gender?
What was your starting weight?
What was your weight at the end of the month?0 -
girlviernes wrote: »What is your height and gender?
What was your starting weight?
What was your weight at the end of the month?
5'7", 155 lbs, 27 yr old female, and I work at a desk. Lift 3x a week, cardio x2-3. I went from 151-155. Minimal increase, but still an increase!0 -
"better calories"
lol0 -
I looked at your diary for yesterday and it raises some questions. When you eat that "oatmeal breakfast" and that salad for lunch, how are you tracking those things? Is the oatmeal breakfast in some sort of package? Or are you guesstimating the calorie and macro count on these things?
It's also very hard to accurately track a salad and what goes into a salad. I mean if it's just veggies that's one thing but when you start putting "other things" in there, it can get messy.
I honestly think we need to start looking at your food logging first.0 -
Second, what are your height, weight, activity level, and age? I know that you say you've been eating over your goal calories but I am wondering if you are eating back your exercise calories or just going over without regard to exercise calories. Lifting will make you hungry. You may be able to raise your calories overall or eat in a zigzag pattern so that you feel a bit better. Some people eat more on lifting days and less on the days in between. If you workout in the morning you might feel better to eat more on the in between days and a bit less on lifting days. You have to experiment a bit to figure it out.
I'm 5'7", 155 lbs, 27 yr old female, and I work at a desk. Lift 3x a week, cardio x2-3. I seem to always eat back my exercise calories.
I am similar in size (5'6", 148 lbs.) but a bit older (38.) My activity level is pretty much the same (desk job, weights 3x/wk, cardio 2x/wk, sometimes an extra cardio or lifting session.) My maintenance cals are 2500ish. I set my MFP goals to lightly active and .5 lb week loss and eat all of my exercise calories and have been losing a pound a week (end up eating about 2000/day.) I eat all of that because if I don't, I just get too hungry and miserable. You might need to up your calories for a bit just to avoid feeling so hungry all the time. Your weight loss may (probably will) slow down a bit (if you are logging accurately I'd consider this first month just time to settle into lifting) but you will be more comfortable. It can be a tradeoff--fast weight loss vs. comfortable weight loss--but rest assured that even if you are losing more slowly, your overall look will be changing a lot.0 -
joejccva71 wrote: »I looked at your diary for yesterday and it raises some questions. When you eat that "oatmeal breakfast" and that salad for lunch, how are you tracking those things? Is the oatmeal breakfast in some sort of package? Or are you guesstimating the calorie and macro count on these things?
It's also very hard to accurately track a salad and what goes into a salad. I mean if it's just veggies that's one thing but when you start putting "other things" in there, it can get messy.
I honestly think we need to start looking at your food logging first.
Yes, definitely work on your logging, OP. If you're just choosing generic entries instead of building a recipe you made on your own, you have no idea if what you're eating matches the exact ingredients used in that. And if you are eating a lot of Aramark foods, that probably means a lot of sodium that can also mask possible weight loss (which is why homemade is a better way to go).
Read these two threads for more tips:
Calorie Counting 101
A Guide to Get You Started on Your Path to Sexypants0 -
Setting the adherence issues with tracking aside...
Forget the scale for now... what about measurements, progress pic, etc?0 -
joejccva71 wrote: »I looked at your diary for yesterday and it raises some questions. When you eat that "oatmeal breakfast" and that salad for lunch, how are you tracking those things? Is the oatmeal breakfast in some sort of package? Or are you guesstimating the calorie and macro count on these things?
It's also very hard to accurately track a salad and what goes into a salad. I mean if it's just veggies that's one thing but when you start putting "other things" in there, it can get messy.
I honestly think we need to start looking at your food logging first.
The oatmeal breakfast is my recipe - it's 2 egg whites, oatmeal, and greek yogurt. The mexican salad I created a recipe for as well - 1/2 cup chicken, 1/4 black beans, 1/8 cup cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup pico de gallo.0 -
girlviernes wrote: »What is your height and gender?
What was your starting weight?
What was your weight at the end of the month?
5'7", 155 lbs, 27 yr old female, and I work at a desk. Lift 3x a week, cardio x2-3. I went from 151-155. Minimal increase, but still an increase!
Good news, your weight is in the normal range! It sounds like you started lifting pretty seriously in the past month, so we would expect a bit of water weight gain. This is good and a part of getting stronger! Because you are in the normal weight range, any weight loss will be gradual, so you'll need to be patient. You shouldn't be feeling lightheaded, so I'm glad to hear that you increase your calories. Go with a higher calorie goal (and of course, tighten up logging). Since you are already at a normal weight, you will need to stick to a small deficit. Like others have suggested, you should supplement the scale with pictures and measurements because it will be hard to see your progress on the scale, but that doesn't mean you aren't making progress
0 -
joejccva71 wrote: »I looked at your diary for yesterday and it raises some questions. When you eat that "oatmeal breakfast" and that salad for lunch, how are you tracking those things? Is the oatmeal breakfast in some sort of package? Or are you guesstimating the calorie and macro count on these things?
It's also very hard to accurately track a salad and what goes into a salad. I mean if it's just veggies that's one thing but when you start putting "other things" in there, it can get messy.
I honestly think we need to start looking at your food logging first.
The oatmeal breakfast is my recipe - it's 2 egg whites, oatmeal, and greek yogurt. The mexican salad I created a recipe for as well - 1/2 cup chicken, 1/4 black beans, 1/8 cup cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup pico de gallo.
Ok so it's being tracked accurately. Remember food type doesn't matter as long as you're eating a deficit but also the caveat of that is the more calorie dense foods you eat, the overall less you can eat.
I went through a thing where I would have a Snickers Ice Cream bar every morning for breakfast for over a year.
You can have the sweets, but not 5 donuts in the morning, 3 cupcakes in the afternoon. (unless you're bulking lol)
Keep at 1500 calories a day, continue to train, give it more time.0 -
I highly suggest using a measuring tape while you're doing this. I've been lifting for almost a year. I haven't lost much weight but I'm much smaller. I'm fitting into clothes I could only wear previously when I weighed about 10 pounds less and I'm 5'4" so 10 pounds is a lot!
quote]
^^This
The scale will fluctuate the entire day. You will not weigh the same at night as you did in the morning. Don't let it be the harbinger of your success. Use a measuring tape once or twice a month for better accuracy. Or take pictures (as much as I don't like to do it I can see more changes this way).
Also what is your diet like? Are you eating more protein since you are lifting? Are you cutting or bulking? What is your TDEE? All of this can affect your results.
Hope some of this helps!0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.8K Introduce Yourself
- 43.9K Getting Started
- 260.3K Health and Weight Loss
- 176K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.6K Fitness and Exercise
- 431 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153.1K Motivation and Support
- 8.1K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.8K MyFitnessPal Information
- 15 News and Announcements
- 1.2K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions