Too few calories + too much exercise = no weight loss?
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VERY difficult to do with so little to lose.Liftng4Lis wrote: »LyndseyLovesToLift wrote: »I'm not new to cutting and I've been lifting heavy for a little over a year. A few months ago, I was eating 1850 cal a day and losing about a half a pound a week. At that time, I was lifting four days a week for about an hour and doing one 60-minute cardio session per week. I measure/weigh everything I eat and log everything as accurately/consistently as I can.
I switched to maintenance in November and stayed at about 122 pounds until I started a quick eight week summer cut program that I designed in March. The goal was to lose about a pound a week, or drop down to 115 pounds by the end. I'm now eating about 1700 cal per day and, in addition to the aforementioned mentioned exercise, I added 30 minutes of cardio to my lifting days.
This is the end of the week six and I have only lost about 2.5 pounds. I now realize that I'm pushing my body too much and I need to cool it on the extra exercise. My body constantly hurts, my energy level is on the ground, and I'm even starting to feel low/depressed.
I've never had a problem losing weight before, and this time it seems that math is not on my side. I was maintaining at 2150 cal a day, yet not losing much on 1700 cal a day even with extra exercise. I realized today that I'm doing at least eight hours of exercise per week, lifting heavy for half and moderate/intense cardio for half. And eating at a 20% deficit of my old TDEE. My body is telling me to slow down, so I will.
However, it's extremely frustrating that I might go the entire eight weeks and only drop a fraction of my goal. Is it possible that I was over training and it was sabotaging my weight-loss? If so, what does this mean as far as transitioning back to maintenance? Am I going to probably gain weight at my old maintenance because I mistakingly pushed my body too much during this cut? It's not as if I'm starving myself, so I just don't get what's going on with my body and why it won't cooperate or let go of these last few pounds.
Words of wisdom are appreciated.
That's almost a half pound a week.
but she wanted to lose a pound a week for her "eight week summer cut"...
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Have you had your body fat measured? I am wondering why you are trying to get to a specific weight instead a specific body fat %.
I really have no way to accurately measure my bf%. I work out in my garage gym, so I don't have access to bf% monitors at a gym and I'm simply not going to pay $75 for a dunk test or bod pod every so often. I have a pair of those cheap calipers, but I'm not sure how accurate they are or even if I'm using it correctly. My readings on that seem pretty low.0 -
Lyndsey - I assume that's you in your profile pic?? If so, you look phenomenal- don't lose more weight! Sounds like your body is tired and begging you for a little rest. After that, keep doing what you're doing, but make sure you're refueling and giving yourself a rest day here and there. And, seriously, think about why you feel that you need to lose more...0
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Lyndsey if you call a gym ahead of time and ask them if they have bodyfat calipers that they can just test you on, some gyms do it. World Gym, Gold's Gym will do it. The big gyms do it. Don't go to Planet Fitness, they may look at you strange.
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You are already on the lower end of a healthy BMI trying to get to the lowest end of healthy. I think you simply do not have the fat stores to constitute higher losses. 1 lb a week would definitely be too aggressive at this point for you. .5 lbs would be closer to reasonable, but it's still going to really hard. I think you aren't really looking at it realistically and expecting more than what should be happening.0
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TiffanyR71 wrote: »Lyndsey - I assume that's you in your profile pic?? If so, you look phenomenal- don't lose more weight! Sounds like your body is tired and begging you for a little rest. After that, keep doing what you're doing, but make sure you're refueling and giving yourself a rest day here and there. And, seriously, think about why you feel that you need to lose more...
Keep in mind that my profile picture shows me first thing in the morning, flexed, in flattering lighting/angles. It's not exactly a true-to-life representation of what I look like. It's not photoshopped, but if I took a picture of myself at any other time in any other position, you wouldn't think I was as lean as you think now.0 -
LyndseyLovesToLift wrote: »LyndseyLovesToLift wrote: »Only read the subject line. The subject line is wrong. Too few calories and too much exercise leads to rapid weight loss, and a LOT of the lost weight will be lean body mass. This isn't conjecture, there is tons of evidence demonstrating this.
Eat too little, exercise too much -> rapid body weight loss, guaranteed.
If you read past that, your answer might have actually been useful to me.
If you had been concise, I might have.
If you want other people's help, it's your responsibility to engage them, not theirs to wade through TL;DR.
:drinker:
Bottom line: you aren't doing what you think you're doing. Good luck!
Notice the question mark at the end. I'm eating at what SHOULD be a deficit based on my TDEE (as I explained in what you didn't bother to read), I'm doing a lot more exercise than before (as I explained in what you didn't bother to read), and yet I'm not losing as much as I SHOULD be (as I explained in what you didn't bother to read). I'm not claiming that my subject line is a fact. If I was, it would end with a period. Grammar.
I'm not a newbie, so you can keep your condescension to yourself. Thanks.
The condescension would be ok if she were a 'newbie' though. Glad that's been made clear.0 -
Chrysalid2014 wrote: »LyndseyLovesToLift wrote: »LyndseyLovesToLift wrote: »Only read the subject line. The subject line is wrong. Too few calories and too much exercise leads to rapid weight loss, and a LOT of the lost weight will be lean body mass. This isn't conjecture, there is tons of evidence demonstrating this.
Eat too little, exercise too much -> rapid body weight loss, guaranteed.
If you read past that, your answer might have actually been useful to me.
If you had been concise, I might have.
If you want other people's help, it's your responsibility to engage them, not theirs to wade through TL;DR.
:drinker:
Bottom line: you aren't doing what you think you're doing. Good luck!
Notice the question mark at the end. I'm eating at what SHOULD be a deficit based on my TDEE (as I explained in what you didn't bother to read), I'm doing a lot more exercise than before (as I explained in what you didn't bother to read), and yet I'm not losing as much as I SHOULD be (as I explained in what you didn't bother to read). I'm not claiming that my subject line is a fact. If I was, it would end with a period. Grammar.
I'm not a newbie, so you can keep your condescension to yourself. Thanks.
The condescension would be ok if she were a 'newbie' though. Glad that's been made clear.
Yep, that's exactly what I meant. Oy...
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Chrysalid2014 wrote: »LyndseyLovesToLift wrote: »LyndseyLovesToLift wrote: »Only read the subject line. The subject line is wrong. Too few calories and too much exercise leads to rapid weight loss, and a LOT of the lost weight will be lean body mass. This isn't conjecture, there is tons of evidence demonstrating this.
Eat too little, exercise too much -> rapid body weight loss, guaranteed.
If you read past that, your answer might have actually been useful to me.
If you had been concise, I might have.
If you want other people's help, it's your responsibility to engage them, not theirs to wade through TL;DR.
:drinker:
Bottom line: you aren't doing what you think you're doing. Good luck!
Notice the question mark at the end. I'm eating at what SHOULD be a deficit based on my TDEE (as I explained in what you didn't bother to read), I'm doing a lot more exercise than before (as I explained in what you didn't bother to read), and yet I'm not losing as much as I SHOULD be (as I explained in what you didn't bother to read). I'm not claiming that my subject line is a fact. If I was, it would end with a period. Grammar.
I'm not a newbie, so you can keep your condescension to yourself. Thanks.
The condescension would be ok if she were a 'newbie' though. Glad that's been made clear.
who said that???
oh, wait you did..pretty kitty, I mean CICO15,or one of the many usernames you employ ..0 -
because you aren't new I can say this without a rebuff....
why would you try for 1lb a week? It's quite aggressive.
If it's for summer I guess I understand a bit but you are pretty lean already....and you know it's harder to lose the smaller you get. As well cortisol...stress....water...glycogen...all could be causing issues.
Took a peek at your diary..you aren't hitting your goal most days...usually off by 100 which isn't a lot but you said you were tired, low etc. Hitting goal even that extra 100 could help you "feel" better.
Wish I could be more help but my summer cut is 1/2lb a week...and that is hard on me...good luck I hope you get the answers you need.
oh on a note...a friend of mine on here indicated she doesn't do accessories on deload weeks as she finds she doesn't recover as fast...maybe try that?
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You are already on the lower end of a healthy BMI trying to get to the lowest end of healthy. I think you simply do not have the fat stores to constitute higher losses. 1 lb a week would definitely be too aggressive at this point for you. .5 lbs would be closer to reasonable, but it's still going to really hard. I think you aren't really looking at it realistically and expecting more than what should be happening.
That's my thoughts, too.
Speaking for myself, if I cut calories too much, I don't lose extra weight, I just lose energy and motivation. I'll still kick butt in my workouts, but my non-exercise activity dwindles. Little things, like walking the dog a little less, letting the laundry pile up, not keeping my house as tidy as I should, going to bed earlier, etc. Even going for groceries, I log less steps. I don't realize it, but I'm burning less calories.
If I were only losing a half pound a week anyway, I'd set my calories to the half pound a week and enjoy being less strict with my food.0 -
because you aren't new I can say this without a rebuff....
why would you try for 1lb a week? It's quite aggressive.
If it's for summer I guess I understand a bit but you are pretty lean already....and you know it's harder to lose the smaller you get. As well cortisol...stress....water...glycogen...all could be causing issues.
Took a peek at your diary..you aren't hitting your goal most days...usually off by 100 which isn't a lot but you said you were tired, low etc. Hitting goal even that extra 100 could help you "feel" better.
Wish I could be more help but my summer cut is 1/2lb a week...and that is hard on me...good luck I hope you get the answers you need.
oh on a note...a friend of mine on here indicated she doesn't do accessories on deload weeks as she finds she doesn't recover as fast...maybe try that?
I know 1 lb/week is aggressive. I knew it was a bit of a long shot, but even if I didn't lose 1 lb every week, I expected at least a small loss each week. I've only had two weeks that actually resulted in a loss. I've even had some "gains" (I know it's not fat, but still). It's just frustrating because I was still slowly losing at 2000 calories per day trying to find my maintenance calories, so I thought it would be easier.
It actually wasn't 1 lb/week. I started at 121 lbs and wanted to get to 115 lbs (ish). I won't go below 115. However, when I did the math, 1700 calories/day + the extra workouts should, in theory, result in 1 lb/week loss. Clearly that's not happening. You're right that I'm closer to goal and so it's going to be harder.
As for my calories, I do IIFYM, so I don't pay attention to what MFP says my calorie intake is. My macros add up to 1650-1700 every day.0 -
I know many people here say starvation mode is a myth but when I increased my calories I started losing again.
I would eat more calories and work on a BF% loss as opposed to a weight loss.
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Unless you have discovered a way to violate the laws of thermodynamics I would say either you are eating more calories than you think or burning less calories than you think.0
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LyndseyLovesToLift wrote: »LyndseyLovesToLift wrote: »Only read the subject line. The subject line is wrong. Too few calories and too much exercise leads to rapid weight loss, and a LOT of the lost weight will be lean body mass. This isn't conjecture, there is tons of evidence demonstrating this.
Eat too little, exercise too much -> rapid body weight loss, guaranteed.
If you read past that, your answer might have actually been useful to me.
If you had been concise, I might have.
If you want other people's help, it's your responsibility to engage them, not theirs to wade through TL;DR.
:drinker:
Bottom line: you aren't doing what you think you're doing. Good luck!
Notice the question mark at the end. I'm eating at what SHOULD be a deficit based on my TDEE (as I explained in what you didn't bother to read), I'm doing a lot more exercise than before (as I explained in what you didn't bother to read), and yet I'm not losing as much as I SHOULD be (as I explained in what you didn't bother to read). I'm not claiming that my subject line is a fact. If I was, it would end with a period. Grammar.
I'm not a newbie, so you can keep your condescension to yourself. Thanks.
Are you taking measurements? Seems to me you might be gaining muscle with would offset any fat loss. Since muscle weighs more per cubic inch than fat you may very well be loosing mass although not weight. Be patient and you should start seeing the numbers change.
All of that being said your body is telling you that you are pushing a little too hard. It does not have enough energy coming in to devote to healing and dealing with the tissue damage and inflammation caused by the new exercise load. Consider eating a little more and going for a slower loss.0 -
LyndseyLovesToLift wrote: »because you aren't new I can say this without a rebuff....
why would you try for 1lb a week? It's quite aggressive.
If it's for summer I guess I understand a bit but you are pretty lean already....and you know it's harder to lose the smaller you get. As well cortisol...stress....water...glycogen...all could be causing issues.
Took a peek at your diary..you aren't hitting your goal most days...usually off by 100 which isn't a lot but you said you were tired, low etc. Hitting goal even that extra 100 could help you "feel" better.
Wish I could be more help but my summer cut is 1/2lb a week...and that is hard on me...good luck I hope you get the answers you need.
oh on a note...a friend of mine on here indicated she doesn't do accessories on deload weeks as she finds she doesn't recover as fast...maybe try that?
I know 1 lb/week is aggressive. I knew it was a bit of a long shot, but even if I didn't lose 1 lb every week, I expected at least a small loss each week. I've only had two weeks that actually resulted in a loss. I've even had some "gains" (I know it's not fat, but still). It's just frustrating because I was still slowly losing at 2000 calories per day trying to find my maintenance calories, so I thought it would be easier.
It actually wasn't 1 lb/week. I started at 121 lbs and wanted to get to 115 lbs (ish). I won't go below 115. However, when I did the math, 1700 calories/day + the extra workouts should, in theory, result in 1 lb/week loss. Clearly that's not happening. You're right that I'm closer to goal and so it's going to be harder.
As for my calories, I do IIFYM, so I don't pay attention to what MFP says my calorie intake is. My macros add up to 1650-1700 every day.
Honestly I think your deficit is too much, you can tell by how terrible you feel, but it may also be a sign that you are at the bottom of where your body fat should be. You look great in your pic and perhaps you are at the lowest part of your ideal range (at least, you are close to the bottom). Just because 18.5 is the lowest of the BMI normal range, doesn't mean it is a fit for you, especially if you carry more muscle than the average person.
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AgentOrangeJuice wrote: »Seems like they might be in starvation mode if they're not eating enough calories and are burning even more.
No, in order to be in starvation mode a person has to have lost a certain percentage of muscle mass and weight/fat, and they are pretty much emaciated. That is not the situation here.0 -
LyndseyLovesToLift wrote: »because you aren't new I can say this without a rebuff....
why would you try for 1lb a week? It's quite aggressive.
If it's for summer I guess I understand a bit but you are pretty lean already....and you know it's harder to lose the smaller you get. As well cortisol...stress....water...glycogen...all could be causing issues.
Took a peek at your diary..you aren't hitting your goal most days...usually off by 100 which isn't a lot but you said you were tired, low etc. Hitting goal even that extra 100 could help you "feel" better.
Wish I could be more help but my summer cut is 1/2lb a week...and that is hard on me...good luck I hope you get the answers you need.
oh on a note...a friend of mine on here indicated she doesn't do accessories on deload weeks as she finds she doesn't recover as fast...maybe try that?
I know 1 lb/week is aggressive. I knew it was a bit of a long shot, but even if I didn't lose 1 lb every week, I expected at least a small loss each week. I've only had two weeks that actually resulted in a loss. I've even had some "gains" (I know it's not fat, but still). It's just frustrating because I was still slowly losing at 2000 calories per day trying to find my maintenance calories, so I thought it would be easier.
It actually wasn't 1 lb/week. I started at 121 lbs and wanted to get to 115 lbs (ish). I won't go below 115. However, when I did the math, 1700 calories/day + the extra workouts should, in theory, result in 1 lb/week loss. Clearly that's not happening. You're right that I'm closer to goal and so it's going to be harder.
As for my calories, I do IIFYM, so I don't pay attention to what MFP says my calorie intake is. My macros add up to 1650-1700 every day.
instead of trying to get to a certain weight, maybe you should do a bulk or recomp and focus more on body composition …..0 -
LyndseyLovesToLift wrote: »if your were losing half pound per week on 1850 and wanted to lose a pound per week, why were you not eating at 1600 instead of the 1700 that you went to???
1850 - 250 = 1600 ....
Because I increased my cardio as well...
Regardless, I'm not even losing .5 lbs a week, so something's still not right.
if you increased cardio and continued weight training you probably have some water retention going on..
also, as others mentioned as you lose weight your TDEE is going to be lower than it was at maintenance. So if you are basing your TDEE on maintenance level then you are probably over consuming for one pound per week loss.
And, as body fat % decreases it becomes harder and harder to drop additional body fat and weight...
I vote for water retention as well.0 -
Why are you so obsessed with an arbitrary number instead of focusing on how you look and feel?0
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LyndseyLovesToLift wrote: »I'm not new to cutting and I've been lifting heavy for a little over a year. A few months ago, I was eating 1850 cal a day and losing about a half a pound a week. At that time, I was lifting four days a week for about an hour and doing one 60-minute cardio session per week. I measure/weigh everything I eat and log everything as accurately/consistently as I can.
I switched to maintenance in November and stayed at about 122 pounds until I started a quick eight week summer cut program that I designed in March. The goal was to lose about a pound a week, or drop down to 115 pounds by the end. I'm now eating about 1700 cal per day and, in addition to the aforementioned mentioned exercise, I added 30 minutes of cardio to my lifting days.
This is the end of the week six and I have only lost about 2.5 pounds. I now realize that I'm pushing my body too much and I need to cool it on the extra exercise. My body constantly hurts, my energy level is on the ground, and I'm even starting to feel low/depressed.
I've never had a problem losing weight before, and this time it seems that math is not on my side. I was maintaining at 2150 cal a day, yet not losing much on 1700 cal a day even with extra exercise. I realized today that I'm doing at least eight hours of exercise per week, lifting heavy for half and moderate/intense cardio for half. And eating at a 20% deficit of my old TDEE. My body is telling me to slow down, so I will.
However, it's extremely frustrating that I might go the entire eight weeks and only drop a fraction of my goal. Is it possible that I was over training and it was sabotaging my weight-loss? If so, what does this mean as far as transitioning back to maintenance? Am I going to probably gain weight at my old maintenance because I mistakingly pushed my body too much during this cut? It's not as if I'm starving myself, so I just don't get what's going on with my body and why it won't cooperate or let go of these last few pounds.
Words of wisdom are appreciated.
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My god people get the hell off of her already. Quit being so judgmental and let her try to fulfill her goals. If she wants to get to a certain bf% then that's what she wants and instead of the ridiculing or questioning WHY she wants to do it, it's her decision and if you have knowledge on the topic, give advice that helps. Instead of telling her she's "obsessed with an arbitrary number" maybe try to give advice on how she can proceed to get to that number.
There are ALOT of people that want to reach a "certain number" of a weight or bf% because that's a true victory for them and "feeling good and looking good" is icing on the cake and goes along with it.
Instead of trying to add more problems, how about trying to give some actual help?0 -
Lyndsey, I had similar experiences when i was lifting heavy at first but then it all came off all of a sudden. Your still shocking your body so u should still see the weight come off, but make sure you are getting enough protein after too 0
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joejccva71 wrote: »My god people get the hell off of her already. Quit being so judgmental and let her try to fulfill her goals. If she wants to get to a certain bf% then that's what she wants and instead of the ridiculing or questioning WHY she wants to do it, it's her decision and if you have knowledge on the topic, give advice that helps. Instead of telling her she's "obsessed with an arbitrary number" maybe try to give advice on how she can proceed to get to that number.
There are ALOT of people that want to reach a "certain number" of a weight or bf% because that's a true victory for them and "feeling good and looking good" is icing on the cake and goes along with it.
Instead of trying to add more problems, how about trying to give some actual help?
I really hope this wasn't aimed toward me. Nowhere did I say BF%, either. I stand by my statement of aiming for a very specific scale number being a little difficult on someone who is already at a very healthy weight.
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lemonsnowdrop wrote: »joejccva71 wrote: »My god people get the hell off of her already. Quit being so judgmental and let her try to fulfill her goals. If she wants to get to a certain bf% then that's what she wants and instead of the ridiculing or questioning WHY she wants to do it, it's her decision and if you have knowledge on the topic, give advice that helps. Instead of telling her she's "obsessed with an arbitrary number" maybe try to give advice on how she can proceed to get to that number.
There are ALOT of people that want to reach a "certain number" of a weight or bf% because that's a true victory for them and "feeling good and looking good" is icing on the cake and goes along with it.
Instead of trying to add more problems, how about trying to give some actual help?
I really hope this wasn't aimed toward me. Nowhere did I say BF%, either. I stand by my statement of aiming for a very specific scale number being a little difficult on someone who is already at a very healthy weight.
But that's what she wants to do. Your comment was very offputting and nonhelpful by asking her "why she's obsessed with a number".0 -
joejccva71 wrote: »lemonsnowdrop wrote: »joejccva71 wrote: »My god people get the hell off of her already. Quit being so judgmental and let her try to fulfill her goals. If she wants to get to a certain bf% then that's what she wants and instead of the ridiculing or questioning WHY she wants to do it, it's her decision and if you have knowledge on the topic, give advice that helps. Instead of telling her she's "obsessed with an arbitrary number" maybe try to give advice on how she can proceed to get to that number.
There are ALOT of people that want to reach a "certain number" of a weight or bf% because that's a true victory for them and "feeling good and looking good" is icing on the cake and goes along with it.
Instead of trying to add more problems, how about trying to give some actual help?
I really hope this wasn't aimed toward me. Nowhere did I say BF%, either. I stand by my statement of aiming for a very specific scale number being a little difficult on someone who is already at a very healthy weight.
But that's what she wants to do. Your comment was very offputting and nonhelpful by asking her "why she's obsessed with a number".
It's a valid and fair question. -shrug-
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Your body needs a rest! Take a few days off. I actually notice that if i workout more then 4 days in a row i retain water which is what your muscle do. A year ago i workout two weeks in a row and couldn't understand how i gain 5 pounds! I watch the way my body react to exercises and found what works for me. So now i workout 3-4 days in a row Take a two day break and repeat. Also make sure with the extra exercise your drinking more water as your body needs it even more. If i was you, i would take a week break making sure you stick to your calories if your not an active person 1700 might be too manny. I would say move it to 1500 for a week and see what happens. Also maybe juicing for one day would give your muscles what they need to get back on track. Magnesium also helps me with water retention. I loss 95 pounds just by eating healthy and exercising at home a few years ago. Gain 8 in the past month during vacation so working on losing 10. I'm keeping my calorie intake at 1200. Hope that was of some help..0
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Why the rush? I'm in the same boat as you, lifting heavy, slowwwwww weight loss. It's because you don't have a lot to lose. I'm trying to get my BF from 22% to 18%. It's going to take a while to get there. Just keep eating clean and working out. You ARE still losing, just slowly. And honestly, it's better to do it slowly because you have less of a risk of losing that muscle you're working so hard for.
In the meantime, are you measuring body fat and taking measurements? Just because your weight isn't reflected on the scale doesn't mean it's not changing 0 -
LyndseyLovesToLift wrote: »Have you had your body fat measured? I am wondering why you are trying to get to a specific weight instead a specific body fat %.
I really have no way to accurately measure my bf%. I work out in my garage gym, so I don't have access to bf% monitors at a gym and I'm simply not going to pay $75 for a dunk test or bod pod every so often. I have a pair of those cheap calipers, but I'm not sure how accurate they are or even if I'm using it correctly. My readings on that seem pretty low.
Don't worry about the actual number being accurate, just watch that it keeps going down to measure progress. 0 -
SlaughterHouseFive wrote: »Unless you have discovered a way to violate the laws of thermodynamics I would say either you are eating more calories than you think or burning less calories than you think.
Laws were made to be broken. Violated?? I don't like that term.0
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