Help / advice

QuintinVAbrams wrote: »

so, I'm a 47 year old bloke and I have taken to loosing weight, in need to shed around 3stone. I joined a gym and have been going 5 months or so, and two of those interval training. I have managed to shift 1.5 stone, but, it seems loosing has stopped. My clothes fit well, I am feeling fitter and getting some definition, but I really want to shift more weight. My eating is healthy, and if I have a treat, it's tracked on here. I know the scale is not the only measure, but I'm getting frustrated with staying the same weight. Any similar experience out there? Any advice?

What is your daily calorie goal, and are you hitting it?

Exercise is fantastic, but getting diet down (more than just "healthy") is going to be the prime factor in weight loss.

It's hard to answer these kinds of posts without more details. How long has it been since you last saw a drop on the scale? If it's only been a few weeks, then it's possible that it's just a natural stall and will go away on its own.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10084670/it-is-unlikely-that-you-will-lose-weight-consistently-i-e-weight-loss-is-not-linear

Other than that, the most common problems we see come from underestimating calories eaten and overestimating calories burned.

Opening your diary might help to get you more specific advice if you're comfortable doing so.

You're logging everything you eat? Including condiments, cooking oils, veggies, cheat days, etc? Are you using a food scale, measuring cups, or eyeballing your portion sizes? Most people can be off in their estimates by several hundred calories when they eyeball portions. Measuring cups are better, but a food scale is going to be the most accurate.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1290491-how-and-why-to-use-a-digital-food-scale

And make sure that you've calculated your calorie goals appropriately. Remember that these are just estimates. You may need to play around a little to find what works best for you.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

If you're exercising and eating back your earned exercise calories, be sure that you're using accurate estimates of your burn. MFP and gym machines have a tendency to overestimate certain activities, which can cause you to eat back more calories than you need to. Even a heart rate monitor isn't 100% accurate. If you're eating those extra earned calories it might be a good idea to eat only 50-75% of those.

And there's something to be said for the fact that some people just burn fewer calories than the generic equations predict. If that's the case for you, you may need to adjust your calories a little lower until you start losing again.

Without being to see your stats (weight, height, nutritional needs and body fat) Here are some general tips when a plateau has been reached:

Kitchen:
Try to recalculate your nutritional needs every 1-2 weeks based on your weight (ideally knowing your BF% as well)
Take an honest eval of your daily foods (can any carbs be substituted for healthier ones white vs brown)
Are you having a treat meal or day perhaps too often
Are you drinking enough water
Are you eating to keep your metabolism up (Ideally every 2-3 hours)

Training:
Have you introduced cardio (HIIT or other kinds)
If you have try to increase the number of times a week you do cardio
Try to mix up your lifting schedule (Your body will get used to a routine and slow progression)
Or you may want to start steadily increasing weight

BodyBuilding.com has tons of free training plans to change up your training

DesiraeLynn24 wrote: »

Without being to see your stats (weight, height, nutritional needs and body fat) Here are some general tips when a plateau has been reached:

Kitchen:
Try to recalculate your nutritional needs every 1-2 weeks based on your weight (ideally knowing your BF% as well)
Take an honest eval of your daily foods (can any carbs be substituted for healthier ones white vs brown)
Are you having a treat meal or day perhaps too often
Are you drinking enough water
Are you eating to keep your metabolism up (Ideally every 2-3 hours)

Training:
Have you introduced cardio (HIIT or other kinds)
If you have try to increase the number of times a week you do cardio
Try to mix up your lifting schedule (Your body will get used to a routine and slow progression)
Or you may want to start steadily increasing weight

BodyBuilding.com has tons of free training plans to change up your training

Most of the above is nonsense. Sorry.

To the OP you say you're eating "around" 2000 calories. Do you weigh/measure and log everything? Estimating calories often means you're eating a lot more than you think

As 47 yo male, at your size 2000 calories seems like a reasonable goal. If you're not seeing progress, drop it 100 or 200 calories and re-assess after a few more weeks.

QuintinVAbrams wrote: »

I measure and scan everything. When it come to receiving advice I look at everyone's comments, for which I am really grateful, then I take on board what looks right to me. Deisera did bring up an interesting point about drinking enough water, which I don't.

I just want to check that when you scan barcodes you're still double-checking the entries that the app brings up, right? I love the barcode scanner and I use it all the time, but it's prone to the same inaccuracies that the rest of the user-entered entries tend to have.

Additionally, even with prepackaged foods, weighing tends to be more accurate than measuring. Maybe you don't want to do that, and that's fine, but you may have to adjust your calories to fit if you're unintentionally eating more than expected.

QuintinVAbrams wrote: »

Thanks. I wander if my goals are correct in my fitness pal. I have an office job, so assume that makes me generally sedentary, but with gymn 2-3 times per week, does that change it to light active or still sedentary? I am doing cardio at the gymn as well as interval training. I'm toning not building.

You can handle this one of two ways, and both should be about equal in terms of effectiveness. You can keep your activity level set to sedentary and log your workouts separately. Or you can include your workouts in your activity level, bumping it up to lightly active, and not log workouts. It should workout to about the same number of calories either way, it's just that one takes your workout into account up front and one doesn't.

Now that I know a tad more,

MFP's calculations in my opinion, are too generic. For example, I am a female 30 years old 162lb with a BF% of 25
My current goal is to drop BF and maintaining my lean muscle mass.
My calculations through various research for nutrition is roughly 1600 calories I split this as 50% protein, 30-40% fat and the remaining to carbs
I carb cycle so there is a ton more involvement than the above but in a nutshell there it is.
Now MFP says I should have 1200 calories and 55% of those should be to carbs
I use MFP to make sure I track my food and eat accordingly as well as outside motivation to keep on keeping on
So to answer the question I think a majority of goals are probably incorrect.

Gym time 2-3 times is a good base. If you only have enough time for that aim for lifting (it burns more calories than cardio) first. If you typically do not lift I suggest visiting the site to get some premade training plans. Than do your cardio (I suggest at least 30 minutes) structuring your training this way allows for maximum effect. You use your energy from food source for lifting (your fresh energy) and stored energy for cardio allowing you to burn the unwanted fat.

If you are able to try to increase your days as well. for the next 4 weeks aim to hit the gym or train 3-4 times a week. The following 4 weeks aim 4-5. Than you've got a good amount of training to balance your office job.

BTW body building (as I refer to it anyways) is not just becoming a mass monster or wanting to step up on stage to be judged. Its building your body to the way you want it. Try not to be intimidated by the name BodyBuilding.com its a really great information site.

DesiraeLynn24 wrote: »

Now that I know a tad more,

MFP's calculations in my opinion, are too generic. For example, I am a female 30 years old 162lb with a BF% of 25
My current goal is to drop BF and maintaining my lean muscle mass.
My calculations through various research for nutrition is roughly 1600 calories I split this as 50% protein, 30-40% fat and the remaining to carbs
I carb cycle so there is a ton more involvement than the above but in a nutshell there it is.
Now MFP says I should have 1200 calories and 55% of those should be to carbs
I use MFP to make sure I track my food and eat accordingly as well as outside motivation to keep on keeping on
So to answer the question I think a majority of goals are probably incorrect.

Gym time 2-3 times is a good base. If you only have enough time for that aim for lifting (it burns more calories than cardio) first. If you typically do not lift I suggest visiting the site to get some premade training plans. Than do your cardio (I suggest at least 30 minutes) structuring your training this way allows for maximum effect. You use your energy from food source for lifting (your fresh energy) and stored energy for cardio allowing you to burn the unwanted fat.

If you are able to try to increase your days as well. for the next 4 weeks aim to hit the gym or train 3-4 times a week. The following 4 weeks aim 4-5. Than you've got a good amount of training to balance your office job.

BTW body building (as I refer to it anyways) is not just becoming a mass monster or wanting to step up on stage to be judged. Its building your body to the way you want it. Try not to be intimidated by the name BodyBuilding.com its a really great information site.

I disagree. I find it to be full of bioscience.