Bodymedia Fit But Plateauing for Weeks
rjlkat
Posts: 82 Member
Hi, All.
Stuck, and looking for a little insight. First, a few stats:
43 yoa Female
5'1", muscular/athletic build (under all the fat)
BW: ~165 lbs (fluctuated)
CW: 159.2
Heavy Weights 3x/wk; Moderate-HIIT Cardio 3x/wk (after weights); walking on "off" days 2-4x/wk)
Usually I just gather all the great information/advice from others' posts and answers, but I haven't seen anyone on EM2WL who uses a Bodymedia Fit tracker (lots of FitBits, though!). This should narrow down pinpointing my actual TDEE. I'm pretty darn accurate on tracking calories, weighing much of my food; if I end up having to estimate at times, I err on the side of estimating more, but not drastically.
For quite some time (a couple years?) I averaged 1300-1500 cal/day net without results. Saw results early last year after completing a round of Insanity (HIIT to the extreme). But the pounds crept back on. Got frustrated, quit tracking and ate whatever I wanted (but still trying to stay semi-healthy) for perhaps 4-6 months, gained a total of about 16 lbs by the end of the year. Circa January 2015, tried to go back to tracking, netting about 1200-1400. In early April, found my way back to EM2WL and this time really studied the program and the cause/effect of dieting on the body. Raised my calories up to about 1800 over the course of a few weeks, saw the water weight drop quickly as my body de-stressed some. At 1850, dropped a little bit more, but by the latter part of May, plateaued.
This has been my weight training/workout break week. Per Bodymedia Fit, I'm still burning at least TDEE, as I'm walking everyday to reach it while still giving my body a break from the stress of higher intensity exercise. Though not eating at TDEE, I haven't seen a drop in weight or inches since late May. Have had one 10-day diet break at the end of May/first of June averaging 2200, and instantly gained several pounds of water weight. But that finally came off after a few weeks. Went up to 1900 after the break. But no progress past my earlier success (back to my low). Despite upping my calories another 50 /day over the last week or so, not any change but the last half a pound of water off.
So... The new question is: to increase yet calories again, or hold off and see after I go back to heavy weights next week? My TDEE is at least 2200, and often closer to 2300 (or more; Bodymedia apparently under-measures anaerobic exercise); I am averaging 1950. The math doesn't add up... I just don't want to do a metabolism reset, especially after that's pretty much what half my year last year was....
Stuck, and looking for a little insight. First, a few stats:
43 yoa Female
5'1", muscular/athletic build (under all the fat)
BW: ~165 lbs (fluctuated)
CW: 159.2
Heavy Weights 3x/wk; Moderate-HIIT Cardio 3x/wk (after weights); walking on "off" days 2-4x/wk)
Usually I just gather all the great information/advice from others' posts and answers, but I haven't seen anyone on EM2WL who uses a Bodymedia Fit tracker (lots of FitBits, though!). This should narrow down pinpointing my actual TDEE. I'm pretty darn accurate on tracking calories, weighing much of my food; if I end up having to estimate at times, I err on the side of estimating more, but not drastically.
For quite some time (a couple years?) I averaged 1300-1500 cal/day net without results. Saw results early last year after completing a round of Insanity (HIIT to the extreme). But the pounds crept back on. Got frustrated, quit tracking and ate whatever I wanted (but still trying to stay semi-healthy) for perhaps 4-6 months, gained a total of about 16 lbs by the end of the year. Circa January 2015, tried to go back to tracking, netting about 1200-1400. In early April, found my way back to EM2WL and this time really studied the program and the cause/effect of dieting on the body. Raised my calories up to about 1800 over the course of a few weeks, saw the water weight drop quickly as my body de-stressed some. At 1850, dropped a little bit more, but by the latter part of May, plateaued.
This has been my weight training/workout break week. Per Bodymedia Fit, I'm still burning at least TDEE, as I'm walking everyday to reach it while still giving my body a break from the stress of higher intensity exercise. Though not eating at TDEE, I haven't seen a drop in weight or inches since late May. Have had one 10-day diet break at the end of May/first of June averaging 2200, and instantly gained several pounds of water weight. But that finally came off after a few weeks. Went up to 1900 after the break. But no progress past my earlier success (back to my low). Despite upping my calories another 50 /day over the last week or so, not any change but the last half a pound of water off.
So... The new question is: to increase yet calories again, or hold off and see after I go back to heavy weights next week? My TDEE is at least 2200, and often closer to 2300 (or more; Bodymedia apparently under-measures anaerobic exercise); I am averaging 1950. The math doesn't add up... I just don't want to do a metabolism reset, especially after that's pretty much what half my year last year was....
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Replies
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First - BMF is not going to be good at measuring lifting or HIIT - and since that is decent amount of your exercise, and probably good amount of exercise calorie burn - your TDEE is probably higher potentially.
Second - you are eating at TDEE - defined by not gaining or losing weight.
Question is - potential or suppressed TDEE?
Third - the commonly desired water weight people try to shed, if it's the attached water to extra glucose stored, that lowers your metabolism, so not really desired to lose it. But that big of a gain and loss just shows how much depleted your stores were.
Fourth - in one study the folks suppressed their daily burn in 3 months eating only a 25% deficit. So the fact you ate above maintenance last year until January doesn't really matter from January until now.
Though you've done a better job of it. But if bigger deficit than you think, and few diet breaks - not good.
Fifth - it may just be it's overestimating, but only a test would prove it out. What's 2 weeks going to cost you in the scheme of time since already waiting this long waiting for a loss.
Get your routine back to normal, and eating at whatever you think is maintenance for a couple weeks. Keep the workouts average of course.
Then for 2 weeks eat 250 more daily.
Should only gain 1 lb slowly - and with that weight lifting - won't even be fat.
But if you again gain some fast water weight - then what you thought was TDEE was still a deficit - because you topped off more carb stores with attached water - which should have been topped off already if truly eating at potential TDEE.0 -
Heybales - making sure I have your suggestion straight: Once I start back to weights next week (and a fairly normal schedule), raise my calories back up to the 2200-2300 calculated maintenance for two weeks, then raise it again by another 250 for two more weeks to see if I gain "only" a pound, correct? Then drop back down to cut (either 1950 or whatever the month of this 'test' dictates). I was losing - miniscule amounts by that point - until I took my diet break then rapidly gained about 4 pounds. That came off after about 3 weeks of eating at cut, so I know it wasn't fat, and most likely was the glucose-water weight with a little hormonal water thrown in.
I'm trying to follow all the recommendations about taking both diet breaks about every six weeks, and a workout break every eight weeks so I don't overstress my body. I am definitely cringing a little at bouncing back up to 2200+ next week, just because I know there will rapid weight gain again, albeit water (but the clothes still tighten). But if you think it will make a positive difference, I'll try it. I had thought that just a few months of the low calorie dieting (especially after last year's semi-binging) wouldn't have damaged my metabolism. But perhaps...
The only other untried variable for next week is that I am coming off the workout break to a different heavy weights routine (the last one I did for around 8-9 weeks). But it should be about the same amount of time and rep-challenge.
Thanks!0 -
Well, if you raise it 250 above estimated TDEE, and either no weight gain, or fast water weight gain - then you test again going higher.
Don't drop back down, because you aren't doing the math with actual TDEE yet.
Clothes shouldn't tighten from glucose stores in the muscles though - that's spread out over all the muscles you use. Unless you can discern it's tighter across some good muscle mass area.
If clothes get tight that fast - that's probably water weight gain from purely eating more food. Perhaps type of food, or just stomach not used to it.
I'd say just don't get your weight after the start of the new program, as it may take 4 weeks to calm down from it regarding retained water for repair.
Get it before you start the 2 weeks at maintenance TDEE.
Then hopefully valid days before and after the 2 week test.0 -
When my weight shot back up several pounds toward the end of the diet break, yes, the pants at least got tight in the belly, and honestly I felt a bit bloated all over (could have been psychological). It just took a few weeks at cut to get back down to the lowest I'd gotten after raising my calories from the net ~1200.
Habitually, I weigh myself nearly every morning (partly to keep me from fretting about it all week and worrying about a 'surprise' of a gain). I have been using the Happy Scale app to see the bigger trend, and try to recall each time if it is a valid day or not - those are the ones I mark for my median points.
So wait another four weeks until my body is okay with the new program, THEN do the two weeks at maintenance, then two 250 higher?0 -
I'd say get valid weight.
Start program while you do 2 weeks maintenance.
Get valid weight.
Keep doing program while doing 2 week 250 test.
Get valid weight.
You've been lifting already, there aren't going to be the same surprises someone gets when going from say cardio mainly to lifting mainly, and heavy at that.
But if new rep ranges and such, may have initial more water retained for bigger repair - until it drops off to normal amount for repair.
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Thanks, Heybales! I'll update this as I see either results or - as importantly - lack thereof.0
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Update: I find it fascinating that on Monday I started the new weight program and upped my calories to the alleged maintenance target of 2200 at a starting weight of 160.0 (my weight has been hovering, bouncing between 160.0 and 159.2 at the lowest in a year). Tuesday was 160.0, and I had to eat a fair bit at the end of the day to reach goal calories. Wednesday morning? 158.8. A barrier was finally broken and on Thursday and Friday, same weight. Now, due to a week of emergencies and crises, I only weight trained on Monday. I will try to do it tomorrow to make up for one of the two missed days. But overall, I'm fascinated with upping my calories to maintenance and dropping weight I couldn't before.
I'll keep at this at least another week and see what happens. If I keep dropping, I may hold it at 2200 until it plateaus again then try the upping another 250. We'll watch and see.0 -
Ya, it's a bummer when you've figured out and look forward to the higher eating level - and then workouts get blown away and you need to eat less.
But good job dealing with it in some manner, and to see great results too.0 -
Yes, but thankfully I'll be back on track workout-wise next week. It wasn't difficult to eat less yesterday - I think I still had 150 left and that was after trying to play catch-up on calories at the end of the day. But I'll get a weight training session in today, so it should all be good.
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