Metabolic damage?

Hey guys! I'm a long time user of MFP. 4 or 5 years ago now I lost 13kg, going from 86-73kg in 5 months eating probably far too low for my height of 5'9".

Since then, I have gained back almost 12kg. I exercise more, have more muscle (yes) but ultimately I should sit around 75-78kg. It's a battle to even lose anything these days and I'm worried I have damaged my metabolism.

Last year I also rowed competitively which meant I didn't track what I ate (I still ate healthily) but as I was training up to 4 hours a day (10-15 hours per week), it didn't matter. Now that I've stopped rowing, I'm watching what I eat but I've put on 3kg since then.

I'm in struggle-town and I hate that I put so much effort into eating a clean lifestyle get can't lose anything! I exercise 5 hours a week (weight training and cardio and yoga) plus an hour walking each day to and from work.

Help?

Replies

  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    i would make sure you are weighing all your food. clean doesnt matter as much as calorie intake and accurate logging, esp if you are not seeing movement on the scale....
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
    i would make sure you are weighing all your food. clean doesnt matter as much as calorie intake and accurate logging, esp if you are not seeing movement on the scale....

    This.

    I've never really got the whole idea of clean eating being a replacement to calorie counting.

    3000 calories of clean eating is going to put on weight isn't it? If your maintenance is 2500
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    edited August 2015
    i would make sure you are weighing all your food. clean doesnt matter as much as calorie intake and accurate logging, esp if you are not seeing movement on the scale....
    Merkavar wrote: »
    i would make sure you are weighing all your food. clean doesnt matter as much as calorie intake and accurate logging, esp if you are not seeing movement on the scale....

    This.

    I've never really got the whole idea of clean eating being a replacement to calorie counting.

    3000 calories of clean eating is going to put on weight isn't it? If your maintenance is 2500

    This and this. None of us can outsmart science. :)

    If you're not losing, you're not eating at a deficit.
  • Jennloella
    Jennloella Posts: 2,286 Member
    No you didn't damage your metabolism. Weigh your food, track your exercise if need be.
  • Livinz
    Livinz Posts: 9 Member
    SLLRunner wrote: »
    i would make sure you are weighing all your food. clean doesnt matter as much as calorie intake and accurate logging, esp if you are not seeing movement on the scale....
    Merkavar wrote: »
    i would make sure you are weighing all your food. clean doesnt matter as much as calorie intake and accurate logging, esp if you are not seeing movement on the scale....

    This.

    I've never really got the whole idea of clean eating being a replacement to calorie counting.

    3000 calories of clean eating is going to put on weight isn't it? If your maintenance is 2500

    This and this. None of us can outsmart science. :)

    If you're not losing, you're not eating at a deficit.

    I weigh and measure all my food.
  • Livinz
    Livinz Posts: 9 Member
    FYI, my TDEE is 2400, I eat around 1800-2000 depending on exercise. BMR is 1600.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    MFP%20Flowchart%20lemonlionheart_zps3s3xqead.jpg

    Your daily goal of 8046 kj for a height of 5'9" seems very high.
  • Livinz
    Livinz Posts: 9 Member
    Orphia wrote: »
    MFP%20Flowchart%20lemonlionheart_zps3s3xqead.jpg

    Your daily goal of 8046 kj for a height of 5'9" seems very high.

    It isn't high - it's what IIFYM calculates for my TDEE. I burn on average 2400 per day according to my weight, height and activity. It isn't ever just about calories in to calories out.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Livinz wrote: »
    SLLRunner wrote: »
    i would make sure you are weighing all your food. clean doesnt matter as much as calorie intake and accurate logging, esp if you are not seeing movement on the scale....
    Merkavar wrote: »
    i would make sure you are weighing all your food. clean doesnt matter as much as calorie intake and accurate logging, esp if you are not seeing movement on the scale....

    This.

    I've never really got the whole idea of clean eating being a replacement to calorie counting.

    3000 calories of clean eating is going to put on weight isn't it? If your maintenance is 2500

    This and this. None of us can outsmart science. :)

    If you're not losing, you're not eating at a deficit.

    I weigh and measure all my food.

    If you're not losing weight, there are inaccuracies somewhere.

    Do you count exercise calories? Do you eat them back? Where do you get those numbers from?

    Please open your diary and we can give you more specific help.
  • BWBTrish
    BWBTrish Posts: 2,817 Member
    weigh ALL your food on a food scale, measuring can be way off.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Livinz wrote: »
    Orphia wrote: »
    MFP%20Flowchart%20lemonlionheart_zps3s3xqead.jpg

    Your daily goal of 8046 kj for a height of 5'9" seems very high.

    It isn't high - it's what IIFYM calculates for my TDEE. I burn on average 2400 per day according to my weight, height and activity. It isn't ever just about calories in to calories out.

    At the most basic level, weight management is about calories in/calories out. Everything else is a tool.
  • BWBTrish
    BWBTrish Posts: 2,817 Member
    looked at your diary

    You have to start weighing everything you eat more than you thing
    medium carrot medium beets spoon of this or that cups etc

    Really your deficit is very small so you need to be far more accurate
  • BWBTrish
    BWBTrish Posts: 2,817 Member
    Chose the right entry's and check them at the usda site if you have to.
  • jeffpettis
    jeffpettis Posts: 865 Member
    No, you didn't "damage" your metabolism.

    And weight loss is absolutely about calories in and calories out. If you are not losing weight you are simply not in a deficit. You are either eating more than you think or not burning as much as you think or a combination of the two.

    Do you weigh your food? How do you figure your calories burned from exercise, HRM, exercise equipment readout, or what MFP says you burned?

    It doesn't take much to wipe out a deficit. Being a couple hundred off on calories burned and eating a hundred or two more than you think is not hard to do every day and will cause you to not be in a deficit without even realizing it.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    edited August 2015
    I see you do have your diary open. A lot of your entries are very generic and calories counts are way off on some foods. No wonder you are struggling right now. Here's some examples from one day.

    Horleys Sculpt for Women - Protein Powder - Vanilla, 2 Scoops - 96 calories. How many grams should this be? How full is the scoop. Most of the time, we scoop out more than we intend to. It's easy to do.

    Dole - Small Banana (Net Carbs), 1 Banana - 90 calories. How many grams is in that small banana? What determines a banana to be small? I've never had a banana that was 90 calories, and I eat one just about every day. None of them weigh the same either, and generally range in calories from 110 t0 145, depending on what they weigh.

    Freebirds - Roasted Veggies, 1 order -15 calories. Were these roasted in oil? Butter? Those calories count too.

    Pumpkin Seeds - Pumpkin Seeds, 0.5 Tb- 28 calories. You really had 1/2 tablespoon of pumpkin seeds? They are a seed, therefore they are calorie dense. 28 grams has about 170 calories.

    Steak - Rump Steak, 200 g -266 calories. 200 grams of anything is 7.14 ounces, which is about double the calories you have there.

    If you want to get back on track with losing weight, you have to get your logging under control to ensure that you eat less than you burn.

    You can do this!
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    Livinz wrote: »
    Orphia wrote: »
    MFP%20Flowchart%20lemonlionheart_zps3s3xqead.jpg

    Your daily goal of 8046 kj for a height of 5'9" seems very high.

    It isn't high - it's what IIFYM calculates for my TDEE. I burn on average 2400 per day according to my weight, height and activity. It isn't ever just about calories in to calories out.

    It really is all about calories in to calories out.

    And you should be eating less than your TDEE to lose weight. Otherwise if you eat at that limit, you're at maintenance.

    Have you entered all your stats into MFP, and if so, what calorie goal did they give you?

    What did you say was your goal amount to lose per week?