Nutrition, Protein, and Weight Loss/Gain

James_Bergin
James_Bergin Posts: 84 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi all,

I wasn't quite sure whether to post this in nutrition or exercise, but here goes anyway.

A few weeks ago I posted a question about reaching protein goals and got a lot of good feedback. I'm still a bit short on reaching my calorie and protein intakes daily, but things are moving in the right direction thanks to some good advice :D

However, I've noticed something a bit perplexing and though I'd post about it here and see what people have to say.

I work out about 4-6 times per week; usually a 20-30 minute run and 30-40 minutes of strenght training. Here's the bit that's confusing. Even though I'm usually short of my calorie goals, and usually a bit short of my protein goals as well (though not too far off), I'm not losing weight, and in fact may be gaining weight at a slow rate.

This stagnation in weight loss, or potential gain, is also coinciding with changes in body shape — chiefly I'm slimming down around the waste and toning up slowly. Now I'm not complaining, but I'm confused as to how this is possible given my inadequate protein and calorie intake, and I'm also worried that whatever is going on may be an indicator of a health issue, or something that might cause health issues if I continue.

Anyway, let me know if any of you have any insight into what might be going on, and what, if anything, I should do about it. In the mean time I'm going to keep trying to eat more and reach my protein goals, but I'll look forward to hearing back from y'all :D

Cheers,

James

Replies

  • adamxcrunner
    adamxcrunner Posts: 1 Member
    Hello James,

    As a disclaimer I'm no expert, but from a lamemans perspective (and someone who has taken a few nutritional classes in college) it just just sounds like you are slimming down down and gaining muscle mass. You should be aware that muscle is about 5 times more dense than fat. It dosnt sound like anything is wrong, but if you are really concerned about this then you should go see a doctor, and get a professional opinion on on the matter.
    Hope this helps!

    -Adam
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    From lemonlionheart:
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  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
    If you are actually eating at a deficit and staying the same weight, it's likely to be water retention. Fat cells can retain water before they fully empty, and muscle cells can retain water while they are rebuilding and repairing (which, if you're strength training, is pretty much always).
  • ghettosmurf999
    ghettosmurf999 Posts: 33 Member
    You will lose water weight if your hydration is adequate etc. There are several studies that show that the 'bodybuilding guides' of protein intake aren't required for muscle retention in dieting, and can be as low as 0.64g per lb of body wieght and maintain muscle mass.

    If you're worried that it's not what you want to achieve, then your options are to increase your calories slowly, or try turning your 20-30min run into an incline walk or similar or skip the cardio element on some days.

    When you first start training you will notice a lot of odd body changes that don't quite relate to what you're trying to achieve, but trust the process the stick at it before making rash changes.
  • libby328
    libby328 Posts: 287 Member
    I'm also wondering about this. I've been eating at a deficit for 6 weeks, strength training 4 days a week with 30 minutes of cardiovascular 2x a week. I haven't lost anything poundage wise. I've to noticed changes in my body but haven't lost any weight in 6 weeks.
  • James_Bergin
    James_Bergin Posts: 84 Member
    edited October 2015
    Hey everyone, thanks again for the advice/info.

    Given the consistency of the weight stagnation (slight gain) and the fact that I way at different points in my routine, I doubt water retention is the cause.

    One update though. My strength training routine today saw a decrease in performance by about 5% across the board; ex. on my 100lbs lifts today I stalled out at 95.

    I have two concern on this. One is that it might suggest the slight weight gain is not coming from muscle gain. But then that still doesn't explain the body shape changes and apparent loss in fat. I'm wondering if today's decreased perfance could be accumulated fatigue from the last few days of training? Is that even a thing?

    Anyway, given the input, and my own observations, I'm thinking I need to space my strength training out more, up the cardio, and start religiously hitting my protien and calorie intake goals — at least as a starting point to seeing what is going on before I see my doc. So no major changes for now, just a few tweaks.

    What does everyone think about that for a strategy?

    Thanks again for all the great advice :D

    Cheers,

    James
  • ghettosmurf999
    ghettosmurf999 Posts: 33 Member
    instead of upping the cardio, introduce high intensity interval trianing (i.e 30 secs max effort rower, 30 secs rest, repeat.) or upping the tempo and lowering the rest periods in your strength training. If you're lifting your near max every session 4-5 times a week, you can stress the central nervous system and lead to fatigue, mix things up with rep tempo (i.e 3 second lowering on bench then explode up) or rest periods, or rep count, forgetting about weight.

    Studies have shown that exhausting ad muscle to failure can create the same hypertrophy effect as lifting heavy wieghts, but without the CNS stress.

    Good luck with it!
  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
    Gaining muscle, losing fat...no mystery here.

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