Nutrition for CrossFit and lowering BF%

MallisaMott
MallisaMott Posts: 30 Member
edited November 28 in Food and Nutrition
I'll try my best to keep this as short as possible!

Most of my life I was obese and I lost 70 lbs about 7 years ago. Since then, I've tweaked my nutrition and cleaned up my diet more and more as I learned more about nutrition.

I've been at the same weight (about 139-144) for years now- losing fat and gaining muscle as I increase my weight lifting game. My goal is to get my body fat percentage down (hopefully to around 23 or 24%) and feel good in a bathing suit for once in my life!

Right now I'm tracking calories and macros and do 4-5 WODs a week (and trying my hardest to stay away from the scale so I'll stop obsessing over pounds). While the workouts are difficult and intense, I'm wondering if it's enough cardio to achieve what I want. Here are some details, so maybe someone can offer me some insight!

Female
26 years old
144 lbs
5'5"
29% body fat
BMR: 1463 (avg. from a few different calculators)
TDEE: 2200 (avg. from a few different calculators)
Calories per day: 1730
Macros: 40% protein, 30% carbs, 30% fat


I'm considering doing only 4 WODS a week and incorporating two 30 min fasted cardio sessions a week. Do I need to tweak my exercise? Or do I need to adjust my nutrition? So tired of working so hard and seeing so little.

Also, I don't enter my workouts in MFP, I sync my FitBit so only the activity which exceeds what is predicted based on my TDEE is logged and "eaten back".

Replies

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,431 MFP Moderator
    edited January 2016
    You dont need cardio to lose fat. Just eat below your tdee. Resistance training will provide a foundation to maintain muscle (you likely wont gain muscle in a deficit).

    Nutritional, protein is a lot higher than you need. I would switch the carb and protein numbers. In fact you could drop protein to about 22% and still hit 1g per lb of lbm.
  • CardiganandFlannel
    CardiganandFlannel Posts: 232 Member
    For your cardio....Sprints!!!
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    psulemon wrote: »
    You dont need cardio to lose fat. Just eat below your tdee. Resistance training will provide a foundation to maintain muscle (you likely wont gain muscle in a deficit).

    Nutritional, protein is a lot higher than you need. I would switch the carb and protein numbers. In fact you could drop protein to about 22% and still hit 1g per lb of lbm.

    Agree with this.

    The other thing I'd add is not to get too wrapped up in the exact BF% number because it's highly unlikely it's accurate (I presume you're using some sort of bioelectrical impedance device to measure it?) Go by how you look and feel.
  • MallisaMott
    MallisaMott Posts: 30 Member
    juggernaut1974 wrote: »
    psulemon wrote: »
    You dont need cardio to lose fat. Just eat below your tdee. Resistance training will provide a foundation to maintain muscle (you likely wont gain muscle in a deficit).

    Nutritional, protein is a lot higher than you need. I would switch the carb and protein numbers. In fact you could drop protein to about 22% and still hit 1g per lb of lbm.

    Agree with this.

    The other thing I'd add is not to get too wrapped up in the exact BF% because it's highly unlikely it's accurate (I presume you're using some sort of bioelectrical impedance device to measure it?) Go by how you look and feel.

    Thanks. I was thinking I probably don't need that much protein, but in the world of nutrition there are so many different opinions out there. "Lift weights to burn fat". Check. "Cut carbs to burn fat". Check. "Do cardio on top of that if you're not seeing results". Check. "Stop obsessing over weight and focus on body fat percentage", Check. I'm just confused why I'm not seeing more results.

    Yeah, I'm sure my current BF% isn't totally accurate. It's an at-home scale and it varies day to day.
  • ZRx4
    ZRx4 Posts: 158 Member
    I don't crossfit, but I do run and hiit. I can workout like a beast, hour of cardio, 25-60 min of hiit and be under my calorie goal and not lose weight. For me, I have to cut all the fun out of eating, no grains, no sugars, no alcohol, whatsoever. Once I cut the fun, I lose 1-2 lbs a week. It's so sucky. I'm trying to convince myself to go back to that style of eating, it's just hard. I have 4 kids who are very picky. And veggies aren't their fav lol.
  • strong_curves
    strong_curves Posts: 2,229 Member
    randeortiz wrote: »
    I don't crossfit, but I do run and hiit. I can workout like a beast, hour of cardio, 25-60 min of hiit and be under my calorie goal and not lose weight. For me, I have to cut all the fun out of eating, no grains, no sugars, no alcohol, whatsoever. Once I cut the fun, I lose 1-2 lbs a week. It's so sucky. I'm trying to convince myself to go back to that style of eating, it's just hard. I have 4 kids who are very picky. And veggies aren't their fav lol.

    Just curious - do you or have you ever used a food scale to track your intake?
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,431 MFP Moderator
    randeortiz wrote: »
    I don't crossfit, but I do run and hiit. I can workout like a beast, hour of cardio, 25-60 min of hiit and be under my calorie goal and not lose weight. For me, I have to cut all the fun out of eating, no grains, no sugars, no alcohol, whatsoever. Once I cut the fun, I lose 1-2 lbs a week. It's so sucky. I'm trying to convince myself to go back to that style of eating, it's just hard. I have 4 kids who are very picky. And veggies aren't their fav lol.

    On the veggies... www.mccormick.com and thank me later ;)
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