Q re: weights & weight/fat loss

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Replies

  • blytheny
    blytheny Posts: 63 Member
    Just wanted to add a note to say thank you for all the advice, esp those that told me I might be eating too much - I've always believed in cutting calories (appropriately) but there has been so much written about putting your body into starvation mode if you eat even a bit too little for how active you are that I think I was doing myself a disservice.
    And a thank you, too, to those who mentioned watching my macros - I believe that may have helped, as well.

    I'm FINALLY seeing some losses!! :)

    So, this past week I stayed below MFP's recommended calories (not by alot - sometimes only 150-200, other times I was pretty close) & I really didn't eat back any exercise calories - I also payed closer attention to fat, sodium, protein & carbs.

    And it's working - the scale finally budged, and my measurements dropped. Not by a ton, but by enough to be encouraging.

    I've felt so much better/stronger already, and my husband said I look more toned - but I guess I needed this little boost to finally be able to say, "Hey, it's working."

    Thanks! B)
  • Sam_I_Am77
    Sam_I_Am77 Posts: 2,093 Member
    Yeah, I think a few people hit on the head that it's more about your nutrition plan than anything. I am curious as to your height, weight, and age to see what your calorie requirement should be. A 2,400 TDEE isn't unrealistic but I'm curious if you are undereating a bit much at 1,380.
  • kristixo
    kristixo Posts: 38 Member
    This is such a helpful thread! I'm in the same boat and feeling a bit frustrated. Obviously, I need to be more patient and take a good hard look at my macros. Thanks for posting (and for all the helpful responses)
  • codsterlaing95
    codsterlaing95 Posts: 221 Member
    bruhaha007 wrote: »
    You are likely replacing fat with muscle and since muscle weighs more you may not notice much of a difference on the scale or even measurements. Body composition is complicated and a scale isn't enough. I assume you can see a difference when you look at yourself in the mirror. I haven't looked at your diet but maybe you aren't leaning up as quickly as you would like.

    Muscle and fat weight the same. Fat takes up more space, while muscle is dense.
  • hockeysniper8
    hockeysniper8 Posts: 253 Member
    Congrats on finally seeing results! I also went below MFP's recommended daily calorie intake by 200. Everyone is different , so you might need to adjust mfp macros.
  • paulandrachelk
    paulandrachelk Posts: 280 Member
    Some lifting programs are for fat loss some for strength some for hyper trophy- check out what yours is intended to do.
  • Sam_I_Am77
    Sam_I_Am77 Posts: 2,093 Member
    paulandrachelk wrote: »
    Some lifting programs are for fat loss some for strength some for hyper trophy- check out what yours is intended to do.

    The workouts that claim "fat loss" as their purpose are just cleverly marketed. All exercise burns calories and most exercise methods can be tweaked to be more intense.
  • blytheny
    blytheny Posts: 63 Member
    Sam_I_Am77 wrote: »
    Yeah, I think a few people hit on the head that it's more about your nutrition plan than anything. I am curious as to your height, weight, and age to see what your calorie requirement should be. A 2,400 TDEE isn't unrealistic but I'm curious if you are undereating a bit much at 1,380.

    I am 5'7", currently 178lbs & 48 yrs old. The weight I was comfortable at before I got injured was about 148, but I wasn't all that fit... mostly running on occasion, no weights. So I'm not expecting to get to that weight again, curious as to what weight I will be "comfortable" at now!
  • blytheny
    blytheny Posts: 63 Member
    hockeysniper8 wrote: »
    Congrats on finally seeing results! I also went below MFP's recommended daily calorie intake by 200. Everyone is different , so you might need to adjust mfp macros.

    Thanks! I know that in the past, I had to drop my calories, but was trying to eat more now b/c of the increased lifting. But apparently my metabolism hasn't changed all that much, and I still need to be lower than recommended!
  • Gamliela
    Gamliela Posts: 2,469 Member
    I eat between 1600 and 2300 a day and I'm losing inches steadily nd quickly. I'm 5'7" and 66 years old. My activity is calesthenics, body resistance stuff like qigong and yoga. Walking 30 to 45 min per day and general housework, cooking etc. I play accordion, which is an awkward heavy sort of activity.

    So glad you started this topic. Thanks, some of my questions were answered. Best wishes on your goals!
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited March 2016
    blytheny wrote: »
    Thanks so much for all the replies... I guess I'm a bit confused about the consistent comments to eat less, as every other forum I've been on says that if you eat at too much of a deficit, you'll go into starvation mode and lose nothing. (within reason, obviously if you starve yourself, eventually you'll lose, but... that's not what I'm trying to achieve. ;) )
    I eat what MFP says to eat to be at a 2lb/week loss... 1380 on days I don't exercise, and I eat back only about half of what I burn at the gym (maybe extra 200 cal on those days) My TDEE is about 2400 on non exercise days, add in exercise on those days - so I'm definitely eating at a deficit for the most part, esp if I add up the entire week and average it out. Do I splurge on occasion and have pasta or a beer? Yup... but not enough that it should really matter.
    So maybe I just need to give it time... it's only been about 6 weeks, and 4 of them with more weights, so I'll just try to be patient. Cardio just always gave me better/faster results on the scale, but that's not what I'm looking for this time, so I'll wait it out.
    blytheny wrote: »
    Sam_I_Am77 wrote: »
    Yeah, I think a few people hit on the head that it's more about your nutrition plan than anything. I am curious as to your height, weight, and age to see what your calorie requirement should be. A 2,400 TDEE isn't unrealistic but I'm curious if you are undereating a bit much at 1,380.

    I am 5'7", currently 178lbs & 48 yrs old. The weight I was comfortable at before I got injured was about 148, but I wasn't all that fit... mostly running on occasion, no weights. So I'm not expecting to get to that weight again, curious as to what weight I will be "comfortable" at now!

    I would very much doubt that your TDEE is 2400 on non-exercise days - unless you are supremely active

    Are you weighing and logging your food accurately - a goal of 1380 seems extremely low at your stats - you should set MFP to lose 0.5-1lb a week

    With a new weights routine, water weight will impact and may hide any scale weight loss

    I think you will be pleased with your new approach and the results - although if you're doing stronglifts properly I would be extremely surprised if you would have the energy for before and after cardio on top

    We have similar stats - I'm 48, 5'8 and at goal at 160lbs .. lifting heavy and progressively has made a huge difference to how tight and taut I am - I lost most of my weight eating 1500-1800 calories, working out 3 times a week and walking enough to put my activity level at moderately active. My TDEE now, including that kind of workout regime is 2200-2400
  • Sam_I_Am77
    Sam_I_Am77 Posts: 2,093 Member
    edited March 2016
    blytheny wrote: »
    Sam_I_Am77 wrote: »
    Yeah, I think a few people hit on the head that it's more about your nutrition plan than anything. I am curious as to your height, weight, and age to see what your calorie requirement should be. A 2,400 TDEE isn't unrealistic but I'm curious if you are undereating a bit much at 1,380.

    I am 5'7", currently 178lbs & 48 yrs old. The weight I was comfortable at before I got injured was about 148, but I wasn't all that fit... mostly running on occasion, no weights. So I'm not expecting to get to that weight again, curious as to what weight I will be "comfortable" at now!

    Per the Mifflin St. Jeor calculation, your TDEE without any exercise is approximately 1,765 calories. If you were going to use a 10% calorie deficit for weight loss that would be approximately 1,590 calories. 1,380 is almost a 25% cut, that's pretty rough; you may want to bump your calories back up a little.

    If you exercise 4 days per week it's approx 2,090 calories, so a 10% reduction would be 1,880 calories.

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