Data analysis

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Padzster
Padzster Posts: 75 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi all
I've been on MFP for the last 2 years with much success.
I started at around 72kg at the beginning of 2014, and by the summer I was down to 63kg - which is the lowest weight I've ever been as an adult (I am 170cm tall). This was achieved through very honest logging on here, and a 5/6 day a week exercise routine with a mix of cardio and lifting. In 2014 I weighed myself religiously and took measurements.
In 2015 I followed the same eating and exercise routine but decided not to weigh and measure. By autumn 2015 I felt a little heavier than my lightest but still happy. By the start of 2016 I decided I wanted to shed the few extra kilos by the summer and got back on the scales. I was back up to 69kg, however my body looks very different to when I started everything back in 2014: some abs showing, more muscular arms, legs etc.

Now since the beginning of the year I've been trying to get the weight back down, but currently I'm at 68kg. Ideally I want to be down to 65kg (I'm using a different set of scales to before so I realise there might be some room for error.). I've looked at my food and exercise diary for 2014 compared to what it is now and can't see any difference. So how did I get down to 63kg on pretty much the same regimen that I'm on now, yet there's no movement this time?
Can anyone be bothered to analyse my diary data and tell me where I'm going wrong?
It's not just about the numbers on the scales either - 2 years ago I couldn't pinch the inch that's there now!
Thanks in advance

Replies

  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    edited March 2016
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    Padzster wrote: »
    Can anyone be bothered to analyse my diary data and tell me where I'm going wrong?

    your diary isn't open to the public ( Settings, bottom left )

  • Padzster
    Padzster Posts: 75 Member
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    D'oh! Sorted now.
  • Padzster
    Padzster Posts: 75 Member
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    Bump
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
    edited March 2016
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    At your height (1m 70cm) your target of 65kg is going to be a challenge - not impossible, but that is within the normal weight range for your height.

    It looks like you have your calories at 1360 which is about right for a moderate loss.

    I suspect the reason that you are seeing the difference in weight loss is that although you are heavier you have less body fat (since you now see abs and more muscle on your arms) and as you get to a lower body fat the weight loss is much, much harder because the margin of error is much smaller.

    Except for the Sat and Suns quick added calories your logging looks great, although the protein looks a little low considering your exercise frequency and intensity. If there is any fault in the logging it would be on the exercise side: I personally don't include strength training as a calorie burner and I'd take a look at the 20 mins Vigorous Sit ups entries since I'd be surprised that many people could keep vigorous sits up going for that length of time.

    You seem to be eating back all you exercise calories, which is fine if you are 100% sure of their value so, my recommendations are to check exercise cals and either:
    • stick with what you burn but eat back halve
    • drop the strength sessions and consider how realistic the sit up sessions are and eat back all
  • Padzster
    Padzster Posts: 75 Member
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    Thank you so much for the response; makes a lot of sense. I agree about the sit-up calories - perhaps I won't log them at all. The other thing I was thinking was that I was doing more circuit training/functional training when I lost the most weight. Do you think doing more HIIT rather than 5km running would produce better results? Physically I have larger musculature/skeleton - more like a sprinter than a long distance runner.
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
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    I think that HIIT is considered more muscle sparing than distance running but a 5km run is not likely to put you into muscle metabolism unless you are significantly glycogen depleted before going on the run (and you tend to eat plenty of carbs so I would doubt that).

    So, in this instance I think that the difference between the two will be minimal (if the calories expended are similar) and you'd be best just doing what you enjoy and/or what fits into you week the best.

    I'm also a fan of making minimal and systematic changes and seeing what works rather than making lots of changes and not knowing which worked and which had zero effect. so, I'd tighten up the exercise logging and give it a few weeks before re-assessing.
  • Padzster
    Padzster Posts: 75 Member
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    will do! many thanks!

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