Calorie Deficit

nathanclark79
nathanclark79 Posts: 10 Member
edited March 2016 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi folks. Been using MFP for about 3 months now. So far so good. I lost 20 lbs so far but Ive seemed to hit a brick wall. Ive been gaining back a few lbs and I am eating even less. Now I have altered my diet because I do intense weight lifting on top of heavy cardio and walking. I have added 200-240g of protein and creatine to my regimen as well as a multivitamin and fish oil. Some info about me 37/M 254lbs. I work out 6-7 days a week. If my body is tired I take a day off. Ive read more and more forums and articles and am even more confused than ever. I am on a 1680 calorie diet and I burn between 1,000 to 2000 calories a day doing cardio (running, walking, intervals) When I work out that hard I usually will consume back only what I need to make my protein requirements. For instance today I am at a major deficit:
GOAL 1660
FOOD 2250
EXERCISE 2498 = -248 NET
As you can see I am an absurd amount under my calorie goal.
Yet here I am. My first 2 months the fat was dripping off me now I cant lose a lb for my life and I am working 3 times harder. I am never very hungry I actually am usually force feeding. What am I doing wrong? The only thing I can possibly think of is I am gaining muscle faster than my weight is dropping. I have gained crazy strength gains and my problem areas are getting leaner but I still feel like an eggplan. If you would like to get a look at my diary feel free to add me. I would appreciate any help I can get.

Thanks everyone :)

Replies

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    How are you measuring your food intake and your exercise calories (especially those, because 2500 calories burned is pretty extreme)? If you haven't lost anything in a month, as it sounds like you're saying, then there's most likely a discrepancy in your logging.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    If you just changed your exercise routine, it's common to post a gain at first, because your muscles are retaining water to repair themselves. It's usually temporary.
  • Zella_11
    Zella_11 Posts: 161 Member
    edited March 2016

    I agree with Malibu--burning 2500 calories seems very high, even for intense workouts. How are you tracking your calories burned?

    Congrats on dropping 20 lbs!!! You are awesome!
  • Dvdgzz
    Dvdgzz Posts: 437 Member
    jennifer_417 wrote: »
    If you just changed your exercise routine, it's common to post a gain at first, because your muscles are retaining water to repair themselves. It's usually temporary.

    This. Plus creatine is known to add water weight as well.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,331 Member
    How long has this been since you made the changes? Adding Creatine will cause an increase in water held in your muscles with the related weight gain because of it. How tall are you?
  • nathanclark79
    nathanclark79 Posts: 10 Member
    malibu927 wrote: »
    How are you measuring your food intake and your exercise calories (especially those, because 2500 calories burned is pretty extreme)? If you haven't lost anything in a month, as it sounds like you're saying, then there's most likely a discrepancy in your logging.

    I have a combination of using MFP app I log EVERYTHING. I measure EVERYTHING. If I cant get a absolute macro count from it (i.e. label) I dont eat it. I am using a fitbit HR for calorie burn but its pretty accurate and I underestimate my calories to be safe. I Walked,ran,jogged for 100 minutes this AM. Went snorkling for 30 then walked for another 30 this evening on top of my gym routine. This is NOT a normal day I am wiped out but normally I work out for 1 hour with weights and walk/jog for 30-60 minutes.
  • nathanclark79
    nathanclark79 Posts: 10 Member
    rileysowner wrote: »
    How long has this been since you made the changes? Adding Creatine will cause an increase in water held in your muscles with the related weight gain because of it. How tall are you?

    I recently switch my creatine from crappy walmart brand to 100% pure ON creatine. I switched maybe 5-7 days ago but I have seen a HUGE difference in my strength increases and endurance since switching. Ive cut my carbs down to 100-150 a day but snack on kind bars and I get tons of energy from them. I am 6'1"
  • nathanclark79
    nathanclark79 Posts: 10 Member
    jennifer_417 wrote: »
    If you just changed your exercise routine, it's common to post a gain at first, because your muscles are retaining water to repair themselves. It's usually temporary.

    I did change my routine and I have been really enjoying the new routines but I know I am killing it on my fibers and with the change of creatine brand I kind of feel like I have taken on a TON of water weight. I was steady losing 2 lbs+ a week and then I switched up everything and my macro percentages and boom I gained back 5 lbs in a couple days
  • nathanclark79
    nathanclark79 Posts: 10 Member
    Zella_11 wrote: »
    I agree with Malibu--burning 2500 calories seems very high, even for intense workouts. How are you tracking your calories burned?

    Congrats on dropping 20 lbs!!! You are awesome!

    Thanks Zella. As I explained up a couple replies I am using a mixture of my fitbit HR with MFP and Map my run. I tend to take my fitbit calculations a little more over map my run as it uses my heart rate but I am always careful to underestimate. USUALLY what I do is eat back 1/2 of my workout calories but never touch the deficit. I log everything that I put in my body and if I cant get nutrition values for it I dont eat it. Just being safe until I lose another 20 heh
  • nathanclark79
    nathanclark79 Posts: 10 Member
    Dvdgzz wrote: »
    jennifer_417 wrote: »
    If you just changed your exercise routine, it's common to post a gain at first, because your muscles are retaining water to repair themselves. It's usually temporary.

    This. Plus creatine is known to add water weight as well.

    Yeah I was taking six star but it was terribad. I switched over to ON pure creatine and within a week have seen astounding increases in my endurance and some pretty great increases in my overall lifting. I dont really do max outs anymore that stuff is for the college kids but I have jumped up my curls by 15 lbs and max reps are getting farther. I kind of felt like since I switched that now that I am adding more reps and doing heavier weight I have just taken on a ton more water weight. I am at the tail end of a solid workout week so my body is pretty tore up right now
  • nathanclark79
    nathanclark79 Posts: 10 Member
    Villae81 wrote: »
    Force feeding I know the feeling I can barely eat 2k calories

    its crazy I LOVE food I mean I fricken LOVE food. I used to eat like a horse. I have been like a maniac for 3 months training myself to eat better and properly and now I cant even finish plates. It should be a good thing but now that I turned into a gym maniac I have all these damn calories left over and I am wondering if that much of a negative is not good for me.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,331 Member
    nathanclark79 wrote: »
    rileysowner wrote: »
    How long has this been since you made the changes? Adding Creatine will cause an increase in water held in your muscles with the related weight gain because of it. How tall are you?

    I recently switch my creatine from crappy walmart brand to 100% pure ON creatine. I switched maybe 5-7 days ago but I have seen a HUGE difference in my strength increases and endurance since switching. Ive cut my carbs down to 100-150 a day but snack on kind bars and I get tons of energy from them. I am 6'1"

    If the creatine is giving your big increases, it will be part of the weight gain with water weight.
  • Matthewdouglas0
    Matthewdouglas0 Posts: 13 Member
    How many grams of creatine a day?
  • nathanclark79
    nathanclark79 Posts: 10 Member
    Matthewdouglas0 wrote: »
    How many grams of creatine a day?

    well you might laugh at this because I kind of mixed and matched all the nonsense I read in forums about the proper way to take creatine and the mythical "LOADING" Im a believer that if it doesnt hurt me than better safe than sorry so I take a 1/2 teaspoon first thing in AM before I go for a walk. I take another half before I go to the gym and I take 1 tsp with my post workout shake. SO in total 10g throughout the day. I am only doing this because the six star creatine didnt seem to have much if any real noticeable affect. Since switching to the ON brand I have noticed a huge change mostly in my endurance. Starting tomorrow I am only going to take it post workout 5g but I am confused about this because I am 254lbs and I have read that I should be taking more based on my size. Any input?
  • cdonaldson29
    cdonaldson29 Posts: 1 Member
    jennifer_417 wrote: »
    If you just changed your exercise routine, it's common to post a gain at first, because your muscles are retaining water to repair themselves. It's usually temporary.

    5 u t t t7

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