Should I stop losing weight and start maintaining? I keep getting hungrier the more weight I lose!
VividVegan
Posts: 200 Member
Gender- female
Height- 5'7
Age- 24
Weight- 120 pounds
I walk approximately 10k steps per day according to my pedometer. 3-4 days a week I'll workout on my eliptical. 2-3 days a week I'll lift weights and do resistance training mixed with yoga. 1-2 days a week I'll rest/lounge. I go to college and have a job (work-study) which I tend to walk the most on those days. I was easily eating around 1,300 calories a day until I reached the 130's then increased it to 1,400-1,500 until I reached the 120's and then became even hungrier so I increased it to 1,600-1,650 and since I've gone down to 120 pounds, I feel like 1,600-1,650 just isn't enough. My goal weight is 115 though. How can I reach it if I keep getting hungrier and eating more? I thought when you lose weight, your appetite decreases, not increases. Help?
Ps- I know it's not from the foods I'm eating. I eat veggies, fruits, lean meats, whole grains, lots of water, no dairy, etc.
Height- 5'7
Age- 24
Weight- 120 pounds
I walk approximately 10k steps per day according to my pedometer. 3-4 days a week I'll workout on my eliptical. 2-3 days a week I'll lift weights and do resistance training mixed with yoga. 1-2 days a week I'll rest/lounge. I go to college and have a job (work-study) which I tend to walk the most on those days. I was easily eating around 1,300 calories a day until I reached the 130's then increased it to 1,400-1,500 until I reached the 120's and then became even hungrier so I increased it to 1,600-1,650 and since I've gone down to 120 pounds, I feel like 1,600-1,650 just isn't enough. My goal weight is 115 though. How can I reach it if I keep getting hungrier and eating more? I thought when you lose weight, your appetite decreases, not increases. Help?
Ps- I know it's not from the foods I'm eating. I eat veggies, fruits, lean meats, whole grains, lots of water, no dairy, etc.
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Replies
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FeedMeFish wrote: »Gender- female
Height- 5'7
Age- 24
Weight- 120 pounds
I walk approximately 10k steps per day according to my pedometer. 3-4 days a week I'll workout on my eliptical. 2-3 days a week I'll lift weights and do resistance training mixed with yoga. 1-2 days a week I'll rest/lounge. I go to college and have a job (work-study) which I tend to walk the most on those days. I was easily eating around 1,300 calories a day until I reached the 130's then increased it to 1,400-1,500 until I reached the 120's and then became even hungrier so I increased it to 1,600-1,650 and since I've gone down to 120 pounds, I feel like 1,600-1,650 just isn't enough. My goal weight is 115 though. How can I reach it if I keep getting hungrier and eating more? I thought when you lose weight, your appetite decreases, not increases. Help?
Ps- I know it's not from the foods I'm eating. I eat veggies, fruits, lean meats, whole grains, lots of water, no dairy, etc.
Your goal would give you a BMI of 18, which is the lowest healthy range goal to have. Is there a reason why you are aiming this low?
I'm not sure why you think your appetite is supposed to decrease as you lose weight. Losing weight is the process of underfueling your body in order to get it to use up its own fuel stores. Once you get to the point of having few food stores, which is where you are now, you're going to feel hungry a lot.
I would eat at least at maintenance if I were you.8 -
Seems like your missing your protein, if you're hungry like this maybe your not eating enough protein. .76g per pound for healthy body maintenance, try to maintain that with clean protein bars (mission1) or shakes. Chicken and turkey are also good lean meats for your protein.0
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Yes 120 is low for 5'71
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I feel like 120 is pretty skinny for 5"7. I'm 5"3 and 129 and I look decent. I dont imagine why youd wanna go down anymore, maybe try building some muscle now!1
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What are you goals beyond a body weight? This will dictate how you should proceed. Do you want to compete in any sports/events? Are you going for a certain physique or look? Most likely it's time to focus on maintenance or muscle gain but again it really depends on your goals. 120 for 5'7 indicates you are rather lean with plenty of room to add some lean mass but again, that's goal dependent.1
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My goal is to lean out more. I know I have muscle but it's underneath my remaining body fat and I was told the only way to lose body fat is to burn more calories than you take in so I've been doing a calorie deficit because I want my lean muscle to be more noticeable. How else would I be able to reduce my body fat without doing a calorie deficit?0
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FeedMeFish wrote: »My goal is to lean out more. I know I have muscle but it's underneath my remaining body fat and I was told the only way to lose body fat is to burn more calories than you take in so I've been doing a calorie deficit because I want my lean muscle to be more noticeable. How else would I be able to reduce my body fat without doing a calorie deficit?
This is general advice, not advice for someone who is already at the low end of healthy.
Get busy lifting some heavy stuff. At your weight, that's the way to go. I don't think you have that much body fat, to be honest. No wonder you're hungry. Eat more, lift heavy stuff, prosper.5 -
Perhaps YOUR body is trying to tell you it doesn't want to be underweight.
Lift weights if you want to look "leaner".5 -
The fact is that even as you increase your calories, you are still losing weight. So you may just have too aggressive of a goal deficit at this point. At those last 5 lbs, you should only be losing around .5 lbs a week anyway. Add a few extra calories and maybe tweak your diet to figure out meal timings and food choices that help with hunger cues.1
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FeedMeFish wrote: »My goal is to lean out more. I know I have muscle but it's underneath my remaining body fat and I was told the only way to lose body fat is to burn more calories than you take in so I've been doing a calorie deficit because I want my lean muscle to be more noticeable. How else would I be able to reduce my body fat without doing a calorie deficit?
If you do not have visible muscle at this point, you need to add it in order to have it show. Losing weight is not always the answer wrt having lean muscle. You need to build a reasonable base in order to be able to do that. Visible muscle generally means low fat plus muscle. You have half of that equation and need to work on the other half.2 -
FeedMeFish wrote: »My goal is to lean out more. I know I have muscle but it's underneath my remaining body fat and I was told the only way to lose body fat is to burn more calories than you take in so I've been doing a calorie deficit because I want my lean muscle to be more noticeable. How else would I be able to reduce my body fat without doing a calorie deficit?
If you do not have visible muscle at this point, you need to add it in order to have it show. Losing weight is not always the answer wrt having lean muscle. You need to build a reasonable base in order to be able to do that. Visible muscle generally means low fat plus muscle. You have half of that equation and need to work on the other half.
So what do I do from here? Any type of diet or fitness plan beneficial for this? Or a program I can research?0 -
At 5'7" 120 lbs you are about as low a weight as you can be and still be considered healthy. If your muscles are not large enough for your liking, lift heavy things to make them bigger (you'll need to eat more while doing this). At your height and weight, it's not that body fat is hiding your musculature, it's that you don't have much muscle mass to begin with. Continuing to lose weight won't fix that.0
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Haven't seem this posted in a while, and it seems applicable here. Here is a story about a woman who discovered that looking leaner does not always coincide with a lower weight on the scale:
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/
As vismal said, it will depend on your goals, but putting on lean mass may be what you want to do.
Edited because my phone really doesn't want me to make sense apparently.2 -
Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »Perhaps YOUR body is trying to tell you it doesn't want to be underweight.
Lift weights if you want to look "leaner".
I lift a couple days a week (around 20 pound weights). Should I do more lifting and less cardio? And is it not heavy enough?0 -
FeedMeFish wrote: »FeedMeFish wrote: »My goal is to lean out more. I know I have muscle but it's underneath my remaining body fat and I was told the only way to lose body fat is to burn more calories than you take in so I've been doing a calorie deficit because I want my lean muscle to be more noticeable. How else would I be able to reduce my body fat without doing a calorie deficit?
If you do not have visible muscle at this point, you need to add it in order to have it show. Losing weight is not always the answer wrt having lean muscle. You need to build a reasonable base in order to be able to do that. Visible muscle generally means low fat plus muscle. You have half of that equation and need to work on the other half.
So what do I do from here? Any type of diet or fitness plan beneficial for this? Or a program I can research?
I would eat 200 over maintenance and do a progressive resistance program. that means lifting weights or doing a bodyweight program or a combo. It needs to be progressive, though, meaning that you add weight (some programs are weight plus reps/sets.)
I'm saying eat higher than maintenance because a recomp means you're burning fat and building muscle at the same time. My hunch is that you don't have sufficient fat to support muscle growth.0 -
FeedMeFish wrote: »My goal is to lean out more. I know I have muscle but it's underneath my remaining body fat and I was told the only way to lose body fat is to burn more calories than you take in so I've been doing a calorie deficit because I want my lean muscle to be more noticeable. How else would I be able to reduce my body fat without doing a calorie deficit?
Look into a recomp. http://scoobysworkshop.com/gain-muscle-lose-fat/ Lift and eat right around your TDEE.1 -
FeedMeFish wrote: »FeedMeFish wrote: »My goal is to lean out more. I know I have muscle but it's underneath my remaining body fat and I was told the only way to lose body fat is to burn more calories than you take in so I've been doing a calorie deficit because I want my lean muscle to be more noticeable. How else would I be able to reduce my body fat without doing a calorie deficit?
If you do not have visible muscle at this point, you need to add it in order to have it show. Losing weight is not always the answer wrt having lean muscle. You need to build a reasonable base in order to be able to do that. Visible muscle generally means low fat plus muscle. You have half of that equation and need to work on the other half.
So what do I do from here? Any type of diet or fitness plan beneficial for this? Or a program I can research?
I would eat 200 over maintenance and do a progressive resistance program. that means lifting weights or doing a bodyweight program or a combo. It needs to be progressive, though, meaning that you add weight (some programs are weight plus reps/sets.)
I'm saying eat higher than maintenance because a recomp means you're burning fat and building muscle at the same time. My hunch is that you don't have sufficient fat to support muscle growth.
Agreed. Now that I'm not on my phone, your profile pic shows you as pretty lean. I don't think you're going to get where you want to be by continuing to cut.
Congrats on your weight loss; I'm almost wondering if your brain hasn't caught up with the fact that you're pretty darn lean now .2 -
FeedMeFish wrote: »Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »Perhaps YOUR body is trying to tell you it doesn't want to be underweight.
Lift weights if you want to look "leaner".
I lift a couple days a week (around 20 pound weights). Should I do more lifting and less cardio? And is it not heavy enough?
What you want is a progressive lifting program that's designed to keep increasing the weight as you get stronger. There are some good programs out there, but I'm not familiar enough to suggest one. This post is a great resource though: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1
You might also check out the stories here: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/977538/halp-heavy-lifting-made-me-supah-bulky/p12 -
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I'm 5'2" and when I was 135 my doctor said I was too thin. Sounds like you need a different weight goal . - Disclaimer, I am not your doctor. - have you discussed your weight with your doctor at a yearly physical and set a goal together? I would recommend it, and also getting blood work done to make sure you have other health things in order, like not being anemic and having healthy cholesterol levels.... just my opinion. Good luck!0
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looking at your profile picture..You seem pretty lean as it is. 115 is just a number. At your weight and bodyfat, it would probably be wise to move up to maintenance and do a progressive resistance program. You will be able to recomp a little and get that extra bit of definition without having to go to a super low body weight.1
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I'm 5'2" and when I was 135 my doctor said I was too thin. Sounds like you need a different weight goal . - Disclaimer, I am not your doctor. - have you discussed your weight with your doctor at a yearly physical and set a goal together? I would recommend it, and also getting blood work done to make sure you have other health things in order, like not being anemic and having healthy cholesterol levels.... just my opinion. Good luck!
Thanks for that advice. My doctor nor nurse ever brought it up so I will next time. My blood pressure and blood sugar is always low whenever checked though. Idk if my weight has anything to do with it.0 -
I'm 5'2" and when I was 135 my doctor said I was too thin. Sounds like you need a different weight goal . - Disclaimer, I am not your doctor. - have you discussed your weight with your doctor at a yearly physical and set a goal together? I would recommend it, and also getting blood work done to make sure you have other health things in order, like not being anemic and having healthy cholesterol levels.... just my opinion. Good luck!
I'm not trying to be rude but 5'2" and 135 is not "too thin" by any means. It's at the high end of normal and almost into being overweight according to the BMI charts. Granted all bodies are different but to be too thin at that weight for that height would make you an outlier. There's nothing wrong with being 135 at 5'2" but I find it quite odd that any doctor would categorize that as too thin.
Regardless, OP, I agree with everyone telling you to lift and focus on recomp. I'm 5'3.5" and fluctuate between 110 and 111 pounds. My final cut goal was 105 but I'm finding that on some days I'm just way too hungry to even have a deficit of 250 calories. I've stopped fighting my body and I'll just eat however much my body wants for the day; the most I've ever had to go was a 300 surplus. I do lift regularly and the changes to my body composition have been fantastic. The final cut to 105 was in the hopes that the bit of fat on my thighs covering the lovely leg muscles I've built would come off. I'm finding that it still is without trying to get to an arbitrary scale weight. I'd rather be patient and satiated than hungry and finding that at my goal weight my body still doesn't look as I expected it to.2 -
You should also consider your lean body mass: http://scoobysworkshop.com/body-fat-calculator/ the calipers are only like 5-8 dollars on amazon. Figure out your actual lean body mass, mostly for 'gaining muscle' you can do big compound movements such as dead lifts, squats (I prefer squat machine), bench press, and clean and jerks. For you I would recommend doing 3x3, 3sets of heavy weights for 3 reps, at your size maybe try doing just the empty bar. If you can do that easy add on 10-25lbs, but also if your campus has a gym they probably have student trainers there! These are really cheap! I got mine at school for 20 dollars a session worth every penny! I just met with them every 2 weeks asked for a workout plan for the next 2 weeks, went though it once with them writing everything down. then pushed myself to do it. after you have some basics you can venture onto youtube and just type in whatever area you want to improve example 'biceps workout'... Also you could be thirsty make sure your getting proper water if you're not you'll be hungry as well one estimate I saw for you said like 2.4 liters but do some research.0
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Everyone is different. At 135 I was a size 7; cold all the time; got sick easily; had no energy. I have large hips and big breasts, I'm really not meant to be that boney. I'm overweight now - but I'm not really looking to be that much of a stick this time around. Just a smaller hourglass than I am right now. Those charts are not for everyone.0
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I don't mean things that you can check at home. Although I'm glad those are OK! I mean things you can't see yourself. Cholesterol, triglycerides, etc. It's great to start taking care of yourself when you are young! I'm older now - sometimes I just wish I were as thin as the first time I thought I was fat, LOL!FeedMeFish wrote: »Thanks for that advice. My doctor nor nurse ever brought it up so I will next time. My blood pressure and blood sugar is always low whenever checked though. Idk if my weight has anything to do with it.
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How can you give advice on what she should do to her macronutrients if you don't know how much she's consuming right now? For all you know her fats, protein, and carbs are perfect where they are. Also, it is not necessary to go low carb in order to get contest lean.CrossfitOCRunner wrote: »Those last few pounds are hardest to lose. you'll def want to lift heavier if you want to gain some more muscle. up the protein and the fat, while keeping the carbs low. this is almost like a pre-contest cut when you are that lean and trying to get leaner.
@FeedMeFish
As others have pointed out, if you don't look lean enough at this point, you probably aren't going to by losing more weight. You should focus on muscle gaining. This will allow you to look leaner at a higher body weight. When people say lift "heavy" this is kind of misleading. Heavy is of course subjective. What's heavy to you is not going to be the same as what is heavy to someone else. What you should do is lift weights on a program that focuses on getting stronger over time. This is known as progressive tension overload and in addition to diet, is the key to gaining muscle. You should eat a small surplus (200 or so calories to start). I would suggest any proven beginners lifting program such as Stronglifts, ICF 5x5, or starting strength. All those programs have you hitting all body parts 3x a week and encourage progressive overload. After 6-12 months of eating in the small surplus and lifting, evaluate your physique and decide how to proceed.4 -
The OP is getting too thin.I'm 5'2" and when I was 135 my doctor said I was too thin. Sounds like you need a different weight goal . - Disclaimer, I am not your doctor. - have you discussed your weight with your doctor at a yearly physical and set a goal together? I would recommend it, and also getting blood work done to make sure you have other health things in order, like not being anemic and having healthy cholesterol levels.... just my opinion. Good luck!
5'2" and 135 wouldn't normally be considered too thin, in fact, it's a few pounds from overweight according to BMI. (Granted there are outliers). I'm 5'6.5" and 135 and not too thin.0
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