Low Calorie intake and working out 5x week but no weight loss just muscle loss
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lynnette1774
Posts: 6 Member
I gained about 30 lbs last year after the death of my daughter. I had been a very fit person before that. I have spent the last year pretty much sedentary and secluded. Recently, I began working out with a trainer and have made some drastic changes.
I am 41, weigh 172, and have a desk job.
I am big boned and solid so I will not fall on the lower end of a ideal weight.
I have 1 protein shake a day
I am restricting my calorie intake to 1200 calories a day (tracking in MyFitnessPal)
The problem is that I am not losing weight after 1 month of the above and we use the BodPod to track my fat vs lean muscle. My fat % has increased and my muscle % has decreased. It takes a lot to motivate myself and this is making it that much harder. Does anyone have any insight into what I might be doing wrong?
I am 41, weigh 172, and have a desk job.
I am big boned and solid so I will not fall on the lower end of a ideal weight.
I have 1 protein shake a day
I am restricting my calorie intake to 1200 calories a day (tracking in MyFitnessPal)
The problem is that I am not losing weight after 1 month of the above and we use the BodPod to track my fat vs lean muscle. My fat % has increased and my muscle % has decreased. It takes a lot to motivate myself and this is making it that much harder. Does anyone have any insight into what I might be doing wrong?
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Replies
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OP, I cannot even convey properly how sorry I am to hear about the death of your child.
Can answer some questions:
1) How long on MFP and logging food?
2) Do you eat the exercise calories back?
3) How many pounds a week are you setup in MFP to loose each week?
4) Do yo use a food scale?
Let's start with these question.. also can you open your diary for us?
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since your diary is closed it is hard to tell...but if you aren't losing doing all that you are eating more than you think or have a medical condition.
But lets get a few things off the table.
Big boned...yah I used to say that too...I still wear a size 8.5 shoe but I also wear a size 4 or 6...
doesn't matter about the protein shake...why are you drinking it anyway?
HOw are you measuring the 1200 calories?
HRM are only good for steady state cardio with a chest strap...burning 500-700 calories is hard...I burn 500 all day moving around a lot and that includes a 3mile walk in the morning.
do you use a food scale? are you eating back some of the exercise calories?3 -
I have trouble believing, given what you have described, that your "bodpod" is working correctly. Have your measurements changed?0
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Has the scale or tape measure shown change?
BodPod is not a great tool for showing progress per a quick google search.
A month is a short amount of time.
Are you weighing all solids and semi solids on a scale or using cups and spoons to measure your intake?0 -
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I am so sorry for your loss. Definitely answer the questions above and open up your dairy. It will get figured out.0
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Thanks for the responses, it is a hard journey to begin to give yourself permission to live again.
I just got the Polar H7 (it is a chest strap) so the exercise diary hasn't been updated routinely yet.. only for this week. I do insane workouts with a trainer. We have begun with a mixture of cardio and light weights.. not doing weight lifting yet until I am conditioned.
I opened my food diary.I have been tracking everything I eat for the last month, so it is accurate. I eat a lot of pre-packaged meals, as I am just getting set up to start making weekly meals. I should also mention that I am a vegetarian, so I am trying to research how to meal plan for that - this is why I drink protein shakes. I am not weighing foods yet and have been scouring the internet trying to get a concrete answer on what my calorie intake should be and recommended diets for vegetarians.
I am big boned, at my ideal weight, with a toned figure (I was this way last year), I am a size 7/8, any smaller than that I will look anorexic. When I was thin, toned, and looked great I weighed 145 lbs.. that was with little body fat. I weigh myself daily at home (weight guru scale) and we are using the BodPod only as a guide to fat %. I didn't even think of taking measurements. I will take those tonight and update.
My trainer thinks that I may need to increase my calorie intake from around 1200/day to 1500/day but I am nervous to do that so I thought I'd reach out here to others that have had experience with weight loss.
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can't use HRM for weights....any typelynnette1774 wrote: »Thanks for the responses, it is a hard journey to begin to give yourself permission to live again.
I just got the Polar H7 (it is a chest strap) so the exercise diary hasn't been updated routinely yet.. only for this week. I do insane workouts with a trainer. We have begun with a mixture of cardio and light weights.. not doing weight lifting yet until I am conditioned.
I opened my food diary.I have been tracking everything I eat for the last month, so it is accurate. I eat a lot of pre-packaged meals, as I am just getting set up to start making weekly meals. I should also mention that I am a vegetarian, so I am trying to research how to meal plan for that - this is why I drink protein shakes. I am not weighing foods yet and have been scouring the internet trying to get a concrete answer on what my calorie intake should be and recommended diets for vegetarians.
I am big boned, at my ideal weight, with a toned figure (I was this way last year), I am a size 7/8, any smaller than that I will look anorexic. When I was thin, toned, and looked great I weighed 145 lbs.. that was with little body fat. I weigh myself daily at home (weight guru scale) and we are using the BodPod only as a guide to fat %. I didn't even think of taking measurements. I will take those tonight and update.
My trainer thinks that I may need to increase my calorie intake from around 1200/day to 1500/day but I am nervous to do that so I thought I'd reach out here to others that have had experience with weight loss.
No food scale so you can't say for sure how much you are eating....even prepackaged foods can be off by at much as 10-20%.
Big boned is a fallacy...just so you know...I am not saying you don't have a large frame because I do but that doesn't matter for weight loss....and like you I didn't think I should be smaller than a 7/8...I am a size 4 at 150lbs.
What I would do is this.
Input your stats into MFP and eat those calories but buy a food scale. Log your exercise and eat back 50-75% of those calories....
The only way to lose weight is to be in a calorie deficit and if you aren't losing that is why.
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can't use HRM for weights....any typelynnette1774 wrote: »Thanks for the responses, it is a hard journey to begin to give yourself permission to live again.
I just got the Polar H7 (it is a chest strap) so the exercise diary hasn't been updated routinely yet.. only for this week. I do insane workouts with a trainer. We have begun with a mixture of cardio and light weights.. not doing weight lifting yet until I am conditioned.
I opened my food diary.I have been tracking everything I eat for the last month, so it is accurate. I eat a lot of pre-packaged meals, as I am just getting set up to start making weekly meals. I should also mention that I am a vegetarian, so I am trying to research how to meal plan for that - this is why I drink protein shakes. I am not weighing foods yet and have been scouring the internet trying to get a concrete answer on what my calorie intake should be and recommended diets for vegetarians.
I am big boned, at my ideal weight, with a toned figure (I was this way last year), I am a size 7/8, any smaller than that I will look anorexic. When I was thin, toned, and looked great I weighed 145 lbs.. that was with little body fat. I weigh myself daily at home (weight guru scale) and we are using the BodPod only as a guide to fat %. I didn't even think of taking measurements. I will take those tonight and update.
My trainer thinks that I may need to increase my calorie intake from around 1200/day to 1500/day but I am nervous to do that so I thought I'd reach out here to others that have had experience with weight loss.
No food scale so you can't say for sure how much you are eating....even prepackaged foods can be off by at much as 10-20%.
Big boned is a fallacy...just so you know...I am not saying you don't have a large frame because I do but that doesn't matter for weight loss....and like you I didn't think I should be smaller than a 7/8...I am a size 4 at 150lbs.
What I would do is this.
Input your stats into MFP and eat those calories but buy a food scale. Log your exercise and eat back 50-75% of those calories....
The only way to lose weight is to be in a calorie deficit and if you aren't losing that is why.
This is great advice. Pre-packaged foods would account for more than 700 unwanted calories per week if I weren't weighing them. No joke. Some of them are spot on, many are way off.4 -
lynnette1774 wrote: »
I opened my food diary.I have been tracking everything I eat for the last month, so it is accurate. I eat a lot of pre-packaged meals, as I am just getting set up to start making weekly meals. I should also mention that I am a vegetarian, so I am trying to research how to meal plan for that - this is why I drink protein shakes. I am not weighing foods yet and have been scouring the internet trying to get a concrete answer on what my calorie intake should be and recommended diets for vegetarians.
Hi there. I'm very sorry for the loss of your daughter.
Some things to address from your post:
1) It has only been 1 month of food tracking. Weight loss takes time and can easily be masked by water weight - your muscles retain more water when you start a new exercise routine, and hormonal cycles can also cause fluctuations. My first piece of advice is: consistency and patience.
2) Tracking everything you eat is not accurate, unless you are using a food scale. For example, you have logged
"1 orange", but oranges are not all the same size, and the number of calories it has depends on how much it weighs.
This becomes even more problematic with calorie-dense foods such as your rice, and your "1 cup of sweet potato hash"
Since you are not very far from your goal weight, a goal of losing no more than 1 lb per week would be fairly reasonable for you. This means a deficit of 500 calories per day, every day. However, if you are not weighing your foods, it is incredibly easy to wipe out most of that deficit from simply consuming a little bit more than you intended to.
This also applies to pre-packaged foods - they may say that they contain "1 serving" but they also list the weight that the serving is meant to be. If you weigh these foods, you will likely find (as so many of us unfortunately have found!) that they are often over the listed weight by about 10-20%. This difference in calories can add up to a significant enough amount that you could end up cancelling out your deficit. When people are not losing weight, this is usually the culprit. So my second piece of advice to you is: weigh your food. You absolutely do not know how many calories you are consuming if you are eyeballing servings or measuring solid foods using cups.
Good luck with meeting your goals!
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can't use HRM for weights....any typelynnette1774 wrote: »Thanks for the responses, it is a hard journey to begin to give yourself permission to live again.
I just got the Polar H7 (it is a chest strap) so the exercise diary hasn't been updated routinely yet.. only for this week. I do insane workouts with a trainer. We have begun with a mixture of cardio and light weights.. not doing weight lifting yet until I am conditioned.
I opened my food diary.I have been tracking everything I eat for the last month, so it is accurate. I eat a lot of pre-packaged meals, as I am just getting set up to start making weekly meals. I should also mention that I am a vegetarian, so I am trying to research how to meal plan for that - this is why I drink protein shakes. I am not weighing foods yet and have been scouring the internet trying to get a concrete answer on what my calorie intake should be and recommended diets for vegetarians.
I am big boned, at my ideal weight, with a toned figure (I was this way last year), I am a size 7/8, any smaller than that I will look anorexic. When I was thin, toned, and looked great I weighed 145 lbs.. that was with little body fat. I weigh myself daily at home (weight guru scale) and we are using the BodPod only as a guide to fat %. I didn't even think of taking measurements. I will take those tonight and update.
My trainer thinks that I may need to increase my calorie intake from around 1200/day to 1500/day but I am nervous to do that so I thought I'd reach out here to others that have had experience with weight loss.
No food scale so you can't say for sure how much you are eating....even prepackaged foods can be off by at much as 10-20%.
Big boned is a fallacy...just so you know...I am not saying you don't have a large frame because I do but that doesn't matter for weight loss....and like you I didn't think I should be smaller than a 7/8...I am a size 4 at 150lbs.
What I would do is this.
Input your stats into MFP and eat those calories but buy a food scale. Log your exercise and eat back 50-75% of those calories....
The only way to lose weight is to be in a calorie deficit and if you aren't losing that is why.
The only commenter to hit the nail on the head several times, yet has been flagged twice. I wish people would us the flag for what it's intended for not when they dislike what a user has to say even when it's accurate.
That said I'm terribly sorry for your loss. There is so fantastic advice here, one month is a very short period to be concerned about plateau. I'd also not worry to much about the BodPod, if you are doing as suggested in your thread, you are not adding fat and loosing muscle. Its likely you are loosing both but other factors are contributing to it not showing on the scale.5 -
I don't know what "flagged" is (I am new to this), but all the above has been great advice. I will purchase a food scale. I went to the prepackaged food because I thought it would help me control portions and calories until I figured out how to do the meals.
Does anyone here know where I can go to figure out what is the minimum caloric intake I should have? From what I have read there is a minimum that you should never go under, I think they called it BMR. I have gone to numerous websites and have had a wild variety of results. Also, if you know of any meal planning sites, that would be great!!0 -
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I've seen a lot of inappropriate flagging today. Sigh.1
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You sound a similar build and weight to me. What is your height?0
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I am 5'6
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MissusMoon wrote: »I've seen a lot of inappropriate flagging today. Sigh.
Its funny because there is actually a thread dedicated to this active today.1 -
I would recommend adding more protein to your diet. High intensity workings will tear down muscle fibers and repair when at rest with diet. If you have enough protein building blocks it may help prevent muscle loss.2
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OP, so sorry for your loss. *hug*
can't use HRM for weights....any typelynnette1774 wrote: »Thanks for the responses, it is a hard journey to begin to give yourself permission to live again.
I just got the Polar H7 (it is a chest strap) so the exercise diary hasn't been updated routinely yet.. only for this week. I do insane workouts with a trainer. We have begun with a mixture of cardio and light weights.. not doing weight lifting yet until I am conditioned.
I opened my food diary.I have been tracking everything I eat for the last month, so it is accurate. I eat a lot of pre-packaged meals, as I am just getting set up to start making weekly meals. I should also mention that I am a vegetarian, so I am trying to research how to meal plan for that - this is why I drink protein shakes. I am not weighing foods yet and have been scouring the internet trying to get a concrete answer on what my calorie intake should be and recommended diets for vegetarians.
I am big boned, at my ideal weight, with a toned figure (I was this way last year), I am a size 7/8, any smaller than that I will look anorexic. When I was thin, toned, and looked great I weighed 145 lbs.. that was with little body fat. I weigh myself daily at home (weight guru scale) and we are using the BodPod only as a guide to fat %. I didn't even think of taking measurements. I will take those tonight and update.
My trainer thinks that I may need to increase my calorie intake from around 1200/day to 1500/day but I am nervous to do that so I thought I'd reach out here to others that have had experience with weight loss.
No food scale so you can't say for sure how much you are eating....even prepackaged foods can be off by at much as 10-20%.
Big boned is a fallacy...just so you know...I am not saying you don't have a large frame because I do but that doesn't matter for weight loss....and like you I didn't think I should be smaller than a 7/8...I am a size 4 at 150lbs.
What I would do is this.
Input your stats into MFP and eat those calories but buy a food scale. Log your exercise and eat back 50-75% of those calories....
The only way to lose weight is to be in a calorie deficit and if you aren't losing that is why.
This. Perfect advice.
Who flagged this? Seriously? Ugh. Flagging isn't a feature to be abused. Sorry, OP, some people have their panties twisted.
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A wee bit shorter than me, 2", and I've finally settled on 1590 calories plus eating back 50% of cardio exercise calories burned. It's been a nightmare trying to figure out the numbers but this calculator worked http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
And I went from eating all exercise calories to only 50% and it finally seems to be working.
Its a nightmare when you see no change and you're putting in so much work and there is just so much information out there (all different!).
1200 seems low and not much fun... Especially if you are exercising loads. It may take longer on more calories but it may be more sustainable.
Sorry for the essay!0
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