Recomposition: Maintaining weight while losing fat

16566687071127

Replies

  • KetoneKaren
    KetoneKaren Posts: 6,411 Member
    bioklutz wrote: »
    As someone who has "high" calories for my weight and height I can tell you how things might be different for me. I spend most of my working hours on my feet. When I get home from work I probably don't sit until maybe 2 hours later (I work out, shower, fix dinner, feed the dogs, take them outside, etc.). When I am sitting I am a little fidgety. I rarely sit for longer than an hour at a time - when I watch a movie it often gets paused halfway so I can move around for 5 minutes.

    None of this is particularly physically demanding but it all adds up to requiring a little more calories.

    A doctor I know who specializes in nonsurgical bariatrics says in my case, sitting and sleeping might expend 30kcal/hour, standing 60kcal/hour, and "puttering" or "fidgeting" up to 100kcal/hour...having nothing to do with "exercise" per se, but everything to do with lifestyle. 8 hours of puttering uses maybe 800kcal as opposed to 240kcal.
  • jerb00
    jerb00 Posts: 155 Member
    DebSozo wrote: »
    My body slowly put on weight over time. I used to be able to handle more calories for maintenance when I was younger and still not gain weight.

    The weight comes off of me slowly. I want to lose another 10 pounds and can't budge it. I was miserable on 1200 calories a day but don't lose on 1500. It does make me feel like giving in and giving up at times, but I hate gaining weight back after all the hard work it took to lose. I keep telling myself, "Never give up", and that keeps me on track. Soooo... since I'm not losing weight anyhow and am plateauing/maintaining I figured I would try recomp.

    This fir me too. The whole reason I started to try to lose weight in May was because I notice I was slowly gaining weight (looks and feel of clothes - didn't use a scale) an my eating habit hadn't changed. So I did lose weight but wasn't happy with the result as much (at 4'10" and. Pear shape woman I still looks like I ha thunder thighs!) So I looks up recomping. I feel like I am also tellin myself to never gov up but I sure gave in yesterday. I'll get back on track today. What I really see is that I am north only on in this boat and I really nee to stop whining :blush:
  • griffinca2
    griffinca2 Posts: 672 Member
    jerb00, I don't feel deprived @ 1370 - 1400 cals a day. My maintenance cals (per MPF) are 1460 so I'm eating just below TDEE for my height and weight. I'm older than most folks on this thread so don't need as many cals as someone younger. Trying to reduce body fat w/o losing any more weight so thru experimentation I settled on the above cals, Once I gain more muscle mass I should be able to eat more and will add cals as needed. B)
  • tigerblue
    tigerblue Posts: 1,525 Member
    So good to hear others in the same boat (calorie range).
  • jerb00
    jerb00 Posts: 155 Member
    I have also realized that I should never post from my kindle :blush:
  • vrojapu
    vrojapu Posts: 268 Member
    bump
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,721 Member
    NealNH wrote: »
    "great believer in the older woman (and man) needs more protein than those adults under 50"

    You may be interested in these articles which indicate that older adults do need more protein.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4555150/
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15640517

    Neal

    Useful links, Neal - I already knew I needed more protein as a li'l ol' lady, but there are some other thought-provoking details in there as well, about the relationship of protein to some of the other variables. Thanks.
  • NealNH
    NealNH Posts: 105 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    NealNH wrote: »
    "great believer in the older woman (and man) needs more protein than those adults under 50"

    You may be interested in these articles which indicate that older adults do need more protein.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4555150/
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15640517

    Neal

    Useful links, Neal - I already knew I needed more protein as a li'l ol' lady, but there are some other thought-provoking details in there as well, about the relationship of protein to some of the other variables. Thanks.

    AnnPT77,
    Glad you found them useful.
    That site has quite a few articles of that type on different subjects that may be of interest.
    I'm still in the weight loss part of the journey so there is no way to fit in that much protein and still get my MFP recommended carbs while staying within my calorie limits. I have been watching this thread because I hope to make use of the information once I reach my goal.

    Neal
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,481 Member
    @NealNH you can alter your macro goals. I find 40carb, 30protein, 30fat works well for me. That takes my protien to my LBM and I treat it as a minimum.
    Aim for 1g for each lbs of your ideal weight ( mid way on normal BMI).

    This is an excellent thread to follow.
    Cheers, h.
  • yung_spectre
    yung_spectre Posts: 6 Member
    In case someone hasn't said this already, it's always a good idea to get your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) tested. This was the single most important data point when I started train to lose my extra weight.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
    In case someone hasn't said this already, it's always a good idea to get your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) tested. This was the single most important data point when I started train to lose my extra weight.

    Recomp is more about maintaining weight. Knowing your RMR can be interesting, but maintenance requires knowing the whole picture of what you are burning.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,373 MFP Moderator
    usmcmp wrote: »
    In case someone hasn't said this already, it's always a good idea to get your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) tested. This was the single most important data point when I started train to lose my extra weight.

    Recomp is more about maintaining weight. Knowing your RMR can be interesting, but maintenance requires knowing the whole picture of what you are burning.

    I would agree. There are more component to the energy balance equation that you must account for. Don't get me wrong, i love more data when available but even if you know your rmr, you still have to address NEAT, TEF AND TEA.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,721 Member
    @NealNH - +1 to middlehaitch's comment . . . but note that the protein recommendations in the cited links are mostly more like .6-.8g per pound of bodyweight (because they're in kg), and should be calculated based on goal/ideal bodyweight as middlehaitch says. I found .6-.8 achievable even in a steep deficit, and even as a vegetarian (ovo-lacto, though). Carbs are your most flexible macro - you can go for healthy fat & protein targets then fill in the rest of your calories with carbs (ideally those that come with the best micros, of course). Now, in maintenance, I'm targeting something closer to 1g/pound also.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    psulemon wrote: »
    usmcmp wrote: »
    In case someone hasn't said this already, it's always a good idea to get your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) tested. This was the single most important data point when I started train to lose my extra weight.

    Recomp is more about maintaining weight. Knowing your RMR can be interesting, but maintenance requires knowing the whole picture of what you are burning.

    I would agree. There are more component to the energy balance equation that you must account for. Don't get me wrong, i love more data when available but even if you know your rmr, you still have to address NEAT, TEF AND TEA.

    Ditto's again.

    I'd suggest spend the money on a Bodpod - about the same price in many areas.
    If more to spend, go DEXA.

    Then you have some before and after stats for what is being recomped - or lost for that matter.

    And then LBM can actually give a decent estimate of BMR & RMR in many cases if just curious to know.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,262 Member
    Bret Contreras had a recent post on his own recomp so I thought I'd share it:
    https://bretcontreras.com/this-is-40/

  • jeepinshawn
    jeepinshawn Posts: 642 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    Bret Contreras had a recent post on his own recomp so I thought I'd share it:
    https://bretcontreras.com/this-is-40/

    Damn, that dude burns a lot of calories for only working out 3 days a week.
  • sunflowerhippi
    sunflowerhippi Posts: 1,086 Member
    Excited for my bodpod tomorrow and then finishing up a challenge with a local group then I am going into recomp. I am done with eating at a deficit. Going to go back in for a follow up in May before next summer and see what progress I can make statistically and visually.