deficit and heavy lifting but not losing weight!!

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cherriegh
cherriegh Posts: 196 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Ok so i have calculated my BMR is very low at 1393 and TDEE if exercising 1-3days 1928. I lift heavy 3x weekly mostly and i eat 1200set by mfp usually under with 100gprotein and not more than 60gcarbs and i'm not losing weight...

I'm 5"2, 138lbs and 30yrs needing drop to 123lbs aiming to drop 1-2lbs weekly

I started lifting a month ago stronglifts ONLY, no cardio at most 30mins a week(usually too tired and i hate treadmill) but scale is going up and I'm not noticing difference is size but i do see my thighs firming up a bit. Am i eating too little and not losing fat but losing muscle? I thought it was water retention but for a month?

Please help find correct calories to consume on my activity level

Replies

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    How are you measuring your intake?

    If you're following TDEE, you should probably only aim for about a 15% deficit, since you don't have much to lose. If you're following MFP's goals, go for .5 pounds a week. But make sure your logging is as accurate as possible first.
  • druidkat7
    druidkat7 Posts: 691 Member
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    I have seen these acronyms all over MFP forums, but I have yet to look them up. I'd rather someone explain them: Just what do BMR and TDEE mean stand for? I take it BMR is Basal Metabolic Rate? :confused:
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    druidkat7 wrote: »
    I have seen these acronyms all over MFP forums, but I have yet to look them up. I'd rather someone explain them: Just what do BMR and TDEE mean stand for? I take it BMR is Basal Metabolic Rate? :confused:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1069278/acronyms-and-terms-for-new-mfp-members-v-6
  • giantrobot_powerlifting
    giantrobot_powerlifting Posts: 2,598 Member
    edited August 2016
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    cherriegh wrote: »
    lifting a month ago l
    A month ago? Bah! Give it more time. Rome wasn't built in month. Besides, the weight on the scale is but one data point, you should be monitoring your lean mass to body fat ratio to really understand what the scale is reporting.
  • cherriegh
    cherriegh Posts: 196 Member
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    GuitarJerry wrote: »
    theoretically, you eat MORE than your BMR. BMR is what you eat if you're in a coma. However, ignore it because it's just theoretical, and a guess.

    For your TDEE, that is what you eat to maintain your weight. So, if you ate 1928, you'd stay right where you are forever.

    So, to lose, you eat somewhere between TDEE and BMR.

    Generally, take 10% off your TDEE for a good weight loss. That would put you at eating 1735 everyday. Not 1200. You can manually adjust this in MFP. And, if you do this, do not add exercise calories. Just eat 1735 and workout.

    (I assume that the 1735 included you working out 3 days a week.) If not, recalculate your TDEE is include 3 days a week of exercise.


    Yes it includes working out. Ill up my calories and see what happens.

    No im expecting to lose all my weight in a month but I expected to have and see progress for motivation.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
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    It takes time to build muscle. (Much more than a month.) And gaining strength and building muscle are not the same thing. Be patient. If you upped any of your weights or reps--that's progress! :smiley:
  • julie_broadhead
    julie_broadhead Posts: 178 Member
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    I'm going to echo what many others have said. Give it more time. It took about 3 months for my weight to really start coming down. Keep lifting and eating at a deficit. The fat loss will happen:-)
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,419 Member
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    If you just started a month ago, your water weight gain from the new workout routine could still be enough of a factor to be masking weight loss, especially if it's compounded by a time-of-month-related water weight gain. So, I agree with those saying patience is the right answer.

    (I'm sure it would feel crazy to increase your calorie goal when you already feel like you're not losing, but I also agree with those who say that 0.5 pounds a week would be a better loss target, when you have so little to lose. Your body can only metabolize a small amount of fat daily from each pound still on your body - IIRC it's 30-some calories worth per pound of fat per day. if your deficit's bigger than that, lean tissue like muscle is at risk to be burned. You don't want that.)

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