Large Calorie Deficit w/ Exercise

VintageFeline wrote: »

I give up.

I don't blame you...

I am currently working on a plan similar to yours in deficit its week one and i have seen no muscle mass changes or decrease in strenght though i fuel out in the gym early as compared to maintainence diet which i used to take.

So the point here is if you want to retain most of your muscle try adding following things in your weight loss program.

Do intermittent fasting for 16 hours daily I recommend timmings from 7 or 8 pm to 11 or 12 am next day it will leave you with a feeding window of 8 hours in between consume 1000 calories on rest days and 1200 to 1300 on training days.

The benifit for fasting b/w these times is that most of your fasting period lies in the night when growth hormone is active it is a stress hormone that helps recover & retain muscle mass and also triggering fat loss during the starvation phase.
if you chose to fast during the days it will elevate cortisol levels which will do vice versa.

Secondly the diet you consume should consist most of proteins and good fats and less carbs to keep your metabolism in the fat burning zone.
however Clean eating doesn't matter on such large deficits flexible dieting achieve same results.
try taking 1 gm of protein per pound of body weight as long as it doesn't exceeds your daily caloric goal.

best macros proportion would be 30 ℅ carbs 20 % fat and 50 % protein.

it takes different periods for different people to shift their metabolism to fat burn zone for normal people its 3 to 7 days but it may take upto 3 weeks for some people.

I hope it helps try this and share the results with me im on the same plan for comming 15 weeks.l

jtintx wrote: »

amyrebeccah wrote: »

jtintx wrote: »

VintageFeline wrote: »

You will lose muscle and without wanting to sound in any way rude, at your age you want to be doing every single thing you can to preserve it, it's all downhill for muscle loss and harder gains the older you get.

And if you really want to retain as much muscle as possible, on top of eating more you really need to do some sort of strength training.

Exactly (emphasis mine), that's why I was so concerned about the high exercise days. I'll try strength training but I'll probably whine about it the whole time. Honestly, I'm scared to eat more, especially since my appetite has been under control lately with the high protein I've been consuming. I want this weight gone.

Are you scared of weakening your heart and bones because you couldn't be patient?

Of course I would be scared of that happening...just as I'm concerned about losing muscle. I'm also scared of being 54 years old, 40 pounds overweight and having a heart attack or stroke.

You know there's space in between those two extremes right?

amyrebeccah wrote: »

jtintx wrote: »

VintageFeline wrote: »

You will lose muscle and without wanting to sound in any way rude, at your age you want to be doing every single thing you can to preserve it, it's all downhill for muscle loss and harder gains the older you get.

And if you really want to retain as much muscle as possible, on top of eating more you really need to do some sort of strength training.

Exactly (emphasis mine), that's why I was so concerned about the high exercise days. I'll try strength training but I'll probably whine about it the whole time. Honestly, I'm scared to eat more, especially since my appetite has been under control lately with the high protein I've been consuming. I want this weight gone.

Are you scared of weakening your heart and bones because you couldn't be patient?

This. My mom died in April from isechemic heart disease which basically is thinning of the heart wall. She should have lived an extra 15 years or so, but her heart gave up on her. One of the reasons was eating too little for her activity level. She was suffering for 28 years, and I mean suffering.

jtintx wrote: »

VintageFeline wrote: »

jtintx wrote: »

amyrebeccah wrote: »

jtintx wrote: »

VintageFeline wrote: »

You will lose muscle and without wanting to sound in any way rude, at your age you want to be doing every single thing you can to preserve it, it's all downhill for muscle loss and harder gains the older you get.

And if you really want to retain as much muscle as possible, on top of eating more you really need to do some sort of strength training.

Exactly (emphasis mine), that's why I was so concerned about the high exercise days. I'll try strength training but I'll probably whine about it the whole time. Honestly, I'm scared to eat more, especially since my appetite has been under control lately with the high protein I've been consuming. I want this weight gone.

Are you scared of weakening your heart and bones because you couldn't be patient?

Of course I would be scared of that happening...just as I'm concerned about losing muscle. I'm also scared of being 54 years old, 40 pounds overweight and having a heart attack or stroke.

You know there's space in between those two extremes right?

Yes, that's absolutely true, there is. I'm 54 (20 years older than you) and it is very hard to lose weight at this age. It's hard to eat back exercise calories (esp. when not hungry). Most of my life I've struggles with binge eating. Forgive my hesitancy to eat more...it's just the idea of not getting rid of this weight is scary. I truly do appreciate the time you've taken to help me with this issue.

It's not very hard to lose weight at your age, it's the same process for everyone and your deficit vs current losses show that your deficit results in the same rate of loss as it would in my 20 years younger self.

And high BP is not an immediately dangerous thing that calls for you to endanger your health to remedy. I too had high BP when I started at 220lbs. I still lost at a rate of 1lb per week and my BP is fine now, 50lbs down.

And if can't get calories in, chug a protein shake or two, or even a Coke or fruit juice. Liquid calories can be easier to consume.

jtintx wrote: »

VintageFeline wrote: »

VintageFeline wrote: »

I just did a quick calculation, supposing your only exercise is those 1500 per day for 3 days, you are netting 800 calories per day. That's a big old no. If you do other exercise on other days, that is reduced again. If you are someone who gets quite a lot of incidental steps in a day, it further reduces it.

I hope at the very least you are also doing some strength training as all that cardio is not supporting lean mass retention.

Bottom line, you need to eat more. If this has always been your approach to weight loss it isn't any wonder you keep losing muscle.

Again, you need to look at overall averages and your numbers are worrying.

Just gonna go ahead and quote myself here. You are netting 800 or below on average across the week. That is not okay.

Where that deficit comes from, whether it's 3 days or 7 is irrelevant. Your average deficit is too large to support basic bodily function and lean mass.

Thanks for your reply. I just checked. I'm netting closer to 950 calories per day. I'm averaging about 5300 calorie deficit a week or 757 per day. That should equate to about 1.5 lb weight loss per week. I've just started back on this fat loss journey recently and I don't want to lose muscle like I did last time. That's why I'm trying to make sure I get this right. I thought between 1 and 2 lbs a week is an acceptable goal. ??? I do try to do some strength training but it's just not "fun" so I don't do it much. I appreciate your input. I guess you answered my question...basically it doesn't matter so much about those three days as long as over the week it averages out to a more acceptable number. I was just concerned those 3 days were going to eat up my muscle mass. I guess if I wasn't trying to lose this weight as quickly as possible it would be moot and I could eat more on those workout days. But since I don't have much of a deficit on those other days I'd like to take advantage of the high calorie burn days.

If your netting 950 a day , that does seem low , from what i have read 1200 is the low number for Girls ,, you would still lose 1 pound a week at your numbers . A lot of people do weekly averages of there calories is why i mentioned weekly goals instead of daily goals ..

good luck