Frusturated beyond belief

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coolcoci_115
coolcoci_115 Posts: 57 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am at a loss for what else I can do. I have been at this weight loss thing on and off for the past 1.5 years now and no matter how many times I throw my all into it and try to do everything right I don't see the results I expect. I've started off this journey at 190+ and thankfully I am now down to 160, but the weight has come off sporadically, never consistently and with many plateaus. My goal is to get down to 145 and I have determined this goal based on height (5' 7.5'') and body frame size using wrist diameter (6 in) and elbow width which puts me right at the cusp between small and medium body frame. Ideal weight for that height and body frame size is around 132.5 - 143 lbs. My body shape is definitely pear with my waist-to-hip ratio 0.663 (for reference Kim Kardashian also has ratio of 0.66) and most of weight is sitting in bum and thighs (and no it's not enviable to have this body shape unless you are cellulite free).

So 15 pounds weight loss is my goal and while in the past I was doing mostly cardio 3x's week and eating 1200 calories to lose the weight I had taken a hiatus around the holidays (late October through December) due to travel, vacation and holidays. At the beginning of 2017 I wanted to get back into fitness by doing all the right things consistently to kick start this once and for all and finally get to my goal. I decided to forgo the unhealthy low calories and up my calories to 1500, calculate my macros, eat only clean unprocessed nutritious foods and start weight training.

The following are calculations of my BMR, TDEE and calories required for weight loss:
- BMR for 25-29 year old Female, 160 lbs, 5' 8'': 1521 per IIFYM calculator
- TDEE if sedentary most of the day w/ 0 days of exercise: 1749 per IIFYM calculator
- TDEE based on 6 days of exercise at moderate intensity: 2030 kcal per IIFYM calculator (this seems inaccurately low and based on other formulas including Harris-Benedict with exercise 4-5 week puts me at 2,395 kcal)
- 25% calorie deficit of the estimated 2030 TDEE is 1522.5 kcal per day
- weekly caloric deficit based on above is 3,552.5 kcal which is equivalent to one pound based on diet alone

So beginning January 1 I have developed the following meal plan for myself that involves carb cycling for body recomposition (essentially losing fat & gaining muscle) with the intent that higher calorie higher carb days are weight training days (Day B below):

Day A: Macros --> 45%protein 30%fat 25% carbs; 1370 kcal
- Breakfast
-> 2 large hard-boiled eggs
-> 3 oz fat free ham
-> 1 oz swiss cheese
- Lunch
-> 120-130 grams Salmon
-> 100 g Lentil Salad (includes tomatoes, cucumbers, cilantro)
-> 5 spears Asparagus
- Dinner
-> 3.5 oz (100 g) boneless skinless chicken breast
-> 100 grams baked Sweet Potatoes
-> 100 grams Bell Peppers
- Snacks
-> 30 g whey protein + 8 oz 1% milk
-> 75 grams (edible portion) edamame with sea salt

Day B: 30%protein 25%fat 45%carbs; 1650 kcal
- Breakfast
-> 2 large hard-boiled eggs
-> 3 oz (85 g) fat free ham
-> 1 oz (28 g) swiss cheese
-> 1 medium sized green apple
- Lunch
-> 85-100 grams strip steak
-> 100 grams plain white rice
-> 5+ spears asparagus
- Dinner
-> 120 grams Tilapia
-> 100 grams baked sweet potato
-> 100 grams bell peppers
- Snacks
-> 1 oz (28 grams) Almonds
-> 1 package - 5.3 oz Greek Yogurt
-> 1 medium banana
-> 1 oz (28 grams) box or raisins

The above is cooked without any additional sauces, oils or butter. I used a cooking spray with zero fat to prevent sticking to my pan. I use a combination of spices (salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, oregano) and lemon juice to season my food. Occasionally I will throw a half a teaspoon of minced garlic on my fish for added flavor. EVERYTHING is weighed on a kitchen scale. I determine calories in rice by using recipe function in MyFitnessPal were I add dry weight of rice to the recipe and then measure rice after is cooked. The grams of cooked rice becomes the number of servings and then a 100 grams would = 100 servings.

I followed the above pretty religiously except for the occasional hiccups (aka Super Bowel Sunday). If I do go out with friends to a restaurant I have been ordering healthier options, or skipping snacks to account for added calories, or packaging away at least half of the food to take home (and then it sits uneaten in the fridge).

The meal plan I have followed for last 6-7 weeks without any change in weight (hanging around 161-163). I did not do a lot of exercise during initial 4 weeks because of studying for exams. I weigh myself every morning after using the restroom wearing only undies/bra. I unfortunately do not have a measuring tape or calipers, but subjectively I do NOT feel any different in clothing (aka nothing fits looser).

Over the past two-three weeks I have up'ed the intensity of my workouts by incorporating heavy weight lifting and cardio. Earlier I was at 3 times a week of weight training + 30 minutes of cardio x 3. However I felt like I was not working my muscle groups frequently enough to see gains (working legs once a week?) so I am now switching my routine to be the following:

Monday: 30 minutes cardio + Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes
Tuesday: 30 minutes cardio + Back & Biceps
Wednesday: 30 minutes cardio + Chest, Triceps, Shoulders
Thursday: 30 minutes cardio + Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes
Friday: 30 minutes cardio + Back & Biceps
Saturday: 30 minutes cardio + Chest, Triceps, Shoulders
Sunday: Off

In terms of intensity of workouts I wear a Polar Heart Rate Monitor that utilizes the strap for accurate reading of heart rate. I work at >85% max heart rate for > 25 minutes of the 30 minutes of cardio. Cardio consists of 5 min warm up, 1 mile run, 5 min cool down, 10 minutes fast paced walk at progressively increasing incline. I am working at increasing my speed (and therefore decreasing my mile time each week) and currently at a pace of 9 minutes 40 sec for mile. Per heart rate monitor I burn 350-380 calories in 30 minutes. Depending on type of strength training I will complete workout in 1-1.5 hours burning anywhere from 750 to 1000 calories. I utilize supersets for many of the exercises and time my breaks for 60 seconds between sets.

Not currently on any medications. No significant past medical history. I have had blood work done in the last 6 months showing normal thyroid functioning, CBC and BMP were all within normal limits except for a normocytic anemia of 10 g/dL which is not unusual for me.

Okay so I have outlined EVERYTHING that I could think of. What I need to know is what the heck am I missing here. Hours upon hours of research and watching YouTube videos and adjusting and prepping meals and weighing! I realize myself how excessive this is. I'm not a skinny person looking to lose the last 5 pounds, I have a significant amount of body fat left on me (evidenced by the fact that I can grab junks of it in my hand). I understand that I need to weight lift for a significantly longer time to see changes in muscle mass, but regardless of exercise with diet alone I have seen ZERO changes for weeks.

If anyone who is well versed in fitness training and nutrition can help me out, I would really appreciate it. I don't want to throw in the towel, I want to reach my goals. Please help!
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Replies

  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    One other thought - for your food logging, are you careful to log entries that match your weighing? Such as if raw weight of the steak is 100g, logging 100g raw steak. Or if 100g sweet potato is the cooked weight, logging 100g cooked sweet potato.
  • laceyslabaugh
    laceyslabaugh Posts: 113 Member
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    I started weighing only in grams and even if it says "1 (or 28g) hot dog bun is 110 cal" - I weigh each bun to make sure it's 28 g (that's just an example and not actual numbers). Also are you sure 1200 is enough calories for how much your burning? That's minimum calories for a sedentary person (like me, that doesn't exercise). I wonder if your body is in "starvation mode" and storing all your calories. I would look at your setting and make sure everything is accurate for your daily calories.
  • coolcoci_115
    coolcoci_115 Posts: 57 Member
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    StaciMarie1974 wrote: »
    If you are using a food scale, and have upped workout intensity in last 3 weeks: I'd say to give it another 2-4 weeks.

    The main thing I see with room for improvement in your food list: medium apple, medium banana and such. What is a medium? You & I and the USDA may have different opinions. Weigh what you eat. Log by grams.

    To appease the calorie counting Gods I have went ahead and weighed every single apple sitting in my fridge right now. For 11 apples the average weight is 154 grams which is 80 calories (and surprisingly matches up perfectly with the serving size on the bag). So I actually have been overlogging by 15 calories as I input 95 calories for my apple.

    I had 4 large bananas and 3 medium sized bananas. The 4 large ones averaged 206 grams which is equivalent to 183 calories, and the 3 medium sized bananas average 150 grams which is equivalent to 134 calories. I have been putting 110 calories for the banana. So if I'm eating one of my smaller bananas I am underreporting 10 calories (because i overreported the apple). If I eat one of the larger bananas I underreport 58 calories every other day (or 174-232 calories weekly). So that is a significant amount. I will be sure to pay attention to the size of the bananas that I buy next time I go grocery shopping.
  • coolcoci_115
    coolcoci_115 Posts: 57 Member
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    laceyslabaugh wrote: »
    I started weighing only in grams and even if it says "1 (or 28g) hot dog bun is 110 cal" - I weigh each bun to make sure it's 28 g (that's just an example and not actual numbers). Also are you sure 1200 is enough calories for how much your burning? That's minimum calories for a sedentary person (like me, that doesn't exercise). I wonder if your body is in "starvation mode" and storing all your calories. I would look at your setting and make sure everything is accurate for your daily calories.

    Thank you for the suggestion. If you read a little bit further than the first few paragraphs you will see that I am currently eating at 1500 calories, all foods are weighed in grams.
  • AverageJoeFit
    AverageJoeFit Posts: 251 Member
    edited February 2017
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    A couple of other ideas that might help.

    Try mixing up your macro's. My wife has found that she hasaid to eat low high carbon for a week once a month in order to keep her body from plateauing.

    Also try cyclical dieting for a month and see if that works. Cyclical dieting is where you diet 5 days then eat maintenence calories for 2 days then back to 5 deiting calories. And after 4 weeks of that eat maintenence calories for a while week.

    See if that works. It worked for me. [post edited by MFP mods]
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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    I read through the whole thing and maybe I missed it? Are you eating back exercise calories?
  • kaizaku
    kaizaku Posts: 1,039 Member
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    Workout using weights. Squats, Lunges etc. Work your glutes, and do upper body. Diet and food go hand in hand.
  • coolcoci_115
    coolcoci_115 Posts: 57 Member
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    fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »
    I am, by personal experience, not a believer in the "all people fall into this box" math on these calculators.
    If you are not losing, then you are not in a calorie deficit. My suggestion would be to rely on these site numbers only as a guide, and adjust your own calories as needed, to see progress.

    As far as your HRM, you cannot use it to monitor calorie burn, during strength training. So throw those numbers out the window. It will only be a useful measurement for steady-state, aerobic exercise.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/hrms-cannot-count-calories-during-strength-training-17698

    I completely agree with you and for that reason I reported my calories lost during cardio separately from the complete workout as strength training is for muscle gain and not calorie burning. So I would like to revise that I know that I at least burn 350-380 calories per cardio session.

    As far as the calculators, of course they are only estimates. However there are studies showing that the measurements are relatively close. I did a quick literature search with a recent article from 2008 from the Indian Journal of Medical Science titled "Comparison of Harris Benedict and Mifflin-ST Jeor equations with indirect calorimetry in evaluating resting energy expenditure" that concluded no significant difference between Harris Benedict estimation and the indirect calorimetry testing at the group level (they tested 60 individuals age 18-83). This means that the likelihood that they would find a difference in the estimates of resting energy expenditure is < 5% (p value of < 0.05). However they did conclude also that there were greater difference at the individual level.

    I have considered for a while getting a professional measurement of BMR, but i know this can be expensive so I figured the free method can be used reliably for now.
  • coolcoci_115
    coolcoci_115 Posts: 57 Member
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    StaciMarie1974 wrote: »
    One other thought - for your food logging, are you careful to log entries that match your weighing? Such as if raw weight of the steak is 100g, logging 100g raw steak. Or if 100g sweet potato is the cooked weight, logging 100g cooked sweet potato.

    Very good point. I log calories based on the cooked weight of food and will log the appropriate entries as such.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,952 Member
    edited February 2017
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    I'm confused if you're trying to recomp or if you're trying to lose weight. Recomp as you've planned means eating at maintenance, maintaining your overall weight, while changing your fat to muscle ratio slowly. If your TDEE is around 2000 and you're eating 1500, that's not a recomp, that's just weight loss. For a recomp you'd eat 2000ish a day and not expect to see the scale budge. You'd expect to see changes with a tap measure though.

    I kind of think you may be over complicating it. I agree with the others to try tightening up your logging.
  • coolcoci_115
    coolcoci_115 Posts: 57 Member
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    VeryKatie wrote: »
    I'm confused if you're trying to recomp or if you're trying to lose weight. Recomp as you've planned means eating at maintenance, maintaining your overall weight, while changing your fat to muscle ratio slowly. If your TDEE is around 2000 and you're eating 1500, that's not a recomp, that's just weight loss. For a recomp you'd eat 2000ish a day and not expect to see the scale budge. You'd expect to see changes with a tap measure though.

    I kind of think you may be over complicating it.

    So body recomp as I understand it is reducing body fat while adding muscle and involves cycling higher calorie days with lower calorie days. I found this article particularly useful: https://www.completehumanperformance.com/minimalist-recomposition/

    But essentially if I were to do it properly I would be eating at maintenance every other day and at a calorific deficit on the other days. I am not doing this because my main goal is cutting but I did not want to give up all muscle gains or worse lose muscle in the process
  • xmichaelyx
    xmichaelyx Posts: 883 Member
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    You're eating back your calories, which adds an unnecessary layer of uncertainty to your numbers. Pick a number of calories, be consistent with your workouts, and adjust the calories as needed to gain or lose.

    MFP makes this more complicated than it needs to be.
  • coolcoci_115
    coolcoci_115 Posts: 57 Member
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    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    I read through the whole thing and maybe I missed it? Are you eating back exercise calories?

    Nope sorry I forgot to add this. I do NOT eat back exercise calories.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
    edited February 2017
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    coolcoci_115 wrote: »
    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    I read through the whole thing and maybe I missed it? Are you eating back exercise calories?

    Nope sorry I forgot to add this. I do NOT eat back exercise calories.

    If everything stated is true, and you are accurately weighing and logging everything, it may be time to see a doctor. Maybe get your thyroid function checked.

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  • coolcoci_115
    coolcoci_115 Posts: 57 Member
    edited February 2017
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    kaizaku wrote: »
    Workout using weights. Squats, Lunges etc. Work your glutes, and do upper body. Diet and food go hand in hand.

    Please continue to read further down my post as I have outlined what I do.

    Leg Day
    - Smith Machine Squats (5 sets, 10 reps)
    - Straight Leg Deadlifts Smith Machine(4 sets, 10 reps)
    - Smith Machine One Leg Lunges (3 sets, 10 reps)

    Super Set #1
    - Barbell Curtsey Lunges (3 sets, 10 reps on each side)
    - Hyperextensions (weighted) (3 sets, 10 reps)
    Super Set #2
    - Hip Thrusts (3 sets, 10-12 reps)
    - Frog Leg Presses (3 sets, 10 reps)

    - Hip abductors (3 sets, 10 reps)

    Back & Bicep
    Super Set # 1
    - Bent Over Dumbbell Row (3 sets, 10 reps)
    - Dumbell Bicep Curl (10 reps each arm) + Crossbody dumbbell hammer curls (10 reps each arm), 3 sets
    Super Set #2 (3 sets, 10/10 reps)
    - Incline Bench Dumbbell Row
    - Hanging Bicep Curl
    Super Set #3 (3 sets, 10/10 reps)
    - Wide grip Lat Pulldown
    - Face Pulls
    Single Arm Cable Pull Downs (3 sets, 10 reps on each arm)

    Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
    Super Set # 1 (3 sets, 10/10 reps)
    - Flat Bench Press
    - Military Press
    Super Set #2 (3 sets, 10/10 reps)
    - Incline Dumbbell Flye
    - Dumbbell Front Raise
    Super Set #3 (3 sets, 10/10 reps)
    - Incline Dumbbell Press
    - Standing Lateral Raises
    Super Set #4 (3 sets, 10/10 reps)
    - Tricep Bench Dips
    - Dumbbell Overhead Press
  • coolcoci_115
    coolcoci_115 Posts: 57 Member
    edited February 2017
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    Loomisj72 wrote: »
    A couple of other ideas that might help.

    Try mixing up your macro's. My wife has found that she hasaid to eat low high carbon for a week once a month in order to keep her body from plateauing.

    Also try cyclical dieting for a month and see if that works. Cyclical dieting is where you diet 5 days then eat maintenence calories for 2 days then back to 5 deiting calories. And after 4 weeks of that eat maintenence calories for a while week.

    See if that works. It worked for me. [edited by MFP mods]

    So I don't know if you noticed by I mix up my macros every other day. 45%protein 30%fat 25% carbs; 1370 kcal on one day and 30%protein 25%fat 45%carbs; 1650 kcal. Is this different from what you are suggesting and why would it be better. Thanks
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,485 Member
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    Try to weigh all foods as you eat them or pre log. Don't average the numbers. It is a small difference in methodology but when you are having problems losing it is best to be as precise as possible to try to find the cause.

    Use usda entries where possible.

    How are you accounting for all your hiccups/eating out etc and how often do they happen?

    If you are eating back exercise calories- don't. You are working off a TDEE estimation and your calorie burn is already included.

    You may get better weight lifting results if you followed a proven 3day full body programme rather than a 6 day split (unless you are following a specific programme designed for you by a PT).

    You are not running a recomp. This doesn't mean lifting isn't a good thing to do, it just means you are working to retain the muscle you have and increase your strength.
    Carb cycling is probably not necessary at this stage.

    Opening your diary would probably help people help you.

    Cheers, h.
  • nikolausi88
    nikolausi88 Posts: 22 Member
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    Is your cooking spray actually fat free or is it just a normal one?

    The one in my pantry has 0 calories for a fraction of a second spray. I never timed it, but you have to move at lightning speed to manage that.

    In essence, most of those sprays are just vaporized cooking oil.
    If you're generously coating your pans for 2 or 3 dishes, you might take in quite a bit of calories.

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