Weight loss/muscle build & Low Carb High protein diet
jonathanclough
Posts: 20 Member
I'm 32, 5'6", 152 when started 1 week ago (148.4) as of this morning. My calorie intake is 1600 with 20% carbs (81g) 45% protein (181g) 35% fat (63g).
I have my fitbit synced with myfitnesspal to log my steps and track calories burned. I also have a smart scale that syncs my weight to myfitnesspal (which I do first thing in the morning for most accurate reading). In 1 week I've lost a little over 4 lbs. I also go to the gym monday-friday and try to average 200 reps throughout the workout and then finish with about 10 minutes of cardio at 7-9 mph. I also burn around 3500+ calories in a day.
Is this all logical or do I need to adjust things for burning fat and building the muscle
I have my fitbit synced with myfitnesspal to log my steps and track calories burned. I also have a smart scale that syncs my weight to myfitnesspal (which I do first thing in the morning for most accurate reading). In 1 week I've lost a little over 4 lbs. I also go to the gym monday-friday and try to average 200 reps throughout the workout and then finish with about 10 minutes of cardio at 7-9 mph. I also burn around 3500+ calories in a day.
Is this all logical or do I need to adjust things for burning fat and building the muscle
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Replies
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its hard to build muscle and burn fat at the same time. either do a recomp(eat at maintenance and find a progressive lifting program) or do a bulk and eat a surplus of calories.you are eating around the least a male should eat. so I would say thats probably around your BMR(what you burn by just being alive). also at your weight you should not be losing 4 lbs a week. even 2 lbs is too aggressive. set your calories to either maintain or gain weight. you can do cut and bulk cycles or a recomp which is really slow.
to build a decent amount of muscle you need a surplus of calories, you will also gain some fat. the smaller the surplus though the least fat amount you will gain. so even just 250 calories over your maintenance calories will grow some muscle but that will take time too. Make sure you are getting enough protein but with low carb I dont know how much muscle you will build,as opposed to higher carbs1 -
Your percentages look good, but like CharlieBeans said building muscle and losing fat at the same time is hard. A good route is to stick to a fat burning regimen until desired BF% reached, then bulk up by doing the 250 surplus. Then cut back down to desired. I think this is one way to do it... I'm still trying to figure this thing out myself, so we're in the same boat.0
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This all sounds easy in theory until the hunger sets in
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Today for instance...
With my synced fitbit I burned 4200 calories. I reached my 1600 calories that I have set, and then it wants me to consume another 1500 for my burned. That's 3100 calories in a day, not happening. That's 386g protein, 172g carbs, 134g fat1 -
what are you doing that you burn that many calories? and if you are using fitbit to count weight lifting its going to be highly exaggerated. fitbits are mainly for steady state cardio. what you burn on your fitbit includes your BMR, if you want to gain muscle you need to set your MFP to maintain or gain and then go from there. half your exercise calories to prevent overestimation and eat back half to most of them(if not all). do that for a month or so and see if you are gaining weight or maintaining your weight.jonathanclough wrote: »Today for instance...
With my synced fitbit I burned 4200 calories. I reached my 1600 calories that I have set, and then it wants me to consume another 1500 for my burned. That's 3100 calories in a day, not happening. That's 386g protein, 172g carbs, 134g fat
if still losing eat more calories back. at 1600 calories you are not going to build muscle.Im a female(43) and a half inch taller and I eat more than that and I burn about 2300-2700 calories a day(with exercise). and you dont need that much protein you can recalculate your macros and eat more carbs and less protein. unless you are low carb due to health issues?
weight lifting doesnt burn a lot of calories. so if you are losing so quickly( 4lbs a week is a deficit of 14000 calories which means a 2000 calorie deficit a day) your deficit is too high and you are losing lean mass as well.6 -
jonathanclough wrote: »Today for instance...
With my synced fitbit I burned 4200 calories. I reached my 1600 calories that I have set, and then it wants me to consume another 1500 for my burned. That's 3100 calories in a day, not happening. That's 386g protein, 172g carbs, 134g fat
This is why percentages aren't actually very useful. If you're wanting to retain lean body mass (as has been pointed out, very hard to build muscle when you're eating at a deficit), then you need to be eating 0.6 to 0.8 g of protein per lb of ideal body weight each day. Some people will say go for 1g per lb of body weight. Anything above that really isn't doing anything extra. Fats at 0.35-0.45g per lb (again, a minimum), hit those and the rest of your calories can fall wherever.
Is there a particular reason you're wanting to do low carb?
And you really do need to be eating those extra calories, the lose you posted for last week is far too aggressive, though likely includes some water weight. However, at your height you don't have a lot to lose (your stats are similar to mine, you're in the healthy weight range already), and a 1000 cal per day deficit is far too much. You will absolutely lose a heap of lean body mass if you keep that up.2 -
I'm a cook. I literally dont stop for 8 hours straight. Then I usually finish my workout with cardio so it tracks the run. But even lifting it will detect my heart rate and know that I'm burning calories without moving. It tracks heart rate and steps then uses the two to calculate the gym calories.1
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My BMR is 1,924. That still means I burned an additional 2200 calories today. I consumed 1648 calories1
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jonathanclough wrote: »I'm a cook. I literally dont stop for 8 hours straight. Then I usually finish my workout with cardio so it tracks the run. But even lifting it will detect my heart rate and know that I'm burning calories without moving. It tracks heart rate and steps then uses the two to calculate the gym calories.
being a cook should be included in your activity level. so go to your settings and mark it as such(waitress would probably be in the category and as close to what you want,or even mail carrier). as for heart rate it has no bearing on calories burned really. as for burning calories not moving sure you will, even sitting on the couch burns calories. your steps will burn calories too. But go set your activity to (Its either lightly active or active not sure which one) and then go from there. Lifting still doesnt burn as many calories as your fitbit will say though thats the whole point.0 -
Also highly dubious of your calorie burn.
And to build strength and muscle, you need to be looking at progressive training, lifting heavy. Heavy weights at low reps is going to do a lot more for you than light weights at high reps.0 -
your activity level in mfp is without exercise, so dont count exercise as your activity,your activity is your daily job minus exercise you do outside of that job.1
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CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »jonathanclough wrote: »I'm a cook. I literally dont stop for 8 hours straight. Then I usually finish my workout with cardio so it tracks the run. But even lifting it will detect my heart rate and know that I'm burning calories without moving. It tracks heart rate and steps then uses the two to calculate the gym calories.
being a cook should be included in your activity level. so go to your settings and mark it as such(waitress would probably be in the category and as close to what you want,or even mail carrier). as for heart rate it has no bearing on calories burned really. as for burning calories not moving sure you will, even sitting on the couch burns calories. your steps will burn calories too. But go set your activity to (Its either lightly active or active not sure which one) and then go from there. Lifting still doesnt burn as many calories as your fitbit will say though thats the whole point.
I already have done this. And I do low reps with heavy weight also. As far as .8g of protein per lbs, that's 118g. I'm at 180g right now0 -
CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »your activity level in mfp is without exercise, so dont count exercise as your activity,your activity is your daily job minus exercise you do outside of that job.
Which is what it's set for. It's set as active like a food server0 -
Drop your weekly weight loss goal to 1 lb, 0.5 lb would be even better. You don't have a lot of weight to lose. You obviously have it set to 2 lb per week for MFP to only be giving you 1600 cals as a baseline. Goodbye, lean body mass. Kind of the opposite of what you want.1
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jonathanclough wrote: »CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »jonathanclough wrote: »I'm a cook. I literally dont stop for 8 hours straight. Then I usually finish my workout with cardio so it tracks the run. But even lifting it will detect my heart rate and know that I'm burning calories without moving. It tracks heart rate and steps then uses the two to calculate the gym calories.
being a cook should be included in your activity level. so go to your settings and mark it as such(waitress would probably be in the category and as close to what you want,or even mail carrier). as for heart rate it has no bearing on calories burned really. as for burning calories not moving sure you will, even sitting on the couch burns calories. your steps will burn calories too. But go set your activity to (Its either lightly active or active not sure which one) and then go from there. Lifting still doesnt burn as many calories as your fitbit will say though thats the whole point.
I already have done this. And I do low reps with heavy weight also. As far as .8g of protein per lbs, that's 118g. I'm at 180g right now
So eat 180g. Whatever. What I'm saying is that you don't need to go by percentage on that and end up with 386g. You're eating plenty of protein for what you're trying to achieve.1 -
Nony_Mouse wrote: »Drop your weekly weight loss goal to 1 lb, 0.5 lb would be even better. You don't have a lot of weight to lose. You obviously have it set to 2 lb per week for MFP to only be giving you 1600 cals as a baseline. Goodbye, lean body mass. Kind of the opposite of what you want.
I did it to see what it changes. It's saying 285g of carbs and 114g of protein for .5 lbs day loss per week. Does that seem like a high number of carbs?0 -
jonathanclough wrote: »Nony_Mouse wrote: »Drop your weekly weight loss goal to 1 lb, 0.5 lb would be even better. You don't have a lot of weight to lose. You obviously have it set to 2 lb per week for MFP to only be giving you 1600 cals as a baseline. Goodbye, lean body mass. Kind of the opposite of what you want.
I did it to see what it changes. It's saying 285g of carbs and 114g of protein for .5 lbs day loss per week. Does that seem like a high number of carbs?
What is your aversion to carbs? Carbs don't make you fat, nor do they hinder weight loss. You only need to limit them if you have a medical condition that requires it. So long as you're eating at a deficit, you will lose weight. You can change your macro percentages yourself though, and you may want to go a little higher in protein if you're looking to build muscle (which, again, isn't going to happen at a deficit, but once you're done with that...).6 -
Why don't you want to eat all of the calories you're supposed to? It makes no sense that you're punishing your body this hard and given you work in what I imagine is a hot environment, you're going to end up fainting on the job sooner rather than later if you keep this madness up.
You are netting a minus number. You don't have enough calories to sustain normal bodily functions much less all the activity you do and it's not like you're 300lbs with enough fat stores to take up a lot of the slack.
Eat more. If that means adding carbs to your day then do it, there's nothing wrong with carbs and they are an easy way to bring up the calories. Plus, they're awesome for fuelling workouts and are actually muscle sparing. And you have to look to the long term too, if you are so scared of eating a paltry 1600 calories what happens when you get to maintenance and have to eat 3000+?
As for the strength training you are doing, sure you can retain (and build if eating at a surplus) doing high reps low weights but it's not the best use of time. I'd rather spend 45 minutes doing it as efficiently as possibly vs 2 hours to get enough reps with the high rep method.
This thread is a great resource to find the training program that's the best fit for you:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p13 -
Your protein intake is unnecessarily high. 120-150gms should be enough.0
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jonathanclough wrote: »Nony_Mouse wrote: »Drop your weekly weight loss goal to 1 lb, 0.5 lb would be even better. You don't have a lot of weight to lose. You obviously have it set to 2 lb per week for MFP to only be giving you 1600 cals as a baseline. Goodbye, lean body mass. Kind of the opposite of what you want.
I did it to see what it changes. It's saying 285g of carbs and 114g of protein for .5 lbs day loss per week. Does that seem like a high number of carbs?
No.0 -
VintageFeline wrote: »Why don't you want to eat all of the calories you're supposed to? It makes no sense that you're punishing your body this hard and given you work in what I imagine is a hot environment, you're going to end up fainting on the job sooner rather than later if you keep this madness up.
You are netting a minus number. You don't have enough calories to sustain normal bodily functions much less all the activity you do and it's not like you're 300lbs with enough fat stores to take up a lot of the slack.
Eat more. If that means adding carbs to your day then do it, there's nothing wrong with carbs and they are an easy way to bring up the calories. Plus, they're awesome for fuelling workouts and are actually muscle sparing. And you have to look to the long term too, if you are so scared of eating a paltry 1600 calories what happens when you get to maintenance and have to eat 3000+?
As for the strength training you are doing, sure you can retain (and build if eating at a surplus) doing high reps low weights but it's not the best use of time. I'd rather spend 45 minutes doing it as efficiently as possibly vs 2 hours to get enough reps with the high rep method.
This thread is a great resource to find the training program that's the best fit for you:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1
I know that to gain the muscle faster I'll need to eat more, and that's totally fine. Right now I'm trying to shred off some of the 30 lbs I put on in the last year since I quit smoking. And that 30 lbs was mostly fat. Which sounds crazy considering I was only 160 tops to begin with0 -
jonathanclough wrote: »VintageFeline wrote: »Why don't you want to eat all of the calories you're supposed to? It makes no sense that you're punishing your body this hard and given you work in what I imagine is a hot environment, you're going to end up fainting on the job sooner rather than later if you keep this madness up.
You are netting a minus number. You don't have enough calories to sustain normal bodily functions much less all the activity you do and it's not like you're 300lbs with enough fat stores to take up a lot of the slack.
Eat more. If that means adding carbs to your day then do it, there's nothing wrong with carbs and they are an easy way to bring up the calories. Plus, they're awesome for fuelling workouts and are actually muscle sparing. And you have to look to the long term too, if you are so scared of eating a paltry 1600 calories what happens when you get to maintenance and have to eat 3000+?
As for the strength training you are doing, sure you can retain (and build if eating at a surplus) doing high reps low weights but it's not the best use of time. I'd rather spend 45 minutes doing it as efficiently as possibly vs 2 hours to get enough reps with the high rep method.
This thread is a great resource to find the training program that's the best fit for you:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1
I know that to gain the muscle faster I'll need to eat more, and that's totally fine. Right now I'm trying to shred off some of the 30 lbs I put on in the last year since I quit smoking. And that 30 lbs was mostly fat. Which sounds crazy considering I was only 160 tops to begin with
You're not going to gain muscle when in a deficit, especially with how little you are eating. You don't have enough fat stores to support how little you are eating so you will be obliterating muscle instead of maintaining, never mind building.
Did you even read the first paragraph of my response never mind the rest? You are doing harm. Potentially a lot of harm.4 -
Before people go off the rails sounding alarms about the seemingly high daily deficit, the OP is likely not burning close to 4K+ calories per day. A 4-lb wt loss in the first week is nothing either. 75% of the loss is water and glycogen--quite frankly I'm surprised it wasn't more (more evidence to support the idea that OP's TDEE is overstated).
OP: while I agree with others there is no need to go low carb, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with your program. You've only been doing this for a week. Pay attention and make adjustments if necessary. You will likely find that you will have to up your calories a bit to maintain your activity level.1 -
Gaining muscle doesn't work like that1
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jonathanclough wrote: »I'm 32, 5'6", 152 when started 1 week ago (148.4) as of this morning...jonathanclough wrote: »...Right now I'm trying to shred off some of the 30 lbs I put on in the last year since I quit smoking. And that 30 lbs was mostly fat. Which sounds crazy considering I was only 160 tops to begin with
I'm not following the math here. If you were 160 and added 30 lbs, how were you not around 190 last week when you started working on losing weight?
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OP, you are at a "normal" weight BMI so I can't understand why you'd want to be in calorie deficit and lose more. Your protein intake is higher than necessary but that could be your preference. You don't "need" more than .8 to 1 gram per lb of lean body mass.
I'm guessing your aren't happy with how your body looks and you see too much fat. You may be "skinny fat". Eg. too high a body fat % for your weight. Hard to say without pics. If I were you, I wouldn't be looking to drop weight. I would be getting adequate protein and lifting weights on a full body compound movement program. I'd eat at maintenance. This is called a recomp. You will slowly lose body fat and gain lean muscle mass and reshape your body. Low carb not necessary. Just hit protein, adequate fats, about .35 to .45 grams per body weight and the rest carbs or whatever you prefer.2 -
jonathanclough wrote: »I'm 32, 5'6", 152 when started 1 week ago (148.4) as of this morning...jonathanclough wrote: »...Right now I'm trying to shred off some of the 30 lbs I put on in the last year since I quit smoking. And that 30 lbs was mostly fat. Which sounds crazy considering I was only 160 tops to begin with
I'm not following the math here. If you were 160 and added 30 lbs, how were you not around 190 last week when you started working on losing weight?
I was 160 at the highest mark after gaining the 30 lbs. Sorry for not being too clear0 -
OP, you are at a "normal" weight BMI so I can't understand why you'd want to be in calorie deficit and lose more. Your protein intake is higher than necessary but that could be your preference. You don't "need" more than .8 to 1 gram per lb of lean body mass.
I'm guessing your aren't happy with how your body looks and you see too much fat. You may be "skinny fat". Eg. too high a body fat % for your weight. Hard to say without pics. If I were you, I wouldn't be looking to drop weight. I would be getting adequate protein and lifting weights on a full body compound movement program. I'd eat at maintenance. This is called a recomp. You will slowly lose body fat and gain lean muscle mass and reshape your body. Low carb not necessary. Just hit protein, adequate fats, about .35 to .45 grams per body weight and the rest carbs or whatever you prefer.
You sir, hit the nail on the head. As of yesterday morning I was at 19.1% body fat1 -
jonathanclough wrote: »OP, you are at a "normal" weight BMI so I can't understand why you'd want to be in calorie deficit and lose more. Your protein intake is higher than necessary but that could be your preference. You don't "need" more than .8 to 1 gram per lb of lean body mass.
I'm guessing your aren't happy with how your body looks and you see too much fat. You may be "skinny fat". Eg. too high a body fat % for your weight. Hard to say without pics. If I were you, I wouldn't be looking to drop weight. I would be getting adequate protein and lifting weights on a full body compound movement program. I'd eat at maintenance. This is called a recomp. You will slowly lose body fat and gain lean muscle mass and reshape your body. Low carb not necessary. Just hit protein, adequate fats, about .35 to .45 grams per body weight and the rest carbs or whatever you prefer.
You sir, hit the nail on the head. As of yesterday morning I was at 19.1% body fat
Which honestly, is a fine body fat. You don't say how old you are but that would be decent even in your 20s. So, then it's a body shape issue. Eat at maintenance and lift weights. It's going to take a bit so you will need some patience as you slowly drop body fat and gain muscle mass. You will see some short term improvements in muscle mass and shape but that will level off and change more slowly. You will see strength gains the whole while if on a progressive program.1 -
jonathanclough wrote: »OP, you are at a "normal" weight BMI so I can't understand why you'd want to be in calorie deficit and lose more. Your protein intake is higher than necessary but that could be your preference. You don't "need" more than .8 to 1 gram per lb of lean body mass.
I'm guessing your aren't happy with how your body looks and you see too much fat. You may be "skinny fat". Eg. too high a body fat % for your weight. Hard to say without pics. If I were you, I wouldn't be looking to drop weight. I would be getting adequate protein and lifting weights on a full body compound movement program. I'd eat at maintenance. This is called a recomp. You will slowly lose body fat and gain lean muscle mass and reshape your body. Low carb not necessary. Just hit protein, adequate fats, about .35 to .45 grams per body weight and the rest carbs or whatever you prefer.
You sir, hit the nail on the head. As of yesterday morning I was at 19.1% body fat
Which honestly, is a fine body fat. You don't say how old you are but that would be decent even in your 20s. So, then it's a body shape issue. Eat at maintenance and lift weights. It's going to take a bit so you will need some patience as you slowly drop body fat and gain muscle mass. You will see some short term improvements in muscle mass and shape but that will level off and change more slowly. You will see strength gains the whole while if on a progressive program.
I think I said my age? Anyways, I'm 320
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