Weight lifting and STILL not losing weight. HELP!

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Replies

  • tailikeswaffles
    tailikeswaffles Posts: 35 Member
    I'm going to suggest a different macro break down. I'd go more 40% protein, 35% fat, and 25% carbs, especially since you've said you are hestiant on carbs. Are you trying to build muscle? It sounds to me like your main exercise focus is lifting. Which is great, but isn't likely to help you lose a lot of weight. Lifting will lower your body fat percentage, help you drop inches, and replace fat with muscle. Muscle is more dense than fat, so if you're building a lot of new muscle, you could still be losing fat and just not seeing the number drop on the scale. If your primary goal isn't to build muscle and strength right now, I would recommend upping your cardio. Just an idea! I lost far more weight when my exercise consisted of primarily running. I have switched to mostly lifting, and have pretty much stalled with weight loss, but I feel better and still lose inches.

    Building muscle is definitely a goal of mine but I feel like because I have so much fat to lose, I’m not really seeing any progress. Or at least the progress I want to see. My legs feel and look stronger and so does my butt but thats basically the only progress I’ve seen. I think I may just focus more on cardio again and maybe do weights twice a week. At least until I feel like My body is ready to lift heavy again.

    If your profile picture even remotely reflects what you look like, There's not a whole lot of unhealthy fat hiding there.

    I carry most of my weight in my midsection and my chest.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    And you have not cheated or deviated once from this since you began this Oct 1st?

    She doesn't weigh her food. ...that's her problem

    Exactly ... 1/8-1/4 of an avocado could be 100 calories or 500

    According to MFP, 1/4 of an avocado is 80 calories...something ain’t adding up here.

    According to USDA that's 50 grams. That's a 200 gram avocado. Which is really small.
  • tailikeswaffles
    tailikeswaffles Posts: 35 Member
    Sumiblue wrote: »
    And you have not cheated or deviated once from this since you began this Oct 1st?

    She doesn't weigh her food. ...that's her problem

    Exactly ... 1/8-1/4 of an avocado could be 100 calories or 500

    According to MFP, 1/4 of an avocado is 80 calories...something ain’t adding up here.

    1/4 of what size avocado? Avocados are not standard sizes. Weighing by grams is far more accurate.

    The avocado we get are usually pretty small. We buy ours from Aldi most of the time.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    exugvuwnbkud.png
    This is calculated assuming 8 hours sleep and absolutely no activity with your stats. Hypothyroidism will slow things down by maybe 100-200 calories max but you are still in a deficit and if you have been eating that little for more than a month and seeing no change in weight regardless of weight lifting, I will state again there is an error in intake..has nothing to do with output.

    @charlenekapf - What app is this taken from? Looks very useful!
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    I'm going to suggest a different macro break down. I'd go more 40% protein, 35% fat, and 25% carbs, especially since you've said you are hestiant on carbs. Are you trying to build muscle? It sounds to me like your main exercise focus is lifting. Which is great, but isn't likely to help you lose a lot of weight. Lifting will lower your body fat percentage, help you drop inches, and replace fat with muscle. Muscle is more dense than fat, so if you're building a lot of new muscle, you could still be losing fat and just not seeing the number drop on the scale. If your primary goal isn't to build muscle and strength right now, I would recommend upping your cardio. Just an idea! I lost far more weight when my exercise consisted of primarily running. I have switched to mostly lifting, and have pretty much stalled with weight loss, but I feel better and still lose inches.

    Building muscle is definitely a goal of mine but I feel like because I have so much fat to lose, I’m not really seeing any progress. Or at least the progress I want to see. My legs feel and look stronger and so does my butt but thats basically the only progress I’ve seen. I think I may just focus more on cardio again and maybe do weights twice a week. At least until I feel like My body is ready to lift heavy again.

    If your profile picture even remotely reflects what you look like, There's not a whole lot of unhealthy fat hiding there.

    I carry most of my weight in my midsection and my chest.

    Unless you're prepared to cut fat until you lose your cycle, some of that just isn't going to go away.. maybe even most of it.
  • tailikeswaffles
    tailikeswaffles Posts: 35 Member
    I'm going to suggest a different macro break down. I'd go more 40% protein, 35% fat, and 25% carbs, especially since you've said you are hestiant on carbs. Are you trying to build muscle? It sounds to me like your main exercise focus is lifting. Which is great, but isn't likely to help you lose a lot of weight. Lifting will lower your body fat percentage, help you drop inches, and replace fat with muscle. Muscle is more dense than fat, so if you're building a lot of new muscle, you could still be losing fat and just not seeing the number drop on the scale. If your primary goal isn't to build muscle and strength right now, I would recommend upping your cardio. Just an idea! I lost far more weight when my exercise consisted of primarily running. I have switched to mostly lifting, and have pretty much stalled with weight loss, but I feel better and still lose inches.

    Building muscle is definitely a goal of mine but I feel like because I have so much fat to lose, I’m not really seeing any progress. Or at least the progress I want to see. My legs feel and look stronger and so does my butt but thats basically the only progress I’ve seen. I think I may just focus more on cardio again and maybe do weights twice a week. At least until I feel like My body is ready to lift heavy again.

    If your profile picture even remotely reflects what you look like, There's not a whole lot of unhealthy fat hiding there.

    I carry most of my weight in my midsection and my chest.

    Unless you're prepared to cut fat until you lose your cycle, some of that just isn't going to go away.. maybe even most of it.

    I’m like 32% body fat. I cant at least get down to 25%?!
    My cycle is perfectly normal. It was worse when I was heavier. Didnt have a period for like 6 months at my heaviest I believe.
  • charlenekapf
    charlenekapf Posts: 309 Member
    @rheddmobile it's health-calc.com and then go to weight loss-->advanced calorie calculator. It's pretty darn accurate as long as you're modest when entering true time sitting, working out/intensity, etc. It is within about 100 calories of my apple watch and losing at the rate I should be given the TDEE/intake I am utilizing.
    exugvuwnbkud.png
    This is calculated assuming 8 hours sleep and absolutely no activity with your stats. Hypothyroidism will slow things down by maybe 100-200 calories max but you are still in a deficit and if you have been eating that little for more than a month and seeing no change in weight regardless of weight lifting, I will state again there is an error in intake..has nothing to do with output.

    @charlenekapf - What app is this taken from? Looks very useful!

  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
    You’re on a highly restrictive diet and lifting 4 times a week. That’s a recipe for repeated cheat meals. Even if they are just “oops, some brown rice...” repeated cheats will hinder your progress.
    Get started on a more reasonable plan instead of going to such extremes and see how much more sustainable and successful it is.
  • Sumiblue
    Sumiblue Posts: 1,597 Member
    edited December 2017
    25% body fat is absolutely achievable.
  • Sumiblue
    Sumiblue Posts: 1,597 Member
    I am confused now.
    I want to lose weight but I’m NOT supposed to have a deficit with my calories? Huh?!?!

    Just wondering why you thought it was recommended that you not eat at a deficit? Was that in response to me saying don’t eat below your BMR?
  • tailikeswaffles
    tailikeswaffles Posts: 35 Member
    Sumiblue wrote: »
    I am confused now.
    I want to lose weight but I’m NOT supposed to have a deficit with my calories? Huh?!?!

    Just wondering why you thought it was recommended that you not eat at a deficit? Was that in response to me saying don’t eat below your BMR?

    No it was just several different people saying i wont gain muscle eating at a deficit. Unless I was comprehending them wrong?
  • Sumiblue
    Sumiblue Posts: 1,597 Member
    Sumiblue wrote: »
    I am confused now.
    I want to lose weight but I’m NOT supposed to have a deficit with my calories? Huh?!?!

    Just wondering why you thought it was recommended that you not eat at a deficit? Was that in response to me saying don’t eat below your BMR?

    No it was just several different people saying i wont gain muscle eating at a deficit. Unless I was comprehending them wrong?

    Gaining muscle means gaining weight, it's just that the weight involved is muscle. For most people, that isn't going to happen in a deficit. Your body needs an excess of energy in order to store it -- whether that energy is stored as fat or muscle.

    There are some exceptions, but generally you aren't going to gain appreciable muscle weight in a deficit. This doesn't mean that people can't become stronger in a deficit or gain increased muscle definition (people can often see existing muscle better when some fat is removed).

    ^^this. Usually, newbie gains aside, one needs to purposely gain weight to build muscle. Can’t build muscle out of thin air. Don’t worry about this too much. If you do strength training while eating at a reasonable deficit when you lose fat the muscle you have will be revealed. That is why not waiting to lift is important.

    I know it’s a lot of new info. There are very good stickies worth reading in the forums for the basics of weight loss, recomp, strength training, logging. It’s all there.
  • tailikeswaffles
    tailikeswaffles Posts: 35 Member
    I see what you’re saying. I want to be stronger and leaner but until ai reduce my body fat some more, i think I wanna focus more on weight loss than building muscle. At least until I start to see the progress that I’m looking for.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,176 Member
    Your calorie intake is way too low. 1200 calories your body is simply hanging on and slowing your metabolism down. Either increase them and aim for a deficit of around 500 calories per day, or switch to eat normally with a slight deficit of 100 on one Day and 800 on alternate days, and it will kick start weight loss again.

    Also try to change the excercise you do for a week. Try cycling, or fast walking for a week.

    I’ve constantly lost every week at least 1 lb every single week for the last three months by switching excercise between cycling, weights, walking, Kempo, CrossFit and not even weighed anything.

    I’ve also not given up anything I usually eat apart from changing so I don’t eat after 8pm and I have a large meal at lunch not dinner. Also two litres of water a day.

    I do weigh myself every day which isn’t recommended I know, but the days after my calorie intake was higher was the time I lost the weight.

    Unnecessary complexity. I lost 50+ pounds in less than a year while not switching my exercise (I mostly row and spin, including doing them just as often when I was fat), and eating any time of day I felt like eating as long as I had room in my calorie goal (including eating right before bed, sometimes lots).

    And if bodies held onto calories when we eat too little, to the point where we don't lose weight, no one would ever starve to death. Sadly, people starve to death every day.

    OP, ignore the complicated eating/exercise rules unless you enjoy them. Most of the other advice on the thread is pretty good, though.
  • BarneyRubbleMD
    BarneyRubbleMD Posts: 1,092 Member
    @rheddmobile it's health-calc.com and then go to weight loss-->advanced calorie calculator. It's pretty darn accurate as long as you're modest when entering true time sitting, working out/intensity, etc. It is within about 100 calories of my apple watch and losing at the rate I should be given the TDEE/intake I am utilizing.
    exugvuwnbkud.png
    This is calculated assuming 8 hours sleep and absolutely no activity with your stats. Hypothyroidism will slow things down by maybe 100-200 calories max but you are still in a deficit and if you have been eating that little for more than a month and seeing no change in weight regardless of weight lifting, I will state again there is an error in intake..has nothing to do with output.

    @charlenekapf - What app is this taken from? Looks very useful!

    @charlenekapf ,

    Thanks for posting the link and how to use it!
    That calorie estimator is the most accurate one I've tried and I think I've tried them all!
    I punched in my stats and got 2157 calories (BMR) & when I had that measured recently it was 2131 calories. Most of the calorie estimators I've tried way underestimate what calories I need/day.
  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,223 Member
    @rheddmobile it's health-calc.com and then go to weight loss-->advanced calorie calculator. It's pretty darn accurate as long as you're modest when entering true time sitting, working out/intensity, etc. It is within about 100 calories of my apple watch and losing at the rate I should be given the TDEE/intake I am utilizing.
    exugvuwnbkud.png
    This is calculated assuming 8 hours sleep and absolutely no activity with your stats. Hypothyroidism will slow things down by maybe 100-200 calories max but you are still in a deficit and if you have been eating that little for more than a month and seeing no change in weight regardless of weight lifting, I will state again there is an error in intake..has nothing to do with output.

    @charlenekapf - What app is this taken from? Looks very useful!

    @charlenekapf ,

    Thanks for posting the link and how to use it!
    That calorie estimator is the most accurate one I've tried and I think I've tried them all!
    I punched in my stats and got 2157 calories (BMR) & when I had that measured recently it was 2131 calories. Most of the calorie estimators I've tried way underestimate what calories I need/day.

    Tried it as well. Based on the calculating I’ve done for my TDEE with calorie and daily weight logging, it’s right (within 9) on for my TDEE if I don’t turn any of the knobs for activity, just sleep. If I put in my exercise (~60 min 3-4x/week, normalized to 30min/day for these purposes) and standing activity (~1 hour, have a desk job, pretty sedentary outside of intentional exercise) it bumps me from 2459 up to 2670, a 9% surplus on what I calculate my TDEE to be. For me it looks like it overestimates calorie burn from exercise and incidental activity, YMMV evidently.

    Good bit of advice on methodolgy I once received in messaging with a well-credentialed individual I happened to meet here; do resistance training to improve physique/muscle composition, cardio if necessary to improve conditioning, manipulation of nutrition to create a calorie deficit to lose fat.