Loosing weight too fast!

IamSimonIam wrote: »

AmyC2288 wrote: »

IamSimonIam wrote: »

Tic78 wrote: »

Eat more and train the same if your happy with yr workout days.

Yeah, I love going 6 days a week. I don't feel right when I don't. That very well might be a good idea. Just have to stuff myself if I'm to eat more. I'm pretty much full and eating from 8am to 8pm.

Some easy ways to increase your calories without adding in a lot of bulk would be to choose fattier cuts of meat and use additional oil/butter when cooking. I doubt your level of fullness would change by making these adjustments.

My main worry is I'm loosing muscle. My body composition hasn't change, as far as I can see. I like to stay lean and have my abs just about visible, or actually visible, so I avoid fat if I can. I do eat healthy fats, such as cheese, whole eggs, butter etc, but fatty meat is a no no.

Gotcha! In that case if it were me I would probably start by adding in a protein bar every day (or shake but I usually find those to be more filling).

I am 5’10 168lbs reasonably low bf % and I cut on 2200 cals per day. I also train 6 days and would say maintenance for me is around 3000-3500 depending on how many steps I do per day.

If you don’t have a trend app like happy scale or libra then I would get one. Free apps but will let you become more aware of normal fluctuations. Also if finding it hard to get the calories in then drinking them is the way to go. You don’t have to eat clean, it is ok to eat things are calorie dense such as peanut butter. Hitting your calorie goals and macro split is key.

For what it’s worth I’d imagine 2 things have possibly happened.

First perhaps you have underestimated the calories you have eaten. This is easy done, you forget to add something, pinch something off your partner/kids plate, make an eyeball calculation or when out and you have to guesstimate the calories in food it’s quite easy to underestimate.

Second it’s also easy to over estimate calorie burn.

The reason I think either/both of these are likely to have happened is at your height/weight your eating well under maintenance.

I’d guess you have actually been on a slow cut all along. Masked by water weight as your body is retaining water to repair muscle due to the quantity of workouts and the demands your putting on yourself while eating under maintenance for a prolonged period of time.

It’s likely that 4lb loss was your body finally letting some water weight go. Make sure you keep your water intake high as that always helps.

Don’t underestimate the benefits of a diet break or eating above maintenance for a week or so. It really can make all the difference. I have learned this myself the hard way.

On the plus side you are clearly doing well. The ab definition is a clear indicator of a low body fat.

I only mention the above as if you want to recomp you need to be a lot closer to your maintenance calories and by the sounds of it you will actually be eating quite close to your bmr rather than tdee.

Keep up the good work 💪

IamSimonIam wrote: »

@Tic78 Thank you. That was very insightful, and I think correct. I do put everything into the tracker, but I'm way under what I should be eating. I've upped my intake to 2700 calories, and keeping with the clean eating philosophy I've started with. I was at 2150 calories, so I'll see how this goes for a week or so. Hopefully I'll gain back the 4lbs and be back at 180lbs soon enough. I'm not sure I mentioned that I'm 2 hours or more in the gym, 6 days a week and take 2-3 minute rests between sets, I've also upped the weights gradually, so I think I've reached a point where increasing the calories is a must. Again, thank you everyone.

2 hours in the gym 6 times a week? does that also include cardio?

I hit the gym 4 days/week 40-minute lifting workout, no need to do 2 hours/day unless you are training for some type of competition/even.

What lifting routine do you follow?
how long have you been lifting?
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

IamSimonIam wrote: »

@erickirb This is pretty much a burst routine, normally I'm 5 days a week, but I went the extra half hour and extra day to have my abs show. I'll be back to 5 days and 1.5 hours in 2 weeks, then I'll slow down even further once I can maintain.

Even 1.5 hours seems excessive unless it is strength followed by cardio.
Are you following a structured routine or something you put together yourself?

If on your own, I would suggest you check out the list I provided earlier for a structured program, pick from where you fall on the spectrum.