not eating enough?

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barneshall
barneshall Posts: 733 Member
in Food and Nutrition
i am 69 and do 6 hours in the gym each week plus 2 long walks (7k) or rounds of golf.
I have at least 4 stones to loose and am struggling. Been a member at MFP for a couple of years and know the ropes. I have not lost any significant weight in the last year, (down 1.5 kilos).
A dietician has recently(2 months ago) told me that I should be eating 1500 cals per day,and that I am not eating enough. MFP says 1200 cals per day plus exercise calories. Generally I try not to eat back all my exercise calories and often have 3/400 calories left on an exercise day. She has also reduced the amount of protein intake and upped the intake of vegetables. I now follow the macros on MFP
My question is, if I start to eat back my exercise calories wont I put on weight as my body is used to less. I have been a dieter most of my later life, but only started exercising seriously(weights and cardio) this past 18 months or so.
Not sure what to do at this moment, anyone any ideas of the best way to go to stop this plateau?. I am working really hard, and weigh everything that I eat and rarely drink alcohol.My water drinking is around 1.800 to 2.500 per day.

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  • RovP6
    RovP6 Posts: 108 Member
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    I think you're body might need a break from dieting for a bit if you've been doing it most of your later life.

    General rule of thumb for weight loss is to set calories at 10 to 12 times your bodyweight as a starting point. If you've not lost any significant weight over a year then you've not been in a calorie deficit. That could be because you're not tracking accurately (which sounds unlikely) or that your estimation of your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is off. Exercise calories form a very small proportion of TDEE and the best ways to increase energy expenditure is through body recompostion ie change the ration of fat to muscle of your body (muscle requires more energy to move around that fat does). That's going to be tricky, but not impossible. at 69 years old. You haven't said what you're doing in the gym for 6 hours each week?

    For you, I would take whatever calories you think you're eating on a daily basis and remove 10%. Do that for two weeks and see what happens. If you don't see any weight loss in that time I would give it another couple of weeks (so 4 weeks in total at that level) before probably suggest increasing calories back to the previous level, again wait two weeks and see what happens, then increase by a further 10% until you start to put on weight at a rate of no more than a lb or 2 a week. That'll indicate a surplus which I would hold for another 2 weeks to see what happens. If you can get to the stage where you know how many calories you need to maintain weight (which it sounds like it will be around the number you're currently at) then you have a starting point to begin reducing again. That small surplus and time at maintenance will also have created a metabolic adaptation that should help when you come to reduce again.

    The biggest question you might have to ask yourself is why you want to lose 4 stones
  • barneshall
    barneshall Posts: 733 Member
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    apullum wrote: »
    If you haven’t lost weight in a year, then you’re not in a deficit. You are almost guaranteed to be eating more than you think you are. Do you use a food scale to weigh ALL your food? No measuring cups, no eyeballing or estimating? Even your oil, your produce, etc.?

    I weigh everything I put in my mouth, I don't use butter and the rare times i use a frying pan I use a spray oil and count the sprays. I am pretty confident that I am recording correctly, and the exercise is calculated by Fitbit. I have an occasional alcoholic drink, and count that also, Idont drink sweetened beverages
    I do have a long term stress condition , which may be a factor that I am unable to eliminate.Thanks for your thoughts.
    RovP6 wrote: »
    I think you're body might need a break from dieting for a bit if you've been doing it most of your later life.

    General rule of thumb for weight loss is to set calories at 10 to 12 times your bodyweight as a starting point. If you've not lost any significant weight over a year then you've not been in a calorie deficit. That could be because you're not tracking accurately (which sounds unlikely) or that your estimation of your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is off. Exercise calories form a very small proportion of TDEE and the best ways to increase energy expenditure is through body recompostion ie change the ration of fat to muscle of your body (muscle requires more energy to move around that fat does). That's going to be tricky, but not impossible. at 69 years old. You haven't said what you're doing in the gym for 6 hours each week?

    For you, I would take whatever calories you think you're eating on a daily basis and remove 10%. Do that for two weeks and see what happens. If you don't see any weight loss in that time I would give it another couple of weeks (so 4 weeks in total at that level) before probably suggest increasing calories back to the previous level, again wait two weeks and see what happens, then increase by a further 10% until you start to put on weight at a rate of no more than a lb or 2 a week. That'll indicate a surplus which I would hold for another 2 weeks to see what happens. If you can get to the stage where you know how many calories you need to maintain weight (which it sounds like it will be around the number you're currently at) then you have a starting point to begin reducing again. That small surplus and time at maintenance will also have created a metabolic adaptation that should help when you come to reduce again.

    The biggest question you might have to ask yourself is why you want to lose 4 stones

    Thank you for this,my dietician is saying something along the same lines.Itis just a matter of trusting the advice which may initially increase my weight a little.
    The gym I use for weight training to help strength and flexibility.I usually do one hour cardio on the elliptical, treadmill or cycle and one hour weight training each session.
  • barneshall
    barneshall Posts: 733 Member
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    Oops forgot to say I weigh 13 stones, hence I need to loose 4 stones. My body shape has changed since weight training so something is working😀
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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