Does this feel right to you?

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Kodekai1988
Kodekai1988 Posts: 49 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello! Longtime lurker but wanted to check in and ask a question...! I feel like I’m doing everything right with my diet but am not seeing the weight loss I’d like to...

Stats: 5’10”, 68kg, 31, female. My weight has been bumping along at this level for a while. 1kg up, 1kg down, and so on. No real movement. MFP says I can eat 1560 which seems right to me, and then I eat back exercise calories. I’m not looking to lose a lot - my goal weight is 64kg. It’s my fighting weight!

Diet: my diary should be open and you’ll notice I eat Keto. I’ve done so for 4 years and this WOE works for me psychologically, energy wise etc - I have no plans to change it significantly, but am more than open to suggestions of how I could tweak, within the boundaries of Keto.

Exercise: I run every day - up to about 40km a week. This distance is relatively recent but I’ve been building up to it. I put in a conservative estimate of calories burned (I track my exercise on an app but use MFP’s estimate) and eat back those calories. That usually takes me to 1800 or just under.

Issues I think might be happening:
- I run a lot and it’s hot. I wonder if my body is still adjusting to the greater distance and I’m retaining water? I’ve probably gone from 20 to 40k a week. My legs do feel swollen sometimes. Is this possibly a thing? I’m not running to lose weight so if it is a water retention thing I’m just going to have to file it and live with it.
- Overeating somehow - if anyone can see anything weird in my diary please let me know! I admit I could tighten up measuring the amount of meat I eat at dinner time - that’s an area to focus on for me. It tends to be a rushed time so I use the packet’s measurement which I know can be incorrect. I measure everything else (apart from spinach and green salad) on a good pair of digital scales.
- I’m already a healthy BMI and am close to goal weight - I just need to suck it up and accept that this will be difficult? If so that’s ok - I’m not in a rush, I just hate feeling like I’m doing something wrong.

Any suggestions would be most welcome! Thanks for looking.

Replies

  • Kodekai1988
    Kodekai1988 Posts: 49 Member
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    Sorry, I should add that I’m aware that I eat modified Keto - fat should be between 65-75%!
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,643 Member
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    hurt/swollen muscles = water weight

    MFP sedentary is BMR * 1.25 (per minute / 1440; or per hour / 24) <-- this would be deducted from gross calories to get net.
  • Kodekai1988
    Kodekai1988 Posts: 49 Member
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    Sorry @sijomial I thought it was public! Have just amended settings.

    I feel like I’m accurate but very conscious that I may not be as accurate as I think.

    Re the exercise calorie estimate, I did calculate my exercise using a calculator (I think on the Runners World website or similar) and it gave my higher calorie burn estimates than MFP. I often don’t log all of my exercise time to be cautious, particularly if I’ve had a less active day overall - although I’ve classed myself as lightly active and think that is cautious too. Hope that makes sense. I think I might be missing something from your explanation so am going to do some more research - thank you.

    Good point re running every day - I do build in recovery runs, and certainly don’t run at tempo every day. My pattern is: long run; short recovery run; short run; short run; tempo run. I feel swollen but not sore if that makes sense - very conscious of picking up an injury. Perhaps I should built in a total rest day...
  • Kodekai1988
    Kodekai1988 Posts: 49 Member
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    I’ve just rechecked calories burned from running (on Kesian - hopefully this is accurate, it’s quite detailed) and it’s about 20 calories difference from the MFP calculation at the same speed and distance. So nothing significant?
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
    edited June 2020
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    You're 5'10, 149 pounds. How much are you trying to lose?!?

    ETA: Never mind, I found the answer, 64 kg/141 lbs. When you say it's your fighting weight, does that mean you have an actual competition of some sort coming up where you have to make weight?

    Also, read this article...

    http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
  • Kodekai1988
    Kodekai1988 Posts: 49 Member
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    @melanieCN77 that’s a good idea, I will do that going forward thank you - good to know. I measure mayo, olive oil and coconut oil with the spoon and given its a Keto diet, these feature in my diet daily.

    You’re right, I think it the realm of small differences.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    You're 5'10, 149 pounds. How much are you trying to lose?!?

    ETA: Never mind, I found the answer, 64 kg/141 lbs. When you say it's your fighting weight, does that mean you have an actual competition of some sort coming up where you have to make weight?

    Also, read this article...

    http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations

    Just to piggyback on this, you are already in the lower half of the healthy weight range for your height. When you are already lean and trying to get leaner, you need to put on your patient pants. I lost my last 5 lbs at a rate of 1 lb every 4-6 weeks. Why? You have no wiggle room, and the kind of small losses you can expect at this point can hide behind water weight fluctuations for weeks at a time.

    As quicksylver alluded to, is this a weight you must hit for some reason, or is there some kind of athletic or aesthetic goal you think this 8 lbs will help you get to?

    Sometimes we need a psychological break as well. It might not be a bad idea to put the scale away for a few weeks, just keep logging and taking on the great advice you've gotten in here, then get back to it if you'd like :smile:
  • mullanphylane
    mullanphylane Posts: 172 Member
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    Sounds to me like your body is telling you that your new, and healthiest, fighting weight is 68 kg, and that you shouldn't be fighting as hard as you are trying to.

    Unlax. Instead of obsessing over a few kg/lbs, spend that time meditating.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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    Kodekai1988 wrote: »
    <<snip>>

    I’ve been thinking about it today and, ultimately, if I don’t lose the weight it isn’t a disaster (obviously). I have no desire to eat “less” than I’m currently doing given my activity levels - I will make sure my counting is 100% accurate by taking the advice hefe and trust the rest to the gods. 64kg isn’t a magic number in reality and the advice to take a scale break is a good one - I think I may be conflating Fitness results with weight results and the two aren’t as connected as I think.

    That's an important point. If there's a certain physique you are going for, lifting heavy (to you) weights may be something you need to add into your routine.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    Kodekai1988 wrote: »
    Lifting/strength training is a good idea - I did start doing some resistance barre stuff but nothing seems to give me the high that running does.

    I’m thinking that when lockdown is over I may find a PT at the gym and see how I can integrate strength training with my running.

    This has all been brilliant advice thank you so much! You’ll be pleased to know I properly weighted my mayo this morning, and haven’t looked at the scales :)
    Why wait? You can start with body weight exercises now and begin to see benefits. I typically weight training 3 days per week but have been doing pretty well with body weight and resistance bands during lockdown. No need to wait to start realizing the benefits.

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