Staying disciplined but....

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drumster007
drumster007 Posts: 1 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Morning all,

So i started a weight loss journey after becoming fed up with how i was feeling back in March 2022. I felt like if I didn't start doing anything about it after reaching 30 then i was never going to do anything about it. So one day i joined a gym downloaded the app started tracking calories and away i went.
In March my starting weight was approaching the higher end of 13stone and 25% body fat
After putting myself in a calorie deficit, eating as clean as possible and working out at least 4 times a week. I am now ( 21st of July 2022 ) 18.7% body fat and 10st 7lbs.

I weigh myself everyday in my birthday suit to keep a control on Impedance scales however i am now at a point where I am finding it hard to drop below 18%.

i am eating 1100 calories and continuing in the gym. I don't want to drop any more calories so should I be doing more cardio or start focusing more on my macros? While the overall goal is to lose Body Fat, I don't want to lose fat and start appearing "small".

My target body fat % is 12% before xmas. Any help would be appreciated

Elliot

Replies

  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,109 Member
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    1100 calories is too little even for most smaller women, let alone a man. You're basically starving yourself, which will certainly be costing you muscle mass.
    How tall are you? 10stone 7lbs (147lbs if my conversion is correct) seems low for a man.

    Also: your scale is not measuring your bodyfat, it's taking a guess based on sending an electrical current through your body. Bio impedance scales are notoriously unreliable.
  • Gr8Pumkn
    Gr8Pumkn Posts: 3 Member
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    Lietchi is correct. From my experience if you eat too little your body thinks you are starving and you might lose fat but you lose muscle too. Find out what an ordinary amount of calories is for your height/weight/age and you should find it is way more than 1100. I am almost 50 yrs and MyFitnessPal has my intake at 2100 calories a day at the most aggressive weight loss setting, which I make sure I hit. Your body needs fuel to work and if you are hitting the gym even more so. I work out daily and my body is building muscle,
    losing fat, and losing overall weight slowly. The app even expects you to eat more when you work out and adds calories accordingly.
  • Xellercin
    Xellercin Posts: 924 Member
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    The percent number on your scale is useless and not telling you anything. Ignore it and start eating more.

    This is a marathon, not a sprint. Start focusing on sustainable habits that will serve you for the rest of your life, sustain a small deficit, and lose weight slowly and steadily.

    Being impatient is the main predictor of either failure to lose weight or subsequent regain.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,428 Member
    edited July 2022
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    No wonder you're losing motivation.

    Granted, “stone” are not my strong point, but it appears you’ve lost about 45 pounds in less than four months, aka 25% of your body weight. And you didn’t start from that high a body weight to begin with.

    You’re beating yourself up going at such a harsh, I would even say, dangerous pace.

    I can sincerely say, as someone who dropped too low, wasn’t eating enough (good lord, man. I’m a 60 year old woman and was eating 2100 a day at the time- how are you even coping at 1100?!!!) I lost muscle mass, even though I was working out at a barbell gym, and doing a lot of cardio and other stuff as well. If you’re worried about thinning out, you’re reaching the point I was at.

    With the encouragement of a caring trainer, I upped my calories considerably. Yes, I put on some weight, but I also gained back muscle and looked healthier and fitter all around. And you know what? Even bumping my calories up to 3000-3200/ day (60 year old female, remember?), I still fit in the smaller clothes I did at the much lower, sickly/skinny weight.

    Back off a little, enjoy some more calories, and give your body (and brain, because Dysmorphia was a thing for me and sounds like it might be for you as well) a chance to catch up.

    You’ve done well, but you need to throw on the brakes a little so that you don’t peter out and revert to old habits. You’ve done too well and invested too much of yourself to be an “I’m back” poster in a year or two.

    All said with much love and care, because I recognize a lot of me in your post, so it’s not criticism.

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