Upped calories and lifting - the progress timeframe

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JaimeBrown5
JaimeBrown5 Posts: 324
in Fitness and Exercise
To those of you who upped your calories and lift frequently (i.e. 3 times a week or more): were you still consistently losing but just in smaller amounts or did you stagnate for a while? And if so, for how long and during that were the inches lost more obvious than pre-lifting?

I've been lifting (heavier) for about 2 weeks but started lifting regularly about 2 months ago. I upped my calories and haven't lost any weight since - I have literally weighed the same (within a half to 1 lb) for a month.

I'm getting concerned that I've upped my calories too much or something....

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  • JaimeBrown5
    JaimeBrown5 Posts: 324
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    ?
  • NateDad
    NateDad Posts: 55
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    Do you have a heart rate monitor? If not, get one. It's the only way to know how much you're burning during workouts. It's certainly possible you upped calories too much, but if you don't know how much you're burning, you can't tell if it's too much. It's also possible you didn't up them enough. I know I underestimated how much I burned doing an hour of hard lifting. There's no reason you can't still lose a pound a week while lifting and eating back your calories from exercise (provided you keep a ~500 calorie deficit per day). I'm gaining muscle and still losing about a pound a week, and I try to be good about eating back my calories.
  • juliagulia624
    juliagulia624 Posts: 38
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    Is your goal to lose body fat? If so, I would still lift heavy but eat at a slight deficit (maybe 250- 500 cals) I have been doing "New Rules of Lifting for Women" for about 2 months now and have been lifting as heavy as possible for the reps stated, and still eating at a deficit but trying to get as much protein as possible. The scale has stayed consistent except finally dropped 2 pounds in the last week. But I am noticing alot of definition in my arms/back/abs and everywhere really. I can tell I am dropping body fat and my measurements reflect that as well. Unless you are trying to bulk which is gaining muscle, but inevitably fat as well, keep lifting heavy while eating at a calorie deficit and keeping protein intake high and you will get great results!
  • JaimeBrown5
    JaimeBrown5 Posts: 324
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    I have a HRM monitor and I deduct 30 calories for every 20 minutes I work out (I wore it resting to see what my resting calories were so I wasn't double dipping.) I've been netting around 1600 after I factor in my workouts...and 1600ish on non-workout days, which is supposed to leave me with around a half pound loss a week...
  • NateDad
    NateDad Posts: 55
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    So, if you know how much you're burning, it's easy. MFP takes care of all that. If you're looking for 1/2 a pound a week, it'll be deducting 250 calories from your diet per day. When you work out, enter how many calories you burn, and it'll give you that many more calories to eat.

    Keep in mind that half a pound a week may be within your normal fluctuations due to hydration. If you weigh yourself one week when you're dehydrated by a couple percent, and weigh yourself next week when you've had a lot of salty things and are a little bloated, it may look like you've even gained weight. But you're still losing fat, it's just not always obvious on the scale.

    If you're not feeling the progress, I'd suggest setting MFP to have you lose a pound a week. That's still really doable, and might give you just enough more oomph in weight loss so that you don't get discouraged by having results that sometimes aren't visible on the scale.
  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
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    I have a HRM monitor and I deduct 30 calories for every 20 minutes I work out (I wore it resting to see what my resting calories were so I wasn't double dipping.) I've been netting around 1600 after I factor in my workouts...and 1600ish on non-workout days, which is supposed to leave me with around a half pound loss a week...

    Honestly, that is not the way to figure out what you burn resting(HRM's are not meant to be worn during rest).. In order to figure out what you burn resting, you need to take BMR divide by 24 and that will tell you how much you burn an hour.

    Also, HRM's are not meant to be worn during strength training. There is too many variables that an HRM can't figure out how to put into it's algorithm.. So for strength training, I'd use MFP estimates over an HRM. Also, even if all info and being used during steady state cardio, HRM's are 80% accurate.. so I'd take a closer look at your numbers and tweak as necessary.
  • buffybabe
    buffybabe Posts: 180 Member
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    I'm wondering about the whole upping calories as well. I am 5'6" and currently weigh 127 pounds and am trying to get to 120; I am eating the 1200 calories that MFP suggested and I always eat back my workout calories. I feel like I am losing weight somewhat slowly, should I up my calorie intake??
  • silverbullet07
    silverbullet07 Posts: 100 Member
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    I'm sort of in the same boat as you. I have been on a 1500 cal intake and had been doing a 50-50 split of strength and cardio 5 -6 times a week and spending about 60 min for the workout. I was not eating all of my calories back and was losing 3-4 pounds a week.

    After my 35 lb drop and 2 weeks ago, I decided to go heavier on the lifting however, I still want to drop 30 pounds of fat and build some muscle. I'm doing 10 min cardio and 90 min strength training 3 times a week and 40-50 cardio 2 times a week. I'm eating more protein on strength training days and have started to eat some of my workout calories back.

    Since I started this routine, I have noticed the pounds are not droping like before. Now I am only sheding around 1-1\2 pounds. I've read if you are new to heavy strength training, it may be due to the mucsle tears and collects water as it repairs. Which make it appear you are not losing. This is suppose to go away.
  • JaimeBrown5
    JaimeBrown5 Posts: 324
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    I have a HRM monitor and I deduct 30 calories for every 20 minutes I work out (I wore it resting to see what my resting calories were so I wasn't double dipping.) I've been netting around 1600 after I factor in my workouts...and 1600ish on non-workout days, which is supposed to leave me with around a half pound loss a week...

    Honestly, that is not the way to figure out what you burn resting(HRM's are not meant to be worn during rest).. In order to figure out what you burn resting, you need to take BMR divide by 24 and that will tell you how much you burn an hour.

    Also, HRM's are not meant to be worn during strength training. There is too many variables that an HRM can't figure out how to put into it's algorithm.. So for strength training, I'd use MFP estimates over an HRM. Also, even if all info and being used during steady state cardio, HRM's are 80% accurate.. so I'd take a closer look at your numbers and tweak as necessary.

    I know it's not the best way to do it but I figured for an idea it can't be that bad... Either way, everything I've read says that with my weight training I should be eating more. Up to 2000 calories on lift days! I tried REALLY hard to do that last night and got to ALMOST 1800 and I could hardly move I was so full.
  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
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    I have a HRM monitor and I deduct 30 calories for every 20 minutes I work out (I wore it resting to see what my resting calories were so I wasn't double dipping.) I've been netting around 1600 after I factor in my workouts...and 1600ish on non-workout days, which is supposed to leave me with around a half pound loss a week...

    Honestly, that is not the way to figure out what you burn resting(HRM's are not meant to be worn during rest).. In order to figure out what you burn resting, you need to take BMR divide by 24 and that will tell you how much you burn an hour.

    Also, HRM's are not meant to be worn during strength training. There is too many variables that an HRM can't figure out how to put into it's algorithm.. So for strength training, I'd use MFP estimates over an HRM. Also, even if all info and being used during steady state cardio, HRM's are 80% accurate.. so I'd take a closer look at your numbers and tweak as necessary.

    I know it's not the best way to do it but I figured for an idea it can't be that bad... Either way, everything I've read says that with my weight training I should be eating more. Up to 2000 calories on lift days! I tried REALLY hard to do that last night and got to ALMOST 1800 and I could hardly move I was so full.

    What says you should be eating more? Nothing says you have to eat more during strength training unless you are doing a bulk/cut cycle.

    Set your deficit at half a pound a week, lift heavy and see what happens. You can also measure inches... those tend to fall off faster then scale weight when strength training.
  • JaimeBrown5
    JaimeBrown5 Posts: 324
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    I have a HRM monitor and I deduct 30 calories for every 20 minutes I work out (I wore it resting to see what my resting calories were so I wasn't double dipping.) I've been netting around 1600 after I factor in my workouts...and 1600ish on non-workout days, which is supposed to leave me with around a half pound loss a week...

    Honestly, that is not the way to figure out what you burn resting(HRM's are not meant to be worn during rest).. In order to figure out what you burn resting, you need to take BMR divide by 24 and that will tell you how much you burn an hour.

    Also, HRM's are not meant to be worn during strength training. There is too many variables that an HRM can't figure out how to put into it's algorithm.. So for strength training, I'd use MFP estimates over an HRM. Also, even if all info and being used during steady state cardio, HRM's are 80% accurate.. so I'd take a closer look at your numbers and tweak as necessary.

    I know it's not the best way to do it but I figured for an idea it can't be that bad... Either way, everything I've read says that with my weight training I should be eating more. Up to 2000 calories on lift days! I tried REALLY hard to do that last night and got to ALMOST 1800 and I could hardly move I was so full.

    What says you should be eating more? Nothing says you have to eat more during strength training unless you are doing a bulk/cut cycle.

    Set your deficit at half a pound a week, lift heavy and see what happens. You can also measure inches... those tend to fall off faster then scale weight when strength training.

    That's what I mean! It IS set at half a pound a week! and to eat back my lift-day calories, I'm up around 2000. And the inches have been pretty stagnant lately, along with the scale. Though I need a really good guide on exactly where to measure each time so that it's consistent. That could be my trouble...
  • raven56706
    raven56706 Posts: 918 Member
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    bump
  • TrinNZ
    TrinNZ Posts: 65 Member
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    perhaps try adjusting your intake %'s....make your protein higher, say 50% protein, 30% carbs, 20% fat. That's what the P90x program suggests the ratio should be if you are focusing on weight loss. The problem may not be how many calories you are consuming but what kind of calories they are. Really try to eat as clean as possible and drink plenty of clear water.

    If all else fails, experiment with the amount of cals you are consuming. Maybe try not eating back all your exercise calories. I usually leave around 200-300cals at the end (if I've worked out) to allow for innacuracies (in my food calculations or calories burned in exercise).

    Good luck!

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