I only lose when I DON'T exercise

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MrsAgi
MrsAgi Posts: 338 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I started on mfp in Jan 2012 - it set me to 1200 cals, and I lost happily 2lb per week for the first mont. Then I decided to add in some exercise (running) and I plateaued. Did some reading and upped my cals, then upped them again. I am now on 1600, which is just a little over my BMR of 1550ish.

I dropped miniscule amounts over the next few weeks, then due to various circumstances, I had to stop exercising for a few weeks. I immediately started losing again (about 1 - 1.5lb per week.)

I'm ready to get back to my running now, but don't want to stop losing weight again - anyone got any helpful hints? I'm pretty sure that 30mins cardio a day and occasional 30DS is not building muscle to counter the fat loss. I have plenty of fat to lose.

I would've thought that adding the exercise in ought to make me lose quicker - it should speed up my metabolism and help with fat burning rather than muscle loss?

My diary is open:)
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Replies

  • jessilynn1982
    jessilynn1982 Posts: 48 Member
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    Have you by chance taken your measurements? I know how frustrating it is to exercise regularly and not see the results in the scale. I finally had to stop worrying so much about the number on the scale, and focusing on the health and toning benefits of exercise. :) I did take my measurements though, and that has really helped me. Sometimes the scale isnt so nice, but the tape measure is my best friend!! :)
  • ladynica
    ladynica Posts: 329 Member
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    When you up your calories (during the times that you worked out) did you do that manually, or did you tell MFP that you were no longer sedentary (or whatever level you previously were set at) when you changed your settings?
  • meggonkgonk
    meggonkgonk Posts: 2,066 Member
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    My best recommendation is to ease into the exercise. Typically what happens when one starts an aggressive workout program is that your muscles retain water to help heal themselves. Which is why you saw dramatic results when you stopped. To avoid this kind of plateau, just east into it- work up the number of days and increase the intensity slowly. Make sure to have at least 1 full rest day per week.
  • spartangirl79
    spartangirl79 Posts: 277 Member
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    I wish I had some insights for you - I have been struggling with this too. The more I work out, the more I GAIN. I gain muscle, but the fat never, EVER comes off. I get bigger because there is muscle under the fat that won't budge. I have switched to yoga and running vs strength training in hopes that I will lose... I think that the lifting and high intensity interval training I did for so many years was actually putting too much stress on my system (I am already very stressed, all the time) and causing my body to retain fat. I've done some reading about adrenal fatigue and stress response to exercise and come up with that conclusion... I hoep you find some answers!
  • Mercenary1914
    Mercenary1914 Posts: 1,087 Member
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    You "Upped your Cals".....You may have upped it too much...Continue your workout but decrease your calorie intake by 100 to 250 calories every day at the beginning of each week...I hope that makes sense. There was a article on yahoo about this a few months ago...how when people start to work out...The gain weight, because the do not noticed they increase their calorie intake by more than what they are burning...Good Luck
  • Lib_B
    Lib_B Posts: 446 Member
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    the way i understand it is that exercise does a couple of things - first of all, muscle weighs more than fat. so you'll be losing inches, but not necessarily weight at first. and as you build that muscle, you begin to burn more calories at rest - so you should still see loss, it will just be slower (but you'll be losing the inches).

    AND, exercise causes the muscles to retain water. so some of that could be water weight too from your body repairing the muscles. make sure you are including a rest day or two to allow those muscles time to recoup... good luck!!! (i've had the same issue by the way).
  • marmarlaw
    marmarlaw Posts: 19
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    Several things: first, have you taken your measurements? Sometimes, you might not see the scale move, but you are still shrinking. Also, how is your water intake? I are drinking enough to flush out toxins, fat, etc.? Don't give up!!!!
  • bethmillerwilson
    bethmillerwilson Posts: 43 Member
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    I would think that it is not the muscle building that is slowing the weight loss, but your body is attempting to replace the water and glycogen normally stored in your muscle in order to perform activities that slows your weight loss down. If your BMR is 1550 you need to make sure your are eating a bit above that and that you eat back your exercise calories so that your body has fuel to use and turn into glycogen to store in your muscle. the glycogen and water stored in the muscle will weight a little bit more initially and may show on the scale. It may take a month of staying on track with the calories eaten and the exercise regime, but you will again begin to lose weight. This weight loss will be a healthy weight loss. Stay the course, you will come through it.
  • taylmarie
    taylmarie Posts: 161
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    Do you use a heart rate monitor so that you have accurate calorie burns. After I had my son I had experienced this also and when I got and HRM it helped me to fine tune everything and the weight came off. For me, when I start working out, I do usually see aa small gain before I lose anything. Maybe just give it more time while your body adjusts! Good luck!!
  • Abells
    Abells Posts: 756 Member
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    How's your water intake? You don't log it. I would -- you are retaining b/c of start of exercise. You need to drink it. You can go back to your 1200 cals if that was working for you -- just eat back your exercise calories from running.

    I upped my cals but I was lifting weights.
  • harlanJEN
    harlanJEN Posts: 1,089 Member
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    Greetings ! Haven't looked at your diary, but my immediate thoughts: By adding the exercise, you stopped losing because you weren't getting enough fuel - not enough food for the exercise you were doing. Our bodies are built to survive, to adapt. Too large of a caloric deficit has the effect of putting us into a plateau. You need to eat more. If exercising - EAT MORE. Calculate your BMR - make sure you eating, at minimum, your BMR daily.

    If exercising, you can actually eat at maintenance and let the exercise create your caloric deficit for weight loss. LOTS of good information out there on this topic. An immediate place I'd lead you to is the "Eat More to Weigh Less" forum group. Check it out !

    Jen
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/harlanJEN
  • DrNicoleRed
    DrNicoleRed Posts: 52 Member
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    I've had the same problem. I think a possibility is that cardio exercise makes your body more efficient…i.e., it can do the same work with less fuel. So my weight loss doc actually had me limit my exercise to about 120-150 min per week (with about 2/3 of that time cardio and 1/3 strength training), and to focus on increasing my protein intake and only adding back exercise calories in 100 cal increments. I think we tend to OVERestimate the calorie expenditure from exercise, so it is possible that you were eating back too many calories. So on the days I exercise, I eat an extra greek yogurt cup--high protein, with a bit of carb at only 100-150 calories depending on the flavor.

    So you may want to focus your exercise on strength training to maintain (not gain) lean muscle mass so that you are losing exclusively fat in the setting of calorie restriction. Once you get to your goal body fat level, you can increase your protein calories to add on additional lean mass. But it is hard to really ADD lean mass when you are doing calorie restriction.


    This website reviews the data:
    http://www.exrx.net/FatLoss/WTCalLBWStudy.html
  • sarah6308
    sarah6308 Posts: 2
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    I only looked through a few days of your diary but I didn't see many vegetables. There was a bit of fruit but mostly pre-packaged stuff. Even though you're sticking to your daily calories I think some more vegetables and whole foods might help. Also, the "calories burned" estimators on all of these weight loss websites waayyyyy overestimate how much the average person is burning with any activity, so it's entirely possible that you're just increased your calories a little bit too much when you're exercising. It depends on how much you're doing. My dietitian says it's reasonable to only have burned half of what the calorie estimator or exercise machine says. In an hour of cardio plus 20 minutes of strength training I'm only burning 300 calories, even though the machines and this website tell me it's more like 600.
  • mgs68pony
    mgs68pony Posts: 306 Member
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    Man oh man do I STRUGGLE with this also. I am trying very hard to stay within my caloric range (fats, sugars and carbs). I am working out for about an hour a day. I lost weight for the the first 3-4 weeks at about 2 pounds per week. The last three weeks I have lost a combined 1 pound, but .........I have lost 7.5 inches. I am trying hard not to get discouraged and the tape measure is my only saving grace for NOT quitting.

    I am now going to start trying to eat more protein than carbs reguardless of what MFP tells me I need. I really want the weight to start coming off too!

    Good Luck and don't give up!
  • laddyboy
    laddyboy Posts: 1,565 Member
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    Not eating enough

    Eat your 1200 plus your exercise calories.
  • bagge72
    bagge72 Posts: 1,377 Member
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    Were you working out everyday? You should only up your calories the days you are working out. I also wouldn't have a set amount either. You should probably just set your calories at 1200 - 1300, then eat back the calories that you burned on the days you exercise.
  • MrsAgi
    MrsAgi Posts: 338 Member
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    Thanks for all the replies:)

    I eat back my exercise cals,but not the last100-150 as I let mfp calculate them and everyone says it is a bit generous;) I don't have a HRM, and can't afford one atm. I've looked on ebay, but still can't get anything that I would trust......

    If you are looking at my diary, please ignore last week - I had flu, and didn't eat great - I stayed within cal limits, but not the ideal foods.

    I did start my exercise slowly - 5mins run building up a few minutes a week until I reached my goal of 30mins. I'm hoping to go back on 20 mins next week, then up it back to 30 mins.

    I don't take measurements, but I have lost some size. But the scale really ought to move as well. I was hoping to make it into just "overweight" rather than"obese" before I started looking at other than scale victories....

    I probably don't drink enough water. I am busy at work and at home and keep forgetting. Must try harder on that one:)
  • beccarockslife
    beccarockslife Posts: 816 Member
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    not drinking enough I would say. Chug back the water and see if it changes, if you are working hard you could be holding water.
  • marycmeadows
    marycmeadows Posts: 1,691 Member
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    something looks weird with your sodium. I'm pretty sure sausage has more than 1mg sodium. watch that - be sure to log it accurately because sodium makes you retain water. also, you seem to have extremely light breakfasts and then heavy dinners - eat more calories and protein at breakfast. aim for like 30g of protein for breakfast. and for dinner - high protein, no starchy carbs is best.

    and drink more water.
  • tiggerzshorty
    tiggerzshorty Posts: 35
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    This has been myself all week! I've been trying to lose weight for 5 weeks now. The first four I didn't do any real work outs.I lost 7 lbs. Then Friday I went roller skating, Saturday Walking, Sunday a 3 mile hike on a hill that has some spots up to 17% incline, Monday nothing, Tuesday nothing, Wednesday Arms and 45 mins on elliptical. I have lost nothing all week in fact I'm bouncing from 205-206 day to day. I am hopefully next week will be better!

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