Do you guys think I'm eating enough?

X

Xab

0
Here's the thing: Last year, I was pretty strongly committed to weight loss and working out, and I did well. Then, summer hit, and it kinda felt like all the stresses from school rebounded, and I was exhausted for what felt like a month or two. I finally got off my butt and got back in the gym, but I'm having trouble loosing weight again.

Of course, here's my stats!
- 19 year old male
- 6'2", 270lbs
- 20-28% body fat (I've seen BF measures all over the place for me)
- Exercise: I lift hard and fast three days a week for about an hour.
- Life style: I work 25-30 hours a week as retail. Thus, out of a 5-8 hour shift, I'm sitting down for maybe 15 total minutes. Otherwise, I'm constantly walking around. I also attend college, so I walk quite a bit to and from class. Outside of school and work, I enjoy gaming, so my free time is mostly sedentary.
- Diet: Varied, but I follow a few rules:
1) I always eat within an hour of waking up.
2) Every one of my meals includes a lean protein source
3) Most of the time, I eat every 2-3 hours. There are exceptions to this due to work, but I try hard to limit them.
4) I balance my macronutrients accordingly - about 45% carbs, 25% fats, and 30% protein. Sure, this is more protein that the average person, but I am trying to maintain my muscles here =)
5) I eat when I'm hungry and stop a little before I'm full - I hate pushing myself either way there.

Lots of info there, I know. My main concern here is that I'm not eating enough total food - try as hard as I might, I'm getting 3000kcals a day, when most calorie counters show that I should be getting upwards of 5000kcals a day.

Of course, I should be eating about 500kcals less than my total maintenance, but I think I'm eating far too few - I use FitDay to measure my foods, and try as hard as I might, I'm apparantly not getting enough kcals.

So... Any suggestions? I feel like I'm stumbling in the dark here.
 
5,000cals? Wow, what calculator did you use? From what you said I calculated your maintenance level to be about 3,500 so 3,000 should be about right.

Are you certain that extra calories aren't sneaking in unaccounted for? Like the odd snack that's taking you close to maintenance?
 
Xab said:
I finally got off my butt and got back in the gym, but I'm having trouble loosing weight again.

Lots of info there, I know. My main concern here is that I'm not eating enough total food - try as hard as I might, I'm getting 3000kcals a day, when most calorie counters show that I should be getting upwards of 5000kcals a day.

Of course, I should be eating about 500kcals less than my total maintenance, but I think I'm eating far too few - I use FitDay to measure my foods, and try as hard as I might, I'm apparantly not getting enough kcals.

So... Any suggestions? I feel like I'm stumbling in the dark here.
Click to expand...

Let me try to understand here:

- You want to lose weight.

- You are eating roughly what you believe to be 3000 calories a day.

- You are not losing weight.

The answer seems pretty clear: eat less than you are now. Figure out how much you really are eating (is your estimate correct?) and eat fewer calories. Period. As was noted above, the "estimate" of 5000 calories seems high for you. More important, though, remember that the calculator is just an estimate. The fact that you have not lost weight is a much more accurate read on what your body's dietary needs are than some formula! I simply can not see how eating MORE will help you here if your goal is to lose weight.
 
My guess is you're underestimating your intake, try logging everything you eat on fitday.com (down to the tiniest detail) and see what that thinks your intake is
 
Xab said:
Here's the thing: Last year, I was pretty strongly committed to weight loss and working out, and I did well. Then, summer hit, and it kinda felt like all the stresses from school rebounded, and I was exhausted for what felt like a month or two. I finally got off my butt and got back in the gym,

but I'm having trouble loosing weight again.

Exercise: I lift hard and fast three days a week for about an hour.
Click to expand...

What do you mean by " trouble " exactly ?

How much weight have you lost since you've been back in the gym ?

Looks like you train hard 3X a week, is it possible you've added some muscle mass ( i.e. added ' muscle ' weight ) and lost some fat ....both at the same time ?

Xab said:
Lots of info there, I know. My main concern here is that I'm not eating enough total food - try as hard as I might, I'm getting 3000kcals a day, when most calorie counters show that I should be getting upwards of 5000kcals a day.
Click to expand...

I agree with CCR and sig - given your ' somewhat ' sedentary lifestyle and current exercise regimen, I'd seriously question this 5,000 calories a day as a " maintenance " level of calories for you.

At your height and weight I'd guess - even if you were at 15% bf - your " maintenance " level only likely to be somewhere around 4,000 calories .....at best . And if you're closer to 28% body fat, it's probably closer to 500 +/- less than that...i.e somewhere around 3,600 +/- calories.
 
- By trouble, I mean that I'm loosing weight very slowly. I've lost only about 5 pounds since I started going to the gym again.

I didn't even know it was possible to gain muscle mass and lose fat at the same time... I thought you could only bulk or cut at a time. Is it possible to do both?

I agree with you guys on the 5k kcals a day thing - I really don't think that I need that much food. I already use FitDay, so that's how I know about my calorie consumption.

Guess I should just play around with my calories... try eating fewer. I'm really worried about putting my body into starvation is all.
 
Xab said:
- By trouble, I mean that I'm loosing weight very slowly. I've lost only about 5 pounds since I started going to the gym again.

I didn't even know it was possible to gain muscle mass and lose fat at the same time... I thought you could only bulk or cut at a time. Is it possible to do both?

I agree with you guys on the 5k kcals a day thing - I really don't think that I need that much food. I already use FitDay, so that's how I know about my calorie consumption.

Guess I should just play around with my calories... try eating fewer. I'm really worried about putting my body into starvation is all.
Click to expand...

dude suck it up your not going to put yourself into starvation and besides we all know a decifit is required for fat loss
 
Yes, lower your calories, your not going to be in starvation mode, it might seem like it but your not.

And if you truly were in a deficit, you would have lost more than 5lbs by now. Most people with your weight would have lost atleast 5lbs in their first week. So it just depends how badly you want to lose the weight, Try lowering it to 2500 cals.
 
Xab said:
- By trouble, I mean that I'm loosing weight very slowly. I've lost only about 5 pounds since I started going to the gym again.

I didn't even know it was possible to gain muscle mass and lose fat at the same time... I thought you could only bulk or cut at a time. Is it possible to do both?
Click to expand...


Yes it is possible...though it tends to be more common for beginners and / or those with higher levels of body fat. So, while you can " gain muscle mass and lose fat at the same time " it's very unlikely you can have significant amounts of both at the same time.

As far as the 5 lb. loss goes, as I said before , it may represent a ' net ' loss. For example, a 9 lb. loss of fat but a 4 lb. gain in muscle over the same period of time - the result; a ' net ' loss of 5 lbs.


Xab said:
Guess I should just play around with my calories... try eating fewer. I'm really worried about putting my body into starvation is all.
Click to expand...

" eating fewer " is a relative term. Relative to what you're now doing or what you should be doing in terms of your daily intake of calories.

That said, what is the ' maintenance calorie ' number you came up with based on that on-line ' maintenance calorie ' calculator I gave you ?
 
Wrangell - Yeah, those calculators seriously put me at 5-6k calories per day. Like I thought - they were rating me at being way too high. I've been maintaining my calories at a steady 2500 kcals per day, and I'm already noticing weight loss.

Although it's definatly strange that every one of those calorie counters put me so high, its good to have found out that my actual caloric needs aren't so darn high. It's a good thing too, I'm not sure I can eat 5k kcals of food a day :)
 
Some does i think, the australian ones are...
 
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