Need a bit of info on exercise/weight loss ratio

L

Lovebug1

New member
Hi guys, first post so be gentle. Basically I am male, 24, 22lbs overweight at the moment (according to BMI and my own guessing). I wanted to get back into sports and the season I am aiming for is 6-8 weeks from now. (I realise this is a bit fast but I am just hoping for some progress).

About 3 weeks ago I did a 360 and turned from eating whatever I liked to eating a very healthy diet. I was eating about 1800-2000 calories a day (all salad, fruits, lean meats, only water) and exercising 4-5 times a week doing weights and 400-500 kcals of cardio. However after 3 weeks of that I noticed absolutely no difference in body weight or shape. I noticed some toning up of muscles but of course that was to do with the weights.

So I have decided to drop my diet down to a daily intake of 1400-1500 calories. The question I have is; if I continue exercising and weight lifting (4-5 times a week) am I pushing my body into slowing down it's metabolism.

Also, why after 3 weeks of a complete 360 change did I see no changes at all ?

Thanks to any help received.
 
Hard to say w/out knowing more.

How much do you currently weigh? It's possible that you're eating enough to maintain your weight as it is. It's also possible that you're putting on some muscle, which is offsetting the fat loss. That only happens usually when you first start working out - as after taht initial burst of muscle gain, it's much much harder to build solid muscle.

There's also the possibility that you're losing fat but retaining fluid. Hard workouts will cause your muscles to hold on to fluids for recovery. Also if you're eating a lot of salt/sodium rich foods, you'll retain fluid - which will cause your scale to not move, even though you will be losing fat.

Also, keep in mind that some people simply don't lose in a nice steady slide - some people lose in "chunks". I'm like that - I'll lose nothing for a few weeks, then suddenly drop 4-5 lbs seemingly overnight.
 
Hi there, from experience, if I am consuming about 2000 calories a day, it's usually not enough even if I'm not exercising. The only thing your brain runs on is glucose, and if the brain shuts down, you die. So where does the brain get the glucose from if not in your blood? Takes it from your muscles, and you're muscles will get smaller and you'll generally feel like death. My advice, go your weights and your exercise and keep your calorie intake at 2000 (that's enough to keep your physiological processes working, like heart beat, etc.). Energy expenditure is not all about exercise. Keep up the exercises that you were doing, it sounds like you are doing everything right. It takes more than a few weeks to see results. It's a slow process.

The toning up of muscles has to do with everything. The body is a very complicated system, and you can't put down something as complicated as the toning up of muscles as a result of only one thing.

Most important point is don't reduce your intake, 2000 is fine. If I'm doing lots of exercise, I'll eat upto 1000 calories in a single meal. Just make sure you are eating within 1 hour of exercising, a meal that includes lots of protein and carbs, and little fat. Also, try to eat 6 times a day. Small meals though obviously. Eat causes your body to work, and if your are eating 6 times a day, it increases your metabolism, which at the end of the day is what you want.
 
Hi again,

To Kara, I haven't had any added salt in my food since I began the 3 weeks and everything I've been eating has basically been plan food (grilled steak, uncooked cherry tomatoes etc). I am at 12 stone at the moment and 178cm tall. I am at the higher end of the BMI scale (healthy but nearly overweight) I need to loss the 22lb because it is slowing me down.

To Steven, So basically if I take my calories below the 2000 mark I'll be doing more damage than good ? I am basically eating the same stuff as I was when I was consuming 2000 kcal just for example not having honey and yoghurt with my porridge in the morning.

I do remember in the past when attempting to lose weight it all seems to come off suddenly. If I see basically no results after 6 weeks should I rethink my approach ?

A friend of mine recently used the Atkins diet to drop the extra weight he had and then went back to eating normal and doing a lot of exercise. This took him about a month to do.
 
Ah, so the article is suggesting that when you are trying to lose the last 20 % body fat, it can be delayed by up to a month because of several different factors. And then you get a kind of "whoosh" factor to it ? I must admit that the fatty bits of my body have become a lot more "lucid" since I began my exercise and healthy eating. (were as before you could almost feel the fat).

Well that has brightened my day a lot, I was beginning to feel a bit like no matter how much exercising and good eating I wasn't going to see a lick of difference, thanks very much.
 
The 20% referred to in the article isn't the last 20% of fat. It is a 20% deficit. For example, if you need 2400 calories per day to maintain your current weight, 20% of that would be 480, so that means you would be eating 2400-480=1920.

The article is saying that you might get a whoosh in a week or so, without doing anything else. Or you could try eating lots of food for a day or two, and see if that makes things change. Or you could try drinking more water. Or maybe you are miscounting your calories and actually eating more than you think you are. If nothing else works, cut your calories even further - say a 30% deficit.
 
Lovebug,

You are doing some good stuff. A lot of good advice above. I can appreciate the stall in the progress. Since you have a pretty good handle on dropping the food intake back on command, it is often easy to think that eating less will do it. I am sort of at that same place. I know that I have been drinking a lot more water than had ever been in my whole life. I am drinking about 3 liters per day now. I am expecting that if I am drinking more, my body is probably holding more. I do like salt but can control it.

One thing I am doing is limiting the alcohol because it tends to slam the door shut on fat metabolism in the liver. Check out this really good article that explains the what happens - . I hope that this link can survive the review process.

Best of luck.
 
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Thanks mate but I really only drink if I am at the pub with friends and I've just been getting water instead. For the 3 weeks I've been trying to eat right no liquid other than water (except green tea) has pasted these lips.

It is good to know there are others experiencing the same stuff as me through.
 
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