Weight Lifting on a Calorie Deficit

T

tyrone2003

New member
I've been on my weight loss mission for about 8 months now, but I didn't really start seeing results before the last 2 months. The first 5 months or so I alternated 3x cardio and 3x weight training (1 hour) with 1 rest day per week. On days that I was really sore I allowed myself to take a day off. I lost 5 pounds at best. I was able to lift significant more than when I started but definitely did not see any noticable different in my body, maybe the muscle were hidden under the fat I dunno.

So discouraged and unmotivated, I gave up for a month or so.. then I got back on track. This time I went running 6 days per week and really picked up the intensity and distance of my runs. I'd run a mile, 8 laps up, around and down the bleachers at the football field, run 4 sprints on the straights, and finish with another 2-4 laps depending how I was feeling. No weight lifting at all, I lost roughly 30 pounds doing that for 2 months. I have much better control of my calorie intake now, probably about 1200-1500 a day whereas my maint level would be something like 2700-2800.

I'm just wondering what exactly does weight lifting do when you are on a calorie decifit, you need to eat more than your maint level to put on muscle right? I guess I'm just not very familiar with what "toning up" really means.
 
Steve is probably the best one to answer this one. Ive done weight lifting the entire time ive been on a calorie deficit though, and gained stregnth (dunno about muscle mass though). Ive gone from being able to leg press 40kg to 250kg amoung other things. I took up cycling and gained a fair bit of muscle in the legs also as well as loosing a fair bit of fat. I do work the upper body as well, though probably not as much lol :)
 
tyrone2003 said:
I have much better control of my calorie intake now, probably about 1200-1500 a day whereas my maint level would be something like 2700-2800.
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That's a huge calorie deficit. That's what I did and I lost a lot of muscle mass. You should be eating at least 1800 if not more, especially if you're lifting.
 
Hmm, let's see.. a typical day starting from midnight goes like this. I work at night by the way, so that's why my eating schedule might seem weird to you all:

3:00am: 1 small bowl of oatmeal (maple flavor) w/ chopped banana: 260 calories

6:00am: 1 small bowl of oatmeal (regular): 100 calories

Get off work: Sleep 7:00am-2pm

2:30pm: Wheatbread sandwich with 1-2 slices of Roast Beef, 1 slice of turkey, and 1 slice of normal cheese + lettuce: 300 calories

Excercise time 3:00pm-5:30pm / Lately not because the bad weather >_<;

6:00pm: Dinner. I usually eat whatever as long as I only eat one medium plate and no more. 600-900 calories

Back to work at 11:00pm

11:00pm: Roast Beef Sandwich again: 300 calories

And that's pretty much my routine, I also snack on a fruit or two per day so you can add another 150 calories in there or so. Sometimes I switch up the roast beef for a tuna sandwich. So that's like 1500-1900 per day + I usually burn off 500-600 calories per workout. Been drinking only water for the last few 3 months or so. All I know is it's working pretty well. I feel healthy, rarely hungry also, and I've gotten a lot better at resisting temptations since I've finally broken the 215 barrier (Down from 250), I can finally really notice myself coming into leanness. I'm just not sure what lifting is gonna do for me besides be an alternative fat burning to cardio since I'm not eating the excess calories to put on muscle.

My goal is to get down to 180 or so, firm up, and put muscle on to 190.
 
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