Increased calorie intake along with activity

[Trillios]

I'm just curious to know who else has increased their caloric intake while having already been in a deficit but also their activity to offset the difference. Anecdotally speaking, I'm losing weight at a much faster rate (as well as visually getting leaner) than I was before at a lower caloric intake with lower activity. Is the thermic effect of food and exercise much greater in this scenario?

[TBU720]

I'm just curious to know who else has increased their caloric intake while having already been in a deficit but also their activity to offset the difference. Anecdotally speaking, I'm losing weight at a much faster rate (as well as visually getting leaner) than I was before at a lower caloric intake with lower activity. Is the thermic effect of food and exercise much greater in this scenario?

My guess is that you didn't perfectly "offset" the difference. For example, you think you are doing 500 cals of exercise but might be doing 700.

[Trillios]

My guess is that you didn't perfectly "offset" the difference. For example, you think you are doing 500 cals of exercise but might be doing 700.

You might be right but here's what I did:

Was on 1800 daily with 2-500 cardio days.

Now on 2150 with 2-500 cardio days and 4-125 cardio on workout days.

So that's a 350cal increase daily but only a 500 cardio increase weekly. So even if I'm burning more than I think that's still an extra 2450cals/week I'm getting in and I highly doubt I'm burning THAT much more.

[Trillios]

Anyone else have any opinions or knowledge on the matter? I don't want to get annoying and bump the thread more than just this time so I'm hoping to get more feedback. Thanks.

[Cumulonimbus]

I slowly went from 1900 and currently at 3200 and I got leaner along the process and I am seeing new vascularity to this day.

100% serious.

[Trillios]

I slowly went from 1900 and currently at 3200 and I got leaner along the process and I am seeing new vascularity to this day.

100% serious.

I believe you. I've seen your posts and pictures in other threads. Good job man. I strongly believe slowly increasing or decreasing is the way to go. I slowly increased from 1800 to 2150 over 3-4 weeks and only made progress along the way. I'm stumped though since I'm trying to come up with a scientific reasoning behind it. It feels great though. Way more energy at the gym, lifts went up, even cardio is getting done with ease.

[DefiningMoments]

I'm dealin with something similar too. (I noticed were about the same height too)

I used to eat 1600 calories with weightlifting 3x a week and cardio 5-6x a week

I bumped it up to 1800-1850 calories with the same exercise and I'm losing weight faster.

Maybe someone can tell us something

[mynameisuntz]

I'd be curious to know. I'm at a 2,000 calorie per day diet and have been cutting 2 pounds per week pretty damn consistently for maybe 4 weeks now. Hell if I could add some more and see the same results (if not better), I'm down to try!

[JerryB]

I'm just curious to know who else has increased their caloric intake while having already been in a deficit but also their activity to offset the difference. Anecdotally speaking, I'm losing weight at a much faster rate (as well as visually getting leaner) than I was before at a lower caloric intake with lower activity. Is the thermic effect of food and exercise much greater in this scenario?

You are probably using your body's stored fat and muscle mass for the energy source for the additional activity.

[MajorTwang]

Was on 1800 daily with 2-500 cardio days.

Now on 2150 with 2-500 cardio days and 4-125 cardio on workout days.

Possibilities..

1) Perhaps at 1.8k, you were eating so little that your body started to downregulate your metabolism, whereas upping calories a little stopped that, and/or gave you that little bit more energy, which raised your general activity levels.

2) The leaner you get, the more difference in appearance you get per unit of fat lost. At 18% fat, a loss of 5lb will be barely noticable, but if you start from 8%, a 5lb loss will absolutely transform your body from lean to super-ripped

3) Incidental changes in water balance are confusing the issue. Try to dig out Lyle McDonald's article on Squishy fat.

[Trillios]

Possibilities..

1) Perhaps at 1.8k, you were eating so little that your body started to downregulate your metabolism, whereas upping calories a little stopped that, and/or gave you that little bit more energy, which raised your general activity levels.

2) The leaner you get, the more difference in appearance you get per unit of fat lost. At 18% fat, a loss of 5lb will be barely noticable, but if you start from 8%, a 5lb loss will absolutely transform your body from lean to super-ripped

3) Incidental changes in water balance are confusing the issue. Try to dig out Lyle McDonald's article on Squishy fat.

1) Agreed. Although when I dieted last year I had to push for 1700 to lose more (never doing that again lol). Activity levels remain the same throughout the day (sedentary). Not much changed besides the extra 10 mins of cardio 4x/week. Seems to me a bump in cals during deficit might actually benefit more than anything but that's something I have to assess in the coming months.

2) Agreed.

3) The only matter in water balance I can see is that I'm taking in much more carbs than before and "appear" fuller and crisp if that makes any sense. If anything I should weigh more because of this, right? I've read lyle's article on squishy fat before and if I were to suffer from this symptom then I wouldn't really see any changes in the mirror either I think.

[JerryB]

1) Agreed. Although when I dieted last year I had to push for 1700 to lose more (never doing that again lol). Activity levels remain the same throughout the day (sedentary). Not much changed besides the extra 10 mins of cardio 4x/week. Seems to me a bump in cals during deficit might actually benefit more than anything but that's something I have to assess in the coming months.

2) Agreed.

3) The only matter in water balance I can see is that I'm taking in much more carbs than before and "appear" fuller and crisp if that makes any sense. If anything I should weigh more because of this, right? I've read lyle's article on squishy fat before and if I were to suffer from this symptom then I wouldn't really see any changes in the mirror either I think.

You may be just getting skinnier. If the belly of your muscles is getting flat you are losing muscle. There are so many who are lean and thin and think they look muscular.

[Trillios]

You may be just getting skinnier. If the belly of your muscles is getting flat you are losing muscle. There are so many who are lean and thin and think they look muscular.

I made that mistake last year and this year, physically, is a major difference, especially since my carb intake is tripled, and my protein intake is higher. Not saying that you're wrong but I've been very cautious with specifically losing muscle. I'm flat without carbs for sure but strength is increasing and muscle size has also significantly increased. This is all anecdotally speaking of course.

[JerryB]

I made that mistake last year and this year, physically, is a major difference, especially since my carb intake is tripled, and my protein intake is higher. Not saying that you're wrong but I've been very cautious with specifically losing muscle. I'm flat without carbs for sure but strength is increasing and muscle size has also significantly increased. This is all anecdotally speaking of course.

I did not mean to imply you are skinny.
I just think unless you are competing in bodybuilding it better to hold a little extra body fat than sacrifice hard earned muscle trying to look leaner. Apparently you have learned that lesson last year.

[Trillios]

Last time I posted I was on 2150cals and around mid may weight stalled again. I stopped weighing myself since may 1st (174.4) compared to april's (171.4). Currently 175lbs an much leaner than April AND I increased cals and cardio again since may. Currently at 2600 daily with 2-650 cardio days and 4-300 days. It still seems I can increase cals if I want but I'll ride this for a while since it's only been a month. My body definitely prefers higher cals with higher activity I think.

[psychodiver9]

Possibilities..

1) Perhaps at 1.8k, you were eating so little that your body started to downregulate your metabolism, whereas upping calories a little stopped that, and/or gave you that little bit more energy, which raised your general activity levels.

2) The leaner you get, the more difference in appearance you get per unit of fat lost. At 18% fat, a loss of 5lb will be barely noticable, but if you start from 8%, a 5lb loss will absolutely transform your body from lean to super-ripped

3) Incidental changes in water balance are confusing the issue. Try to dig out Lyle McDonald's article on Squishy fat.

Havet seen you lately twang. Great post as usual