What am I doing wrong/right? Advice greatly appreciated

[gcarey3678]

I need general advice or just an acknowledgement that I am remotely doing things correctly in order to reach my goals.

I have lost a little over 50 lbs within a year or so time period, since that initial weight loss I have not been losing really any weight or making any muscle gains. I am still very soft and probably have a 25% body fat or so. Weight is 148 LBS height 5'5 and just turned 30.

Its been over a year since I started to try to focus on lifting weights rather than the cardio and boot camp style workouts that I initially lost weight with.

My ultimate goal would be to have a muscular sporty figure.

I track all the foods I eat and have recently purchased a meal plan that has me eating
1400 calories ( 106g carbs, 55g fat, 124 g protein) I eat pretty clean with a treat here and there but would say my diet is 80% clean at least.

I lift weights 4-5 days a week and recently hired a personal trainer, this is my third week working with him.
I do split up my routine based on body parts into a 4 day split and use the 5th day to work on a week point or do some cardio and a full body session.
The trainer is also doing a 4 day split with me. I know I do not do enough cardio with only a couple 15-20 minute sessions after lifting a week.

My thoughts: I am not eating enough, but if that were the case I would be losing weight so that doesn't really make sense, or I am not going hard enough in the gym, recently I got a fitbit to track my heart rate while lifting and usually my avg HR is 113-130 seems like I am in the "fat burning" zone and I work up a sweat and get out of breath with heavy compound lifts.

Any thoughts would be appreciated

[LunaLifts]

1400 is too low for most people. TDEE minus 15-20% is the recommendation for healthy weight loss.

Clean is irrelevant, calories in calories out, enough protein for muscle maintenance (when cutting) or growth (when building), and enough fat for hormone health. The rest you can play with to see what you like best. Get a food scale if you don't have one, eyeballing is way off, and volume measurements can be off by up to 20%

You shouldn't need this big body part split, unless you've been lifting for quite a few years, and have a good amount of muscle already. You'd benefit from a bit more frequency (quality over quantity), like full body main lift program 3x a week, or something like an upper/lower split 4x a week.

Fitbits aren't super accurate with calories burned, even chest straps have a degree of error. It's fine for accountability, but you shouldn't be worried abut burning calories lifting. Instead of tracking exercise separately, calculate your weekly activity into the TDEE calculator linked above. Exercise doesn't put you in the "fat burning zone" your deficit burns fat, and cardio can increase that deficit.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=168176343

[cemason002]

I need general advice or just an acknowledgement that I am remotely doing things correctly in order to reach my goals.

I have lost a little over 50 lbs within a year or so time period, since that initial weight loss I have not been losing really any weight or making any muscle gains. I am still very soft and probably have a 25% body fat or so. Weight is 148 LBS height 5'5 and just turned 30.

Its been over a year since I started to try to focus on lifting weights rather than the cardio and boot camp style workouts that I initially lost weight with.

My ultimate goal would be to have a muscular sporty figure.

I track all the foods I eat and have recently purchased a meal plan that has me eating
1400 calories ( 106g carbs, 55g fat, 124 g protein) I eat pretty clean with a treat here and there but would say my diet is 80% clean at least.

I lift weights 4-5 days a week and recently hired a personal trainer, this is my third week working with him.
I do split up my routine based on body parts into a 4 day split and use the 5th day to work on a week point or do some cardio and a full body session.
The trainer is also doing a 4 day split with me. I know I do not do enough cardio with only a couple 15-20 minute sessions after lifting a week.

My thoughts: I am not eating enough, but if that were the case I would be losing weight so that doesn't really make sense, or I am not going hard enough in the gym, recently I got a fitbit to track my heart rate while lifting and usually my avg HR is 113-130 seems like I am in the "fat burning" zone and I work up a sweat and get out of breath with heavy compound lifts.

Any thoughts would be appreciated

When was the last time you had your body fat composition analyzed? And by which methods? It makes a difference. I'm going to disagree with lunalifts whens he says clean eating is irrelevant. It is, but it isn't. Eat things high in fiber, you are going to poop more and clean out your digestive system vs if you eat more fat/sugary products, you are more likely to get constipated. My suggestion is continue to eat clean. Have a cheat meal on the weekend to keep your metabolism high. Play with your macros a little bit. Some people don't respond very well to high low fat diets but do very well on low Carb diets. 1400 calories might actually be enough (emphasis on might) but you might not be getting enough carbs before your workouts to keep you energized throughout the day, and enough protein after your workout to heal your muscles.

[katya422]

I have lost a little over 50 lbs within a year or so time period, since that initial weight loss I have not been losing really any weight or making any muscle gains. I am still very soft and probably have a 25% body fat or so. Weight is 148 LBS height 5'5 and just turnd 30.

I track all the foods I eat and have recently purchased a meal plan that has me eating
1400 calories ( 106g carbs, 55g fat, 124 g protein) I eat pretty clean with a treat here and there but would say my diet is 80% clean at least.

My thoughts: I am not eating enough, but if that were the case I would be losing weight so that doesn't really make sense, or I am not going hard enough in the gym

You have my sympathy. I'm in a place that looks a lot like that.

How long have you been doing the 1400 calories? If it is relatively new it may take a bit to start seeing results.

Calculating the right number of calories seems like it should be so straight forward. Doesn't always work out like that though.

I've read the formula that you should be able to maintain your weight at 15 times your body weight in pounds, and that you should lose weight at 10 - 12 x your body weight in pounds.

But then when I've plugged my info (including age) into a calculator I get a sedentary maintenance number of about 1650 calories a day for 145 @ 5'6. And I spent quite a long time averaging 1700 calories a day while being fairly active and made no progress; so sadly the 1650 seems to be more on target for me.

ETA: That 1650 would put me at 1320 a day for a 20% deficit.

[gcarey3678]

When was the last time you had your body fat composition analyzed? And by which methods? It makes a difference. I'm going to disagree with lunalifts whens he says clean eating is irrelevant. It is, but it isn't. Eat things high in fiber, you are going to poop more and clean out your digestive system vs if you eat more fat/sugary products, you are more likely to get constipated. My suggestion is continue to eat clean. Have a cheat meal on the weekend to keep your metabolism high. Play with your macros a little bit. Some people don't respond very well to high low fat diets but do very well on low Carb diets. 1400 calories might actually be enough (emphasis on might) but you might not be getting enough carbs before your workouts to keep you energized throughout the day, and enough protein after your workout to heal your muscles.

This week I'm coming up on a month @ the 1400 calories. I have calipers to check for body fat but my husband is helping me and I'm not sure we are doing it correctly but when I look at pictures for a comparison I think we are pretty close

I'm pretty energized throughout the day and have no troubles in the gym keeping up with my workouts so I think I'm doing OK there, maybe adding in some more cardio to help get me in a bigger deficit would help? I'm also hoping my new trainer will help push me along to go harder and heavier with the weights. After my 1st session with him I realized how much more I am capable of doing but was nervous to try.

[LunaLifts]

When was the last time you had your body fat composition analyzed? And by which methods? It makes a difference. I'm going to disagree with lunalifts whens he says clean eating is irrelevant. It is, but it isn't. Eat things high in fiber, you are going to poop more and clean out your digestive system vs if you eat more fat/sugary products, you are more likely to get constipated. My suggestion is continue to eat clean. Have a cheat meal on the weekend to keep your metabolism high.

BF doesn't make a difference. It won't be an accurate number, and won't tell you anything you can't see in the mirror.
Having a cheat meal, or varying calories in general doesn't make your metabolism increase.
Yes, eating healthy foods with fiber is good, but it doesn't have to be 100% of your diet. As long as OP eats some veggies, whole grains, etc, she can have a cupcake, and she'll still be fine. Fat is essential for optimal hormone health, it's not something to be avoided.
OP's BMR is about 1412, so no, it's not enough, no one should eat below, or at their BMR. It's the basic calories you need for body functions. You shouldn't eat at a deficit more aggressive than TDEE minus 20%, that's a good way to wear yourself out, and lose muscle.

[chamelious]

Listen to Luna, she knows whats what.

My 2c: If you've been at or attempting a deficit for a year or more, its time to take a break. I would take at least 3 months eating around your maintenance. Give your body a break from being in a deficit, and crucially your mind too. Give yourself a chance to build some more muscle. And remember you're in it for the long run, 3-6 months is nothing.

[jessic2952]

Listen to Luna, she knows whats what.

My 2c: If you've been at or attempting a deficit for a year or more, its time to take a break. I would take at least 3 months eating around your maintenance. Give your body a break from being in a deficit, and crucially your mind too. Give yourself a chance to build some more muscle. And remember you're in it for the long run, 3-6 months is nothing.

I agree with Luna and Chamelious. Being in a deficit for so long can kind of mess with hormones leptin and ghrelin, which control hunger signals and satiety. Taking a break to eat at maintenance calories for a while can really help get those back up. Also, cortisol can elevate during prolonged periods of stress (such as a caloric deficit). Cortisol isn't all bad, like you may have heard, but prolonged elevated cortisol can affect metabolic rate. Not by much -- it won't make your BMR drop by 300 calories -- but it doesn't hurt to take a break and let your body recover for a bit.

Congratulations on your weight loss by the way! You've done an incredible job. You should be proud!

[lizz15235]

I always like to add or subtract macros after observing myself. I don't like to put things into a calculator that say "cut at 1400" because maybe I could lose weight at 1800 right now, so why make my life suck when I don't need to?

I would try upping calories weekly by 50-100, with an emphasis on carbs and protein (your fat seems high enough for now). Weighy yourself every week on the same day at the same time. If you don't go up in weight that week, bump it up another 50-100. Once you hit a point where your weight goes up, stop and eat the same that week. If it goes down, up them again. If you've reached calories that you're happy at are comfortable starting a cut at, then cut in the same increments with the same weigh in process.

Cardio doesn't sound like a painful amount, so I'd just keep it for now and then increase it later on once you're deep in your cut and don't want to cut macros anymore. For your lifting routine, it doesn't sound like the worst thing you could do, but it probably isn't optimal. If you can only get in the gym 4 days a week and have some lifting experience, an upper-lower split would probably work better than a body part split. That way you're hitting muscle groups twice a week instead of once. I did PHUL two years ago when I was a little newer to lifting and really enjoyed it. You don't need to kick the trainer to the curb or anything if you like having someone work with you, just throw out some of the ideas you're getting in here and he can write you something similar.

[cemason002]

BF doesn't make a difference. It won't be an accurate number, and won't tell you anything you can't see in the mirror.
Having a cheat meal, or varying calories in general doesn't make your metabolism increase.
Yes, eating healthy foods with fiber is good, but it doesn't have to be 100% of your diet. As long as OP eats some veggies, whole grains, etc, she can have a cupcake, and she'll still be fine. Fat is essential for optimal hormone health, it's not something to be avoided.
OP's BMR is about 1412, so no, it's not enough, no one should eat below, or at their BMR. It's the basic calories you need for body functions. You shouldn't eat at a deficit more aggressive than TDEE minus 20%, that's a good way to wear yourself out, and lose muscle.

I think I should have been more specific when I said fats. Saturated and Transfats have a negative effect on cholesterol, vs unsaturated fats. Will O.P. be fine if she has a cupcake...Maybe. Depends on her biology. I can eat one cup cake on Wednesday and still loose weight by Thursday. However most of the time that one cupcake can easily lead to two which can easily lead to an entire extra large jets bread sticks being ate in the back of my car in the Walmart parking lot for me specifically. For a friend of mine. For a friend of mine she swears she cannot eat anything with a lot of sugar without gaining 6 pounds in one day, which I'm not her, and I have no idea if that is true or not. My point is: it is easier to eat healthy than be set back by a slippery slope. Learn how different foods affect your body. Look into the different metabolic pathways, then fix your diet according to your different metabolic needs.

[TrampasaursFlex]

I think I should have been more specific when I said fats. Saturated and Transfats have a negative effect on cholesterol, vs unsaturated fats. Will O.P. be fine if she has a cupcake...Maybe. Depends on her biology. I can eat one cup cake on Wednesday and still loose weight by Thursday. However most of the time that one cupcake can easily lead to two which can easily lead to an entire extra large jets bread sticks being ate in the back of my car in the Walmart parking lot for me specifically. For a friend of mine. For a friend of mine she swears she cannot eat anything with a lot of sugar without gaining 6 pounds in one day, which I'm not her, and I have no idea if that is true or not. My point is: it is easier to eat healthy than be set back by a slippery slope. Learn how different foods affect your body. Look into the different metabolic pathways, then fix your diet according to your different metabolic needs.

Saturated fats have been repeatedly shown to not have an effect on cholesterol levels.

You're correct that it's important to find eating habits that work for you personally, but the decision to cut out foods to help in weight loss is a personal preference, not a biological imperative, and has nothing to do with "metabolic pathways." Clean eating or healthy eating are terms that are so vague as to be essentially meaningless. Clean eating to one person might mean being vegetarian, but to someone else might be low carb, and to another person might mean no processed foods, etc. What's important in terms of weight loss and muscle maintenance or building are the number of calories you take in, and the amount of protein, and a minimum fat intake. Eating clean has nothing to do with it.

[rockangel]

Saturated fats have been repeatedly shown to not have an effect on cholesterol levels.

You're correct that it's important to find eating habits that work for you personally, but the decision to cut out foods to help in weight loss is a personal preference, not a biological imperative, and has nothing to do with "metabolic pathways." Clean eating or healthy eating are terms that are so vague as to be essentially meaningless. Clean eating to one person might mean being vegetarian, but to someone else might be low carb, and to another person might mean no processed foods, etc. What's important in terms of weight loss and muscle maintenance or building are the number of calories you take in, and the amount of protein, and a minimum fat intake. Eating clean has nothing to do with it.

To provide back up:


This is a chart of things that affect fat loss/muscle gain in terms of importance. You can see that clean eating is not on there in any form.

[cemason002]

Okay. I get what you guys are saying rockangel and TrampasaursFlex. Yes, I understand what you guys are saying. And I think we are saying pretty much the same thing so after this post I probably wont post again.

OP: If you used a the Harris-Benedict equation to calculate your BMR there is a very good chance your BMR is wrong. I say this because when I use that equation it tells me my Energy Expenditure is about 1500 calories. When it is probably higher than that. (And I am saying PROBABLY) I can lose 2 pounds a week at 2,200calories. So I'm assuming its higher. My friend who is a nutritionist found out a gymnast was only eating 400 calories a day average height average weight for a gymnast. She was maintaining her weight and not loosing/gaining at all because her BMR was set lower from years of starving herself. If you gave someone your data, even a computer, and had them/it make a meal plan for you (who isn't an R.D.) a very cut and dry meal plan was created for you-one that could benefit from tweaking. And even if you tweak it it still might not be right. I do recommend talking to your doctor about getting a referral to an RD rather tan asking people on Bodybuilding.com because there comes a point when an R.D. can do more for you than anyone on these forms.

Protein is used for healing. 2gxbw in kg is used to calculate how much a doctor prescribes to a patient with a stage 4 pressure ulcer. Do you really think you need more protein for healing than a patient who has a stage 4 pressure ulcer.

[rockangel]

Okay. I get what you guys are saying rockangel and TrampasaursFlex. Yes, I understand what you guys are saying. And I think we are saying pretty much the same thing so after this post I probably wont post again.

OP: If you used a the Harris-Benedict equation to calculate your BMR there is a very good chance your BMR is wrong. I say this because when I use that equation it tells me my Energy Expenditure is about 1500 calories. When it is probably higher than that. (And I am saying PROBABLY) I can lose 2 pounds a week at 2,200calories. So I'm assuming its higher. My friend who is a nutritionist found out a gymnast was only eating 400 calories a day average height average weight for a gymnast. She was maintaining her weight and not loosing/gaining at all because her BMR was set lower from years of starving herself. If you gave someone your data, even a computer, and had them/it make a meal plan for you (who isn't an R.D.) a very cut and dry meal plan was created for you-one that could benefit from tweaking. And even if you tweak it it still might not be right. I do recommend talking to your doctor about getting a referral to an RD rather tan asking people on Bodybuilding.com because there comes a point when an R.D. can do more for you than anyone on these forms.

Protein is used for healing. 2gxbw in kg is used to calculate how much a doctor prescribes to a patient with a stage 4 pressure ulcer. Do you really think you need more protein for healing than a patient who has a stage 4 pressure ulcer.

I don't know even what you are talking about at this point. What an ulcer patient does is not relevant to some one who is looking for fat loss. She doesnt need an RD. And yes we do know what we are talking about as many of us deal with this daily, and the info that I refrenced came from Eric Helms (PhD candidate) who does infact teach graduate and undergrad nutrition, pretty sure he knows what he is talking about. On top of that, the info I posted has been shared by Layne Norton, PhD, as well as others. So, the info that we give is accurate and based on science, and comes from those who know more.

Perhaps you are in some undergrad dietetics program, I don't know I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt here, but that doesn't mean that you can come in here and spout crazy, useless information.

OP doesn't need a doctor or an RD or any specialized medical treatment plan. Like the others stated, taking a diet break, building cals up, allowing the hormones to stabilize, will all see her in a much better place.

[gcarey3678]

Thanks everyone for all the input. I am going to increase my calories up a bit and see how things go. I also purchased the New rules of lifting for woman book. I do appreciate all the advice and information.