The Metabolic Slowdown Thread

[yasento]

No.

The primary drive behind the big metabolic adaptions are leptin, at 18% your leptin has not crashed enough to cause a substantial effect on metabolism (that happens more at single digits bodyfat and especially the low end)

Conclusion: You are either in a coma or the more likely scenario : You are eating/drinking more than you think.

I'm quite strict with logging my food intake. Even if there is a margin of error, it would be small. Nowhere in the region of several hundred calories. But I will accept your advice and continue as usual to see what happens.

[EjnarKolinkar]

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but can your metabolism slow down significantly if you still have a high body fat % ?

I've been cutting for 9 months but I'm still at around 18% body fat. I've lost a total of 26 lbs but lately my weight loss has really stalled. I'm eating 1600 calories a day (bodyweight 176 lbs, height 5'11) but this seems to be my new maintenance level. I feel like my weight stays the same at 1600 cals per day but goes up if I eat more.

Do you weight train? What steps have you taken to remain active? Dieting can impact lifestyle. When one is not as well fed they can begin to look for more leisurely methods of living.

I'm quite strict with logging my food intake. Even if there is a margin of error, it would be small. Nowhere in the region of several hundred calories. But I will accept your advice and continue as usual to see what happens.

Why are you convinced you should be eating several hundred more calories and still be losing weight? What does that mean to you, 200, 300, 500? Even those who are quite strict with their logging can miss 100-200 calories awfully easily. For those who are sedentary 100 calories can be a lot, especially as the deficit closes, as weight loss continues. As the deficit gets smaller it gets easier to lose scale weight progress, the returns on the scale can be blurred for weeks by normal weight fluctuations. And when folks are dieting it sounds awfully nice to blame everything on "metabolism" and start eating more.

[yasento]

Do you weight train? What steps have you taken to remain active? Dieting can impact lifestyle. When one is not as well fed they can begin to look for more leisurely methods of living.

Why are you convinced you should be eating several hundred more calories and still be losing weight? What does that mean to you, 200, 300, 500? Even those who are quite strict with their logging can miss 100-200 calories awfully easily.

I have been training but I have 2 separate injuries so I haven't been able to train lately.

About the calories, I'm not convinced I should be eating more and still losing, but 1600 seems a very low number to me. And even if my calculations are off by 200 calories, thats still only 1800 calories. As a guy 5'11 guy who weighs 175 lbs, 1800 calories seems very low to be maintenance. I'm not advocating eating more per se, but it has gotten to the point where I feel like I can't eat any less, but I'm not seeing gains at the current calorie intake. But like you said, the results may take weeks to show up.

[EjnarKolinkar]

@ yasento

And if we say you are 2000+/- TDEE and eating at a 200+/- calorie deficit, you can mask fat loss on a scale for a long time at that small a deficit. Many people find when they are injured and subsequently less active it can be very difficult to lose weight, especially if they are not very active to begin with.

Have you considered just eating well, taking care of your self, healing, and not gaining a bunch of weight until you are well? Have you considered if you are having a hard time losing weight or eating less than moving more might be something you need to consider when you are well? Lots of ways to move more in general, don't just have to sit on an elliptical.

[Znik]

I have been training but I have 2 separate injuries so I haven't been able to train lately.

About the calories, I'm not convinced I should be eating more and still losing, but 1600 seems a very low number to me. And even if my calculations are off by 200 calories, thats still only 1800 calories. As a guy 5'11 guy who weighs 175 lbs, 1800 calories seems very low to be maintenance. I'm not advocating eating more per se, but it has gotten to the point where I feel like I can't eat any less, but I'm not seeing gains at the current calorie intake. But like you said, the results may take weeks to show up.

If the weight doesn't change towards your goal (be it gain or loss) within a 3 week time window (4-5 if female), then calorie intake needs to be adjusted. Doesn't matter if you are 100% correct with tracking or not.

[Bradw1994]

Would love a bit of help if somebody is willing to share some knowledge. I'm 22 5 11 if I was to guess 20-25% body fat and 196 lbs. i have checked my daily maintenance and it appears it should be between 2700-3300 cals but I'm not losing fat on 2000 cals is the intention to actually **** my metabolism up a little more and reduce cals to get some more fat off or start building back up. See I've been swaying towards dropping more as I have a body fat of 20%+ ? Thanks

[Znik]

Would love a bit of help if somebody is willing to share some knowledge. I'm 22 5 11 if I was to guess 20-25% body fat and 196 lbs. i have checked my daily maintenance and it appears it should be between 2700-3300 cals but I'm not losing fat on 2000 cals is the intention to actually **** my metabolism up a little more and reduce cals to get some more fat off or start building back up. See I've been swaying towards dropping more as I have a body fat of 20%+ ? Thanks

If it's been 3+ weeks then eat less. Chances are you like most others new to the game aren't tracking calories accurately. Nonethelss the only solution for when weight loss is not present is to eat less.

[EjnarKolinkar]

See I've been swaying towards dropping more as I have a body fat of 20%+ ? Thanks

Bulking to 30% sounds like a horrible mistake. Pretending you will re-comp away 20 pounds of fat sound like a mistake too. We are left with our bodies, what we eat, how much we move. On a day when you have some time, examine for a moment everything you swallow over the course of a week. Look up reputable data on what it's worth. Examine how you are measuring your portions. Perhaps you will find out you have some work to do?

[djdrdave]

So if one uses myfitnesspal..do you feel as if the recommended caloric intake is on the low side of things for an active individual?

[naterod05]

Nice! Good info here

[SummerTime244]

What do you think of Zigzag calory intake between Weightlifting days and off days ?
Moderate Carb intake on Gym days and Low Carb on off days.

[ironwill2008]

The information in the OP has become so corrupted by random broscience posts, illogical thinking, and lack of plain common sense as to make this thread useless.







Putting this one to bed.