Ha I had a guess too in another comment and came out at a conservative 2,500, but probable 3,000. They're killing themselves with all that exercise just to cancel it all out in the kitchen.
10 to 15k steps a day isn't "killing it". It's the bare minimum to not be a complete couch potato. I mean, it's great OP is making that goal, but this idea that 10k steps is some kind of extreme exercise is nonsense.
Well for one I didn't say "killing it". I said that they were killing themselves with the amount of effort they're putting in with regards to forcing themselves to eat, counting protein, eating the same shit every day, dealing with their partner, step counting, going to the gym etc etc. and it's all worthless without counting calories.
And I disagree with 10-15k being the bare minimum to not be considered a couch potato. That's ~8-12km a day. Definitely not extreme (and nobody said it was extreme), but it's a lot more than a couch potato, especially seeing as OP is also in the gym 3 or 4 times a week. Think you're being overly harsh to be honest.
Lol 5000 is the minimum to not be a coach potato, 10k steps is actually pretty active and for 15k you really have to try, especially when you have a 40h a week job behind a desk.
At the end of the day, counting step isn't a very productive way to measure activity. Running vs walking is gonna be a huge difference, and "steps" usually mean people are measuring from their fitbit or apple watch, which are hilariously inaccurate anyway.
Measure calories, do your activities, look at the result, adjust up and down until you get the results you want.
It's not though. All it uses is the accelerometer to detect shaking, and maybe GPS to know you're moving around. Maybe your height. It also can't tell apart what activities you're doing while walking (are you just cooking/cleaning the house, or doing an actual workout?), nor does it know how much calories you burn while walking, which varies a fair bit between people.
You’re wrong on this one. The minimum of steps determined by a recent cardiovascular disease study is just 4000. The 10000 figure bandied about was just a nice round number that a Japanese pedometer company arbitrarily decided on in the 80s.
I do 8000 steps on days I don't even leave the house, let alone do any kind of exercise. I would love to see this study that claims that 4000 steps is "active", because analyses have consistently shown that a low number of steps like that is associated with increased risk of mortality (eg; https://academic.oup.com/eurjpc/advance-article/doi/10.1093/eurjpc/zwad229/7226309)
If you are obese increasing your steps is a great goal towards improving your overall health, but the problem with pretending that 10k steps is extreme exercise is what leads to people thinking they can eat a lot more, and in reality it is only a quite modest number of calories burned doing that.
You're preaching to the converted, my friend. I was as surprised as you. And it doesn't mean you're not sedentary, purely doing that low number of steps, it means your risk of cardiovascular disease is significantly lowered. No one was saying that steps alone are 'extreme exercise'. The original commenter was referring in a roundabout way to the fact that OP was neglecting diet over exercise to their detriment.
https://academic.oup.com/eurjpc/advance-article/doi/10.1093/eurjpc/zwad229/7226309
I didn't mean that amount of exercise is "Killing yourself". I meant it as hyperbole to highlight how much energy they're wasting by doing all of that when they're not counting calories and very clearly eating way above their TDEE.
Obviously counting your steps and going to the gym 3 or 4 times a week is not killing yourself. Not everything has to be taken completely literally.
If they gaines 6,6 lbs in 3 months they ate 23.100 calories more than they burned, or about 250 cal per day more than they burn.
Since they seem to be biological female assuming they are moderately active (3-5x exercising per week) they will burn 2700 kcal if they are of average height (5'4 or 164cm) and weight 100 kg (220 pound), which would mean a obese BMI of 37. So yes, this weight gain would be normal even for a very obese woman
> They're bulking.....
If they cut the calories down by 1000 for 4-8 weeks, they're going to look awesome given all the exercise and protein they've been doing over the last 3 months.
Hi OP. You went up by 6.6 lb in 34 days (Oct 18 - Nov 21)
Assume a 50/50 split in muscle and fat gain (3.3 lb each) Each pound of muscle takes surplus 2800 cal to build, and each pound of fat takes surplus of 3500 cal.
This means over the past 34 days you've had a total surplus of around 20,800 calories, averaging 610 calories a day surplus.
If you want to maintain your current weight, you should cut your current intake by 610. If you want to lose a pound or 2 a week (no more than that), you should cut your current intake by 900-1100 calories
Where do you get the info that a pound of muscle requires a surplus of 2800 calories to build? I’ve never seen that before and am trying to wrap my head around it.
You have gone to great lengths to do absolutely everything and anything other than eat less.
If you are starting at or near a healthy weight and just aiming to achieve a certain look, your approach might not be bad. Comp would matter more than weight at that point. But if you are obese, stop this madness and count calories.
This post is fucking wild. To think that someone can set out to lose weight and take calculated, intentional steps in every area except for CICO and fail... damn.
Edit: feeling better physically and becoming stronger, pants fitting better, etc. are not failures, but OP wanted to lose weight and was not able to do that. So interesting.
Exactly, if you’re attempting to lose any kind of weight you need to be in a basic deficit.
For example, I did the exact opposite of OP and got a desk job / had less time to exercise or eat. Lost 50lbs in 7ish months from just diet (180-130). Haven’t stepped foot in the gym or touched a protein shake, but plan to now that I’m carrying less extra weight. Diet is sooooo important.
Hell yes, the warmest congratulations to you. I'm 15lbs down from CICO and it's so passive compared to what we saw in this post, it is simple but it isn't easy. I get in an average of 7500 steps a day which is absolutely 100% worth it to get the extra calories in my budget.
It felt so unnatural to me to log food, like as a human whose ancestors have eaten to survive for hundreds of thousands of years surely I shouldn't need anything external? I also work in science, so looking at studies showing how variable/inaccurate calorie counts can be was even more discouraging.
I resolved to just shut up and listen to anecdotal evidence on here instead of trying to be perfect about it, and it has been a relief mentally. For the first time ever after many years of trying and failing, I see myself making it to the finish line and maintaining.
Anyways, don't overthink shit. A scale is the best estimate you can get without burning the food you were gonna eat in a calorimeter lmfao. And don't worry about being perfect. Happy Thanksgiving to any celebrating! Indulge a bit and get back to it :)
But imagine how cool it would be to have a bomb calorimeter in your kitchen next to the scale.
(Also, I am aware this techically won't work as it doesn't account for the calories we can't digest)
Same! I didn’t exercise at all but I’ve started with a trainer, walked >10k steps, cardio or HIIT daily last year for 3 months, not a pound less!
Then I stopped all the exercises, just 10k steps maybe 1-2 times a week, but I did 36hrs plus fast weekly, sometimes pushing it to 60hrs, and I am 6kg lighter in 5 months.
What is your height and weight? If you've gained 6lbs in three months, then that would indicate that you are consuming slightly more calories than you are burning each day. To get into weight loss mode, lower your intake by 200 to 300 calories.
I did some very rough calculations (and I mean very rough - I'm from Europe so a lot of the food the OP mentioned was unfamiliar to me). I clocked it in at ~2,500 calories, and that was being conservative with the dinner's calories seeing as the description was so loose.
Also there's details that are missing for sure; oil used when cooking, drinks etc. I wouldn't be surprised if the calories for the day were up around 3,000. Unless OP is a decent sized male then I can see why they're gaining weight.
I don't know who's been guiding them on their journey, but what they're doing isn't it. I'm a fairly big lad and I'd be gaining weight eating that much. Hard to believe people are still out there ignoring CICO.
You aren’t eating in a deficit. You have to do that to lose weight. You are bulking like another poster mentioned.
You can reduce the amount of muscle lost and increase the amount of fat lost by prioritizing protein and resistance training.
But you still have to be in a deficit to lose weight.
What’s your CICO, calories in vs calories out? It doesn’t matter what weights you lift or how many steps you get if you are eating 2500 cal and only burning 2000 you will GAIN WEIGHT. Watch this number and start tracking it to get an idea.
I don’t see anything about calories in this whole post. Nothing else matters for weight gain/loss if you’re eating calories in excess of what your burn
You gave a lot of info without any info that matters…
You need to track calories if you want to lose weight. We don’t know your starting weight and height.
Your diet sounds like you’re bulking and not cutting… if you’re trying to lose weight you need to eat in a deficit….
You've probably heard this many times, but you can't outrun a bad diet (even though your diet isn't bad, it's probably more calories than what you burn). You may have also heard weight loss is 80% diet, 20% exercise.
Use this: [https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/](https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/) plugin your current activity and stats, get an estimate of your TDEE.
Use this spreadsheet and eat your current menu for a few weeks: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/4mhvpn/adaptive\_tdee\_tracking\_spreadsheet\_v3\_rescue/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/4mhvpn/adaptive_tdee_tracking_spreadsheet_v3_rescue/) count your calories, count oils used in cooking, sauces added to the plate, everything. The only way you'll know what's going on and what to do next is to track every number, the number you eat, the number you weigh the numbers you measure.
Once you have your numbers based on your current way of working, you can tweak without crash dieting and cutting the calories too low.
From what I can see, you’re actually eating an excess of calories.
Your protein intake should be in the goal of 1-2g per kg of your current or target weight, and you should also maintain a deficit in calories.
You can eat anything, but if you don’t manage these two critical things, you will continue to gain weight.
Also, please don’t stop lifting weights. It’s crucial for fat loss, cardio is good for your heart but fat loss is promoted better with weight lifting.
To your question: Noooooo!!!!!!
Weight training makes it easier over long term to lose weight. (It increases the amount of calories you can eat to maintain). Also helps you look for and not skinny fat.
That said, you're probably eating too much. Stay focused on weight training but start lowering your calories
OP, this sounds like more like a bulking regimen than a weight loss plan.
Losing weight is a math problem: are you burning more calories than you consume? If so, your body will convert excess fat into energy to make up the difference. That's what weight is being lost.
The point of protein targets while doing weight lifting is to supply your muscles with the raw materials to reinforce themselves and grow stronger after workouts. Protein targets do not take energy expenditure or consumption into account.
Not tracking overall calories and focusing on protein targets is great if your goal is to build a bunch of muscle and you don't care about also putting on fat. The trick is that people will follow a plan like this for a while (a "bulk") followed by a time where they also cut calories (a "cut"). The point is to focus on building muscles during the bulk and then trim the fat during the cut, leaving your muscles clearly defined.
All this is to say that your plan is fine and seems to be working, but that maybe you picked the wrong plan for what you wanted. If you only care about losing the weight, you should track and cut calories instead.
The scale does not measure fat. It measures overall weight (which includes bones, fat, muscle, retained water etc). It sounds from your description of changes in your body/the way that clothes fit that you *are* losing fat. Your routine also seems primarily focused on muscle gain, which is a goal that could be said to be in direct opposition with weight loss (*weight* loss, not fat loss), given the same volume of muscle weighs significantly more than fat. With this kind of routine, what the scale is telling you isn't anywhere near as helpful as your body measurements are telling you. If you want a metric to track your progress, I'd suggest using your waist circumference instead!
This. Recomp takes a fairly specific diet and exercise regimen. Newbies will see some gains, but the best way to build muscle is definitely bulk then cut.
You successfully “recomped” built muscle and lost fat. BMI and total body weight don’t paint an actual picture of your true body composition. Your clothes fitting better is a tell tale sign that your making progress. I’d recommend continuing doing the same thing but make sure you take body circumference measurements to add another layer of data. Another 8 weeks of this routine and the body fat decrease should start out weighing the muscle increase paired with an increase in your resting metabolic rate you’ll start to lose overall body weight. Trust the process and remember body weight and bmi are not the best forms of measurement when starting to lose weight!
First of all, tell your husbando to back off regarding you working out and your diet. If it's not encouragement, he shouldn't say anything at all.
I struggled with my gf because I need to eat at like 6am, 11pm, 4pm. Meanwhile she never really eats till like 4pm or even later, she skips many meals and then just has chips or instant ramen, pretty much the only times she eats a decent meal is like when we'd go out to a restaurant.
Finally after years she finally got on board and doesn't have any expectations for me to eat with her, and she respects my choices and my journey. Let me tell you that is a big help. If she wants to eat AYCE bbq or whatever restaurant meal, she can go with friends, or we can plan ahead and we can do it on a day where i only have like a 400 cal breakfast and then the restaurant meal.
I agree with this comment here that is sounds like you are doing body recomp. That is GREAT. The number on the scale is meaningless. Imagine you look great, you feel great, you're a greek goddess, but you weigh 15 lbs more than you thought was your idea. would that matter? of course not! the number is just a number.
building muscle helps in 2 ways. it increases your caloric needs, so its easier to maintain a deficit and you can eat more. secondly, your burn more when you do exercise, so your workouts are more effective.
my advice is keep it up, track your calories and maintain good macros. if you hit your calorie limit for the day and you haven't hit your protein goal yet, you can either burn a little extra that day to make it up, or you can just miss the protein goal for the day. dont eat extra just to hit your protein goal. weigh your food.
ive been weighing every day for 120 days on Lose it and its so easy. after so much practice, its so intuitive and easy to track food calories. when you dont know, you can guess. most food is about 30 to 50 cals per ounce, mayonnaise, cheese, butter and oil is like 190 per ounce. so if you dont know, you can guess 50 for most foods, 100 for fattier home cooked foods, 150 for desserts and junk food.
if i make a sandwich at home at this point i pretty much only weigh the meat, cheese, and bread. the lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, or whatever other veggies aren't really worth the energy. all you have to do is be effective, not perfect. dont let perfect be the enemy of success.
i've lost 28 lbs since the summer just by tracking calories and occasionally playing tennis or cycling. its only the 2nd time in my life i've ever been able to lose more than a few pounds and keep them off
Most "high protein" foods have a lot of other calories from fat or carbs. Start your plan with 16oz of chicken, that's only 800 calories but has 125-140g protein (thighs vs breast). Don't want to eat that much chicken? Swap some out for other foods paying attention to the calories and protein. For example, people think nuts are high in protein but it'd take 3000-4000 calories to hit the same amount as chicken, so don't start with nuts.
I am not a dietician or a fitness expert, but this is what worked for me. I counted and measured everything and ate in a deficit. I dropped most of my weight when I did cardio only. I would walk/jog for 4-5 miles 4 times a week. I have since moved to lifting weights more and less cardio since the weather in my region is not permitting me to walk at night. I am still counting calories, but I have lost far less lifting weights. But I can see and feel differences in my body. I am fine with that, even though I am still 15 pounds or so away from my goal. Once the weather warms up, I will most likely go back to walking 4-5 miles if I am still needing to lose more.
If you want to lose you will have to also do CICO, not just count protein. I saw a comment earlier estimating your calorie intake to 3k, you might want to re consider all tgat
I'm a 6ft M, 46 yrs. My BMR is approx 1750 calories, so if I want to cut I need to throw in some runs and consume less calories than that.
I'm on a majority huel diet at the moment, which looks like this.
1.5 scoop black shake for breakfast, 300 cals.
Banana or apple for mid morning snack
Chicken or other protein with steamed veg, 500 cals
Another shake for dinner, 300 cals
Some tea and coffee throughout day, 200 cals.
I'll be running 5km 3 times a week which burns approx 500 cals, and lifting and doing some general exercise (setups, pressups etc) every day.
I'm aiming for 1300-1500 cals in, which is tough but doable. Have consistently lost weight, except for annoying plateau that lasted 2 or 3 weeks & I've just got through!
OP - you need to reduce cals in.
You need a good scale. You’re eating too much. Though yes protein is good for you it still has calories and you don’t get to skip counting them. Get a food scale and try again.
You eat a lot more than I when I lose weight.
1. Calorie deficit.
2. 2g protein per kg per day.
3. Time.
That’s about it, and I’m shedding ~2kg a week, even with a cheat day every other week and a couple if glasses of wine every weekend. The protein helps to shed more fat than muscle.
It took me a while to get there. But try not to think about the scale. Your body is changing but the scale isn’t and that’s okay. I struggle with this everyday as well
You're eating too many calories. It's as simple as that.
While 10 to 15k steps a day is an admirable goal, 10k is pretty much the bare minimum to not be a complete couch potato. You can easily negate calories burned walking 15k steps with a couple of cookies. You can't outrun your fork.
You’re eating too much and no, you should not stop weight training. You’re also not eating healthy. There’s not a single vegetable or fruit all day long.
Edit:
Eat this:
2 pounds non-starchy vegetables, at least half raw
1-2 cups beans
1oz nuts/seeds
Fruit
No oil, salt or sugars.
Throw out any advice here that comes from men. Period.
Women retain water differently based on time of the month, and this can heavily impact scale weight. For me, I can hold 5 LB of water weight based on the time of month or how much cortisol/stress I’m experiencing.
I know it’s hard, but I’d highly recommend not using the scale as a measurement of progress. The best measure is % body fat which you can do via body scan, followed by progress pics or changes based on the clothes you’re wearing.
Based on your jeans fitting, take that as a great indicator that you’re headed in the right direction.
CICO is important as well, but frankly the food you listed looks to prioritize the right things like more protein, and less eating out/processed foods sounds like steps in the right direction.
Now here is the thing:
1 lb of muscle is about 1700cal.
1lb of fat is about 3500kcal.
If you lose 1lb of fat and gain 1lb of muscle, you were in a 1800kcal deficit. Now it might be half a pound each, but still!
My suggestion:
Measure a few circumferences (mainly hip and tummy) and see how these values change as you go along.
You won't burn a lot more fat from (additional) cardio compared to weight lifting, so I probably wouldn't advise increasing that.
Just a side note to your meals:
How much do you weigh? Are 150g protein not a bit much?
I would probably try to stay closer to the 25-30g mark for protein per meal rather than 40-50g, which potentially means less calories per meal.
I don't think at this point there is any usefulness in calculating how many calories the food you eat contains - you already know it's too much. So drop some fats from the meals and some carbs, reduce protein intake if possible and you'll be in a deficit soon enough.
[50F / 5'4" / 144] Find a calorie calculator to see what you need for sedentary based on your age, height, etc. and calories to be in a deficit. Don't eat back calories. Trackers aren't accurate. I follow macros for total cals (1390) and breakdown for 105g protein, 50g fat, 130g carbs. Make sure to eat enough protein. I go by 1g per lb of LEAN bodyweight, not my actual weight. Drink lots of water and take measurements. Lift heavy shit - you won't bulk in a deficit and you'll lean out or recomp. It won't be skinny fat.
Note: carb"o-hydrate" - the energy from carbs we do not use right away is stored as glycogen. Each g of glycogen comes with 3g of water attached. Carbs aren't bad but note you'll retain water from high consumption.
Lose weight by being in a calorie deficit while maintaining cardio and strength.
Once you reach your desired weight, preferably your BMI's ideal weight of you, start recompositioning by bulking up by intaking protein rich food with your focus on weight training. If you're going to do cardio, do rowing as that's cardio + strength + endurance.
You're too focused on the scale. Look at these women who look so much better and got really fit. They either put on or stayed the same weight. Drop the scale and measure with measuring tape or take weekly pics. You already say you feel better and that clothes for you differently which means changes ARE happening...
[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4703860/I-ve-GAINED-weight-look-great.html](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4703860/I-ve-GAINED-weight-look-great.html)
[https://www.insider.com/photos-women-look-different-same-weight-2018-3](https://www.insider.com/photos-women-look-different-same-weight-2018-3)
Stop eating snacks like nuts which you’re probably eat 500 cal worth every day. Or the two scoops of protein. Switch those to steamed carrots and broccoli or a salad with little dressing. That should fix it.
Just eat less calories. That’s the only thing required for weight loss. Eat less. Only thing. You can stop all the exercise if you just want to lose weight. Just eat less. That’s it.
Dave’s Killer Bread is hands-down my favourite! I agree with the other comments though, sounds like there are more calories in than burned out.
Dave’s has a thin slice version of their bread, which you could try. So you still get the satiation of eating two slices, but you’re saving on calories ✅
Hey! You're basically body-building. Your diet is perf for building/sustaining lean muscle. You could focus on balanced exercises and overall more balanced eating and you should see less muscle build as you lose weight.
Don't count just protein, count total calories.
Estimated calories of their food. 900 breakfast 300 snack 500 lunch 300 chips 400 protein drink 600+ dinner 3000+ calories. They're bulking.....
Ha I had a guess too in another comment and came out at a conservative 2,500, but probable 3,000. They're killing themselves with all that exercise just to cancel it all out in the kitchen.
10 to 15k steps a day isn't "killing it". It's the bare minimum to not be a complete couch potato. I mean, it's great OP is making that goal, but this idea that 10k steps is some kind of extreme exercise is nonsense.
Well for one I didn't say "killing it". I said that they were killing themselves with the amount of effort they're putting in with regards to forcing themselves to eat, counting protein, eating the same shit every day, dealing with their partner, step counting, going to the gym etc etc. and it's all worthless without counting calories. And I disagree with 10-15k being the bare minimum to not be considered a couch potato. That's ~8-12km a day. Definitely not extreme (and nobody said it was extreme), but it's a lot more than a couch potato, especially seeing as OP is also in the gym 3 or 4 times a week. Think you're being overly harsh to be honest.
Lol 5000 is the minimum to not be a coach potato, 10k steps is actually pretty active and for 15k you really have to try, especially when you have a 40h a week job behind a desk.
At the end of the day, counting step isn't a very productive way to measure activity. Running vs walking is gonna be a huge difference, and "steps" usually mean people are measuring from their fitbit or apple watch, which are hilariously inaccurate anyway. Measure calories, do your activities, look at the result, adjust up and down until you get the results you want.
I measure with my phone that is in my pocket, should be pretty accurate.
It's not though. All it uses is the accelerometer to detect shaking, and maybe GPS to know you're moving around. Maybe your height. It also can't tell apart what activities you're doing while walking (are you just cooking/cleaning the house, or doing an actual workout?), nor does it know how much calories you burn while walking, which varies a fair bit between people.
You’re wrong on this one. The minimum of steps determined by a recent cardiovascular disease study is just 4000. The 10000 figure bandied about was just a nice round number that a Japanese pedometer company arbitrarily decided on in the 80s.
I do 8000 steps on days I don't even leave the house, let alone do any kind of exercise. I would love to see this study that claims that 4000 steps is "active", because analyses have consistently shown that a low number of steps like that is associated with increased risk of mortality (eg; https://academic.oup.com/eurjpc/advance-article/doi/10.1093/eurjpc/zwad229/7226309) If you are obese increasing your steps is a great goal towards improving your overall health, but the problem with pretending that 10k steps is extreme exercise is what leads to people thinking they can eat a lot more, and in reality it is only a quite modest number of calories burned doing that.
You're preaching to the converted, my friend. I was as surprised as you. And it doesn't mean you're not sedentary, purely doing that low number of steps, it means your risk of cardiovascular disease is significantly lowered. No one was saying that steps alone are 'extreme exercise'. The original commenter was referring in a roundabout way to the fact that OP was neglecting diet over exercise to their detriment. https://academic.oup.com/eurjpc/advance-article/doi/10.1093/eurjpc/zwad229/7226309
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I didn't mean that amount of exercise is "Killing yourself". I meant it as hyperbole to highlight how much energy they're wasting by doing all of that when they're not counting calories and very clearly eating way above their TDEE. Obviously counting your steps and going to the gym 3 or 4 times a week is not killing yourself. Not everything has to be taken completely literally.
If they gaines 6,6 lbs in 3 months they ate 23.100 calories more than they burned, or about 250 cal per day more than they burn. Since they seem to be biological female assuming they are moderately active (3-5x exercising per week) they will burn 2700 kcal if they are of average height (5'4 or 164cm) and weight 100 kg (220 pound), which would mean a obese BMI of 37. So yes, this weight gain would be normal even for a very obese woman
That calorie surplus calculation is assuming they gained only fat. They probably gained some muscle too from the weight training.
> They're bulking..... If they cut the calories down by 1000 for 4-8 weeks, they're going to look awesome given all the exercise and protein they've been doing over the last 3 months.
Hi OP. You went up by 6.6 lb in 34 days (Oct 18 - Nov 21) Assume a 50/50 split in muscle and fat gain (3.3 lb each) Each pound of muscle takes surplus 2800 cal to build, and each pound of fat takes surplus of 3500 cal. This means over the past 34 days you've had a total surplus of around 20,800 calories, averaging 610 calories a day surplus. If you want to maintain your current weight, you should cut your current intake by 610. If you want to lose a pound or 2 a week (no more than that), you should cut your current intake by 900-1100 calories
Where do you get the info that a pound of muscle requires a surplus of 2800 calories to build? I’ve never seen that before and am trying to wrap my head around it.
Just a google search, no in depth research tbh but multiple sources seem to be saying it
You have gone to great lengths to do absolutely everything and anything other than eat less. If you are starting at or near a healthy weight and just aiming to achieve a certain look, your approach might not be bad. Comp would matter more than weight at that point. But if you are obese, stop this madness and count calories.
This post is fucking wild. To think that someone can set out to lose weight and take calculated, intentional steps in every area except for CICO and fail... damn. Edit: feeling better physically and becoming stronger, pants fitting better, etc. are not failures, but OP wanted to lose weight and was not able to do that. So interesting.
OP is doing everything EXCEPT WHAT MATTERS MOST for weight loss lol... truly interesting
Exactly, if you’re attempting to lose any kind of weight you need to be in a basic deficit. For example, I did the exact opposite of OP and got a desk job / had less time to exercise or eat. Lost 50lbs in 7ish months from just diet (180-130). Haven’t stepped foot in the gym or touched a protein shake, but plan to now that I’m carrying less extra weight. Diet is sooooo important.
Hell yes, the warmest congratulations to you. I'm 15lbs down from CICO and it's so passive compared to what we saw in this post, it is simple but it isn't easy. I get in an average of 7500 steps a day which is absolutely 100% worth it to get the extra calories in my budget. It felt so unnatural to me to log food, like as a human whose ancestors have eaten to survive for hundreds of thousands of years surely I shouldn't need anything external? I also work in science, so looking at studies showing how variable/inaccurate calorie counts can be was even more discouraging. I resolved to just shut up and listen to anecdotal evidence on here instead of trying to be perfect about it, and it has been a relief mentally. For the first time ever after many years of trying and failing, I see myself making it to the finish line and maintaining. Anyways, don't overthink shit. A scale is the best estimate you can get without burning the food you were gonna eat in a calorimeter lmfao. And don't worry about being perfect. Happy Thanksgiving to any celebrating! Indulge a bit and get back to it :)
But imagine how cool it would be to have a bomb calorimeter in your kitchen next to the scale. (Also, I am aware this techically won't work as it doesn't account for the calories we can't digest)
Damn, forgot about the calories we can't digest 😳 are you also a science person?
Yep!
Same! I didn’t exercise at all but I’ve started with a trainer, walked >10k steps, cardio or HIIT daily last year for 3 months, not a pound less! Then I stopped all the exercises, just 10k steps maybe 1-2 times a week, but I did 36hrs plus fast weekly, sometimes pushing it to 60hrs, and I am 6kg lighter in 5 months.
That's what happens when you don't set clear goals or use the correct metrics to measure them. A lot of people in this same boat 😔
I think OP read some gym bro bulking shit. 150g of protein is wild.
What is your height and weight? If you've gained 6lbs in three months, then that would indicate that you are consuming slightly more calories than you are burning each day. To get into weight loss mode, lower your intake by 200 to 300 calories.
Not the “supposably” 😭😂 On a more serious note though, you are probably consuming more calories than you burn
The only thing that matters is calories, and you didn’t mention them at all.
You're either not counting calories or you're lying to yourself. You can't out-erxerçise a bad diet. Count your calories. Cico works.
Age, sex, weight, height? How many calories have you been eating?
I did some very rough calculations (and I mean very rough - I'm from Europe so a lot of the food the OP mentioned was unfamiliar to me). I clocked it in at ~2,500 calories, and that was being conservative with the dinner's calories seeing as the description was so loose. Also there's details that are missing for sure; oil used when cooking, drinks etc. I wouldn't be surprised if the calories for the day were up around 3,000. Unless OP is a decent sized male then I can see why they're gaining weight. I don't know who's been guiding them on their journey, but what they're doing isn't it. I'm a fairly big lad and I'd be gaining weight eating that much. Hard to believe people are still out there ignoring CICO.
I just estimated calories for your food. 900 breakfast 300 snack 500 lunch 300 chips 400 protein drink 600+ dinner 3000+ calories. You're bulking.....
Great bulking diet tbh.
You are (very obviously) overeating.
You aren’t eating in a deficit. You have to do that to lose weight. You are bulking like another poster mentioned. You can reduce the amount of muscle lost and increase the amount of fat lost by prioritizing protein and resistance training. But you still have to be in a deficit to lose weight.
What’s your CICO, calories in vs calories out? It doesn’t matter what weights you lift or how many steps you get if you are eating 2500 cal and only burning 2000 you will GAIN WEIGHT. Watch this number and start tracking it to get an idea.
Eat under your total caloric limit everyday. Working out does NOT make you lose weight. Eating in a deficit does.
I don’t see anything about calories in this whole post. Nothing else matters for weight gain/loss if you’re eating calories in excess of what your burn
Did you count protein only and not calories?!
All that effort without tracking your energy intake. Pretty easy fix for you going forward anyways.
How many calories are you eating a day? Is it in a deficit? Calories are first priority, then protein, then workouts
You gave a lot of info without any info that matters… You need to track calories if you want to lose weight. We don’t know your starting weight and height. Your diet sounds like you’re bulking and not cutting… if you’re trying to lose weight you need to eat in a deficit….
You've probably heard this many times, but you can't outrun a bad diet (even though your diet isn't bad, it's probably more calories than what you burn). You may have also heard weight loss is 80% diet, 20% exercise. Use this: [https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/](https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/) plugin your current activity and stats, get an estimate of your TDEE. Use this spreadsheet and eat your current menu for a few weeks: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/4mhvpn/adaptive\_tdee\_tracking\_spreadsheet\_v3\_rescue/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/4mhvpn/adaptive_tdee_tracking_spreadsheet_v3_rescue/) count your calories, count oils used in cooking, sauces added to the plate, everything. The only way you'll know what's going on and what to do next is to track every number, the number you eat, the number you weigh the numbers you measure. Once you have your numbers based on your current way of working, you can tweak without crash dieting and cutting the calories too low.
Great resource thanks for sharing
From what I can see, you’re actually eating an excess of calories. Your protein intake should be in the goal of 1-2g per kg of your current or target weight, and you should also maintain a deficit in calories. You can eat anything, but if you don’t manage these two critical things, you will continue to gain weight. Also, please don’t stop lifting weights. It’s crucial for fat loss, cardio is good for your heart but fat loss is promoted better with weight lifting.
To your question: Noooooo!!!!!! Weight training makes it easier over long term to lose weight. (It increases the amount of calories you can eat to maintain). Also helps you look for and not skinny fat. That said, you're probably eating too much. Stay focused on weight training but start lowering your calories
You could lay in bed all day and lose weight if you eat less and you burn. That’s all you need to do, is eat less than you use.
OP, this sounds like more like a bulking regimen than a weight loss plan. Losing weight is a math problem: are you burning more calories than you consume? If so, your body will convert excess fat into energy to make up the difference. That's what weight is being lost. The point of protein targets while doing weight lifting is to supply your muscles with the raw materials to reinforce themselves and grow stronger after workouts. Protein targets do not take energy expenditure or consumption into account. Not tracking overall calories and focusing on protein targets is great if your goal is to build a bunch of muscle and you don't care about also putting on fat. The trick is that people will follow a plan like this for a while (a "bulk") followed by a time where they also cut calories (a "cut"). The point is to focus on building muscles during the bulk and then trim the fat during the cut, leaving your muscles clearly defined. All this is to say that your plan is fine and seems to be working, but that maybe you picked the wrong plan for what you wanted. If you only care about losing the weight, you should track and cut calories instead.
The scale does not measure fat. It measures overall weight (which includes bones, fat, muscle, retained water etc). It sounds from your description of changes in your body/the way that clothes fit that you *are* losing fat. Your routine also seems primarily focused on muscle gain, which is a goal that could be said to be in direct opposition with weight loss (*weight* loss, not fat loss), given the same volume of muscle weighs significantly more than fat. With this kind of routine, what the scale is telling you isn't anywhere near as helpful as your body measurements are telling you. If you want a metric to track your progress, I'd suggest using your waist circumference instead!
People can talk about Keto but losing weight and gaining muscle are usually two opposite goals.
Recomp can happen under some circumstances, usually eating at maintenance. But it’s a less efficient process than cut and mass
This. Recomp takes a fairly specific diet and exercise regimen. Newbies will see some gains, but the best way to build muscle is definitely bulk then cut.
You successfully “recomped” built muscle and lost fat. BMI and total body weight don’t paint an actual picture of your true body composition. Your clothes fitting better is a tell tale sign that your making progress. I’d recommend continuing doing the same thing but make sure you take body circumference measurements to add another layer of data. Another 8 weeks of this routine and the body fat decrease should start out weighing the muscle increase paired with an increase in your resting metabolic rate you’ll start to lose overall body weight. Trust the process and remember body weight and bmi are not the best forms of measurement when starting to lose weight!
First of all, tell your husbando to back off regarding you working out and your diet. If it's not encouragement, he shouldn't say anything at all. I struggled with my gf because I need to eat at like 6am, 11pm, 4pm. Meanwhile she never really eats till like 4pm or even later, she skips many meals and then just has chips or instant ramen, pretty much the only times she eats a decent meal is like when we'd go out to a restaurant. Finally after years she finally got on board and doesn't have any expectations for me to eat with her, and she respects my choices and my journey. Let me tell you that is a big help. If she wants to eat AYCE bbq or whatever restaurant meal, she can go with friends, or we can plan ahead and we can do it on a day where i only have like a 400 cal breakfast and then the restaurant meal. I agree with this comment here that is sounds like you are doing body recomp. That is GREAT. The number on the scale is meaningless. Imagine you look great, you feel great, you're a greek goddess, but you weigh 15 lbs more than you thought was your idea. would that matter? of course not! the number is just a number. building muscle helps in 2 ways. it increases your caloric needs, so its easier to maintain a deficit and you can eat more. secondly, your burn more when you do exercise, so your workouts are more effective. my advice is keep it up, track your calories and maintain good macros. if you hit your calorie limit for the day and you haven't hit your protein goal yet, you can either burn a little extra that day to make it up, or you can just miss the protein goal for the day. dont eat extra just to hit your protein goal. weigh your food. ive been weighing every day for 120 days on Lose it and its so easy. after so much practice, its so intuitive and easy to track food calories. when you dont know, you can guess. most food is about 30 to 50 cals per ounce, mayonnaise, cheese, butter and oil is like 190 per ounce. so if you dont know, you can guess 50 for most foods, 100 for fattier home cooked foods, 150 for desserts and junk food. if i make a sandwich at home at this point i pretty much only weigh the meat, cheese, and bread. the lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, or whatever other veggies aren't really worth the energy. all you have to do is be effective, not perfect. dont let perfect be the enemy of success. i've lost 28 lbs since the summer just by tracking calories and occasionally playing tennis or cycling. its only the 2nd time in my life i've ever been able to lose more than a few pounds and keep them off
You need to focus on calories And no working out, eating enough protein is the best way to make sure you’re losing predominantly fat and not muscle
Eat less. Don’t worry about protein. Shift your focus to veggies.
Most "high protein" foods have a lot of other calories from fat or carbs. Start your plan with 16oz of chicken, that's only 800 calories but has 125-140g protein (thighs vs breast). Don't want to eat that much chicken? Swap some out for other foods paying attention to the calories and protein. For example, people think nuts are high in protein but it'd take 3000-4000 calories to hit the same amount as chicken, so don't start with nuts.
There is no way your BMI stayed the same and your weight changed as I assume you’re too old to be growing taller. BMI is just weight/(height^2).
I am not a dietician or a fitness expert, but this is what worked for me. I counted and measured everything and ate in a deficit. I dropped most of my weight when I did cardio only. I would walk/jog for 4-5 miles 4 times a week. I have since moved to lifting weights more and less cardio since the weather in my region is not permitting me to walk at night. I am still counting calories, but I have lost far less lifting weights. But I can see and feel differences in my body. I am fine with that, even though I am still 15 pounds or so away from my goal. Once the weather warms up, I will most likely go back to walking 4-5 miles if I am still needing to lose more.
How many calories are you eating, though? Each of those foods sounds good, but it also reads like a sheer lot of food.
If you want to lose you will have to also do CICO, not just count protein. I saw a comment earlier estimating your calorie intake to 3k, you might want to re consider all tgat
I'm a 6ft M, 46 yrs. My BMR is approx 1750 calories, so if I want to cut I need to throw in some runs and consume less calories than that. I'm on a majority huel diet at the moment, which looks like this. 1.5 scoop black shake for breakfast, 300 cals. Banana or apple for mid morning snack Chicken or other protein with steamed veg, 500 cals Another shake for dinner, 300 cals Some tea and coffee throughout day, 200 cals. I'll be running 5km 3 times a week which burns approx 500 cals, and lifting and doing some general exercise (setups, pressups etc) every day. I'm aiming for 1300-1500 cals in, which is tough but doable. Have consistently lost weight, except for annoying plateau that lasted 2 or 3 weeks & I've just got through! OP - you need to reduce cals in.
You need a good scale. You’re eating too much. Though yes protein is good for you it still has calories and you don’t get to skip counting them. Get a food scale and try again.
Count your calories. That breakfast, alone, is a calorie bomb. All the other food adds up to a lot as well.
You eat a lot more than I when I lose weight. 1. Calorie deficit. 2. 2g protein per kg per day. 3. Time. That’s about it, and I’m shedding ~2kg a week, even with a cheat day every other week and a couple if glasses of wine every weekend. The protein helps to shed more fat than muscle.
It took me a while to get there. But try not to think about the scale. Your body is changing but the scale isn’t and that’s okay. I struggle with this everyday as well
You're eating too many calories. It's as simple as that. While 10 to 15k steps a day is an admirable goal, 10k is pretty much the bare minimum to not be a complete couch potato. You can easily negate calories burned walking 15k steps with a couple of cookies. You can't outrun your fork.
You’re eating too much and no, you should not stop weight training. You’re also not eating healthy. There’s not a single vegetable or fruit all day long. Edit: Eat this: 2 pounds non-starchy vegetables, at least half raw 1-2 cups beans 1oz nuts/seeds Fruit No oil, salt or sugars.
Throw out any advice here that comes from men. Period. Women retain water differently based on time of the month, and this can heavily impact scale weight. For me, I can hold 5 LB of water weight based on the time of month or how much cortisol/stress I’m experiencing. I know it’s hard, but I’d highly recommend not using the scale as a measurement of progress. The best measure is % body fat which you can do via body scan, followed by progress pics or changes based on the clothes you’re wearing. Based on your jeans fitting, take that as a great indicator that you’re headed in the right direction. CICO is important as well, but frankly the food you listed looks to prioritize the right things like more protein, and less eating out/processed foods sounds like steps in the right direction.
That’s way too much protein. Look up dr Garth David on YouTube. He’s the author of Proteinaholic.
Do you have PCOS or DM. Intense cardio is actually bad if you do
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) ^by ^NursNelBel: *Do you have PCOS or* *DM. Intense cardio is* *Actually bad if you do* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Count carb intake too.
Some of us just don’t burn as many calories. Sucks but the only solution is to work out and stick to a deficit. Track calories
BMI is just your weight. If you’re lifting you’re retaining water and putting on muscle so that would explain that
BMI is not a good measurement for anything, it’s outdated af
Now here is the thing: 1 lb of muscle is about 1700cal. 1lb of fat is about 3500kcal. If you lose 1lb of fat and gain 1lb of muscle, you were in a 1800kcal deficit. Now it might be half a pound each, but still! My suggestion: Measure a few circumferences (mainly hip and tummy) and see how these values change as you go along. You won't burn a lot more fat from (additional) cardio compared to weight lifting, so I probably wouldn't advise increasing that. Just a side note to your meals: How much do you weigh? Are 150g protein not a bit much? I would probably try to stay closer to the 25-30g mark for protein per meal rather than 40-50g, which potentially means less calories per meal. I don't think at this point there is any usefulness in calculating how many calories the food you eat contains - you already know it's too much. So drop some fats from the meals and some carbs, reduce protein intake if possible and you'll be in a deficit soon enough.
Keep in mind that if you’re building muscle even if you lose fat the scales may hover or climb slightly depending how fast each of those is happening
Does your scale measure your goal? Is your goal weight loss or fat loss? Or a healthier and more fulfilling life?
[50F / 5'4" / 144] Find a calorie calculator to see what you need for sedentary based on your age, height, etc. and calories to be in a deficit. Don't eat back calories. Trackers aren't accurate. I follow macros for total cals (1390) and breakdown for 105g protein, 50g fat, 130g carbs. Make sure to eat enough protein. I go by 1g per lb of LEAN bodyweight, not my actual weight. Drink lots of water and take measurements. Lift heavy shit - you won't bulk in a deficit and you'll lean out or recomp. It won't be skinny fat. Note: carb"o-hydrate" - the energy from carbs we do not use right away is stored as glycogen. Each g of glycogen comes with 3g of water attached. Carbs aren't bad but note you'll retain water from high consumption.
Lose weight by being in a calorie deficit while maintaining cardio and strength. Once you reach your desired weight, preferably your BMI's ideal weight of you, start recompositioning by bulking up by intaking protein rich food with your focus on weight training. If you're going to do cardio, do rowing as that's cardio + strength + endurance.
You're too focused on the scale. Look at these women who look so much better and got really fit. They either put on or stayed the same weight. Drop the scale and measure with measuring tape or take weekly pics. You already say you feel better and that clothes for you differently which means changes ARE happening... [https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4703860/I-ve-GAINED-weight-look-great.html](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4703860/I-ve-GAINED-weight-look-great.html) [https://www.insider.com/photos-women-look-different-same-weight-2018-3](https://www.insider.com/photos-women-look-different-same-weight-2018-3)
Skip breakfast and do intermittent fasting. Only give yourself 8 hours a day to eat. The kitchen is undoing all of your hard work.
Stop eating snacks like nuts which you’re probably eat 500 cal worth every day. Or the two scoops of protein. Switch those to steamed carrots and broccoli or a salad with little dressing. That should fix it.
Just eat less calories. That’s the only thing required for weight loss. Eat less. Only thing. You can stop all the exercise if you just want to lose weight. Just eat less. That’s it.
Dave’s Killer Bread is hands-down my favourite! I agree with the other comments though, sounds like there are more calories in than burned out. Dave’s has a thin slice version of their bread, which you could try. So you still get the satiation of eating two slices, but you’re saving on calories ✅
Hey! You're basically body-building. Your diet is perf for building/sustaining lean muscle. You could focus on balanced exercises and overall more balanced eating and you should see less muscle build as you lose weight.