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Stuck losing weight (lemmy.ca)

submitted 4 months ago by rarsamx@lemmy.ca to c/bodyweightfitness@lemmy.ml

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170 cm, 70 Kg 57, years old.

The ideal weight for my parameters is 54Kg - 72 Kg

I've like to get to the lower end of my ideal weight but if not at least 62 Kg. I want lean muscle, not bulky muscles.

I've cut bread and processed sugars. I'm sure that I'm in a caloric deficit. Eating more raw fruits and fibrous food like beans, more fish and less meat and fats. I sleep well. I drink a lot of water. No pop or coffee. Very little milk.

For snacks about 1/2 cup mixed nuts and one or two stalks of celery with a spoon of light ranch (25 calories per spoon)

I'm following my regular daily exercise routine, I go to the rock climbing gym Three times per week for two hours. I bike everywhere. After exercise in the morning I replace breakfast with a protein supplement.

I started mid July at +74 Kg which is the same weight I've had for years.

The first four weeks I lost 4 Kg. The only change, since then, the only change has been to increase exercise.

For the past week the weight has fluctuated between 69.2 to 69.8.

Is it normal for weight to plateau? Is it the increase of muscle mass which may be balancing other weight loss? Should I be more patient?

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[–] sloppy_diffuser@sh.itjust.works 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

If you're doing a recomposition (burn fat and build muscle) then yeah, you are losing fat but gaining muscle so the scale can be misleading. Body fat % or pant size become better indicators. You may see what is referred to as a "whoosh" where every few weeks you seem to drop a few Kg over night (water weight).

When I am doing a recomp I tend to do weigh-ins every 2-4 weeks. When cutting I'll do it weekly.

I'm sure that I'm in a caloric deficit. Eating more raw fruits and fibrous food like beans, more fish and less meat and fats.

Have you done any tracking? It is a pain to do all the time but worth maybe doing it for a week just to be sure. I struggle with knowing when I am full and can easily put myself over on something high calorie like nuts.

If no progress for a few months, lab testing may be worth it. Thyroid issues can impact weight gain and loss.

Finally there are medications like GLP-1 (expensive in some areas) that mess with insulin production and the hunger signals in your brain that have been known to be effective.

[–] rarsamx@lemmy.ca 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I haven't done tracking on a day today, but every now and then I've checked the calories in the food I eat and the calories burnt in the exercise I do. For example, I exercises in the morning for 20 mins (200 cal) had protein shake (250 cal) went for lunch at a friend's house: she served Chinese pork noodles (400 Cal) and apple crumb (400 cal). We swam for an hour. I biked 11 km each way (600 cal). I went to the rock climbing gym for two hours (400-600 cal). I ate 1/2 cup of nuts (350 Cal) and a celery stalk (6 cal) 1 hour before bed.

So, if we consider my BMR of 1,483 cal/day plus the exercise (say 1,000 cal) I needed to eat 2,483 cal to break even.

But I ate no more than 1,500 cal. Even if I underestimated, I didn't eat more than 1,500 cal.

That means a 1,000 cals calory deficit.

That's an example of a day where I ate more than usual because of the visit but exercised as usual.

Am I counting correctly?

[–] sloppy_diffuser@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 months ago

When cutting I don't factor in burned calories as extra calories I can eat.

When doing heavy lifting trying to build muscle and bulk up I'll add some extra calories. I don't do this often anymore.

My normal is more of a leangains style where on high activity days I'll eat at 10% deficit up to maintenance, and on low activity days I'll eat a 20% deficit.

[–] jet@hackertalks.com 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Please, please, please - don't focus on caloric deficits. You are trying to optimize body composition for long term, not just a one day competition. You need a solution that you can sustain long term.

The key to reducing stored body fat is to reduce your overall insulin burden. [Paper] The Carbohydrate-Insulin Model of Obesity - Beyond “Calories In, Calories Out” - 2018

Fat burning, requires the absence of insulin in the blood. People using CICO for weight control are entering a low insulin state between meals, when they sleep, etc. Any time carbohydrates are consumed, blood glucose rises, raising insulin - when insulin is elevated the body will not mobilize fat from adipose tissue, i.e. it pauses fat burning. So someone eating the standard 3 meals and 3 snacks with carbs is pausing their fat burning 6 times per day (for 2-4 hours per eating session depending on their inherit insulin resistance) - Which is almost the entire day.

As a thought experiment map out each time you eat carbohydrates on a calendar, and block out 2 hours. (the nuts, the ranch, the protein supplement, fruits, beans), see how much time per day you have left over to mobilize fat.

It's really helpful to wear a CGM for two weeks, and track your blood glucose in real time, every time its not a flat line you know you can't burn stored fat.

I find the science and literature from the ketogenic metabolism very compelling: In this model you should eat as much fat and protein as your hungry for, don't restrict yourself at all - just don't mix it with carbohydrates (that increase insulin, that pause fat mobilization). It will break your plateau.

[–] mr_isometrics@beehaw.org 1 points 1 month ago

Did it work out? Looks like you did everything right to loose fat and maybe what happened is your mass stayed the same because you put on muscle.