Cutting too much?

[chalmers]

I started a Biggest Loser with some friends and family on January 1st. Been doing great.
Started at 336 and after the first week was 328. This week I am 329 and it's frustrating. I don't get too up or down about anything, but I want to see if perhaps I'm doing something wrong.

My workout routine is 'Another favorite of mine that hits each bodypart 2x per week' from the Workout Program forum on bodybuilding.com, so I lift 4x per week, compound lifts are 4x6 heavy. I also do cardio after non squat days and one of my off days, so cardio 4 times a week. I mix up the cardio, sometimes I run 1.5 miles and row like 2000m, or I do the stairmaster, or eliptical, whatever. I go about 20-30 minutes each session.

My diet has been good. I track everything I eat with MyNetDiary on my Droid phone. I have a food scale and weigh out anything I'm not sure of.

I calculated my BMR to be about 2850, and with my lifestyle (office setting + my workouts), I multiplied it by 1.375 to get around 3900 calories a day as my maintenance. This seems high, and I've been cutting at more like 2000-2200 BUT making sure I"m getting about 230-250g of protein a day. Suffice to say with all the hard work I put in this week it was a bit disheartening to see I hadn't lost any weight. I just assumed that at this weight, I would barely have to try to drop the pounds at these calories and activity level. There's absolutely no way that I burned the same amount as I consumed. I haven't had a cheat meal/day at all since this started.

My buddy who is participating and not working out at all has gone from 306 to 295 already with diet alone.

I am thinking that I"m eating too little, but is 2200ish really THAT significant that I don't lose anything at all? Just seems a bit crazy to me.

My plan is to up my calories to 3000/day this week and see if that helps. I hope it does, because if it doesn't, I'll be lost as to what to do.

Thanks for any advice you're able to offer.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

You're putting too much emphasis on the scale's number. Evaluate how you feel. Eight pounds in the first week was mainly due to water loss, especially if you cut your carb and sodium intake down quite a bit. Now it's going to be a difficult, but doable battle that will take quite some time. You didn't put the weight on in a few months so why should you be able to lose it that quickly? It's not how your body works.

If you've watched the Biggest Loser, your expectations are already too high. It's unreasonable to lose 5+ pounds every week. Individuals who have to work and live their life very rarely can accomplish something like that. Also, shows like that put WAY too much stress on weight alone. Many times, those individuals who only lose 2-3lbs or none at all have still improved their fitness significantly and maybe even gained muscle mass.

If your BMR is 2800, you should probably be eating more than 2000cal. Although, as a bigger individual, you can get away with a bigger deficit, you shouldn't dip THAT far under your BMR. Try 2500-2700cal and see how that works for you. Your body may be reacting adversely to the calorie drop almost 30% lower than your BMR.

If you're going to continue to weigh yourself, do it every day. Do it in the morning before eating or drinking anything and after going to the restroom. Take a 3-day rolling average (or 5-day or 7-day) of your weight, which will be more indicative of downward trends rather than one value. You can do this as follows:

Day 1: 328.5
Day 2: 327
Day 3: 328
Day 4: 325

Firstly running average (days 1-3): (328.5+327+328)/3=327.8
Second running average (days 2-4): (327+328+325)/3=326.7

Since your body weight on any given day doesn't tell you everything about where you are, a running average helps quite a bit. It's harder to elicit changes, but the changes noticed are much more valid and indicative of weight loss.

 

[chalmers]

Thanks alot SC. Yeah I do feel alot better. My lifts are going up, I'm getting stronger, and my pants fit better. I'm trying not to be a slave to the scale, and I know that how you look in the mirror and feel is more important. I've been eating 'Smart Ones" frozen meals for lunch this past week which I'm sure are full of sodium, and then a nice prepared meal for dinner, as I find it very difficult to cook for every meal of the day. I need to cut those out and raise the calories and I bet that will help.

Thanks again

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Thanks alot SC. Yeah I do feel alot better. My lifts are going up, I'm getting stronger, and my pants fit better. I'm trying not to be a slave to the scale, and I know that how you look in the mirror and feel is more important. I've been eating 'Smart Ones" frozen meals for lunch this past week which I'm sure are full of sodium, and then a nice prepared meal for dinner, as I find it very difficult to cook for every meal of the day. I need to cut those out and raise the calories and I bet that will help.

Thanks again

Exactly. There's the spirit. Feeling better is almost as good as losing weight. On top of that, you're already increasing your fitness and decreasing your health risks, just by exercising (even without weight loss). The best thing you can do, if you hate cooking frequently, is cook a large batch of a certain meal on the weekend and just eat it throughout the week. For example, I really like to make a crock-pot chili that I can eat for lunch for lunch throughout the week. If you like a little more variety, that's ok too, but at least you know you'll have a healthy lunch for a few days. You're on your way to getting healthier and thinner. Don't let the rate at which that happens get you down. Good luck. PM me if you need anything.