Training & Nutrition - What have I done wrong?

I started the post Xmas period in good spirit and targeted myself to lose 10Kg in weight by the end of March. My ideal weigth will be 82-85Kg so my target is realistic. I've set about my diet in good standing, aiming for about 1700-2000 calories a day and I'm sitting closer to 1700. I've also stepped up my aerobic training at the gym, and I do 3x spin classes a week plus some light weights just to keep the anerobic cards on the table, as it were.

This morning I weighed myself for the first time in a week and all I've lost is 0.8Kg. I was expecting more in the first week or two as weight loss is usually faster in the first few weeks. I honestly had higher expectations. I'm not demoralised by what's happened, and it was our anniversary last weekend but kept my food consumption under good regulation.

I'm just wondering if I've got off to bad start in any way? Has anyone some input on this as I'm looking for new angles to approach it from.

Thanks

Peter

Bokkie,

The way I see it is the more weight you need to lose the
quicker the weight will come off initially. Thats why all these diets claim lose 10 pounds in a week. Doesn't work
that way for most folks. Ok, .8Kg roughly 1.75 pounds,
not too bad if you asked me.
I'd want slow weight loss as I believe the quicker weight loss seems to come back just as quick.
Oh yeah, I know why the slow loss,
its all that pop n' saus (how do you spell that?), Poitkjes
and boboties. (again apologies for the bad spelling).
Now if you were eating mopani worms . . .

Marty

Bokkie,

The way I see it is the more weight you need to lose the
quicker the weight will come off initially. Thats why all these diets claim lose 10 pounds in a week. Doesn't work
that way for most folks. Ok, .8Kg roughly 1.75 pounds,
not too bad if you asked me.
I'd want slow weight loss as I believe the quicker weight loss seems to come back just as quick.
Oh yeah, I know why the slow loss,
its all that pop n' saus (how do you spell that?), Poitkjes
and boboties. (again apologies for the bad spelling).
Now if you were eating mopani worms . . .

Marty

Marty,

I've stayed away from all those lekker S'Effrican tasties. We do though have 10 packets of hoender boerewors on order!

I agree that slow steady weight loss is better than the fad diets that like you say, shed pounds a-plenty in the first few days.

you arent eating enough. i know it sounds crazy at first, but its true. at your weight (im assuming about 92kg based on your post) your body requires about 2000 calories a day to maintain your current bodyweight. every calorie you burn thru activity (bike commuting, working out, physically strenuos chores/job) adds to this calorie minumum. i personally am 6'3'' and about 100kg. if i sat around and didnt move all day, i would require about 2300cals just to stay at the same bodyweight ( http://health.discovery.com/tools/calculators/basal/basal.html). when i am working out regularly my minimum caloric intake needed to maintain bodyweight is between 3000-3500 calories per day. given that since you are a bit smaller than me, lets say you would fall in 2750-3250 range approximately. that would mean you are running a calorie deficit of more than 1000cals! under the old schools of dieting thought, this would have bneen viewed as a good thing. however, it is now widely accepted that the body is smarter than we are. when it sees that it is regularly getting alot less fuel than it needs to run, it enters a sort of 'survival starvation' mode. your body thinks that something has gone wrong and you cant get enough food to survive, so now it holds on to everything it gets in the fear that it may need to go without much food for awhile. this causes your food to be used very inefficiently and much of it stored as fat. i wish i could give you more numbers and links, but if you do a little research and reading i think youll find more than enough evidence to back me up. in general, having more than a 500 calorie deficit each day will put your body in a starvation mode. therefore, my suggestion to you first is to figure out your resting (or basal) metabolic rate, and to keep an eye on how many cals you burn in exercise. then eat a balanced diet such that you have about a 500cal/day deficit. this means too that you should eat more on the days you work out and a little less when you dont. this will provide fuel for your body when it needs it, and it will never get worried that it may run into a fuel shortage. you should also find that the weight drops faster and you have more energy this way, as well as youll find that you will lose more fat body mass than lean body mass. im gonna go look for some links to post, hope this helps/makes sense and im not just rambling(well, now i guess i am)

It sounds to me a little bit like you're not eating enough calories, too. I'm by no means an expert, but I do know that the body goes into a 'starvation mode' when the intake is too low, as it starts to worry that there won't be enough fuel.

One thing about high first-week losses: this is usually related to fluid loss, not true weight loss. It happens when you increase your intake of water (at least 2 litres per day), so the body now knows that there is plenty of water and releases excess stores. If you haven't been drinking a lot of water, increase your intake now.

In any case, I'd be more than happy with 0.8kg losses every week... :D

try going to http://forums.menshealth.com and searching 'starvation mode' under the weight loss forum. alot of these guys are wieght-lifter/bodybuilder types, but alot are just overweight regular dudes just trying to lose weight. looks for pposts written by jeff Volek (PhD, CSCS) and Michial Mejia (MS, CSCS). these guys know their stuff. you can find all kinds of study literature, and formulas (if thats your thing) to help you out.

you arent eating enough.

That's it in a nutshell!

If you're spinning 3x/week, your bod needs good calories to work hard. Your bod will not be happy, and not respond well if it's restricted all of a sudden.

Good luck!

I still think its the boerewors, send it to me.
But hoender? Kudu, or even beef, now thats lekker.
I'd still kill for a good supply of biltong (although I do
have some kudu stashed in the freezer!).

Marty

Thanks guys.

I've tried to cut back on the additional tid-bits but leave the door open enough to enjoy a treat. I'm trying to focus on the eat-to-live angle and I think my motivation is right. My objective ends March as I don't want to put my riding program at risk for the year by being totally stupid with weight loss. I'm happy with 0.8Kg per week if I can maintain that, but if I can't, then I'll enjoy and appreciate what I can lose.

What I eat is well-balanced and I've scheduled more regular snacks than one big meal a day. I also neglected the benefit of having a good crap prior to weighing as from experience, that can take off another 500g on a good day - a bit like a slightly overweight boxer who needs to shave off some grams to make the weight division!

Marty, the boerewors is waiting, slurp, slurp, and the local shop also sells lekker biltong as well. They also import game meat from SA to make wors and biltong so I know exactly where to go to get my protein. I shall think of you when I next tuck into a wors roll.:D

A 1lb per week is what you should be shooting for if you want to keep it off. 5lbs a month is a good mark to shoot for.

Also, are you drinking more water? That will greatly help you flush your system and keep yourself hydrated.

Also, weigh yourself first thing in the morning on the same exact scale. :)

The other thing I was thinking about was the spinning classes and weight lifting. You could also be putting on a little muscle at the same time you are losign weight. And since muscle is heavier than fat, just a little muscle gain will make it look like you aren't losing weight, when in fact you are losing fat.

If you really want to be sure, take your body fat measurement at the same time you are weighing yourself. Or, get a tape measure and measure certain parts of your body to see if there are changes (chest, stomach, hips, thighs, arms, neck, etc.).

Marty, the boerewors is waiting, slurp, slurp, and the local shop also sells lekker biltong as well. They also import game meat from SA to make wors and biltong so I know exactly where to go to get my protein. I shall think of you when I next tuck into a wors roll.:D

Now that is cold and cruel.
I'm thinking of a good insult to hurl your way, englesman?
yah, that will do. :D

Marty

A 1lb per week is what you should be shooting for if you want to keep it off. 5lbs a month is a good mark to shoot for.

Also, are you drinking more water? That will greatly help you flush your system and keep yourself hydrated.

Also, weigh yourself first thing in the morning on the same exact scale. :)

The other thing I was thinking about was the spinning classes and weight lifting. You could also be putting on a little muscle at the same time you are losign weight. And since muscle is heavier than fat, just a little muscle gain will make it look like you aren't losing weight, when in fact you are losing fat.

If you really want to be sure, take your body fat measurement at the same time you are weighing yourself. Or, get a tape measure and measure certain parts of your body to see if there are changes (chest, stomach, hips, thighs, arms, neck, etc.).

That's the way I'll approach it. I should drink more water but generally I just drink coffee and diet coke, hardly recipes for success. I do weigh at home every Monday morning and the scale is pretty accurate. As for the fat loss/muscle gain angle, I do enough weights now to keep myself stabilised as I'm not hunting the Arnie beast within! For my spin classes (now 4x a week) I tend to keep myself in the aerobic domain and I intentionally 'fade' when the instructor spends too much time aiming at the anaerobic domain. Like you mention, I need to look at inch loss rather gain. I'm prepared to keep things going as they are for a few more weeks and see what I've attained by end March. The only problem area I have is the waist and 10Kg off that will be superb! I have a number of long rides planned for this year including two 24hr team events and I want to get my weight sorted out. It's bad enough pushing 15Kg of bike around without having to worry about the excess weight on the saddle!

My goals are reasonable, thanks to all who've commented, and it was good to get a different perspective of it and some good suggestions to take forward.

Now that is cold and cruel.
I'm thinking of a good insult to hurl your way, englesman?
yah, that will do. :D

Marty

Eina! That hurt, you hotdog-eating-gas-guzzling-beefburger-farting-decent-weather-riding...yankee!

I was in the same boat as you were and was starting to get frustrated, but then I noticed that my clothes were getting looser and looser. Pretty soon I had to start punching new holes in my belt. But my actual weight loss was pretty minimal. I started measuring myself and I saw that the majority of my body was gettng smaller, while my thighs were either staying the same or getting marginally larger. So I figured I was getting some good muscle growth there that was overshadowing the fat loss when it came to weighing myself.

Personally, I think doing aerobic workouts are great, but every once in a while, you have to toss in some anarobic. Which it sounds like you are doing with the spin classes. Just don't be afraid of doing anaerobic... remember, the more muscle you have the more calories you can burn. And adding lean muscle mass won't necessarily make you into some bulking guy like Arnold. :)

hotdog-eating ...

I'm hurt, I'm truely hurt. . .

do you think I've insulted all the engles here? oh well.

Marty

I'm hurt, I'm truely hurt. . .

do you think I've insulted all the engles here? oh well.

Marty

Should'nt think so! There can't be too many lurking around...

I lost ~40 lbs and recorded my weight every morning at the same time and lost ~.17 lbs per day. You have got to eat to burn. Just be smarter about it and remember you will gain muscle. Your weight may stay the same, but you muscle is heavier than fat and your % body fat is being reduced. Be patient. I'm working on my last 10 lbs and it will be the toughest to lose.

I know exactly what you are going through. My goal is to first get to 200 and lose 20lb , I have been riding 25 miles a day MTB and road , I have tweaked my diet and I am still not losing pounds. My legs are getting very toned but but stomach and weight is almost the same. I am also thinking my body is in starvation mode. I plan to stop eating 3 hrs before I sleep to see if this turns the scale. BTW what do you guys eat/drink after a long ride.

Bokkie,

Ok, enough throwing stones across the pond,
how bout a nice Braaivleis?

Marty