Eating to little? Need advice

[Fitpanda84]

I need some advice based on the information provided. I will be as detailed as possible:

I'm a 31 year old male 5'9". Started eating healthy and exercising May 2015 with a starting weight of 277.3lbs. By around Nov. 2015 got down to 248.9 and then real life and holidays got in the way. March 2016 weighed in at 263.5 lbs. For the past 3 weeks I have been stuck between 250.8-252.8.

I work out 5 days a week for 90 min. at a time. 30 min cardio warmup, 30 min weightlifting and 30 min cardio cooldown. I burn anywhere from 1000-1300 per gym session. Weekday workout days I burn between 4000-4500 calories a day and weekend workout days I can easily hit 5000+. Off days I burn 3000-3250.I log all my food intake and average 1700-2000 a day. My Fitbit is set to 1000 calorie deficit.

I eat very clean with all my calories coming from fruits, vegetables and proteins. I dont drink alcohol, juices or soda. With my busy work schedule I usually work out late (7PM-8:30PM) and on those days I will make a fruit and veggie smoothie with protein powder for dinner to get quick absorbtion of nutrients since it's to late to eat a heavy meal. I occasionally have an ice cream bar or get a deli wrap on my off days and that may bring may calorie intake up to 2250.

Am I not consuming enough calories? With as active as I am I would think the weight would be sliding off. Any additional advice? I am happy with my progress but at the same time I need to continue to push harder. My goal weight is 200lbs.

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[Dominique]

I entered your data (M/31/251/5’9) in this online calculator, which uses the same formula (Mifflin St Jeor) as Fitbit. It puts your BMR at 2084 and your TDEE at light activity at 2865 and at extreme activity at 3959. Now based on your description of your active days, I would put your activity level somewhere between "high" and "extreme". This would mean the 4000-4500 Fitbit tells you would be over-estimated (same with the 3000-3250  during off-days). Furthermore, since you have been "yo-yo dieting", your actual BMR may be lower than the calculated one for your current weight. All this to say there is a margin of error in the calories out estimated by a Fitness tracker (see this article). You will have to experiment and find your actual TDEE by trial & error, and set your deficit accordingly. Which Fitbit tracker do you have?  

[Fitpanda84]

Thank you for the info. I have a Charge HR

[Dominique]

HR-enabled trackers should be more accurate, but the same tracker may give opposite results for two different persons. See this topic where  the Zip overestimates calories for @punchxcore and underestimates them for @GershonSurge, and both are adamant they meticulously log all their intake.

[OCDOC]

@Fitpanda84

If you are consuming 2200 calories and the weight doesn't budge for 3+ weeks then your total energy expenditure is 2200 calories per day..period. You exercise a ton, so your quiescent resting metabolic rate has probably dropped to compensate for your intake restriction. Dropping calories further will probably make you feel sick.

Anyway, you don't mention meal timing or specific meal composition. Depending on what you want (ie are you determined to lose fat, even if you lose some muscle mass), you might need to shake things up in a big way.

PS Gaining muscle and losing fat simultaneously is very difficult without steroids...horrible stuff.

ETA   "I usually work out late (7PM-8:30PM) and on those days I will make a fruit and veggie smoothie with protein powder for dinner to get quick absorbtion of nutrients since it's to late to eat a heavy meal. I occasionally have an ice cream bar or get a deli wrap on my off days and that may bring may calorie intake up to 2250."

One problem right there. Big carb-protein late in the day..yikes. It's what Sumo wrestlers do to GAIN weight!!  Sleeping while still in 'absorption mode' after eating is a great way to shuttle calories to the fat cells....maybe start by stopping this habit asap...

You MIGHT try having your workout shake an hour before the gym then having nothing but water during/after the workout. The nutrients will be there (protein stays in the intestine for hours) so don't worry about that. Assuming you breakfast at 6am or so, this will give your guts a 12 hour window to first absorb and then start reserve-burning before you wake up. Maybe give it a try...

[A_Lurker]

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If you are consuming 2200 calories and the weight doesn't budge for 3+ weeks then your total energy expenditure is 2200 calories per day..period. You exercise a ton, so your quiescent resting metabolic rate has probably dropped to compensate for your intake restriction. Dropping calories further will probably make you feel sick.

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Could be, maybe not.  Everyone is different.  What works for one person doesn't necessarily work for others.  If I keep my deficit between 1000 and 1500 I lose weight.  Yet, some weeks with high burn and really low calories and I will drop nothing.  If I raise my calories a bit the week after I'll drop more than I should (like my body suddenly figures out I'm eating enough and lets it go).  I understand weight loss should be purely numbers, but a higher deficit for me doesn't always mean more loss.

Also, except for the day before a weigh in, when I take my calories in doesn't seem to affect my loss.  I can't usually face food before work, I do take a morning snack (mostly protein & fat), then I have a decent lunch that I usually pack.  However, I still take almost half my calories in the evening when I'm home.  Sometimes I'm organized to throw an afternoon snack in with my lunch.  The problem is that some days at work I'm busy and active, other days I don't leave my desk.  The active days are the ones where I really need a snack, but often forget to eat it.

I'm currently not doing a huge number of steps, other than swimming most nights I haven't added any extra exercise.  Mainly because of flooding and repairs going on at my place (workout room is in pieces), but also because I still need to drop a bit more weight so that my knees don't kill me.

All of this says I shouldn't be losing weight, but I am.  A friend years ago once told me that if you're doing the same thing for a month and your weight doesn't budge, you need to change something.  It could be diet, exercise, water intake, macros, etc.  I'm not sure I'd go down in calories, but you could try going up slightly.  Also, with lots of workouts, hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.  Maybe more of an issue with women than men, but water retention can also mess with the scale.

[OCDOC]

@A_Lurker  Agree with everything you suggest. However, the point is that basal energy expediture can vary wildly, even in the same person from day to day. The 'calculators' are an average guess at best, and even K Hall's 'improved' calculator from the NIH is still a ballpark.

If one counts every calorie for 28 days, and during that month there is no material loss/gain of fat/muscle, then saying average TEE is the total consumed divided by 28 days is far more accurate than any formula.

I suspect we are suggesting the same thing; ie weight loss has MUCH to do with BMR/TEE and is often neglected or miscalculated. Shaking things up if one is in a rut is a must.

[A_Lurker]

@OCDOC we are saying some of the same things.  I don't buy into the don't eat after a certain time of day and such though.  At least not for me.  Today for example I've had 179 active minutes (higher for me than normal).   Mostly heavy lifting gardening stuff - hauling mulch, pots, plants, etc. with a little swimming at one point.  So, after dinner just now I have the following:

3367 cals burned

1839 cals eaten (28% carbs, 37% fat, 35% protein)

Unfortunately, most of that work was done before I had a late lunch.  I may go back out and weed and/or swim shortly.  Depends... might just get up early and start fresh tomorrow.  I still have some chores inside to do and I'll likely end up around 4000 calories burned for the day.  I will almost certainly eat something later.  I just don't want to end the day 2000 calories down.  For me, that just doesn't work.  The catch is that I need to make it a reasonably healthy choice.  Tomorrow I will make a point to start off with more calories.

Without the rambling, I'd say to @Fitpanda84 to eat a little more on the active days, and make sure your logging is good.  I mentioned in another post that restaurant / fast food calories I don't trust much.  I don't eat a lot of prepared foods myself, although I still tend to buy salad dressing and some sauces I'll use to cook with.  You did say you eat very clean, so this likely isn't your issue.  My only caution is with higher calorie items, a scale isn't a bad addition to the dieter's toolbox.  A medium apple may be a large, a cup of something may be heavier than you think.

[OCDOC]

@A_Lurker Nice ratio imo 🙂

My main point was eating big before sleeping. As mentioned it works great for Sumos 😉

[A_Lurker]

@OCDOC I do try and keep the carbs under 30% and try and get the protein over 30%, at least that's the goal.  I don't always hit that, but that's the general goal.  Today was a good day, ended up at 29c, 37f, 34p.

I've read that about the sumo wrestlers, but I still think that it has more to do with the vast calories they consume.  Planning to leave some calories before bed for me ensures that I don't do the 3am raid the fridge because I'm hungry thing.