New Fitbit Blaze user looking for friends in my weight loss journey

[LouriABS]

Hello everyone! I am a new Fitbit Blaze and Fitbit App user. I am loving my Fitbit Blaze tracker. My first week I lost 6 lbs. but I didn't have my Blaze yet. This is my second week and I have used my Blaze for 4 days now. It is proving to be very helpful in my weightloss battle. I am looking for friends for my weightloss journey!

[SunsetRunner]

Splendiferous Louri

Have fun reaching your goals.

Wishing a beautiful weekend

[LouriABS]

Mystique,

Thank you for your well wishes and your message! I so do apprciate it!

You have a beautiful weekend as well!

Louri

[Dominique]

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@LouriABS wrote:

I am looking for friends for my weightloss journey!

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Welcome to the community! Here is a post that may help you find friends.

[LouriABS]

Dominique,

Thank you for the link! I really appreciate it!

Louri

[LennyMat]

Hey! I've been using my Blaze to help me stay focused on my own weight loss journey. I'm down 46 lbs after this morning. I lobe how it helps me log my activities. I've linked it with My Fitness Pal and it's perfect!

[LouriABS]

LennyMat,

Thank you for reaching out and sharing you story! Congratulations on your weight loss! Do you have mor you want to loose? The Blaze and MyFitnessPal are awesome tools. I wish I knew about them sooner! Keep me posted on your journey!

Good luck,

Louri

[LouriABS]

Mysitque,

Loved the cat photo, so cute! I am a big cat person, are you?

Thank you,

Louri

[LennyMat]

I have four more lbs to go to achieve my original goal of 185. I suspect I will lose another five after that, give or take. What was your motivation for getting the Fitbit?

[LouriABS]

LennyMat,

Wow, you only have 4 lbs to go, that is great, good for you! So you have 4 to go to meet your goal, but want to loose another 5 or so on top of that?

The reason I got my Fitbit Blaze was because the lady I am working with suggested I get the Fitbit to monitor my heart rate for the cardio plan she made up for me. I haven't started it yet, I have been doing very brisk walks with hills in the evening, but will envetually do her cardio plan on the elyptical. I have to increase and decrease my intensity by my heart rate. This is why she advised me to get the Fitbit. It is helping me with my walks though as well. I thought I was doing 30 min. before I got the Fitbit, but it wasn't quite 30 minutes, so I was able to adust things to get the full 30+ min. in. Then I altered my route to do more hills to burn more calories in the 30 minutes. So it has been very helpful just in the 4+ days I have used it so far. 

Have a great evening,

Louri

[LennyMat]

Hi, Louri.

Yeah, I'd like to lose another five after goal. That'll get me down to 180
and about 12% body fat. I still feel some rolls around the mid section and
on my butt that I'd like to get rid of. It's very slow now, though. I'm
losing a pound every two weeks. I just stay focused and it goes. I have to
work harder and mix things up a bit because my body gets used to the
exercises.

I like my blaze. It's sync'd with the My Fitness Pal app on my phone and it
gives me a sense of how hard I worked that day. One thing I do that helps
me lose weight is I don't eat the calories spent in exercise. I started my
weight loss at 1500 calories a day, then moved up to 1800 a day about a
month ago and recently started on 2000 a day. My calculated BMR is 1800. I
allowed myself to go to 2000 and I still seem to be losing but I have to
increase the intensity of my workouts.

On average, I have a calorie deficit of about 1000 to 1500 a day and the
weight has been coming off.

If there's any advice I can give you, it's start your daily intake at about
1500 and don't eat the calories burned. The weight will come off.

Len

[Dominique]

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@LennyMat wrote:
That'll get me down to 180 and about 12% body fat. I still feel some rolls around the mid section and on my butt that I'd like to get rid of.

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12% is pretty lean. Here are a couple of visual representations (taken from here and here😞 

Few busy middle-age people would be able to achieve that kind of level after their first round of weight loss (from overweight / out-of-shape level). If you are, then kudos to you!

[LennyMat]

Hey!

I cannot say with hand over heart that this is my first round of weight loss. In reality, I'm trying to come up with a long term solution to the cycle of weight gain/loss I've been on most of my life.

It's interesting to see the photo representations. 12% is about where I'd like to be. I'd say I'm somewhere between 15 and 20%.

LennyMat

[Dominique]

OK, let’s say you’re currently 189 lbs and 17.5% BF (mid-point of your own estimate of 15-20%). Your lean mass would be 155.9 and fat mass 33.1. Let’s say you would be 12% BF at 180. Your lean mass would then be 158.4 and your fat mass 21.6. In other words, you would see a fat loss of 11.5 and – at the same time – a gain in lean mass of 2.5. This is highly unlikely to happen (especially while eating at a 1000-1500 calorie deficit), unless you have truly amazing genetics.

A more typical way of losing 9 pounds would be 75% fat mass and 25% lean mass (and this would be considered good). In that case, your lean mass would be 155.9 - (9 x 0.25) = 153.65 and your fat mass 33.1 - (9 x 0.75) = 26.35. BF % would be 26.35 / 180 = 14.6%.

In other words, you would likely need to go quite a bit lower than 180 in order to reach 12% BF.

The other thing is that as you get closer to your goal and leaner, you should probably reduce your deficit, because the more aggressive your deficit is, the more lean mass loss you will see. If you don’t want to end up "skinny fat", you need to lose weight at a slower pace.

Cycles of weight gain/loss are not bad per se, as long as you’re going through them on purpose: losing weight to lower body fat and get leaner, gaining weight to increase muscle mass and get stronger. It’s difficult (and sub-optimal) to try to do both at the same time.

[LennyMat]

Losing weight to lower body fat and get leaner,
gaining weight to increase muscle mass and get stronger. It’s difficult
(and sub-optimal) to try to do both at the same time.

​That is challenging and I learned long ago almost impossible. Currently,
my daily intake is 2000 calories, sometimes more but never less. I started
at 1500, moved up to 1800 to mix things up after a lengthy plateau and now
at 2000.​ My focus for now is reducing my fat mass while maintaining the
muscle mass I already have. I have no expectation of making gains there.
The question is, when is the right time to make the transition to gaining
muscle mass and how to do it effectively without gaining additional fat
simultaneously. One must increase their calorie intake fairly substantially
(my opinion though evidence suggests this is correct) to achieve these
gains. I believe the trick is to be fairly disciplined in selecting foods
carefully to achieve those gains without without the unwanted fat gain.

I've calculated that my BMR is 1800-1900. I have a calorie deficit of
approx 3500 weekly (Fitbit/MyFitnessPal) though I question that
occasionally considering my weight doesn't come down as quickly as the apps
suggest it should. I don't eat the calories earned through exercise. I
simply stay static at 2000 calories to facilitate the weight loss and it's
worked for me with some tweaking. This will have to change to increase
muscle mass.

Other things to take into consideration is I have started running and am
preparing for a half marathon next year allowing the time between now and
then to train and to prepare my body for the activity.

[LouriABS]

LennyMat,

Hello! 

Good luck with your final 4 to meet goal and then your additional 5 you want to loose plus reaching your 12% body fat goal. Yes, I bet it comes off slower once you get closer to your goal. Congratulations on all your hard work and keeping focus. You can do it the hard part is over, you got this! 

I am finding the Fitbit and MyFitnessPal so helpful too. They really help you to stay focused.

Yes, I haven't been eating the calories I use up in my workouts either. I am working with a nutrition and fitness coach. She set my calorie goal for me and gave me percentages to meet for my carb, fat and protein percentages. She will adjust these as I loose weight and start my elyptical and strength training. I hope this way I don't hit a palteau and keep my metabolism going by making adjustments along the way.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share and give me advice. I really do appreciate it.

Looking forward to getting to know you better and sharing our journeys!

Take care,

Louri

[Dominique]

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@LennyMat wrote:

The question is, when is the right time to make the transition to gaining
muscle mass and how to do it effectively without gaining additional fat
simultaneously. One must increase their calorie intake fairly substantially
(my opinion though evidence suggests this is correct) to achieve these
gains.

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If you’re not sure which to do first – get leaner or get more muscular – the consensus seems to be your priority should be to get leaner. 

My understanding is you don’t need a crazy-high surplus for optimal muscle gain. A moderate surplus (e.g. 400 calories per day) is sufficient to put you in anabolic mode. The higher the surplus is, the more likely it is a bigger share of your weight gains will come as fat (just like the higher your deficit is, the more likely it is a bigger share of your weight loss will come from lean tissue). 

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I believe the trick is to be fairly disciplined in selecting foods carefully to achieve those gains without without the unwanted fat gain.

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I’m not sure what you mean by "careful food selection". Except for protein (studies show a diet higher in protein has a positive effect on body composition, both when eating at a surplus and at a deficit), how much or little fat you’re gaining is driven primarily by total calories. I’m not aware that some foods would be more or less likely to be stored as fat. 

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I have a calorie deficit of approx 3500 weekly.

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I’m a bit confused, because in an earlier post of yours in this thread, you said: "On average, I have a calorie deficit of about 1000 to 1500 a day". 3500 weekly sounds reasonable to me, 1000-1500 daily very high. 

[LennyMat]

Dom

What I mean by calorie deficit is based on my exercise activities. I do my
best to have a deficit of earned calories, not of eaten. My daily calorie
intake is set for 2000.

Len