Too much exercise is feeding my stall! Who Knew????

[BigUtahMan 207]

After 2 months of strict adherence to the plan along with a rigorous workout schedule 6 days a week. (Self -imposed) I learned from my trainer/NUT that I am working-out too hard and not eating enough! Who knew??

This news has brought mixed emotions... Not upset as my body composition has improved, and I have gotten much stronger and fit, but I have taken myself out of the weight loss cycle in the process. It is also unsettling that in my zest for success, I have frustrated the process instead of improved it.

At the DR office, I also had my BMR measured, (2400 Calories resting). Then add 1,000 more a day for my daily exercise regiment (tracked by heart monitor) and another 500-1000 for normal daily activity over the other waking hours of my day, and I am about a typical BMR of 3500- 4500 calories a day!

I averaged about 1500 - 1800 calories a day of food 120 Protein, >75 carbs, etc... My NUT said the ideal caloric intake is to be within 500 calories of your BMR to loose the most weight. So rather than eat 4000 calories a day, I need to burn less calories and eat nearly the same.

I trust their advice is good as it is coming from the Dr office, and I am excited to find out. My only recommendation is if you are doing everything perfectly for over a month and still stalling, you might want to check in with the DR or NUT to make sure you are still in the appropriate balance with the plan according to your specific body, BMR, etc...

My new exercise plan I only do 20 min cardio, and lift weights only 3 days a week (not 6). What is weird, instead of being happy I can do less, I am more fearful. But I decided to commit to the professional's advice and not my wisdom and then see what happens.

I am excited to see the scale move again for about 10-20 lbs in a row. Wish me luck!

[Newme17 3,444]

They're absolutely right. There's got to be the right balance for your body with exercise and diet. Exercising too much and eating so little is a recipe for killing your metabolism. Just as exercising very little or not at all and eating way too much is. There a few other recipes that'll do it as well. Do this with trust, your body will thank you. I've seen it all too many times here, people stalling...why? Most are not eating enough. You can only do such a small amount for such a short time. I've also mentioned that unless you are 4'2" and weigh 80 lbs, than a 1200 calorie diet to maintain is what is needed, but most of us are taller and heavier than that. So we need to figure it out. A good place to start is first with your doc/nut, but you can also check out your numbers here: http://eatmore2weighless.com/weight-loss-calculator/

[Redmaxx 740]

Holy Cow! I had never heard this before. Thank you for the heads up on this information.

[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

@BigUtahManI think this is the first post I have read with a nutritionist that was actually useful with accurate information.

Yeah with a BMR that high it is basically impossible for you to eat enough calories with a sleeve to support extensive exercise.

How did the Dr office test your RMR? So few seem to test when it should be something they are are required to do.

[James Marusek 5,244]

Over 40 years ago, I was gaining weight and decided to exercise and burn it off. So I started jogging. After a few weeks, I worked myself up to 10 miles per day. Instead of losing weight, I actually started gaining weight. This was because I was replacing my fat with muscle and muscle weighs more.

[Redmaxx 740]

I don't know if this is accurate or not but I found this BMR calculator online. My BMR according to this is: You have a BMR of 1519.259.

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/#result

[Newme17 3,444]

You can still build muscle lifting weights 2-3 times a week. You don't have to go 6 times a week to do that. @James Marusek, I believe (and assuming) he's not at goal yet, thus would like to lose some more fat. He also didn't state he was jogging. Different equations here.

[Newme17 3,444]

5 minutes ago, Redmaxx said:

I don't know if this is accurate or not but I found this BMR calculator online. My BMR according to this is: You have a BMR of 1519.259.

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/#result

That one fails to input your activity levels. Try this one:

http://eatmore2weighless.com/weight-loss-calculator/

[Redmaxx 740]

Thank you. Interesting, the other site gave me a BMR of 1518.

Edited April 28, 2017 by Redmaxx
Added text.

[sarahblu 179]

This is great knowledge! I am over 6 months out and have been running about 4 days a week. I just recently gained 3 pounds but went down another size! I assume its muscle but i dont want to go backwards in weight....

Sent from my SM-N920V using BariatricPal mobile app

[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

If you have been morbidly obese for a while most of those calculator will be off. It is better to be actually tested in a lab. The reason being is we have a different body makeup than people who have not been morbidly obese. When you are heavy your body has to build muscle to carry all that weight. So unless you have other things going on, your RMR is going to be higher than normal.

We spent all this time and money on surgery, investing in some body composition testing is a drop in the bucket.

I consider it the same maintenance as getting my blood work done. It also allows me to accurate set my calories instead of guessing.

[JerseyJules 862]

Yup, body goes into starvation mode. You need to either add some good calories or slow down the exercise a little bit. I find healthy nuts and nut butters help add calories without taking up too much ocean front real estate in your sleeve.

Edited April 28, 2017 by JerseyJules

[BigUtahMan 207]

5 hours ago, OutsideMatchInside said:

@BigUtahManI think this is the first post I have read with a nutritionist that was actually useful with accurate information.

Yeah with a BMR that high it is basically impossible for you to eat enough calories with a sleeve to support extensive exercise.

How did the Dr office test your RMR? So few seem to test when it should be something they are are required to do.

I breathed into a machine (fasting) for about 20 min at the Dr's office, and the machine measures CO2 levels and others aspects of my breath. I did it before at the University of Utah with similar results.

[BigUtahMan 207]

5 hours ago, James Marusek said:

Over 40 years ago, I was gaining weight and decided to exercise and burn it off. So I started jogging. After a few weeks, I worked myself up to 10 miles per day. Instead of losing weight, I actually started gaining weight. This was because I was replacing my fat with muscle and muscle weighs more.

I believe that is what has happened to me the last 8 weeks, I have changed body composition while losing Fat, but I don't believe I realized dramatic fat loss though even though I have good muscle gains. (I have to keep telling myself, this is not the time to bulk up on the muscle, I need to trim and slim. (I do have a better BMR engine with the fit muscle gain to burn the calories, so I am still pleased with my results in many ways. But I am trying to stretch my honeymoon phase another couple months and get down another 25-30 pounds in the "power window" of weightloss before it gets hard again to lose.

[BigUtahMan 207]

58 minutes ago, JerseyJules said:

Yup, body goes into starvation mode. You need to either add some good calories or slow down the exercise a little bit. I find healthy nuts and nut butters help add calories without taking up too much ocean front real estate in your sleeve.

Good idea, thanks for sharing. - B