Help! Muscle Gain vs Weight Loss messing with my head

I’m 33F, 156 cm, SW: 72 kg, CW: 62 kg, GW: 52 kg (Imperial: 33F, 5’1.5”, SW: 159 lbs, CW: 137 lbs, GW: 115 lbs)

Jumped on the weight loss and fitness train last May due to longstanding health issues. I’ve been losing weight which is great, but am currently in a plateau which is messing with my head, coupled with my latest InBody results. I know InBody isn’t deemed accurate but it’s what I have to work with and I can’t justify the cost of a DEXA scan when it’s obvious I still have a lot of fat left to lose. Aside from that, the InBody results closely align with my results using the Navy body fat percentage calculator so it’s good enough for me.

My InBody Results: https://i.imgur.com/NTRAiVa.jpg

Summary of Results:

May 7-June 1 I went from a gym-phobic couch potato to working with a personal trainer 2-3 times a week. Weights and HIIT galore. The first few weeks were rough and there were nights I couldn’t sleep from muscle pain.

Weight: 1.6 kg - 71.2 kg (-0.4 kg DOWN) *Skeletal Muscle Mass: *21.5 - 22.6 (+1.1 kg UP) *Body Fat %: *45.5 - 42.1 (-3.4% DOWN)

I was pretty bummed that my weight loss was going super slow (not even a freaking pound!) but my clothes were undeniably looser and looking better on me. However, I was still eating more or less “normally” and wasn’t counting calories. It seems hard to believe that I gained over a kilo of muscle in less than a month, but if that were so, it could possibly because I have high testosterone levels from PCOS.

June 18 - August 30

Weight: 63.6 kg (-7.6 kg down from June 1)

Skeletal Muscle Mass: 21.0 (-1.6 kg down from June 1

Body Fat %: 39.3 (-2.8% down from June 1)

I started CICO mid-June (1200-1400 calories) and from then on was steadily losing weight at a good pace. I was also on vacation for a month and a half during that period without access to a gym or personal trainer and burned calories by walking everywhere. I use a Fitbit and aimed for a daily 1000 calorie deficit from TDEE. I was really happy with the results on the scale. However, when I came back from vacation at the end of August, the InBody scan showed that I had lost muscle and my body fat percentage had hardly moved downward! I was indeed flabby despite being slimmer so from September I decided to hit the gym hard.

I continued the 3x weekly sessions with my personal trainer and signed up for all sorts of cardio classes 5-6x a week—spinning, Zumba, trampoline, etc. in addition to taking the stairs, brisk walking on the treadmill, and walking everywhere. I could see my muscles getting more definition and my husband is saying that my love handles are getting harder to grasp. I continued CICO but upped my calories to 1500-1800 because I was eating out more socially and was regularly hitting 2,600-3,000 calories burned from all the activity. However, instead of the 2.5-3 kg a month that I was supposed to lose according to my calculations, I only lost HALF a kilo!

This is a really sore point for me because I had lost 3 kg the month before with much less effort and activity. However, my most recent InBody Scan gave me some good news to offset the plateau:

Weight: 63.6 - 62.9 kg (-0.5 kg DOWN from Aug. 30)

Skeletal Muscle Mass: 21.0 - 22.0 (+1.0 kg UP Aug. 30)

Body Fat %: 39.3 - 35.5 (-3.8% DOWN from Aug. 30)

[TL;DR:] So now I feel like I’m in a conundrum: weight training combined with cardio and slightly increased calories seems to give me good results in terms of muscle gain and lowering of body fat percentage, but in return my weight loss halts to a glacial pace. On the other hand, CICO with cardio only results in significant weight loss, but negatively affects muscle mass and does not significantly lower body fat percentage. I was hoping to achieve goal weight around the end of the year but now that seems like a pipe dream... if I lose only half a kilo a month, it would take me nearly two years to achieve goal weight!

Or is it possible that my Fitbit and food scale are now suddenly wildly inaccurate and can no longer be trusted....

I really want to achieve goal weight as soon as possible. I’m not even at a healthy BMI yet! How to get out of this rut...

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I'm able to listen to my body

So this is my second major weight loss attempt this year and I just started 2 weeks ago. (First attempt was keto, and my body did not react well to it. I loved the diet though...) I've always had the mentality that I need to eat everything on my plate and nothing should go to waste. After spending a few days on this subreddit, I am trying to tell myself it is okay to throw away some food. Last night I went to eat one of my precooked dinners for the week and when I had 1/4 of the plate left, my body felt satisfied. And I didn't eat the rest. I was so proud of myself for such a small thing! This morning, I normally eat two bowls of cereal and after one, I just didn't feel like I needed another. Little victories like this are what keep me going.

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Lost 6 pounds in a month bc of CICO!! + insights and realizations

Just a warning that this’ll be a long post! Hi! I’ve been lurking on the subreddit and this is my first post hehe I’m so excited to share what I’ve learned! 20, Female, 5”6.1, 152 pounds. Target weight: 130 pounds.

I might be average height internationally but I’m pretty tall for a Filipino and I always felt I was the “fat friend”. All my girl friends are petite and thin. And my weight was always something that I’ve been insecure about especially when I compare myself to them. I was alright all through high school (was around 130 at my lightest) but I started gaining like crazy once I reached college. Having so much freedom and easy access to cheap junk food (my university is a haven for street food!), and being able to go wild with drinking, made me gain a grand total of 28 pounds. The worst thing is, I was totally in denial about it. I knew that some of my clothes weren’t starting to fit. I knew that my face was starting to look a bit chubbier every time I took a new profile picture. And you know about Asian relatives, every time my grandmother saw me, she’d say “you’re gaining weight”. Or “you’re so fat, what’s happening to you?” Which made me snack and eat even more just to piss her off.

One day, it hit me while I was eating lunch with my friends and one of them said that she wanted to gain weight, as she’s been underweight her entire life and it’s been one of her personal goals to go to a normal weight. My other friends, who were fitness junkies started giving her advice and I was so inspired by her, it made me start thinking about myself. I didn’t make the change yet though.

What really made me start on my weight loss journey was when I was staring at my face in the car mirror while stuck in traffic. I kept looking at myself and thinking about how bloated I looked, how I really let myself go and at that point, I barely even looked in the mirror because I hated my face so much. It was at this point that I was facetuning every single picture I was in- editing my jaws and cheeks so that I would look slimmer. I wanted to stop doing that. I wanted to look at myself in the mirror and feel beautiful again. I wanted to get rid of the need to facetune because I felt my face was so big.

I downloaded MyFitnessPal again because that was the app my parents used when they were losing weight. I also used it when losing weight for my prom in my junior year of high school (that was me at my lightest!). CICO has been so damn effective - I love it. It works with my lifestyle - as an engineering student and in the college student council, I barely have time to exercise since most of my time is spent in studying and in meetings so I just focus on eating less and at the right times. The first week was definitely the hardest though, not gonna lie. I was so used to eating a lot and I felt my stomach grumble so many times. But I powered through even with cheat days!

What really made me want to post is because we had a laboratory experiment where in we had to measure our BMI and our height and weight, stuff like that. I was so anxious about getting on a scale and I was so happy to find out that I managed to go from 158 to 152 in 30 days. Even better, on that day, one of my councilmates asked me if I was dieting because he noticed that I look thinner. I was so happy and we had a photoshoot on that day to promote one of the council’s mental health projects. When I looked over my photos, I didn’t feel the need to facetune it - for the first time in months.

I know it’s only been a month but here are the things I’m already learning: 1. Find the system that works for you. For me, it’s CICO because I’m really scared of keto and I can’t do intermittent fasting because I love eating all day lmao. I also have my phone in hand a lot so it’s no problem for me to plug in what I eat every time. In fact, I find it really fun! I love that I don’t feel like I truly have to give up any food, I just have to portion it well. Also, the fact that you have to plug in what you eat makes you really think if what you’re putting in your body is really worth it. So you end up eating less. 2. Find the exercise that works for you. Aside from having a busy schedule, I’ll admit it, I hate exercise. As in, I hate using the treadmill. I hate lifting weights and doing sit-ups, all that. I’ve never gone to the gym since we have exercise equipment at home. But, I actually do like using the stationary bike. And it burns more calories than going on the treadmill! To be honest, I mostly exercise just to have room to eat hahahah I do 1 hour and 30 minutes on my stationary bike when I can. And I’ve found a way to not get bored while doing it which leads me to number 3. 3. Exercise doesn’t need to be boring! I love watching Let’s Plays of video games on youtube since I spend most of my money on makeup and I don’t have enough to buy a console/video games. But I still love video games which is why I watch playthroughs and they’re usually like an hour long per video. I end up watching these videos while I exercise and the time just flies by. 4. A solid support system is everything. I’m also at this point because of my family and friends. I’m so happy that my parents have been nothing but supportive- my parents have stopped buying junk food for me and give me fruits to snack on. My friends have also started calorie counting! And when I found out I lost 6 pounds in that lab class, I told them and they congratulated me and one of them gave a thumbs up. I understand not everyone is as privileged as I am when it comes to having a support system but really, even one friend makes all the difference.

That’s all I have so far!! Thank you for letting me gush!

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Do you have any advice for pear-bodied individuals?

Everyone's weight loss stories are so ambitious, my concern as a high school student seems like a tiny thing.

But here's my concern: I'm a high school student who has a very disproportionate body. My top half is petite and slim, but my bottom half is the exact opposite. I have the pear shape body, thick legs, big butt, but a slim arms and waist. I wouldn't say I hate my body, but I'm afraid to get laughed at for having a big bottom. Where I'm from, we like small butts and skinny legs. I've tried numerous methods of losing weight, but none of them worked well. In order to hide my thick legs, I wear a lot of dresses that hide them. But I can't keep wearing dresses forever, can I?

I can't go on extreme diets, because I'm a growing student and athlete. I can say i eat pretty healthily, and I get a lot of protein. It's very difficult for me to get sick. So instead of trying to lose weight, I'm trying to get slimmer legs with exercise. But honestly, not a lot of them worked, and I feel like there is no difference in my legs and butt. In fact, I feel like they got thicker with the muscle.

Do any of you have good workouts that really helps slim down thick legs and butt? Thank you so much!

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Day 1? Starting your weight loss journey on Saturday, 05 October 2019? Start here!

Today is your Day 1?

Welcome to r/Loseit!

So you aren’t sure of how to start? Don’t worry! “How do I get started?” is our most asked question. r/Loseit has helped our users lose over 1,000,000 recorded pounds and these are the steps that we’ve found most useful for getting started.

Why you’re overweight

Our bodies are amazing (yes, yours too!). In order to survive before supermarkets, we had to be able to store energy to get us through lean times, we store this energy as adipose fat tissue. If you put more energy into your body than it needs, it stores it, for (potential) later use. When you put in less than it needs, it uses the stored energy. The more energy you have stored, the more overweight you are. The trick is to get your body to use the stored energy, which can only be done if you give it less energy than it needs, consistently.

Before You Start

The very first step is calculating your calorie needs. You can do that HERE. This will give you an approximation of your calorie needs for the day. The next step is to figure how quickly you want to lose the fat. One pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories. So to lose 1 pound of fat per week you will need to consume 500 calories less than your TDEE (daily calorie needs from the link above). 750 calories less will result in 1.5 pounds and 1000 calories is an aggressive 2 pounds per week.

Tracking

Here is where it begins to resemble work. The most efficient way to lose the weight you desire is to track your calorie intake. This has gotten much simpler over the years and today it can be done right from your smartphone or computer. r/loseit recommends an app like MyFitnessPal, Loseit! (unaffiliated), or Cronometer. Create an account and be honest with it about your current stats, activities, and goals. This is your tracker and no one else needs to see it so don’t cheat the numbers. You’ll find large user created databases that make logging and tracking your food and drinks easy with just the tap of the screen or the push of a button. We also highly recommend the use of a digital kitchen scale for accuracy. Knowing how much of what you're eating is more important than what you're eating. Why? This may explain it.

Creating Your Deficit

How do you create a deficit? This is up to you. r/loseit has a few recommendations but ultimately that decision is yours. There is no perfect diet for everyone. There is a perfect diet for you and you can create it. You can eat less of exactly what you eat now. If you like pizza you can have pizza. Have 2 slices instead of 4. You can try lower calorie replacements for calorie dense foods. Some of the communities favorites are cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles, spaghetti squash in place of their more calorie rich cousins. If it appeals to you an entire dietary change like Keto, Paleo, Vegetarian.

The most important thing to remember is that this selection of foods works for you. Sustainability is the key to long term weight management success. If you hate what you’re eating you won’t stick to it.

Exercise

Is NOT mandatory. You can lose fat and create a deficit through diet alone. There is no requirement of exercise to lose weight.

It has it’s own benefits though. You will burn extra calories. Exercise is shown to be beneficial to mental health and creates an endorphin rush as well. It makes people feel awesome and has been linked to higher rates of long term success when physical activity is included in lifestyle changes.

Crawl, Walk, Run

It can seem like one needs to make a 180 degree course correction to find success. That isn’t necessarily true. Many of our users find that creating small initial changes that build a foundation allows them to progress forward in even, sustained, increments.

Acceptance

You will struggle. We have all struggled. This is natural. There is no tip or trick to get through this though. We encourage you to recognize why you are struggling and forgive yourself for whatever reason that may be. If you overindulged at your last meal that is ok. You can resolve to make the next meal better.

Do not let the pursuit of perfect get in the way of progress. We don’t need perfect. We just want better.

Additional resources

Now you’re ready to do this. Here are more details, that may help you refine your plan.

• Quick Start Guide - Build your foundation!
• Loseit Compendium - Frame it out!
• FAQ - Answers to our most Frequently Asked Questions!

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Weight loss but fat percentage increase tips

Hey pals,

I've been on a mission since the last month to get leaner again and ideally fit into more of my old clothes.

Since I've started taking regular measurements, in a month, my weight stayed consistent but muscle mass increased and fat percentage went down. All according to the InBody machine

The last couple of weeks though I've dropped weight but fat percentage went up. Muscle mass stayed the same or slightly dropped.

Is this normal for fat percentage to go back up when this happens? I haven't changed anything about my routine or diet apart from skipping a couple of shoulder days because of my new job

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Second guessing my weightloss

Over the last 7 months, I’ve lost 65lbs by counting my calories and trying to be active a few times a week - but the majority of the work has been through controlling what I eat.

Here are my stats: 36 F | 5’8 | HW: 226 | SW: 218 | CW: 152 | GW: 140-ish

My first goal was 160lbs, which didn’t thrill me as much as I thought it would when I got there, so I changed my goal to 140lbs OR when I feel I have reached the weight I want to stay at.

According to a TDEE calculator, I am a normal weight now and my cutting calories are 1215 currently. I’m eating 1250-1350 most days - and I give myself around 1500 cals when I’ve been moderately active, if I feel I need to. Several days a month end up being “cheat days.” I try to limit those to special occasions like birthdays and such. My weight bounces up and down and the loss has not been linear at all, but overall has been a downward slope.

I thought I was doing really well. I have been very dedicated and I was feeling proud of my progress...until my most recent therapy appointment.

My issues being addressed in therapy are depression and anxiety...but I’ve mentioned that I used to have self-diagnosed OCD (not that it ever went away, but I squashed it quite a bit).

I’ve had some panic attacks recently and my therapist asked me about my weight loss for the first time since I’ve been seeing her (roughly the same amount of time that I’ve been counting calories). I told her I was doing things in a healthy way, and she said that 1200 calories is starvation and that medical professionals don’t usually restrict calories to lower than 1500 calories. She’s especially concerned that I could be on my way to developing an eating disorder since I have the OCD tendencies.

I joined a gym recently so I could start building muscle and also start moving towards maintenance since I’m getting close.

But now I’m questioning what I’m doing. Are these tdee calculators wrong? Am I cutting my calories too severely??

I like and trust my therapist, but through all my research I have never once seen that 1200 calories is dangerous for my height. I mean, sometimes it feels like starvation but I’m mostly used to feeling hungry after 7 months of this- but when I’m actually very hungry, I eat more. I don’t faint or anything because I’m too stubborn to listen to my body.

I’m just second guessing everything I’ve been doing. She suggested that I should see a dietician, which I’m totally willing to do. The only thing is that time is already a precious commodity for me and I THINK I’m not doing anything unhealthy....so I’m torn on taking the advice.

Any advice or words of wisdom from you lovely people who live this r/loseit life?? Anyone else been in this predicament??

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