diet and cardio, why am i not losing fat?

[Vageta]

Daniel you're eating far too little for your weight. Also with your bodyfat estimation I'd say you don't have a slow metabolism or you wouldn't be that low already. With all of that cardio plus only 1400 calories your body isn't getting nearly enough to survive and it will eventually go into starvation mode if it hasn't already not to mention you'll be burning off that hard earned muscle. The general rule of thumb for dieting calories is that 10x bodyweight is the absolute bottom of the range. That'd be 1800 calories minimum for you, not to mention you're doing more than average cardio which makes a greater deficit.

My recommendation is either continue your current cardio/weight training regimen and up your calories to at least 2000 or so... or shoot for the 1800 calories but drop your cardio in half. Your body reacts to a calorie deficit pretty much the same regardless if it's due to eating less or exercising more. You can eat a good amount of food but if you exercise so much that your body is starving then the result is the same as if you simply fasted.

Depending on how long you've been eating like this your body may already be starving. If it is I'd recommend taking a few days or even a week off of the diet and just shoot for maintenance calories(15x bodyweight). Then hopefully your metabolism gets back close to normal, leptin levels go up a bit and then you can drop calories to around 12x bodyweight. You should lose weight just fine like this and if it starts to slow down at some point then slowly reduce them further.

The basic idea is you can't just continue to eat less in the hopes of burning fat faster as it will backfire. There is only so much of a deficit you can create before your body reacts in a negative manner. If this weren't true then we could all fast for a week or two at a time and drop 10-15 pounds of fat that fast. Unfortunately the body senses this and will adjust the metabolism to compensate for the drop in calories. It's simply a survival method that the body has evolved over time and unfortunately for us dieters it works quite well.

The trick is simply to find the magic spot where we're in a good enough deficit to lose weight moderately fast but not too much of a deficit to trigger starvation mode. It may take time to find this spot but once you do you can shoot for it and get the best out of your diet.

 

[DanielBishop]

Vageta, thank you very much for your post. I really appreciate you taking the time to type it up....

.... perhaps I should've gone into some more detail.

I haven't been eating like that, OR doing that sort of cardio for long. Only a few days, actually....

Since about mid-May, I've been on my own version of a keto diet.... I didn't count calories, just tried to eat every 2-4 hours and avoid all carbs. Only carbs were post-workout, which used to be in the form of some fruit juice or yogurt, or maybe a slice of two of white bread etc etc.... but lately I've been trying to get 30g of carbs from 2-minute rice.

I've had a few cheat days along the way.... sometimes a few days in a row, and once or twice even up to a week. The last couple of months or so, I've thrown in a refeed day every two weeks or so, after learning about them from this board.... high-GI, sugary foods and tried to keep the fat levels down.

Actually, I've had a few too many non-scheduled cheat days lately and that's why I thought it was time to really knuckle down and be disciplined for a while. It's definitely not a maintainance diet, and I only planned to do it for another 2 weeks or a month at the absolute most.... I've almost gotten to the leanness that I'm happy with, and almost ready to start re-introducing carbs and just maintaining my bodyfat levels. I know that May to November is a LONG time to be dieting like this....

I just wanted to lose maximum fat and water in the next 14-30 days, and then I'd change my diet to a maintainance one.

Surprisingly, I don't seem to have lost any muscle. I'm quite happy in that regard. Even gained a bit, it seems.... although that might just be the new definition making it look like I've gained size.

So, considering that.... you still think it's too extreme? I would secretly like to have heard you say that I should up the calories a bit.... just like I was delighted when I realised that refeed days would be beneficial for me.

I might up the calories a bit with some more fat then.... and it will be nice to skip the post-workout cardio once in a while, or sleep in some mornings....

Thanks for your responses, especially Vageta.... and please add any further advice if you think of anything. I appreciate it.

 

[Vageta]

Well I'm happy to hear you hadn't been eating like that for long so most likely your metabolism isn't horribly bad yet. If you still plan on dieting for 2-4 more weeks I'd still not suggest anything that extreme. Even if you were able to retain your muscle mass, your body will be in a prime state for fat gain when you decide to go back to maintenance. Quite possibly what used to be maintenance calories isn't so anymore and if you attempt to eat that much right away you could gain some weight.

I'd still suggest following the diet advice I gave above for your last diet stage, or if you really want to go hardcore then do it. However to reduce the risk of gaining some of that fat back when you go maintenance you should slowly up your calories the first week or two. Don't go from your 1400 calories to 3000 or whatever maintenance is for you. Maybe step it up slowly for a week or two and ease your body in to it. That way if you start to notice any fat gain whatsoever you can step it back and stay there awhile.

 

[Mo T 4 Me]

I red a study where males had to eat 1500cal a day (30% prot a day). After 15 days, their metabolism had slowed but not that much, about 3%. And this was without refeeds. But their initial cal expenditure was not given.

 

[DanielBishop]

Thanks, Vageta.... I'll definitely do that.

The last few times I finished my cutting phase I picked a day when I was to go off it.... and ooh boy, it was on. I ate everything and anything.... and noticed significant fat (and water) gain the next day. So.... no more of that for me.

Besides, I'm sick of the cut/bulk/cut/bulk system.... when I've reached my ideal leaness this time, that's it. I'm going to try my very best to maintain it rather than "bulk".... I understand that you can't gain muscle as fast if you're also trying to stay lean, but so be it.... I'd rather gain muscle slowly than be fat.

So when I come off this diet, I'll ease myself very slowly into it.... maybe increase my calories by 10% a week or something? I don't know. I'll be cutting most fat, and increasing carbs gradually. But since I don't know what works well for me yet, I'll need to do it very slowly and listen to my body, be highly observant and make changes when things aren't going right.

Today, I've been eating 260 calories per meal. I usually eat about 6 meals a day, which works out to 1560/day.... I could probably use even more fat to up the calories. Even though it's only been a few days, I think you're right about me being in starvation mode. I feel fatigued and exhausted.... so, time to ease up on the cardio and add some more calories.

I appreciate your imput.