Nutrition fail or slow metabolism, how do I know?

I've been logging for 75 days, keeping my nutrition at 30% carbs, 40% fat, 30% protein for most of that time except for a cheat day once a week where it's more like 50% carbs.

I have a Fitbit that measures my heartrate and ensures that I'm leaving between a 300-600 calorie deficit everyday. Working out 4-5x a week.

I have gained a bit of muscle, and lost 0 pounds, despite the large calorie deficit.

How do I know if my metabolism just sucks, or if I'm not doing nutrition correctly? And if my metabolism does indeed suck, is weight lifting and protein and patience my best option? Thank you in advance for any wisdom!

Replies

unknown

So the intake isn't accurately logged ... it's doubtful the output is either. It's a common combination on MFP.

Accurate HRMs are only good for steady state cardio ... the Surge tends towards in accurate during exercise (inherent problem with wrist mounted optical HR devices).

How far do you walk a day?
How far do you swim?
What do you define as a bout of intense cardio?
How far do you hike?

When it comes down to it HR is used as a proxy for effort level during steady state cardio ... it is meaningless on its own and useless for figuring burn for things like lifting. The basics of caloric burn for movement come down to mass and distance moved.

unknown

car0lineeeee wrote: »

girlviernes wrote: »

car0lineeeee wrote: »

brianpperkins wrote: »

car0lineeeee wrote: »

yarwell wrote: »

Height, weight, current food intake cals/day ? It's fairly unlikely your resting metabolic rate is below 1200 cals/day.

5'3, varying between 168-173 depending on the day. Consuming minimum 1500, burning 2300. But as weird_me2 mentioned, perhaps I am not actually burning as many calories as all my calculations make me think I am.

What are you doing to burn 2300 calories per day? How are you determining that burn?

Are you weighing solid foods and measuring liquids?

Not weighing foods. Was hoping just paying attention to nutrition/portions would be sufficient. I have a standing desk, I take walks at work, I swim (a mile at least, or an hour, whichever comes first), weight-lift, and do bouts of intense cardio on elliptical/bike/rowing machine. I am exercising at least 5 hours per week. Is that not enough? I'm determining calories burned from the calculations used with Fitbit Surge HR. I also hike on weekends which (according to my fitbit) burns a bunch of calories.

Weighing foods is where it is at! Sorry to say. If you aren't losing and you aren't weighing, the easiest way to start losing would be to weigh. You are probably consuming 50-100% more calories than you think. If you really don't want to weigh you can also start reducing your calorie goal (you are unlikely to be getting too low, since we can gather than you are underestimating).

Good luck!

Ok. Just buy a food scale?

Yes, just a digital food scale with a tare function. I have both of these and like them.

http://www.amazon.com/EatSmart-Precision-Digital-Kitchen-Silver/dp/B001N07KUE/ref=lp_289787_1_9?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1430853753&sr=1-9

A little bit bigger, can read the numbers a little bit more easily

http://www.amazon.com/Smart-Weigh-Digital-Back-Lit-Display/dp/B00IZ1YHZK/ref=lp_289787_1_7?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1430853816&sr=1-7

Smaller, weighs to the 0.1 g.

unknown

I don't own this one, but it looks nice and only $10: http://www.amazon.com/American-Weigh-Scales-Digital-BL-1KG-BLK/dp/B0012N1NAA/ref=lp_289787_1_2?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1430853816&sr=1-2

unknown

Start weighing your foods - I can almost guarantee you'll be shocked at how off some of your portions are. It's really eye opening.
An underactive thyroid really can't account for more than a few pounds of weight gain so if your doctor has already ruled that out, there's not really much point in pursuing it as a diagnosis.

unknown

brianpperkins wrote: »

So the intake isn't accurately logged ... it's doubtful the output is either. It's a common combination on MFP.

Accurate HRMs are only good for steady state cardio ... the Surge tends towards in accurate during exercise (inherent problem with wrist mounted optical HR devices).

How far do you walk a day?
How far do you swim?
What do you define as a bout of intense cardio?
How far do you hike?

When it comes down to it HR is used as a proxy for effort level during steady state cardio ... it is meaningless on its own and useless for figuring burn for things like lifting. The basics of caloric burn for movement come down to mass and distance moved.

I'll just sum up last week, hopefully that'll give you an idea:

Tues- weight lifted 1/2 hour (full body), biked 1/2 hour, heart rate between 140-160 for 30 minutes.
Wed- Swam 1 mile (36 laps) in 50 minutes. Freestyle
Thurs - Elliptical 1 hours, heart rate between 140-160 for 40 of those minutes
Fri- Weight lifted 1/2 hour, rowed 15 mins, biked 1/2 hour, HR between 140-160 for 30 minutes.
Sat- Hiked 3 miles, 1.5 hours, HR between 140-170 for 30 mins (Big elevation!)

That was a very short hike. But when I'm in the mountains I'll go for 6-8 mile hikes. Don't live close to them anymore so that doesn't happen as much.

Edit- right, walks, I average 11k steps a day.

unknown

That's only a couple hundred calories worth of exercise burn per day ... best case.

unknown

brianpperkins wrote: »

That's only a couple hundred calories worth of exercise burn per day ... best case.

Ah, ok. So don't account for fitbit's estimates of calories burned? Or amp up exercise? Or both? I'm gonna guess both.

unknown

car0lineeeee wrote: »

brianpperkins wrote: »

That's only a couple hundred calories worth of exercise burn per day ... best case.

Ah, ok. So don't account for fitbit's estimates of calories burned? Or amp up exercise? Or both? I'm gonna guess both.

Can you turn off the HRM aspect of the surge and just use it like the Fitbit flex? If so, then the calorie burn is probably going to be more accurate for the hiking, etc. Or, you could log the exercise manually for a while. Even though you said your HR was in the exercise zone, walking 3 miles in 1 1/2 hours equates to a speed of only 2 mph. When you log your exercise in MFP, the Fitbit makes an adjustment based on the logged exercise and doesn't count what you did during that time period. This sounds like it will be more accurate for you.

You can up your activity if you want, and working to improve your fitness is never bad, but you don't have to do more. Exercise isn't actually necessary for weight loss if your intake is under control.

unknown

Using a MET table the swim is under 200 net calories ... cycling outdoors (where air resistance becomes the largest force to overcome) for 30 minutes is about 250 net calories and an indoor bike doesn't require overcoming air resistance ... you net about 385 per hour hiking cross country ...

unknown

I am currently working with a trainer who recommends eating at least 55-65% in healthy carbs, 10-25% fat, the rest in protein. He estimated that given my metabolic rate, I should be eating at least 1450-1650 calories a day. Right now I'm 5'5, 140 lbs, 25% body fat (lost 8.5 lbs, 2.5% body fat since starting with the trainer 3 weeks ago) with a goal of reaching 130 lbs, 20% body fat by the start of summer.

I have no thyroid glands due to cancer surgery so I'm sure my metabolism is all kinds of messed up. But so far this plan has been working for me so I'd suggest tweaking your diet like I did! I have been working out about 5-6 days a week, alternating strength+HIIT cardio days with only cardio days.

unknown

jazzybel1004 wrote: »

I am currently working with a trainer who recommends eating at least 55-65% in healthy carbs, 10-25% fat, the rest in protein. He estimated that given my metabolic rate, I should be eating at least 1450-1650 calories a day. Right now I'm 5'5, 140 lbs, 25% body fat (lost 8.5 lbs, 2.5% body fat since starting with the trainer 3 weeks ago) with a goal of reaching 130 lbs, 20% body fat by the start of summer.

I have no thyroid glands due to cancer surgery so I'm sure my metabolism is all kinds of messed up. But so far this plan has been working for me so I'd suggest tweaking your diet like I did! I have been working out about 5-6 days a week, alternating strength+HIIT cardio days with only cardio days.

That's very hopeful to hear!

Thank you everyone, you've given me a lot to think about.