I work out 5 days a week lifting weights just to remain slightly overweight …wtf?

[Endlessdark]

Lifting weights 5 days a week. Diet is ok, I try to eat lots of protein, aim for about 120g a day but often miss meals because I’m busy with 2 small children. Definitely don’t eat over 2000 calories. What am I missing????

And definitely drinking enough water - still breastfeeding my 1yo so very thirsty all the time. Don’t drink fizzy drinks/ eat sweets (unless around ovulation/my period 😳)

Are you mixing your weights up? Doing squats, lunges a bit of cardio?

Are you measuring overall weight gain? Or body fat percentage?
You’ll likely find that you’ve stayed the same weight because you’ve gained muscle mass, but have lost body fat.
Might be worth checking that!

Why are you worried about numbers on the scales?
Do you feel strong? Are you looking to break your pbs ? In which case, have you ever heard the phrase ‘weight moves weight’ ? As in, the heavier you are, the more you can lift.

If you have excess protein you either pee it out (expensive pee!) or your body stores it as fat.

Don’t cut back to 800 cals 😂

are you sure you’re overweight OP? How long have you been lifting weights?

body dysmorphia is real, I’ve never not felt fat even when I was skinny

on 2000 cals you’ll be building muscle but that isn’t likely to allow you to lose fat.

I do 1600-1700 cals, 150g protein and manage a bit of both.

Are you for fucking real?
OP don't do this 🙄

@NewtonsCradle eat 800 calories and work out 5 times a week??? That’s a recipe for disaster and binge eating!

@Endlessdark have you used a calculator app to work out how many calories you actually need?

Same. Peri meno?

I run 3 miles a day, weights 3x a week. Gave up bread. I have maybe 1 bottle of wine a week.

I do gousto so that's the dinner calories (under 600) controlled, we mostly have salad and soup for lunches. I probably have a big blow out dinner once a fortnight (I.e Indian restaurant).

I aim for 1200 cals a day but it's probably more like 1400 on average.

I think it's just getting older/meno/metabolism slowing. It's a bit shit, but I do my best. Im 5ft4 and generally hover at 10st.

I was 8st 10 through my 20s on a diet of lager, kebabs and ginsters pasties, so it feels very unfair. 😂 I wish I hadn't taken it so for granted back then.

…and when you say ‘doing weights’ do you mean eg. squatting your body weight for reps and deadlifting 1.5x body weight, or are you doing curls with 1kg dumbbells type exercises?

Not true.
she might build a little bit of muscle but if she's in calorie deficit she'll lose fat. It's absolutely possible to be in calorie deficit on 2000 a day BUT I would guess that OP either eats more than she thinks or that she's quite small to start with (either short and/or not overweight) and therefore struggles to clear 2000 calorie expenditure per day hence maintaining weight.

OP you have to be in calorie deficit to lose weight. What's your TDEE?

This site is fucking batshit and almost dangerous sometimes! How can someone advise you to eat 800 calories a day whilst working out 5 times a week!?

I think its clear that the previous poster was referring to building up from 800 to determine where the set point is.

OP are you actually overweight in terms of numbers or what you are happy with. You will be very strong and healthy using weights, so I wouldnt worry about numbers or BMI if you are fit and healthy.

Maybe the poster with the 800 cal suggestion was mistaken and thought that OP is a 14kg dog.

It's a mistake to use scales if you're weight training OP. You need to chuck them out and use a tape measure instead.

Michael Mosley has sold a lot of books explaining in great detail how eating 800kcals will quickly cause weight loss. The op has said despite exercise she is overweight.... Eating 800kcals to reduce weight makes logical sense and is backed by evidence. To maintain the weight loss it is a matter of finding the right number of kcals per day.

It's obvious they meant 1800 cals

I don’t do cardio at the gym but walk everywhere and manage between 10k and 15k steps a day. Maybe that’s where I’m going wrong? I lift weights as in different muscle groups every day Monday- Friday. Leg press 120kg etc. not looking to be skinny by would like to look/feel strong! Tbh my aim is to be able to do pull ups if that means anything 😆

im 72kg and 168 cm so just slightly overweight.

So??
how long do you suggest the OP stays at 800 calories/low calories for for this stupid 'experiment'? It would have to be a while to see when weight loss stopped! Obviously her TDEE isn't 800 calories so why would anyone need to go that low for any period to find out how many calories they burn? There are easy calculators online to tell you that!

Obviously eating 800 calories will cause weight loss because it's a massive calorie deficit 🙄 so what if Michael mosely says it's a good idea? It's not!

If you cut your calories to 800 while weight training 5 days a week you'll be massively starving and miserable, especially when breastfeeding . It's not sustainable. You'll not have the energy for anything.

Nope - doubled down in the post above

I found my body clung onto weight more while breastfeeding; I think it was just trying to keep the baby safe. I wouldn't worry about it, just let your body do what it needs to do. I bet all this weight training is making you stronger, healthier, calmer and reducing your risk of all sorts of illnesses.
Don't listen to the calorie reduction lot. Make sure that most of what you eat is stuff that nourishes you, and eat as much as you damn well please.

You need to be in a calorie deficit to lose weight. Work out your TDEE and then drop your calorie intake a bit.