I need to know something!?

JonnyWopper

Full Member
Last 2 weeks I went hard at the gym I went 13 times in 14 daysbecausr I was off work and bored lol
When I went and got weighed it turns out I lost 1lb and a lot of inches which is good, I'm happy with it all.
But what I want to know is why when on sole source I'm eating 640 calories, why is it my body won't lose lots of lbs?
I mean whats the science behind it?
Low calories + lots of exercise (should) = massive loss
Can someone please explain please desperate to know so I can't sort it out! :(
 
I believe the issue here is the body's starvation mode.

If you deprive the body - it'll panic as it does trust that you'll provide it with the necessary calories. So it stores everything you've got.

Only yesterday I was watching a biggest loser episode where the brown team (two large men) were struggling to lose big numbers. Turns out they were both "being extra good" by reducing their calories below their recommended target. When Bob the trainer found out, he forced them to up their calories - which led to one of them then losing 13lb that week!
This is why CD do not advise excessive exercise in SS. SS is a chemical formula of the "perfect" number of calories/nutrients. By exercising you are throwing off the formula, as the calories you are burning through exercise were not included in the CD calculation.
Exercise is helping you lose the inches as you are toning up.
If you want to continue with the exercise - you'd prob lose more weight if you move to the 1,000 plan.
Maybe give it a try for a week?
 
I would be saying just the same as Jayelle for this one. I have been promising myself a daily session on the WII for weeks now and something always seems to get in the way. There is a really good Zumba class in our local hall which i'd like to give a go. Whilst I would like to get the numbers in my weight down, i'm happy if the inches are dropping as ultimately that is what gets us into the smaller sizes.

Good luck on your journey.

M x
 
I struggled with the maths of this - because obviously, anything below your basal metabolic rate should be compensated for in burned fat. But no. what happens to famine victims, anorexics and others who restrict calories in so far beyond the level of calories out (and that includes you) is that the body shuts down non-essential functions, such as hair growth, in order to preserve your body fat stores in case the calorie deficit continues.

and like famine victims and anorexics, if you continue to do this you won't just experience hair loss, but run the risk of a depressed immune system and organ failure.

Jonny, you've repeatedly been told (on at least three threads over several weeks) to eat more if you want to "go hard at the gym" - why aren't you taking that advice?
 
I agree with spangles. Limit your gym to 30 mins a day mixed cardio with weights. I know you're bored but find another hobby.
 
There is a simple reason, muscle weighs more than fat! So if uve been hitting the gym hard you will be converting fat into muscle, loosing inches but not noticing much on scales. Hope that helps.
 
Saxman said:
There is a simple reason, muscle weighs more than fat! Hope that helps.

No it doesn't!

Muscle and fat weigh THE SAME! The density is different. Fat takes up more space in your body than muscle.
 
I stand corrected I was told differently.
 
Last 2 weeks I went hard at the gym I went 13 times in 14 daysbecausr I was off work and bored lol
When I went and got weighed it turns out I lost 1lb and a lot of inches which is good, I'm happy with it all.
But what I want to know is why when on sole source I'm eating 640 calories, why is it my body won't lose lots of lbs?
I mean whats the science behind it?
Low calories + lots of exercise (should) = massive loss
Can someone please explain please desperate to know so I can't sort it out! :(

There's a number of reasons, one of which Jay already covered, but if you're doing heavy cardio you will be in the cardio heart-rate range rather than the fat-burning heart rate range: the effects of these two different heart rates are that in "fat burning" range your muscles have time to get oxygen into them and so your body doesn't think you're running to escape (the "flight" response). It therefore bypasses your immediate source of energy (the calories consumed that day) and instead uses your fat stores for energy.

When you're in the cardio heart-rate range, your body assumes you're fleeing something and so accesses immediate energy and adrenaline stores. Your muscles have no time to get oxygen to them.

You must have been made aware by your CDC what would happen if you didn't consume all your food packs in a day - you will not have enough calories to power your body through daily life and so your body shuts down non-essential function and holds on to all those calories with all its might. This is the effect you are experiencing with your work-out.

When a person on a conventional diet does heavy exercise it's fine as they have around 2000 calories to burn through before they hit this wall - you have a max of 500 on SS. You are essentially making your body believe it's in an emergency situation.

As Spangles said, I am concerned that you have been told multiple times by a number of concerned CDers to go easier at the gym and seem to have ignored this. Seeing the inches come off is great, but by overdoing it at the gym on a VLCD you could be potentially damaging your health rather than getting healthier!

If you go easier on yourself, stick to the weights and toning machines and only do LIGHT cardio then you'll get the same inch results and higher losses. It's in your best interests to listen to this advice.
 
I must say that I don't know for certain but I have always been told muscle weights more than fat. Which is the reason why if you go to the gym and tone up you could look a lot slimmer but might stay the same weight or even put on weight.
 
Thanks for all your advice I need to sort it all out top dieters all of you lol this week I'm going to do it proper and see what happens I'm back at work. Do you think should just do weights instead for this week instead of cardio then?
 
MaryMZ said:
I must say that I don't know for certain but I have always been told muscle weights more than fat. Which is the reason why if you go to the gym and tone up you could look a lot slimmer but might stay the same weight or even put on weight.

So 1lb of feathers is lighter than 1lb of stone? Muscle DOES NOT weigh heavier! Heed the advice! Ignore what you think as the above is FACT!
 
Saxman said:
There is a simple reason, muscle weighs more than fat! So if uve been hitting the gym hard you will be converting fat into muscle, loosing inches but not noticing much on scales. Hope that helps.

Sorry fat can not be converted in to muscle, fat is fat and a muscle is a muscle
 
I don't think anyone genuinely thinks 1lb of muscle is heavier than 1lb of fat, the point people are trying to make is that fat takes up more room than muscle, hence you can lose inches but not weight.
it's not so much a myth as people not expressing it 100% accurately.

what they mean is a certain amount (volume) of muscle weighs more than the same volume of fat, as is shown in the above link.
 
sapphireblue is right if you were to cut out a cm cube of fat and a cm cube of muscle the muscle would weigh more as it is more dense. but if you cut out 1lb of fat and 1lb of muscle they are obviously the same!

sorry for the mental image haha!
 
I don't think anyone genuinely thinks 1lb of muscle is heavier than 1lb of fat, the point people are trying to make is that fat takes up more room than muscle, hence you can lose inches but not weight.
it's not so much a myth as people not expressing it 100% accurately.

what they mean is a certain amount (volume) of muscle weighs more than the same volume of fat, as is shown in the above link.

That sums it up perfectly. Nice post, Sapphire! :)
 
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