Ending BodPod results - a bit disappointed

Well, I'm disappointed. Bear with me as I'm dealing with a self-centered mother in law who either is beginning to show signs of dementia or worse, is so self-centered that she's a bigger a$$ than I previously thought.  I'm on day 4 of little to no exercise because of major dental work (did some light elliptical today) and that puts me in the dumps (exercise, especially in winter, is a huge mood booster). And then throw in the bodpod results.

I lost 10.25 pounds in 8 weeks for this Biggest Winner Challenge- less than I hoped I  would have lost. I lost 1.3% body fat percentage (from 36.6% to 35.2%). I lost 6 pounds of fat and 4.25 pounds in "other" mass. Could be some muscle, but it's probably mostly water/glycogen as I was eating a lot of carbs just before the bodpod and since then I have given them up (this is conclusion of the guy running the bodpod too).

But it's less than I hoped for. According to that thing, I created an average daily deficit of 400 calories. I think this is what bums me out the most. In the beginning couple weeks I was eating about 1450 calories a day. As I got re-accustomed to less food, I decreased it. I was averaging about 1250-1300 calories for the last 6 weeks. I worked out 5 times a week except for this last week because of the tooth extraction and when I work out, I push myself HARD. My resting heart-rate of 50 I think shows that.

I take from that that my resting metabolic rate is much lower than they 'predict' it to be. They predict it at 1512. It's probably closer to 1200. AND, because I'm 'fairly' fit, I'm efficient. That means I don't burn as many calories per hour when I exercise either. It's hard for me to get a good caloric deficit, basically.

I know it's not a race, but this is hard for me. I used to say, "It didn't take 6 months to put on the weight, so you can't expect to take off the weight fast either." Well, I did put on the weight fast. And it is taking a LOT of effort to take it off and a long time. I can't really eat less. I can increase workouts a bit, but not tons. So, it's a bit frustrating to know that it's going to take me several more months to take off the weight that it only took 2 months to put on (well, to be fair, 10 pounds I put on a couple months before that, but I put on 20 pounds in 2 months WHILE exercising 3 times a week).  But all in all I put on 30 pounds in 4-5 months and it was EASY. Taking it off (the second time around) is much harder than the first time - it's taking more effort.

What I've learned is that I have to stay away from carbs for like forever. Re-introducing them makes me crave them and then I lose control. And I wasn't eating tons and tons in those two months, but if my RMR is 1200 and I was eating 3000, that's gaining 29 pounds in 8 weeks if I'm completely at rest. So gaining 20 pounds with some movement seems about right. I know last summer when I was not losing or gaining and I wasn't exercising much (just gardening/landscaping), I was maintaining at about 1500 calories a day. That kind of stinks. 

They predict my estimated total energy expenditure (TEE) to be 1875 if I'm sedentary. I know that if I eat that much, I would be gaining weight if I also wasn't exercising. With my very limited experience with maintenance 1450-1500 seems to be the magic number with light activity. My TEE is probably 1450-1500.

So, with TEE at 1500 and if I averaged eating 1400 calories these past 8 weeks (which is being generous with my diet), and exercised an hour 5-6 times a week and burned 250-300 calories a day for that (which again is WAY under-estimating caloric burn counts I get on calorie counters), THAT equals out to about 400 caloric deficit per day - which is what my weight loss reflects. I had THREE higher calorie days in those 8 weeks, so there is some wiggle room there, but not much.

It's all a learning experience, but I'm a bit bummed. I won't quit, because that's not me, but I'm a bit frustrated with myself. I'll just keep pushing myself and won't let that "down time" happen again. One thing I'm also doing is learning to make some low carb, high fat/protein snacks so that I don't feel deprived, but won't create cravings either.  First thing I learned to make were those almond flour pancakes - eating those left me satiated for hours and I didn't eat more calories than usually. So, hopefully, I'll find ways to feel like I'm enjoying treats, but without the damage real treats create.

But... gotta keep plugging along. I'll probably do another bodpod this summer to see the progress. So far, though, the fancy Tanita scales at the PT's office and my home Ironman Tanita AND the bodpod all say the same thing for body fat percentages. And that's interesting as that same Ironman Tanita scale tells my husband that he has 4-5% body fat which is impossible! Figure that one out!