NEWBIE HERE: Getting lightheaded lately...?

[StrongMomInCT]

Hi all-
I’m new to this forum. Seeking thoughts on a couple things. I am 39 y/o female, and I workout 4-6 days a week. Workouts are a mix of Cardio Kicboxing (former martial artist too), and circuit training at a gym which incorporates conditioning and weightlifting/body building. I’ve always been muscular. 5’ tall (or short ), weigh 138lbs.

Some stats: neck= 11”, wrist=5”, waist at bellybutton= 30”, upper waist 28”, hips 36”

A little history, in 2018, through the Naturally Slim program, I lost 20 lbs in 3 months (154 down to 134), and have kept most of it off with the exception of about 6lbs). When I initially lost weight I looked quite thin. I was doing mostly cardio kickboxing with a weight activity, and treadmill.

This year I added in the circuit training and started building a good amount of additional muscle and visible muscle tone. Unfortunately, it seems I added some fat too (I’ll blame Covid lockdown haha). In an attempt to lose the fat, I started restricting food intake as I did in 2018. I consume about 1,300-1,500 calories a day, but am afraid to go much lower because I’ve been getting lightheaded these past few weeks, and I’m not losing weight. When losing, I was having about 1,000 a day.

I feel I need to fuel muscles, but I don’t know how to do that and still burn fat. Any thoughts as to what’s going on? I appreciate any input. Thanks for reading!

[Boss Man]

Hi there SMICT, good to talk to you.

Weight loss stagnation can be caused by not eating enough calories, causing the body to shut down weight loss protocols and retain fat.

Sedentary females need around 1,800 calories a day and men 2,000 a day, and the BMR, Basal Metabolic Rate, which is the minimum number of calories per day someone should consume to maintain a healthy metabolism, should be around 1,550 - 1,600 for females approximately.

So eating 1,300-1,500 calories a day is still undereating to some extent and you won't be able to preseve muscle mass or lose fat too readily by doing that.

I would suggest increasing the calories in your meals to compensate for that and the lightheadedness could be down to inadequate carbohydrate intake and as you're quite active you can afford to compensate for that.

If you're eating around 6 meals a day, then if we take the 1,500 calorie day example, I'd aim for around 75-80 calories more per meal.

So examples of that would be like 2 large tomatos, 1 large egg, 2/3 of a chicken breast, an apple, roughly 60% of a piece of steak depending on what type it is etc.

You could mix and match the idea though, I:e a small egg and one baby tomato, added into a meal.

If you eat 5 meals a day, consider having another one after your dinner about 2-2.5 hours later in which case add roughly 200 calories in in meal 6, then increase your calories in other meals by around 60 calories. Those extra calories equates to a large granola bar or a moderate portion of low fat cheese or about 1/4 of a cup of almonds as examples

Try either strategy, based on what your current number of meals are and see what happens over the next 4-6 weeks. Don't change your training, as you need to isolate the diet changes and see what happenes and if you change your training as well, it could be counterproductive to whatever benefits altering your diet will have.

Be proud of how you live your life, don't be discouraged or worried about what is happeneing versus what you think should happen and just let time and experience guide you on your continued journey.

If there is anything else you want to ask about this or anything else, please do not hesitate to post something and someone, probably myself will get back to you when they can.

[StrongMomInCT]

Thank you for the quick and detailed response, I really appreciate your insight!

I actually only tend to eat 2-3 times a day. Usually just coffee and water mixed with a splash of orange juice on the morning, (I’m not hungry till later). I’ll have lunch around 11-12, and dinner around 5-6pm.

workouts are usually at 6am, so I’m running on an empty tank so to speak, due to what could be viewed as 10-12 hr intermittent fasting.

In short, I generally only eat only when I am truly hungry.

[Boss Man]

Fasted cardio is not necessarily a good idea. People have bene known to have dizzy spells doing it and I recall one persons trainer disclosing a seizure that a client had on fasted cardio, plus some people report quicker fatigue onset, compared to normal when trying it.

At the very least eating or drinking something before the cardio can help to try and alieviate the problem, such as a protein shake or a banana as examples; not least as fasted cardio could increase muscle catabolism and less muscle means more fat storage potential, as added muscle is more beneficial for the metabolism.

[StrongMomInCT]

Thanks for the suggestions- It never really registered to me how eating more calories could actually assist in fat burn. I’ll try it out for a few weeks. Good thing colder weather is coming so I can cover up any mistakes with layers of clothes!

Thanks again.

[Boss Man]

Juat keep believing in the process. Time and consistency creates results. You are young strong amd healthy and there's no reason I can see why you cannot fulfill your wants, if you keep doing what things need to happen to make them viable.

You CAN do this .

[StrongMomInCT]

One more question- should I expect to possibly gain weight (even just water retention) for the beginning of this adventure? Or does it typically just start to come off after a week or two? I understand everyone’s body is different, just want to know more what to expect the first couple weeks at least...?

Thank you!

[Boss Man]

You are quite likely to start losing weight, but don't be too surprised if you gain a little for the first week or two, as your body will be adjusting to something a bit different. Reality is though you'll be most likely to lose weight from the getgo.

[StrongMomInCT]

Thanks again, I really appreciate the time you’ve taken to respond to everything.

[Boss Man]

[JohnPalm]

Hi all-
I’m new to this forum. Seeking thoughts on a couple things. I am 39 y/o female, and I workout 4-6 days a week. Workouts are a mix of Cardio Kicboxing (former martial artist too), and circuit training at a gym which incorporates conditioning and weightlifting/body building. I’ve always been muscular. 5’ tall (or short ), weigh 138lbs.

Some stats: neck= 11”, wrist=5”, waist at bellybutton= 30”, upper waist 28”, hips 36”

A little history, in 2018, through the Naturally Slim program, I lost 20 lbs in 3 months (154 down to 134), and have kept most of it off with the exception of about 6lbs). When I initially lost weight I looked quite thin. I was doing mostly cardio kickboxing with a weight activity, and treadmill.

This year I added in the circuit training and started building a good amount of additional muscle and visible muscle tone. Unfortunately, it seems I added some fat too (I’ll blame Covid lockdown haha). In an attempt to lose the fat, I started restricting food intake as I did in 2018. I consume about 1,300-1,500 calories a day, but am afraid to go much lower because I’ve been getting lightheaded these past few weeks, and I’m not losing weight. When losing, I was having about 1,000 a day.

I feel I need to fuel muscles, but I don’t know how to do that and still burn fat. Any thoughts as to what’s going on? I appreciate any input. Thanks for reading!

I'am newbie too)) But I'm not so brave)))