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I've been losing weight constantly every week through diet and working out 3 days a week. I eat one sensible dinner size portion a day also known as the OMAD diet.

Don't get at me saying the one meal a day (OMAD) is causing starvation mode because I was losing double without the protein shakes and there's a load of info saying OMAD is great for burning fat.

I was weak in the gym, had no energy and wasn't making gains so I introduced protein shakes on workout days; one in the morning and one post workout. I got an increase in energy, strength and gains but instead of losing weight I gained 3 pounds the first week. I just finished week two and lost weight, but only half of what I usually lose. I am not sure what's going on or if I should just drop the protein shakes.

I don't cheat on my diet unless you mean the protein which I didn't buy as an extra yummy tasting meal, I had little energy in the gym and not building as much muscle as I should have been, I can either reduce the protein to one shake a day instead of two which would be a 115 calories 3 times a week an extra 345 calories a week can't mean much or just stop all extra protein completely.

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  • The one meal a day has been working out great until the additional protein, it's not a matter of believing in it, the reason I made the post is to whether or not I should drop the shakes which you are saying I should and get the protein from food instead, I really didn't think an extra 690 calories per week would add that much to weight gain but I could well be wrong.
    – Rick Sanchez
    Apr 30, 2018 at 11:42

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The issue here is that you are confusing weight loss and strength/muscle gain. Muscle is more dense than fat, so as you increase strength in the gym (aided by your increased protein intake), your body mass will increase through muscle tissue gain.

You may still be losing body fat, which I assume is your real objective here? People who start weight training and have an objective to "lose weight" often overlook that gaining muscle will offset fat loss when you step on the scales, but if you get out a tape measure and check your waist size you've probably gone down, i.e. you've "toned up".

Using body fat % on digital scales isn't as accurate as body calipers in an absolute sense, but for a relative change it is perfect - i.e. if your scales used to read 20% body fat and now they read 16% then you can be confident your body fat has gone down.

I think you need to be clear what your goals are from this? Do you actually want to lose weight (reduce your BMI/scale readouts), or do you want to lose body fat and increase muscle? Those two things are not the same.

Lastly, don't forget that your body is great at adapting to changes in calorie intake. In other words you will lose more weight in the first few weeks when you cut down on calories, then your body will adapt and your weight loss will naturally slow down. To continue losing weight at a constant rate you need to keep reducing your calorie intake each week to maintain a deficit in proportion to your mass.

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  • Cheers for the reply Will was gonna quit the protein, yes reduce fat gain muscle, I kinda said to myself the scales won't reflect my usual weight loss when I'm gaining muscle but first week was a 3 pound gain which apparently is impossible to gain in muscle, on average how much muscle weight can be got in a week?, I have been using fat burners also always lost 5 pounds weekly then the 3 pound gain and then last week lost 2 1/2 pounds when usually I loose 5.
    – Rick Sanchez
    Apr 30, 2018 at 20:03
  • Not sure on the science but I've read that 1 pound of lean muscle per week is the best you would expect (unless on steroids...). Part of that 3 pound gain may be the protein intake. Also I assume you weigh yourself at the same time each week, because I find my weight fluctuates by up to 1kg (2.2lbs) depending on when I hit the scales, so I always measure it once a week after the gym on Monday to ensure I get a consistent reading.
    – Will Appleby
    May 1, 2018 at 6:31
  • I will say that losing 5lbs a week sounds like a lot, and possibly not sustainable anyway. When I'm cutting I only expect to drop 1 - 2 lbs a week otherwise the risk is I'm not getting enough to maintain muscle mass, then it just offsets my gym work too much, so maybe you need to aim for a lower figure here.
    – Will Appleby
    May 1, 2018 at 6:34
  • I weigh myself Monday morning after a coffee and using the toilet might try after the gym instead, I noticed my boxer shorts are hanging of me a bit and so are my 32 inch jeans so using a ruler I'll measure from waist to my jeans to see what I'm loosing instead of the scales, thanks for all the info was going to stop the protein till I read your reply, back on track now.
    – Rick Sanchez
    May 1, 2018 at 15:35
  • If you're losing inches off your waist then it sounds like what you're doing is working, so just stick with it. To be honest the only reason I weigh myself at all is that I'm a competitive swimmer, so I'm trying to build strength in the gym without increasing my weight because this has a negative effect in the pool.
    – Will Appleby
    May 2, 2018 at 8:10

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