At my wit's end :[

BellaGowrie

Hey everyone :]

I've been struggling with my situation since about June and I don't know what I need to do to change stuff. I'm 19, 5'6 and 138 lbs at the minute, down from 156 and aiming for 126. Obviously I've been doing something right, but my weight loss stalled around June, when I came back from uni. I accepted I would eat more over the holidays to make up for not having much money for food as a student, so I was content with staying at maintenance, but I managed to lose 2 or 3 pounds over summer with a very active waitressing job.
Before June, I was eating roughly 1200-1300 calories plus exercise calories and I was losing just under a pound a week, but now I'm back at uni, that is making me starving and leading me to binge (-I'm not surprised, 1200 sounds wayyy too low for someone with my stats, right?). Portion control is not one of my strengths, and so I feel like a more attainable (and healthy) goal of between 1400 and 1500 calories would be more conducive to weight loss as I possibly won't feel so hungry. However, I'm slowly losing motivation because I'm so eager to get back on track after four months of next to no progress, and I still don't really know what I'm doing. In the past, eating 1500 hasn't really got me anywhere (I suspect I wasn't logging everything accurately enough), and anything less leaves me hungry all the time. I'm lightly active as a general rule, so my TDEE isn't massively high and doesn't leave me with enough calories to keep me full AND satisfy the odd craving. Without the best relationship with food, I feel like I need an objective opinion on what to do. Am I right in thinking I need to just stick at 1400-1500 for a good couple of months, log perfectly accurately and get used to being hungry/not being able to satisfy cravings again?

Thanks in advance :]


ETA: My diary is open but don't judge me on the past week - I've had an awful battle with food over the last few days

BellaGowrie

Bump :]

rightaboutmeow

Bump because I'm going through the same thing...haven't lost anything in months and it's making me start to binge because in my mind if I'm not losing then why am I still doing this? I need motivation and inspiration and advice.

Sophiareed218

About 1400 sounds right for weight loss. Just remember to eat low calorie bulky food to fill you up and you should have room for some indulgences as well As well as diet try to fit in at least light exercise.., even just a little walking. I don't recommend eating back the calories though. It can be trick to gauge how many you've actually burned. At your weight weigh loss will be slow so just focus on finding something that works for you that you can keep up.

BellaGowrie

Okay thanks for the advice! Yeah I do a lot of walking, and strength training when I get the chance, but as you say I don't eat back the calories for that reason :] Okay awesome, just got to keep going I guess!

keefmac

If you're not gaining then it's still good news!.

GulfcoastAL

This site calculator at www.freedieting.com has been helpful to me for comparing TDEE to MFP's way. I also have to eat protein about every 3 hours. My easiest go to foods: Greek yogurt , cottage cheese, ground flax seeds.

BellaGowrie

Yeah true, I have to remember to keep looking at the positives! Awesome, thanks for your advice, will check out that site :]

MeganDominique

Actually my start is similar to yours, my start weight was 162 lbs at 5'3 in feb. worked hard and got down to 155 and than bam nothing worked for me it was strange, realized my cals were to high and cut down to about 1300

However I recently stalled at 143-145 it would simply not budge. Turns out I really wasn't netting enough food after my workout calories ( I burn minimum 600+ normally in 58 minutes). So I went from eating 1200 calories to 1353 ( based on my tdee) + 30% of my workout calories back ( I have a hrm so its easy for me to be accurate there). I finally broke my plateau. I was eating not enough and was weak, often tired to.

As a fellow uni student, I understand completely. I suggest eating more calories 1400ish on days you do workout ( assuming you don't have a hrm) and 1300ish on days you don't hopefully you can break it ! Sometimes I also find if I stop lifting for a few days and focus on cardio itll break it as well. good luck!

socalkay

I ran your numbers and it looks like 1400 - 1500 is right range for losing approximately a half-pound per week. This is before exercise and trying for less than that at your current weight is likely to leave you feeling very hungry.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Just remember that 1400 calories of veggies, fruit, high-protein foods will leave you feeling much more full than 1400 calories of breads, rice, sugary stuff. While I believe in moderation rather than diets that restrict certain foods, I still have to be careful of what foods make up my calorie load for the day so I don't spend the whole day feeling hungry and cranky. You need to focus on your studies, not your growling tummy!

A good posts to read/bookmark:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/952996

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/872212

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242

BellaGowrie

Can't thank you guys enough for your inputs, great help and really got me feeling better :] Will make sure to give those threads a read, just got to keep at it and remind myself it will take time, it's just about consistency :]

kommodevaran

You may want to up your fat and protein and lower your carbs, for satiety. Your calories are all over the place, is that deliberate?

BellaGowrie

I'm trying to work that out, it's just I'm vegetarian and living on a serious budget with very little fridge space haha And recently I know they have been, it's not intentional, no, I've just been in a vicious cycle of binging and restricting, which is obviously a crap mindset. I've prelogged for the week coming up in an attempt to get a better diet, stay more full and get back on track with just sticking to my goal every day. What do you think of next week as a whole?

LauraPa1mer

From personal experience, and as kommodevaran suggested, increasing your fat intake as well as protein, really does work to keep you feeling full in a way that carbs do not. I know it's been said a million times but do make sure you're drinking lots of water because that will also help you feel full.

I do think it's better to work with a reasonable calorie intake because it's more sustainable.

kommodevaran

Prelogging is almost always good! It can help you stabilize your eating pattern (it helps me). I see quite a lot of biscuits, bars and sweets... how about replacing some of that with fruit and nuts? Try to never eat anything carb heavy without some protein, fat and fiber to offset the blood sugar spike->drop.

BellaGowrie

Okay I'll try and eat more fats, thanks for the advice :] Yeah I've been increasing my water too, I don't log it because it's a massive chore to remember how much I drink haha, but I get more than enough. And yeah I guess you're right, I should, but what do I do when I'm dying for something sweet / chocolate? Fruit is a hard one as I love it but I have about enough fridge space to keep a tub of grapes haha Will look into getting a couple of things that I could just keep in a makeshift fruit bowl haha. Also, I've recently stocked up on nuts but I'm reluctant to eat them often as the amount of calories just doesn't seem worth it for the volume, but since you guys have advised me that they might actually help me keep full, I'll add some in this week and see how I get on :]

Liftng4Lis

I only looked at the last four days and you were over on all of them. The closer you are to goal and the less you have to lose, the tighter that logging needs to get. You're eating more than you think.

BellaGowrie

Oh no I know I've been crap this week, I said that up there ^. I know I need to get back into a routine and I know I'm eating too much to lose, that's all fine. I'm just trying to work out the best way to find a sustainable routine is all, because that's why I've been over a lot in the last few weeks.

Remaking_Me

socalkay wrote: »

I ran your numbers and it looks like 1400 - 1500 is right range for losing approximately a half-pound per week. This is before exercise and trying for less than that at your current weight is likely to leave you feeling very hungry.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Just remember that 1400 calories of veggies, fruit, high-protein foods will leave you feeling much more full than 1400 calories of breads, rice, sugary stuff. While I believe in moderation rather than diets that restrict certain foods, I still have to be careful of what foods make up my calorie load for the day so I don't spend the whole day feeling hungry and cranky. You need to focus on your studies, not your growling tummy!

A good posts to read/bookmark:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/952996

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/872212

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242

Good information.........helps me too.
thanks!

socalkay

socalkay wrote: »

A good posts to read/bookmark:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/952996

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/872212

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242

Hi Bella -
Sorry, they changed the program for the forums a couple days ago and I just realized the links I put here don't go to the first page of the posts. Click back to page 1 of each post and read through the original posts.

BellaGowrie

Yeah no worries, made sure to read the OPs, thanks! :]