Help!

geelloyd

So I've been dieting for weeks. At the start, I was 8 stone 7 and my main goal was to get down to 8 stone 2. Some may comment and say it seems silly but if that's the weight I'm going to be happy at then I should! Anyway, upon dieting, I have shot up to 8 stone 10? I've been eating right with a few cheat days and hitting the gym twice a week. What am I doing wrong? Is there a certain food I should pass up?

tiptoethruthetulips

How many calories were you eating for you weight to increase? Were you measuring and weighing all your food?

misskarne

Wait. If I've done this conversion correctly, your starting weight was only 54kg?! How tall are you?

mads_o86

What works for me is to set the daily calorie goal at where it would be if I was at my target weight and not eat any calories back (because the measurements are over-stated anyway). So I'm 6'1 and at my target weight of 82 kg I need 1700 calories a day. So I'll eat 1700 calories a day, mostly from meat and vegetables (I love stews and home-made currys without the rice). With vegetables I can eat huge amounts without a lot of calories so I don't go hungry (a pound and a half of vegetables has maybe 150-300 calories depending on which ones). On top of that I do a lot of low pulse-rate exercise.

I read an interesting article about a top athletics coach who recommended people who lose weight to do lower intensity exercise because the body burns fat while exercising that way. It goes against everything I've ever learned as you burn way fewer calories that way and it's all about calories in vs. calories out. Well, not according to him. He says that if you are doing high intensity exercise you burn off carbohydrates which the body can replenish really easily, while low intensity exercise burns fat, which the body doesn't replenish easily.

Anyway, I've looked back at my training logs and found that when I've done a lot of running I've gained weight or at least not lost any, while when I've been doing a lot of walking the pounds have come off. So I quit my running program on May 1st (I was doing 20 miles a week) and have replaced it with 1-2 hour walks every day except every 3rd day I do half an hour of running. I'm losing about 2 pounds a week now.

geelloyd

[

misskarne wrote: »

Wait. If I've done this conversion correctly, your starting weight was only 54kg?! How tall are you?

I am 5'4

geelloyd

tiptoethruthetulips wrote: »

How many calories were you eating for you weight to increase? Were you measuring and weighing all your food?

Around 1300 as encouraged by the app. I had around 2 days a week where I went over due to stress eating. Do you think this had an impact? Also I drink lots of coffee and tea. Will caffeine impact it?

geelloyd

mads_o86 wrote: »

What works for me is to set the daily calorie goal at where it would be if I was at my target weight and not eat any calories back (because the measurements are over-stated anyway). So I'm 6'1 and at my target weight of 82 kg I need 1700 calories a day. So I'll eat 1700 calories a day, mostly from meat and vegetables (I love stews and home-made currys without the rice). With vegetables I can eat huge amounts without a lot of calories so I don't go hungry (a pound and a half of vegetables has maybe 150-300 calories depending on which ones). On top of that I do a lot of low pulse-rate exercise.

I read an interesting article about a top athletics coach who recommended people who lose weight to do lower intensity exercise because the body burns fat while exercising that way. It goes against everything I've ever learned as you burn way fewer calories that way and it's all about calories in vs. calories out. Well, not according to him. He says that if you are doing high intensity exercise you burn off carbohydrates which the body can replenish really easily, while low intensity exercise burns fat, which the body doesn't replenish easily.

Anyway, I've looked back at my training logs and found that when I've done a lot of running I've gained weight or at least not lost any, while when I've been doing a lot of walking the pounds have come off. So I quit my running program on May 1st (I was doing 20 miles a week) and have replaced it with 1-2 hour walks every day except every 3rd day I do half an hour of running. I'm losing about 2 pounds a week now.

Wow that's mad! I will take up what you said about low intensity exercise. I was running 3 miles on the treadmill at the gym before doing an hours toning exercises and I found myself coming home hungrier than when I did 2 miles walking as a warm up. Maybe not running would help. I will take that into consideration now and try to make a new fitness plan. Thanks for all the help!

Laurend224

You are already at the low-end of healthy weight for your height. With 5 lbs or so to lose, you will have to be really accurate with your food. Are you weighing food?

TimothyFish

geelloyd wrote: »

mads_o86 wrote: »

What works for me is to set the daily calorie goal at where it would be if I was at my target weight and not eat any calories back (because the measurements are over-stated anyway). So I'm 6'1 and at my target weight of 82 kg I need 1700 calories a day. So I'll eat 1700 calories a day, mostly from meat and vegetables (I love stews and home-made currys without the rice). With vegetables I can eat huge amounts without a lot of calories so I don't go hungry (a pound and a half of vegetables has maybe 150-300 calories depending on which ones). On top of that I do a lot of low pulse-rate exercise.

I read an interesting article about a top athletics coach who recommended people who lose weight to do lower intensity exercise because the body burns fat while exercising that way. It goes against everything I've ever learned as you burn way fewer calories that way and it's all about calories in vs. calories out. Well, not according to him. He says that if you are doing high intensity exercise you burn off carbohydrates which the body can replenish really easily, while low intensity exercise burns fat, which the body doesn't replenish easily.

Anyway, I've looked back at my training logs and found that when I've done a lot of running I've gained weight or at least not lost any, while when I've been doing a lot of walking the pounds have come off. So I quit my running program on May 1st (I was doing 20 miles a week) and have replaced it with 1-2 hour walks every day except every 3rd day I do half an hour of running. I'm losing about 2 pounds a week now.

Wow that's mad! I will take up what you said about low intensity exercise. I was running 3 miles on the treadmill at the gym before doing an hours toning exercises and I found myself coming home hungrier than when I did 2 miles walking as a warm up. Maybe not running would help. I will take that into consideration now and try to make a new fitness plan. Thanks for all the help!

This article claims the opposite: http://www.livestrong.com/article/362493-high-vs-low-intensity-for-fat-burning/ It says that high intensity exercise is the way to burn fat.

geelloyd

TimothyFish wrote: »

geelloyd wrote: »

mads_o86 wrote: »

What works for me is to set the daily calorie goal at where it would be if I was at my target weight and not eat any calories back (because the measurements are over-stated anyway). So I'm 6'1 and at my target weight of 82 kg I need 1700 calories a day. So I'll eat 1700 calories a day, mostly from meat and vegetables (I love stews and home-made currys without the rice). With vegetables I can eat huge amounts without a lot of calories so I don't go hungry (a pound and a half of vegetables has maybe 150-300 calories depending on which ones). On top of that I do a lot of low pulse-rate exercise.

I read an interesting article about a top athletics coach who recommended people who lose weight to do lower intensity exercise because the body burns fat while exercising that way. It goes against everything I've ever learned as you burn way fewer calories that way and it's all about calories in vs. calories out. Well, not according to him. He says that if you are doing high intensity exercise you burn off carbohydrates which the body can replenish really easily, while low intensity exercise burns fat, which the body doesn't replenish easily.

Anyway, I've looked back at my training logs and found that when I've done a lot of running I've gained weight or at least not lost any, while when I've been doing a lot of walking the pounds have come off. So I quit my running program on May 1st (I was doing 20 miles a week) and have replaced it with 1-2 hour walks every day except every 3rd day I do half an hour of running. I'm losing about 2 pounds a week now.

Wow that's mad! I will take up what you said about low intensity exercise. I was running 3 miles on the treadmill at the gym before doing an hours toning exercises and I found myself coming home hungrier than when I did 2 miles walking as a warm up. Maybe not running would help. I will take that into consideration now and try to make a new fitness plan. Thanks for all the help!

This article claims the opposite: http://www.livestrong.com/article/362493-high-vs-low-intensity-for-fat-burning/ It says that high intensity exercise is the way to burn fat.

I was thinking that. I heard that running and walking at intervals was the best way to burn fat. Running for 10 minutes, walking 5, running 10 isn't high intensity but apparently is the best way. Am I correct?

geelloyd

Laurend224 wrote: »

You are already at the low-end of healthy weight for your height. With 5 lbs or so to lose, you will have to be really accurate with your food. Are you weighing food?

When making smoothies for the gym or breakfast I am weighing it to ensure I am having the right amount of what I need. When it comes to dinner I don't usually weigh it as I usually have chicken, rice and salad

tiptoethruthetulips

At an already low weight, it may be that you do not have sufficient excess fat to lose. At this point, it generally isn't so much about 'diet' as such...but it may be about body recomp...need to focus on building lean body mass.

geelloyd

tiptoethruthetulips wrote: »

At an already low weight, it may be that you do not have sufficient excess fat to lose. At this point, it generally isn't so much about 'diet' as such...but it may be about body recomp...need to focus on building lean body mass.

How do I build lean body mass?