SO FRUSTRATED!
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Ok. I didn't say I've always logged consistently! LOL. Just lately. No, I don't weigh my fruits or foods that are prepackaged such as bread slices. But I do buy the tiniest bananas and apples that I can find so they have to be pretty close to accurate. I actually am not starving all the time now that I am doing the shakes. They keep my very full. I WAS starving all the them when I was eating 1200-1400 calories a day and eating real food. Those entries you see that say "salad" or "crock pot BBQ chicken" are recipes that I have created using MFP and yes, I do measure and weigh all the ingredients that I use and the I portion it out evenly to determine the see in sizes.
Now I'm more interested in these people who are losing or maintaining at such a high calorie intake. I want to know your secrets!
Not a lot of secrets here. My diary is open. I am far from a clean eater and like I said, I don't weigh my food, but I never hit an unexplained plateau either. I drink wine almost every day. I was never a snacker, binge eater, emotional eater, or volume eater. I just ate too much of a lot of things and didn't move much. I've lost about 30 lbs on MFP. My exercise is either walking, some fairly basic circuit training with 5-8 lb dumbbells, or hiking when I can. I average 14,000 steps/day. I have a desk job, but I don't sit down much other than when I'm at work, unless I'm eating dinner or about 1 hour before bed.
I have been wanting to start real strength training, looking into a program like Stronglifts or NROLFW. I just keep putting it off, but now that I'm not really losing anymore (on purpose), I think recomp and/or some strength goals would do me good to keep me motivated.
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Ok. I didn't say I've always logged consistently! LOL. Just lately. No, I don't weigh my fruits or foods that are prepackaged such as bread slices. But I do buy the tiniest bananas and apples that I can find so they have to be pretty close to accurate. I actually am not starving all the time now that I am doing the shakes. They keep my very full. I WAS starving all the them when I was eating 1200-1400 calories a day and eating real food. Those entries you see that say "salad" or "crock pot BBQ chicken" are recipes that I have created using MFP and yes, I do measure and weigh all the ingredients that I use and the I portion it out evenly to determine the see in sizes.
Now I'm more interested in these people who are losing or maintaining at such a high calorie intake. I want to know your secrets!
Not a lot of secrets here. My diary is open. I am far from a clean eater and like I said, I don't weigh my food, but I never hit an unexplained plateau either. I drink wine almost every day. I was never a snacker, binge eater, emotional eater, or volume eater. I just ate too much of a lot of things and didn't move much. I've lost about 30 lbs on MFP. My exercise is either walking, some fairly basic circuit training with 5-8 lb dumbbells, or hiking when I can. I average 14,000 steps/day. I have a desk job, but I don't sit down much other than when I'm at work, unless I'm eating dinner or about 1 hour before bed.
I have been wanting to start real strength training, looking into a program like Stronglifts or NROLFW. I just keep putting it off, but now that I'm not really losing anymore (on purpose), I think recomp and/or some strength goals would do me good to keep me motivated.
Me either...My diary is open as well.
I don't eat clean, you will see a chocolate bar every night usually, McDonalds, Tim's coffee, alcohol, chips etc.
I do weigh my food, I eat 3 meals a day and a snack before exercise (usually yogurt) and a treat at night.
I exercise typically 6 days a week. Usually 2 workouts a day...not long ones tho. Total time is typically less than an hour.
I lift heavy weights 4x a week, I run 3x a week on non leg days and walk other days I am not running. I typically get in 8500 steps before exercise, typically 12-16k with, just living life through the week and usually 20k on weekends playing in my gardens, getting groceries etc.
I was at maintenance for 9 months and went on holidays and got over my 5lb comfort zone so doing another cut for that weight plus an extra bit to see how I feel at 140.
Looking to recomp over the winter.
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Ok, but can we agree that based on my recent diary entries I COULD possibly be off by maybe 200-300 calories at most and even if I was, I would still only be eating 1300 calories a day max. Take away the exercise (which I don't always
Log because I don't use the extra calories anyway) and I'm still netting 1000 or less calories a day. I should still be losing weight. Right?0 -
Ok, but can we agree that based on my recent diary entries I COULD possibly be off by maybe 200-300 calories at most and even if I was, I would still only be eating 1300 calories a day max. Take away the exercise (which I don't always
Log because I don't use the extra calories anyway) and I'm still netting 1000 or less calories a day. I should still be losing weight. Right?
I'm not sure, did we ever get other details from you such as your TDEE and what type of exercise you are doing?
I personally think you are eating more than you think, but I don't know if I have enough information to gauge your margin of error from the not weighing the food to say it is at most off by 200-300 cals.
What answer are you looking for here? You've gotten advice on what to do: stop with the shakes, set a reasonable deficit, weigh and measure all your foods, eat a decent amount of protein, log EVERYTHING, eat back a portion of your exercise.
You lost 75 lbs at one point. Why are you so focused on shoulda coulda woulda right now?
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Personally, I think your calories are too low. There's a whole lot of arguments on this site that talk about what happens to your body when you consume too few calories.
If it were me... I'd try an experiment. Set calories to 1200 at minimum and start incorporating strength training exercises. Even if they're bodyweight exercises, or weight added with dumbbells. If you can go the barbell / heavy weight route, great, but not everyone can.
Take measurements of waist, bust, hips, thighs, biceps, calves before you start.
Avoid the scale for a few weeks (since you'll see a weight spike from the muscles retaining water to repair themselves).
I saw a lot of progress in my strength just by adding in planks, pushups, bodyweight squats, running stairs (or doing stair stepups).
As you add strength, if you are in a bit of a surplus - that won't be a bad thing because some will go toward muscle growth. As you add muscle, your calorie maintenance limit will increase. Your weight may not hit goal, but will fit your clothes much better.
For me... I went from 185 to 175 - only ten pounds... but that also equaled 6 dress sizes.
I'd take the dress sizes over the number any day.
I'm now closer to 165 and a size 5/6; whereas I used to be 185 and a snug 12/14.0 -
Once you get your calories figure,(what exactly you are eating calorie wise), you definitely need to eat more and more protein, you are losing a lot of muscle weight (skinny fat) and your going to mess up your metabolism too.
What kind of exercises are you doing??0 -
I think I eat a lot of protein! Egg whites, tuna, nuts, the shakes! I do mostly group classes such as Zumba, Insanity, Body Pump, and Kickboxing. I also run 5K's, walk almost daily and recently started hiking about once a week. I also lift weights occasionally0
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I think I eat a lot of protein! Egg whites, tuna, nuts, the shakes! I do mostly group classes such as Zumba, Insanity, Body Pump, and Kickboxing. I also run 5K's, walk almost daily and recently started hiking about once a week. I also lift weights occasionally
I eat a min of 113 grams a day...take your body weight and x 0.8 and that's how much protein you should strive for so you don't lose muscle mass...along with resistance training.
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You say you do strength training.
A are you gaining a lot of muscle?
Muscle is denser than fat.0 -
bcalvanese wrote: »You say you do strength training.
A are you gaining a lot of muscle?
Muscle is denser than fat.
No....the amount of protein she is eating, which is not much, she is not gaining muscle.0 -
KristenMarie1181 wrote: »I am not gonna read all the replies but question. Have you checked your BMI lately? Your muscle mass index as well? You do know that muscle does weigh more then fat. Maybe you have more muscle then fat..
Also drink lots of water! I see people don't even drink water. Water cleans your system out!
You do not gain muscle unless you are deliberately trying to gain muscle.
And no.. a pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat.
Why do people keep saying this?
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MireyGal76 wrote: »Personally, I think your calories are too low. There's a whole lot of arguments on this site that talk about what happens to your body when you consume too few calories.
If it were me... I'd try an experiment. Set calories to 1200 at minimum and start incorporating strength training exercises. Even if they're bodyweight exercises, or weight added with dumbbells. If you can go the barbell / heavy weight route, great, but not everyone can.
Take measurements of waist, bust, hips, thighs, biceps, calves before you start.
Avoid the scale for a few weeks (since you'll see a weight spike from the muscles retaining water to repair themselves).
I saw a lot of progress in my strength just by adding in planks, pushups, bodyweight squats, running stairs (or doing stair stepups).
As you add strength, if you are in a bit of a surplus - that won't be a bad thing because some will go toward muscle growth. As you add muscle, your calorie maintenance limit will increase. Your weight may not hit goal, but will fit your clothes much better.
For me... I went from 185 to 175 - only ten pounds... but that also equaled 6 dress sizes.
I'd take the dress sizes over the number any day.
I'm now closer to 165 and a size 5/6; whereas I used to be 185 and a snug 12/14.
^^ This is really really good advice
and @MireyGal76 holy cow lady look how amazing your back looks!! wow!!!
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bcalvanese wrote: »You say you do strength training.
A are you gaining a lot of muscle?
Muscle is denser than fat.
No....the amount of protein she is eating, which is not much, she is not gaining muscle.
I was asking because she mentioned that she did strength training. Muscular strength training (more weight less reps) will build muscle mass (bulk). I know muscle does not weigh more than fat, but it is denser than fat which means if you had the same size piece of muscle and the same size piece of fat, the piece of muscle would weigh more than the piece of fat. This means if she is losing fat and gaining muscle and her frame is the same size she may be maintaining the same weight or even gaining a little.
But maybe things have changed since my days as a fitness trainer in the army.0 -
bcalvanese wrote: »bcalvanese wrote: »You say you do strength training.
A are you gaining a lot of muscle?
Muscle is denser than fat.
No....the amount of protein she is eating, which is not much, she is not gaining muscle.
I was asking because she mentioned that she did strength training. Muscular strength training (more weight less reps) will build muscle mass (bulk). I know muscle does not weigh more than fat, but it is denser than fat which means if you had the same size piece of muscle and the same size piece of fat, the piece of muscle would weigh more than the piece of fat. This means if she is losing fat and gaining muscle and her frame is the same size she may be maintaining the same weight or even gaining a little.
But maybe things have changed since my days as a fitness trainer in the army.
She is at a severe deficit. She is often netting less than 1000 cals a day because she isn't eating back her exercise cals. There is NO WAY she is gaining muscle. She may be strengthening the muscles she has, but there is no way she's getting any new gains, let alone enough to be noticeable on the scale.0 -
I agree...she can't be gaining muscle on 1000 calories a day.
What about this. Just do maintenance for awhile. Stop the dieting and just let your body get use to this weight for awhile. It will also give you a break from the stress of constantly low calorie eating everyday. Do that for 3-4 months and then hit it hard again.0 -
I agree...she can't be gaining muscle on 1000 calories a day.
What about this. Just do maintenance for awhile. Stop the dieting and just let your body get use to this weight for awhile. It will also give you a break from the stress of constantly low calorie eating everyday. Do that for 3-4 months and then hit it hard again.
Fair advice. I may try this. Thank you!
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MireyGal76 wrote: »Personally, I think your calories are too low. There's a whole lot of arguments on this site that talk about what happens to your body when you consume too few calories.
If it were me... I'd try an experiment. Set calories to 1200 at minimum and start incorporating strength training exercises. Even if they're bodyweight exercises, or weight added with dumbbells. If you can go the barbell / heavy weight route, great, but not everyone can.
Take measurements of waist, bust, hips, thighs, biceps, calves before you start.
Avoid the scale for a few weeks (since you'll see a weight spike from the muscles retaining water to repair themselves).
I saw a lot of progress in my strength just by adding in planks, pushups, bodyweight squats, running stairs (or doing stair stepups).
As you add strength, if you are in a bit of a surplus - that won't be a bad thing because some will go toward muscle growth. As you add muscle, your calorie maintenance limit will increase. Your weight may not hit goal, but will fit your clothes much better.
For me... I went from 185 to 175 - only ten pounds... but that also equaled 6 dress sizes.
I'd take the dress sizes over the number any day.
I'm now closer to 165 and a size 5/6; whereas I used to be 185 and a snug 12/14.
^^ This is really really good advice
and @MireyGal76 holy cow lady look how amazing your back looks!! wow!!!
Thank you! I'm pretty happy with it! :flowerforyou:0 -
I agree...she can't be gaining muscle on 1000 calories a day.
What about this. Just do maintenance for awhile. Stop the dieting and just let your body get use to this weight for awhile. It will also give you a break from the stress of constantly low calorie eating everyday. Do that for 3-4 months and then hit it hard again.
Fair advice. I may try this. Thank you!
Just to warn you, it can be hard to go back into a deficit! Or at least it has been for me. I decided to ease into maintenance with 2 pounds to go, and instead came to a complete stop, and am now trying to get back into a deficit after 3 months to lose the last couple pounds, and finding it extremely hard for some reason.
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Several people asked me what my TDEE was. I didn't even know what that meant. I googled it and used two different online calculators. Inputting the same info in both, one said it was 1963 calories and one said it was 2228 calories. How do I know which is correct and what does it really mean anyway? Also what is BMR? I saw that one one of the sites and it said mine was 1383 or something like that.0
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Several people asked me what my TDEE was. I didn't even know what that meant. I googled it and used two different online calculators. Inputting the same info in both, one said it was 1963 calories and one said it was 2228 calories. How do I know which is correct and what does it really mean anyway? Also what is BMR? I saw that one one of the sites and it said mine was 1383 or something like that.
Your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is an estimate of how many calories you'd burn if you were to do nothing but rest for 24 hours. It represents the minimum amount of energy needed to keep your body functioning, including breathing and keeping your heart beating.
So that is the BARE minimum calories you want to consume.
http://dailyburn.com/life/health/how-to-calculate-bmr/
This explains it well.0
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