Losing very little weight and frustrated, I think I'm doing this wrong?

DeguelloTex

GeddesFit wrote: »

Find a BMR calculator online and find out what that is. You need to eat fewer calories then your BMR to lose weight. Shorter people have lower BMR's which means all weight loss usually takes place through activity and exercise. So for example if your BMR is 1300 and you are eating 1200 calories a day you only have a deficit of 100 and if you're only exercising 200 calories off you've got 300 calories burned per day which means it will take almost 2 weeks to lose 1 pound.

You don't need to eat less than BMR to lose weight. You need to eat less than TDEE.

lindamarg2807

Passing out regularly doesn't sound right - I would get a doctor check you out. In fact you shouldn't ever pass out - could be an iron deficiency. I think you're eating far too much if you're still putting on weight with all the dancing your doing - you should be stick thin on 1200 calories a day and doing all that exercise. On the days your not dancing you need to eat less. You need to weigh your food even if its the night before and take it with you. I walk 3 hours a day but don't dip into this exercise allowance when calculating what I eat each day. I am 5 feet 5 inches and try to keep under 1200 calories a day. Its not difficult if you don't have huge portions - I found that using a smaller plate really does work - its all in the brain. For example, if you eat a 25g bag of crisps, you feel quite satisfied by the end but on the other hand if you open one of those huge family sized bags you would just keep eating until you either feel ill or finish it. And lastly, the only way you can put on weight is by eating more calories than you burn, so if you are doing all that dancing and still putting on weight, you must be eating a lot of calories.

SLLRunner

Machka9 wrote: »

BWBTrish wrote: »

1200 Calories for a professional dancer?

In order to net 1200, when she dances she would add those exercise calories to that 1200. If she puts in a good couple hours at it, she might be able to eat 1600 cal (or maybe more, I'm not sure how much dancing burns), and still net 1200.

Right, but she would still net 1200 calories. That does not seem like enough for a professional dancer.

Also, she only has 29 pounds to lose. That's not much at all, so a goal of a half pound a week is reasonable.

tincanonastring wrote: »

volcanogoddessan wrote: »

What would I do on the days I don't dance then? 1200 calories still isn't enough food for me to get through the day. I try to estimate the amount I eat and use measuring cups for sides and such, I don't have the time or ability to weigh everything I eat. What other stats would be helpful?

So, if you set your activity level as highly active because your a dancer, your dancing is already part of your calorie goal. You're better off setting yourself as lightly active so you can enter the exercise calories on the day you dance and leave it alone on the days you don't.

A food scale that tares is actually easier than measuring with cups and spoons. It's also the only way to know(ish) how many calories you're consuming. At your height, you don't have a lot of wiggle room, so it's important for you to be as accurate with your logging as possible. A food scale will give you that level of precision.

ETA: Could you make your food diary public? It might be helpful to see how you're logging your food.

This as well.

@Volcanogoddessan, it's important to know how much you are eating.

SLLRunner

volcanogoddessan wrote: »

I didn't say professional, I didn't mean to confuse anyone, I don't get paid, I dance in the top category of competitive dancing. I have 3 two hours classes a week, one 4 hour class, a 3 hour lesson and an hour of practice in the days I don't have class. As well as the usual core workouts and strengthening exercises(which don't burn any calories). I also work about 30+ hours a week so I have a very busy schedule. I know most of the girls I dance with eat 2000+ calories a day just to maintain their body weight so that's why I'm so frustrated over not losing weight. I can't figure out how to enter any logs in but an example of a day for me might be Breakfast: a cup of lowfat yogurt with 1/4 cup granola and 7 or 8 blueberries or 2 sliced strawberries. Lunch: either a nature valley granola bar( I know they are high in calories but often it's all I have time for) and if I'm at work a subway club with tomatoes, peppers, and lettuce. Dinner: grilled chicken breast with 2 or 3 small potatoes. If anyone can come up with a good( but also manageable) alternative to something around that idea that would be great. I tried to eat more fruit as snacks as opposed to eating the granola bar for lunch but I found I was always so hungry I'd end up eating both, I also could use a good portable alternative to the nature valley bars.

The point is you need to eat more than 1200

mrssabre113 wrote: »

It is possible to lose without a scale! I have lost almost 16lbs in 70 days, 5 feet 135lbs down from 156. You have to be very very honest about the portion sizes. Put your settings to sedentary and to lose 1lb per week. Only enter you workouts, dancing, jogging, swiming, walking etc and be very honest about how long worked out. Don't log you work or cleaning, that is normal daily activity. Only eat back a portion of your burned calories. Pick healthy small meals and snacks and in the morning plan what you are going to eat for that day (that what you won't find yourself eating high calories foods). 1200 calories a day is possible if you plan your meals.

You're right, plenty of people lose weight without logging food and exercise. But, the point is that she says she is not losing at 1200, which is not scientifically based. Therefore, she is eating more.

To suggest that it's okay for her to lose at 1200 with her activity level is bad advice.

SLLRunner

mrssabre113 wrote: »

BWBTrish wrote: »

but 1200 is not healthy for a competitive dancer!!!
Its too low and you lose muscle!

That is why I said eat back a portion of what you burn from working out. If she's burning 500 calories per hour of dance for example, she could very well eat back 300-400 of that and still be in under her calories. That gives her room for a decent sandwich after a one hour dance class.

Again that's why I said eat back a portion of her burned calories. But 1200 for her size, pretty dang close to my stats and what I eat, is fine.

If she takes a 3 hour class, burns 500 per hour, for a total of 1500 calories burned. Add 1000 of those burned calories to her 1200, she can eat 2200 that day. That should be plenty to fuel her dance. I used to dance and I know how much you burn and how much a dancer eats.

But, even if she eats back her calories, she would be netting 1200. That's not good.

She needs to net more than 1200 calories.

BWBTrish

lindamarg2807 wrote: »

Passing out regularly doesn't sound right - I would get a doctor check you out. In fact you shouldn't ever pass out - could be an iron deficiency. I think you're eating far too much if you're still putting on weight with all the dancing your doing - you should be stick thin on 1200 calories a day and doing all that exercise. On the days your not dancing you need to eat less. You need to weigh your food even if its the night before and take it with you. I walk 3 hours a day but don't dip into this exercise allowance when calculating what I eat each day. I am 5 feet 5 inches and try to keep under 1200 calories a day. Its not difficult if you don't have huge portions - I found that using a smaller plate really does work - its all in the brain. For example, if you eat a 25g bag of crisps, you feel quite satisfied by the end but on the other hand if you open one of those huge family sized bags you would just keep eating until you either feel ill or finish it. And lastly, the only way you can put on weight is by eating more calories than you burn, so if you are doing all that dancing and still putting on weight, you must be eating a lot of calories.

the point is
In what she described as her schedule...she is an athletic
And athletics dont eat that low, not even at "4,11 inch

When you train that much you need your carbs
You will want to retain muscles and build it up even
You will want and have to fuel your body to keep this whole performance up and the body going.

She need a very balanced diet done by a specialist and she need to weigh her food on a scale so she knows what she eats and get.
She needs a doctor for her fainting

She dont classify for the normal weight loss journey that most of us travel here...

But what do i know after all. Trained and coached athletics for over 30 years...Seems nowadays that athletics suddenly dont need to fuel their body anymore and muscle maintaining ( not even building because she eats in deficit) is not needed anymore. And just hop on the weight loss train to lose weight.
i must be getting old.

volcanogoddessan

I appreciate everybody that has left helpful replies, I have switched my information to sedentary and am going to continue logging my exercise that way it's not counted twice. I am going to ask my doctor about possibly seeing a nutritionist to help me work out a better schedule, I have always had issues with both low blood sugar and blood pressure which is why I have a tendency to pass out without enough food and/or water. I have always combatted this by eating snacks throughout the day to combat dizziness and I was able to do that and stay very thin until just a few years ago, I understand your metabolism slows down as you get older so I am trying to compensate for that. I have no desire to post my logs as public since I have already recieved rude comments about this post, I came here expecting a helpful community with a common goal and I appreciate those of you who met my expectations, thank you for your help.

Machka9

volcanogoddessan wrote: »

I appreciate everybody that has left helpful replies, I have switched my information to sedentary and am going to continue logging my exercise that way it's not counted twice. I am going to ask my doctor about possibly seeing a nutritionist to help me work out a better schedule, I have always had issues with both low blood sugar and blood pressure which is why I have a tendency to pass out without enough food and/or water. I have always combatted this by eating snacks throughout the day to combat dizziness and I was able to do that and stay very thin until just a few years ago, I understand your metabolism slows down as you get older so I am trying to compensate for that. I have no desire to post my logs as public since I have already recieved rude comments about this post, I came here expecting a helpful community with a common goal and I appreciate those of you who met my expectations, thank you for your help.

That sounds like a great idea. A good nutritionist should be able to give you some helpful advice with your dance schedule in mind.

And I'm so sorry you've encountered rude people here ... unfortunately there are some. I always think that perhaps they're just "hanrgy".

erimethia_fekre

Everyone can only guess. You need to make your diary open so we can pick through your diet in order to give you a straight answer. It could be as simple as too much sugar or not enough fat/protein... Too many variables