I THINK I'm putting in a good effort...but maybe I'm not

LouiseSando2015

Hi everyone. I'm brand new here and thought I would introduce myself and ask for some advice please.

I am a 42 year old woman with 3 young children. I am 168cms tall (5ft6) and currently 77.2kgs and am hoping to lose approx 15kgs to get back down to my healthy weight range (and what was previously my "norm" before being diagnosed with an auto immune disease just over a year ago that has destroyed my thyroid leaving me with an underactive thyroid). The docs are still trying to get the medication right and I am still presently in the underactive range, which means I do tire probably earlier and easier than most woman my age.

I am determined to shift this weight tho. It just doesn't feel like me and my self esteem is pretty low.

Last Friday I started Diet Chef. All my meals and snacks have been delivered to my door and so far I'm enjoying my allowance of 1,200 calories per day.

I resolved to get back on my (somewhat neglected and dusty) treadmill. Going to a gym or class is not an option for me as I'm a single mum. So, this week, treadmill it is, after I get the kids to bed at 8pm.

Am I doing enough? I'm currently (5 days in) doing 35 minutes (5 of those are warm up/warm down) at a very fast walk. Any faster and I'd be running. I get of afterwards feeling like I've done a massive workout, but actually reading what you guys are doing and I'm thinking that perhaps it's pretty feeble. I have a bit of practical limitation in that I live in a small terrace house with a particularly nasty neighbour on one side who complains about everything. ...so I don't want to be on the machine too late or too early or for too long. But is 35 mins per night going to do much for me?

Also, I can only manage 2 sets of 20 sit ups and 10 push ups. This all nearly kills me. BUT I really would like advice on the very best exercise for getting rid of my horrid excess fat around my tummy. It's a very big muffin top and is definitely my problem area.

I guess my overall question (for those still reading lol) is am I making the best use of the limited time, energy and window of opportunity to best serve the purpose of losing weight and shredding of the blobby belly?

LouiseSando2015

Sorry that was so long

SueInAz

First of all, understand that you do not need to exercise to lose weight. That said, the fact that you want to exercise is fabulous because it is good for your overall health and fitness.

Losing weight is solely about eating less calories than you burn. Since you are only eating 1200 calories per day on your Diet Chef plan, you really shouldn't be doing a lot of exercise without eating additional calories so 35 minutes on the treadmill is probably just about perfect. I also need to say that being able to do 10 pushups is not feeble at all. Keep doing them and you'll be able to do more but it's a very good start! In fact, I'd highly suggest more strength training rather than more cardio work. Strength training will help you to maintain more muscle mass while you lose pounds and will help ensure that more of the weight you lose is from fat.

As far as your muffin top.... you can't choose which areas of your body will lose fat. Your genetics are going to determine that for you. Look at other women in your family. Where do they carry their weight? Chances are, that's where yours is going to hang on stubbornly, too. All you can do is lose fat by losing weight and eventually everything will shrink, some areas will just be slower about it than others.

Cherimoose

Fat loss is from a calorie deficit, which is mostly from reducing calorie intake. Exercise for fitness. Fitness happens slowly, so put a good effort in each workout and leave it at that. Doing too much too soon leads to injuries. Don't compare yourself to others who may be farther along the journey.

Also, fat loss can't be targeted. For more on that, google "spot reduction myth". Follow a full-body strength program for best results, not just abs & pushups. If you have minimal equipment, try the Nerd Fitness beginner program.

Karen_can_do_this

I think you're doing great! I'm hoping that you'll start logging and weighing and measuring food from your kitchen as you get more confident.
It's great that you're enjoying the food they bring you. But is that sustainable for the long term?

You'll be told many times that you can't spot reduce. This means that the weight will come off where IT wants to, not where YOU want it to. But over time and after lowering your bodyfat levels you'll start to see results.

Weight loss begins in the kitchen. But exercise does wonders for us

editorgrrl

LouiseSando2015 wrote: »

I am a 42 year old woman. I am 168cms tall (5'6") and 77.2kgs (169 lbs.), and am hoping to lose approx 15kgs (30 lbs.) after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease just over a year ago that has destroyed my thyroid.

Exercise for fitness; log to lose weight. I have Hashimoto's (autoimmune thyroid disease), and I lost the weight just like everybody else—by eating fewer calories than I burn. Learn to log everything you eat & drink accurately & honestly. Logging works.

I lost the weight long before my thyroid levels ever entered the "normal" range by following the advice in the Sexypants post: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

You don't need to eat special food to lose weight—you just need to eat less. And eating 1,200 calories won't get you to goal any more quickly. To lose 15kg (30 lbs.), set your goal no higher than 1 lb. per week. (I think that's .5kg?) Log your exercise, and eat back at least 50% of your exercise calories. Your deficit is already built into your MFP calorie goal.

LouiseSando2015

editorgrrl wrote: »

LouiseSando2015 wrote: »

I am a 42 year old woman with 3 young children. I am 168cms tall (5ft6) and currently 77.2kgs and am hoping to lose approx 15kgs to get back down to my healthy weight range (and what was previously my "norm" before being diagnosed with an auto immune disease just over a year ago that has destroyed my thyroid.

Exercise for fitness; log to lose weight. I have Hashimoto's (autoimmune thyroid disease), and I lost the weight just like everybody else—by eating fewer calories than I burn. Learn to log everything you eat & drink accurately & honestly. Logging works.

I lost the weight long before my thyroid levels ever entered the "normal" range by following the advice in the Sexypants post: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

I have Hashimotos too!! I don't suppose we could be friends could we? It's comforting to hear that the old fashioned way will still work as I must admit I feared I might have been fighting a losing battle. Thanks everyone for your advice so far. I'm so glad I found this site xx

LivingtheLeanDream

You're doing great any exercise is better than nothing.

Your fitness will improve so that you'll find you can do more (if you have time)...but as others have already said, eating at deficit is what causes weight loss.

Exercise is great for health/Fitness - you'll reap loads pf benefits from it: increased energy, increased stamina, increased confidence, feel good factor and you'll develop muscles you didn't even know you had (yes, even by just fast walking on that tredmill)

Keep up the good work and you'll be chuffed to bits with the results

christch

Take it easy on yourself, trying to survive with underactive thyroid and doing everything else is hard work. Until your meds are sorted you will still feel exhausted and it takes time. I have had underactive thyroid and on meds. Even now when it gets to top of normal range (i am better at low levels) I feel awful. You will find exercise does help and eating a well balanced diet. All the best.

spzjlb

The exercise you describe will help you keep at a calorie deficit. It will also help you get stronger and feel better about yourself. If you do those few minutes every day, you will absolutely notice a difference, assuming you stick to your diet.

Fyi - I'm 5ft 4in and 50 yrs old, and I targeted 1250 cals per day (before exercise) for well over 6 months to lose 20-25 lbs and then slowly increased calories towards maintenance. For some, that's a very low number of calories, but I did fine as do many other smaller, older women on MFP. Good luck.

editorgrrl

spzjlb wrote: »

I'm 5ft 4in and 50 yrs old, and I targeted 1250 cals per day (before exercise) for well over 6 months to lose 20-25 lbs and then slowly increased calories towards maintenance. For some, that's a very low number of calories, but I did fine as do many other smaller, older women on MFP.

I'm older & small, and I eat way more than 1,250 calories. Food is fuel, and we should all be looking for the maximum number of calories at which we lose weight—never the minimum.

A safe, sustainable loss is .5 lb. per week for every 25 lbs. you're overweight. Faster than that, you lose lean body mass (muscle) in addition to fat.

middlehaitch

You are doing great.
As soon as your contract is up with Diet Chef, work out your calorie needs on mfp, ( include exercise calories) .5-1 lb a week would be good, then start making your own food, or reorder with the correct calories. 1200 sounds a little aggressive to me.

Nerdfitness.com was mentioned earlier, it is the body weight programme I started with, and still use. You can do modified versions of all the exercises, and less reps and sets, then work towards doing the complete programme. It took me months I was so out of shape.
There is no noise involved so your neighbour will be kept happy.

Cheers, h.

OsricTheKnight

I post this a lot because I am such a huge fan of tracking weight via an average instead of looking at the scale ... if you use a site like trendweight.com it'll show you your real trend in spite of scale weights that look like you're making no progress.

It'll also tell you how you're doing calorie deficit wise so that you can see that eating 1200/day is definitely going to cause you to lose weight and continue to lose weight.

Here's my chart:



And my current projection:

You are losing 1.5 lbs/week of total weight.
You are burning 768 cal/day more than you eat.

I find this very motivational, hope it helps you.

Osric

LouiseSando2015

Thank you everyone for the info. So many knowledgeable people on here. Thanks also for the references to outside links

SueInAz

editorgrrl wrote: »

spzjlb wrote: »

I'm 5ft 4in and 50 yrs old, and I targeted 1250 cals per day (before exercise) for well over 6 months to lose 20-25 lbs and then slowly increased calories towards maintenance. For some, that's a very low number of calories, but I did fine as do many other smaller, older women on MFP.

I'm older & small, and I eat way more than 1,250 calories. Food is fuel, and we should all be looking for the maximum number of calories at which we lose weight—never the minimum.

A safe, sustainable loss is .5 lb. per week for every 25 lbs. you're overweight. Faster than that, you lose lean body mass (muscle) in addition to fat.

Don't assume. She did say "1250 before exercise" so chances are she's eating a couple hundred more calories than that every day. I'm actually about the same height and weight as this poster and my goal calories are set at 1280. My BMR is just over 1200 and my TDEE around 1570. I sit at a desk for a 9 hour workday (no lunch break) and take online classes at home at night. I'm basically sedentary without a couple of walk breaks and my 45-60 minutes of exercise each day. I generally eat around 1500 calories per day and I'm losing closer to 1/4 pound per week than 1/2.

JodieP13

I think 'start where you start'. Your body will tell you when it's ready for more. Don't push it too hard now or you'll quit and never go back. Celebrate the little victories.