Need advice on caloric intake

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arizona2012
arizona2012 Posts: 13 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hello

I have rejoined MFP to loose the weight I have regained since last log on (8 lbs). I am looking for guidance on caloric intake. Let me tell you about myself and perhaps one of you could help guide me on my journey to loosing this weigh once and for all!

I have struggled with keeping my weight in check my entire life! I am a 57 year old women who currently works full time as a healthcare administrator. I am not very active during the course of my day. My work days are long (9-10 hrs) and are more mentally stressful than physical. Many nights I take home work due the next day.

I am 5 feet tall and weigh 133 lbs. My initial goal is to be 110 lbs again (but I will settle for 115).

I do not have any real health issues other than menopause which has really impacted my ability to loose weight. I take daily vitamins, bioidentical hormone replacements, and a probiotic. I have no food allergies that I am aware of.

My morning routine (at least 5 days/week) includes walking on my treadmill (3.0-3.4mph) for approx 30. I also do a 45 min yoga DVD at least once per week.

Every weekend, I take care of my elder mom for approx 2-6 hours, who resides in an assisted living facility about 40 minutes from my home.

Last fall, I completed my MSN online! I am currently studying for certification in Leadership and management. The sedentary life of a student attributed to my weight gain.

Anyone have any advice regarding my caloric intake? What should my percentage of Carbs, protein, and fat be daily?

I would like to see at least 1-2 lb weight loss per week. How often should I weigh myself. I have been weighing daily only to see me go up and down with the same 3-5 lbs.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

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  • Tooder
    Tooder Posts: 6 Member
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    Every piece of advice out there is with such a small amount to lose, you should aim for a very slow loss of .5 pound per week. That would be a deficit of about 300 calories per day according to your metabolism. So if you maintain at 1800 then 1500 would do it. That is including exercise calories earned back.
  • arizona2012
    arizona2012 Posts: 13 Member
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    HI Todder

    I took your advice and have tried to keep my diet approx. 300 calories less than my maintenance calorie allotment (1200-1400). This however brings me to a daily caloric intake of 900-1100. I can accomplish this on most days of the week, but was still hungry most days so would sneak up to 1200-1300/day to be satisfied. Most everywhere I read and FMP states that I am not taking in enough calories and in starvation mode. This would make sense as I have played with the same 5-6 lbs for the last 5-6 months. Perhaps I am not eating the correct foods? At 58 years old, 5 ft tall, I would like to loose at least 20 lbs. total (now 135lbs)

    I think the only thing I can do is increase my activity. To do this I need to make a serious commitment to myself in order to reorganize my time in order to do this. I am a morning person and this past week I got up an hour earlier (4:30a) to walk/run on my treadmill or exercise to a 30 min DVD. After the fourth day, I found I was so exhausted I was unable to sustain it.

    This week I will only plan to get up early three days only instead of everyday. On the days I do not exercise in the morning I will try to do something active in the afternoon. I do a yoga class (at work) but it only meets once pre week (a 75 min class).

    Any advice to what I should do to increase my activity? I hate the cold weather and it get's dark early in New England so I do not go outside at all this time of year. I have become a couch potato after supper and most of my hobbies are sedentary. Most of the gyms near me are for a younger crowd and are not very friendly (I have previously been a member at most of them at one time or another.)

    Marla

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