Hard work not paying off

jlkcmk

luluinca wrote: »

Here are a couple of other reasons why 1000 calories is really not sustainable or particularly healthy.

For one, you may lose 20 lbs or so and then reach a plateau, we all seem to at some point. We've lost weight and our bodies require even fewer calories now in order to lose. What will you do then, eat 800 calories per day? Would that scare you a little in regards to your general health as it's very dangerous for someone as tall as you and even someone considerably smaller? Or would you try to exercise more to get your body losing again? Do you think you'd have the energy to exercise more with that few calories?

Here's another reason, and I see it all the time on my newsfeed, especially from women eating 1200 calories or less. It leads to binge eating. And then all your restrictions and adherence go out the window and you actually gain some of the weight back. It becomes a vicious cycle. I don't recommend it.

It's much more sensible to eat enough to fuel your workouts so you can get stronger at the same time you're losing weight slowly. It's a way that seems to last for many of us who are on maintenance now.

I actually was able to eat more as I lost weight because I fueled my exercise and was able to burn more and more calories as I got stronger. Just an idea!

Good luck on your journey, whatever you decide.....and please stay healthy, that's the most important thing.

I agree 1,000 cal / day is too low. I'm taking in about 1,600/day and added protein (shakes) to my post workout routine. I go with my husband and we do one muscle group a day so there's no way I could sustain 1,000 calories at this point Thank you!!

mickeygirliegirl

It's great to hear that you've upped your calories!

Just remember, since you are working out, which includes weights, you may not see dramatic losses on the scale - I highly recommend keeping track of measurements so that you can see the differences in inches lost rather than pounds on the scale

jlkcmk

mickeygirliegirl wrote: »

It's great to hear that you've upped your calories!

Just remember, since you are working out, which includes weights, you may not see dramatic losses on the scale - I highly recommend keeping track of measurements so that you can see the differences in inches lost rather than pounds on the scale

Thank you! That's a great idea ... I've noticed it already lol I lost between 2-3lbs last week but haven't lost any this week and figured it was due to the added weight routine to my workouts. I can see it in the mirror but not on the scale. I hate to sound like such a newb but do you know the best place to get a measuring tape

DeficitDuchess

jlkcmk wrote: »

mickeygirliegirl wrote: »

It's great to hear that you've upped your calories!

Just remember, since you are working out, which includes weights, you may not see dramatic losses on the scale - I highly recommend keeping track of measurements so that you can see the differences in inches lost rather than pounds on the scale

Thank you! That's a great idea ... I've noticed it already lol I lost between 2-3lbs last week but haven't lost any this week and figured it was due to the added weight routine to my workouts. I can see it in the mirror but not on the scale. I hate to sound like such a newb but do you know the best place to get a measuring tape

A sewing area, in a store like Walmart, Target, Kmart, Micheal's, A.C. Moore, Hobby Lobby, etc.

CharlieBeansmomTracey

jlkcmk wrote: »

mickeygirliegirl wrote: »

It's great to hear that you've upped your calories!

Just remember, since you are working out, which includes weights, you may not see dramatic losses on the scale - I highly recommend keeping track of measurements so that you can see the differences in inches lost rather than pounds on the scale

Thank you! That's a great idea ... I've noticed it already lol I lost between 2-3lbs last week but haven't lost any this week and figured it was due to the added weight routine to my workouts. I can see it in the mirror but not on the scale. I hate to sound like such a newb but do you know the best place to get a measuring tape

you wont lose every week (not sure if anyone covered that). weight loss isnt linear so some weeks you may gain a little for different reasons,you may lose more or none at all. be patient and things will happen.

jlkcmk

CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »

jlkcmk wrote: »

mickeygirliegirl wrote: »

It's great to hear that you've upped your calories!

Just remember, since you are working out, which includes weights, you may not see dramatic losses on the scale - I highly recommend keeping track of measurements so that you can see the differences in inches lost rather than pounds on the scale

Thank you! That's a great idea ... I've noticed it already lol I lost between 2-3lbs last week but haven't lost any this week and figured it was due to the added weight routine to my workouts. I can see it in the mirror but not on the scale. I hate to sound like such a newb but do you know the best place to get a measuring tape

you wont lose every week (not sure if anyone covered that). weight loss isnt linear so some weeks you may gain a little for different reasons,you may lose more or none at all. be patient and things will happen.

Patience is my struggle but I agree completely. I'm anxious to shed all the excess weight I've put on over the years lol but I know it will take time. I even had a big slice of cake yesterday as a treat for my hard work. I felt guilty about it afterwards but in the long run, it didn't impact my weight or goals. I think one unhealthy meal choice or "cheat" is fine but slowly my body is adapting to eating healthy. My stomach felt nauseous afterwards lol

lexbubbles

a) Weight loss is not linear. It goes up and down and up and down and up and down but the general trend is still progressively down. So really, try not to freak that "I lost 2lb last week but nothing this week". You might, like me, find it helpful to weigh daily and track fluctations. I find that keeps my "OHGODWHYDIDIGAIN/NOTLOSE" freakouts in check as I have more data. Some people find that drives them nuts though, so you do you. Either way, don't sweat it.

b) Please don't eat below your BMR. You can find a whole bunch of calculators online for it, but that's the cals your body needs to literally perform basic functions and keep you alive (before you add on any daily movement cals. Even a sedentary couch tater will burn approx 1.2x BMR cals in a day. I mean BMR really is bare minimum). Mine's somewhere around 1400-1450. Anything after that you can play around with for your deficit. Healthy rate is more like 1-1.5lb/week which is 500-750 deficit a day. Outside of actual exercise, I'm sedentary (most of my time spent sitting) so if I burn 800 cal in exercise my total burn for the day is gonna be somewhere around 2600. Calculate deficit accordingly.

(Now, for the next few weeks I actually AM aiming for 2lb/week because I'm going to Rome next month, but that's not a long term plan and I'll drop it when I get back. But even then I'm still eating 1500-1700. You can almost certainly eat more than you think. And if you wanna eat more, move more.)

c) Your boyfriend will have a higher BMR and be able to eat more than you. This will pretty much always be the case. Men suck. Fact of life.

d) "Banning" certain foods or labeling them "bad" is a pretty good way to set yourself up to fail. When someone (even if that someone is us) tells us we CAN'T have/do something that just... makes us want it more. Telling myself I absolutely can't have ice cream ever because it's bad and I'm cheating is a damn fine way to make me really want some ice cream*. Besides, what's going to happen when you hit your goal weight and start eating those foods again with some regularity? "Diets" are more or less doomed to failure because they imply an "end" where "normal service will resume"... except normal service is what brought the weight in the first place. I had a magnum this morning. It was great.

e) If you're having issues with feeling full on a reduced calorie intake, try higher-protein foods. If that doesn't work, try higher-fat foods instead. Eventually you'll find a carb/fat/protein balance that works for you so you don't get hungry as fast. Protein works for me. I know there's other folk around here who are fans of fat. You do you. Just, y'know, put some dang chicken on that salad or some cheese or an egg or something. Leaves alone ain't gonna fill up anyone.

tl;dr you can almost certainly eat more and then it won't feel like torture. Because it shouldn't.

*listen, I gave up refined/added sugar for a month to raise money for cancer research and I've never eaten so much sugar in my LIFE after that was over. It was hell. Elimination is not the key. NEVER doing that again hoo boy. That was worse than no-alcohol-month.

jlkcmk

lexbubbles wrote: »

a) Weight loss is not linear. It goes up and down and up and down and up and down but the general trend is still progressively down. So really, try not to freak that "I lost 2lb last week but nothing this week". You might, like me, find it helpful to weigh daily and track fluctations. I find that keeps my "OHGODWHYDIDIGAIN/NOTLOSE" freakouts in check as I have more data. Some people find that drives them nuts though, so you do you. Either way, don't sweat it.

b) Please don't eat below your BMR. You can find a whole bunch of calculators online for it, but that's the cals your body needs to literally perform basic functions and keep you alive (before you add on any daily movement cals. Even a sedentary couch tater will burn approx 1.2x BMR cals in a day. I mean BMR really is bare minimum). Mine's somewhere around 1400-1450. Anything after that you can play around with for your deficit. Healthy rate is more like 1-1.5lb/week which is 500-750 deficit a day. Outside of actual exercise, I'm sedentary (most of my time spent sitting) so if I burn 800 cal in exercise my total burn for the day is gonna be somewhere around 2600. Calculate deficit accordingly.

(Now, for the next few weeks I actually AM aiming for 2lb/week because I'm going to Rome next month, but that's not a long term plan and I'll drop it when I get back. But even then I'm still eating 1500-1700. You can almost certainly eat more than you think. And if you wanna eat more, move more.)

c) Your boyfriend will have a higher BMR and be able to eat more than you. This will pretty much always be the case. Men suck. Fact of life.

d) "Banning" certain foods or labeling them "bad" is a pretty good way to set yourself up to fail. When someone (even if that someone is us) tells us we CAN'T have/do something that just... makes us want it more. Telling myself I absolutely can't have ice cream ever because it's bad and I'm cheating is a damn fine way to make me really want some ice cream*. Besides, what's going to happen when you hit your goal weight and start eating those foods again with some regularity? "Diets" are more or less doomed to failure because they imply an "end" where "normal service will resume"... except normal service is what brought the weight in the first place. I had a magnum this morning. It was great.

e) If you're having issues with feeling full on a reduced calorie intake, try higher-protein foods. If that doesn't work, try higher-fat foods instead. Eventually you'll find a carb/fat/protein balance that works for you so you don't get hungry as fast. Protein works for me. I know there's other folk around here who are fans of fat. You do you. Just, y'know, put some dang chicken on that salad or some cheese or an egg or something. Leaves alone ain't gonna fill up anyone.

tl;dr you can almost certainly eat more and then it won't feel like torture. Because it shouldn't.

*listen, I gave up refined/added sugar for a month to raise money for cancer research and I've never eaten so much sugar in my LIFE after that was over. It was hell. Elimination is not the key. NEVER doing that again hoo boy. That was worse than no-alcohol-month. [/quo


Thank you for the input. My husband & I have been adding more protein into our diet to help feel more "full" and it has been working. A lot of the advice I have received has been helpful. When I initially made this post 2 weeks ago, I was living on salad and chicken but its been way easier with the added protein and higher caloric intake. I've lost 12lbs total since 5/18 and I feel great. Its not torture anymore lol I still choose to stay away from sugar & saturated fat, I know some people think eliminating certain foods is a recipe for disaster but its been working as so far! I do allow myself one treat here and there but for the most part I eat clean, exercise and stay active and have been slowly seeing results.

jlkcmk

Thank you for the input. My husband & I have been adding more protein into our diet to help feel more "full" and it has been working. A lot of the advice I have received has been helpful. When I initially made this post 2 weeks ago, I was living on salad and chicken but its been way easier with the added protein and higher caloric intake. I've lost 12lbs total since 5/18 and I feel great. Its not torture anymore lol I still choose to stay away from sugar & saturated fat, I know some people think eliminating certain foods is a recipe for disaster but its been working as so far! I do allow myself one treat here and there but for the most part I eat clean, exercise and stay active and have been slowly seeing results.