Suggestions...advice...help!!

tracieangeletti

I posted this in another thread and was suggested that I post it here to get your feedback. Ok, to start, I'm 5' 1 1/2", 47 years old, 126 lbs, and about 25-26% bf. My lifting program is 5 days a week with all the major compound lifts and just a few isolation lifts and it takes me about 45 minutes to an hour to complete. I also spin for 55 minutes three times a week and do a body works class for an hour once a week but thinking about dropping this class. I average about 8 hours in the gym a week. According to Scooby' s Workshop my tdee is 2218 and I should eat 1996, a 10% reduction, to lose. I went with the 5-6 hours a week activity level because the next one up seemed like I should be slaying dragons during my workout and I'm working hard and sweating but I'm not slaying dragons. lol

I don't even want to discuss the scale because it's making me crazy. I seem to have longer weight loss plateaus where I can go 2+ months without losing, then drop a lb, and then I seem to immediately gain back 2 lbs and hold steady for another month or so before dropping another lb. I have never taken measurements but clothes are getting smaller and I am getting tighter and firmer, SLOWLY.

The main issue is that I'm hungry. I was trying to keep calories to 1700-1900 a day but as of late I've been eating over 1900 and even had one day at 2300. I'm not really sure what to do. I'm only 7 weeks into my lifting program so I keep telling myself to have patience and I'll see results but I'm concerned that eating at the higher calorie level will make my progress even slower. I thought about cutting back on the cardio but if I do that I'll need to eat even less, and well, I'm hungry. lol Any suggestions??

Btw: I've been exercising and dieting for over a year and a half with a month break during Christmas where I did gain back around 4-5 lbs.

SideSteel

tagging

tracieangeletti

I forgot to say that I have a digital scale and weigh, measure, and count everything. If eating out and can't get info on that specific meal I try to break it down item by item. If I'm not sure I'll add a couple hundred calories to be safe. I also average about 110 grams of protein and probably average about 70 in fat.

SideSteel

The first thing I would suggest is to look at food volume and consider changing your individual food sources a bit more to try and create satiety through higher food volume.

For one example I don't see many green vegetables in your diary, and there are some calorie dense foods you may be able to replace with lower calorie options that would allow you to eat more of.

tracieangeletti

The first thing I would suggest is to look at food volume and consider changing your individual food sources a bit more to try and create satiety through higher food volume.

For one example I don't see many green vegetables in your diary, and there are some calorie dense foods you may be able to replace with lower calorie options that would allow you to eat more of.

You bring up a very valid point and I feel sorta stupid for not realizing it myself. DOH!! Vegetables. I spent most of the winter eating low calorie with a lot more veggies and when I found out I could eat more and still lose, I sorta went hog wild on the more calorie dense foods and slacked on the veggies. So yes. More veggies. UGH. Lol :-)