Ask me anything! [FROM FAT to FIT]

diwijo13

Bump

Paleo_newbeginning

has anyone experienced this. I try very hard to eat either high fiber cereal for breakfast or egg whites with veggies. I have chicken and veggies for lunch and either chicken or egg whites for dinner. I know I don't hit my TDEE calorie goal and that's probably what my Non weight loss problem is but after every meal, without fail. I feel uncomfortably full and my belly blows out. Its uncomfortable like this for a few hours and therefore I skip snacks and then even sometimes skip meals because Im still bloated out from the previous meal. I have tried low carb high protein; I have tried hi fiber, I have tried combining both. It seems the older I get, the more this happens. UGH!, in turn I am not hitting my calorie goals, exercising more and more and weight loss has stalled to the point of slight slight gain.

any suggestions on why im blowing up after meals??

Im no doctor but it sounds like you may have IBS or some other type of digestive issue you should consult a doctor and try to get root of the problem. Good luck

ritchiedrama

I am back, will start answeriing Q's now.

ritchiedrama

Hi.
I have calculated my TDEE -20% using Scooby's Workshop( I selected moderately active)and it gave me 1,749 calories. Most of my friends (on MFP) eat less than I do. Some are even at maintenace or are male. I'm 27, 5'2" ,137lbs and trying to lose 12lbs. I have a desk job and workout using Jillian Michaels dvds 6 days a week. Is that too many calories for me? Should I select sedentary to calculate?

I would appreciate your help on this.:flowerforyou:

I personally for myself and clients, even though I train 3x a week,, select sedentary purely because calculators have a habit of over-estimating calories.

You have two options, either track your progress for 3-4 weeks (yes that long is necessary due to water-weight fluctuations etc.) if you are staying the same, that is your maintenance level, if you're gaining you are eating too much and if you're losing, job done.

If you're gaining, lower calories by 200 or something, then give it another run for 2-3 weeks,, and if you're maintaining drop 100-200 calories and the scale should start moving. Don't be impatient, one week you can lose nothing and then the next woosh! it comes off.

ritchiedrama

Thanks for this thread. I hesitate even asking questions on this site because I'm not wanting to lose a lot of weight but I want to lose none-the-less. For the last year, I've made an effort to lose 15 - 20 lbs but can't seem to make anything more than a small dent (3 lbs). Yikes, that put a dent in my mental shenanigans. Last year, I was focused on 1200 calories per day but I was hungry all the time, seriously like ALL the time. But on reflection, I think I was eating the wrong things. This year I've really tried to focus on a paleo type of eating and taking in about 1200 - 1250 calories per day (except the weekends I'm not as strict). I've been doing this religiously for the last two months. Still no weight loss :-(

For exercise I run between 35 - 40 miles per week (I like to do marathons - about 2 a year). I've done the gym in the past and I can't tell you how much I dislike that but I'm open to reconsidering my opinion.

I'm a dudette, 5'7", 151 lbs. I'm pretty sure my frame is small but I don't know if that's even meaningful to this conversation.

Thanks again for taking the time to do this.

At a first glance, if I'm honest (you won't like this) It sounds like something I come across often,, you are miscalculating your food. If you're doing that much cardio AND eating that little, you should be losing weight regardless.

Weight training IS something I recommend over cardio, everytime. It increases your ability over time to be able to eat more once you obtain some lean body mass (muscle).

I am 5 ft 6 and 140 lbs and I was eating roughly 1600 calories a day and losing weight, so you should definitely be losing weight regardless of gender.

This may also be useful for you: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html

ritchiedrama

has anyone experienced this. I try very hard to eat either high fiber cereal for breakfast or egg whites with veggies. I have chicken and veggies for lunch and either chicken or egg whites for dinner. I know I don't hit my TDEE calorie goal and that's probably what my Non weight loss problem is but after every meal, without fail. I feel uncomfortably full and my belly blows out. Its uncomfortable like this for a few hours and therefore I skip snacks and then even sometimes skip meals because Im still bloated out from the previous meal. I have tried low carb high protein; I have tried hi fiber, I have tried combining both. It seems the older I get, the more this happens. UGH!, in turn I am not hitting my calorie goals, exercising more and more and weight loss has stalled to the point of slight slight gain.

any suggestions on why im blowing up after meals??
45yrs Female
cardio heavy 7 days a week
weights 3x a week
130 (started at 120) (my goal is to loose so im doing something wrong)
strive for 1200 calories a day but with the bloating im having a hard time, its uncomfortable to eat with this bloating.

First, you need to address the possibility you are counting your calories wrong/forgetting to count things that you should. A few things that catch people out..

Weighing bread by GRAMS, is better than using "1 Slice".

Cooking oils and sauces

Any sodas, alcohol etc you drink etc.. there are a few others but these are thee main ones I notice..

As for you bloating up, etc. Usually sodium/carbs can have that effect, BUT i don't recommend lowering carbs in anyones diet apart from extreme cases and you said you've already tried it.

You need to make sure you're getting a minimum of 0.4g of fat per pound of bodyweight. Fat is important in our body.

You can also try eating two meals a day, rather than more, if you do eeat more that is..

If i missed anything, let me know and ask any other questions you may have,, hope this helps some..

Kicker12

Hi
I want to lose about 10% of my body fat( I am around the 30% mark now)
I lift and eat at TDEE 20%. So far, even though the scale isn't moving much and the body fat isn't changing I DO see some changes in my body. My question is, if the scale is not 100% accurate how can I ever get an accurate TDEE? I am eating 1800 calories at the moment but how can I know whether this is correct. I am a female, 5'5 and at the last weigh in Monday I was 149lbs ( although by Wednesday this had changed - up)


Thanks

caly_man

thanks for doing this Ritch

deebrown1374

How often would you recommend working out to lose weight? I have heard different opinions, every day to 3 times a week, and so forth? And doing different routines, would that help or would it matter if you did running or the eliptical every day? and on this calorie stuff, if im under my calorie goal, does that matter? or should I be taking in exact amount of 1200 calories?

Thank you!

ritchiedrama

Hi
I want to lose about 10% of my body fat( I am around the 30% mark now)
I lift and eat at TDEE 20%. So far, even though the scale isn't moving much and the body fat isn't changing I DO see some changes in my body. My question is, if the scale is not 100% accurate how can I ever get an accurate TDEE? I am eating 1800 calories at the moment but how can I know whether this is correct. I am a female, 5'5 and at the last weigh in Monday I was 149lbs ( although by Wednesday this had changed - up)


Thanks

If you are seeing changes in your body, that is positive - if your scale has not moved after 2-3 weeks, you need to eat less, usually by lowering carbohydrate intake.

You can check your calories with your stats here - I suggest choosing "Little/No Exercise" for the activity level.

http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

Hope this helps..

ritch

ritchiedrama

How often would you recommend working out to lose weight? I have heard different opinions, every day to 3 times a week, and so forth? And doing different routines, would that help or would it matter if you did running or the eliptical every day? and on this calorie stuff, if im under my calorie goal, does that matter? or should I be taking in exact amount of 1200 calories?

Thank you!

I personally, and anyone who works with me - work out 3 times a week for weight loss at least. If you over-train you can become de-motivated and exhausted which usually leads for me and people i've worked with falling off the wagon. I advise weight training over any form of cardiovascular exercise for everyone, whether you are a woman or a man. Usually you're supposed to hit your caloric goal, because thats what it is, a goal. Under-eating is bad.

If you need anymore help, or I missed something,, just ask agaiin

ritch

ritchiedrama

thanks for doing this Ritch

No problem!

ShellyBrowne

Thanks for this thread. I hesitate even asking questions on this site because I'm not wanting to lose a lot of weight but I want to lose none-the-less. For the last year, I've made an effort to lose 15 - 20 lbs but can't seem to make anything more than a small dent (3 lbs). Yikes, that put a dent in my mental shenanigans. Last year, I was focused on 1200 calories per day but I was hungry all the time, seriously like ALL the time. But on reflection, I think I was eating the wrong things. This year I've really tried to focus on a paleo type of eating and taking in about 1200 - 1250 calories per day (except the weekends I'm not as strict). I've been doing this religiously for the last two months. Still no weight loss :-(

For exercise I run between 35 - 40 miles per week (I like to do marathons - about 2 a year). I've done the gym in the past and I can't tell you how much I dislike that but I'm open to reconsidering my opinion.

I'm a dudette, 5'7", 151 lbs. I'm pretty sure my frame is small but I don't know if that's even meaningful to this conversation.

Thanks again for taking the time to do this.

At a first glance, if I'm honest (you won't like this) It sounds like something I come across often,, you are miscalculating your food. If you're doing that much cardio AND eating that little, you should be losing weight regardless.

Weight training IS something I recommend over cardio, everytime. It increases your ability over time to be able to eat more once you obtain some lean body mass (muscle).

I am 5 ft 6 and 140 lbs and I was eating roughly 1600 calories a day and losing weight, so you should definitely be losing weight regardless of gender.

This may also be useful for you: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html

Interesting article. Thanks for responding and thanks for sharing.

benno1978

Hi Ritch,

I have a question about the calculator - you said it's best to picl little/no exercise in the inputs so should I 'eat back' my exercise calories on training days (I workout 4-5 times per week)

Also I want to do more weight lifting and was looking at the 5x5 stronglifts programme http://stronglifts.com/ what do you think of that is it a good place to start?

ritchiedrama

Hi Ritch,

I have a question about the calculator - you said it's best to picl little/no exercise in the inputs so should I 'eat back' my exercise calories on training days (I workout 4-5 times per week)

Also I want to do more weight lifting and was looking at the 5x5 stronglifts programme http://stronglifts.com/ what do you think of that is it a good place to start?

Stronglifts is a GREAT place to start.

I pick Little/no Exercise purely because calculators are just estimates and usually over estimate. and No, weight training or cardio for that matter don't actually burn many calories, so I don't eat calories back. I just weight train and eat the calories I've alotted myself I don't add/remove anything for exercise (not for weight loss anyway).

Kreider86

bump. I've been the same weight for a month now and it's so frustrating.. am going to lower my calories each day by 200. Thanks for doing this!

ritchiedrama

bump. I've been the same weight for a month now and it's so frustrating.. am going to lower my calories each day by 200. Thanks for doing this!

Could try lowering them by 100 first, 100 less each day = 700 a week, that is a big difference in the long term, Kreider86.

Good luck!

Kreider86

Thanks! I will try 100 first and go from there

shelliemacs

has anyone experienced this. I try very hard to eat either high fiber cereal for breakfast or egg whites with veggies. I have chicken and veggies for lunch and either chicken or egg whites for dinner. I know I don't hit my TDEE calorie goal and that's probably what my Non weight loss problem is but after every meal, without fail. I feel uncomfortably full and my belly blows out. Its uncomfortable like this for a few hours and therefore I skip snacks and then even sometimes skip meals because Im still bloated out from the previous meal. I have tried low carb high protein; I have tried hi fiber, I have tried combining both. It seems the older I get, the more this happens. UGH!, in turn I am not hitting my calorie goals, exercising more and more and weight loss has stalled to the point of slight slight gain.

any suggestions on why im blowing up after meals??
45yrs Female
cardio heavy 7 days a week
weights 3x a week
130 (started at 120) (my goal is to loose so im doing something wrong)
strive for 1200 calories a day but with the bloating im having a hard time, its uncomfortable to eat with this bloating.

First, you need to address the possibility you are counting your calories wrong/forgetting to count things that you should. A few things that catch people out..

Weighing bread by GRAMS, is better than using "1 Slice".

Cooking oils and sauces

Any sodas, alcohol etc you drink etc.. there are a few others but these are thee main ones I notice..

As for you bloating up, etc. Usually sodium/carbs can have that effect, BUT i don't recommend lowering carbs in anyones diet apart from extreme cases and you said you've already tried it.

You need to make sure you're getting a minimum of 0.4g of fat per pound of bodyweight. Fat is important in our body.

You can also try eating two meals a day, rather than more, if you do eeat more that is..

If i missed anything, let me know and ask any other questions you may have,, hope this helps some..

jessiefreedman

Thank you so much!

ritchiedrama

Thank you so much!

No problem, if you have anything else to ask, come back at any time or pm me!

BattleTaxi

Hello!

I have a question about a frequently discussed topic: sugar.

I have read so much about sugar, there is even a very informative FAQ thread on here about it that was helpful. However, I was curious what your theory was behind sugar intake was.

For example, I consume about 50g of sugar a day. Of that, about 30-40g is from fruit, dairy, and vegetables. So of that, only about 10-20g is “added” sugars, which I am trying to cut back from as well. (Depending on the day, only so much you can cut out of foods before you’re eating cardboard.)

From that FAQ thread, the OP posted about the EU health standards, and I have read this before as well. Basically, the EU suggests that an adult consuming about 2000cal a day would also consume about 90g sugar and about 45g of that sugar is from fruit/dairy/vegetables. The remainder being added sugars.

Typically I eat 1-2 fruits (apple, grapefruit, occasionally a banana, grapes, etc), 8floz milk (dairy), and lots of vegetables, every day.

So am I eating an “ok” amount of sugar?

Thanks!

ritchiedrama

Hello!

I have a question about a frequently discussed topic: sugar.

I have read so much about sugar, there is even a very informative FAQ thread on here about it that was helpful. However, I was curious what your theory was behind sugar intake was.

For example, I consume about 50g of sugar a day. Of that, about 30-40g is from fruit, dairy, and vegetables. So of that, only about 10-20g is “added” sugars, which I am trying to cut back from as well. (Depending on the day, only so much you can cut out of foods before you’re eating cardboard.)

From that FAQ thread, the OP posted about the EU health standards, and I have read this before as well. Basically, the EU suggests that an adult consuming about 2000cal a day would also consume about 90g sugar and about 45g of that sugar is from fruit/dairy/vegetables. The remainder being added sugars.

Typically I eat 1-2 fruits (apple, grapefruit, occasionally a banana, grapes, etc), 8floz milk (dairy), and lots of vegetables, every day.

So am I eating an “ok” amount of sugar?

Thanks!

Short answer: Yes - you are ok.

A tiny bit longer answer: It doesn't really matter where your sugar is coming from - I drink energy drinks daily, I consume sugar from "bad" foods (when I say bad foods, I'm talking about foods which the "clean" eating crowd would say are bad).


You are perfectly fine, BattleTaxi

BattleTaxi

Short answer: Yes - you are ok.

A tiny bit longer answer: It doesn't really matter where your sugar is coming from - I drink energy drinks daily, I consume sugar from "bad" foods (when I say bad foods, I'm talking about foods which the "clean" eating crowd would say are bad).


You are perfectly fine, BattleTaxi

Cool beans! Thanks! I think I am, too, but I like getting feedback from other peeps!

ritchiedrama

bump

Mgregory723

My question is: How do you get a good work out with a re-torn meniscus (left knee), just fell and damaged my right knee (can't go to the doctor no money, no insurance) a bad back (not sure what is wrong) with muscle spams that sent me to the ER twice, and my right ankle that I had a 3 degree sprang yrs ago that gives me problems like swelling and pain.

I had been swimming (not sure what I am doing but moving) but had to stop due to the fall I took. Any advise for now and later on would be great!!

Thank you,
Melissa

helenrosemay

You say we should be eating
0.82g of protein per bodyweight (lbs)
0.4g of fat per bodyweight (lbs)

so that means I should be eating (211lbs)
173g protein
84g fat

I've just tried to change my goals to reflect this but the percentages won't work. I put in 165g protein but then I can only have 15g of carbs and 53g of fat.

ritchiedrama

My question is: How do you get a good work out with a re-torn meniscus (left knee), just fell and damaged my right knee (can't go to the doctor no money, no insurance) a bad back (not sure what is wrong) with muscle spams that sent me to the ER twice, and my right ankle that I had a 3 degree sprang yrs ago that gives me problems like swelling and pain.

I had been swimming (not sure what I am doing but moving) but had to stop due to the fall I took. Any advise for now and later on would be great!!

Thank you,
Melissa

That's a tough one. I am not fully qualified enough to comment on these things as obviously I am not a doctor, but there are way to strengthen muscles and stuff. I have a back problem too and I found the more stretching and things I did the better it got.

Swimming is obviously the best choice as it takes all weight off your body but you can't do that now.. I guess just walking slowly? Fat loss can be achieved without exercise, it's just things like weight training changes your body composition.

Maybe you could do some light weight training? Obviously not on the parts of your body that hurt, but something is better than nothing.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help,

ritch

christinemac17

I'm very interested in the intermittent fasting topic as well. I attempted a 2x /wk 24hr fast and gave it up after about 3 wks w/out seeing any results. That was when I was only about 10lbs from goal, but have since put 15lbs back on : ((( Can you explain the 18/6 theory?

ritchiedrama

You say we should be eating
0.82g of protein per bodyweight (lbs)
0.4g of fat per bodyweight (lbs)

so that means I should be eating (211lbs)
173g protein
84g fat

I've just tried to change my goals to reflect this but the percentages won't work. I put in 165g protein but then I can only have 15g of carbs and 53g of fat.

Those are more catered towards weight lifters, but fat should definitely be that high regardless of being a weightlifter or not, you could lower protein to 0.6 if you really wanted to. I can't set my goals correctly either, due to the percentages, I just work out my numbers and write them down on my desk so I know (although obviously I have them memorized now).

Use this calculator

http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/