Weight Maintaince

DragonHasTheSapphire

Hey, I've used this website for a little but never really posted much. So my goal is to maintain my weight. I also have a few other inquiries. I know MFP keeps saying I'm under my calorie goal, but actually I don't log every little food down, so don't worry I believe I'm eating enough food, plus my idividual needs may be slighly different than what a computer is telling me so I'd like to get some tips from other people.

I used to be overweight last year, and it caused me to have these (no offense) ugly-looking stretch marks. They are on my arms, legs, hips (I have wide hips though), and my backside and stuff. I was only 20 lbs overweight but they are still here to this day even though I am almost in the underweight category but my doc said I can either stay at my weight or gain weight (I'd like to stay where I am) I do target excersies, and I can feel muscle tone growing but the stretch marks are still there, and the skin seems more saggy near that area. Is this like minor loose skin or not?

I am a female, 18 (no kids), and I weigh 111 lbs and I'm 5'5 1/2". I do intense 30 min. cardio every day, but I do have resting days where I take it easy, and according to my treadmill I burn 500 calories but I am aware everyone burns calories differently but I'm burning around that amount, plus I do pilates practice every other day. In order to maintain my weight how much do you estimate I should be eating? MFP says 2300 but I could use second opinions I can see a doctor too if that's advised

cwolfman13

Start there...make adjustments as necessary per your actuals...

cmriverside

The stretch marks may fade.

You are at 18.5 BMI...that is on the very thin edge between okay and not okay.

How much weight did you lose recently? My skin (after losing 75 pounds) took over a year to bounce back, but I am much older. But it did bounce back. You sound way too worried about this though.

Relax and eat the 2300, keep good records. Adjust in a couple months as needed.

DragonHasTheSapphire

cmriverside wrote: »

The stretch marks may fade.

You are at 18.5 BMI...that is on the very thin edge between okay and not okay.

How much weight did you lose recently? My skin (after losing 75 pounds) took over a year to bounce back, but I am much older. But it did bounce back. You sound way too worried about this though.

Relax and eat the 2300, keep good records. Adjust in a couple months as needed.

I am a bit worried, I'm scared of losing too much weight. It's VERY expensive to see a nutritionist around here because insurance does not cover it bc I'm going to college and all that. I can afford a family doc, but I just don't know if he'll know exactly what to do.

I was thinking about getting up to 15-120. That was my ideal weight to start with, I have a harmonal disorder that makes me gain weight easily, so I guess I was scared of gaining weight back. I've been eating plenty of healthy fats like olive oil and avacado, and some organic peanut butter that's like 10 dollars a jar lol. I've been trying out calorie dense foods like full fat yogurt too so I will try to get to 2300. Since I am so used to eating small portions I feel like a bowling ball is at the pit of my stomach when I do eat more I'm guessing small meals throughout the day should work?

I lost 50 lbs in a little under a year, maybe 9-10 months. I want to wear clothing that shows my legs (they are all the way down to my knees) but sometimes I feel a little wary about it. I also didn't go on no low carb diet or any crazy diet, I just ate better food and exercised more

apullum

You don't have to buy $10 peanut butter or special organic food. Peanut butter is peanut butter. Unless you just love the flavor, don't feel like you need to spend that much money on designer versions of ordinary foods, especially since money is tight.

Depending on your campus, you may have nutritional counseling available. It's worth looking on your school's website to see if they offer a service like that.

It's very common for people in maintenance to fear re-gaining the weight. That is a mindset that you have to overcome. You have to believe that you're going to do the best thing for your body and that you're not going to just let yourself gain it all back.

Here is an excellent list of calorie dense foods that many people have found helpful: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10142490/a-list-of-calorie-dense-foods/p1

AnnPT77

Two things:

I wrote this a while back in the maintenance section of the MFP forums, and I think it may address some of your questions:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10638211/how-to-find-your-maintenance-calorie-level

Second: Are you saying your treadmill says you burned 500 calories in 30 minutes as a 5'5 1/2" 111 pound person, working intensely? Without meaning at all to discount your hard work, I'd be a little skeptical of that. I'm also 5'5", currently around 130 pounds. For an intense 45-minute spin class, my bike usually says something like 600 calories. For 30 intense minutes on the rowing machine (which has a decent reputation for accuracy), the machine says about 350 calories. In both cases, my heart rate monitor says more like 250 calories. I've been an athlete for around 15 years. I literally can't think of anything I could do at my current size for half an hour that I believe would burn 500 calories. I'm sure you're getting an excellent workout, but, with apologies, I'm skeptical of 500 calories for half an hour.

Best wishes as you go on with weight maintenance!

apullum

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Second: Are you saying your treadmill says you burned 500 calories in 30 minutes as a 5'5 1/2" 111 pound person, working intensely? Without meaning at all to discount your hard work, I'd be a little skeptical of that. I'm also 5'5", currently around 130 pounds. For an intense 45-minute spin class, my bike usually says something like 600 calories. For 30 intense minutes on the rowing machine (which has a decent reputation for accuracy), the machine says about 350 calories. In both cases, my heart rate monitor says more like 250 calories. I've been an athlete for around 15 years. I literally can't think of anything I could do at my current size for half an hour that I believe would burn 500 calories. I'm sure you're getting an excellent workout, but, with apologies, I'm skeptical of 500 calories for half an hour.

Best wishes as you go on with weight maintenance!

Yes, this is a good point. I am just under 5 feet, 115 lb., and in an hour of running I burn 400-450 calories. Unless you are running very, very fast for that 30 minutes, your calorie burn is exaggerated. A lot of gym equipment is notorious for overstating calories burned.

DragonHasTheSapphire

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Two things:

I wrote this a while back in the maintenance section of the MFP forums, and I think it may address some of your questions:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10638211/how-to-find-your-maintenance-calorie-level

Second: Are you saying your treadmill says you burned 500 calories in 30 minutes as a 5'5 1/2" 111 pound person, working intensely? Without meaning at all to discount your hard work, I'd be a little skeptical of that. I'm also 5'5", currently around 130 pounds. For an intense 45-minute spin class, my bike usually says something like 600 calories. For 30 intense minutes on the rowing machine (which has a decent reputation for accuracy), the machine says about 350 calories. In both cases, my heart rate monitor says more like 250 calories. I've been an athlete for around 15 years. I literally can't think of anything I could do at my current size for half an hour that I believe would burn 500 calories. I'm sure you're getting an excellent workout, but, with apologies, I'm skeptical of 500 calories for half an hour.

Best wishes as you go on with weight maintenance!

I'm actually glad you mentioned this! I was very skeptical as well, and I only thought cheap treadmills told wrong readings. My treadmill is at home and was bought as a gift of about 2000-3000 dollars (it is sooo much better than my creaky old one.) I have it on one of the highest incline levels (the highest is 12, I go 10 so it's like running up a steep hill). When I used run on it entirely flat it states I only burned like 350 calories at a reasonable running speed (I go the fastest the treadmill can go, which is 14 on sprints, and then I slow down and run on 10 periodically) Once I got confident I started going on incline, and when I bumped it up to 10 that's where I saw the difference. Can this effect calories burned?

It usually takes me about 45- 1 hour to complete the entire workout, I take small 3 minute breaks to catch my breath. I would really like to get some kind of test done on me so I know exactly how many calories I burn, I've heard of those. I forgot what those were called. I guess i'll use calculators for now. Thanks