On the horse again!

briniepoo

Hi all,

I have been a silent MFP user for a few years. I had a very successful year in 2016 where I lost 2-3KG but lost 2 trouser sizes. For me, this was a brilliant result. Got very strong, and confident. I worked with a PT, so everything was controlled and monitored.

Anyways, lots of changes, new job, new apartment, new routine, no PT etc, which means everything became inconsistent and lost.

Due to knee and hip injuries and recoveries, I am limited on cardio (I do run, swim, cycling) to only a few minutes at a time, so a majority of my exercise is walking (average 10,000 a day for 3 days external work/ 2,000 steps a day for 2 days, internal office work), and weight training 2-3x a week.

I am comfortable eating on average 1200 calories when I am in the office/ not moving much (just happened, not a target I went for), then I bump this to 1500-1800 cal when I do exercise. Apple watch says that if I do 12,000 steps, I burn 500ish calories, but I usually only register that as 250 (not sure how accurate the watch is). At the gym, I do an average of 400-500cal over 40-60min average 140bpm according to watch, again, I only register 250.

I know the calories because I weigh and measure everything. I may not log it into MFP, but I do write down my menus each week. (Busy life, so plan everything to save time, saves money too )

I do more weights than cardio, so I assume my weight won't change much, but size should. I have been stuck since July due to inconsistency and probably not eating enough. In fact, I have gained weight and 12 to 14 waist. I would like to get back down to 70kgs. At my best, I dropped to 68kg and 28% BF (boditrax result), so eventually, I would like to be back here.

I have a nasty habit of going extreme with weights. As in I know I can lift high, so I binge on weights, then get exhausted, go off for a week, then binge on weights again. Anyone else have this?

My theory is that because I am eating too low, my energy is low, then once I have a rest, my energy builds up again, then I binge on exercise then energy disappears again.

I am 30 this year, 5.6ft, 78kg at the moment. I want to lose fat more than weight. I'm lucky in the fact I don't do snacks and have outgrown my sweet tooth. I have a low carb eating style (low white carbs (bread/ pasta/ potatoes/ rice etc) because too much just makes me feel sick/ bloated.

How can I better my habits? How much should I increase my intake? I set MFP to sedentary but to lose 0.5kg a week, so it sets me at 1200. Then I add the difference with my apple watch. (BTW step adjustments don't add automatically to MFP?)

Any criticism, and support would be appreciated!

Dilvish

You are doing everything you can do, exercise and healthy eating. Using MFP may better track your progress, but I would have to caution you on your eating. If you do weights and cardio, 1200 may not be enough so your body starts to cannibalize your muscles for fuel instead of burning fat.

MFP does not allocate calories to weight training so you may need to up your calories. Too few calories could cause more health problems than too many.

As long as your weight isn't causing any other health issues like high blood pressure or type 2 diabetes, to name a couple, slow and steady is how you want to proceed because it's the only way you continue to lose weight and maintain the loss.

When you "plateau" in your weight loss efforts, as most people do, it means your body has gotten used to the routine. You need to start by changing the exercises you do.

Additionally, weigh yourself once a week at the same time of day on the same scale. Weighing in at different times of the day can fluctuate wildly and some "gains" can be water retention (yes. even in men).

And lastly, you said you entered sedentary as your activity level yet your activity seems much higher than sedentary. Even at the slightly active level, you would need 1800 calories per day to lose weight (remember slow and steady) check it here https://healthline.com/nutrition/how-many-calories-per-day

TavistockToad

Dilvish wrote: »

MFP does not allocate calories to weight training so you may need to up your calories. Too few calories could cause more health problems than too many.

Yes it does, if you log 'strength training' under cardio