Am I on track, or do I need tweaking?

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Mande_G
Mande_G Posts: 599 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm looking for a little advice or maybe just some reassurance. :smile: I've been on MFP since December 2009, and have had some really good success! However, through May and June I was really inconsistent. I know that a lot of it was poor choices on my part (I got a little off track due to graduation, birthdays, family visiting from out of town -- I was not exercising as regularly as I should have AND was indulging in not-so-healthy foods a little more than I should have (eating out, birthday cake, etc.). I did not gain, but my weight loss stalled. I also had my wisdom teeth out the first week of June and was completely off track for a week.)

I've gotten back to my good eating and exercise habits, but the weight doesn't seem to be coming off as quickly as it was before. I was losing pretty consistently (about 1 to 1.5 lbs per week) up until May.

I'm 5'2" and 170 lbs. Everything being equal, I believe I should still be losing a consistent 1-2 lbs per week -- not .4 or .8. My food and exercise diary are publicly viewable. I would love some feedback from any of the experienced members as to where I might be going wrong?

I wonder if I might be consuming too few calories for my activity level? I'm not entirely certain WHAT my activity level is at this point.

When I started MFP back in December, I worked a desk job and only exercised for 20 minutes a day. I had my activity level set to sedentary. Now I am not working, I am a stay at home wife, I still do plenty of sitting at my computer, but I'm also up and about doing tasks around the house (dishes, laundry, cleaning, etc.) pretty much daily. I exercise for 60-90 minutes at the gym most days (sometimes more, rarely less than an hour). I eat back about 1/2 of my exercise cals. Am I still sedentary, or am I lightly active?

Also, today I read a post where a member stated that HRMs are not accurate when tracking calories burned through exercise. If this is so, why use an HRM with a calorie-tracking feature? I have been using a Polar 7 heart rate monitor to track my exercise calories; if this isn't an accurate method, how can I more accurately track what I burn through exercise?

Thanks in advance to anyone who cares to comment! I've been here awhile now, and have had some really good success so far, but I just want to make sure I'm still on the right track! :smile:

Replies

  • roxie0920
    roxie0920 Posts: 41
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    I'm certainly not an expert. I checked out your food diary and noticed that your daily goals are very close to my own. I have my account set at sedentary because I am a full-time student and my job requires almost no physical activity. I sit for most of the day. I think that your current weight and exercise level probably needs more calories than what mfp is suggesting for you. My reasoning is that my weight is lower than yours and I do not exercise anywhere near 60 minutes a day...so it seems like we should not need the same amount of calories. Does this makes sense to you? My best guess would be to bump up your fitness level to the next step. Good luck!
  • Mande_G
    Mande_G Posts: 599 Member
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    I'm certainly not an expert. I checked out your food diary and noticed that your daily goals are very close to my own. I have my account set at sedentary because I am a full-time student and my job requires almost no physical activity. I sit for most of the day. I think that your current weight and exercise level probably needs more calories than what mfp is suggesting for you. My reasoning is that my weight is lower than yours and I do not exercise anywhere near 60 minutes a day...so it seems like we should not need the same amount of calories. Does this makes sense to you? My best guess would be to bump up your fitness level to the next step. Good luck!

    It DOES make sense, and it is along the same lines I've been thinking lately. Thank you for your input! :flowerforyou:

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