Hello

bonnielassies

Hello, I'm Karyn - joined to lose the half stone I've put on over lockdown. Looking for friends to share diaries with to find new vegetarian/fish based ideas for meals and give support to/get support back. 1200 calories, 5ft 2, walk 17000 steps a day, looking to go from 8 and a half stone to 8.

Thanks!

springlering62

Hi, Karyn. Welcome to MFP!

You are fortunate you have a small amount to lose. The closer you are to goal- and you are very close although I know it probably doesn’t feel like it!- the slower it is to come off.

Please don’t go all gung ho and set your goal settings for a pound or two a week loss. I see people drop like flies here with that kind of goal, because it just doesn’t leave enough to eat comfortably. Or they lose quickly and put it right back on.

Take your time, learn new habits, weigh accurately and log honestly, and you’ll have it off soon enough, but in a good mindful long-term kinda way.

Hugs and much success!

bonnielassies

Hiya and thanks for the welcome!

I'm sticking with 1.5lbs a week as my target and am 8 stone 3.6 this morning - I honestly just need to get back on track. I'm very lucky in that once I make up my mind to do something, I do it, no matter what. Usually if I put on 2lbs I automatically cut back for a wee while, but lockdown, menopause and learning to bake have combined to mean I didn't bother after summer, holidays and birthday! Never been over 8 stones in my life.

I'm following pretty much my normal diet and normal exercise routine but without any of the rubbish. I'm going to blast it for another couple of weeks and then have a proper look at my diet again. I need to find what to replace my rubbish with as I don't think I eat enough normally, especially if Fitbit is correct and I burn 2,000 calories a day (seems unlikely!) Something I can bake hopefully!

Thanks again!

springlering62

I’m 59 and I generally shoot for an average of 2500-2700 a day to maintain, but I’m very active. If you’re active, 2000 could be entirely reasonable, unless you’re a particularly wee bonnie lass.

springlering62

Head smack. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Fitbit says you burn that many?

Need a Fitbit user to let us know if that’s TDEE or if it’s over-recording exercise calories?

Guys?

bonnielassies

My TDEE is 14000 if I say I do light exercise, though maybe walking 100,000 steps a week and hula hooping for 3 hours a week counts as moderate?

I'll just keep doing what I am doing and re-assess when I get closer to 8 stones I think - thanks for your help!

AnnPT77

bonnielassies wrote: »

My TDEE is 14000 if I say I do light exercise, though maybe walking 100,000 steps a week and hula hooping for 3 hours a week counts as moderate?

I'll just keep doing what I am doing and re-assess when I get closer to 8 stones I think - thanks for your help!

I'm confused.

For most people, the very best estimate of TDEE is the all-day calorie number from a well-designed device like a Fitbit. You're saying that's 2000?

As an aside, 2000 seems plausible to me, too: I eat at or a small bit over that to maintain (5'5", mid-120s pounds - around 9 stone this morning, and age 66). If you're 8 stone 3.6 (115.6 pounds) and concerned about it, I'm assuming that means you're quite petite in height? For someone of average height, i.e., closer to my height, that would be borderline underweight - that's why I'm thinking you're quite petite.

Still, 2000 isn't impossible.

In the post I quoted, you say TDEE is 1400 (I assume you meant 1400, and that 14000 was a typo?). Is that your MFP goal calories? With a target loss of the 1.5 pounds a week? Or with a target of maintenance? Or did you get it from someplace else?

If you're using MFP to get an estimate, you wouldn't use your exercise to set your activity level. MFP intends you to set activity level based on your life before exercise (job, home chores, stuff like that), then log exercise separately when it happens and eat those calories, too. If someone has a device that will synch with MFP, such as a Fitbit, I'd encourage them to start by synching the device, and believing the calorie goal that that device and MFP collaborate to calculate. They will be trying to keep you at the weight loss rate you've requested (unless it would put you below 1200, perceived as a minimum for good nutrition).

A device does have limitations: Basically, it assumes you're a pretty average person. Consequently, they tend to be reasonably close, for close to average people. The only way to know if you're non-average is to follow the recommendation for one or more full menstrual cycles (to compare bodyweights at the same relative point in at least two different cycles), then compare weight change to weight change goal. If you're on target, the implication is that you're average or close (as most people are, by definition).

If you're not so average, you could burn more or fewer calories than the device & MFP estimate: When they're not accurate for a specific person, they can be inaccurate in either direction, i.e., it's not that everyone for whom they're inaccurate will find that they burn fewer calories than the average person like them: They may burn more. (I do.)

As an aside, I agree with Spring that 1.5 pounds is more aggressive than is ideal, at your weight, with so little to lose. I get that you're really determined, and you're certain you can achieve it - that's great.

But too-fast loss increases health risks, and can compromise appearance (hair thinning, for one). Further, if a person wants to maintain a loss long term, stay at a good weight for them permanently, then losing more slowly makes it more likely that one will figure out good, sustainable habits that will help that happen. Treating weight loss as an urgent project with an end date, after which things go back to normal, is a recipe for yo-yo losses and gains over the long haul - that's probably the least healthy approach, potentially worse health-wise than staying mildly overweight.

Yeah, we're mother-henning you a bit here, I admit. But truly, it's out of sincere concern. Also, both of us have lost material amounts of weight, and have been keeping that weight off long term, so this is not just maternal "do as I say, not as I do" advice.

Wishing you success in your goals, sincerely!

bonnielassies

Thanks so much Ann, no matter what problem I have, more experienced women have always helped! I've read your comments carefully and have had a good think about them.

I think Fitbit must over calculate as it says I have a fitbit calorie adjustment of 649 yesterday which seems a bit much. But that's for me to work out, I am more active than anyone I know, so maybe I'm underestimating the calories I burn. I've heard others eat back half. I am small, 5 foot 2, size 8 and a petite frame. I just have a muffin top that I've never had before! I had only wanted to lose 1lb a week, but am losing 1.5 so clearly there is some calorie adjustment to be made!

I think that because I'm just reverting to something more like my 'normal' diet and my 'normal' weight after some upheaval caused by menopause and lockdown I'm unlikely to face a yoyo effect, or indeed an impact on my health but I'll keep that in mind. I feel healthier, sleep better, hot flushes have diminished and my fitness level has increased. I'm only hungry before meals so am definitely not starving myself.

I think most people cut back a little bit after overindulging while out of routine, and that's the bit that I've just not done this past year or two, as routine has been so weird. So I've put on 2lbs here and there, worked from home for large portions of the time, not been able to exercise as much, etc. Menopause has changed my body shape and made exercise sometimes tricky. Maybe menopause has also affected my appetite - I used to have eating weeks and not eating weeks without really being aware of it which were probably caused by hormone changes which I don't have any more. So many of my friends are going through the same sort of 'where did this belly come from?' challenges!

Anyway, it sounds like I'm just ignoring all your advice and that's not true - I'll definitely keep it in mind and not put pressure on myself if I really want a slice of cake or some chips. I don't have an emotional relationship with food and maybe I see it more as a maths problem to solve. Once I've lost another 2 or 3 pounds and can get comfortably back into my pre covid clothes, I'll reassess.

Thanks so much for your help, and I hope it doesn't seem like I'm dismissing it.

bonnielassies

Just a check in to say I've lost 5lbs of the 7 so far so on track with where I hoped to be. It's been interesting working out how many calories I burn so thanks again for the help with that as I'm eating a bit more than I was before and still on track.