Advice needed please.

Bella77007

Hi,
I joined MFP last year,lost some weight then fell off the wagon,i recently joined up again and have been reading the boards and trying to get as much info as possible but would appreciate some advice about calories and fitness.

I am female age 37, 5ft 1 and weigh 161lbs,i put my info in,set my goal as 1lb per week and it gave me 1200 calories,first week i lost 5lbs but to be fair i had water weight as it was time of the month so some of that loss would be water of course,i am due to weigh again on Monday and strictly only weigh once a week.

Now having read the boards i am getting to know that the 1200 calorie idea is not always a good plan,MFP gives me a BMR of 1358 and i really can't see how it is healthy to eat less than that,i did a TDEE check on another site (scooby?) and it gave me a TDEE of 1760 and a BMR of 1467 with a figure of 1408 to lose 0.7lbs per week.

Now of course you need exercise which i admit is hard for me,i have depression,severe despite treatment depression and it has really kept me demotivated and sedentary for years so i am terribly unfit.

I do not want to go to a gym,firstly i can't afford it and secondly my self esteem couldn't cope with it so i am looking at ways to raise my activity and it is hard because i am so unfit so i decided to start slowly,i do 30 minutes on just dance,well 45 but 30 spent actually moving and am finding that hard,i do not intend to quit,i hope if i stick at it then it will get easier and i will be able to do longer but i am shocked at how hard i am finding it although i admit i have only been doing this for a few days.

So to get to the point i have no intention of eating 1200 calories anymore,it's leaving me tired and i will never get better at activity if i am tired so does about 1400 sound better as a base plus whatever i burn with activity? Not much at the moment but hopefully will improve.

And as for the exercise,should i really be struggling this much? I know getting hot and sweaty is good but i am seriously worried that something is wrong with me since i see others doing much more without feeling so out of breath and like they can't take anymore,i only have to run upstairs at home and i am out of breath and that was before i cut my calorie intake,any advice?

Many thanks from a total novice who is really a bit lost with it all :-)

*Sorry just noticed i joined 2012 but my first loss was last year in 2013.

Ninkyou

Considering your height, I think 1400 + exercise calories is a good start. You can always adjust from there as you go along.

As for exercise, I think this is simply a case of trying to take on too much too soon. When you first start out, you feel the need to go all gungho balls to the wall, gittrdone. But really, you need to start out small and work your way up, otherwise you get burned out fast and/or make yourself prone to injury. When I started in June, I started small with simply walking. I walked 2 miles everyday. That slowly increased to 4, and then to 6. When the weather turned cold, I brought it inside and began taking Zumba classes. I was worried I wouldn't have the stamina to keep up, since a previous attempt failed miserably. But because I had 4-5 months of walking under my belt, I was able to sustain the whole class. I've been at that for 2 months now and I can feel my endurance levels increasing from those first classes. So yeah, start slow and steady, work your way up. Find exercises that are fun and that you truly enjoy.

Bella77007

Thank you for the reply,it has reassured me a lot because the sensible side of me knows that as someone who has been inactive and unfit for a long time i do need to start slowly and work my way up but the panicking side of me wants to be able to do so much and do it now and then i get scared because i can't.

I was walking about 2 miles per day last year when i lost weight,it was spring time so it was fun and enjoyable too,it is currently very cold and wet here (UK) but i need to just get my coat and umbrella and get over that so i can make a realistic start to building up my fitness levels,it's very encouraging to hear from someone who did it that way and did work their way up to a higher level of fitness

As for the calories i am going to stick at about 1400 for now plus exercise calories or at least eat back half of those,i know i am tiny in height so i don't need too many but today i logged at the end of the day rather than logging in advance which is how i usually do it because it helps me meal plan.

That was a huge mistake,i had been shaking horribly and feeling tired and so moody and when i logged i had eaten 1180,clearly to me that is not enough if i am feeling so awful so i am going to go back to planning meals in advance and making sure my daily intake hits 1400,if it doesn't work out i will try something different but no more 1200 nonsense for me,it is not what my body wants so i am happy to give it a bit more

acogg

MFP is made up of many different types of people. Do not compare yourself to others, because you don't know what struggles they have overcome or what advantages they may enjoy. Take it slow to start out, increase just a bit each day. It doesn't matter how long it takes you to get to where you want. Everyday you will be a little bit closer.:flowerforyou: