Cannot seem to loose weight ...

PhillyCh

Hello hello !
I turn to you all to maybe get some advice, or just some motivation.

I'm an 18 years old girl, 5'3, 140 lb. and wish to loose 20 lb.
I do HIIT and weight lifting 3 times a week, as for the other days, I walk around campus, and do not have time and energy to workout. I eat around 1500 cals a day, you can normally see my diary.
I think I eat fairly clean, except maybe on thursday, where I have to eat on campus, and I have usually fries for lunch, but consider it my cheat meal of the week. I eat mainly veggies, fruits, fish, occasional red meat ( I do not really love it, but I am not a fan of cutting any food group ) and lean meats.

Yet, I CANNOT seem to loose weight. I've even put on 3 pounds lately, and I wish I knew why ...

So I thought maybe one of you would have an idea, or had an advice.
Maybe I can put a "progress" picture, because weight lifting starts working if you want to see what my body looks like !

Dewymorning

Quick question.

When you log 30 grams of muesli, did you actually weigh it?

EDIT: Also, I am not sure how to loose weight, personally I am trying to lose mine.

PhillyCh

I used to, to get an accurate measure, but know I know what 30 grams look like, so I don't weigh it every time now. Sometimes I do weigh it to make sure I'm not going overboard, but my muesli bowl is always between 25 to 35 grams.

You already lost 8 kg, that's awesome !

CharleePear

First thing I noticed is that you have a very small breakfast with little protein. I would suggest adding protein to your breakfasts, it fuels your body for the day. The other suggestion is to lower your carbs, nothing drastic just a bit and up your protein intake. You are having quite a bit of carbs. Since you aren't a very big person in size 140lbs is not all that heavy, it will be harder to lose. I would focus on upping your protein, making sure to eat over 1300 a day, which you seem to go under a lot. I would suggest eating more often too, every 3-4 hours is a good amount of time. Drink 8 glasses of water a day as well. Those would be my suggestions. But the number one thing I would suggest is to love yourself as you are first.

PhillyCh

Thank you for your suggestions Arpiagape1 ! I'll try to eat a bigger breakfast with protein, but I often get a little "nauseous" when I eat too much in the morning.

As for the carbs and protein, I'll try to lower and up my consumption ! And as for calories, I'll try to be a little more attentive to it !

I do like myself, I recently checked my 6 week "progress", and well, my body starts to change, so I'm thankful for that ! I guess I was just a little disappointed to see the scale not moving lately ...

But thank you for your advice again, and good luck on your journey, I'll definitely check your tumblr !

Dewymorning

Just checking to see you aren't underestimating your calories because you have never weighed your food. I do a similar thing.

Yes, I have lost over 8 kgs and I am the same height as you, though my starting weight was a bit more than yours as you are currently at the weight I want to get to. :P

I will tell you what I did. I initially set my calorie goal at 1500 calories, which is where MFP set it after I decided to go for a very slow weight loss rate. I lost weight faster than MFP calculated, probably because I was not actually sedentary.

I used being able to eat more to motivate me to exercise more.

I did have a few months when I completely stopped using MFP, but then got back into it.

Since the beginning of this year I have started to feel like I don't need food to motivate me to exercise, so a few weeks ago I changed my method to estimating my TDEE and creating a deficit under that, I have been eating between 1750-1900 calories a day, exercising at least 5 times a week. My weight loss has been pretty steady.

Both methods work, just which one to pick is up to you.

And I lost 8kgs doing the above over a whole year. I wasn't morbidly obese when I started, I don't have that much to lose compared to others. Don't be afraid to have a small deficit.

Dewymorning

Oh yeah, on the comment about protein, I eat 80-100 grams of protein a day.

Feel free to add me as a friend and look through my diary. The last week has been a typical week for me. A small loss of 0.2kgs. :P That is almost half a pound.

PhillyCh

Thank you so much for your answer ! It's really helpful !

You'll get to that weight, that's for sure ! May I ask you what are your workouts ? ( I'm always trying to find new things to try haha )

I'll try new settings on MFP, 1370 is ... a bit bothering, I feel like I do not have much "room" for healthy snacks in between meals, and I do find those snacks really helpful during long days !

I calculated my TDEE, and got results between 1750 and 2400. ( But I do think that the one close to 2400 is quite accurate, since it asked for many things, I found that calculator at "Health-calc" if you know this one ).
Creating a deficit from a 2300 TDEE would mean I have to eat around 1700-1900, pretty much like you ? Do you think I calculated right ?

Thank you again, and, do you mind if I add you as a friend ? Since we have the same height, that would be to see how be both progress !

Dewymorning

Yes, feel free to add me as a friend. You could start at 1750 calories, and see where you go from there. Just remember that at 1750 calories you do not eat back your exercise calories.

My daily exercise before gym is walking 20 minutes to work and same home every weekday. My job is pretty sedentary, office job.

Exercising last week was
Saturday-Oxygeno class (low impact cardio and floor work, mostly focused on stretching the body) (60 minutes) + 30 minutes treadmill
Sunday- cleaning/rest day.
Monday/Wednesday- cardio using treadmill and elliptic (30 minutes)
Tuesday- Oxygeno class (low impact cardio and floor work, mostly focused on stretching the body)
Thursday- Pilates (work those abs!)
Friday- H.I.I.T which was a mix of strength and cardio. First time I have ever done it. I. FEEL. SORE.

I am part of a gym, and I am trying different classes, but just one at a time so I can see if I like it and get used to it before starting a new one.

PhillyCh

I'll try that !

I don't walk to class, but I do walk around 20 to 30 minutes per day around campus, and climb up lots of stairs ... ( A bit tirrening, but that compensate with the countless hours spent sitting and typing haha )

My weekly schedule often looks loke :

Monday : Weight lifting class + 20 min walk on the treadmill if I have time
Tuesday : running / HIIT ( for about 20 min + a 15 min incline walk )
Wednesday : campus walk !
Thursday : Campus walk !
Wednesday : rest day / yoga
Saturday : weight lifting + running

I am a part of a gym too, but none of the classes I like fit with my college schedule, so unless I'm on vacations, I just workout on my own !