A little advice here? anything..

deksgrl

My BMR is around 1,400 ish. I do have a desk job where im sitting all day and than work out in the evening atleast 4 times a week.
So Do I really need to up my calories?

You don't HAVE to do anything. But if you don't do what has been advised, then you will be here 10-15-20 pounds later complaining how you don't like how you look.

deksgrl

BMR 1400- you understand what BMR means? It is what your body would need for fuel if you were sleeping all day and never moved.

LadyBoss_1989

decided to up my calories from 1200 to 1500. but still have no idea what my carb, protein and fat intake should be/...

Holly_Roman_Empire

decided to up my calories from 1200 to 1500. but still have no idea what my carb, protein and fat intake should be/...

You're impossible. deksgrl answered this on page 4:

You are making this WAY TOO COMPLICATED. You are not comprehending everything already said here in the thread? Here, I will try to make this more simple.

1- Set MFP to lose half a pound per week.
2- Set it to 40% Carbs, 30% Protein, 30% Fat.
3- Eat more when you do cardio, log it and eat half those calories back.
4- Heavy lifting, log it as 1 calorie burned, if you log it.
5 - Take measurements and photos, don't worry about the scale weight.

Look at the protein goals for the day once you have set it up as above. Try to hit that amount of protein and don't worry as much about the carbs and fat. Eat "normal" foods, not low fat or diet foods. Report back in 8 weeks and tell us how your clothes are fitting, how many inches you lost.

But quite frankly, I'm not sure why I'm posting it again.

LadyBoss_1989

also forgot to mention i have a thyroid problem and currently taking 75mg of levothyroxine .
Curious if this will effect my weight loss. I mean so far the weight is coming off good, except in my stomach. wont move
an inch.

deksgrl

also forgot to mention i have a thyroid problem and currently taking 75mg of levothyroxine .
Curious if this will effect my weight loss. I mean so far the weight is coming off good, except in my stomach. wont move
an inch.

The medication should not effect your weight loss, it should help it.

CrystalFlury

I'm absolutely no expert, but I can say is this person (quoted text below) has some good advice that I too might try and follow. I'm in the same boat as you as far as belly fat issues. I've had them ever since losing and starting MFP. I think my main problem was when I was originally losing I cut my calories (good, right?) well, I'm starting to think *just* that wasn't enough to get me healthy. My weight (number) was much better than it had been, but my body composition was beginning to look like skin and bones with a belly (I saw, maybe not AS apparent to others).

From one 1200 cal deficit person to another, I can honestly say you'll feel better upping your cals and watching your protein... if you're anything like me, lower your carb intake! I'm trying to start that again after having gained back a good 10 lbs from my original goal weight and now I'm desperately trying to correct my wrongs (eating 1200 cals and doing lots of cardio).

Another thing... I know it isn't fun, but consider finding other ways to get your strength training in. I really enjoy following Jillian Michaels videos. I began by doing her 30 Day Shred and when I got tired of it I moved on to her Ripped in 30 and now I do her No More Trouble Zones. All have strength training in them and give you a good introduction as to what to do with free weights. I was an all cardio person before and would shy away from anything "strength" training wise because I didn't know what to do. Give it a shot, if anything it'll get you out of routine and make you try something new!

Good luck to you!


Quote from MFP user:

Boil all the advice you've been given into an action plan.

1. Bring calories up systematically over the next week or two. My suggestion would be to bring them up to maintenance. At 136 lbs, this might be something like 1800 calories. If you're very sedentary outside of the gym, maybe shoot for 1700 calories. So from 1200 ramp up 10% or so every few days until you're at 1700-1800 and park yourself there for a week.

2. Once you've given your body a break and gotten yourself to a baseline intake, start dieting again with more sensible parameters. Shoot for an average daily intake of 1500 or so. Stay consistent and see what that does for you over the course of 3-4 weeks. If it's not giving you the desired results... you NOW have wiggle room to adjust accordingly.

3. Make this more than simply about calories. Shoot for .8-1 gram of protein per pound of goal body weight. Get 25-35% of your calories from a balanced array of fats. Obtain 1-3 servings of fruit and 3-5 servings of fibrous veggies per day. Fill in the remainder of your calories with whatever suits you.

4. Adopt a better strength training routine. Something that covers a larger array of your body and has you working reasonably hard in the 5-12 rep range for the majority of the time. You certainly wouldn't need more than 3 sessions per week that focus on your entire body. I'm biased toward free weights for the majority of work... but if you're not comfortable with them... so be it. Machines aren't the poison many make them out to be.

5. Add in cardio as needed. I'd say 2-3 sessions per week is more than enough. If you aren't realizing progress with that paired with everything else outlined above... something is likely off with your nutrition. Either you're not being as consistent with your calories as you believe, you're not tracking everything, you're not tracking everything precisely with a food scale, or you still have something going on metabolically in which case I'd be heading back to the doc to get more blood panels drawn and make sure the meds are actually helping you.

6. Most importantly, set realistic expectations. It's pretty obvious that your expectations aren't in line with what should be expected with this sort of process. And when this is the case, it's too easy to get frustrated and overwhelmed.

LadyBoss_1989

this is pretty bad

http://tinypic.com/r/28bwmf5/8

LadyBoss_1989

http://i62.tinypic.com/28bwmf5.jpg

LadyBoss_1989

.

deksgrl

Yes, it isn't going to happen overnight. It takes time.

Are you doing this:

1- Set MFP to lose half a pound per week.
2- Set it to 40% Carbs, 30% Protein, 30% Fat.
3- Eat more when you do cardio, log it and eat half those calories back.
4- Heavy lifting, log it as 1 calorie burned, if you log it.
5 - Take measurements and photos, don't worry about the scale weight.

Look at the protein goals for the day once you have set it up as above. Try to hit that amount of protein and don't worry as much about the carbs and fat. Eat "normal" foods, not low fat or diet foods. Report back in 8 weeks and tell us how your clothes are fitting, how many inches you lost.

LadyBoss_1989

Yes im working on this.

What is your take on breads and dairy?

deksgrl

Yes im working on this.

What is your take on breads and dairy?

Unless you have food allergies, there is no reason to cut out food groups. Dairy is a good source of protein and fat. If you feel better eating less breads, then do that, but avoiding it isn't going to melt fat.

LadyBoss_1989

since I have hypothyroid/hashimotos, which also could be the whole reason i have excessive belly fat,
I should be eating all Gluten free foods...

deksgrl

since I have hypothyroid/hashimotos, which also could be the whole reason i have excessive belly fat,
I should be eating all Gluten free foods...

Okay, are you?