Need some advice urgently!

Jules190179

I used to have an intake of 1400 cals, would walk 30 mins per day at 5mph on the treadmill, twisting and arms swinging for maximum effect, usually being just under cals each day. This was not working, and so I figured that my body was getting used to what I was doing. So I decided to reduce cals to 1200, despite warning not to, increased exercise to 45 mins, cut out bread, and started to drink 8 glasses of water. Still seem to be gaining weight! I did have an easter alcohol binge which wont have helped. So now I need advice on how to start properly again after my binge. I am 5ft 1, medium build, pretty active (walk once per day 5mph between 30 and 45 mins), I am also a teacher that walks around the classroom all day, but my weight hovers anywhere between 11st 2 and 11st 7! I am very overweight and would like to get to 9 stone. Long way to go, but I am determined. What cal intake should I try, what exercise, anything to cut out?

tiptoethruthetulips

Advice previously offered to you was ignored by you, how likely are you to consider the advice this time round?

My one tip is to be honest in your profile and eat the calorie allowance provided to you, eat healthy with the occasional treat, exercise at least 30minutes four to five times a week, drink plenty of fluids..(with no added sugar). Okay that was more than one tip

Shropshire1959

Sorry to say but one of the key things that I've picked up is that folks 'tend' to Over estimate the amount of energy that they burn through exercise and Under estimate the amount of food that the consume ...

It might be simple maths but it's not a simple problem.

You're probably not burning a lot of energy walking around the class room all day (but for me I'd burn more stress energy having to work with kids!!!!)

And (once again, I'm really sorry) 30 mins of walking really isn't that energetic of an exercise (probably around 100 - 150 calories .. a wee snack!)

So, my advise - up your game. Accurately measure ALL food intake and start to walk further.

Best of luck with you goals. No one ever said that it would be easy (and it's not)

rosettafaery

My tip would be to increase your calories.
It can be a slightly scary thing to do and you can find yourself worrying that you will instantly gain weight.

But for me, I found I actually lost weight when I went from 1200 to 1600 calories a day. I would workout 3 times a week for about 30 minutes each session doing a mix of strength training and cardio. When the weather allowed, I would go for a 20 to 30 minute walk too. I also ate back my exercise calories.

Maybe give it a try for a couple of weeks knowing you can always go back to a different method. It is just a matter of trial and error really to find the way that works best for you.

Good luck. :flowerforyou:

kagevf

when using the treadmill , instead of just a steady running or walking. alternate between sprint for 30secs and walk or jog for 60sec. total of 5min to start and progressively move up to 20min.

up your calories to 1500-1600ish. nothing wrong eating at 1200 but its not good long term

try to hit these macros
carbs - 150 to 190
Protein - 100
Fat - 50

eating at 1500ish 5x/week already sets you on a deficit
then on weekends you can eat up to 1900ish when eating out with family and friends or during celebrations.

elliej

Do you sweat on your walk? Even walking you should be working up a proper sweat. Don't believe how many calories it tells you you're burning. It's probably about 2/3 of the amount shown on the treadmill. Pop your cals back up to 1400 but make sure you are logging and measuring everything (not just guessing).

Jules190179

when using the treadmill , instead of just a steady running or walking. alternate between sprint for 30secs and walk or jog for 60sec. total of 5min to start and progressively move up to 20min.

up your calories to 1500-1600ish. nothing wrong eating at 1200 but its not good long term

try to hit these macros
carbs - 150 to 190
Protein - 100
Fat - 50

eating at 1500ish 5x/week already sets you on a deficit
then on weekends you can eat up to 1900ish when eating out with family and friends or during celebrations.

Jules190179

I have just re-set my MFP and it tells me yet again to take 1200 cals!
So if I up it to 1600, use 1500 per day during the week then up to 1900 (using the spares from the week)
I think what I have been doing is not eating the cals back. Also, when I log a 30 min walk at 5mph on MFP it tells me I am burning 276 cals. Is this incorrect?

LKArgh

I used to have an intake of 1400 cals, would walk 30 mins per day at 5mph on the treadmill, twisting and arms swinging for maximum effect, usually being just under cals each day. This was not working, and so I figured that my body was getting used to what I was doing. So I decided to reduce cals to 1200, despite warning not to, increased exercise to 45 mins, cut out bread, and started to drink 8 glasses of water. Still seem to be gaining weight! I did have an easter alcohol binge which wont have helped. So now I need advice on how to start properly again after my binge. I am 5ft 1, medium build, pretty active (walk once per day 5mph between 30 and 45 mins), I am also a teacher that walks around the classroom all day, but my weight hovers anywhere between 11st 2 and 11st 7! I am very overweight and would like to get to 9 stone. Long way to go, but I am determined. What cal intake should I try, what exercise, anything to cut out?

1) 30 minutes of walking per day does not make you pretty active, it makes you very lightly active.
2) Swinging your arms when walking will only make you look funny, not burn more calories. Keep it up if you think it is fun, stop if you believe it helps you burn anything.
3) Walking is a great exercise and you need at least this much exercise to improve your health. But unless you plan to train for hours per day, do not rely on exercise to lose weight. Keep walking to improve your health, but focus on what you eat to lose the weight.
4) Either you are not being honest with yourself, or you are not properly weighting your food, or you are logging the wrong calories or you need to see a dr. It is not possible for someone with your weight to consistently eat 1400 calories, accurately measured every single day and not lose any weight at all, unless there some serious untreated medical issue.

kagevf

I have just re-set my MFP and it tells me yet again to take 1200 cals!
So if I up it to 1600, use 1500 per day during the week then up to 1900 (using the spares from the week)
I think what I have been doing is not eating the cals back. Also, when I log a 30 min walk at 5mph on MFP it tells me I am burning 276 cals. Is this incorrect?

i would set my MFP at 1800ish close to 1900ish depending what you put your activity level on.
then eating at 1400-1600 5x/week will set you up on deficit.
you dont need to eat back calories (your choice), you can save it for the weekend if you have plans to go out and eat with family or friends.

ex.
current weight - XXX
Goal weight - 125lbs
activity level - lightly active or active
lose .5lbs or 1lb a week

Jules190179

Yes I do work up a bit of a sweat, and I twist to try and pull my stomach, which means moving arms back and too. I have upped my cals to 1600, will eat between 1400 and 1600, and not exercise. If I do, I will eat back the cals. My aim in walking was to give myself more cals, get fitter, and try to tone up my loose belly (hence the twisting). So much different advice!

Jules190179

I have just re-set my MFP and it tells me yet again to take 1200 cals!
So if I up it to 1600, use 1500 per day during the week then up to 1900 (using the spares from the week)
I think what I have been doing is not eating the cals back. Also, when I log a 30 min walk at 5mph on MFP it tells me I am burning 276 cals. Is this incorrect?

i would set my MFP at 1800ish close to 1900ish depending what you put your activity level on.
then eating at 1400-1600 5x/week will set you up on deficit.
you dont need to eat back calories (your choice), you can save it for the weekend if you have plans to go out and eat with family or friends.

ex.
current weight - XXX
Goal weight - 125lbs
activity level - lightly active or active
lose .5lbs or 1lb a week

Jules190179

Thanks for your help - I'll give it a go!

Brooke4206

My tip would be to increase your calories.
It can be a slightly scary thing to do and you can find yourself worrying that you will instantly gain weight.

But for me, I found I actually lost weight when I went from 1200 to 1600 calories a day. I would workout 3 times a week for about 30 minutes each session doing a mix of strength training and cardio. When the weather allowed, I would go for a 20 to 30 minute walk too. I also ate back my exercise calories.

Maybe give it a try for a couple of weeks knowing you can always go back to a different method. It is just a matter of trial and error really to find the way that works best for you.

Good luck. :flowerforyou:

This Upping my calories also allowed me to lose more weight. I was essentially starving my body before I did.

asciiqwerty

don't forget that all calories are estimated more or less accurately

if you don't weight everything you consume you can be making large estimation errors - things some people forget to log a calories from fruit and drinks - yup that alcohol binge over the easter weekend

it's hard to tell as i can't see your diary whether you're measuring or guessing portions >> quick tip - measure don't guess

it's also common for treadmills and pedometers and even hrms and mfp to overestimate calories burned in excercise - they are calculating calories based on some information (usually time and/or speed and/or hrm) but the equations also make assumtions about your age, weight, byuild gender, resting heart rate ...

they are all estimations

you will know when your calories in = calories out as you will maintain a constant weight
if you are losing weight : calories in < calories out

you need to adjust to make it work for you
the mfp estimations only work if you track and log everything

I like using mfp and work it out assuming sedentary then i log excercise (lowest calorie estimation of several tools) and eat back excersise calories - i assume the bouncing round the office running errands is a bonus
you might be better setting lightly active depending on whether you do actually move aorund your classroom continuously or not

you should then set a reasonable long term weight loss target - from your profile you indicate that you're a UK 12-14 this is not nearly obese and therefore you should be targetting no more than 0.25 to 0.5 kg/week weight loss
if mfp is giving you 1200 cals it usually means that you've done your goal setting using a higher weekly loss, which doesn't work for smaller weigh loss goals like ours

i started off trying 1200 becuase i had set my goals wrong, it really didn't work, the weight loss was pitiful and i felt horrible, I'm now losing consistently either weight or inches on 1520 net.

LKArgh

Yes I do work up a bit of a sweat, and I twist to try and pull my stomach, which means moving arms back and too. I have upped my cals to 1600, will eat between 1400 and 1600, and not exercise. If I do, I will eat back the cals. My aim in walking was to give myself more cals, get fitter, and try to tone up my loose belly (hence the twisting). So much different advice!

You cannot tone your belly by moving your arms while walking. You can tone your muscles by exercising, including your abs if you focus on exercises for this part, but the muscles will be there under the fat. To look more toned, you need to lose weight. You can spend all day doing core exercises and you will end up with strong abs which will not be visible.
As for increasing your calories, if you are not losing at 1400, you will not lose at 1600. There is a tiny chance there is a health issue, most likely your 1400 are closer to 2000 and increasing will mean going even higher and gaining.
Get a food scale, be honest with yourself and log every single bite, including sugar in your coffee or the dressing in your sald. Set yourself a weight goal of about 1 lb per week or lower and aim for the calories MFP gives you for this goal.
And unless you start walking for hours or do more intense exercise, do not eat your calories back.

jennifer_417

I think what I have been doing is not eating the cals back. Also, when I log a 30 min walk at 5mph on MFP it tells me I am burning 276 cals. Is this incorrect?

The general consensus (with which I agree) is that MFP overestimates calories burned. I always eat my exercise cals back, but when MFP was the only way I had to record my exercise (I now have a BodyMedia LINK), I only recorded about 2/3 of the actual exercise that I did.

Snow3y

Do you sweat on your walk? Even walking you should be working up a proper sweat.

Sweat doesn't necessarily mean weight loss or sufficient exercise.. Sweat is just produced by the body as an aid to try cool itself down

arabianhorselover

You could try the TDEE method.

psuLemon

Do you use a food scale? And can you open your food diary?

aarnwine2013

Only my second post so take this with a grain of salt. What started working for me was being honest about calorie consumption. I was not logging things correctly and a bite here and there will add up and keep you from losing.

Now I log everything and I do more exercise than I log. It's the only way I can lose. I'm averaging 1.5lbs a week which I'm happy with.

Jules190179

Do you use a food scale? And can you open your food diary?

Will open now.
I have had a bad binge with alcohol over Easter and I know the wine has to stop during the week too...

bekahlou75

[/quote]

Will open now.
I have had a bad binge with alcohol over Easter and I know the wine has to stop during the week too...
[/quote]

The wine doesn't have to stop. No certain food has to stop. It's all calories in < calories out. Try to add in some strength traiing. Get some dumbells and do some squats, lunges, arm curls, etc. You can do these at home. I also agree with an earlier reply about mixing in sprints with your walking.