I'm at a complete loss- how do I lose the last 28 lbs?

Anonyc

EDIT: Just thought I'd add, I'm female, if that makes any difference to this.

So I started on this site 11 months ago, weighing 221lbs, and I'm 5"1, I set an initial target at 154lbs to give myself an overweight BMI, as I was previously near/in the morbidly obese BMI.
It took like 8 months or so to lose ~60lbs, out of the 67 I was aiming for. This was purely by eating 1000calories per day, as I have been busy at school, and actually having a mediocre social life, which wouldn't leave me much/any time to exercise.
So it then took like, 3 months, just to lose those last 7lbs, which was depressing to say the least.

The other day I reached my initial target of 154lbs, which meant now my new target, 126lbs to get me into a healthy BMI was finally in place. But I can't lose the weight- my deficit is no longer working, it seems I've screwed over my metabolism so much that 1000calories will make me GAIN weight/stay the same. On the day I turned 154lbs I started with Jilian Michael's 30 day shred, as when I first posted on here multiple people recommended it for exercise. The day after I immediately gained 2lbs, and have generally stayed the same for the few days after.
I know weight loss slows down in the end, but I'm still just a few pounds from obese, and I feel like crying thinking how the hell am I going to finally be a normal weight? (Something I have never been). I don't want to stick with Jilian Michaels unless the people here think I really should, as I can barely walk down the stairs and sit down because my muscles are in so much pain- I don't care about gaining or defining muscles, I just want to shed fat.

So please people here, can you guys help me out? I weigh myself every day hoping to have lost something (before I was happy just weighing once a week, but now I can't help it, when I finish typing this I'm gonna weigh myself again) and I fear that I'll just become obsessed with the fact that I'm so desperate to lose those last 28lbs (which feels suddenly like so much, despite it not taking long to initially lose that) and it'll depress me if it takes too long. I wish I could just starve myself and shed it off, to be honest, I'm sick of being the fat kid.

_KitKat_

First your diary is closed, it is hard to give input.

Second you are not maintaining and definitely not gaining on 1000 calories a day, even if you had a metabolic disorder. Somewhere there is an error in the math.

So questions,

Do you log all foods, drinks, condiments, cooking oil....everything that passes your lips, even just a nibble?
Do you weigh your solids and measure your liquids?
Do you exercise at all?
How active are you daily?
If you log any exercise, how do you figure the calories burned and do you eat them back?

99% of the time, when someone stops losing weight, they made a simple error. At 5'4 and 154lbs your BMR (basal/basic metabolic rate) is probably about 1400, depending on lean body mass and activity your TDEE. (Total daily energy expenditure) is from 1950-2100 (with being slightly active). Now that you have lost a lot of weight (Congrats by the way!) yoru numbers are lower than when you started (smaller body uses less energy) and your margin of error shrunk as well as the rate you can lose weight and stay healthy. If you aimed for 1450 calories a day and did not eat exercise calories back, you would lose a little over a lb a week on average. If you started exercising and were pretty active, 1650 calories per day would probably work. The trick is accuracy, a 500 calorie deficient is incredibly easy to wipe out with a few nuts, a few spoon fulls of dip and cooking oil.

Also, weight fluctuates nonstop. My personal range is about 4lbs, I learned this weighing multiple times per day. I only know if I lost or gained when the number is outside of this range. Sodium, new exercise routine, hormones, digestion all play a role with how your water weight fluctuates. Weight loss is not linear either, some weeks you will seem stalled and others it seems to just drop, it is the trend and average that matter.

As for Jillian, no clue. I prefer lifting and feel it better fits my goals. The 2lb gain though is your muscles holding glycol stores to help repair themselves. Pretty much new workouts normally cause some extra water retention. As for muscle soreness (Dom's, delayed onset muscle soreness), it will lessen as your muscles get used to working. Most don't mind them and feel some are a sign of pushing yourself and having a productive workout. If it hurts while preforming the workout, stop that is not the same.

Trying for a too aggressive loss at your current smaller weight, or starving it off, will burn muscle as well as fat leaving you at a lighter weight but a high body fat %...not the best look, well that and the hair loss are most likely not the look you are going for.

You reached your first goal and did great, reaching the next will just take some more accuracy. :flowerforyou:

Anonyc

I don't really log my foods in here, I know I'm terrible, so opening up my diary won't help, I mostly just use this site to track my losses, not what I eat.

I know it may sound unrealistic but unless food packages are lying at MOST I am taking in is 1200-1300 calories on average per day, some days are more than this I will admit, some are less, but I am still day by day on average not losing. I don't know what that means but I do honestly count up my calories even if I don't log them here, I may be off with my maths, but I doubt more than 300 calories off.

I don't log them, but I do remember to take everything into account, even if it's just a bite or something, etc, so whilst they're not written down I do remember them throughout the day, and I doubt I forget it often that much (if it's an awkward number of calories to remember e.g 138 I'll round up as well, to help reduce overeating).
I don't weigh or measure, I didn't realise I had to do that, what would I benefit from that? (Sorry I don't know much of this, really all I did before was just do 1000 calories with virtually no exercise).
I currently do Jilian's 30 day shred and that's it really, before that I did nothing. I may start using our treadmill, try and run a certain distance each day, as the 30 day shred kind of depresses me.
Not very active at all, sorry to say. I'm on exam leave revising for exams, and I don't generally leave the house much (and I wouldn't want to, I hate my neighbourhood, hence why I'd rather use our treadmill than go out running).

I'd like to think I'm just adding it up wrong, I'll try to increase accuracy I guess, although as said before I don't think I'm too inaccurate.
Luckily I don't tend to cook much, or use dips and such, but again I'll try and increase accuracy anymore than I have already ;^^

I know it's the average since I was told when I first started some weeks I'll lose more than others, but as a general trend I seem to be stuck, I haven't overall lost in a while, or even lose properly in a while. Sometimes I'll go from 11st2 to 11st3 after eating which makes sense, then the next day I'll be back at 11st2 and then 11st3 after eating and so on.

I used to lift a little bit, we don't really have very heavy weights though. Jilian's workout includes some weights in it, and whilst my weights are light (1.5kg I think) I honestly could not lift any heavier right now for a reasonable amount of time, as my arms just ache massively afterwards. I've already noticed the soreness reducing, I can now walk down the stairs without stopping once XD, I guess I'm just a weakling, my parents keep telling me I seem like I'm in too much pain, but no pain no gain, apparently. I know that muscle growth won't be massive because I'm not massively working out, just a short intense workout, but I just worry that it will reduce my weight loss, and think that maybe something like running would work better, but I don't know.

Eep, yeah definitely not what I want. I already worry that I lose hair at a faster rate than I should ;u; I am just desperate to lose this last amount of weight, though.

Thank you, I'm relieved I (sort of) reached my goal (I say sort of because I only hit my target for one day and then immediately gained and have stayed).

Thanks so much for actually replying

_KitKat_

In a deficient you will not gain muscle, and definitely will not with light weight high reps (that's more cardio than lifting).

If you do not log, sorry you honestly don't know your numbers then.

As for packages, yes a cup of something can be double the correct serving amount in grams. Even a slice of bread I found was 10-15% bigger than the package says....so weighing and logging are very important. If you drink a cup of milk, do you measure? A glass is normally 12 ounces instead of 8, which is a cup/serving of milk. All of these things add up.

Scientifically it is 99.99% the case that you are eating more than you think. Your body at that low of calories would be needing to burn fat just to keep itself alive in a coma (that's what BMR is).

1.5 kg , I think is about 3.3 lbs lifting is not non stop reps....it is a higher weight for 4-10 reps for 3-6 sets. Honestly lifting 1.5kg non stop would cause my wrist to hurt and just the motion itself would cause muscle fatigue. Look into bodyweight exercises or convict conditioning. There are many things that you can do with just body weight.

The severity of the pain you speak of and not wanting to go out, both sound like reasons to maybe see the doctor.

Anonyc

That's good, then. I should hopefully start losing weight soon then, I'm glad I don't have to worry about muscles then..

Sorry but I don't see how not writing it down means I must not know my numbers? I always make sure to calculate the amount of calories in a portion of what I eat, and just add it up along as the day goes by, I don't see how writing it down would be of much benefit to myself, I am capable of remembering some numbers and adding them up easily enough. I don't see why I'd need them for future reference?

Oh okay you mean in terms of making sure I have correct portion sizes, yes I make sure to do that. I measure out a liquid if I'm having one that isn't in a bottle already (I tend to just drink diet flavoured water, since I don't like wasting calories on drinks). I tend not to measure absolutely everything, because I usually trust the packet but if it's stuff like weighing bread I can start doing that to increase accuracy.

I can see that I may be out but I'd be very surprised if I was out more than 30%, but as I said I'll try increasing accuracy, see if that makes a difference, and I hope it does. If reducing my food can get me to lose weight then I'll happily sacrafice a sandwich for the chance at finally being slim!

Okay I'll make sure to check those out, thanks!

I'm seeing a doctor soon, so I can mention those things. I may just be a big crybaby when it comes to muscle fatigue though, but again, thanks.

StaciMarie1974

If you're not weighing or measuring, then you're guessing about how many calories you're eating. You may think you're eating 4 oz of XYZ for 150 calories, but how would you know if its actually 6 ounces and therefore 225? You could easily be off 20, 50, 100 calories on almost everything you eat. Even package information is approximate. Bread may say a serving is 2 slices, 45g. But the 2 slices you just used for a sandwich may have weighed 55g. And sometimes the nutrition info will say 1 serving = 100g, servings per package 'approximately 2' so if you eat the whole thing, you log 2 x calories. But then the package weighs 230 grams so its actually 2.15 servings.

Just examples.

Why did it work before and not now? Well when you were 200+ pounds, your BMR was higher. It takes more energy to move a heavy body, to pump blood, circulate oxygen, etc. for a larger body. As you've lost weight your BMR has come down. Your body works more efficiently, so uses less energy. That means that when you started this process, the errors didn't matter so much - you still had a deficit. Now the errors matter, its harder to have a deficit. In short - you're eating at maintenance.

So what to do? Get a food scale. Whether you log it here or use a notebook & pen (or keep a running total in your head), you need to keep more accurate track of calories in. 1300-1500 should be a good range for you. Do that for 4 weeks, then check progress. You need to give it that much time because daily & even weekly stress, hormones, sodium can affect the scale reading so you need more time to prove results.

Heatherybit

Food scale & heart rate monitor. Will be life changing purchases for you. And everything else everyone else has said so far.

smn76237

Yeah, research has shown that most people underestimate their intake by an average of 30%--some as much as 45%, omitting "healthy" foods from calorie counts (ie, fruits and vegetables), misreading serving sizes vs size of package (plus packaged weights can vary as much as 10%), and simply not being good at eyeballing portion sizes. Even registered dietitians underestimate on average by 10%.

Since you've hit a wall, I definitely second/third/fourth the food scale recommendation. Weigh EVERYTHING you eat. Seriously it's the best investment (for only $20) I've made to lose weight!

P.S. we have very similar stats--I am 5'1 (rounding up ) and now at 152 down from about 200. Food scale the whole way (and I eat a ton--anywhere from 1400-2000 calories).

ximenia

Honestly, without weighing and logging your food it's very easy to under estimate the calories you are consuming. I highly doubt you are netting 1000 calories a day, which is probably good as that wouldn't be healthy.

the 30 day shred is awesome, yes it ruined me the first day and I could hardly move the day after so I took a rest day, then the 2nd time it wasn't as bad, and the next day I didn't feel nearly as sore. by the 5th day I felt amazing and it no longer hurt me at all (no more rests after the first one btw) So I really think you should stick with it, you'll feel great before you know it :-)

Anonyc

Honestly, without weighing and logging your food it's very easy to under estimate the calories you are consuming. I highly doubt you are netting 1000 calories a day, which is probably good as that wouldn't be healthy.

the 30 day shred is awesome, yes it ruined me the first day and I could hardly move the day after so I took a rest day, then the 2nd time it wasn't as bad, and the next day I didn't feel nearly as sore. by the 5th day I felt amazing and it no longer hurt me at all (no more rests after the first one btw) So I really think you should stick with it, you'll feel great before you know it :-)

I understand it's easy to underestimate calories, whilst I do estimate I lot, I try to over estimate on some things to balance it out. I do weigh some things, but not everything. If I shouldn't be hitting 1000 calories, what should I be hitting? If I should be aiming for 1300 or something, and I'm actually hitting that (I am very doubtful that I could be any more inaccurate with that) then what do I do to lose weight? ._. I really hope I am just over eating because I can easily stop eating as much, it's other ways of losing weight that I hate.

I just worried if I was in too much pain, I was told exercise shouldn't hurt and such, but it would always hurt for me. Since my muscles would hurt just walking, doing the actual 30 day shred whilst in agony of course hurt. I've already noticed my legs are feeling much better, after 3 days, which makes sense since I used to do squats. However my elbow joints are killing me right now!

Have you experienced weight loss whilst on the 30 day shred, and do you think it really works well?

Anonyc

Food scale & heart rate monitor. Will be life changing purchases for you. And everything else everyone else has said so far.

Thanks for the advice, I think I already have a heart rate monitor lying around somewhere, and I definitely have food scales

Anonyc

If you're not weighing or measuring, then you're guessing about how many calories you're eating. You may think you're eating 4 oz of XYZ for 150 calories, but how would you know if its actually 6 ounces and therefore 225? You could easily be off 20, 50, 100 calories on almost everything you eat. Even package information is approximate. Bread may say a serving is 2 slices, 45g. But the 2 slices you just used for a sandwich may have weighed 55g. And sometimes the nutrition info will say 1 serving = 100g, servings per package 'approximately 2' so if you eat the whole thing, you log 2 x calories. But then the package weighs 230 grams so its actually 2.15 servings.

Just examples.

Why did it work before and not now? Well when you were 200+ pounds, your BMR was higher. It takes more energy to move a heavy body, to pump blood, circulate oxygen, etc. for a larger body. As you've lost weight your BMR has come down. Your body works more efficiently, so uses less energy. That means that when you started this process, the errors didn't matter so much - you still had a deficit. Now the errors matter, its harder to have a deficit. In short - you're eating at maintenance.

So what to do? Get a food scale. Whether you log it here or use a notebook & pen (or keep a running total in your head), you need to keep more accurate track of calories in. 1300-1500 should be a good range for you. Do that for 4 weeks, then check progress. You need to give it that much time because daily & even weekly stress, hormones, sodium can affect the scale reading so you need more time to prove results.

I'm not really guessing...I weigh things where I don't eat the whole packet, e.g if I have a sandwich with some cheese or something, I'll weigh the cheese and use that calculation to get the calories. I eat a lot of things that are just one portion though, e.g a tin of tomato soup I'll just trust the can and not weigh/measure and compare to the calories per 100ml or 100g, etc. What I don't do however is stuff like weigh bread, which I can start doing. But I do weigh some things, but I can start weighing more.

I understand that my weight loss is supposed to be harder now, do you really think 1300-1500 is small enough for me to eat? It doesn't sound like a very large deficit. I'll try what you said, and aim for around 1300 calories, I'll say.
So I hear people (when reading other topics) say that eating 1000 calories a day can like completely make your metabolism terrible as your body tries to store fat to stop itself starving, how truthful is that do you think, and is it possible that could've happened to me? (I'd assume the way to combat this is to eat more, so 1300 calories either way would be what I guess I should aim for)...

I'll see how it goes more accurately weighing stuff, I guess, and see if it works.

Anonyc

Yeah, research has shown that most people underestimate their intake by an average of 30%--some as much as 45%, omitting "healthy" foods from calorie counts (ie, fruits and vegetables), misreading serving sizes vs size of package (plus packaged weights can vary as much as 10%), and simply not being good at eyeballing portion sizes. Even registered dietitians underestimate on average by 10%.

Since you've hit a wall, I definitely second/third/fourth the food scale recommendation. Weigh EVERYTHING you eat. Seriously it's the best investment (for only $20) I've made to lose weight!

P.S. we have very similar stats--I am 5'1 (rounding up ) and now at 152 down from about 200. Food scale the whole way (and I eat a ton--anywhere from 1400-2000 calories).

So even if I'm underestimating by 30-45%, that would put me at 1300-1450 calories, which apparently is an acceptable deficit for me, so why am I still not losing? (I'm not being defensive, just wondering. I really can't imagine my calorie counting being more than that inaccurate, because I do try and combat any underestimating by purposely overestimating some things, but I could be wrong).

I have a scale, and as I've said on this before I'll give it a go weighing more things Unfortunately not everything I buy lists the calories in it though, which is frustrating as hell... I'm hoping all I need to do is eat a bit less and I'll lose weight again, because I can't wait to lose these last 28lbs!

Congrats! That's great! Nice to see another shortie here ;3 Do you lose weight eating 1400-2000 calories? And with how much exercise would that be with? XD

frickhead

Hi dear, first of all, congrats on 67 pounds! That is A LOT of weight to be lost!! You should be very proud of yourself.

Don't get discouraged because it's hard for you to lose weight. Remember, your body can fluctuate up to about 2 pounds every single day because of different things such as sugar(which retains water, which will add water weight), how much water you have drank in the day, if you are on your period/PMSing, etc.

Try not to weigh yourself every day as this will only discourage you. Try to weigh yourself maybe once a week so you can see the difference over a longer period of time.

Exercise!! It is important to exercise! Even walking for 30 minutes to 1 hour every day will give you improvement.

Also, the types of food you are eating may be preventing you from losing weight. If you are eating pizza, cake, chocolate, bread, or greasy foods all the time, you are going to gain weight, even if you only eat 1,000 calories. If you are not already, eat more fruits and vegetables as they fill you faster, leave you full longer, are lower in calories, and are much healthier.

Good luck, I am positive you can do it!

smn76237

Yeah, research has shown that most people underestimate their intake by an average of 30%--some as much as 45%, omitting "healthy" foods from calorie counts (ie, fruits and vegetables), misreading serving sizes vs size of package (plus packaged weights can vary as much as 10%), and simply not being good at eyeballing portion sizes. Even registered dietitians underestimate on average by 10%.

Since you've hit a wall, I definitely second/third/fourth the food scale recommendation. Weigh EVERYTHING you eat. Seriously it's the best investment (for only $20) I've made to lose weight!

P.S. we have very similar stats--I am 5'1 (rounding up ) and now at 152 down from about 200. Food scale the whole way (and I eat a ton--anywhere from 1400-2000 calories).

So even if I'm underestimating by 30-45%, that would put me at 1300-1450 calories, which apparently is an acceptable deficit for me, so why am I still not losing? (I'm not being defensive, just wondering. I really can't imagine my calorie counting being more than that inaccurate, because I do try and combat any underestimating by purposely overestimating some things, but I could be wrong).

I have a scale, and as I've said on this before I'll give it a go weighing more things Unfortunately not everything I buy lists the calories in it though, which is frustrating as hell... I'm hoping all I need to do is eat a bit less and I'll lose weight again, because I can't wait to lose these last 28lbs!

Congrats! That's great! Nice to see another shortie here ;3 Do you lose weight eating 1400-2000 calories? And with how much exercise would that be with? XD

I know, it sucks being told you're probably eating too much...but until you weigh and track everything, we (and you) can't see the black and white truth. This article made me laugh, someone else posted it here one time: http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/

Just try 3 weeks of weighing everything and logging everything in MFP (including if you spend a night out with friends, go out to a restaurant, etc) and see what happens. For things you say don't have calorie counts--what types of things do you mean?

Yes, I lose weight eating that much! I try to NET 1500, roughly, and hit 100g of protein minimum. I occasionally will eat sub-1500 a couple days if I've gone out to eat a large meal at a restaurant more than once a week.

I do 2x45 minute interval style/bootcamp classes a week, and 4 to 5 power yoga classes a week. Occasionally I'll throw in a 2-3 mile jog once a week now that the weather is nice.

ETA: I don't use a heart rate monitor/any gadgets to measure my calorie output, so really my exercise calories are total guesses--I usually only eat 250-350 calories extra per 45 minute workout.

natstar26

ok so based on you info you should be eating 1400cal a day...you need this much so you have enough energy to "function" and when it comes to calories burnt in exercise mfp numbers are too high. If you don't want to type it on here by all means. Maybe instead write it down, weigh everything meat, vegies, sauces you name it. Get a device to help track your exercise so you can accurately see what you are burning. its also important not only to eat within you calorie but your daily macros. for yourself they would be for weight loss CARBS: 123g FATS: 39g PROTEIN: 140g a day. Would you know how to calculate these? Calorie counting and eating back your calories is important but keeping within your macros is also very important. We aren't here to pick at you but to help you with those last stubborn pounds

skullshank

I don't really log my foods in here, I know I'm terrible, so opening up my diary won't help, I mostly just use this site to track my losses, not what I eat.

im sure this has been pointed out already, but a big portion of the issue resides right in that statement.

congrats on the weight you HAVE lost! that's no small feat.

invest in a cheap food scale, calculate your TDEE and eat 75-80% of that, be patient, succeed.

good luck!

aNewYear123

Try entering your data into an online TDEE calculator (for example http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/) Using female, 18 years old, 61 inches, 154 pounds, and sedentary that calculator says that if you eat 1446 calories a day you will lose a half of a pound a week. If you add any exercise you can either eat a little more or lose a little more.

You should note that (according to the calculator) if you eat 1701 calories a day you will maintain your weight. So if you are off by 300 calories a day, that could eat up most of your calorie deficit for that day. As you lose weight the calories required to maintain your weight decrease, so your deficit will also decrease and accuracy becomes more and more important.

In reference to your starting to weigh yourself more and more often, realize that your weight will change throughout the day depending on the quantity of food you eat and drink. Make sure you are not comparing your weight from the morning to your weight the same evening. Also with hormones, stress, and sodium levels your weight will fluctuate throughout the month as well.

Anonyc

Yeah, research has shown that most people underestimate their intake by an average of 30%--some as much as 45%, omitting "healthy" foods from calorie counts (ie, fruits and vegetables), misreading serving sizes vs size of package (plus packaged weights can vary as much as 10%), and simply not being good at eyeballing portion sizes. Even registered dietitians underestimate on average by 10%.

Since you've hit a wall, I definitely second/third/fourth the food scale recommendation. Weigh EVERYTHING you eat. Seriously it's the best investment (for only $20) I've made to lose weight!

P.S. we have very similar stats--I am 5'1 (rounding up ) and now at 152 down from about 200. Food scale the whole way (and I eat a ton--anywhere from 1400-2000 calories).

So even if I'm underestimating by 30-45%, that would put me at 1300-1450 calories, which apparently is an acceptable deficit for me, so why am I still not losing? (I'm not being defensive, just wondering. I really can't imagine my calorie counting being more than that inaccurate, because I do try and combat any underestimating by purposely overestimating some things, but I could be wrong).

I have a scale, and as I've said on this before I'll give it a go weighing more things Unfortunately not everything I buy lists the calories in it though, which is frustrating as hell... I'm hoping all I need to do is eat a bit less and I'll lose weight again, because I can't wait to lose these last 28lbs!

Congrats! That's great! Nice to see another shortie here ;3 Do you lose weight eating 1400-2000 calories? And with how much exercise would that be with? XD

I know, it sucks being told you're probably eating too much...but until you weigh and track everything, we (and you) can't see the black and white truth. This article made me laugh, someone else posted it here one time: http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/

Just try 3 weeks of weighing everything and logging everything in MFP (including if you spend a night out with friends, go out to a restaurant, etc) and see what happens. For things you say don't have calorie counts--what types of things do you mean?

Yes, I lose weight eating that much! I try to NET 1500, roughly, and hit 100g of protein minimum. I occasionally will eat sub-1500 a couple days if I've gone out to eat a large meal at a restaurant more than once a week.

I do 2x45 minute interval style/bootcamp classes a week, and 4 to 5 power yoga classes a week. Occasionally I'll throw in a 2-3 mile jog once a week now that the weather is nice.

ETA: I don't use a heart rate monitor/any gadgets to measure my calorie output, so really my exercise calories are total guesses--I usually only eat 250-350 calories extra per 45 minute workout.

To me it actually doesn't suck, I can cope pretty well with not eating a lot, so I wouldn't mind cutting down if it will legitimately make me lose more weight without causing any health problems (possibly due to not enough calories, if I were to cut down too much). .

Actually stuff like eating at a restaurant, how would I find the calories I've consumed? Or if I ordered a pizza as a treat? (something I'll be doing in a few weeks) I buy stuff like bread rolls sometimes, and I can't find any values for calories on them, or stuff like cookies (I very rarely get stuff like that, but I've bought them before from school which obviously does not list calorie content, and purposely overestimated but hey it might have been a super cookie and I had not realised). I bought some tea today from a large supermarket, I can't find calorie values for the teabags anywhere, online or on the packaging! When I am in those situations I tend to look up various similar products and make an average/pick the highest calorie value for the amount I ate.

Ah you exercise a LOT more than me, which I expected, so I imagine I should stick to like 1300 calories or something, as all I do is the 30 day shred every day, so far (so like 25 minutes of somewhat intense workout- it feels intense to me!)

Anonyc

ok so based on you info you should be eating 1400cal a day...you need this much so you have enough energy to "function" and when it comes to calories burnt in exercise mfp numbers are too high. If you don't want to type it on here by all means. Maybe instead write it down, weigh everything meat, vegies, sauces you name it. Get a device to help track your exercise so you can accurately see what you are burning. its also important not only to eat within you calorie but your daily macros. for yourself they would be for weight loss CARBS: 123g FATS: 39g PROTEIN: 140g a day. Would you know how to calculate these? Calorie counting and eating back your calories is important but keeping within your macros is also very important. We aren't here to pick at you but to help you with those last stubborn pounds

I still worry that 1400 might be a bit too much, but just about everyone has said very similar calorie values for what I should have, so 1300-1400 seems like what I'll change to (once I've started weighing more stuff). Ah, so I should try and intake those values for carbs, fats and protein, and keep that at 1400 calories? (assuming those values would add up to around that?). Thanks, I know that sticking to proper food groups is my next step (something I was hoping I could concentrate once I've scrapped off all the weight I want to scrap off). Thanks for the help

Anonyc

Hi dear, first of all, congrats on 67 pounds! That is A LOT of weight to be lost!! You should be very proud of yourself.

Don't get discouraged because it's hard for you to lose weight. Remember, your body can fluctuate up to about 2 pounds every single day because of different things such as sugar(which retains water, which will add water weight), how much water you have drank in the day, if you are on your period/PMSing, etc.

Try not to weigh yourself every day as this will only discourage you. Try to weigh yourself maybe once a week so you can see the difference over a longer period of time.

Exercise!! It is important to exercise! Even walking for 30 minutes to 1 hour every day will give you improvement.

Also, the types of food you are eating may be preventing you from losing weight. If you are eating pizza, cake, chocolate, bread, or greasy foods all the time, you are going to gain weight, even if you only eat 1,000 calories. If you are not already, eat more fruits and vegetables as they fill you faster, leave you full longer, are lower in calories, and are much healthier.

Good luck, I am positive you can do it!

Thank you! I'm so pleased with my weight loss so far, I'm just kind of depressed that it's much harder to get to my 9stone goal and finally be a healthy weight (something I've never been, I get excited just thinking about it!).

My body seems to go between 1-2 pounds each day, it seems, just from eating/drinking, the only thing is that by the next day I haven't lost anything. I know weighing every day won't show my results properly, but it's just felt like such a struggle to even get from 11 stone 5 to 11 stone 2, yet alone lose anything after that! I keep telling myself I'll only weigh once a week, but curiosity gets the best of me, I'm going to make sure I weigh myself every Saturday, like I originally did!

I never exercised before, and just started the 30 day shred, so 25 minutes for what feels like an intense small workout seems to be somewhat good for me (as I don't want to waste hours and hours running or something, although I may do that in July-August once school is over).

Yeah the foods are one issue that may be stopping me, I used to eat more of those treat things (but in small values, still get 1000 calories a day though) but now I just mostly eat...well sandwiches really XD. I'm a massively fussy eater, I hate most healthy foods (Well, I like fruit but those still contain calories), but I am forcing myself to eat better, I guess I'll just have to force myself even more

Anonyc

Try entering your data into an online TDEE calculator (for example http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/) Using female, 18 years old, 61 inches, 154 pounds, and sedentary that calculator says that if you eat 1446 calories a day you will lose a half of a pound a week. If you add any exercise you can either eat a little more or lose a little more.

You should note that (according to the calculator) if you eat 1701 calories a day you will maintain your weight. So if you are off by 300 calories a day, that could eat up most of your calorie deficit for that day. As you lose weight the calories required to maintain your weight decrease, so your deficit will also decrease and accuracy becomes more and more important.

In reference to your starting to weigh yourself more and more often, realize that your weight will change throughout the day depending on the quantity of food you eat and drink. Make sure you are not comparing your weight from the morning to your weight the same evening. Also with hormones, stress, and sodium levels your weight will fluctuate throughout the month as well.

That calculator seems really good! Whilst I'd like to lose a little more than 0.5lbs a week, I guess I'll take it over nothing. It seems I will go for 1300-1400 calories per day, and I like that that calculator gives suggestions for meals, calories per meal, etc, that's a nice tough, I'll keep that open to remind me to plan meals and such better

I realise that weight changes, but curiosity keeps getting the better of me, I'm going to try and make sure I only weigh once a week or so, as it would be better. It just feels that overall no weight loss has occurred, well some has, but very gradually slowly.

Thanks for the link to the site, and the great advice

segovm

I know it probably seems a little overwhelming to log everything in and measure when you can but it really is pretty eye opening. I thought I was eating about 1700 calories a day before I started logging and when I got everything in there I was closer to 2400... and I swear I thought I was on a diet at the time!

The logging is far less tedious once you get the hang of it. Within a few weeks it almost becomes a sport and is pretty fun trying to catch every last bit.

It's embarrassing to admit that we can be so far off on our estimates but I think most everyone here has been which is why they all come back with the same advice!

Anyway, just wanted to say good luck to you and have fun. You're close, the last little bit is supposed to take a while.

ximenia

Honestly, without weighing and logging your food it's very easy to under estimate the calories you are consuming. I highly doubt you are netting 1000 calories a day, which is probably good as that wouldn't be healthy.

the 30 day shred is awesome, yes it ruined me the first day and I could hardly move the day after so I took a rest day, then the 2nd time it wasn't as bad, and the next day I didn't feel nearly as sore. by the 5th day I felt amazing and it no longer hurt me at all (no more rests after the first one btw) So I really think you should stick with it, you'll feel great before you know it :-)

I understand it's easy to underestimate calories, whilst I do estimate I lot, I try to over estimate on some things to balance it out. I do weigh some things, but not everything. If I shouldn't be hitting 1000 calories, what should I be hitting? If I should be aiming for 1300 or something, and I'm actually hitting that (I am very doubtful that I could be any more inaccurate with that) then what do I do to lose weight? ._. I really hope I am just over eating because I can easily stop eating as much, it's other ways of losing weight that I hate.

I just worried if I was in too much pain, I was told exercise shouldn't hurt and such, but it would always hurt for me. Since my muscles would hurt just walking, doing the actual 30 day shred whilst in agony of course hurt. I've already noticed my legs are feeling much better, after 3 days, which makes sense since I used to do squats. However my elbow joints are killing me right now!

Have you experienced weight loss whilst on the 30 day shred, and do you think it really works well?

You should probably be aiming for at least 1200 depending on your activity level. I really do suggest getting a food scale, and also be careful not to drink your calories.

Personally for me with the 30 day shred the first day was painful, and when I was done my legs felt like jello, the next day I was extremely sore, but after that it went away and I haven't experienced it since. (And I've been doing it every day) If it's really rough on you I would suggest only doing the modified moves to make it lower impact and drink more water, even slow down some of the moves that hurt you until you're in better shape.

as for results, I've already lost a couple inches off my waist, an inch off my thighs and my arms are looking more toned and I actually have muscles now. I'm only on day 6 of the shred and I've already lost 2.5 pounds since starting it.

3dogsrunning

I highly suggest this thread

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants?

JustAnotherGirlSuzanne

kpost323 is right on.

About Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred, I feel your pain, it was so awful for the first few days, but once I got to day 10 (still doing the "easy" part of level one) I was amazed at just how different and stronger I felt than on day 1.

You don't have to stick with the 30 Day Shred if you don't want to and if you think you'd enjoy something better. I just wanted to give you some hope that it WILL get easier. :flowerforyou:

Tanya949

Sounds to me like your metabolism has dropped to match your severe caloric deficit. So if you start to increase your calories even a bit, you will gain weight. You probably have done damage to your metabolism, and need to do a metabolic reset. This consists of slowly increasing your calories week by week until you stop gaining weight and start to maintain. Only then do you restart the deficit process. It's a lengthy process but it does correct your metabolism in most cases.