HELP! Diet and Exercise with no results :(

amygonzalez031514
amygonzalez031514 Posts: 1 Member
in Motivation and Support
Please help

I actually started dieting and exercising back in mid June and started MFP on July 24 I believe. I am insanely strict on my dieting and exercising besides some cheat days on the weekends (not every weekend). I try to log each thing I eat down to the very last calorie. When I do cheat on my diet, I at least try to exercise more that day to outweigh what I eat. I exercise regularly (which I had not done in years before June) but I have not even shed 1 pound. The scale is the same. About 3/4 weeks ago I even went into MPG goals and manually changed my calorie intake to be less than suggested to give my body a boost to lose weight.. and STILL NO RESULTS. What is going on here? Its not even like I hit a plateau or anything bc I never even dropped weight in the first place (besides the obvious water weight the first week, then it all came back)

A few more facts:
- I am 5'9". 148 lbs. size 8 - 10 pants.
- I have a standing desk at work so I am standing most of the day. I work out 3-5 times a week for a minimum of 25 minutes each time and most times I work out 45 minutes or more.
- I have a Polar FT4 heart rate monitor that I use religiously to get accurate caloric burn.
- No, I have not taken my measurements... I need to start measuring my results BUT my pants fit the exact same... so I'm guessing that means I have not lost any inches.
- I drink plenty of water
- I eat very "clean" for the most part. Veggies, fruit, very very small amounts of oils/butter/dressings for taste. Very little bread unless its a cheat day. I even buy mostly organic.
- I eat snacks throughout the day, so I don't calorie dump often. But my snacks are all relatively healthy.
- MFP originally told me I need to eat 1570 cals a day (which I thought was insanely high) but I bumped it down to 1450 since I saw no results.


Please please help. I don't want to eat less than 1400 cal a day (I'm at 1450 now). I don't want my body to go into starvation mode.

Replies

  • 5stringjeff
    5stringjeff Posts: 790 Member
    I went here and punched in your numbers to calculate your BMR.

    http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/bmr/

    Your BMR is 1500 calories. Your body will burn that much each day, just to survive, so you should be eating that much each day. Your TDEE (at lightly active) is 2065. That's what you'll burn on a normal day. It sounds like the MFP goal of 1570 is just about right for a 1 pound loss per week. Given that you're already at a decent weight, you might set your goals at 1/2 pound per week to increase your calories. That sounds counter-intuitive, but many people on MFP will attest to its effectiveness.
  • stardust92
    stardust92 Posts: 46 Member
    I would suggest eating 1700 - 2000 cals looking at what you have put. You only need to restrict calories so much when you have a lot of weight to go.

    I hate the term 'starvation mode' because people think it means your body will start to store all the calories you consume which is ludicrous. However if you don't eat enough to do all the things you do your body becomes more effective at how it makes energy.

    It is like at Christmas time you don't have enough money for the extra expenses but you don't suddenly start saving it all you just take what you have and make it go further by budgeting and not paying bills you normally would etc. This is what the body does it doesn't start storing it it just takes what it has and budgets it a bit better and stops using so much when you are in rest etc.

    So to stop this happening you need to eat more than your bmr but less than your bmr plus cals bruned. Which using calculators on your behalf is about 1875 cals.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    You're already within a healthy weight range for your height, so I'll ask: is your goal solely weight loss or are you trying to "tone" or recomp to change your body shape?
  • southofgrace
    southofgrace Posts: 3
    I can completely relate to this! You ARE in a healthy weight for your height, but there's absolutely NOTHING wrong with leaning out for aesthetic purposes. That being said, the leaner you are the harder it is to continue to lean out. I am 5'7'' 135 lbs (19% body fat down from 21% over the past month) and have had GREAT results with throwing out ALL processed foods, limiting snacks and eating protein with EVERY SINGLE MEAL! That last one is very important. :wink: It's not easy (especially at first), but I feel AMAZING doing this and have found that it almost doesn't even matter how many calories I consume as long as they are CLEAN (meaning absolutely nothing processed). Just try it for a week or two. You will never go back!
  • kiwigirl007
    kiwigirl007 Posts: 28 Member
    Just a suggestion - I found that when I was doing all body-weight training (think Jillian Michaels DVDs) I saw toning but no weight loss. Now that I've incorporated regular moderate cardio (1.5 - 2 mile runs) I'm seeing a huge difference!
  • kshadows
    kshadows Posts: 1,315 Member
    Definitely agree with eat more, and make sure you are completely accurate when logging (food scale, measuring cups, the whole 9 yards).

    I'm 5'5, 150 lbs and lose at ~1800 a day so trust me, 1570 is NOT ridiculously high

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