Nutrient Goals Help!

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jclark051
jclark051 Posts: 20
in Health and Weight Loss
I have lost approximately 30 lbs since April 2014. I would ideally like to lose another 10 lbs. I currently weigh 145 lbs and my height is 5'3. I am active and work out 5 days a week. I encorporate at least 45 minutes of cardio and about 10-20 minutes of strength training daily. I am at a plateau stage and have had difficultly for the last couple of weeks losing any weight. I have always used the recommended or guided nutrient goals on MFP. Does anyone have suggestions for customizing my own nutrient goals? How much protein should I shoot to have, carbs, etc? I know that my sodium has been problematic so I recently changed my goal to not exceed 1,500 mg of sodium daily...which is extremely hard to do. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thank you all

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  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    Keep in mind that a plateau is generally considered more like 4-6+ weeks without a loss while making no changes to your routine. That said, it is a good idea to tweak your goals as you lose every 10 pounds or so.

    I had really good success using the math outlined here:http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
  • meganjcallaghan
    meganjcallaghan Posts: 949 Member
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    re: sodium - has a doctor told you it's a problem? I assumed less was better because that's what everything you read will tell you....however, everything you read is based on the average sedentary or very lightly active adult (as far as the recommended 2300 mg maximum is concerned). However, when I aimed for less I ended up making myself sick and actually increased my blood pressure. Turns out with the amount of running I do, I actually needed more than the recommended maximum....some days up to 3 times as much depending on the length of my run. As soon as I increased it (and by "increased" i mean I started loading that crap on EVERYthing) i felt better within a few days (after about 8 months of feeling like absolute poo) and my BP dropped from an average systolic of 145 to 106 where it has stayed ever since.

    Anyway, all that to say, everyone is different and while doing low sodium might be good for some people it's not necessarily good for you. If you're doing 45 minutes of cardio a day you probably don't need much more than the maximum, but it wouldn't be a problem to go over once in a while (particularly on high activity/sweat days) and you certainly shouldn't need to go low sodium unless you get blood work done or high BP readings that trigger your doctor to tell you to lower it.

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