I"ve been faithful!!!!

ChubbyBunny

I am terrible about drinking my 8 cups... so that is my first plan of attack to help improve things. I do eat my exercise calories, but I am still struggling. You're not the only one! I've been on so many "diets" over the years and this site seems like a completely sane alternative. Stick to it and don't give up!

Oh I so understand you about the water!!!!

mrscato89

Are you drinking your eight glasses of water everyday? If you dont that could be the issue. I have been with this site almost three months now and up until a week ago I did not lose one pound. About a week and a half ago, I started doing my eight glasses a day and I have lost 5 pounds in just one week without even noticing it. Not only that, it will be hard...but gradually cut back on fast foods. Just because a bacon egg and cheese biscuit is within the calorie range for that day does not mean that you should eat it. I noticed no matter how many calories I counted I could not do it without cutting out that fast food and consuming lots of water.
I know how you feel it was very frustrating for me too...Try smaller portions and if you are a bored eater like I am, chew gum and drink water. The water will fill you up faster than you know!!!
Good luck

banks1850

So rosh,

thanks for posting the numbers.
Based on those, here are preliminarilly what I can tell you.

1st, at your age, height, and weight, and assuming a lightly active lifestyle (you said you are active through the day), your maintenance calories are around 2450. That means that even if you don't work out, you should never eat below about 1450 calories at your BMI.

If you DO work out, you need to eat those extra calories as well.

1450 is a 1000 calorie deficit. That SHOULD keep you out of starvation, but remember this, if you have been eating 1200 - 1400 for a month now, you might already be in starvation. It may take a few weeks for your body to adjust back up to a normal metabolism. In that time you may maintain or even gain a couple of pounds. You have to account for this and try not to get frustrated.

Personally, after lots of time on here, and lots of experience, I would probably go up to between 1500 and 1600 calories a day. Give your body the fuel it needs to work, get it to the point where it isn't worrying about fuel anymore, that means it will work right all the time and not store as much fat in reserve.
The other thing to do is examine your nutrition, at your BMI you probably need to be at something like a
55% carb, 25% protein, 20% fat ratio. The higher the weight training, the more protein, and less carbs you should use. Also, try not to eat more then 300 to 400 calories at any one meal, break it down into small snacks and a larger breakfast and lunch.

Give these things a chance to work (say another month), and if that doesn't work, you may need to seek the help of a trainer. Remember, everyone is different, maybe your metabolism is a little unusual, if that is the case, bring your workout routines and nutrition to a trainer and they should be able to help.

Good luck to you Girl!!

keep us informed.

-Banks

lotusfromthemud

This is all very good advice, and forgive me if I missed someone saying this.

Have you been to a Dr. to rule out a medical condition? I agree you should increase your calorie intake, but this is definitely something to have checked.

roshong06

I am terrible about drinking my 8 cups... so that is my first plan of attack to help improve things. I do eat my exercise calories, but I am still struggling. You're not the only one! I've been on so many "diets" over the years and this site seems like a completely sane alternative. Stick to it and don't give up!

Oh I so understand you about the water!!!!

I try to drink that much water...but I have a hard time with it. Not that I don't want it, I just forget to drink unless I am thirsty. I also did NOT know I had to eat my exercise cals. And I thought that the 1860 cals per day from MFP was just letting me know that I can not go over those...I didn't know I had to eat as close to that as possible....I will try that. I don't eat my work out cals...I'll try that too. And yes I have been to a Dr. I have a Dr. over looking what I do know, she knows that I am not losing, but she has not done any testing or anything? Maybe I need to ask her about it...ALOT of people on my dads side have Thyroid conditions. anyway, thank you all for your very much wanted and very much appreciated advise...I will keep everyone updated.
Also...when it says 8 cups of water a day...does that mean 8-8oz cups? Like should I be counting my 16.9 oz water bottle as 2 cups?

ChubbyBunny

Oh! See we've brainstormed and found some answers and came up wit ideas.

I ALWAYS forget to drink my water, I just don't think about it much.
Yes, you should have 8x8 oz of water a day. Whether you drink it in a cup or a big ol water bottle.
There were some football players at school that haul around gallon jugs

banks1850

I try to drink that much water...but I have a hard time with it. Not that I don't want it, I just forget to drink unless I am thirsty. I also did NOT know I had to eat my exercise cals. And I thought that the 1860 cals per day from MFP was just letting me know that I can not go over those...I didn't know I had to eat as close to that as possible....I will try that. I don't eat my work out cals...I'll try that too. And yes I have been to a Dr. I have a Dr. over looking what I do know, she knows that I am not losing, but she has not done any testing or anything? Maybe I need to ask her about it...ALOT of people on my dads side have Thyroid conditions. anyway, thank you all for your very much wanted and very much appreciated advise...I will keep everyone updated.
Also...when it says 8 cups of water a day...does that mean 8-8oz cups? Like should I be counting my 16.9 oz water bottle as 2 cups?

Checking your thyroid is a good idea. Remember this though when asking your doctor about nutrition, GP doctors aren't nutrition specialists. They know more then most of us, to be sure, but a registered dietician would be just as (if not more) helpful for this as they do it EVERY day. A lot of times I have seen doctors recommend things that are as much for expediance as they are for practicality of the patient. I.E. recommending pills and the like because it's easier then sitting down for a 1/2 hour and helping you map out a plan. Some doctors are better at it then others, a lot depends on how busy their practice is. I know my doctor zips in, takes a bunch of quick measurements, looks at my chart, and zips out in like 10 minutes. It doesn't give me the warm and fuzzies and I only see him so I can get my bloodwork and tests done. Unfortunately I'm limited by my health plan to which doctors I can see, and the ones I get to choose from are all from those giant consortiums. Not many old fashion, take your time, get to know your patient, doctors around Boston any more. It's a volume business these days.

Have I soured on the state of our doctors these day? Maybe some, but I understand, and I don't blame them, I'm just weary of accepting everything they say without a little backup if it doesn't sound kosher.

PedalHound

Thyroid may be huge in this. When my hypothyroidism was undiagnosed I was gaining weight despite being a competitive dancer! If yours happens to be slow you need to know about it!

ChubbyBunny

Thyroid may be huge in this. When my hypothyroidism was undiagnosed I was gaining weight despite being a competitive dancer! If yours happens to be slow you need to know about it!

Oh really....a competitive dancer....I am intrigued.....

PedalHound

lol - I danced (ballet, jazz, tap, modern) about 30 hours a week and did competitions all over the place. We only ever took 1 silver and on top of our almost-perfect gold medal streak we got overall gold for every competition other than our silver placement. I'm damned proud of my dancing as a matter of fact :bigsmile: :bigsmile: Can't wait till class starts again in the fall, although I'm sure not dancing as much as before having a family! lol
O actually saw today that The Pulse dance convention set dates for the winter. Can't go this year but I'm planning on it next year (Mia Michaels, Wade Robson, Brian Friedman, Chris Judd, Dave Scott and more AMAZING dancers do workshops)

Tangent! (You asked )

ChubbyBunny

lol - I danced (ballet, jazz, tap, modern) about 30 hours a week and did competitions all over the place. We only ever took 1 silver and on top of our almost-perfect gold medal streak we got overall gold for every competition other than our silver placement. I'm damned proud of my dancing as a matter of fact :bigsmile: :bigsmile: Can't wait till class starts again in the fall, although I'm sure not dancing as much as before having a family! lol
O actually saw today that The Pulse dance convention set dates for the winter. Can't go this year but I'm planning on it next year (Mia Michaels, Wade Robson, Brian Friedman, Chris Judd, Dave Scott and more AMAZING dancers do workshops)

Tangent! (You asked )

Dang and here I was thinking stripper competitive... :laugh: (j/k)

That is awesome that you got an opportunity like that. It would amazing....but tons of hard work.

PedalHound

haha - nice :glasses:

I've been a dancer since I was 3 years old and I haven't stopped :happy: I was competitive for 3 years. And my @$^$# docs didn't even check my blood when I started gaining and gaining. Wasn't until a couple of years ago that I found out about my thyroid! :explode:

ChubbyBunny

Ah man that totally sucks.
I know weight can be a issue in dance.