Can someone help please?

rubixcyoob

So, I had this account for ages and I've only decided to use it recently.

10 months after a 10lbs 8oz child I decided to start getting fit and slimmer again because of a holiday I am going on. Yay for vanity.
Before my son was born I was a UK size 8/10 in 2009, just before his birth I was a size 16/18 in July 2010 and currently I am a size 14, and sometimes, on a happy day, a 12.

I currently weight 12st 6lbs/5lbs (but I'll go with the heaviest, just in case), so around 174lbs.
My goal weight is around 130lbs - 135lbs.

Since the early middle of May I have lost one and a half stone, 22lbs, to get me where I currently am. Most of this was due to not eating as a result of a cold/flu symptom.


Now, according to my profile I should be eating somewhere in the region of 1200 calories a day, however, I find this seriously difficult to manage.
Today I had a shape yoghurt and bowl of special K for breakfast with a cup of tea. For lunch it was a cheese and onion toastie followed by a diet irn bru and a tea again. Before work I had another shape yoghurt and then for dinner I had a weight watchers spaghetti bolognaise and a slice of buttered bread, with tea.

The exercise I done today includes around 10 minutes of moderate swimming (in between playing with my son in the pool) along with a 40 minute workout in the gym with the ellipitical trainer, treadmill at an incline and stationary bike.

According to my calculations made on here I ate 1029 in food but burned 465 by working out so my net intake was only 564. I know myself this is absurdly low, but I just cannot physically eat any more in a given day. I just get so full.

Does anyone know if I will loose weight continuing the way I am going, or would I be better upping my calories/decreasing exercise?
Or is there something else I would need to do entirely?

wbond

You need to eat more...females should not eat less than 1200 calories and if you exercise, you need to eat those calories back...

rubixcyoob

Yeah I figured I needed to eat more but I've not clue HOW to eat more, if that makes sense?

They're pretty big meals for me, and spaced out. It's like, yoghurt after my sons breakfast at 7amish, cereal at 9amish, lunch between 12 and 2, snack of yoghurt between 4 and 5, dinner around 7 and then I'm just not hungry again

riannenrings

maybe you could eat higher calorie foods..instead of more...to get up to the 1200 calorie mark..

6heatherb6

you are going to get all sort of advise - I say listen to your body...if you are full you are full!!
You have eaten healthy and over 1000 cal so that is great. For weight loss (in my unprofessional but experienced opinion) you don't need to eat back exercise calories (unless you are doing marathons etc lol)
All the very best - just keep with it..and congrats on the lovely baby....
:flowerforyou:

VICKY_83

I find it hard to eat 1200 calories a day sometimes, but I found after a while I would feel funny I would get headaches after doing aerobics.... Why don't you try drinking milk or having a abit of chocolate to get your calories up..... Thats what I would try next ..

melaniecheeks

They seem quite high carb to me - are you tracking that? Try having eggs instead of toast or cereal for breakfast, soup or salad instead of a toastie for lunch. What height are you?

HeelsAndBoxingGloves

From all the information I've seen you need to eat at least a good portion of your exercise calories back. If you don't eat enough your body will go into starvation mode and start storing fat, which none of us wants! I find it works best for me if I know I'm going to be working out and can guess about how many calories I'll burn to just add those calories in throughout the day instead of trying to eat them all back after the workout. With all those extra calories you could always indulge yourself a little and get an ice cream cone or candy bar to celebrate doing such a great job :-)

_Sally_

I agree with wbond, you need to eat more.

Sounds like you didn't eat while you were sick and now you simply have to ease yourself into eating more. You don't want to lose lean muscle mass and mess up your metabolism.

jbucci1186

You need to eat more...females should not eat less than 1200 calories and if you exercise, you need to eat those calories back...

agreed!

sue26

Substitute some higher calorie foods for the 2 yoghurts or add nuts or fruit to them. There arent many calories in a shape yoghurt/ Also more fruit and veggies would up the nutrients you are getting and fiber too.

_Sally_

From all the information I've seen you need to eat at least a good portion of your exercise calories back. If you don't eat enough your body will go into starvation mode and start storing fat, which none of us wants! I find it works best for me if I know I'm going to be working out and can guess about how many calories I'll burn to just add those calories in throughout the day instead of trying to eat them all back after the workout. With all those extra calories you could always indulge yourself a little and get an ice cream cone or candy bar to celebrate doing such a great job :-)

Instead of ice cream or a candy bar, I would recommend perhaps some peanut butter and celery or almond butter and apples as higher calorie, healthy snacks. Even some protein bars would be good. Because you are not eating a lot of calories, you need to make sure you are getting adequate nutrients.

Persipan

If you don't feel like you can eat more in terms of quantity, just swap some things for higher-calorie foods. It sounds like you're eating lots of diet yoghurts and whatnot - why not just switch to normal ones?

rubixcyoob

maybe you could eat higher calorie foods..instead of more...to get up to the 1200 calorie mark..

Yeah that thought never even crossed my mind, thanks!

you are going to get all sort of advise - I say listen to your body...if you are full you are full!!
You have eaten healthy and over 1000 cal so that is great. For weight loss (in my unprofessional but experienced opinion) you don't need to eat back exercise calories (unless you are doing marathons etc lol)
All the very best - just keep with it..and congrats on the lovely baby....
:flowerforyou:

Thank you

I find it hard to eat 1200 calories a day sometimes, but I found after a while I would feel funny I would get headaches after doing aerobics.... Why don't you try drinking milk or having a abit of chocolate to get your calories up..... Thats what I would try next ..

I normally only have a drink 4 or 5 times a day and it's normally either tea, milk or water. One with each meal and then one half way through the day and one before bed I just can't drink a lot either, but thank you

They seem quite high carb to me - are you tracking that? Try having eggs instead of toast or cereal for breakfast, soup or salad instead of a toastie for lunch. What height are you?

Yeah the carbs came up because the foods I ate and used were all on the system.

Calories I ate 1029, exercised 465 so my net left me with 636 remaining.
Carbs my daily allowance is 228 and I ate 138.
Fat my allowance is 55, I ate 25.
Protein is 62 and I ate 26.

But what the hell does that mean!?

I'm somewhere between 5"5' and 5"6'.

From all the information I've seen you need to eat at least a good portion of your exercise calories back. If you don't eat enough your body will go into starvation mode and start storing fat, which none of us wants! I find it works best for me if I know I'm going to be working out and can guess about how many calories I'll burn to just add those calories in throughout the day instead of trying to eat them all back after the workout. With all those extra calories you could always indulge yourself a little and get an ice cream cone or candy bar to celebrate doing such a great job :-)

Thanks!

I agree with wbond, you need to eat more.

Sounds like you didn't eat while you were sick and now you simply have to ease yourself into eating more. You don't want to lose lean muscle mass and mess up your metabolism.

It is hard to eat more, and it might have something to do with that. I didn't even relate the two!

When I was sick I found it hard to manage half a baguette and soup a day, never mind three meals. Thanks!

isabelk

Drink water, not other types of drinks. Ditch the yogurt for almonds or other nuts. Add protein. Go for variety and color on your plate. Eat smaller portions more widely spaced and try to up your calories. You might gain weight at first. Honestly, it will be better for you in the long run. Once you can eat 1200 healthy calories and your weight is stable, you can look at weight loss. It might take a couple of months to get to that point, but you will have more energy for exercise and a healthy base to start building muscle.

Google "skinny fat" and look at the images... not pretty. If you want a leaner, toned look you'll have to go the long way round.

rubixcyoob

Sue, Presipan, Sally and jbucci thanks!

rachy_09

my only suggestion would be to add for example a banana or some fruit to your cereal and have a home cooked meal (i no not always easy with time) but have something the same size but more cals more nutrients.

Pebble321

Yes, that isn't much to be eating when you are busy with a baby plus working out. I know that a bad cold/flu can leave you with no appetite, so don't push it but try to get some extra cals in at each meal - full cream milk and yoghurt, cheese, eat real food not a weight watchers meal etc.
You also don't mention a single fruit or veg, see if you can get a few of them in each day too - add banana to your cereal, tomato to lunch, salad to dinner etc.

rubixcyoob

I do normally have fruit and veg throughout the day, for dinner it's more often than not a homecooked pasta dish or some homecooked sauce with chicken that contains tomato's, mushroom's etc.

And it'll normally be a piece of fruit instead of a yoghurt etc. Just back from a weekend away at a family wedding, so no food in lol.

halfmarathon52

Since you like to snack on yogurt, get the high calorie yogurts. It will go a long way. You want to try to always consume net 1200 calories. Mostly because if you don't you body MAY go into starvation mode throughout the day and store foods that you consume instead of using them properly and it CAN hurt your metabolism over time. That has been my experience anyhow.

Best of luck