Suggestions, opinions and/or advice please

arotella

So after a really rough week I FINALLY got back with the program. I hit a plateau in June; fluctuating between 2lbs. I was working SO hard to break through it; I remained under my calorie goal (other than a couple of days), ate my exercise calories, and was working out seven days a week. Three of those days were dedicated to lifting and the others for cardio. As for cardio, I mainly do Zumba but I mix it up with intervals on the treadmill, the stair mill, & trying a new class here and there. I also walk my dog on a daily basis as well. SO, you could imagine how upset I was when I got measured last Monday and found out I had actually put on .25 inches in my hips and chest and my body fat went up a little (which proves it’s not just muscle). I KNOW this is not a huge number, but I should have LOST after all my hard work; not maintained, and definitely not gained! Ever since then I’ve had a MAJOR loss of motivation. I met with a dietician to find out my resting metabolic rate (RMR) and it turns out that my RMR went from 1650 (which is high for someone of my size) to 1240 (which is below the average) since last year. Since I have gained muscle & work out so dang much, you’d think it would have gone up, not down! Plus my calorie goal is set to 1400, so how is it below 1400?! I just don’t get it. Basically she told me if I wanted to lose 1lb per week my daily calorie goal would be 988… which is obviously too low.
It was just a week full of bad news and it was very demotivating, but I am still not ready to give up. I’ve done a lot of researching trying to figure out what the deal is. Everything I have read says that if you over exercise your body can start storing weight as a defense mechanism, just like your body can go into starvation mode when you don’t eat enough. I also read that if you hit a plateau you should up your calories a little. SO I took a 3 day break from the gym and a major break from my diet. I REALLY bombed the diet party over the holiday weekend (which included my birthday), with a “what’s the point” attitude. I am terrified to weigh myself now of the fear that I only gained more weight! I finally got the motivation back and I don’t want to lose it again. It feels like this is a never ending cycle!!!
Regardless… today marked a fresh start, but I am still confused on what to set my calorie goal to and what I need to get out of this rut. Right now I have my calories set to 1240 and planned 1-2 rest days a week. But I would like to get my metabolism back to where it was. I am sure I did a lot of damage by cutting them down in the first place. Maybe my body did go into starvation mode and stored fat! Uh… I don’t know! Suggestions, opinions and/or advice please! Thanks!

mampm1

Hey Angela,

I'm just getting started on this program, but in 16 days I've lost 11 pounds. I guess the real reason is that I've bought in as far as posting everything and exercising, although sometimes it's hard to get motivated to get to the gym but once I'm there...look out.

Two things I can think of: One is that maybe you should up the calories so that you're not worrying about them so much. Also you mentioned that you "eat" your exercise calories? I usually don't, however on the 4th I did break down and have a slice of chocolate cake (mmmm!). But yesterday, I was back on it, but just limited my calorie intake.

Another thing...when you snack, what are you snacking on? I currently have 3 go to snacks: those 100 calorie snacks. So far, I've had the Hostess Snack cakes and the Entemann's 100 calorie snacks and they seem to satisfy me (mind over matter maybe). The other two are watermelon and pickles. Know how many calories in a Kosher Dill? Zero!!! I was so thrilled. Just be careful of the sodium, so don't forget to drink lots of water.

curlytop89

I find it odd that a registered dietician told you to eat 988 calories a day. I would definitely be confused if you are weighing and meauring food and not just "guestimating" your portion sizes and still staying under your calorie goal. It's hard to say what could be up, maybe you should take your food and exercise journal in to a doctor or nutritionist. I do think that eating smaller meals throughout the day helps your metabolism (although is is difficult for me to do personally). When I have done it is seemed to work. Make sure you are keeping your sodium down and eating plenty of unprocessed foods (not from a box, drive thru, or can). Eat plenty of protein, and drink lots and lots of water. No soda's or things like that. You might be doing this already. The less than a 1000 calories a day just seems extreme, especially if you are exercising. You might also invest in a decent heart rate monitor. The exercise machines are often grossly mistaken when it comes to how many calories you are burning. My treadmill usually says that I burn about 200-300 calories more than I actually burn if I wear my hrm. My elliptical usually doubles my calories so if I went by what the machines said I would probably be gaining weight, ha ha. Anyway, these are all just some ideas. Good luck,and don't let it get you down. Eat healthy and exercise and don't look at the scale for a couple weeks or three and see how you do. May take the pressure off.