Am I eating enough?

Lisiebird

I'm hoping for some advice. I work out pretty hard. I do a combination of P90X strength workouts 3 times a week, plus running 3 times a week, TurboFire workout once a week and their HIIT workouts twice a week, plus Zumba once a week. I'm pretty good about tracking what I eat with MyFitnessPal and use a heart rate monitor. MFP is telling once I add in my exercise for the day, to eat anywhere from 1500-1700 calories depending on the workout. I really haven't lost any weight though. Could it be I'm not eating enough for what I'm doing? I'm happy to share what I eat if you think that'll help with answers. Thanks!

skinnylove00

seems pretty low, especially if youre doing that many workouts. if youre that active its important to refuel your body with good cals, like protein (~1 gram for every pound you weigh), and good carbs to fuel yourself through those workouts. youll be surprised at how much weight you drop!

MissMaryMac33

That's really hard to answer without knowing heigh/weight/gender to look up your numbers --- and knowing what kind of HRM you're using. Does it have a chest strap? Can you program your height/weight/age/gender into it? Are you eating your exercise calories? Are you drinking enough fluids? Are you tracking sodium? protein? carbs? Where do you get most of your carbs?

Your diary isn't open either so any real answer would just be a guess Maybe that gives you some things to think about tho!

stenochick0417

I would LOVE to hear other's thoughts even though I think I know the answer from reading other posts regarding this topic. I am having the same problem. I work out at least 4-5 days a week, sometimes 6 by cycling. On a normal, good day when it's not 115 degrees outside, I ride for about an hour and according to my HRM, burn around 800-ish calories and then I have one long ride on Sunday where I burn over 1000 and I'm not losing ANYTHING. It's soooooooo frustrating. I upped my calories to 1400 and try to stick to that, but I'm wondering if I'm just not eating enough, but upping my calories even more just goes against what's been ingrained into most of us as far as weight loss goes -- calories in need to be less than calories burned.

Okay. Rant over. I'm interested to see the responses to the OP's original message.

maryloo2011

I agree, unless you are doing all those activities but aren't killing it when you do workout that caloric count seems extremely low. Are you willing to open your diary perhaps?

Lisiebird

I do use a HRM with a chest strap so all my info has been entered in there. 168 is 80% of my max and when I run and do the HIIT workouts I'm at at least that. I do recover from them quickly though. I have a pretty low resting heart rate (clocked it at 38 the other day). I'm 5'3" and weigh 137. I think I'm drinking enough. I get at least 8 glasses of water during the day and that's all I drink (no soda, coffee or alcohol). I get most of my carbs from whole wheat bread, and get protein into every meal (egg whites in the morning, hummus in the afternoon, and usually tofu, fish, or a veggie burger for dinner with a salad). I snack on fruit throughout the day, as well as a piece of string cheese (with my apple), and an egg white sandwich (egg whites on a whole wheat english muffin).

I've opened my diary so you can view it.

MissMaryMac33

I think your diary looks pretty good...and since you don't have to lose much weight its going to seem slower.
I would personally double your protein and cut your carbs in half.... worth a shot. 200+g of carbs a day regardless of where i got them would make me feel pretty icky. Protein will keep you feeling full longer.

pykb

How is your thyroid? Any chance it is under active (which could also explain the low resting heart rate)?

Lisiebird

I think my thyroid is ok, but I don't think I've ever had it tested.

MissMaryMac33, any recommendations on how to up my protein and lower my carbs? I'm kind of a vegetarian (I do eat egg whites and seafood).

Thanks everyone!

MissMaryMac33

If you eat dairy, then its easy.... Fage 0% greek yogurt --- in just oz, you can get 20g protein and almost zero sugar. Tons of things you can mix in to make it taste how you like it.... its also great to use as a sour cream replacement or the base for dips etc. Seafood is another good way but if can be a ilttle high in sodium -- especially shrimp. I also LOVE tofu and tempe. Quinoa is a great "good" carb with high protein too.

Protein shakes -- this is the my favorite way to up protein since I don't like plain water, I walways have a 24oz blender bottle full of a protein shake. I'm a huge coffee fanatic so most of mine revolve around chocolate/coffee flavors. My three main shakes have these stats:

1. 1 scoop good chocolate protein, i cup silk pure almondm, 2 cups water, splash of sf hazelnut creamer or syrup, lots of ice
150 calories, 1g fat, 0g carb, 0g sugar, 27g protein (sometimes i mix with cold decaf coffee instead of water)

2. 1 scoop good chocolate protein, 1 scoop CLICK espresso protein, 1 cup silk pure almond, 2 cups water, lots of ice
205 calories, 3g fat, 8g carb, 4g sugar, 36g protein

3. 1 Scoop Jay Robb Pina Colada protein (or Isopure banana/pineapple/orange), 2 cups Diet v8 splash tropical, one cup water, lots of ice....mmm mexico in a blender bottle!
155 calories, 3g fat, 5g carb, 3g sugar, 26g protein

Hope that helps!

Mrs_TrimWaistFatWallet

If you use a HRM, then you're close on how many calories you burn during your workout. Id suggest something you wear 24/7 like the BodyMedia FIT to tell you how much you're burning ALL DAY. That's the other end of the equation right, how much you burn in a day?

I only started losing weight when I tracked how much I was actually burning every day, made sure i was at a 500 cal/day deficit (never more than that), and then sat back and trusted the numbers.