is 1250 right for me...I need HELP!!!!

abby459

Ok....heres my stats: I am a female, 27yrs, 5'1.5" and currently weight 148lbs. Healthy weight for my small stature is between 110-125. My goal is between 120-125lbs. I am doing great with my daily exercising and staying at my current calorie goal but weight is barely coming off...what gives?? I know a lot of people say not to go with the generic 1200 cals that MFP gives you, so how do I figure out what is best for me?
My dairy is open so anyone can take a look, for the past week and a half I have switched to trying to do 5 small meals a day, and I never feel hungry. I also try to eat back most of my exercise cals. But for the past 3 wks I have only lost 1lb???
Any advice??

Rae6503

You've got just about 20lbs to lose right? I've seen a lot of people recommend that those with less than 20lbs select a half pound a week and eat back their exercise calories (an be patient). This is what I do. The last few pounds are teh hardest and really should come off the slowest in order to maintain as much muscle as possible. Also, make sure you are getting enough protein. 1 gram for every pound of lean body mass (which should be slightly less than your goal) so I don't know 115 or so?

rodaviarocket

hi im mike it good that every week you lost 1lbs you have right truck my their hope it help you God speed

katm427

It just takes time, you know? Also, make sure that you're taking your measurements, too, to see if you're losing that way.

abby459

Yes I have about 20-25lbs to lose. I lost 6 easily the first 2 weeks I started but the last month only 1.5lbs. Which seems low for a month of hard work. I try to get around 100gm of protein a day, and I am usually close to that. I am getting discouraged, so I dont know what else to change!

versuga

I'm 5'1 and I am staying around 1200. I also usually eat back some of my exercise calories. ...and the weight is not coming off fast, but it is coming off. I have lost 5lbs so far and I think it has been 25 days or so. I have been told that I should only be eating 1000 cals...but I like food too much to go that low. It should work...

abby459

hi im mike it good that every week you lost 1lbs you have right truck my their hope it help you God speed

not 1lbs a week...only 1 lbs in 3 weeks lost!

chevy88grl

The closer you are to your ideal body weight - the slower the weight comes off. You seem to be within 20lbs or so of that ideal weight - you may want to make sure you have your weekly weight loss goals set at .5lbs vs 1 or 2lbs a week (which is far harder to achieve when you are thinner).

MFP's calories are a recommendation - they are not set in stone. If it isn't working for you - play around with the numbers (a lot of people - myself included - see success in raising their daily calories). It is a numbers game and you have to figure out what numbers your body likes.

Everyone is different - so what works for one may or may not work for another. Don't be afraid to step out of the box and experiment with stuff until you find what works!

HeatherrSue

I'm also at 5'2" and weigh now 134 and goal of 125 and I eat close to 1200 a day. You can also view my diary if you want. I think the best thing you can do is take it a week at a time. Mix up your calories and your workouts and change one thing at a time till you find what works. For me, it seems I lose best when I take it easy, just walking a few miles a day and eating 1200 cal or a little more. When I go intense with cardio and strength, my body freaks and holds on to all the food I eat for a couple days. Its all about just finding what works for you. I eat ever 3 hours, work out after breakfast and after dinner and drink lots and lots of water each day along with 3 glasses of green tea. I wish you the very best of luck on the rest of your journey.

HeatherrSue

not 1lbs a week...only 1 lbs in 3 weeks lost!
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Sometimes, after you lose a lot (6 pounds at first) it will take your body to adjust to that loss before you lose steadily again. average for me is 2 to 6 pounds a month. Good luck!

Christa4335

Hi,

It does get harder as we approach a closer mark to our weight loss goals. Make sure you are doing Strength Training as well as cardio. If you are doing quite a bit of strength training then you may be building muscle and muscle always outweighs fat.

Nikstergirl

I'm 5'2" and currently 135 pounds (down from 180!!) and I've been doing about 1300 calories for quite a while. I tend to lose about .5ish a week or 3 pounds a month at most, but it's coming off slowly. The first 25 came off quickly, but this last bit is much slower. If you start a graph or chart of your weekly weigh in's and can look back at where you've been, it's much more encouraging after several months. It's hard when it doesn't come off quickly, but if it's going down, that's good! I also eat my exercise calories (most of them anyway) and don't mind having a day every other week where I go over by 100-200 calories (even 30-50 once/twice a week) because I think my body needs those extra calories sometimes to keep my metabolism up. I'm not a spring chicken anymore so my body has a tendancy to hold on tight to the extra fat!!!

sharonfincher1

I am 52, I am 5'2" and I have my calorie set at 1200, I burn about 500 a day via cardio or strength training, and I only eat back 200-300 of my exercise calories.... The more calories u contribute towards the 3500 at the end of the day, the faster u lose the pound. I am currently at 129, and I average a pound every 3-4 days, started this journey at 140.....

atsteele

You could also play around with the settings, eg, instead of "active" switch to "lightly active". Or you can play with the net calories comsumed so that it lowers the calories by a bit (50 to 100 cals per day). Or you might add in another workout or two per week and that might be all you need to change things up.

abby459

as of now I have my activity level set at "lightly active"....even though I now work out 7 days a week. and I upped my calories to 1250 and set my weight loss to 1lb a week on MFP....I just wished it worked to be 1 lb a week.

atsteele

as of now I have my activity level set at "lightly active"....even though I now work out 7 days a week. and I upped my calories to 1250 and set my weight loss to 1lb a week on MFP....I just wished it worked to be 1 lb a week.

That activity level has nothing to do with how many times you work out during the week. It has to do with what you do with your time in between working out. If you sit at a desk job, eg, your setting should be "sedentary". Just fyi.

abby459

well I am an ER nurse so I move around a bit at work......and I set my workout goals at 5 days a week for 30 mins??

withchaco

My stats are quite similar to yours. I'm 5' 1.5" and 143.5 lbs (started at 186).

I do 1150-1250 net calories on most days. I burn 400-600 calories per day usually, but if I have a big meal planned, I bump it up so I don't go over. On my rest day (once per week), I eat around 1300-1400 calories with no purposeful exercise. I also have occasional splurge days once in every 2-4 weeks where I net 1400-1600 calories WITH exercise. Like you, I try to eat 100+ grams of protein every day.

So far I have been losing pretty consistently. The pace has slowed down a little recently, but not by a whole lot.

Are you drinking enough water? Getting enough sleep? How "clean" is your diet? Have you tried changing your activity setting (like atsteele said, activity level is not about logged exercise)? There are many things that can affect your weight loss, and every body is different!

abby459

My stats are quite similar to yours. I'm 5' 1.5" and 143.5 lbs (started at 186).

I do 1150-1250 net calories on most days. I burn 400-600 calories per day usually, but if I have a big meal planned, I bump it up so I don't go over. On my rest day (once per week), I eat around 1300-1400 calories with no purposeful exercise. I also have occasional splurge days once in every 2-4 weeks where I net 1400-1600 calories WITH exercise. Like you, I try to eat 100+ grams of protein every day.

So far I have been losing pretty consistently. The pace has slowed down a little recently, but not by a whole lot.

Are you drinking enough water? Getting enough sleep? How "clean" is your diet? Have you tried changing your activity setting (like atsteele said, activity level is not about logged exercise)? There are many things that can affect your weight loss, and every body is different!

My diet is pretty clean, I try to eat high quality foods, my diary is open if you want to look. And I have the activity level set to lightly active. I even tried changing it to sedentary, but it seems no matter how I adjust it MFP always sets me at 1200cals/day. Even if I change the weight loss goal to 0.5lb/week???

withchaco

Well, I'm no expert, I just know what's been working for my body. Have you tried going on maintenance mode for a week? Some people tried that when they hit a plateau, and have successfully broken out of it.

Also, maybe you should consider taking a rest day every week to let your body recover?

And just making sure... are you doing weight training, and are you measuring your foods correctly? (I drink straight out of the measuring cup, haha)

atsteele

well I am an ER nurse so I move around a bit at work......and I set my workout goals at 5 days a week for 30 mins??

Yeah, ER nurse is NOT sedentary!! LOL Or even close to lightly active!! HA! (My SILs are nurses, my aunts are nurses, my MIL was a nurse!! Great career btw! Nurses rock!!) I dont think that the goals of your workouts change your allowable baseline calories but the lifestyle does. What are your carbs/protein/fat percentages?

atsteele

well I am an ER nurse so I move around a bit at work......and I set my workout goals at 5 days a week for 30 mins??

Yeah, ER nurse is NOT sedentary!! LOL Or even close to lightly active!! HA! (My SILs are nurses, my aunts are nurses, my MIL was a nurse!! Great career btw! Nurses rock!!) I dont think that the goals of your workouts change your allowable baseline calories but the lifestyle does. What are your carbs/protein/fat percentages?

Ok, I think that I MIGHT see the problem. You aren't getting enough protein. I went through the past five days and all were well below the protein requirements. Try a whey protein isolate supplement if you are having a difficult time getting the protein you need. Even getting closer to the goal would be better. Im also assuming that you have the carbs/protein/fats set properly for whatever type of training/exercise you are currently doing. I might also suggest that you track your sugars instead of fiber. Just a thought.

girard5

You might want to try a healthy detox (I love the fat flush plan) for a week or two to jumpstart you diet. This way you will get all the toxins and the common food allergens out of your diet and then when you add them back in and note your responses to them you may figure out that there are foods that you are consuming that are having a negative impact on your body/ weight loss goals. If your not up for that then I would also recommend getting the processed food out...eliminate the empty calories and replace them with more fresh veggies, fruits and lean proteins. Good luck :-)!

luscadero

I was in a similar position, and upping my protein and reducing my carbs (like, between 50-100 usually, never more than 150) helped tremendously. Also, your sodium looks kinda high, you might want to try to keep that under 1500.

abby459

I use Optimum Nutrion gold standard whey protein...is that not good enough??? I have been hitting around 90gm the past few weeks??

abby459

I was in a similar position, and upping my protein and reducing my carbs (like, between 50-100 usually, never more than 150) helped tremendously. Also, your sodium looks kinda high, you might want to try to keep that under 1500.

I know my sodium is high, i never used to have that on there and now that I notice it, I am trying to work on keeping it lower. I am also trying to reduce my carbs...thats something that is very hard for me. I have always been a carb eater and not much of a protien eater!

atsteele

I was in a similar position, and upping my protein and reducing my carbs (like, between 50-100 usually, never more than 150) helped tremendously. Also, your sodium looks kinda high, you might want to try to keep that under 1500.

I know my sodium is high, i never used to have that on there and now that I notice it, I am trying to work on keeping it lower. I am also trying to reduce my carbs...thats something that is very hard for me. I have always been a carb eater and not much of a protien eater!

I hear your pain!! I have a hard time eating a lot of protein, especially when I need to most!! (eg, after a long run or multiple workouts) So I started taking Elite whey protein isolate in the mornings and it has really helped me get closer to what I need.

atsteele

I use Optimum Nutrion gold standard whey protein...is that not good enough??? I have been hitting around 90gm the past few weeks??

With the addition of exercise, your protein requirements were way above 90gms per day, I noticed.

luscadero

I was in a similar position, and upping my protein and reducing my carbs (like, between 50-100 usually, never more than 150) helped tremendously. Also, your sodium looks kinda high, you might want to try to keep that under 1500.

I know my sodium is high, i never used to have that on there and now that I notice it, I am trying to work on keeping it lower. I am also trying to reduce my carbs...thats something that is very hard for me. I have always been a carb eater and not much of a protien eater!

I hear your pain!! I have a hard time eating a lot of protein, especially when I need to most!! (eg, after a long run or multiple workouts) So I started taking Elite whey protein isolate in the mornings and it has really helped me get closer to what I need.

This was really hard for me, too! I had to ease my way into it. It was also hard for me to not think of it as being unhealthy. Now, I eat eggs/bacon (or canadian bacon)/veggies for breakfast, a strawberry protein shake, a snack of nuts, cheese, turkey, some blueberries... and then have steak or chicken and vegetables for dinner. I've never eaten so much steak in my life, haha... but I not only started losing weight again, I feel a million times better. I never eat bread/grains, and get all my carbs from fruit and veggies... and the nightly glass of wine. Fortunately, my husband also loves to grill, so now that I'm eating this way it actually saves me time in the kitchen several nights a week!

allisonnooe

Your body can get used to the calorie intake and may need kind of a "shock". Every couple of weeks up your calorie intake one day to maybe around 1600 for a day. I wouldn't make it an all carb high fat jump but it won't kill you if you do. Then immediately go back to your 1250 the next day. Don't forget to change up your exercise routines and cardio cardio cardio. It sounds like you are doing great. With your loss so far you are doing just right but the little spike in your calories is going to cause your body to readjust., Make sure you are creating a deficit of calories from your RMR daily. Keep up the good work!!

psuLemon

Here are my observations. I don't think you are eating enough. If you are on your feet all day long and working out 7 days a week, you should probably be around 2000+ calories. And no that isn't a typo.You live a very active lifestyle. I wouldn't be surprised that you burn close to 1000 calories a day between work and exercise. And if you aren't eating your exercise calories back, that means you are eating about 200 calories a day. Based on the information you provided, I used the below calculator to determine calories needs. Based on your information, you burn about 2000 calories a day without exercise. Your basal metabloic rate is around 1450 calories. This is the amount of calories you burn if you slept for 24 hours. Then add in your lifestyle total daily energy expended (TDEE) and multiply it against your BMR your TDEE ise 2006 calories (1450*1.375 [lightly active]). Then if you add the deficit of 250 (.5lbs per week since you are within your 20 lb to go) you should eat 1800 calories.

This does not include exercise. Now, there are two approaches you can take on this. You can eat back your exercise calories (on top of the 1800) or you can add it to your TDEE multiplier and eat it throughout the day (i do the second one). Since you workout 7 days a week (and you shouldn't and we will get to this) you would be considered very active. If you multiple that by your BMR (1450*1.75 - 250) you should be eating about 2300 calories. I now it seems high, but if you train like an athlete, you have to eat like one.

I would also suggest only working out 6 days a week as your body needs to have a break. Your muscles need to be able to recover and it's difficult if you aren't taking rest days. Also, how much weight training do you do? If you aren't doing any, you need to start (3 days of cardio/HIIT, 3 days of strength training is ideal).

Lets start here and then we can improve.



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