For all you MFP geniuses out there.... HELP!

amanda07425

I went and looked at a few things. You are eating a lot of carbs and not enough protien. I have not been able to stay under my protien. I think you should be able to add some protien to your meals and switch out some carbs. Throw in a hard boiled egg or something for breakfast. Make some snack bags with some almonds as a snack. Those will give you sustanance and make you feel fuller longer and it will also give you energy so you can add some pep to your workout.
I see you are doing a lot of cardio. You might want to add some weight training somehow. It will help you build lean muscle which will help you burn calories.

I also noticed you are within 20lbs of your goal. The weight is going to come off slower, so you might want to lower your goal to 1/2 lb a week. Keep in mind the closer you are to your goal the less room there is for error. Watch out for things you might munch and not record. Make sure you are double checking the calories on everthing to make you you have them right. You might also want to use a HRM to make sure your exercise calories are accurate. Do NOT count cleaning and cooking as exercise. It is included in your daily activity level.

I agree with you that sodium isn't going to make you gain fat. It will help you hold on to water, but in my opinion that water weight will add to your day to day weight, but not your overall weight. You can only retain so much water IMHO.

Keep doing what you are doing with counting and exercise. It just needs some tweaking.
Best wishes

Thanks, I'm not unsure as to HOW many calories I should eat a day to LOSE weight. Should I stop trying this zig zagging thing? Should I just aim to eat 1420 calories + exercise calories??

I do agree with you.. I looked back and when I was losing weight I was doing the 30 day shred and going on walks. Now I've been doing c25k which is all cardio. My question is, did I lose weight before because I was lifting & cardio or was it because I just started eating less? I can't figure out if the 30 day shred caused the success or was it because I was just starting out and cut back on A LOT of calories?!

I'd do the 30 day shred again but I am SO bored with it. If I go to the gym what would be the best exercise to do again? I'm not very good at lifting b/c I never know what exercises to do. Should I try the ellipical or do some intervals on the treadmill of jogging/walking?

hbrittingham

I went and looked at a few things. You are eating a lot of carbs and not enough protien. I have not been able to stay under my protien. I think you should be able to add some protien to your meals and switch out some carbs. Throw in a hard boiled egg or something for breakfast. Make some snack bags with some almonds as a snack. Those will give you sustanance and make you feel fuller longer and it will also give you energy so you can add some pep to your workout.
I see you are doing a lot of cardio. You might want to add some weight training somehow. It will help you build lean muscle which will help you burn calories.

I also noticed you are within 20lbs of your goal. The weight is going to come off slower, so you might want to lower your goal to 1/2 lb a week. Keep in mind the closer you are to your goal the less room there is for error. Watch out for things you might munch and not record. Make sure you are double checking the calories on everthing to make you you have them right. You might also want to use a HRM to make sure your exercise calories are accurate. Do NOT count cleaning and cooking as exercise. It is included in your daily activity level.

I agree with you that sodium isn't going to make you gain fat. It will help you hold on to water, but in my opinion that water weight will add to your day to day weight, but not your overall weight. You can only retain so much water IMHO.

Keep doing what you are doing with counting and exercise. It just needs some tweaking.
Best wishes

Thanks, I'm not unsure as to HOW many calories I should eat a day to LOSE weight. Should I stop trying this zig zagging thing? Should I just aim to eat 1420 calories + exercise calories??

I do agree with you.. I looked back and when I was losing weight I was doing the 30 day shred and going on walks. Now I've been doing c25k which is all cardio. My question is, did I lose weight before because I was lifting & cardio or was it because I just started eating less? I can't figure out if the 30 day shred caused the success or was it because I was just starting out and cut back on A LOT of calories?!

I'd do the 30 day shred again but I am SO bored with it. If I go to the gym what would be the best exercise to do again? I'm not very good at lifting b/c I never know what exercises to do. Should I try the ellipical or do some intervals on the treadmill of jogging/walking?

I always shake it up at the gym. I almost never do the same cardio two days in a row. I'll do the orbital 2-3 days a week and in between, I do the elliptical one day and the treadmill another. Until I hit my goal, I'm not doing much strength training due to time constraints. On the weekends or cooler evenings, I walk my dogs 2-3 miles.

You may want to go to your settings and change it to losing 1/2 lb a week since you are pretty close to your goal. I did that a couple of weeks ago and am eating 1520 calories a day + my exercise calories. My weight is moving down slowly, but steadily.

dlaplume2

I not too familiar with the zig zagging. I have read a lot of people saying it works, but you don't really need to do that. (you could do it, but dont' need to.) What I would do is chage your goals to 1/2 lb a week. Make sure you are eating filling protien snacks. If you have salad top it with some protien.

I think you need to do both cardio and wieght. I alternat between my elliptical and treadmill for arobics. I have hand weights which I execise with doing sit ups and push up, squats and lunges, those all help build muscle too. I don't know if you like DVD, but it seems like you might. You could get some kettle bell workout dvds. I was reading somewhere that one person had 3 different dvd she rotated through so she didnt' get bored. You could throw a mix into that for weight and toning.

amanda07425

I went and looked at a few things. You are eating a lot of carbs and not enough protien. I have not been able to stay under my protien. I think you should be able to add some protien to your meals and switch out some carbs. Throw in a hard boiled egg or something for breakfast. Make some snack bags with some almonds as a snack. Those will give you sustanance and make you feel fuller longer and it will also give you energy so you can add some pep to your workout.
I see you are doing a lot of cardio. You might want to add some weight training somehow. It will help you build lean muscle which will help you burn calories.

I also noticed you are within 20lbs of your goal. The weight is going to come off slower, so you might want to lower your goal to 1/2 lb a week. Keep in mind the closer you are to your goal the less room there is for error. Watch out for things you might munch and not record. Make sure you are double checking the calories on everthing to make you you have them right. You might also want to use a HRM to make sure your exercise calories are accurate. Do NOT count cleaning and cooking as exercise. It is included in your daily activity level.

I agree with you that sodium isn't going to make you gain fat. It will help you hold on to water, but in my opinion that water weight will add to your day to day weight, but not your overall weight. You can only retain so much water IMHO.

Keep doing what you are doing with counting and exercise. It just needs some tweaking.
Best wishes

Thanks, I'm not unsure as to HOW many calories I should eat a day to LOSE weight. Should I stop trying this zig zagging thing? Should I just aim to eat 1420 calories + exercise calories??

I do agree with you.. I looked back and when I was losing weight I was doing the 30 day shred and going on walks. Now I've been doing c25k which is all cardio. My question is, did I lose weight before because I was lifting & cardio or was it because I just started eating less? I can't figure out if the 30 day shred caused the success or was it because I was just starting out and cut back on A LOT of calories?!

I'd do the 30 day shred again but I am SO bored with it. If I go to the gym what would be the best exercise to do again? I'm not very good at lifting b/c I never know what exercises to do. Should I try the ellipical or do some intervals on the treadmill of jogging/walking?

I always shake it up at the gym. I almost never do the same cardio two days in a row. I'll do the orbital 2-3 days a week and in between, I do the elliptical one day and the treadmill another. Until I hit my goal, I'm not doing much strength training due to time constraints. On the weekends or cooler evenings, I walk my dogs 2-3 miles.

You may want to go to your settings and change it to losing 1/2 lb a week since you are pretty close to your goal. I did that a couple of weeks ago and am eating 1520 calories a day + my exercise calories. My weight is moving down slowly, but steadily.

I just changed it last thursday from - 1.5 lbs a week to - 1 lb a week, do you really think I should change it again? I know I'm close to my goal but from 164 to 145 seems like so far to me!