Metabolism

kristinlough

So my metabolism has ground to a halt. Part of the reason is stress - law school exams in less than a month. And I know, I know, protein in every meal. The problem is, we're doing a low-fat, low-calorie diet, and I do not want to eat eggs, tuna and a chicken breast every day. I can't eat peanut butter because even the low-fat stuff is a meal's worth of fat. I'd be (almost) perfectly content to be a veggie. I eat a lot of yogurt, and that helps, and I usually have half a chicken breast with dinner.

And let's not forget that I study probably 6-8 hours a day, along with attending all my classes, workouts, riding, etc.

Anybody got any thoughts? I'm at a loss, and I'm really tired of the same figure on my ticker week after week ... :grumble:

Thank you!! :happy:

kristinlough

So my metabolism has ground to a halt. Part of the reason is stress - law school exams in less than a month. And I know, I know, protein in every meal. The problem is, we're doing a low-fat, low-calorie diet, and I do not want to eat eggs, tuna and a chicken breast every day. I can't eat peanut butter because even the low-fat stuff is a meal's worth of fat. I'd be (almost) perfectly content to be a veggie. I eat a lot of yogurt, and that helps, and I usually have half a chicken breast with dinner.

And let's not forget that I study probably 6-8 hours a day, along with attending all my classes, workouts, riding, etc.

Anybody got any thoughts? I'm at a loss, and I'm really tired of the same figure on my ticker week after week ... :grumble:

Thank you!! :happy:

SHBoss1673

I don't know what this diet is, how low fat are we talking, how low calorie are we talkng? It's hard to give you any advice without a little more specifics. Can you give us your numbers, what you are eating (macro-nutrient wise), and what kind of exercising you are doing? That would be a big help.

Skinnytime

Ditto Banks.
Also, I find a protein shake really helpful. Something with a lot of whey protein and flavor!
I like the chocolate Wheybolic. I don't ever have the full serving which would be 60 grams of protein, but each scoop is 20 grams, low fat, low carb.
For me, I get my nutrition quickly on those days when I just can't stand another piece of chicken and I want something sweet.
Good luck.

Schaff

I hear you with the law school thing! We have exams at the end of this month, and I don't know about you but this is when stress starts to hit big time! It may be what's causing your plateau, I think I am experiencing the same thing!

Where are you at school and what year? Also, you mentioned riding, that is also my stress relieving exercise of choice.

If you would also include in a response what you do for exercise that would help for advice to. Maybe its time to change it up or increase the intensity. I know its really hard to think about doing that right now with all the studying. You might just need to hold off on that until exams are over. Don't let this add to your stress, you really don't need it right now with the unavoidable stress of law school exams. Hang in there, gotta get over one mountain before you can tackle another!

sarabear

Are you following MFP specs? Should be able to eat some fats and cals, what are your ratios?

kristinlough

I don't know what this diet is, how low fat are we talking, how low calorie are we talkng? It's hard to give you any advice without a little more specifics. Can you give us your numbers, what you are eating (macro-nutrient wise), and what kind of exercising you are doing? That would be a big help.

Sorry All - I was in class all day (whoops!)

1200/15 g of fat per meal. NOT something that is un-doable. Not at all. But the hardest part is the "easy foods" that fit in a lunch bag that I can have with me all day every day (although we do actually have a refrigerator!! )

It's really easy to do if I eat Lean Cuisines all the time, but that's expensive, and I get waaaaay too much sodium.

Exercise is walking, running, (less than I'd like to) lifting, and horseback riding. And I clean my house more because I burn calories doing it

And I do follow MFP ... I have one cheat meal a week, usually Friday night, and even with that, we allow ourselves eating out, but we still choose the healthier (just not necessarily Weight Watchers low) foods!

What else do you need to know? And thank you!!

kristinlough

OH! And my workouts are 45 min/day, 5 days a week. Usually 2-3 hours of that are horseback riding centered, but I basically always go over my workout time!

Schaff

Do you eat back all your exercise calories? I have been taking Tami's advice and only eating about half of them back each day. That might help. As for lunch, I make a chicken salad in the mornings when I am at school all day. You could try doing that. It only takes about 5 minutes to make if you have everything sort of prepped the night before. Its good you have a fridge at school

When you ride, are you doing mostly flat work or are you a hunter/jumper?

kristinlough

Do you eat back all your exercise calories? I have been taking Tami's advice and only eating about half of them back each day. That might help. As for lunch, I make a chicken salad in the mornings when I am at school all day. You could try doing that. It only takes about 5 minutes to make if you have everything sort of prepped the night before. Its good you have a fridge at school

When you ride, are you doing mostly flat work or are you a hunter/jumper?

Splendid idea! (eating half the exercise calories) because I have been eating MOST of them. Not all. And it does feel like a chore to eat them all, and doing it healthily.

I ride at a jumper barn with a dressage trainer, so the flatwork I do is mid-level dressage, and I do a lot of jumping as well. I'm a pretty advanced rider, so the riding that I do is fairly difficult, and I'm getting back into shape from a couple of years off.

I do like doing chicken salad, and I take that for granted (especially since I can stand the fat free mayo from Kraft!!) Good call!! :flowerforyou: Thanks!

SHBoss1673

ahh, I'll be more specific.

What is your height, weight, activitiy level, BMI.


What is the percentages of your macro nutrients (carbs, fat, protein).

Do you wear an HRM when you exercise? If you do, what is your resting heartrate, what is your average workout heart rate?

kristinlough

I hear you with the law school thing! We have exams at the end of this month, and I don't know about you but this is when stress starts to hit big time! It may be what's causing your plateau, I think I am experiencing the same thing!

Where are you at school and what year? Also, you mentioned riding, that is also my stress relieving exercise of choice.

If you would also include in a response what you do for exercise that would help for advice to. Maybe its time to change it up or increase the intensity. I know its really hard to think about doing that right now with all the studying. You might just need to hold off on that until exams are over. Don't let this add to your stress, you really don't need it right now with the unavoidable stress of law school exams. Hang in there, gotta get over one mountain before you can tackle another!

It's SO hard (as I bet you know) to care about anything else during exams. I'm a 1L, and I have an Evidence exam this semester ... I hate evidence. I don't want to be a trial lawyer, so it's like taking calculus all over again Except less specific!! I am increasing the intensity with my workouts - changing two of the walking days to running days - but that's just starting, so I can't count it as a new habit yet. And I'm at Cumberland in Alabama - and I love it!! Thanks!

kristinlough

ahh, I'll be more specific.

What is your height, weight, activitiy level, BMI.


What is the percentages of your macro nutrients (carbs, fat, protein).

Do you wear an HRM when you exercise? If you do, what is your resting heartrate, what is your average workout heart rate?

I don't want to answer that in public!
5'5", 191, not exactly sure how to answer this one - I'm a student, so there's a lot of sit on my butt, get up and carry a huge load of crap to the next place, sit on my butt again. No walking across campus, everything is in one building (good and bad). Beyond that, I walk or run three days a week, 45 minutes a day, and then I ride twice a week which is a 45-1 hour ride, and pretty intense because I'm getting back into shape. BMI ... 31.7 :ohwell:

I NEVER hit my protein calculations. Ever. But it's 1200 cals, 40 fat, 45 protein, 2500 sodium, and I don't watch my carbs. When I do a low-carb diet ... let's just say things that aren't pretty happen.

I have JUST gotten my F-6, forgot how to work it and only had it on for a minute of my hour ride yesterday. But I burned 45 calories in that minute! But my resting heart rate (especially now with all this stress) is way too high, in the mid 90s. And I'll tell you my workout heart rate after this morning's running & walking. For my minute yesterday, I stayed close to 150 ... and yes, I realize the comedy of calculating my heart rate for one minute :laugh:

I really suspect my metabolism is in a crawl because I don't eat enough protein. Often I'll skip meat for dinner, which is the only time we have it. Breakfast is usually yogurt, fruit, a breakfast bar or toast or something. Lunch is either a turkey sandwich or a soup at hand. I'm great at staying in my calories, but I honestly think I should be changing something up, and I can't figure out what. I'm not really frustrated yet, just want to make sure I'm being the best MFP'er I can be

Is that all you need? Can I help more? Thank you all for your suggestions!! :flowerforyou:

SHBoss1673

1200 isn't too low for you (theoretically), assuming you are eating exercise calories as well just cuz I wouldn't want you falling much below 1200 net calories for the day.

that puts your deficit somewhere around 650 to 700 calories. I don't think that's bad for someone at your BMI. when you say 40 fat, you mean 40 grams?

if that's true, your breakdown of Macro nutrients is this:

30% fats
15% proteins
55% carbs
To get these number Idid this: 40 g fats is 360 calories, 45 g protein is 180 calories, divide these numbers by 1200 and get the percenages, subtract them from 1200 to get carb totals (assuming no alcohol). Fiber may confuse these a bit, but not that much usually.

Anyway those ratios seems a little off to me.
I would change them (this is just my opinion).
I would shoot for 30% protein, 50% carbs and 20% fats.

The big thing I see is your fats are far higher then they probably need to be. You need about 12% fats, but 30% is probably too much (having 20% should be fine).

Other then that, I would probably think about adding some other types of exercise into your routine, get some resistance work in there 2 times a week, or weight training. Break up the monotony, I know it's hard with your schedule. But resistance training is easy to encorporate. Plyometric pushups, pull ups (use a chair as an aid if you can't do a full pull up), dips, planks, squat thrusts, walking lunges with weights...all of these resistance exercises are great for you, and can be done in a small area without much in the way of specialized equipment.

OH, and By the way, I seriously doubt 1 minute of exercise gave you a 45 calorie burn, check your watch, the numbers may be off. that would mean 2700 calories burned an hour. I WISH I could do that, but it's essentially impossible.

kristinlough

The calories was a typo ... it was 18. Which still seems high ... I'm just a moron right now

But thank you for your help!! I'll definitely try to incorporate a better breakdown ... and I NEVER eat all the fats I'm "allowed" because I try to stick to 15 g per meal. And I usually end up with 25-35 g of fat per day, on a high day.

But I really appreciate it I'll put all this in my calculators and be back on track in no time, I can feel it!! Thanks all!!

songbyrdsweet

1200 isn't too low for you (theoretically), assuming you are eating exercise calories as well just cuz I wouldn't want you falling much below 1200 net calories for the day.

that puts your deficit somewhere around 650 to 700 calories. I don't think that's bad for someone at your BMI. when you say 40 fat, you mean 40 grams?

if that's true, your breakdown of Macro nutrients is this:

30% fats
15% proteins
55% carbs
To get these number Idid this: 40 g fats is 360 calories, 45 g protein is 180 calories, divide these numbers by 1200 and get the percenages, subtract them from 1200 to get carb totals (assuming no alcohol). Fiber may confuse these a bit, but not that much usually.

Anyway those ratios seems a little off to me.
I would change them (this is just my opinion).
I would shoot for 30% protein, 50% carbs and 20% fats.

The big thing I see is your fats are far higher then they probably need to be. You need about 12% fats, but 30% is probably too much (having 20% should be fine).

Other then that, I would probably think about adding some other types of exercise into your routine, get some resistance work in there 2 times a week, or weight training. Break up the monotony, I know it's hard with your schedule. But resistance training is easy to encorporate. Plyometric pushups, pull ups (use a chair as an aid if you can't do a full pull up), dips, planks, squat thrusts, walking lunges with weights...all of these resistance exercises are great for you, and can be done in a small area without much in the way of specialized equipment.

OH, and By the way, I seriously doubt 1 minute of exercise gave you a 45 calorie burn, check your watch, the numbers may be off. that would mean 2700 calories burned an hour. I WISH I could do that, but it's essentially impossible.

Banks, just a small correction-- The acceptable macro range for fats is 15-30% according to the ADA. 12% is minimum *body fat* for a female. I eat 50/30/20 Carbs/Fat/Protein, which works out to about 1.4g/kg of bodyweight. That's the prudent amount for a strength training, calorically restricted individual. So for the OP, you might want to figure that out for your protein amount, and plan the rest of your calories around that. (To get your weight in kg, divide your weight by 2.2).

SHBoss1673

Banks, just a small correction-- The acceptable macro range for fats is 15-30% according to the ADA. 12% is minimum *body fat* for a female. I eat 50/30/20 Carbs/Fat/Protein, which works out to about 1.4g/kg of bodyweight. That's the prudent amount for a strength training, calorically restricted individual. So for the OP, you might want to figure that out for your protein amount, and plan the rest of your calories around that. (To get your weight in kg, divide your weight by 2.2).

my bad, I always reverse those two numbers. :grumble:

You'd think I'd be used to remembering numbers by now. My work is basically all about numbers.
CPU % for about 75 servers
Memory for the same
Buffer cache hit ratios
ASP queue lengths
time delay for email queues
...etc
jeez! I should be able to keep a few whole numbers in my head.

songbyrdsweet

1200 isn't too low for you (theoretically), assuming you are eating exercise calories as well just cuz I wouldn't want you falling much below 1200 net calories for the day.

that puts your deficit somewhere around 650 to 700 calories. I don't think that's bad for someone at your BMI. when you say 40 fat, you mean 40 grams?

if that's true, your breakdown of Macro nutrients is this:

30% fats
15% proteins
55% carbs
To get these number Idid this: 40 g fats is 360 calories, 45 g protein is 180 calories, divide these numbers by 1200 and get the percenages, subtract them from 1200 to get carb totals (assuming no alcohol). Fiber may confuse these a bit, but not that much usually.

Anyway those ratios seems a little off to me.
I would change them (this is just my opinion).
I would shoot for 30% protein, 50% carbs and 20% fats.

The big thing I see is your fats are far higher then they probably need to be. You need about 12% fats, but 30% is probably too much (having 20% should be fine).

Other then that, I would probably think about adding some other types of exercise into your routine, get some resistance work in there 2 times a week, or weight training. Break up the monotony, I know it's hard with your schedule. But resistance training is easy to encorporate. Plyometric pushups, pull ups (use a chair as an aid if you can't do a full pull up), dips, planks, squat thrusts, walking lunges with weights...all of these resistance exercises are great for you, and can be done in a small area without much in the way of specialized equipment.

OH, and By the way, I seriously doubt 1 minute of exercise gave you a 45 calorie burn, check your watch, the numbers may be off. that would mean 2700 calories burned an hour. I WISH I could do that, but it's essentially impossible.

Banks, just a small correction-- The acceptable macro range for fats is 15-30% according to the ADA. 12% is minimum *body fat* for a female. I eat 50/30/20 Carbs/Fat/Protein, which works out to about 1.4g/kg of bodyweight. That's the prudent amount for a strength training, calorically restricted individual. So for the OP, you might want to figure that out for your protein amount, and plan the rest of your calories around that. (To get your weight in kg, divide your weight by 2.2).

my bad, I always reverse those two numbers. :grumble:

That's okay, you rock anyway. Your 50/30/20 split would be fine too. Any excess protein is just going be to turned into whatever she needs anyway. 10% is actually the minimum protein requirement, but at 1200 calories that might still be a bit low. I try to use both g/kg measures and %'s. Mine just so happened to come out to 20% protein. If I were at 15% protein, it'd be a little low for my training. But if I were eating 2000 calories a day, it'd be fine. See how I can take something fairly simple and really complicate it? :laugh:

SHBoss1673

That's okay, you rock anyway. Your 50/30/20 split would be fine too. Any excess protein is just going be to turned into whatever she needs anyway. 10% is actually the minimum protein requirement, but at 1200 calories that might still be a bit low. I try to use both g/kg measures and %'s. Mine just so happened to come out to 20% protein. If I were at 15% protein, it'd be a little low for my training. But if I were eating 2000 calories a day, it'd be fine. See how I can take something fairly simple and really complicate it? :laugh:

Yeah, but your BACK kicks serious *kitten*! So it's all good!