Rant time

femmi1120

You dont eat anywhere near enough.... starving yourself WILL NOT WORK... as you have found out over the last 6 weeks. please try and net 1200 cals so you dont do yourself any serious damage.

Again, I was not eating this way the first 5 weeks.

I was eating around 1200 NET cals the first month or so. It didn't work.

ElPumaMex

1200 is still super low, if you're working out. If you've been doing that for 5 weeks already, your body is probably already in the mindset of hanging on to whatever it can. Keep in mind MFP sets us at 1200 calories assuming we are not doing any exercise, so anything you do burn off, you should be eating back to ensure your NET is at 1200.

This is why some people have taken different approaches, and you'll have to tweak to see what works for you, but I'll stand behind saying eat more to lose more! The best weeks I have losing are when I eat more calories from healthy sources.

No, it was 1200 net before. So I'd usually eat 1500-2000 depending on how much I worked out.



As for the weight comments, 125 may seem like a low weight, but it IS still overweight for my height. I also have almost 30% body fat, so I definitely have some baggage to lose. Quite a bit actually. I'll post pics soon. And according to MFP, 95 would be a healthy weight for me but it's a tentative goal. If I'm happy at 110 or 115, I'll stop there.

Hi,

I have checked your diary starting Mid January, and even back then you were eating less than 1200 calories.
Maybe you did not log all?

In any case, reading your diary I can see that you really like Cheese and Cakes.
I also love cheese, but if there is one thing I would recommend you is to cut cheese out of your diet as much as possible.
It is highly caloric, and if you miscalculate the amount of cheese you are eating, that amounts to many many calories !

So my recommendations boil down to:
a) Obtain a good number for your daily calorie goal. My guess is that it will be around 1250 calories per day.
b) Don't eat less than 200 calories, below your goal, after considering exercise.
c) Substitute cheese, cakes with fruits
d) Drink at least 6 glasses of water

Good luck !

femmi1120

1200 is still super low, if you're working out. If you've been doing that for 5 weeks already, your body is probably already in the mindset of hanging on to whatever it can. Keep in mind MFP sets us at 1200 calories assuming we are not doing any exercise, so anything you do burn off, you should be eating back to ensure your NET is at 1200.

This is why some people have taken different approaches, and you'll have to tweak to see what works for you, but I'll stand behind saying eat more to lose more! The best weeks I have losing are when I eat more calories from healthy sources.

No, it was 1200 net before. So I'd usually eat 1500-2000 depending on how much I worked out.



As for the weight comments, 125 may seem like a low weight, but it IS still overweight for my height. I also have almost 30% body fat, so I definitely have some baggage to lose. Quite a bit actually. I'll post pics soon. And according to MFP, 95 would be a healthy weight for me but it's a tentative goal. If I'm happy at 110 or 115, I'll stop there.

Hi,

I have checked your diary starting Mid January, and even back then you were eating less than 1200 calories.
Maybe you did not log all?

In any case, reading your diary I can see that you really like Cheese and Cakes.
I also love cheese, but if there is one thing I would recommend you is to cut cheese out of your diet as much as possible.
It is highly caloric, and if you miscalculate the amount of cheese you are eating, that amounts to many many calories !

So my recommendations boil down to:
a) Obtain a good number for your daily calorie goal. My guess is that it will be around 1250 calories per day.
b) Don't eat less than 200 calories, below your goal, after considering exercise.
c) Substitute cheese, cakes with fruits
d) Drink at least 6 glasses of water

Good luck !

Cakes? Are you referring to my protein pancakes? Because that's made with oatmeal, egg whites, banana, and protein powder. It's pretty harmless...

41degsouth

I was eating around 1200 NET cals the first month or so. It didn't work.

Go back and have a look at your diary. This just isn't correct.

If you set your goal to 1,200 now, it retrospectively is applied to previous periods too. Once you've done that, where you've eaten 1,200 net calories you'll see zero calories remaining. Except when you actually go back and look at that period you'll see that frequently there are substantially more than 500 calories remaining for a day, and it isn't that unusual to see 1,000 remaining.

ElPumaMex

1200 is still super low, if you're working out. If you've been doing that for 5 weeks already, your body is probably already in the mindset of hanging on to whatever it can. Keep in mind MFP sets us at 1200 calories assuming we are not doing any exercise, so anything you do burn off, you should be eating back to ensure your NET is at 1200.

This is why some people have taken different approaches, and you'll have to tweak to see what works for you, but I'll stand behind saying eat more to lose more! The best weeks I have losing are when I eat more calories from healthy sources.

No, it was 1200 net before. So I'd usually eat 1500-2000 depending on how much I worked out.



As for the weight comments, 125 may seem like a low weight, but it IS still overweight for my height. I also have almost 30% body fat, so I definitely have some baggage to lose. Quite a bit actually. I'll post pics soon. And according to MFP, 95 would be a healthy weight for me but it's a tentative goal. If I'm happy at 110 or 115, I'll stop there.

Hi,

I have checked your diary starting Mid January, and even back then you were eating less than 1200 calories.
Maybe you did not log all?

In any case, reading your diary I can see that you really like Cheese and Cakes.
I also love cheese, but if there is one thing I would recommend you is to cut cheese out of your diet as much as possible.
It is highly caloric, and if you miscalculate the amount of cheese you are eating, that amounts to many many calories !

So my recommendations boil down to:
a) Obtain a good number for your daily calorie goal. My guess is that it will be around 1250 calories per day.
b) Don't eat less than 200 calories, below your goal, after considering exercise.
c) Substitute cheese, cakes with fruits
d) Drink at least 6 glasses of water

Good luck !

Cakes? Are you referring to my protein pancakes? Because that's made with oatmeal, egg whites, banana, and protein powder. It's pretty harmless...

In you diary you say something like "chocolate banana pancakes".
Not sure how harmless they are, I guess depends on the recipe.

But don't concentrate on my statement about cakes, or pancakes.
I sincerely think you would benefit by eating more fruit, as a source for carbs, than pancakes, etc.
And the other suggestions listed above.

Of course, this is just my opinion.

Again, good luck !

femmi1120

1200 is still super low, if you're working out. If you've been doing that for 5 weeks already, your body is probably already in the mindset of hanging on to whatever it can. Keep in mind MFP sets us at 1200 calories assuming we are not doing any exercise, so anything you do burn off, you should be eating back to ensure your NET is at 1200.

This is why some people have taken different approaches, and you'll have to tweak to see what works for you, but I'll stand behind saying eat more to lose more! The best weeks I have losing are when I eat more calories from healthy sources.

No, it was 1200 net before. So I'd usually eat 1500-2000 depending on how much I worked out.



As for the weight comments, 125 may seem like a low weight, but it IS still overweight for my height. I also have almost 30% body fat, so I definitely have some baggage to lose. Quite a bit actually. I'll post pics soon. And according to MFP, 95 would be a healthy weight for me but it's a tentative goal. If I'm happy at 110 or 115, I'll stop there.

Hi,

I have checked your diary starting Mid January, and even back then you were eating less than 1200 calories.
Maybe you did not log all?

In any case, reading your diary I can see that you really like Cheese and Cakes.
I also love cheese, but if there is one thing I would recommend you is to cut cheese out of your diet as much as possible.
It is highly caloric, and if you miscalculate the amount of cheese you are eating, that amounts to many many calories !

So my recommendations boil down to:
a) Obtain a good number for your daily calorie goal. My guess is that it will be around 1250 calories per day.
b) Don't eat less than 200 calories, below your goal, after considering exercise.
c) Substitute cheese, cakes with fruits
d) Drink at least 6 glasses of water

Good luck !

Cakes? Are you referring to my protein pancakes? Because that's made with oatmeal, egg whites, banana, and protein powder. It's pretty harmless...

In you diary you say something like "chocolate banana pancakes".
Not sure how harmless they are, I guess depends on the recipe.

But don't concentrate on my statement about cakes, or pancakes.
I sincerely think you would benefit by eating more fruit, as a source for carbs, than pancakes, etc.
And the other suggestions listed above.

Of course, this is just my opinion.

Again, good luck !

Yep, a variation on my usual. I just added 1/2 teaspoon chocolate peanut butter. I'm just a fan of the pancakes, because it's a nice way to get my protein powder in w/o having to do shakes (which get really old really fast). And it provides the protein and carbs for my morning workout. And I didn't think they'd be too bad since there's no flour or added sugar in them... I mean, I got the original recipe from the lean body challenge =\

LesleeAH

Do you have MFP set to lose 1 pound a week? If so, you should change it to 0.5lb per week considering you only want to lose about 20lbs. This would probably give you around 1400 cals a day. You really should eat the amount MFP gives you, because it is a healthy deficit. You may see your weight go up initially, but in the long run you will find consistent losses and you will feel better and find your work outs are easier.

Hope this helps.

femmi1120

Do you have MFP set to lose 1 pound a week? If so, you should change it to 0.5lb per week considering you only want to lose about 20lbs. This would probably give you around 1400 cals a day. You really should eat the amount MFP gives you, because it is a healthy deficit. You may see your weight go up initially, but in the long run you will find consistent losses and you will feel better and find your work outs are easier.

Hope this helps.

I guess I'll try this. It's the weight going up part that's freaking me out though. Especially if my body is, in fact, in starvation mode and clinging to every calories, as everyone else seems to think...

LesleeAH

Do you have MFP set to lose 1 pound a week? If so, you should change it to 0.5lb per week considering you only want to lose about 20lbs. This would probably give you around 1400 cals a day. You really should eat the amount MFP gives you, because it is a healthy deficit. You may see your weight go up initially, but in the long run you will find consistent losses and you will feel better and find your work outs are easier.

Hope this helps.

I guess I'll try this. It's the weight going up part that's freaking me out though. Especially if my body is, in fact, in starvation mode and clinging to every calories, as everyone else seems to think...

Be patient with it too. Maybe give it a month to six weeks to see if this is what you need. Usually when you have little weight to lose, a smaller deficit is recommended.
Best of luck.

josephine_x

Just having a quick glance through your diary you,re not eating NEARLY enough. You need to fuel your body or it will hang on to weight. I'm 5'3 and eat 1400 cals give or take on days when I don't exercise. Well done for all your hard work so far but be kind to your body and it'll be kind to you!

AngelsDream4Peace

You said you've "stuck to your calorie goal" but looking at your diary you must think "stuck to" means to go UNDER. Last Friday, for instance, you ate only about 850 calories, coming in over 1000 net calories under your goal due to exercise, even with having set a very low (1000 calorie) goal. You are not eating enough. There are repeat examples of people lamenting that they allowed themselves to get into this situation. You are supposed to be creating a moderate calorie deficit and gradually loosing weight while you learn a new way to eat, whereas you appear to be declaring all-out war on your body! Not sure of all the mechanisms by which the body preserves weight when under duress, but it does. More importantly though, this kind of extreme approach doesn't provide much in the way of useful learning about how to manage when you're not at war with yourself.

Remember, your target already includes a deficit that will lead to weight loss over time. You don't need to undercut it.

Also, eating too little to lose weight is good for short term, but long term is definitely not sustainable. If you are wanting to lose it and not find it again, please listen to the people on here that know what they are talking about. You are definitely capable of doing this and getting to your goal, and you are worth being patient with yourself, take care of yourself. :flowerforyou:

femmi1120

Alright, I will try hitting at least 1200 net. Although I really can't stand it on days when I burn like 800 cals. I feel like I have to be stuffing myself constantly to make the 2000 calorie goal, and it totally goes against everything I know about how I should be "listening to my body" and not eating when I'm not hungry

btdublin

Read your diary. Although I don't believe in the starvation mode thing and going under your cals is not such a big problem, I would just make sure you are logging the correct weights of food and the correct cals in some food. You seem to have alot of foods that should really be higher cals but seem too low.

Otherwise you need to cut out 2 things:

1) Chocolate - and sugars in general. You have too much, plain and simple. You want to do this properly, just quit it cold turkey. You may have crazy girl cravings for it but they will go away (in a few months - there is no quick fix for anything here!)

2) Carbs - pancakes almost every other day. Unless you are strength training you don't need protein pancakes, and your diet in general looks like you are building muscle which I doubt you are trying to do. Cut out almost all carbs, even if its just for a 2 week hit. It is part Paleo/part Dukan - whatever people call it - cut the Carbs!

Just my 2 pence.

MelanieAG05

Checked out your diary and you're not eating enough. I had the same problem....I had my goal set to 1200 cals and wasn't losing anything. I now eat around about 1400 -1500 cals daily. I took some advice about eating at least my BMR. I also don't eat all my exercise calories - maybe about half.

This is an interesting thread..........

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/471769-an-easier-way-to-setup-goal-calories-eating-for-who-you-wi

AngelsDream4Peace

Alright, I will try hitting at least 1200 net. Although I really can't stand it on days when I burn like 800 cals. I feel like I have to be stuffing myself constantly to make the 2000 calorie goal, and it totally goes against everything I know about how I should be "listening to my body" and not eating when I'm not hungry

Hang in there, people have posted in other places that they can't eat all of their calories because they are too full. People have suggestions they swear work, someone asked you to message someone on here, I have heard lots of people suggest that person for help, he must be really good, do as they suggest, they say things like protein and protein shakes and lots of other stuff depending on your dietary needs, requirements, wants, or whatever, check into it, can't hurt and could possibly help. Be kind to yourself.