How are people losing every week?

missfancy1980

I wish there was an app to say "eat this much of this food now", lol, so much easier. At least with exercise i feel like i am getting some kind of handle on it, the food is all over the place!

So to sum up to now:
Drink more water
Eat more protein
Maybe need to eat more calories OR exercise less

sprfly

I wish there was an app to say "eat this much of this food now", lol, so much easier. At least with exercise i feel like i am getting some kind of handle on it, the food is all over the place!

So to sum up to now:
Drink more water
Eat more protein
Maybe need to eat more calories OR exercise less

...and you're smokin' hot.

drhirams

My pleasure... Everyone body is different... Remember that! This is your journey, embrace and own it...

UsedToBeHusky

I wish there was an app to say "eat this much of this food now", lol, so much easier. At least with exercise i feel like i am getting some kind of handle on it, the food is all over the place!

So to sum up to now:
Drink more water
Eat more protein
Maybe need to eat more calories OR exercise less

...and you're smokin' hot.

Not into chicks, but I totally agree with this guy! You already have the body some of us wish we had.

missfancy1980

Lol thank you. You guys are great BUT I f you like this, imagine how I USED to be and WANT to be again..... I haven't had any babies and don't plan on it, so my body has no damn excuse to have expanded haha

UsedToBeHusky

Lol thank you. You guys are great BUT I f you like this, imagine how I USED to be and WANT to be again..... I haven't had any babies and don't plan on it, so my body has no damn excuse to have expanded haha

You probably don't want to hear this... but it comes with age. You can whip it back into shape though.

becoming_a_new_me

For your weight, age, and activity, which is Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week), your Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) with TDEE is appx 2389 calories per day (if you are around 5'6"ish). That being said, to lose 2 lbs per week on a 130 lb frame is a bit extreme, but it can be done with 1300-1389 calories per day without eating back exercise. That being said, you are not getting enough protien for someone as active as you. Try shooting for adding in an extra 30-40g of protein per day and see if that helps.

Thank you. I'm wondering how to get that extra protein? I don't eat red or white meat and am already eating nuts, and lots of fish. I have noticed that when i try to eat more nuts say for the protein, that massively increases my calories so then i'd have to compromise on another meal.

Try doing a protien shake after your workouts. That will help to boost your protien significantly.

missfancy1980

Ahh you took the words right out of my mouth! The gym I'm at sells whey protein but it's pricey and I don't really know how to use it. Would it be a good idea to swap my lunch time bagel for a drink of this instead?

Elibasia

MFP has already figured out how many calories you should eat to lose weight. When you work out, you are supposed to eat your exercise calories back. For me, I tweaked the calories so it's a solid 500 calorie deficit per day. Multiply that by 7 (days in the week), and you get 3500 (calories in one pound). When you eat your exercise calories BACK, so that you're eating the amount of calories MFP says you should eat, you will lose. If you're working out really hard everyday, you need more calories because you're expending more energy.

A calorie is energy. Energy fuels our body. Hence, you need fuel for your body, and you need to eat more.

WELL SAID.

UsedToBeHusky

Ahh you took the words right out of my mouth! The gym I'm at sells whey protein but it's pricey and I don't really know how to use it. Would it be a good idea to swap my lunch time bagel for a drink of this instead?

Well I say have the shake with the bagel... but that is just me.

ANewLucia

You should join the group "Eat More to Weigh Less"

You are not loosing because your body is in starvation mode. You are eating at 1500 a day probably just above your BMR and then when you workout you are netting way under your BMR.

I have found MFP calcs are way off and didn't start to loose until I started eating 1800 calories. I started a group because I have been shouting this to anyone that will listen and many women have given it a chance and are loosing. As of today I am upping to 1950 which is still under TDEE so I should start loosing again.

Anyway, I have said the same thing so many times I put it all in one place. THere is a discussion topic on there regarding TDEE and gives the breakdown, calculation, suggestions that now I would say about 30 plus ladies I personally have has friends are doing.

Wish you the best.

beduffbrickie

wish I could offer advice, but I find everybody body is different, I suppose have faith in what your doing, give it time, and if your puting in hard work and eating well, then I believe you will be rewarded with the results you are after. I think you look pretty amazing anyway. good luck

seekingstrengthX2

add beans ... low calorie, high protein
...

becoming_a_new_me

Ahh you took the words right out of my mouth! The gym I'm at sells whey protein but it's pricey and I don't really know how to use it. Would it be a good idea to swap my lunch time bagel for a drink of this instead?

Instead of a bagel (simple carb), do a shake (you can buy a huge tub at most health food stores cheaper than the gym) and eat some veggies or have some whole wheat bread or fruit (complex carbs).

kryptonitekelly

I've been exercising solidly for 3 weeks now, 60 mins plus per day, 6 x per week (elliptical, free weights, squats, pull ups, push ups, swimming), plus extra bits like walking around the yard/ carying/ lifting things looking after my horse, and partaking in my fave pastime of drumming. I'm sticking to an average of 1200 calories a day eaten, (a few times it's gone up to 1500 and one day it was a little low at only 1000). I'm burning around 500 calories a day through exercise.

Week one i lost 1lb (technically week 2 as i hadn't started focusing on my diet the first week i exercised), just weight myself again today and I put ON 0.5lbs!! I have heard this could be due to muscle gain and it's best to go by measurements, now my measurements are strange. No change in waist or hips (the areas i really want to lose), but my thighs are a tiny bit smaller.

I was discouraged at first but trying not to let it get me down as I am starting to feel a lot fitter now which is great in itself. Would love to shift the lbs too though!

How the heck are people reporting losses of 2+ lbs a week? haha. It's common sense that you eat less you lose more weight so i'm not prepared to up my calories. Do I need more exercise? less? different foods? I think my food diary is open to the public if anyone wants to look and comment.

The smaller you are, the harder to lose!? I know a lot of people losing more than 2lbs a week, but they are a lot bigger.
I lost 0.9lbs in 3 weeks! If that helps haha! But I aim to have over 1700 cals. And work out 3 times a week (try to)....so it's coming off slowly!

kryptonitekelly

Maybe you're in starvation mode.
Honestly.
I was at averaging 1700s...
then made the change to up to 2000
and for some reason lost 0.9 lbs haaa!

happilyeveractive

I'm having the same problem. Eating 1200 calories and goingto the gym as often as possible. I lost weight before so know I can get down to 125 but am lingering at 150

cyclingben

The people who are losing multiple pounds a week are probably much bigger than you are!

You look fantastic and you're doing everything right, so I wouldn't worry about it. It can be discouraging to see obese friends losing weight at a much rapid pace, but you have to keep in mind that you're a small woman who is not overweight. If I lose a pound a month I'm thrilled!

I am the perfect example of this statement.

secretlobster

missfancy, if you don't mind my saying so, you have a pretty slim figure. You're probably not going to see 2lb/week losses unless you have a significant amount of weight to lose (or you get the flu).

I agree with the advice given to eat more. If your body doesn't have sufficient fuel to power you through a workout AND your 1400-1600 average calories it takes just to maintain your metabolic processes, you're probably going to retain weight. Your body is holding onto fat reserves because it thinks it's going to need them.

The other problem with eating too little and working out a lot is that you will actually start losing muscle mass as well.

cassblue21

Does what you eat at what times have an effect? Like if I try and eat all my carby/ highest calorie stuff in the early part of the day then lower calorie things for the rest, would that be more efficient for my body? And do you think the water could really be causing an issue?

I have been told by a professional to drink AT LEAST a gallon of water a day. And he swears when doing so you can lose up to 20lbs in a several weeks. Crazy, but I have been losing a lot better once I started making myself drink more water. It sounds like a crazy amount but I count my tea and my milk (when I drink it) as my fluid intake. :0) Also I used to have headaches daily but with the water intake I have not had to take any headache meds. They are few and far between nowadays.

ARDuBaie

I was burning up to 1000 calories a day and only eating 1200. I wasn't losing much weight at all. Then I upped it to 1400. This week, I took off 2.8 pounds. So upping the calories works.

drewbird911

I've hit a level and not lost any more for 2 weeks, before that was dropping nicely 1-2 a week. Hoping to 'power through' and get back to loosing...

missfancy1980

I was burning up to 1000 calories a day and only eating 1200. I wasn't losing much weight at all. Then I upped it to 1400. This week, I took off 2.8 pounds. So upping the calories works.

Well done, that's fab!!

Really need to work on this water thing. Since I posted this I've still not drunk any, but I have drunk coffee... oh dear! *Reaches for water*

jamesfit99

Since you're already in very good shape, it might be very difficult to duplicate your exact figure from ten years ago, as metabolism and stuff changes.

As stated by others, the bigger weight gains are usually from folks who have the most to lose.

That said, it can be done but probably not just by adjusting calories. You might have to also adjust your protein/carb intake, with the aim of losing more fat and not too much muscle, and I'm guessing your thinner thighs may have to do with muscle loss due to low calories and all that cardio.

You would also probably have to up your strength training and cut down on your cardio. Once/if you get there, I think you will find that maintaining that kind of body will become a full time job. If that's what you want, go for it, but I think you'll find that easing off your goals a bit will give you a body that in the long run will be easier to maintain.

Ever see those body builders at the shows? They train for those shows and pack on the pounds right after. The reason is that it's impossible to maintain that level of fitness for more than a few days. Of course, that's the extreme, but the principle also applies to many of us. The closer we get to what many of us consider a "perfect" weight and body type, the harder to keep it.

Personally, I've found that the few times I've achieved "perfection", not only didn't it last very long, but usually within a short period of time the pendulum took a swift swing the other way and I ended up much worse off than if I had not lost those last few pounds.

-- James

KeriA

Some people here haven't exercised that much and are slowly upping there exercise. They weigh alot more and can get great results more safely with lower calories since thay are slowly upping their exercise. If they continue to eat too low they eventually stall out. When I started here I lost very slowly but I had more to lose than you but like you I was exercising alot. Eventually I have completely stalled out. I realized I had been under my BMR for more than a year and a half. According to MFP I should have been much closer to my goal weight. I think because I was exercising so much that I needed a higher calorie goal than 1-3 pound calorie loss on here indicates. I am starting to try a higher one now. Many who weight train and do cardio lose better with higher calories. It depends on your BMR. One approach is figure out what is maintenance for someone who weighs your goal weight and use that as your calorie goal. Eventually you will weigh that and in a much more healthy way than what you are doing now. You are actually lowering your metabolism by eating so few calories. If you eat enough your metabolism will eventually speed up but it may take a few weeks and even a pound or two of gain before your body realizes it doesn't need to respond to such low calories. If nothing else make sure you eat a net 1200 calories meaning eat all your exercise calories back and if you do this they need to be really perfect calories to get the nutrition you need for your body. If that works fine for now but with the exercise you are doing at some point you will need to eat more calories. Do you want to be wearing an 8 an having to eat nothing or do you want to be healthy wearing a 8 and be eating more calories and being able to eat enough to actually be healthy and able to maintain that weight better. Also when you get to your goal weight don't just stop logging. Maintain for at least 2-3 months carefully without further weight loss. You will need to reset your weight this way or your body will take you back to where you were when you first started.

missfancy1980

Thanks. I'm not looking to get the perfect female body builder physique lol, i guess i just find exercise a lot easier than food. Before these 3 weeks I never even exercised apart from riding a couple of times a week. Now I find I'm getting kind of addicted I find the strength training, squats, lunges etc to be really hard, so i am kind of begrudgingly doing them then sticking to my beloved elliptical.

I really don't get the whole eating back calories thing - what's the point in exercising if you're just going to undo all the benefit by eating those calories again? All the research shows that to lose weight you need a combination of diet and exercise, but this eating back thing seems to suggest you should just lower your calories and not exercise :-/

MichelleRenee13

Why can't I find the "Eat more weigh less" group?
It must be Monday!

MichelleRenee13

found it!