Why am I not losing anymore??

Tanishhaaaaaa

Take a look at my diary, but before you tell me that I'm not eating enough, note that I'm only 4'10.5, and my BMR is 1200 (: (:
Any Suggestions?

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

Before I look I'll tell you that I'm 4'11 and ~100 pounds and NEVER eat less than 1500, ever. That's with no formal workout. Thats for weight loss.

nixirain

I am 4'11" so I know. Eat your exercise calories!! Being short is not a handicap to have the excuse to under eat. I love my fun sized peeps, but you have to do it the healthy way. I bet if you eat them for a few weeks you will start losing again.

Tanishhaaaaaa

What kinds of food should I add, is what I'm asking. I need to know different ways of boosting my calories, without too much added fat.

I'm very fussy and allergic to fish and nuts, so I tend to eat the same things.

TheMiddlePath

Hey Tanisha,

First off, my condolences on your Mom. I hope you are finding peace, and I think it's wonderful that you are channeling things into taking better care of yourself.

Our bodies get used to things. I looked briefly at your exercise diary and see that you do a lot of walking - which is GREAT - and some dancing. You may want to add some weights...start off with push-ups and squats - they are free and use your body weight as resistance. If you have free weights or a gym membership...then you can do that as well.

Then over time you can add back some calories which may help as well.

Hope this helps and good luck!
Melody

Brandicaloriecountess

Before I look I'll tell you that I'm 4'11 and ~100 pounds and NEVER eat less than 1500, ever. That's with no formal workout. Thats for weight loss.

And my you look great!

howeclectic

It does seem like your eating too little.... BMR is a starting point... it doesn't include your physical activity. Chances are you ear burning something higher.

Anyway... that being said...

How long have you "not been losing". Second.... How do you come up with your measurements? I notice your food sizes seem a bit odd? Is this estimation?

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

Okay...so your BMR is 1200-- sedentary you'd burn 1500 calories. SEDENTARY.

That means ANY additional walking, errands, workouts are all contributing toward a deficit if you were to eat 1500 as a bare MINIMUM. You'd still lose weight.

BMR isn't the same as TDEE (total daily energy expenditure).

TDEE takes into account your activity level whereby you multiply your BMR by an activity factor:

If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9


So at the BARE MINIMUM you're burning 1500 and eating substantially less--any workouts are making your burn even higher. You're not eating enough.

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

Before I look I'll tell you that I'm 4'11 and ~100 pounds and NEVER eat less than 1500, ever. That's with no formal workout. Thats for weight loss.

And my you look great!

thank you. I actually would DIE on 1500 calories. I eat ~2200-2500 on a regular basis with 1-2x a week going up to 3000 calories.

nixirain

Add some protein, like a glass of milk with dinner. Some fruit like an apple. I would say peanut butter, but I saw you are allergic. I am sad for you Eat bigger portions and use the full fat stuff instead of the low fat if you are full off of what you are eating now.

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

What kinds of food should I add, is what I'm asking. I need to know different ways of boosting my calories, without too much added fat.

I'm very fussy and allergic to fish and nuts, so I tend to eat the same things.

There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with fats. NOTHING--there are healthy and unhealthy fats just as there are "healthy" and "unhealthy" carbs.

Choose foods with little saturated fat and no trans fat and you're good.

Great options for increasing calories:
-avocado
-seeds (perfect alternative to nuts)
-tahini (sesame seed paste)
-hummus
-sunflower seed butter (like peanut butter)
-olives
-olive oil
-lowfat dairy as opposed to NONfat
-oats cooked in milk
-banana smoothie made with greek yogurt, milk, and a tbsp cocoa powder
-dark chocolate

Tanishhaaaaaa

At dinner and breakfast, I weight out everything, but lunch, at the canteen, it's impossible, so I have a guess (: (:

The one thing that stops me from increasing much is going my fear of going over on fat....

DPernet

Just a quick look on the last couple of days. Sometimes it can be just a few small changes on portion sizes. For instance, you could have gone for a 12'' sub for dinner, get rid of half of the cookie and still have been within your limits. Or you could make the porridge portions a bit bigger if you can manage them.

techigirl78

Just looking at a few days, I would say increase good fat, increase protein. Others gave advice for good fats. For protein, eat protein shakes or get more meat/dairy products. That will boost your calories and get some of the numbers up that look low.

If you don't get enough good fats, it is not good for you. It is the saturated fat you want to avoid.

howeclectic

I wouldn't worry too much going a little over your fat. Think of the ratios as a guideline... not something to be religious about. Extra fat in your diet will not make much of a difference. If anything... just aim to make them healthier fats like those found in olive oil or fish. Avoid unhealthy fats like saturated/trans fats found in red meats and processed foods.

I think for someone as small as you... you will just have to accept a slow pace of loss. Maybe add some exercise (and eat back some of those calories).

sobriquet84

What kinds of food should I add, is what I'm asking. I need to know different ways of boosting my calories, without too much added fat.

I'm very fussy and allergic to fish and nuts, so I tend to eat the same things.

i would definitely recommend more fat and protein, and increase your cals to AT LEAST 1200 a day. to make it easy, make sure you have fat and protein in every meal and snack.

excellent fat sources other than fish and nuts: olive oil, coconut oil, avocados, olives, tofu, eggs

honestly, i would try to almost double your fat and protein intake.

olga1965

Ok now I'm confused. According to this site I should have a deficit of 500 calories a day to lose 1 lb. It shows that on a daily basis (for me...I weight more then you guys) i burn 1900 something. Then I'm suppose to eat my 1420 or less to lose that one pound. I believe this is under the goals tab. I'm I understanding this right or I'm I under eating for my weight also. I have been stuck for almost a week now at the same weight. When I don't exercise I make sure to stay under calorie goal. UGHHH..

Tanishhaaaaaa

Thanks everyone, I'm gonna go and eat another bowl of porridge, because I'm STARVING.

That takes me up to 1240 cals, which is an improvement (: (:

laddyboy

What kinds of food should I add, is what I'm asking. I need to know different ways of boosting my calories, without too much added fat.

I'm very fussy and allergic to fish and nuts, so I tend to eat the same things.

Don't be affraid of fat in your diet as long as it's healthy fats. Be very affraid of sugar and bad carbs. Very affraid. Now that being said.
If I were you I would be doing a split routine of heavy weights / HIIT 5 days a week and eating good clean calories.

Now for my soap box speach. When you 1st setup your profile in MFP it asked you how many pounds a week you want to lose. Hopefully you said 1 lb. MFP set you daily calories intake to lose 1 lb per week. You are not trying to eat under that amount. It's not a contest to see if you can come under that. You want to hit that every day...and if you workout and burn calories eat those too. What a lot of people do is they come under that number thinking that a good thing then they don't eat their exercise calories and wonder why they are not losing weight. Honestly...It's all over these boards.

Foods to eat:
Fruit (berry family is the best) no more than 2 serving per day and not after 2PM
High fiber veggies...8-12 servings per day (no, corn is not a veggie so avoid it)
Almonds and Walnuts. Peanuts are not nuts they are beans and a very low grade of protein.
Olive Oil, Avacado, olives,cottage cheese 1 or 2%
Lean Protein - chicken breast, white fish, white turkey, lean pork, lean beef.
You should also be eating 1 gm of protein per lb of body weight.
Also....LOTS of WATER and don't drink your calories with the exception of Protein shakes.

For more info go here

http://www.bootcamp360.net/articles/40-ways-to-fight-fat.html

That's a quick overview.

yarwell

Your diet is heavy on carbohydrates. There's a significant body of opinion pointing to carbohydrates as a major problem in obesity / weight gain and reduced carbohydrate diets frequently achieve better results, one report I read this morning said...

"After six months, those who were on the low-carb diet lost an average of 28.9 pounds versus 18.7 pounds among those on the low-fat diet. In the low-carb diet used in the study, up to 30 percent of calories came from carbs such as bread, pasta and certain fruits, while 40 percent was from fat consumed from meat, dairy products and nuts."

Your food diary is 58-60% calories from carbohydrates, which is slightly higher than the high carb / low fat approach in the study above. You also exhibit the classic carbohydate cycle (chinese takeaway syndrome) of eating carbs then being hungry two hours later as the insulin knocks down the blood sugar rush from the carbs and overshoots.

So baked potato, porridge and tinned beans with sugar in aren't doing a lot for you. Try to get a bit more protein and some more oils and fats with a goal of reducing carbohydrates towards 90-100g. Have half an avocado as a snack, perhaps. Good luck.

Helloitsdan

Take a look at my diary, but before you tell me that I'm not eating enough, note that I'm only 4'10.5, and my BMR is 1200 (: (:
Any Suggestions?

1200x1.5=1800 You should be netting about 1500 daily to lose just fat.
Anything below that is lean mass lost.

If you havent lost any fat you should eat at maintenance for 2 weeks, 1800, then resume the diet with MFP set to about 1500 daily.
Ensure Protein and Fat are set to about 30% each.

olga1965

my bmr is 1412...i've been consuming 1420 cal a day. when I use the formula I get 2118 cal. I'm I way off?

bethelcheryl

Can you eat sunflower seed butter? It is just as yummy as peanut butter and no nuts