Next level of progress.

elleruffin

Hi MFP folks-- happy resurrection sunday to yall!

I could use some advice. I work out religiously, am under my daily calorie goal six of 7 days a week, and have been under my weekly calorie goal since creating my profile in November. Since then, i've only lost 15 pounds. I can see the progress -- my clothes fit better, waist is smaller, but there are still large portions of FAT deposits in my body that I'm getting tired of seeing. I am being patient with the process but feel like there's more - or something different i could be doing to see better results.

I eat 'regular' foods but generally have very good portions of fruits, veggies and whole wheat/oats daily (unless i'm between grocery trips when meals get more creative).

my cardio is 100% running. with a few exceptions of hiking,yoga and dance, that's all i do. I run at least 5-6 days a week, minimum of 2 miles (not including at least a one mile walk). Most days its a 2-3 mile run with at least one mile of walking, so I'd say I average between 3-5 miles per day.

My trouble spots: i eat late. sometimes during the day i may not eat enough, and i regularly eat after 10pm, even if its just a spoonful of peanut butter. I eat junk sometimes. My hubby likes snack foods (potato chips, chips and dip, etc) and sometimes i can't help but eat them, most times that this is happening its because i am STARVING. i don't drink as much water as i should. actually prob half of the recommended amount. (starting to think i'm answering my own questions here....lol).

I'm excited about my progress but am ready to kick it to the next level in terms of weight loss and toning.

Any suggestions are appreciated!

LovingLisa2012

you should be NETing your min

eat your workout calories
on your home page it will tell you how many to eat

for me i get 2100 a day but if i work out and earn 300 .. i get to eat 2400 calories
and i am losing weight just fine

a good thing to do is find out your TDEE (search on the forums)
then subtract 10 -20 % from that

--
im sure more people will chime in

jadedone

Add in some strength training (body weight, dumbbellls, machines, whatever you have access to). Switch your cardio and add intervals.

elleruffin

Thanks Ladies!! this is helpful. I found some strength exercises I can do with my own body weight (until i get some real weights and join a gym) so i plan to integrate those this week.

also need to first figure out what my TDEE is and then i'll start subtracting, lol! my calorie goal from MFP is 1230-- when i exercise it becomes between 1500 - 1800. I pretty much never net that. Nervous about eating too much. in the past i've always lost weight by eating alot less, but now as i approach 30 i guess that is starting to change (insert real tears). I will take both you ladies advice, though. Thanks for chiming in!!

LizKurz

Thanks Ladies!! this is helpful. I found some strength exercises I can do with my own body weight (until i get some real weights and join a gym) so i plan to integrate those this week.

also need to first figure out what my TDEE is and then i'll start subtracting, lol! my calorie goal from MFP is 1230-- when i exercise it becomes between 1500 - 1800. I pretty much never net that. Nervous about eating too much. in the past i've always lost weight by eating alot less, but now as i approach 30 i guess that is starting to change (insert real tears). I will take both you ladies advice, though. Thanks for chiming in!!

Here's a TDEE calc.

http://www.iifym.com/tdee-calculator

elleruffin

Thanks Angylisis! Just did this and it came back 2,587!! that can't be right, lol. I might try and pay more attention to this tomorrow but i would estimate maybe somewhere around 2,200.....hmmm. that would mean normally i eat half of this every day, including net calories lost. maybe i should eat more.....that's a scary thought.

LizKurz

Thanks Angylisis! Just did this and it came back 2,587!! that can't be right, lol. I might try and pay more attention to this tomorrow but i would estimate maybe somewhere around 2,200.....hmmm. that would mean normally i eat half of this every day, including net calories lost. maybe i should eat more.....that's a scary thought.

You're welcome

The first time I did it, it was super high too. Then I took notes on what I did during the day and while it seemed that I was on my feet literally all day, I really wasn't.

Though I will say, mine is 2500 for 191 lbs.

meshashesha2012

you've got some great suggestions so far.

i wanted to add a few things

1) the time you eat doesnt make a different. your body needs calories on a 24 hour basis, not before or after a certain time.
2) you mentioned that you eat junk food sometimes. watch out for the sodium content for those things since they tend to be high. high sodium can lead to water retention, so make sure you're getting enough water
3) recheck those calories again. i found that MFP greatly underestimated my calories. i ended up changing my goals from 1300 to 1850. i dont bother about eating exercise calories either since i've increased my calories

elleruffin

thanks Mesha. That makes alot of sense. I may need to revisit my calories from MFP. 1230 seems SO LOW. I ate that in almost one meal last weekend during a rare calorie splurge on brunch.

Also i will start paying more attention to sodium as well. i don't look at it- as much as i pay attention to sugar and fat intakes, but i'll start now.