My stats for a week. Am I doing enough?

HappilyLifts

I discovered that my bathroom scales can read body fat percentage. Wish I hadn't looked (39.8% ugh!)

If it isn't morning with normal hydration level following a rest day, that is very inaccurate estimate of bf% from scale. While it's accuracy is always suspect, consistency can be decent depending on your ability to keep things consistent, and then it can tell you a direction at least.

funnily enough, I just read your post Setup Polar HRM for more accurate calorie burn for known BMR and used the links. I got a covert bailey fat % of 32.5
I'll continue to use the scales to give me an indication of if body fat is going down. Good idea.

HappilyLifts

I would say you have to right mind set. The only thing I wouldnt do is eat processed foods just to get to my calorie goal. Weight loss is great but keep a mind on your health. The less you have these things the less you will crave them and get into the grove of not having them.

Other options would be whole grains, which arent always low cal

Also goods with good fats like avacodo.

that's good advice, thanks. I've never tried an avocado. I'll have to do more Googling on how to eat one, and whether you eat it on its own or with something else!

HappilyLifts

Hi! So, I have found a HUGE great tip....6 glasses of water is not enough for you...You should be drinking 1/2 your body weight in oz of water. if you are 205, that would be 1-2.5 oz per day)

I admit that last year I was barely drinking one glass, so 6 glasses still seems alot to me, I have a long way to go, but I'm working on it :-) I take a water bottle almost everywhere with me now and am trying to get into the routine of a glass of water first thing in the morning before my coffee

This has really helped me...AND if you insist on drinking coffee, add more water because coffee takes away the hydration that you have worked so hard to build up.

ok, I'll bear that in mind. More water, less coffee :-)

Build up on your protein as well...I have been doing high protein and high fiber foods and snacks and sticking with lower calories, (I am on a 1200 calorie diet, but am able to get all of my proteins and fibers and nutrients every couple of hours, so I don't get hungry. ) but eating every couple of hours to keep my metabolism going. It has worked so far! 16 lbs down, and ...A LOT to go! Good Luck!

congrats on your success! I like to eat little and often too. I am also working on increasing my protein. I don't enjoy most protein foods but I am starting to include more of them anyway, plus I am getting in some protein shakes or bars. If I didn't do that I'd really struggle with protein intake! I almost always exceed MFP's fibre recommendation. That's not difficult, I like fruits and veggies :-)

HappilyLifts

Exercise for any type of muscle and effort. The big ones stand out.
http://www.exrx.net/Lists/WtFemale.html

that's an amazing website! One for another day I think, I'm all researched out :laugh:

heybales

but eating every couple of hours to keep my metabolism going.

Just so you know, that is a fallacy. Study after study has proven that is not true.

While it may help you personally not get hungry so much you blow it at the next meal, and that may be more a problem of eating too many carbs still causing you low blood sugar leaving you feeling hungry, or just undereating too much (but that will go away eventually if you fight through your body signals).

You expend the same amount of energy to process food in either 6 meals a day or 2 meals a day. And actually, if you take into effect the insulin response after eating leaving you in fat storage mode for a period of time - more meals is worse overall. Unless it keeps you from splurging at next meal because of being overly hungry.

And frankly, if your body is getting calories below what it would like to expend on metabolism - you aren't going to get it to artificially raise anyway, there's no energy left to do so. Your body has already had to slow down functions to deal with not enough energy. I say that because 1200 goal is not best for about 95% of women. it can work, slowly, just not best, if the goal is speedy weight loss anyway.

Might read OP to see what choccieaddict is trying to accomplish.

HappilyLifts

but eating every couple of hours to keep my metabolism going.

Just so you know, that is a fallacy. Study after study has proven that is not true.

While it may help you personally not get hungry so much you blow it at the next meal, and that may be more a problem of eating too many carbs still causing you low blood sugar leaving you feeling hungry, or just undereating too much (but that will go away eventually if you fight through your body signals).

You expend the same amount of energy to process food in either 6 meals a day or 2 meals a day. And actually, if you take into effect the insulin response after eating leaving you in fat storage mode for a period of time - more meals is worse overall. Unless it keeps you from splurging at next meal because of being overly hungry.

And frankly, if your body is getting calories below what it would like to expend on metabolism - you aren't going to get it to artificially raise anyway, there's no energy left to do so. Your body has already had to slow down functions to deal with not enough energy. I say that because 1200 goal is not best for about 95% of women. it can work, slowly, just not best, if the goal is speedy weight loss anyway.

Might read OP to see what choccieaddict is trying to accomplish.

and the learning curve continues....
What I'd love to accomplish is n outwardly noticable drop in body fat. I'm scared of cancer and diabetes (both are in the family history) so I want to lose fat for health reasons. I don't want to be labelled obese and with a high BMI anymore. For purely vanity reasons I want to see a different shape in the mirror. If the scales registered a big difference that would be good, but I now know not all progress is reflected on the scales. I also want to see muscles. I don't want much do I?