skeptical....

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llmichalek
llmichalek Posts: 48
in Food and Nutrition
Some friends have told me to myfitnesspal. I had a baby almost exactly 1 year ago and quickly lost 50 pounds. But I have spent the last 6 months trying to lose the last 10 and last pant size! It's very frustrating and I feel I have tried everything. People kept telling me I was eating too little, but I finally decided to try eating normally and immediately gained another 5 in 2 weeks! Now I have 15 pounds to lose! I run 2 miles pushing a jogging stroller almost every day, walk another mile with the dog and stroller, do about 20 minutes of belly and love handle burning with weights every night, and try to stay around 1200 calories a day. I cannot eat any carbs at all or I immediately gain weight, I swear. It's very frustrating. Any suggestions?
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Replies

  • Gosser
    Gosser Posts: 178 Member
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    What is your height, weight and age ?
  • llmichalek
    llmichalek Posts: 48
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    I'm 36, 5'9, 154.
  • llmichalek
    llmichalek Posts: 48
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    :explode:
  • katiejoycecross
    katiejoycecross Posts: 34 Member
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    So what are you skeptical about? MFP?
  • IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym
    IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym Posts: 5,573 Member
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    your diary is closed, so its hard to tell.
  • MJ7910
    MJ7910 Posts: 1,280 Member
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    sounds like you are not eating enough for your height/weight. just do a search for 1200 calories not enough... tons of resources and people in the same exact position.
  • CarolynKlum
    CarolynKlum Posts: 48
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    I know how you feel -- I said the same thing. I asked if I could "trust the system" and someone simply told me to try it and see the results for myself. You have to trust it. It works.
  • cygnetpro
    cygnetpro Posts: 419 Member
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    Nothing jumps out as being a reason. Have you talked to your doctor about it?
  • Losing2Live69
    Losing2Live69 Posts: 743 Member
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    "almost exactly".....that made me lol!!
  • tinana_RN
    tinana_RN Posts: 541 Member
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    Definitely need more calories, if you're doing all of that working out. Also- you're using weights to try to target specific areas- that been proven to not be so effective (target areas, I mean). Try to see what your body fat percentage is and work on that for now instead of specific spots.
  • feltlikesound
    feltlikesound Posts: 326 Member
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    One thing to keep in mind is doing the same time and intensity of exercise every day, means it is gradually burning less calories for you as your body becomes more efficient at it. For example, when I first started running it skyrocketed my heart rate and I burned calories quickly. As I lost weight and gained cardio health, it is a lot easier on my heart/body and I burn a lot less calories. The human body is designed for efficiency in things we do regularly.

    You may see a lot of benefit from changing up your approach -- different weight training, different cardio, etc. This is of course just an idea, I have no way of knowing how you keep track of calories burned/etc. Maybe it's time for a heart rate monitor.
  • Julzanne72
    Julzanne72 Posts: 467 Member
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    I would suggest opening your diary, also mixing up your exercising, adding strength training, using a heart rate monitor if you don't already to get an exact calorie burn and you do need to eat back your exercise calories.
  • cherrytulips
    cherrytulips Posts: 109
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    Some topics for consideration:

    -Are you eating a lot of packaged foods? Even if they are low-cal and you are within your calorie goals, try to incorporate more vegetables such as broccoli, asparagus, cucumber, and carrots into your diet. Those will aid in digestion, the ability for your body to absorb nutrients, and therefore regulate your metabolism better. Same with fruits!!

    -Try not to eat complex carbs after 5pm. You can have fruits and veggies after 5, but packaged carbs and complex carbs aren't such a great idea. Carbohydrates should make up about 30% of your intake.

    -Shoot for 1g of protein for each pound of body weight. So if you weigh 130 pounds, aim for 130g of protein in the form of lean meats (white chicken breast, salmon, turkey) or tofu/legumes/nuts. Protein should make up roughly 40% of your intake.

    -Keep in mind your body DOES need fat in order to function and metabolize food so fat should make up about 30% of your intake.

    - I would also recommend lifting heavier weights. If you are doing only cardio, your body must have gotten used to it and is adapting to it as part of a normal routine. Too much cardio can even end up burning your muscle before it burns fat. Switch it up by doing heavy lifting sessions in order to trigger muscle growth. You will NOT bulk up. Muscle building is essential for a speedy metabolism because resting muscles burn up more calories than resting fat.

    -Lastly, if all else fails, I recommend doing some of your own research and exploration. Bodybuilding.com has helped me customize my own fitness goals and I am seeing great results. I know I sound corny, but here is a link to the fitness plans so you should check out whichever appeals to you most and then watch all of the videos and learn about what works best.

    http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/find-a-plan-fat-loss-2039-female.html

    best of luck!!
    xx
  • Zichu
    Zichu Posts: 542 Member
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    Are you eating back your exercise calories at all?

    Just putting this out there. If your calorie goal is currently 1200 and you burnt off say 300 calories, you would now have to eat 1500 calories for that day, not 1200, because you have essentially only eaten 900 calories if you didn't eat them back.
  • Todzilla7
    Todzilla7 Posts: 24
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    Hearing that you react so dramatically to carbs indicates to me that your body thinks it is starving... and it probably is at your height and activity level. If you are truly at 1200 calories a day AND doing all the exercise you listed, then you aren't sufficiently feeding your body. It thinks it is starving and holding on to everything you put in it. Establish a proper caloric intake amount for your body, goals, and activity level... then give your body adequate time to adjust.

    Oh, one more suggestion... don't use weights for your ab work.
  • cherrytulips
    cherrytulips Posts: 109
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    @Todzilla7:

    "Hearing that you react so dramatically to carbs indicates to me that your body thinks it is starving... and it probably is at your height and activity level. If you are truly at 1200 calories a day AND doing all the exercise you listed, then you aren't sufficiently feeding your body. It thinks it is starving and holding on to everything you put in it. Establish a proper caloric intake amount for your body, goals, and activity level... then give your body adequate time to adjust.

    Oh, one more suggestion... don't use weights for your ab work."

    I agree with this and with what @Zichu said. You need to eat more calories, and be patient with yourself. Love yourself, listen to your body, and learn from your body as well. You can do it!
  • squishycow7
    squishycow7 Posts: 820 Member
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    I've bumped my calories at least 4 times throughout my MFP "journey" and it's busted me out of my mini plateaus every time! I know it seems counter-intuitive, but believe it :) your body needs to believe that it's being fueled properly before it's willing to let go of your emergency reserves (fat).

    try changing your goal to 1/2lb loss a week (I know it feels far away but 15lbs is REALLY close to goal as far as your body is concerned). do a search on the forums here for "plateau busting" or "upping calories" and you'll hear about many successes!


    good luck, be patient <3
  • fatboypup
    fatboypup Posts: 1,873 Member
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    yeah this place is almost as fake as ...... HCG lmao
  • Vi0l33t
    Vi0l33t Posts: 117 Member
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    yeah this place is almost as fake as ...... HCG lmao

    what are you talking about?
  • ickybella
    ickybella Posts: 1,438 Member
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    Just so I understand correctly, I have a couple of questions. When you say you tried eating "normally" for 2 weeks, what do you mean? When you say carbs make you gain weight, are we talking all carbs, fruits, vegetables, etc and not just grains? With 1200 calories, which is far too low but anyway, how many grams of carbs/fat/protein are you eating a day? Ok, that's three but I realized as I was typing that I had more. Also, are you trying to get to the very bottom of your healthy weight range and if so, why? Ok, I'm done! Just trying to get a handle on all this.

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