Ask me anything about fat/weight loss....

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  • kendrajoyk
    kendrajoyk Posts: 3 Member
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    Hi :smile: Please help!!! Im 5"7 and currently 143lb after dropping from 172 in January and my weight loss has now began to stall. Its possible that im not eating enough? When i started in January i ate 1200cals and NEVER ate my exercise cals back and lost around 2lbs per week right up until a few weeks ago. I know its not what everyone suggests but it worked so i stuck with it. Now im smaller its stopped working. A few weeks ago i began eating back some of my exercise cals (i work out about 5days a week, zumba, running, boxercise) and since starting this i have been going up a 1lb/back down a 1lb. Getting annoyed i decided to go back to my 1200cals and the past 2weeks have saw me gain 2lb!! Getting frustrated as i am eating well and working out alllllll the time and its beginning to feel like its all for nothing now as my body is happy where it is! My goal is to reach 133 but at the moment it feels like ill never get there :sad:

    Either something is being calculated wrong or your system needs a reset. Also keep in my that their are other extraneous factors that can cause weight gain, but NOT fat gain. Water retention, "that time of the month", time of day, stress levels, etc. I think you may have freaked a little too early. Don't eat back TOO many calories now, but I do think you should just relax and give yourself a little more time.

    Just a quick note to say I've been where you are. I started eating cleaner and added in strength training and it gave my body just the jumpstart I needed.

    (TheOfficialEp: I'm impressed with your answers. Thanks for doing this!)
  • tashaa1992
    tashaa1992 Posts: 658 Member
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    My bodyfat is 20.8, what is a healthy bodyfat for my height?
    I'm 5ft, would I need to lose weight to drop my bodyfat?
    I have been doing just cardio up till now, but I would like to start up with weights, just don't know where to start really yet.
    I would love to be toned, I don't want abs as such, just the toned look.

    Body fat isn't dependent on "height" it's dependent on sex.

    For women:
    32% is obese
    31 - 25% acceptable
    24 - 21% fitness
    14-20% athlete
    10-12% essential fat.

    Oh that makes a bit more sense thank you:)
  • tashaa1992
    tashaa1992 Posts: 658 Member
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    My bodyfat is 20.8, what is a healthy bodyfat for my height?
    I'm 5ft, would I need to lose weight to drop my bodyfat?
    I have been doing just cardio up till now, but I would like to start up with weights, just don't know where to start really yet.
    I would love to be toned, I don't want abs as such, just the toned look.

    All toning up is is leaning out to the desired level. You can do all the triceps work in the world, but your arm is still gonna jiggle if you don't burn the bodyfat on them. Same with the stomach, butt, thighs, etc. Fatloss is achieved through a calorie deficit. This can be accomplished through more activity, less food, or a combination of the two.

    Ohh I didn't know that, so if my calories are just over 1900 for me to maintain my goal weight(3lbs less than I am now), do I cut calories from there or just eat for my goal weight maintenance?
    Also my exercise calories have already been added in(I workout four times a week, for forty minutes), but usually I am quite active at work as I work at a nursery, do I add in those calories or do you think they were already added in when I selected my activity level?
    Note: the activity level I selected was moderately active - three-five days of exercise, is this correct?
  • neti_call
    neti_call Posts: 81 Member
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    I hope I'm not too late to this party. I've been playing with the same 5 lbs for 6 months. Started my weight loss journey about a year ago after my last kid was born, but I've been active and a gym rat my whole life. I'm sick to death of trainers telling me to eat 1100 cals and drink 2 protein shakes a day. I want to lose weight eating REAL food. I aim for 1200-1500 calories a day, lots of lean protein. I'm 5'4 and weigh 155. I work out 5 days a week and hit it HARD. I usually kill between 500 to 1000 cals a day. I'm in really great shape as far as fitness goes, but I can't get this damned weight to come off. I'd love to be about 140. I am careful about measuring food, too, so I'm pretty sure my calorie count is right.
    I am just coming back after a couple of weeks of being discouraged and I need to fix this. Please help?

    edited to add my body fat is 32.5%
    Horrible. Something needs to be done!

    " I am careful about measuring food, too, so I'm pretty sure my calorie count is right." Yes it is!....If your goal is to MAINTAIN! If you're not losing, then you're taking in too many calories. You're missing the big picture I keep talking about. As you diet down, you are going to need to readjust calories as necessary. A person may start at a certain amount of calories for a deficit, but as they diet down....eventually that same caloric level will eventually become maintenance because it takes more calories(all things equal) to maintain a heavier person. Depending on your LBM, 1500 is pretty high for a cut given your stats. Many professional bikini and physique competitors go as low as 1200 stat, and that is with next to NO subcutaneous fat on their bodies save their bums! As for having protein shakes, if you can get your protein from real food, then why take them?....It's a supplement! I MIGHT have 2-3 shakes a week, but if I can get real food, I'm gonna go for the real food every time. Hope this helps yeh.

    ok, so I need to readjust my calories. It makes sense, but there are so many people who say you have to eat more to lose or that eating 1200 will put me in starvation mode. Just so many opposing viewpoints it's confusing!

    Lol. Try this: Eat twice as much as you normally do for a week....See if you don't gain weight. I understand the logic of keeping the metabolism high, but either way....if you're not in a deficit consistently, whether that's at 1200 calories a day or 2000, then you're not going to be losing. As for starvation mode, lol on that. I almost fall out of my seat everytime I hear it. So when Muslim fast for instance, they are all in starvation mode?....I highly doubt that. What the hell does that even MEAN starvation mode?! Your body is a LOT smarter and resilient than that. Simply dieting in and of itself will eventually lower your metabolism! Takes more calories to maintain a 200 pound person than a 150 pound person(all things equal). Don't fall into believing the hype. You're just gonna end up wasting time and a TON of money.

    Awesome. I always thought that but all that "info" out there just is overwhelming. I read as much as I can about fitness and nutrition but really what I wanted was someone who really knows what they are talking about tell me what to do. And now you did. Thanks.
    Cheers.
  • gonna_do_it_56
    gonna_do_it_56 Posts: 206 Member
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    bumpity bump:flowerforyou:
  • Shanaedunn
    Shanaedunn Posts: 171 Member
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    bumb for further reading....

    Thanks for the best information
  • skybird455
    skybird455 Posts: 172 Member
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    bump
  • smith1977
    smith1977 Posts: 1
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    bump for later
  • SpazzyMal
    SpazzyMal Posts: 276 Member
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    Someone pointed me here from a thread I made asking if it's possible to build muscle/strength or not in a deficit? My curiosity was caused because I notice I'm stronger in my workouts than when I started. I was curious as to whether your body sort of makes up the difference, if you've got fat stores to break down and use as energy to build the muscles? Or is it just that, like someone suggested in my thread, your body just sort of starts working more efficiently with the muscles it already has?
  • freeindeed33
    freeindeed33 Posts: 41
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    BUMP
  • Riggly27
    Riggly27 Posts: 23 Member
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    Bump
  • TheOfficialEpic
    TheOfficialEpic Posts: 406
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    Thanks for all the love yeh. Keep the questions comin' if you have them. Have wonderful night yeh. Cheers ;)
  • TheOfficialEpic
    TheOfficialEpic Posts: 406
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    My bodyfat is 20.8, what is a healthy bodyfat for my height?
    I'm 5ft, would I need to lose weight to drop my bodyfat?
    I have been doing just cardio up till now, but I would like to start up with weights, just don't know where to start really yet.
    I would love to be toned, I don't want abs as such, just the toned look.

    All toning up is is leaning out to the desired level. You can do all the triceps work in the world, but your arm is still gonna jiggle if you don't burn the bodyfat on them. Same with the stomach, butt, thighs, etc. Fatloss is achieved through a calorie deficit. This can be accomplished through more activity, less food, or a combination of the two.

    Ohh I didn't know that, so if my calories are just over 1900 for me to maintain my goal weight(3lbs less than I am now), do I cut calories from there or just eat for my goal weight maintenance?
    Also my exercise calories have already been added in(I workout four times a week, for forty minutes), but usually I am quite active at work as I work at a nursery, do I add in those calories or do you think they were already added in when I selected my activity level?
    Note: the activity level I selected was moderately active - three-five days of exercise, is this correct?

    Le argh.....STILL missing the bigger picture. You can add in whatever you want, but the question is ARE YOU LOSING? If not, then you need to either eat less or train more or a combination of the two. Understand?....
  • TheOfficialEpic
    TheOfficialEpic Posts: 406
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    Someone pointed me here from a thread I made asking if it's possible to build muscle/strength or not in a deficit? My curiosity was caused because I notice I'm stronger in my workouts than when I started. I was curious as to whether your body sort of makes up the difference, if you've got fat stores to break down and use as energy to build the muscles? Or is it just that, like someone suggested in my thread, your body just sort of starts working more efficiently with the muscles it already has?

    Lol. You don't need to build muscle to get strong. There's correlation, but it's definitely not the end-all. Look at Olympic lifter Pyrros Dimas. The guy is 175 pounds soaking wet, but routinely throws 400+ pounds over his head like it's dirty laundry! And lord knows there are plenty of extremely big people that are weak as hell. You can get stronger while being in a deficit. No big eal there, but growing MUSCLE while in a deficit, well that is exTREMELY hard unless you're experiencing noob gains. Most think they're gaining muscle, but the fatloss is just making the muscle they already had more visible.
  • s0ready
    s0ready Posts: 99
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    bump to read later!
  • fishergreen
    fishergreen Posts: 109 Member
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    If you had limited time and had to chose between doing cardio and weight lifting, what would be more beneficial? I'm working on losing weight and ideally want to do both cardio and weights, but sometimes I don't have time for it all so I'm forced to chose. Which one?
  • shan_0517
    shan_0517 Posts: 88 Member
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    bump.. gotta get back to work
  • TheOfficialEpic
    TheOfficialEpic Posts: 406
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    If you had limited time and had to chose between doing cardio and weight lifting, what would be more beneficial? I'm working on losing weight and ideally want to do both cardio and weights, but sometimes I don't have time for it all so I'm forced to chose. Which one?

    Neither. Much more easier to focus on the food. I can eat 800 calories in 5 minutes, but that's basically over an hour of cardio on an elliptical. Good forbid you have the chips too. ;D
  • Alzzak
    Alzzak Posts: 89 Member
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    how do you prepare whey protein drinks?


    Mine taste yuk
  • fishergreen
    fishergreen Posts: 109 Member
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    If you had limited time and had to chose between doing cardio and weight lifting, what would be more beneficial? I'm working on losing weight and ideally want to do both cardio and weights, but sometimes I don't have time for it all so I'm forced to chose. Which one?

    Neither. Much more easier to focus on the food. I can eat 800 calories in 5 minutes, but that's basically over an hour of cardio on an elliptical. Good forbid you have the chips too. ;D

    Yeah I'm watching the calories closely and losing weight. I just feel guilty if I'm not moving in some capacity. So I'll do what I can and just keep watching the food. And yes some days that does include chips. :) thanks!

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