Struggling - any suggestions?

kellyjdavis09

I was training for a half marathon, hitting the gym 5 days a week for spin/strength training/pilates, and eating 1300 calories a day. Weight wasn't coming off. I read a ton of suggestions on MFP, and upped my calorie intake. The first week I gained weight, but after that the scale started going down. I think I was eating about 2100 calories a day...don't quite remember.

You NEED to fuel your body. You may think 1200 calories looks great on paper, but it's not helping your body. Overworking your body without nourishing it doesn't work. Try eating your exercise calories for a couple of weeks. It's not an instant weight loss - your body will save back some of the calories because it thinks you are starving it, and wants to save calories in case it doesn't get fed enough in the future. Once your body gets used to being fed, the weight will gradually start coming off. Remember, the last few pounds to lose are always the hardest.

I'm 5'6", 142 lbs. I lost 3% body fat, 17 pounds, 13 inches. Base your body on measurements and how you feel, instead of scale numbers. Trust me.

spanglevie

Thanks. It's so hard to for me to get my head around eating more.

onceabyrne

I'm certainly no expert at losing weight (although I'm a pro at losing and gaining it back!), but take a look at what you are fueling your body with, not just the bottom line of calories consumed. Again, I'm not an expert but aside from the protein shakes I drink, I try to avoid processed foods altogether and eat as "clean" as possible. Our bodies weren't designed to proceess all the additives, chemicals, and articial crap that goes into processed foods.

psuLemon

Thanks. It's so hard to for me to get my head around eating more.

It is for every woman on that I have worked with on this board and that is 200+ people I have designed plans for. But I can tell you, there isn't a single person that i work with that isn't below 1700 calories. So when you want to lose weight, then you will up your calories. It's pretty obvious that 1200 calories isn't working for you, so whats the worst the can happen. Also keep in mind to gain a lb of ft, you need to eat 3500 calories more than you burn.

i_miss_donuts

http://www.metaboliceffect.com/topic/38-nutrition-lifestyle.aspx
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GREAT link Lemon - and great advice as always. My sister has been hospitalized for anorexia and exercise bulimia, thankfully she is out now, but unfortunately, she is a perfect example of the damage that calorie restriction and cardio overload do to your metabolism and lean body mass. Hope people read the article and take the sound, scientifically substantiated advice to heart.

spanglevie

Thanks. It's so hard to for me to get my head around eating more.

It is for every woman on that I have worked with on this board and that is 200+ people I have designed plans for. But I can tell you, there isn't a single person that i work with that isn't below 1700 calories. So when you want to lose weight, then you will up your calories. It's pretty obvious that 1200 calories isn't working for you, so whats the worst the can happen. Also keep in mind to gain a lb of ft, you need to eat 3500 calories more than you burn.

This is EXACTLY what I've been driving myself mad with for ages. I know I'm not eating anywhere near 3500 extra calories a week, yet the scales yo-yo up and down and just hover around the same all the flippin' time. Honestly it's been driving me MAD. So then I think well nothing is happening, I obviously need to up my activity levels more - hence the running. Still nothing happening. As you say it's clearly not working what I'm doing just now.

I'd love you to design an eating plan for me. I feel like I'm just flailing around trying this and that and not getting results. Just getting increasingly frustrated. How would I go about you designing a plan for me?

psuLemon

Thanks. It's so hard to for me to get my head around eating more.

It is for every woman on that I have worked with on this board and that is 200+ people I have designed plans for. But I can tell you, there isn't a single person that i work with that isn't below 1700 calories. So when you want to lose weight, then you will up your calories. It's pretty obvious that 1200 calories isn't working for you, so whats the worst the can happen. Also keep in mind to gain a lb of ft, you need to eat 3500 calories more than you burn.

This is EXACTLY what I've been driving myself mad with for ages. I know I'm not eating anywhere near 3500 extra calories a week, yet the scales yo-yo up and down and just hover around the same all the flippin' time. Honestly it's been driving me MAD. So then I think well nothing is happening, I obviously need to up my activity levels more - hence the running. Still nothing happening. As you say it's clearly not working what I'm doing just now.

I'd love you to design an eating plan for me. I feel like I'm just flailing around trying this and that and not getting results. Just getting increasingly frustrated. How would I go about you designing a plan for me?

I would use the calories I posted on the previous page. Start with 1900 calories, 35% carbs/40% protein/25% fats. I would also try to incorporate 3 days of strength training and limit your cardio to 2 days. And when i say weight train, I mean you should lift enough weight where you fail at 8-12 reps.

Really unless you are training for a marathon, cardio should be limited in order to cut fat.

spanglevie

Thanks.

Don't know how I can get the weight training in though. I'm not a member of a gym and don't have weights that heavy at home.

Also looking at the breakdown of what I have been eating it seems I need to up my protein by quite a lot and cut my carbs a little. Also increase my fat. I don't eat a lot of meat generally. What would you suggest. I was thinking eggs for breakfast for a start and snack on some nuts throughout the day? Any other suggestions?

em9371

im at 40c / 30p / 30f and 1900 cals which is not far off what psulemon suggested for you. My diary is open if it will help you with any food ideas, you will just have to adjust amounts slightly to get to your 35/40/25 goals.

spanglevie

im at 40c / 30p / 30f and 1900 cals which is not far off what psulemon suggested for you. My diary is open if it will help you with any food ideas, you will just have to adjust amounts slightly to get to your 35/40/25 goals.

Thanks thats great. Planned my first day today and it's not really panning out as I had hoped s I've got a tummy bug! I must admit when planning on what to eat and entering it all into my diaryI did think I'm going to struggle to eat all that protein. Going to give it a go though.

psuLemon

Thanks.

Don't know how I can get the weight training in though. I'm not a member of a gym and don't have weights that heavy at home.

Also looking at the breakdown of what I have been eating it seems I need to up my protein by quite a lot and cut my carbs a little. Also increase my fat. I don't eat a lot of meat generally. What would you suggest. I was thinking eggs for breakfast for a start and snack on some nuts throughout the day? Any other suggestions?

If you want to do inexpensive weight training at home look into resistance bands. If you can afford $300 the i suggest selcttech dumbells. Also for more calories and protein look into protein shakes. I love EAS and body fortress.

Nikstergirl

Everyone telling you to eat more is exactly right. Try for the 40% protein and focus on that first. The carbs will come down just to hit that number. For strength training, there's a lot you can do without weights. Push ups and pull ups are AWESOME for strength training and require very little equipment. You can get a pull up bar at a store for $20 that you put over a door frame. I use one and it works great! Weights are awesome, but the resistance bands which are much cheaper will work great too, I'll bet you can search for free videos online on how to use them. I'm doing P90X and it's awesome, but not everyone can afford the program ($120 for the DVD's). You can get the basic idea through lots of YouTube vids and stuff. Overtraining is real and it's not good for you. I'm not telling you to stop running, I love to run, but if you're running that much you NEED to eat more! Try adding some whey protein shakes, the mixes aren't that expensive (I get mine at Target) and really help you add more protein without a lot of fuss.

All that said, the 4 pounds you think you want to lose may just be unnecessary. If it's a size pants you want to fit into, what I just suggested will get you there. Nobody notices 4 pounds on your body, trust me! If it's just to make you happy, then go for it, but you are healthy and that's the only thing that matters! EAT for crying out loud!!! You can't run your car without fuel, and you shouldn't try to run your body without it either!!!

spanglevie

Everyone telling you to eat more is exactly right. Try for the 40% protein and focus on that first. The carbs will come down just to hit that number. For strength training, there's a lot you can do without weights. Push ups and pull ups are AWESOME for strength training and require very little equipment. You can get a pull up bar at a store for $20 that you put over a door frame. I use one and it works great! Weights are awesome, but the resistance bands which are much cheaper will work great too, I'll bet you can search for free videos online on how to use them. I'm doing P90X and it's awesome, but not everyone can afford the program ($120 for the DVD's). You can get the basic idea through lots of YouTube vids and stuff. Overtraining is real and it's not good for you. I'm not telling you to stop running, I love to run, but if you're running that much you NEED to eat more! Try adding some whey protein shakes, the mixes aren't that expensive (I get mine at Target) and really help you add more protein without a lot of fuss.

All that said, the 4 pounds you think you want to lose may just be unnecessary. If it's a size pants you want to fit into, what I just suggested will get you there. Nobody notices 4 pounds on your body, trust me! If it's just to make you happy, then go for it, but you are healthy and that's the only thing that matters! EAT for crying out loud!!! You can't run your car without fuel, and you shouldn't try to run your body without it either!!!

Thanks for that, still trying to get my head around the whole eating more thing, but I'm trying! I have ordered some protein shake powder today as I am struggling to eat all that protein as I'm not a massive meat lover. This is difficult for me as I have been a slave to the scales for years and I'm not happy unless I'm a certain weight. Where did that weight come from - Weight Watchers gave me that target 20 years ago and in my head that's what I think I should be. I know it sounds crazy.

psuLemon

Thanks for that, still trying to get my head around the whole eating more thing, but I'm trying! I have ordered some protein shake powder today as I am struggling to eat all that protein as I'm not a massive meat lover. This is difficult for me as I have been a slave to the scales for years and I'm not happy unless I'm a certain weight. Where did that weight come from - Weight Watchers gave me that target 20 years ago and in my head that's what I think I should be. I know it sounds crazy.

Weight is completely meaningless and guess how many people know your weight.... thats right, just one. Being a certain weight doesn't mean you are healthy or fit or anything and it isn't even something that you can really be compared against nor will it give you the body you want. And when you stop caring about weight and start concentrating on fitness, life is much easier. Heck, I dont even log calories anymore. And I have lost 5 lbs by doing so. It's just one less stress factor in your life to worry about. You want to know my calories? 1. Decrease my body fat. 2. Consistently increase weights or reps counts. 3. Be stronger and healthy.

All of those are happening without counting calories and without concentrating on my weight. I have increase strength by 10% already and it's been 3 weeks. Below is another good story that shows weight is completely meaningless.

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

spanglevie

Thanks, I've already read that story - all I can say is WOW!! Now if I could look like that I WOULD most certainly be happy

psuLemon

Thanks, I've already read that story - all I can say is WOW!! Now if I could look like that I WOULD most certainly be happy

You won't until you stop making weight your # 1 priority. When you stop worrying about weight and then worry about body composition, things will change. And believe it or not, weight will come with it.

ImKindOfABigDeal40

Read this post. Makes perfect sense to me.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/586298-if-you-are-scared-to-increase-calories

Emancipated_Tai

One week is not long enough for you to see progress. If it doesn't work after 4 weeks than you may need to try something different. Keep this in mind for any plan that you start, you need to give your body time to adapt to it before you see changes.

ggeise14

Add 7 yrs and this could be my story. I have joined the Eat More to Weigh Less group and need to follow up and get my TDEE and other info in line. I will be following this topic - thanks.

spanglevie

Hi everyone,

Well I'm nearly a week into this new regime and I'm getting my head round it more each day. I couldn't quite bring myself to jump into eating 1900 calories a day. So instead I've upped my daily to 1430 BUT I do eat ALL my exercise calories too. It's not far off what 1900 a day work out at over the week anyway. I just feel more comfortable (at the moment) eating what I know I've earned if you know what I mean.

One little thing I've come up against today maybe someone could help with? I'm trying to stick to 35% carbs / 40% protein / 25 fat. I've inputted tomorrows food (I like to plan ahead!) into my diary and it's telling me I have 214 calories remaining, but only 2 carbs, 1 fat and 4 protein. What can I eat?

And it is more important to eat the calories (which would mean I'd go over the ratios) or stick within the ratio and therefor not eat the remaining cals?

Bit confused about this, so if anyone could offer some sound advice that would be great.

Thanks in advance