Will anything work for me!?

AmandaL212

I have been trying to lose weight for months now. since joing this site I have realized what and how many calories I was eating. I now consume fewer calories but still can't seem to lose weight. I cansume fewer calories than my "BMR" but still don't lose anything. I also joined a gym and am doing cardio more often as well as walking.

Does anyone have any suggestions or motivators??

AllTehBeers

It would be helpful to post your stats.

Ht
wt
age
activity level
ect...

AmandaL212

5'2"
156lbs
activity level: i work as a nurse at a Dr. office. On my feet and running around usually. I know I should be more active but i would say I'm slightly active. Need to increase my gym time!
age: 24

thriftycupl

I didn't check to see if your food diary was open, but if not, you should open it. People will ask. I'm also not sure how much you have to lose, but you might want to check out the group Eat More to Weigh Less. They have tons of great information on BMR, TDEE,etc and how to best fuel your body.

Good luck with your journey.

AmandaL212

Thank you- I am still learning this site so i am not sure how to do that or what all the acronyms mean! I will check it out.

KeepGoingRhonda

It would be easier to give an opinion if your diary was open. I will say that my loss has always come when I really cutback on the carbs(not eliminate, just cut way back) I tried going by calories only for 5 months and did not lose. Good luck

C00lCountry

Are you sure you are measuring your food right?
I found that you can be off on your calculations and in turn take in more food then you think.
You maybe consuming to little of food as well.
Wife couldn't lose weight until we upped her calories.

BurtHuttz

bmr is the calories your heart needs to pump blood and your diaphragm needs to breath in air if you did nothing but lay in bed vegetative all day.

Do not consume below your BMR or you're starving your metabolic fire of fuel.

habu68123

You've probably already thought of this but are you tracking anything else? I did a 6 week challenge at a gym awhile back and they did our measurements, & body fat at the beginning & end and we weighed in every week. I'll never forget that one of the "trainers" told my they were sorry it didn't seem to be working for me when I was doing my weigh in but at the end of the challenge I had the 2nd highest reduction in body fat.

AmandaL212

I've been trying to track measurements. like waist, hips, thighs, arms,

I need some motivation because I get frustrated and discouraged so easily.

spearfox

How many calories were you eating before?
Based on your height, weight, age and activity level at work your calories should be around 1900 to 2200 per day.
Any extra walking or gym time would increase that calorie amount.

I used this to figure your calories.
http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

Perrybeck

You might need to eat more. From what I have been able to find out, you should never eat below your BMR. find out what your calorie budget will be at your goal weight and eat that. See if that works.

Simone_King

I have a question here. Since you're walking and running did you pick the right area when you chose your cals?

I can get 1980 in a day because of it. (I am a janitor) Yet, don't give up. Go through your food and see what's holding you back. It might be simple things.

I had to give up diet drinks in order to lose. It's just a sugestion.

AmandaL212

@ spearfox- on here it says my daily limit is 1200. I was eating around 1500 before this. I guess i need more throughout the day to maintain my metabolism and fuel.

dalbrown

You may be putting on muscle which does weight more than fat so it may be that the scales are not showing it. How about your clothes, are they fitting better? Keep right on going, exercise works!:flowerforyou:

bathsheba_c

Just to clarify, are you eating under BMR or are you eating under your calorie goal?

If your net calories are under BMR, EAT MORE! BMR is how many calories you need to consume to in order to stay alive without damaging your internal organs and eventually starving to death. Aside from being dangerous, it is also extremely difficult to lose weight because your body will respond by holding on to every single calorie it can get (what the website calls "starvation mode"). This is why a lot of eating disorder sufferers actually gain weight in the beginning.

If you mean eating under your calorie goal, it could be that you are incorrectly estimating a) calories consumed, b) calories burned, or c) activity level. Go through each of these and look for possible sources of error (relying too much on estimations, trying to fudge numbers, saying you are less active than you are, etc.).

AmandaL212

well my calorie goal on here is ~1200. I usually stay right around that. Also, eating more calories wouldn't be a problem! haha but I'm just not always hungry so I don't eat if I'm not hungry. I have a fitness assessment at my gym tomorrow. I should ask him how much I should be eating and see if it correlates with what I've got on here.

Chawtzee

I'm having issues trying to figre this app out?
my calorie goal on here is also 1200. my food in take is about 1828 give or take a few sometimes, and the lowest i have had it was 1111. and i have a gym membership and i go up to 3- 4 days a week to the gym for about 1 1/2 to 2 hrs and ive been drinking lots of water, i dont starve my self, but the weight im worried isnt coming off, is going to the gym good?
how much food in calories are you supposed to consume each day to keep you body fueled?
ive had 2 kids one is 4 years one is 8 months, so i know that my motabulism has slowed down!
people keep saying BMR? im not sure what that is?
im trying to get to 130lb from 165lb, and this app says i can lose 2 pounds per week, i hate to be annoying, but i need someone to dumb this down for me? lol
i looked at other sites and they say your suppost to burn off more calories then u take in? is that healthy ?

Thx Chawtzee

danahake

For me cutting carbs and sugar down help alot also replacing all white flour products with wheat when possible.

mom2mozart

According to your diary you are eating just about all crap. What you eat matters. You should think of the food pyramid and eat fresh fruits and vegetables - every day. 4-6 servings of fruits or vegetables every day. Cut out at least 1/2 the processed food and up your fresh food. Also, you should be eating 25 to 30 of fiber per day. MFP default settings are too low. Additionally, try to limit your sodium to 2000 mg per day. If you make these changes, you will see results.

Goal_Seeker_1988

Have you tried adding in weight training? Upping your protein to keep you fuller? Cutting your sodium down to 1500mg or less a day? Eating more veggies? Eating less processed foods?

Looked @ your diary no wonder you ain't losing any weight you are eating nothing but CRAP!!! Try eating more whole foods and elimating 90% of the processed junk and you'll see some results!!!

secretlobster

I agree that if you are regularly eating below your BMR then you are potentially damaging your metabolism and basically teaching your body to perform at the same level with less intake because food is scarce. Your body will react much better if you don't suddenly drop your intake to a really low number... I won't say "starvation mode" but your body's main job is to maintain its current mass (this is called homeostasis). If you gradually decrease calories, or decrease to a reasonable amount that is still above your BMR, then your body will be more willing to release fat because there is the physical confidence that it no longer needs those fat stores because it is getting enough FUEL to perform its necessary functions.

Let us know how your assessment goes!

lizziebeth1028

1 - you're very inconsistent with logging your food, which means you are not logging accurately, which means you could be over your calorie limit
2 - you're eating a lot of processed foods
3 - I don't see any fruits, veggies or whole food in your diary

I would log EVERYTHING...you bite it you write it
use a food scale to insure accuracy of calorie intake
invest in a HRM to insure accuracy of calories burned
see a doctor to check your thyroid

xipow

I looked over the last couple of weeks of exercise. You would benefit on increasing the intensity. Try calculating your optimal heart rate for fat burning and try to work up to be able to maintain your heart rate at that level during your exercise. This is a difficult thing to do, but it will bring results.

BabyLeila23

I would suggest reading up on your Basal Metabolic Rate or BMR. Basically your body needs a certain amount of calories everyday to survive. If you don't get those then your body goes into a sort of hibernation and starts storing all of the calories as fat, which is bad. I was very skeptical about it when I first heard this, but do some research. I have actually started losing weight since eating more. Sounds crazy, but its working. Just make sure it's the right kinds of foods. Good Luck!!!!!!!!!!

You can do this

josephinabonetto

I am fond of these two calculators:

http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

Myfitnesspal.com says I should eat 1200 a day but I increased it by going to custom settings in line with what my calorie calculators state. Additionally I calorie cycle or zig zag and forward plan my food diary calorie goals by adding in fake exercise calories for higher cycle days but keep my base static.

You might find that method helps if you are struggling.

I am also in the Eat More Weigh Less group.

Chawtzee

thank you!
as for cutting out processed food, i found every time i try, im still getting bad things.
anyone have some daily food idea, for shopping because as it works im the one who does the shopping i don't have to much help.
and i would love to no what meal type things are good for me and my family, that are low in cals, and not crazy in sodium.
kinda like a shopping list, i could try for next time?
also you guys keep saying bmr wich i found out stands for basal metabolism rate?
how do you find out what mine is? and personally i dont know what that means?