I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING

AmyLyn1983

Okay MFP ppl help a newbie out. I've hit a plateau. Hard. I've been the same weight , measurements for the past 2 months. No changes. I just joined MFP last month because I needed some help trying to figure this out. I made my diary public so feel free to look and make suggestions because I am at a loss. I'm kinda thinking maybe I'm not eating enough based on other posts I've read but I'm not sure. I don't want to eat when I'm not hungry and what you see in my diary seems to fill me up.This whole BMR, TDEE thing is kinda confusing me too. Wanted to throw that out there before anyone commented about it. lol! Please let me know what you think. I do exercise about 4 to 5 nights a wk. 30 to 45 mins each time. Combo of stationary bike and strength training. I don't have a lot I can do gym wise because I live in a little town and the gym we have doesn't have much. So please, please suggest anything. Diet, exercise routine or otherwise. I'm only trying to lose about 15 or so more lbs and tone.
Thanks in advance!!!

monty619

not enough protein... too many carbohydrates. change the macro ratios up especially if you are training on a daily basis, you will need more protein just shoot for like 1g protein per lb of lean body mass and keep the fat around 40g and use the rest of calories on carbs, it will prolly put u around 150g carbs daily.

lindsy721

Ok sweetie, sounds like you're about where I am, actually! I'd start with increasing your calories slightly. Try adding... maybe 1/4 cup oatmeal in the morning?

astrampe

How tall are you - a quick glace at your diary tells me that with exercise you are probably eating too little..... You don't even net 1000 cals most days... With only 15lbs to lose, I would suggest go look at the eat more to weigh less group...
Good luck!

astrampe

Ok sweetie, sounds like you're about where I am, actually! I'd start with increasing your calories slightly. Try adding... maybe 1/4 cup oatmeal in the morning?

This, but don't add more carbs - rather have an egg or two to up your calories....

AmyLyn1983

Thanks for the responses. I'm 5'3" btw

BazAbroad

You wanna lose weight and get toned.
You said, static cycling and weights,
How about hitting the rower or at least the elliptical if your small town gym has them,
Cycling is fantastic in the real world, but in a gym, I class it more of a pass the time exercise just to burn off a few cals,
the spinning bikes are a bit more with it I must admit.
My way of thinking its not just about losing the weight but what body your left with later.
How about,
15 mins warm up on your bike.
Some light, light weight warm up sets of the body parts your about to train.
Your 45 mins weights.
Followed by rower or elliptical, preferably alternating thru the week to compliment your strength training,
again, your can cool down on ya bike.

MoreBean13

I agree with what's been said- more protein, probably more calories. Also, is the strength routine you log accurate? It seems you've been doing just lat pull downs and bicep curls. I think more variety and hitting more muscle groups would really benefit you- you've been doing the same workout for a while. I suggest looking in to a more substantial lifting program and incorporating more compound lifts. I mean, just look at the size of your biceps compared to your overall muscle mass of your body- bicep cuels just aren't a very effective exercise for overall training- you would get much more bang for your buck with chest press or push ups or dips, for example. Lat pull downs are good, though.

jtintx

I've learned to look at the big picture (some may call it a simplistic view).

My suggestion is to eat like a 5'3, 28 year old, 125 pound female who is maintaining her weight would eat like. And that would be eating a NET of 1,630 calories a day.

So if you burn an extra 400 calories a day in exercise you'll be eating 2,030 calories a day.

This is a slower process but one that can easily be obtained. You won't have to starve or deprive yourself. You won't burn off a bunch of your much needed muscle, and it is just a slight change in livestyle that you will continue to do for the rest of your life.

Just consider it....

AmyLyn1983

I agree with what's been said- more protein, probably more calories. Also, is the strength routine you log accurate? It seems you've been doing just lat pull downs and bicep curls. I think more variety and hitting more muscle groups would really benefit you- you've been doing the same workout for a while. I suggest looking in to a more substantial lifting program and incorporating more compound lifts. I mean, just look at the size of your biceps compared to your overall muscle mass of your body- bicep cuels just aren't a very effective exercise for overall training- you would get much more bang for your buck with chest press or push ups or dips, for example. Lat pull downs are good, though.

Yeah I go out there at 2am after work and no one is there to really show me how to do all the weight machines properly. I'm going out to sign up for Zumba tomorrow so I'm going to ask the owner to show me all the different equipment and how to use it. Thanks!

MoreBean13

I agree with what's been said- more protein, probably more calories. Also, is the strength routine you log accurate? It seems you've been doing just lat pull downs and bicep curls. I think more variety and hitting more muscle groups would really benefit you- you've been doing the same workout for a while. I suggest looking in to a more substantial lifting program and incorporating more compound lifts. I mean, just look at the size of your biceps compared to your overall muscle mass of your body- bicep cuels just aren't a very effective exercise for overall training- you would get much more bang for your buck with chest press or push ups or dips, for example. Lat pull downs are good, though.

Yeah I go out there at 2am after work and no one is there to really show me how to do all the weight machines properly. I'm going out to sign up for Zumba tomorrow so I'm going to ask the owner to show me all the different equipment and how to use it. Thanks!

That's a great plan- bring a notebook or paper with you and take notes- I would suggest even drawing stick figure ppl with your notes to remind you what's what. From personal experience, everything can make perfect sense when they're walking you through it, and then when you go to do it on your own the next time it can be confusing again. Good luck!

AmyLyn1983

That's a great plan- bring a notebook or paper with you and take notes- I would suggest even drawing stick figure ppl with your notes to remind you what's what. From personal experience, everything can make perfect sense when they're walking you through it, and then when you go to do it on your own the next time it can be confusing again. Good luck!
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Yeah I def need someone to show me how to use the stuff properly. They also have circuit training equipment they bought from Curves. I use that a little too, but not enough that I logged it. Again, I wasn't sure if I was even using it properly. Thanks for being so helpful.