Frustrated Newbie W/ questions

mcarter99

I decided a month ago it was time to make some lifestyle changes & lose weight. I started running first until I hurt my knee & now I've been doing exercise videos in my living room. I started with a 1500 calorie diet & after no results bumped down to a 1200 calorie diet. I've been doing really well with that & try to exercise at least 4 times a week. I'm still not really seeing results. Myfitnesspal shows that I've lost 3 lbs, which is a little deceiving because I gained 2 lbs in the beginning & lost them right away. It's counting those two lbs as lbs lost.

Here's the questions
If I workout & earn extra calories, should I be eating those or using them as my deficit?
I was looking at my charts & it shows a weekly deficit, should that weekly deficit be 3500 if I want to lose a pound a week?
I'm not much of a water drinker, (never really have been a big fluid drinker during thd day) I've heard that if I drink more water, the weight will start falling off. Is this true?
I eat a lot of pre packaged meals like lean cuisine, which are high in sodium. Could this be contributing to my weight not changing?
Everyone keeps saying, don't worry you're building muscle & that's why your weight isnt changing. How long could this statement even hold true. Eventually that "muscle I'm building" has to start helping me lose weight, right?

I'm really growing quite frustrated with this. I don't expect overnight results, but I do expect some results. I'm trying my hardest to trust that the science is there & that eventually it will work. But I can't help thinking I'm doing something wrong.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. I made my log public so you can see it. I also have pics on my profile if you want to see to look for changes.
I am 31 years old
5'3"
Forever 129 lbs

You're at a healthy BMI now so further losses are going to take extreme vigilance and patience.

How long were you at 1500 calories before you decided that showed no results? If you were seeing no results at 1200, what do you mean you were doing well with it? In terms of being content eating at that level?

It's not true that drinking more water will make weight fall off you. If only. Is your urine clear and yellow/pale? If so, you're fluid intake is fine.

It's true you're probably building muscle and should ignore the scale and it's true that it won't go on forever, it'll eventually help you lose weight. It takes me a few months to get to that level. 4-6, actually. Patience!

Trust the math. It works. You don't have to eat above your BMR. You don't have to give up frozen meals if they work for you. You don't have to 'add back exercise' if you don't want and you're sated and you're eating above 1200 calories. There is a lot of repeated rhetoric here that's not based on fact. It's based on it gets repeated here 100 times a day. You don't have to eat more calories to lose weight if you don't feel like you're starving. I've been your size and I can assure you I couldn't eat 1500 calories a day and lose anything noticeable unless I did it for a very, very long time, regardless of daily workouts. Keep at it!

jedwards27

I am newer at this too, but here are some things I noticed.

1: Take photos once a month at all angles.
2: Look at the photos: I see that your arms are more toned, your getting more of an hour-glass shape through the midsection, and the mid section seems to have moved muscle away from fat (for lack of better terminology).
3: I only see an occasional diet coke or milk. If you are not drinking water, what are you drinking. You should be counting your liquid calories also and that could be part of the problem.
4: Instead of Mayo try hummas.
5: The packaged granola bars have a lot of sugar.
6: Instead of rice cakes for a snack try almods, eggs, or another protein.
7: Try to eat cleaner=more fresh fruits and veggies. You can make bigger batches of food and freeze it into "microwave" dinners.

I haven't been that great at tracking my fluids. I really only log my fluids if they have calories, which is why you see the milk or occasional juice. I usually have 1 diet Pepsi a day. I drink around 16 oz of water during my workout and another 16 oz after. And usually drink water in the afternoon and evening. But nowhere near the recommended 8 8oz glasses a day.

And for the record my urine is usually clear.

OhKelsey1

Everyone seems to have already answered your questions, but I'll pipe in with the advice I can offer. Do you have free weights or access to a gym? The best way to get results is to combine cardio AND strength training--that way you're burning calories and toning muscles. Also, you're 129 pounds at 5'3, right? So you should be at a healthy BMI already, which means it might take a little more time for you to lose weight than someone who has a lot more to lose. Definitely cut out the sodium and stay away from packaged foods, and drink water! Hope that helped a little!

MCsAngel2

I'm going to give some advice that's a little different from everyone else's. It is true that the same thing doesn't work for all people - that's where the advice about finding what works for you comes in. In the 3 months I've been on MFP, I've found there also seems to be a real difference in what works for men and what works for women, so keep that in mind also if you're reading advice from men.

I'm older than you are but the same height, currently 15 lbs more. What I would do if I were you, is I would leave your base daily calories at 1200, but of course eat back whatever exercise calories you earn in a day. Careful with entering your exercise calories - using MFP entries for exercise is not the best idea, because the amount of calories you burn is dependent on your gender, age, height, and current weight. Underestimating calories burned in exercise is best.

What I would REALLY recommend, what I do and what seems to work for all the women I know who've tried it, is going low carb. Your daily calories will still be at 1200, but shoot for consuming no more than 50g net carbs (total carbs minus total fiber) per day. I aim for that number, but I *really* try to not go over 75g net carbs a day. The days I manage to come under 50g are really effective for me - just 2 days like that a week usually get me my 1 pound a week loss. And I don't exercise, at all.

Just a suggestion, I looked at your diary and I thought your carbs were reeeeeaallly high. Up your protein to about 75g per day (going over on protein is fine). Eggs, lean meats, cheese....also nuts are a good idea for snacks.

jedwards27

I'm going to give some advice that's a little different from everyone else's. It is true that the same thing doesn't work for all people - that's where the advice about finding what works for you comes in. In the 3 months I've been on MFP, I've found there also seems to be a real difference in what works for men and what works for women, so keep that in mind also if you're reading advice from men.

I'm older than you are but the same height, currently 15 lbs more. What I would do if I were you, is I would leave your base daily calories at 1200, but of course eat back whatever exercise calories you earn in a day. Careful with entering your exercise calories - using MFP entries for exercise is not the best idea, because the amount of calories you burn is dependent on your gender, age, height, and current weight. Underestimating calories burned in exercise is best.

What I would REALLY recommend, what I do and what seems to work for all the women I know who've tried it, is going low carb. Your daily calories will still be at 1200, but shoot for consuming no more than 50g net carbs (total carbs minus total fiber) per day. I aim for that number, but I *really* try to not go over 75g net carbs a day. The days I manage to come under 50g are really effective for me - just 2 days like that a week usually get me my 1 pound a week loss. And I don't exercise, at all.

Just a suggestion, I looked at your diary and I thought your carbs were reeeeeaallly high. Up your protein to about 75g per day (going over on protein is fine). Eggs, lean meats, cheese....also nuts are a good idea for snacks.

Thank you, that is definitely helpful!

jedwards27

Thank you everyone for your helpful replies. I think I know what I need to do to take this to the next level!

islandnutshel

one more suggestion:

when you find something that works, post it to this thread.

Sometimes it is interesting to see what worked for people

AussieRachG

Looks like you've made some good changes lately - fewer pre-packaged meals and good amount of exercise. I noticed, though, that you regularly have a high sugar intake... I have the same problem. Mine comes from eating a lot of fruit but yours seems to be the dairy. Remember that 'low fat' products usually mean 'increased sugar'... perhaps try using 0% fat plain greek yogurt instead? It's really nice and fresh in flavour and you'd be getting enough sweetness from the fruit and granola you usually add.

heybales

What did you used to eat daily as calories with previous life?

Oh, probably 2-3 times the calories I eat now.

So think about this.

Let's say 2 x what you eat now, just to be on the low side for maintaining the current weight, not gaining.
2500 calories - that would be your TDEE for whatever level of activity you had previously. Sounds like you have increased now.

So you could eat at 2000 right now, have a deficit of 500 less than what you used to eat (which is actually underestimated), and be losing 1 lb weekly.

Or you can drastically undercut this, slow the metabolism down, and hope you actually still lose 1 lb weekly.

Considering you are near goal weight, and you are exercising now, one way will be more encouraging and see results faster including the long run.

And if you eat at 2000 daily, with works minor as they are now, you wouldn't have to eat back exercise calories because it's already in there. if you started doing more intense and/or longer workouts, sure, eat some back.

But if you are having problems hitting 1200 now and not hungry, you have already slowed down your metabolism.

hungryhungryhypocrite

If you do start drinking a bunch of water be warned that your body will retain a lot of it until it is used to the intake. Bloating is normal and sodium makes you retain more water.. I'd stay away from frozen pre-prepared dinners if you can. They are loaded with sodium, preservatives, all sorts of stuff that your body doesn't know what to do with. Do more cardio than weight training but don't give up on weight training.

JacksMom12

Your weekly deficit should not show 3500! If you hit your target you are on point because MFP already includes your deficit. That would actually mean you have a 7000 calorie deficit, assuming you have it set at 1 lb, which I'm sure you don't because you are on 1200. If your weekly chart says you are at a 3500 deficit on top of MFP's 7000 deficit built in for you... Sounds like you're severely under-eating. How many calories a day do you average?

It's not 3500, that was just a question I had, to see if it should. But now that you've explained I understand that this is already calculated into it. Last week it was 449 under my weekly goal.
I eat between 1200-1400 average each day. My diary is public, you are more than welcome to take a peek if you would like.

Okay. Gotcha! That sounds good. I was thinking you had a big deficit on top of the one built in!