eating less doing excerise struggle to lose even 1lb a week

sue20101977

how do i publish my diary

ResilientWoman

If you want to be successful at your goals, you may need to question your assumptions about why you are where you are and what it takes to get where you want to be.

The ideas I believed when I joined this site and the ones that actually worked bear little resemblance to each other. See ticker.

sue20101977

made diary public

psuLemon

Make sure your intake of calories or nutrients are NOT below your BEE. (This is the minimum calories needed to sustain normal body function. ) The BEE is determined by using the Harris Benedict Equation. Once you have that as a base, you should NEVER drop below those calories unless under the advise of a physician. Adding your activity will give you additional calories based on how active and how frequently active you are. This is referred to as total calories. Any caloric intake that falls between the BEE and the total calories is safe for weight loss and will still allow for muscle gain provided your protein intake is adequate and contains all of your Essential amino acids.

Here is a link to determine your BEE and total calories.
http://healthylivingwithdestiny.com/harris-benedict-equation/

Also eat 3 meals and 3 snacks a day. Weight loss is as much about consistent sugar/insulin levels as calories. Drink lots of water to add volume in your stomach to help avoid that empty feeling.
Somebody on a 1500 calorie diet for example should eat 3 meals of 300 kcals each and 3 snacks of 100 kcals. each

Sorry, but this isn't right. Your body does NOT need a constant flow of calories, nor do you have to eat eat meal with the equivalent calories. So whether you eat 2 meals or 6 meals, your body will metabolize the calories the same and you will lose just as much weight (noted below in NIH study)


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19943985


OP, we need some basic information to determine your caloric needs (CN). What is your height, weight, age, daily active (job -desk job, nurse, stay at home mom) and your exercise routine. Also, do you only have 10kg to lose or that is what you need to meet a goal.

sue20101977

height 5ft 2in weight 79.5kgs stay at home mum but never sit down for long. do 45min walk three days a week do 10min jogging(in place four -5 times a week. age 35 female would like to lose 10kgs but i think my ideal weight would be 60kgs

psuLemon

It could be the shot or it could be what you are eating. MFP tells me that I can only lose a max of 1.4 pounds a week. Honestly, it is probably 1 lb a week and when I'm not being very careful it has historically been 0.5 pounds a week.

The hormones in the shot are tricking your body into thinking it is pregnant, so you are going to retain water and have difficulty losing weight. It is also labeled a Class I carcinogen by the World Health Organization and can cause strokes, etc.

I don't know how tall you are or what your lowest calorie count that you can safely eat. MFP tells me that mine is 1200. So I aim for that and at least an hour of exercise a day. At least really, but I've got one of those stubborn famine survival body types that just wants to hold on to weight for dear life.

Don't get me wrong, the pill (shot) may cause water retention, but it SHOULD stabilize. Also, MFP isn't tell you how many calories to eat, you actually tell it how many calories to eat based on your goals. So if your estimate BMR is 1400 calories and you put it at sedentary, then your estimated total daily energy expended (TDEE) is 1680. And lets say you want to lose 1 lb a week, it would put you at 1280, any more than that, it will default to that. Also, in this case, MFP assumes that you are NOT exercising. If you exercise, it will add calories back. It does this because your body has greater calorie requirements if it is working out. This is because, calories are fuel, and fuel burns the fire. What MFP doesn't tell you is acceptable rates of loss as noted below. So if you have 20 lbs to lose, then your body won't accept a 1000 calorie deficit.

Also, for those who think you can outsmart the math, well it's not going to happen. Your body is adaptive. So when you under-feed it, your body will release cortisol to convert any calories to fat automatically as fat stores are the quickest and easiest source of energy. Additionally, if it requires more energy, it will catabolize your lean body mass to create energy. Essentially, converting the amino acids from your muscles to create energy. This is how people lose lean body mass (LBM). Losing LBM will cause your metabolism to slow down and your body to hold onto energy causing your body to plateau.


If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

sue20101977

wow really confussed now lol so do i eat more when excerising or not

KaidaKantri

Depo caused me to gain weight initially and although I have not gained any more weight it has made it very hard for me to loose even with a better diet and regular excercise. Most doctors will tell you this is one of the side effects. :-(

The way I see it is the only option would be to come off of Depo to see the weight drop but for me that is not a realistic option right now.

Good Luck to you!

I was on the Depo shot for 3 months, never gained a lb from it, and when I came off it (I felt nauseous almost the entire time I was on it) I never lost anything. So I think I ended up getting lucky!

psuLemon

height 5ft 2in weight 79.5kgs stay at home mum but never sit down for long. do 45min walk three days a week do 10min jogging(in place four -5 times a week. age 35 female would like to lose 10kgs but i think my ideal weight would be 60kgs

Hate to tell you, but NO stay at home mother is sedentary while running around with kids. I work behind a desk for 8 hours, now that is sedentary.

So your estimated BMR is 1539 and you are lightly active.

TDEE (without exercise) = 1539 *1.375 = 2116

Now lets say you burn 250 calories doing 30 minutes of exercise.

TDEE with exercise = 2116 + 250 = 2366

CN (without exercise) = 2166 * .8 = 1692
CN (with exercise) = 2366 * .8 = 1892


So you can do 1 of 2 things. On days you exercise, you can eat 1900 calories and days you don't eat 1700 calories OR you can eat 1800 calories daily. Also, I generally suggest aiming for 35% carbs, 40% protein and 25% fats.

myfitnessnmhoy

made diary public

Just had a look, here's my take for what it's worth.

1. Your balance of fats, carbs, and proteins is very good. Nice job! That was a HUGE struggle for me at first.
2. You are leaving WAY too many calories uneaten on a daily basis. Maintain your excellent job of keeping your fat, carbs, and proteins in balance, and eat more of what you are already eating. Maybe with a bias toward more protein.

MFP's stance is that you should be eating back those exercise calories, because your calorie deficit (which is already figured into your goals) will lose you the weight. And with as little as you have to lose, you may have too aggressive a goal set.

Just make sure the "lifestyle" you selected accurately reflects your actual lifestyle (not including exercise). For a mom on her feet most of the time, there's a "lightly active" (salesperson, nurse) one that would probably be appropriate. I work a desk job, so mine is "sedentary".

So the net result is:
1. Your goal may be too aggressive (eat more)
2. Your lifestyle may not be set accurately (eat more)
3. You aren't eating what you should be even with that aggressive goal (eat more)

Christine1110

Do you eat fruits & veggies? Your protein is very low. I try to keep mine between 100 - 125 and I am 125 pounds now.

Maybe you need to raise your calories just a bit...with more frits & veggies. You will just have to make changes to your diet & exercise to see what will work.

I had to go low carb, no refined sugar, or starchy foods...no patatoes, no carrots. I don't even buy cheese that is shredded because they use starch in it.

Are you drinking lots of water?

You will have to make changes every few weeks until you see a change in the scale. It took me a while to figure out carbs are my problem.

Good luck....and thanks for opening your diary ; )

psuLemon

Your goal is 1400 but you barely eat 1200. That is why you aren't really losing. You are under eating. And your protein is low.

mcarter99

How long have you been eating at 1300-1400 and not losing at all?

If you want some simple advice that doesn't include formulas and warnings and nutitrition recommendations, keep eating at 1300-1400 period. Keep exercising. The end.

sue20101977

all i drink is water all day i will have to try and eat more which is hard for me as my mind is set to eat less lose more but i know i have to eat more when i excerise. i eat loads of veg but am a bit short on the fruit so i will try and work on that. i days i excercise more i will eat more the days i dont excerise i will eat my normal calorie intake. i really hope this works!

_Mimi_

weetabix for breakfast sandwich for lunch and normal dinner never snack throughout the day only ever drink water

I don't think 1 pound a week is bad. It's what the default on MFP is, I believe.

That being said, one thing that may help is to eat more often. Not sure what a weetabix is, or what type of sandwich for lunch, or what a normal dinner is, so I can't really comment on what you're eating. I do firmly believe you need to refuel your body about every 3 hours, especially when exercising.

psuLemon

all i drink is water all day i will have to try and eat more which is hard for me as my mind is set to eat less lose more but i know i have to eat more when i excerise. i eat loads of veg but am a bit short on the fruit so i will try and work on that. i days i excercise more i will eat more the days i dont excerise i will eat my normal calorie intake. i really hope this works!

then you should eat higher calorie foods (nuts, avocado, cooking food in evoo or taking a spoon & peanut butter jar and digging in). High calories does NOT mean unhealthy calories.

bulbadoof

I notice you're getting your nutrition mostly from carbohydrates - I would recommend trying your best to focus on hitting your protein numbers for the day and even going above them if you feel like it. As it was explained to me, protein doesn't get "held on" to by the body if you consume more than you need - this makes it a valuable source of nutrition for people trying to lose weight because unlike carbs, which are converted to glucose and then to fat if unused, protein just gets flushed out with your waste.

You'll also feel less hungry if you get your protein. MFP's numbers are kind of low if you don't modify them - I've read that 1g protein daily per 1kg of body mass is ideal for lightly to moderately active people.

sue20101977

its really hard for me as i am a bit of a fussy eater. i cant eat nuts and dont eat rice but love my meat and love my potaotes. any ideas what to replace potaotes with as i eat them with dinner nearly every night (mainy just steamed)

bulbadoof

its really hard for me as i am a bit of a fussy eater. i cant eat nuts and dont eat rice but love my meat and love my potaotes. any ideas what to replace potaotes with as i eat them with dinner nearly every night (mainy just steamed)

I like boiled mashed cauliflower as a mashed potatoes substitute.

Then again, potatoes are pretty good for you anyway as far as starches go (it's mostly breads that are garbage), so having one a day probably doesn't present a problem.

sue20101977

will try some mashed califlour tomorrow