PLEASE help me lose weight? :(

yulia_star

Trying to drop 25 pounds by Christmas. I'm 140 lbs and 5'3", my goal is 115 and to hopefully reduce my saddlebags. My mom says I'm obese...

Two days a week I do HIIT for 15 - 20 minutes in the morning, and 30 minutes of cardio in the afternoon.

3 days a week I do 30 - 45 minutes of intense cardio. Normally, I play Dance Dance Revolution. I do it on the hardest level, with the arrows moving at 2x speed, for about 35 - 45 minutes straight. I never change the song so there's only about 30 second between each song, and during that break, I keep moving (usually doing jumping jacks or jump rope, unless I have to get a drink, and even then I walk around my bedroom while drinking) Even when there aren't arrows on the screen I dance around on the mat. I jump and move a lot. My heart rate is high the whole time and I sweat so much. My legs are burning during the entire thing, too. It surely makes me sweat more than running in place or rope jumping for 45 minutes ever has. The calorie counter says I burn 1000 calories, but I know it isn't that much. I always guess it's between 300 - 500 calories, half or less than half of what it estimates. And, I also mix up my cardio. Some days I'll use my stationary bike, others I'll do DDR and rope jumping, or just rope jumping or running in place...etc etc.

So is 30 - 45 minutes good, as long as it's intense? Most people tell me 60 - 75 daily and I don't have time for that.
Also, how many calories should I eat? My BMR, including exercise is about 2200 - 2400.

EDIT: I've been eating about 1200 - 1500 and not seeing any results for a month and a half now. I eat healthy, lots of fruits, vegetables, chicken, tuna, nuts, eggs, whole grains and drinking tons of water.

cfloresmt

Well, the first question here is.. how much are you eating? What is your calorie intake compared to your BMR?

Secondly, WHAT are you eating? What are your macros like?

Third, you can consider weight lifting instead of cardio. Lower carbs, stack protein. Magic will happen.

Finally, don't lose weight because your mum tells you you're obese. 140lbs is not obese... IF you want to lose weight, do it for yourself for the right reasons.

nickyrobinson

You may well be under eating.

Go check out the initial post in this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

glovepuppet

your mother is wrong and your mother is cruel!

your height and weight put you at the upper end of the healthy weight spectrum. not yet overweight and nowhere near obese. eating healthy and getting regular exercise are a good thing still. your exercise sounds fun! are you eating good, healthy foods? plenty of veg & good protein?

just curious... is your mother critical about other areas of your life?

JesterMFP

Your mother is wrong. You're not obese. At 140 lbs, you're at the high end of the healthy range for your height.

60-75 minutes of exercise every day is really not necessary, it sounds like you're doing plenty already. It's possible that you're not eating enough calories to fuel your body for all the exercise that you're doing. Being at a healthy weight, creating a very large calorie deficit might be counter-productive in the long run. I hope you're enjoying all that exercise too, and not just doing it out of desperation to drop weight quickly. Try and create a lifestyle that you're going to want to stick to long term.

115 lbs might well be a reasonable weight for you, it's hard to say without knowing what your frame is like or how muscular you are. You might lose 25 lbs by Christmas, but you might find that it doesn't happen that quickly, so try not to set your heart on it. When someone is obese, they can lose weight more quickly, but the closer they get to a healthy weight, the more it slows down.

By the way - you don't need to post the exact same topic under multiple titles. I'm sure you'll get plenty of advice from just one.