Eating, Exercising, Losing weight, but still confused.

thoeting
thoeting Posts: 89 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
For months,I've been told to eat, fuel the machine, don't starve yourself, etc. So finally, I decide to just take a leap of faith, log every morsel that goes into my mouth and every scrap of exercise. The intention was to do it for the month of July, then step back and analyze what happened.

What happened is that I lost about 5 pounds, a first in almost 6 months, gained muscle (according to the TANITA scale), and have become somewhat of a believer

But still, confused over the body mechanics. Why do i stay the same or go down so slowly when I eat under 1500 calories, then start losing when I'm eating 1900, 2000, 2200.

My diary is open if anyone wants to give me feedback. My biggest question is should I keep up the calorie count? The exercise will be dropping a bit when school starts, but I will workout 1x a day, sometimes 2 6/7 days a week. But work pays the bills, so I have to respect that!

Anyone out there gone through this? Thanks

Replies

  • holly3585
    holly3585 Posts: 282 Member
    If you plan to lower your exercise routine a bit, I would personally recommend slightly lowering your calories, but it soulds like you are on the right track!! Keep your 'net' calories the same for now and you should be well on your way!
  • Anna800
    Anna800 Posts: 639 Member
    Your diary isn't open.
  • 1northernshow
    1northernshow Posts: 2 Member
    Very interesting! I
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,431 MFP Moderator
    The reason you lose weight at 1800 calories as opposed to 1500 calories is simple. Your body isn't afraid to drop weight when it feels it's being fed enough. It's a famine response that your body has developed over the year. When properly fed, it won't release high levels of cortisol which will preserve calories stored as fat. Also, you don't need to work out more than 6 hours week. And as a teacher, you are on your feet so you will still burn more calories than you think. Just keep fueling the body and keep it up.
  • thoeting
    thoeting Posts: 89 Member
    Could have sworn I changed the setting...but it is open now. Comments are very welcomed - it's a learning process for us all isn't it?
  • thoeting
    thoeting Posts: 89 Member
    Also, you don't need to work out more than 6 hours week. And as a teacher, you are on your feet so you will still burn more calories than you think. Just keep fueling the body and keep it up.

    I teach indoor cycling. it takes a whole lot of prep work. Once I get better at it, I think I'll be able to practice the profiles less. But for now, it leads to 2, 3 or sometimes 4 a day work outs.

    Still can't get over being able to eat as much as i do and lose weight, but your point about cortisol makes sense

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