Really need guidance re: workouts and calorie intake

Itssojen

I figured this would be the best place to put this question considering it encompasses a few areas. First off, I'm 5'2'' and last time I weighed myself, I was 128.6, which is down from my SW of 150.8. I've lost that weight in roughly 4.5 months. My question is this - I've stuck to the whole 1,200 calorie thing pretty religiously, with very few cheat meals. Even when I go out to dinner, I try my hardest to stay within my calorie range. At first, the weight came off rather quickly, but I've been somewhat leveling off. If you look at the overall trend, it's at a healthy rate, but it seems like the past month or so, the scale hasn't moved too much.

I started 30DS about 6 days ago, and I just started C25K...I also play on a softball team. I work out 6-7 times a week, whether it's 30DS and C25K or a softball game. I've been eating back some of my exercise calories. My question is this - should I be eating more? I'm really starting to wonder if I'm not eating enough. I have my goals set on 2 lbs/ week loss, which isn't happening at all, so I'm wondering if I should instead change my goal to 1 lb/ week and then adjust my calorie intake to what MFP tells me to eat. I feel like I need to get away from the 1,200 calorie mentality, but it scares me because I'm so small, and every pound shows.

I've hit so many great milestones - my clothes are much smaller, my body is seeing changes from 30DS, etc. so I just really want to keep the momentum up.

Also, I've decided not to weigh myself for a while, because I was getting too hung up on numbers and every little fluctuation rather than what I feel and look like. I've probably gained a couple pounds from 30DS, which I've heard happens in the beginning, but I expect to lose those by the time I'm finished. I will weigh when I finish 30DS.

Any guidance you can offer me would be much appreciated.

Thank you!

TheRealParisLove

Could you open your diary?

Without seeing your diary and seeing your description here, you need to add in some weight training 2-3 times a week. If you do this you need to increase your protein intake to about 96 grams a day to assist your body in adding on the new muscle.

Definitely eat back you exercise calories, every other or every third day or so to keep your metabolism revving. Your body has just gotten really efficient now and needs you to shake things up to get back into fat cutting mode.

Also consider taking a couple of days off from exercise and calorie counting. Still log what you eat, just go off program for a bit and see what you body tells you it needs. The psychological break is sometimes helpful when hitting a plateau, too.

hautepop

Rates of weightloss depend on your starting point. Now you're slimmer, 2lb/week isn't really realistic - 1lb/week or 0.5lb/week are more sensible to aim for. Slow and steady gives you a better shot at actually achieving the goals healthily - at your current weight, 2lb/week is only doable by basically starving yourself and ultimately slowing your metabolism.

Then yes, got to echo what TheRealParisLove has said above about the wonders of weight-training. 30 Day Shred has some of the right elements, but a weight-lifting session in the gym once a week (or a weights class, if that's more your style) might be just what helps at this stage to build muscle, boost metabolism and get past this plateau.

Good luck!

Itssojen

Diary is open now

hautepop

Looking at your diary...

Re. rates of weight loss, not all calories are created equal. 100 extra calories of broccoli never made anybody fat, but 100 cals of chocolate might just stick. It's basically about how fast your body can digest the food down into sugar, and the resulting spike in insulin this generates. The more insulin produced, the more your body gets the signal to hang on to the calories and store them as fat.

Looking at what you eat, you do a great job of sticking to your calorie totals but there is quite a lot of processed foods and sugary things in there. These are really easy for your body to digest and hold on to the calories from, which is why you might be seeing the rate of weightloss plateau. The same calories but made up of veggies, protein, higher fibre foods etc would leave your insulin levels much more steady, and so your body probably wouldn't hold on to fat in the same way. (They're also not quite so easy to digest full stop, so you don't take in the full 100% of calories.)

That said, personally I totally veer between veggies & healthy and just eating the food I like... "Eating clean" is a really big thing for some people here but it's not for everyone - the moralistic overtones of the word 'clean' aren't exactly my thing! Still, it's worth reading up on - some good info here if you're interested: http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating/

lifescircle

Yep...

First thing I was going to say is WHAT exactly are you eating. It's not just the calories.

Lots of water and fresh foods. If you want a chocolate treat, make it yourself with unprocessed ingredients... tastes great!