Motivation please

babyhazelz1

Ive been using this site for 40 days now. I had 2 days of slipping hard core but other than that I've stayed under my caolories and have worked out basically every day. I also drink tons of water. I lost weight (about 12 lbs) at first, then after my cheat days I gained a few back. Even after going back to being strict since I seem to keep gaining.

I dont know what to do because for some reason it doesnt seem to be working

chelle_fri

I can't see your food diary, so I can't give you a whole lot of advice. But generally it's up your protein, lower carbs, reduce sodium, drink lots of water and work out Everyone hits plateaus, so don't get discouraged.

babyhazelz1

Isnt a plateaus after 40 days a little weird? I was 4 lbs lower before my 2 mess up days

peuglow

Give it time. If your two 'mess up' days were recent, give it a few weeks. If they were a week or two ago, give it a few more weeks. Stay the course.

EPortJake

Just because you are not losing weight does not mean it is not working. If you are exercising heavily you are probably losing fat but replacing it with muscle. Make your diary public so people can assess your diet too.

babyhazelz1

Ok, made it public

CoachReddy

Hey there - i looked at your diary, seems pretty carb heavy. what made you go with that ratio? or is that what MFP picked for you?

CoachReddy

babyhazelz1

the goal numbers are what MFP picked.

I am a sucker for rice though But i still stay in the cals

CoachReddy

rice is great! especially if it's brown rice! go for it.

do you have a heart rate monitor? how much do you work out/day? because you may actually be eating too little oddly enough.

see, what happens is this - the average person burns about 1,400 cal/day just doing nothing. laying in bed. so factor in daily activity, and a workout, and you can bump that up anywhere from 500 cal to 1000 cal or more being burned every day. In order to lose weight, you want to be at a calorie deficit - however TOO much of a deficit can cause your body to go into starvation mode where it will store nutrients as fat instead of metabolizing them. I just want to make sure that's not what's happening to you!

babyhazelz1

I work out at least an hour a day, sometimes 2. Im eating 1000-1200 a day per MFP

EPortJake

A lot of your days you seem to have a very big calorie deficit (e.g. Mon 15 Oct - goal 1722, actual 1011, no water logged, the following day a deficit of over 600 calories). You should be somewhere near your target calories because this is set at a level for you to lose weight. Eating well below does not necessarily mean you will lose weight quicker, in fact it can hinder your efforts from what I have heard. Others with evidence of this may be able to chirp in here to explain.
I'd drink more water and eat more.
Might be worth measuring your figure aswell to see if you are losing inches.

WhatAgirl_

give it time. make sure you are eating and don't over exercise, your body will end up storing fat instead of burning it.

CoachReddy

I work out at least an hour a day, sometimes 2. Im eating 1000-1200 a day per MFP

ok you're definitely not eating enough.

if you work out two hours a day you can be burning at LEAST 1000 calories, so lets do the math. That resting BMR (base metabolic rate, or how many cal you burn doing NOTHING) - let's estimate it at 1,400 which is average. Add 1000. 2,400. Now add your daily activity (walking, chores, work, etc, etc) which can be anywhere from 200 to 500 (we'll do 250 for fun). That brings you to 2,650 calories burned every day.

If you're burning 2,650 and only eating 1,000 - that's a MASSIVE deficit. In other words, you're starving yourself. Yes, you'll lose initial weight, but then you'll hit the plateau you're talking about and start gaining body fat. This is your body going into starvation mode. Think of the pictures of the poor african kids you see on TV - they're emaciated but their bellies are huge. That's what happens. Your body is protecting itself and storing up nutrients for the "winter" as fat.

If you want to start losing weight again, you've got to up the caloric intake.

Shoot me your height/weight/age and we can actually do this without guessing.

peuglow

If you're working out 1-2 hours a day and not eating back your exercise calories, and you're NETTING 1000-1200 calories, you're not eating enough.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

You're welcome