Seem to be just maintaining my weight :(

Kelbelle30

Hi all,

Every time I complete a daily entry and I get that little alert that poses "if every day was like this you'd [look like a supermodel] in five weeks, I get little buzz.

But looking at my progress, my weight has been fairly static for weeks - rather than getting below 160lbs - I've floated between 162-166 for weeks

I generally eat the same stuff - I've made an effort to reduce carbs (no more rice cakes, less fruit) and I'm coming in 100-500 below my calorie intake each day. I'm exercising (varied - 16 miles on the bike three times a week, 10 miles on bike twice a week, strength, toning and pilates) but it doesn't seem to be working!

My daily diet consists of: oat cereal and soya milk, 1/2 grapefruit, nuts, apples, baked potato with beans and goats cheese and then chicken stirfry or soup or lasagne in the evening. I make everything from scratch as I can't have lactose. At weekends we'll have chicken salad for lunch or stew rather than the baked spuds!

So what am I doing wrong?! I'm also fairly hungry, so I try and eat little and often.

Any advice or tips would be great!

Thanks!

Kel

Kelbelle30

Oh, I'm 5'8'' too. Size 12 (uk)

andy13

your probably putting on mucle with all that cycleing

mulderpf

Exactly - how much body fat do you have to lose? Don't let the number on the scale rule your life, look at your body and how it responds. The number MFP gives you assumes that you still have loads of fat to burn, it doesn't take into account whether you are building muscle or any other factors other than a generic equation.

TavistockToad

open your diary

Kelbelle30

How do I open my diary?

Kelbelle30

Opened now

tammyp1

Looking at your diary- I think your protein is too low and your carbs are way too high. Probably your macros should be more like 40% protein, 30% carbs, 30% fats. I do not see any water logged in either. Gotta drink a lot of water, 8 glasses at least.

Kelbelle30

Thanks - but what do I eat for protein? I already snack on nuts and they are carbo-rific! I added the cheese for protein too.

For various reasons (i take a medicine that dries my mouth) I drink around 4 litres of water a day, I drink litre bottles almost continuously, so I generally fail to log it.

michellekicks

When you're burning 1000-1200 calories in a day, what are you doing to do that?

I ask because I'm a runner... and I can have burns like that when I'm actively training for an endurance event. I find it's much harder to lose weight when I'm really burning high like that. There's a much smaller "sweet spot". Your body needs fuel if you're pushing it like that so your deficit from TDEE should be no more than about 300-400 calories/day. It's a slow process.

Since the end of my race season I decided to take October to start lifting (Stronglifts 5x5) and reduced my running to 2-3 days a week (and only about 45 mins/avg) and while my weight has stayed the same, my waist size has shrunk by 1" and that's eating right around my TDEE (maintenance).

You may need to get more precise with your calorie counts... by that I mean eat much closer to your actual daily burn. Alternatively, you can try eating the same each day - a 15% cut from TDEE - to see how you fare that way. This second way might be easier to get in enough calories since you'll be making up for some of your workouts on your rest days.

It could also be protein intake as mentioned above. I was losing very well getting 120g protein daily (I'm 160 too... but pretty much at goal here).

If it's neither of those things, you could be overestimating your burn and underestimating your food. You should be losing at about net 1500 daily.

elisa123gal

Last year, I lost all my weight and was surprised to learn that I did it easier than when I exercised vigorously and religiously in the past. It was interesting for me to note this. I stuck to my eating plan and that is what worked. I concluded that exercise can sometimes confuse the body and actually work against weight loss. However you do get fit and tone which is great. I think getting fit and losing weight are two different and important things.

Kelbelle30

Thanks
The1000+ burns are 3-4 hour intensive cycle rides
I weigh all my food out so I reckon I'm quite accurate on the calorie intake, maybe a bit sketchier on the burn as the cycling varies in speed, resistance and length of time, which the counter doesn't really work for.

I'm going to try the protein thing (as much as poss) with seafood sticks, prawns and maybe chuck some peanut butter in too!