help please, no change in weight

snowfox1

ok so im 27, female, 54kgs and 163cm tall and want to get back down to 50kgs where i have been for the last 10 years and feel most comfortable at. i go to the gym around 5 days a week with a mix of cardio and weights and burn about 500cal each visit. i eat 1200cal a day (averaging over the week) some days higher and some a bit lower. and have been doing this for a few months now and no change in weight..maybe look a little stronger but still have a bit of flab i want to loose, help please????? oh and im not so much worried about losing the 4 kilos as i am in toning. any helpfull advice will be so much apreciated

psuLemon

More than likely, it's because you are under feeding your body. If you are active (which you are with your workouts) you need to fuel your body more. Based on your stats, you should be eating 1700 calories. Also, based on your height and weight you probably don't' have much to lose. Have you considered just working on altering your body composition (cutting fat instead of worrying about weight)?

snowfox1

Thanks for your help, i guess im scared if i eat more ill gain since im not losing at present, and yes i toatally agree with altering my composition reather than relying on the scales

sweetgrasswoman

I was like that in my first week of dieting- tried the pills, meal replacements you name it. But since joining MFP I didnt know I had to eat the calories I burned off, eating healthy at that. I cut out soda and take out, allot of processed foods. One day I went to the gym without eating cuz I thought since I ate too much the day before (still under my calorie intake) I should burn it off. Boy that day was a total disaster; I was so hungry, thirsty, sick etc....I learned that I had to eat breakfast, eat my calories and not worry so much about "how fast" I can lose weight. Now when I work out I make sure I eat, drink allot of water, and feel absolutely terrific and lose 1.5 lbs a week. Also join a mixture of cardio classes such as Yoga, boot camp, etc...

mizzie1980

I wouldn't worry about losing that last 4kgs, if I were you. Your BMI is already quite low, getting down to there would put you on the edge of being unhealthily thin. But toning, that's a whole different ballgame.

I'll second upping your calories. If you want to tone, your body needs to build some muscle and it can't do that if you are eating at a calorie deficit (lower than your body needs to maintain your weight). I did a quick calculation and found that to maintain your weight, on days when you DON'T exercise, you should be eating about 1600 calories. On days when you do, you should be eating back the calories burned.

Since you have toning in mind, you might want to try doing a little less cardio and a little more weight training. Both are good for your body, but the weight training is what is going to help you tone.

snowfox1

thanks for your help guys i really appreciate it, soooo looks like i should be upping my cals a bit arrrhhh scary haha, will give it a go for a couple weeks n see how i go, and might up my weight training too. thanks again

psuLemon

thanks for your help guys i really appreciate it, soooo looks like i should be upping my cals a bit arrrhhh scary haha, will give it a go for a couple weeks n see how i go, and might up my weight training too. thanks again

Add another 200 calories a week until you get there. This way it will minimize the additional water weight. Also, give it a month to allow your body to adjust to the additional calories.

kellicci

eta ^^^^yes listen to this guy he knows his stuff!

Don't think of it as upping calories think of it as fueling your workouts. The extra calories are only to make those workous really work for you. I would suggest changing your macors a little and uping protein just a bit that will help you in your recompsition goals. Also make sure you do some weights and not all cardio even if it is body weight exercises like bootcamp which is what I do mostly.

I have my goal set to 1300 (right around where my BMR is but on days I work out I end up eating 300-500 calories more. I also upped my protein and try to eat al least a gram for every pound of lean body mass. I'm very close to my goal so the scale moves very slowly (.5 to .7 a week maybe) but I can see the definiton in my arms legs and abs. That makes me feel better than the scale ever has!

snowfox1

eta ^^^^yes listen to this guy he knows his stuff!

Don't think of it as upping calories think of it as fueling your workouts. The extra calories are only to make those workous really work for you. I would suggest changing your macors a little and uping protein just a bit that will help you in your recompsition goals. Also make sure you do some weights and not all cardio even if it is body weight exercises like bootcamp which is what I do mostly.

I have my goal set to 1300 (right around where my BMR is but on days I work out I end up eating 300-500 calories more. I also upped my protein and try to eat al least a gram for every pound of lean body mass. I'm very close to my goal so the scale moves very slowly (.5 to .7 a week maybe) but I can see the definiton in my arms legs and abs. That makes me feel better than the scale ever has!

thanks for that, very helpfull advice, i currently do 20min of weights 3 times a week and cardio an hour 4-5 times, should i up my weights time do you think, and maybe eat 1500cals the days i work out.