Struggling with sedentary vs. lightly active...

TKelly06
TKelly06 Posts: 225 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi!

I am a part-time (20-25 hrs a week) cashier at a grocery store and I am not sure if I should be sedentary or lightly active. I weigh 219 right now. I've tried the setting on both but I am still struggling to lose weight. It does't matter if I eat 1200 calories per day or 1500, I am not losing weight. I am not exercising right now because I figured out about a 2 years ago, when I was successful at weight loss down to 180 in 18 months (then gained 40 pounds back) that I have to eat my exercise calories back and I can't comprehend doing that right now. I don't know what to do and I don't know why it was so much easier the first time around. Any advice would be helpful.. Thank you.

Replies

  • seif0068
    seif0068 Posts: 193 Member
    How long have you been trying at each setting? Maybe your body just hasn't had the chance to adjust yet. Are you tracking every single thing you eat? I have tried to be religious about keeping track of everything - even that mini doughnut at a staff meeting and handful of trail mix in the afternoon at work - that stuff does add up and could be putting you at the amount of calories you need to maintain rather than lose.

    I found myself plateau-ing recently and then after eating a big Thanksgiving meal, I lost a couple pounds! After eating a low number of calories consistently, it can slow down your metabolism and your body will try to store fat/conserve energy.

    Just a few ideas!
  • lar4290
    lar4290 Posts: 55 Member
    I try to have a weekly calorie goal when I plateau, and vary calories by day--sometimes that helps get out of a rut.

    If you're on your feet that much, I'd go with lightly active. Most people are probably lightly active instead of sedentary. You can also manually set your calories for somewhere in between if you think that you fall in the middle.

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