Metabolism

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gemmaaub
gemmaaub Posts: 12 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,

Ive been healthy eating and exercising for a while and have seen very little results!!
Im starting to think i have a low Metabolism, any advice on how to burn fat. . .Apart from the gym which i am doing!

Replies

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,412 MFP Moderator
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    How many calories are you eating? What is your workout routine and how long have you been doing this? 99% of the time, it's not the metabolism.

    BTW, you have 10 lbs, it's going to take awhile.
  • gemmaaub
    gemmaaub Posts: 12 Member
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    Im eating under 1300 a day, Gym for 45mins - 1hr 3-4 times a week!!
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,412 MFP Moderator
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    Im eating under 1300 a day, Gym for 45mins - 1hr 3-4 times a week!!

    You probably need to up your calories. What what is your routine in the gym? And what are your stats? Height, weight, age? We can look at your numbers. Most girls I know cut at 1700-2100 calories.
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
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    You say you're EATING 1300 cals which suggests you are not eating back your exercise calories. 1300 cal is a low daily intake and it is entirely possible your metabolism is slowing on that intake.

    Try eating back your exercise calories.
  • gemmaaub
    gemmaaub Posts: 12 Member
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    usually a 15min run, 10mins bike, 10mins crosstrainer, then 10mins crunches. . average day!
    Hight - 5'10, Weight - 182 Pounds Age - 24.

    Might sound stupid but i feel that because ive just burned calories in the gym i dont want to then go and eat more than i should.
  • mich1902
    mich1902 Posts: 182
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    Do you know what you are burning at the gym? If it is all cardio for up to an hour then you should be eating calories back(you never mentioned if you were). MFP allocates people 1200 cals at a min, this often turns out to be under a lot of peoples bmr(you should maybe look this up if you aren't sure). If you are eating under 1300, we'll call it 1250 and are burning up to say 300 cals each time at the gym then technically you are under eating. My maintainence cals are 1700. if i minus 20% it actually gives my my bmr of 1360 but i eat 1400 and add on exercise cals. The most i can lose healthy going by mfp 1200cal figures is 1 pound a week but i choose to go with eating at least my bmr. Some people with less to lose don't realise that they don't have the maintainence figures to lose up to 2 pounds a week. 7000 cals in 2 pounds=-1000 cals a day defecit.
  • gemmaaub
    gemmaaub Posts: 12 Member
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    I do burn an average of 300 cals at the gym! Yest for example i ate 1141 Cals, the day before, 1272. Just as an example!! Sorry for all the moaning people, having a bad day!
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,412 MFP Moderator
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    usually a 15min run, 10mins bike, 10mins crosstrainer, then 10mins crunches. . average day!
    Hight - 5'10, Weight - 182 Pounds Age - 24.

    Might sound stupid but i feel that because ive just burned calories in the gym i dont want to then go and eat more than i should.

    Well you should stop thinking of it as offsetting your work and instead, you shoudl start think that eating enough calories fuels your workouts. Based on your stats, you should be eating around 1800 calories daily. Also, I would suggest a few other things, adjust your macro's to around 40% carbs, 40% protein and 20% fats (more protein = muscle retention and improved satiety). Also, I would highly recommend a good weight training program like strong lift 5x5. You will see much greater body changes with a WT program over a cardio program.
  • mich1902
    mich1902 Posts: 182
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    I do burn an average of 300 cals at the gym! Yest for example i ate 1141 Cals, the day before, 1272. Just as an example!! Sorry for all the moaning people, having a bad day!

    that was a good guess ha! My advice for now would be to work out your tdee. there are may calculators online. you can choose the option of either sedentary and then adding in exercise cals as an extra when you do them(me) or you can include them as part of your everyday lifestyle and don't have to eat them back as they will be calculated in that figure. Work out your bmr also, this is the amount of cals required for our organs etc to function healthily. I understand what you mean about if feeling a waste eating calories back from exercising but really the purpose of exercising is to eat more back and get a better body while losing weight..oh and being fit, of course.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    i would recommend that you start doing more compound lifts - squats, deadlifts, pull ups/chin ups, over head press, bench press etc...build a total body program around those moves that has you hitting arms/legs/shoulders/back three times a week with two days of cardio and two rest days...

    As far as bumping up calories goes, I would try changing your exercise routine first and if that does not do the trick, then maybe bump up by 100 cals a day or something...

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