is this normal?

justpeachy81 · February 2010

hey, i've been following the MFP plan for around 10 days, with a recommended calorie intake of 1200 cals per day. I exercise at the gym maybe 3/4 days per week, burning around 250 cals each time. I haven't gone over my daily cal allowance very often, but have so far only lost 1 pound!

What I'm asking is if this is normal? I dont eat my 'exercise calories' as i dont often feel hungry enough to eat again, what am I doing wrong? Should i be eating these extra cals?

I am only trying to lose 6lbs total and cut out junk food around 4 weeks ago (in which time i lost 1 pound), but would have expected in a month to have lost a bit more than this.

Thanks!!

BigdaddyJ · February 2010

I dont eat my 'exercise calories' as i dont often feel hungry enough to eat again, what am I doing wrong? Should i be eating these extra cals?

there's part of the problem right there, you're suppose to eat those to, your defficit is precalculated on this site.

It's also about what you eat at what moment, I usualy have some fruits and veggies as part of my meal BEFORE i train (at least 1 hr, no more than 2) and I'll have my carbs right after as part of my snack (usualy some nuts of trail mix) that helps recuperate and your body will burn your carbs faster that way! Also nuts are higher in calories so that should help reach your calorie quota for the day!

good luck!

JF

Supermel · February 2010

Are you really close to your goal weight and are at a healthy BMI? I would say its going to take some time if thats the case. Otherwise, I would change up your routine at the gym if you've been doing the same thing for awhile now. If you do cardio add intervels, ie: 2 minutes fast walk, 2 min running etc (I'm sure others are much more expert on this than me) I've read over and over on here to avoid the starvation zone and to eat your exercise calories. I'm eating approx 1/2 my exercise calroies. So I am at 1200 goal as well. With exercise i can have 1395. So i am aiming for low 1300's

A few other ideas is to track your sugar. I noticed with juice and a fibre1 bar I was way over on my sugar. I've elminated the juice now. Another thing is to make sure you are eating complex carbs with protein for your snacks and avoiding simple carbs like pretzels. Too long between meals can mess with your metabolism too. My friend who's a trainer gave me these tips and they are working. Loads of water too, like 10 cups per day. Good luck!

sprags · February 2010

When I first started my fitness routine, I didn't lose a pound...for 6 months! Then I started on MFP and realized I wasn't eating nearly enough. Be sure to eat those extra calories after your workout! I've now lost 3 lbs since I've been on here...just by eating! Good luck!

sweetteacher123 · February 2010

Try to eat those exercise calories, so you have energy to keep working out. Maybe eating those calories in the form of fruits and veggies or lean protein will help you.

Also, keep in mind, average, healthy weight loss is one to two pounds per week. So your one pound in ten days is actually a healthy pace. Good weight loss that stays off is slow and steady, made with lifestyle changes, just like you are doing now ! Keep up the good work!

arasm · February 2010

I agree with everyone above. You really need to eat those exercise cals!! If your not hungry, try eating some nuts, have a glass of milk. I think you'll see a difference if you do. Good luck & keep us posted

LittleSpy · February 2010

Reality:
1 pound in 10 days is really great for someone with only 6 pounds to lose.
:flowerforyou:

What were your expectations?

And, yes, you should consider eating some of your exercise calories if you are already at a healthy weight (and I assume you are if you only have 6 pounds to lose).

spmoon · February 2010

Have you stepped up your workout recently ie. in the last 10 days. If so, one thing to keep in mind is that muscle weighs more than fat. So your fat may have gone down but your muscle mass may have increased. Technically, this is a much healthier situation to be in but if your only measure of your fitness is your weight then you are going to get discouraged. It is not always necessary to start lifting weights to gain muscle mass. I have a set of scales that measure my muscle to fat ratio (these aren't perfect but do give a guide to what is happening). If I have a lay off from training (distance running) - usually this occurs due to some kind of injury - when I return, the first thing that happens is that this ratio shifts in favour of my muscle mass with my fat reducing. My overall weight may not change dramatically. Keep going however, and the muscle gain peaks at the level necessary to cope with the exercise and at this point you just start loosing fat alone. This is more complicated than I have suggested since your metabolism alters due to exercise as well, but in essence this is what happens. Keep going and you'll succeed - it might not happen as fast as you want but - at least it is happening. Good luck.

SweetE4308 · February 2010

http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/news/20100129/what-you-eat-after-working-out-matters

This article helps you to understand the healthy items to eat after an exercise to eat back half of you r work out calories, but in a healthy way... Hope this helps!

vanessadawn · February 2010

Hey in 10 days your 16.6% done your weight loss goal, I think that's pretty good!

Dom_m · February 2010

Stick with it. If you're only trying to lose 6 pounds presumably you're pretty slim already, so progress will necessarily be slow. The body really hangs on to those grams of fat that aren't really excessive by health standards (I know personal image standards are stricter, this is really frustrating!). Anyway, now you only need to lose 5 pounds - at this rate you'll be done by March 25. That may seem like a long time away, but think like this: if today was day 60 and you'd lost 1 pound per 10 days you'd be at your goal. You would've had to start on December 6. Looking back at December 6, does it seem long ago?

March 25 might seem like forever now, but when you get there it'll feel like you lost weight in the blink of an eye. Of course the last 2 pounds will probably take as long as the first 4, so be prepared for slow progress near the end! May even take till June to get the last one, just stick with it.

Personally, I've been working out a lot (about 7,500 calories per week at the gym) since 8 August and made some progress, but not much. When I started MFP I realised I was way under eating. I've made more progress over the 25 days I've been using this, but I've still only lost 2.5 pounds and 2 inches on my waist. It gets demoralizing, but I know I'm healthier. Even my hair is coming back! (Its been receding over the last 5 years or so, and now its half way recovered - sweet, I wasn't expecting that!) I also found cigarette cravings vanished, and I haven't had to exert any will power at all to go 6 months without smoking, and since I started MFP my alcohol intake has fallen off a cliff (except 1 big night recently that was my prime drinking buddy's birthday - even then I drank more water than alcohol). The point of the personal story is that, even with some pretty big changes, measured results have been small. That doesn't mean there are no results! Stick with it and eventually the ones you're looking for will be there too.

justpeachy81 · February 2010

Thanks for all the replies :)There is some really good advice in here.

To answer some of the questions in your replies I have stepped up my workouts since joing MFP and had considered the fact that gaining muscle could be the reason i dont seem to be losing anything at the minute, it's just frustrating as I'm sure you can all agree, but i haven't given it enough time.

I have a healthy BMI and am a healthy weight for my size, i only want to lose 'holiday weight' and go back to what I weighed before. I guess my expectations were to lose around 2lbs a week but i think from reading other posts and your replies I realise that maybe because I dont have a lot to lose my body is not wanting to let the pounds go :frown:

Sticking to it and giving it more time, along with eating my exercise cals seems the way to go!! Thanks for you help.

is this normal?

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