help with judging my activity level

mgodby86 · February 2010

Hi all,
I am new to MFP, so hello! I need some help judging my activity level as I am constantly starving.

I am a student, so my general lifestyle is pretty sedentary, but I do a lot of walking around campus, at least a solid 30 minutes per day (maybe more, I've never kept track). I go to the gym 3x per week, where I do a variety of strength training exercises, plus 30 minutes of cardio. I am on the elliptical for 30 minutes, working @ 80% of my heart rate.

I am a healthy weight, but wouldn't mind dropping a few pounds. The only thing is, when I try to eat for weight loss, I am constantly hungry - not just craving food, but stomach growing hungry. I had to skip the strength training part of my workout yesterday because I was so hungry and shaky (I had eaten a light meal about 2 hrs prior).

How would you judge my activity level? Do you have any tips for staying full? I already eat a diet high in fiber and protein.

EmilyStrick · February 2010

someone posted a link to a quiz the other day that helps you figure out what type of oxidizer you are, and giving you your optimal percentages for carbs, protein and fat. maybe you aren't getting enough carbs??!!?? here's the link to the quiz:

http://luckytastebuds.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/oxidizer-test-from-jillian-michaels/

panther87 · February 2010

I eat within the hour of going to work out. and I drink alot of water per day, sometime up to 80 oz. If you can get a calorie burn from the elptical machine you can input that and then eat those calories burned. that will increase your total amt to eat. and if you can try to have 6 small meals a day spaced out, maybe that will help. Good luck with school and the weight loss journey.

Happyoceangirl · February 2010

Hi all,
I am new to MFP, so hello! I need some help judging my activity level as I am constantly starving.

I am a student, so my general lifestyle is pretty sedentary, but I do a lot of walking around campus, at least a solid 30 minutes per day (maybe more, I've never kept track). I go to the gym 3x per week, where I do a variety of strength training exercises, plus 30 minutes of cardio. I am on the elliptical for 30 minutes, working @ 80% of my heart rate.

I am a healthy weight, but wouldn't mind dropping a few pounds. The only thing is, when I try to eat for weight loss, I am constantly hungry - not just craving food, but stomach growing hungry. I had to skip the strength training part of my workout yesterday because I was so hungry and shaky (I had eaten a light meal about 2 hrs prior).

How would you judge my activity level? Do you have any tips for staying full? I already eat a diet high in fiber and protein.

You know what - I'm in a similar boat and wondering the same thing. My activity level sounds about like yours - I work out of my home but make a point of daily exercise - running on alternate days, walks on off days, various fitness DVD's. I had entered my activity level as "lightly active" in the goals because they want to know your activity level without workouts, right? However, i always seem too hungry to stick to the 1200 calorie limit MFP suggests. My meals (when I'm doing well) are structured to start with breakfast and have several small meals a day... even so, I usually feel like I need to go over the recommended limit.

I don't have anything terribly helpful to add here, but I"m glad you posted and interested in seeing what responses you get. Good luck!

nroesler · February 2010

Well, first off let me say that I understand where you are coming from! Being hungry (stomach growlingly hungry like you said) is the most dangerous part of dieting!

I can suggest that you eat more complex carbs (whole grains as opposed to white bread, brown rice instead of white) as they take longer for your body to break down and therefore keep you fuller longer but I assume you are probably already doing that. So, that being said I agree with the above posts about drinking water, have a bottle of water in your school bag and aim to drink 1 500 mL per class. Try an oatmeal(preferably not the instant kind) for breakfast, it keeps you fuller longer. So many veggies have minimal calories (for example: 1 cup of radishes/celery/romaine/cabbage/zucchini are all under 50 cal!!! Fill up on veggies (beware of dips!) and cut out higher cal processed or prepacked foods.

As far as strength training goes, I would cut it out for a little bit. It is very hard to build muscle on a low calorie diet. Stick to cardio and basic (non weight) exercises (push ups, situps etc.) until you've dropped the weight you want and then you can build muscle and eat more once there.

Wow, that was a lot of random info......hope some of it helps :flowerforyou:

nroesler · February 2010

Hi all,
I am new to MFP, so hello! I need some help judging my activity level as I am constantly starving.

I am a student, so my general lifestyle is pretty sedentary, but I do a lot of walking around campus, at least a solid 30 minutes per day (maybe more, I've never kept track). I go to the gym 3x per week, where I do a variety of strength training exercises, plus 30 minutes of cardio. I am on the elliptical for 30 minutes, working @ 80% of my heart rate.

I am a healthy weight, but wouldn't mind dropping a few pounds. The only thing is, when I try to eat for weight loss, I am constantly hungry - not just craving food, but stomach growing hungry. I had to skip the strength training part of my workout yesterday because I was so hungry and shaky (I had eaten a light meal about 2 hrs prior).

How would you judge my activity level? Do you have any tips for staying full? I already eat a diet high in fiber and protein.

You know what - I'm in a similar boat and wondering the same thing. My activity level sounds about like yours - I work out of my home but make a point of daily exercise - running on alternate days, walks on off days, various fitness DVD's. I had entered my activity level as "lightly active" in the goals because they want to know your activity level without workouts, right? However, i always seem too hungry to stick to the 1200 calorie limit MFP suggests. My meals (when I'm doing well) are structured to start with breakfast and have several small meals a day... even so, I usually feel like I need to go over the recommended limit.

I don't have anything terribly helpful to add here, but I"m glad you posted and interested in seeing what responses you get. Good luck!

Maybe I am reading this wrong, but I wanted to clarify something.....Do Not stay under 1200 cal if you are very active or on days when you have a workout. Your body goes into starvation mode and starts storing fat. On those days, stay under your total calories (with workouts added) which may mean eating 1500 or 1600 cal but trust me, your body needs it and you will still lose weight.

Sorry for the tirade if I did read that wrong but it is super important

mgodby86 · February 2010

Hey guys!
Wow, thanks so much for your quick responses so far!

I really appreciate it! :happy:

Emily, I took the metabolic test (which was very helpful by the way) , and got 'balanced oxidizer'. It reccomended the 40/30/30% ratio with carbs, fat, and protein - but I just checked and MFP has me set at 55% carbs, and I usually go over that..

Basically because I haven't been sticking to 1200, 1500 is more realistic for me.

Tammy, I will try to eat a little closer to working out and see if that helps.

I will also try to space out my meals more. Right now I am eating 3 meals with 1-2 snacks, so perhaps smaller meals and an extra snack would help.

Smiles, thanks for your reply! I have only been on MFP for a few days or so, but I am always over 1200.. I can't help it! It's frustrating.

and nroesler, You're right in thinking I have been eating complex carbs

, but I know I need to drink more water, and eat more vegetables. The thing is, I really dislike both! Especially vegetables. There are very few that I like. Fruits, on the other hand, I could eat all day. Lately my snacks have consisted of nuts and dried fruit. I'll try to sneak a few more veggies in there.

Thanks again!

nroesler · February 2010

I hear you, I have never ( i mean ever) craved vegetables! As for water, I used to use crystal light packets super diluted in water (able a quarter packet per 500 ml) which gives a bit of flavour and makes it more enjoyable. I don't know if tofu is out of the question but it is fantastic....Veggie Ground Round - Mexican flavour is my all time favourite! Heated up (2 minutes or so) with minced carrot, onion and anything else you have in the pantry is so delicious it's hard to tell it's not ground beef!

Happyoceangirl · February 2010

Hi all,
I am new to MFP, so hello! I need some help judging my activity level as I am constantly starving.

I am a student, so my general lifestyle is pretty sedentary, but I do a lot of walking around campus, at least a solid 30 minutes per day (maybe more, I've never kept track). I go to the gym 3x per week, where I do a variety of strength training exercises, plus 30 minutes of cardio. I am on the elliptical for 30 minutes, working @ 80% of my heart rate.

I am a healthy weight, but wouldn't mind dropping a few pounds. The only thing is, when I try to eat for weight loss, I am constantly hungry - not just craving food, but stomach growing hungry. I had to skip the strength training part of my workout yesterday because I was so hungry and shaky (I had eaten a light meal about 2 hrs prior).

How would you judge my activity level? Do you have any tips for staying full? I already eat a diet high in fiber and protein.

You know what - I'm in a similar boat and wondering the same thing. My activity level sounds about like yours - I work out of my home but make a point of daily exercise - running on alternate days, walks on off days, various fitness DVD's. I had entered my activity level as "lightly active" in the goals because they want to know your activity level without workouts, right? However, i always seem too hungry to stick to the 1200 calorie limit MFP suggests. My meals (when I'm doing well) are structured to start with breakfast and have several small meals a day... even so, I usually feel like I need to go over the recommended limit.

I don't have anything terribly helpful to add here, but I"m glad you posted and interested in seeing what responses you get. Good luck!

Maybe I am reading this wrong, but I wanted to clarify something.....Do Not stay under 1200 cal if you are very active or on days when you have a workout. Your body goes into starvation mode and starts storing fat. On those days, stay under your total calories (with workouts added) which may mean eating 1500 or 1600 cal but trust me, your body needs it and you will still lose weight.

Sorry for the tirade if I did read that wrong but it is super important

Thanks for the post - actually I meant to say that even when eating the "exercise calories" it doesn't seem like enough.... but what happens is i feel bad for going over the suggested limit (because I'm HUNGRY!!)) I don't log it all, and I have no real idea of how much I eat in a day vs. burn in a day. It has taken well over a month to lose 2 pounds....

nroesler · February 2010

You can (and I'm sure you already have) check out your basal metabolic rate (bmr) which is the amount of calories your body burns without exercise. Usually around 1500 calories/day for a female. So at 1200 calories/day you are already under what your body naturally burns. No wonder you are hungry. You could try 1300 or 1400 calories if 1200 is too low for you (and it might be) knowing that you are stlil burning more than you eat. Always eat into your exercise calories, and don't feel guilty about it, you know your body needs it.

You can get your BMR under the tools section, it's pretty basic but it explains why you are hungry.

help with judging my activity level

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