Newish Here and Need Guidance/Help

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Hopelessone
Hopelessone Posts: 270 Member
in Introduce Yourself
For the last 8-9 months I have been eating between 1200-1300 calories a day, and I am gaining weight! WTH? I am 5ft 5, weigh about 204, in my early 50s. I am not very active as I have health issues, I do the best I can. My goal weight is about 130

Is it possible that my body is in starvation mode? I eat fairly healthly, protein,fruit,veggies and yes pasta. I measure, weigh, try to watch my portions. If anyone has any words of wisdom for me I would really appreciate any input. Thanks!~

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  • Hopelessone
    Hopelessone Posts: 270 Member
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    I wish I knew how to delete posts Seems my original post is uninteresting :(
  • cyclenut64
    cyclenut64 Posts: 154
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    Are you able to lift weights?

    Weight training is key to losing weight because muscle burns more calories than fat does (even while you are sleeping). Consider for each extra pound of muscle you carry can burn up to 50 additional calories just to maintain itself.

    Your body could be in starvation mode, if you cannot exercise, you need to figure out how to increase your metabolism in other ways, i.e. eating foods that take more energy to digest like protean.
  • cyclenut64
    cyclenut64 Posts: 154
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    It could be that people don’t know how to help you since exercise is so important to losing weight.

    I am new to the also, but I think you can delete by going to home, move to your post and when your cursor moves over your post…remove will show up to the right of your post.
  • Hopelessone
    Hopelessone Posts: 270 Member
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    Are you able to lift weights?

    Your body could be in starvation mode, if you cannot exercise, you need to figure out how to increase your metabolism in other ways, i.e. eating foods that take more energy to digest like protean.


    Thanks Cyclenut64 I am able to lift light weights, I guess that is a good start. I do use protein shakes, if you know of any other things to help boost metabolism I would appreciate the information. I will be surfing this site for info too, it seems to have lots of helpful members.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,473 Member
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    your post is very interesting!, and you posted it for a reason! right?we are here for you? do not give up???,, this is life !! you can do this!
  • marekdds
    marekdds Posts: 2,209 Member
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    You are probably not eating enough. If you go to the website health-calc, you can figure out your bmr, basic metabolic rate and your tdee, total daily energy expenditure. If you eat somewhere b/w those numbers, you will lose weight. I did.When I started all I could do was walk and lift light weight. Exercise is great, but it can be done w/o it. good luck
  • cyclenut64
    cyclenut64 Posts: 154
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    That is a great start, keep in mind that full body lifting is better than the single joint exercises (like the fancy machines that you find in the clubs). If you have some dumbbells, place one on the floor and with one had lift the weight all the way up over your head and extend your arm straight. The amount of energy you use during lifting is the amount of weight times the distance you lift the weight. So taking the weight all the way from the floor to over your head uses much more energy than just doing curls. Do 3 sets of 10 each arm, if you can do more than 10 reps than next time us a larger weight. I can give you more examples if you want.
  • claudiacarmel
    claudiacarmel Posts: 39 Member
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    One thing my doctor told me to lose weight is you need to have 70-80 grams of protein a day and 25-35 grams of fiber a day and 8-10 glasses of water. It works for me! :)
  • Hopelessone
    Hopelessone Posts: 270 Member
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    One thing my doctor told me to lose weight is you need to have 70-80 grams of protein a day and 25-35 grams of fiber a day and 8-10 glasses of water. It works for me! :)

    Thanks for the information Claudia, I am pretty sure I get the protein, although I am going to start keeping better track now to make sure lol, not to sure about the fiber, and I know I don't drink enough water, but I will be working on that. I will really be watching for these numbers
  • t8acy
    t8acy Posts: 11 Member
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    Have you had your thyroid function checked? I also struggle to lose weight - it's taken me 6 months to lose 20 pounds, eating 1200 cals a day and an hour walking. I've recently started circuit training too, which is helping, but the weight loss is sooooo slow! I even put on a pound or two sometimes without eating anything extra! I saw my doctor (not for the first time!) and she tested my thyroid function and it is borderline low, so it will be tested again in 3 months. This would explain so much, but I'm not going to lose heart, I'll keep plodding on with it. I'm also trying to drink more water as, like you, I don't drink anywhere near enough, so I'm hoping that will help too. It may be a good idea to get your thyroid checked too, even if it's just to rule that out. Good luck!
  • eileenchristine
    eileenchristine Posts: 228 Member
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    I am losing weight on 1350 to 1450 and I do not do much exercise. I was at 1000 to 1200 and wasn't losing any more than I am now but I was tired alot! Well that coulda been just cuz I am so fat? I am much happier being able to eat more, don't feel as tired and am losing about 1.5 lbs a week. I was hoping to have dropped the first 10 real fast cuz I have alot to lose, but didn't happen, so am committed to the journey and logging on daily. Its working! I know 12 lbs doesn't seem like much, but I should be much smaller this spring and feel better which is my goal. Probably will take me a year to reach my goal, but its all good!

    Hang in there!

    Christine
  • CivicSi71
    CivicSi71 Posts: 14 Member
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    Hi,

    Try some basic body weight movements like, squats, push ups (some variety even if it is against a wall), lunges, and walking in circles or figure eights while lifting your arms above your head. Or even walking. If you string these movements together with little or no rest, it will be a circuit and will keep rais your metalbolism for a perior and should help you see reuslts. Keep at it.

    Nick
  • Hopelessone
    Hopelessone Posts: 270 Member
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    Have you had your thyroid function checked? I also struggle to lose weight - it's taken me 6 months to lose 20 pounds, eating 1200 cals a day and an hour walking. I've recently started circuit training too, which is helping, but the weight loss is sooooo slow! I even put on a pound or two sometimes without eating anything extra! I saw my doctor (not for the first time!) and she tested my thyroid function and it is borderline low, so it will be tested again in 3 months. This would explain so much, but I'm not going to lose heart, I'll keep plodding on with it. I'm also trying to drink more water as, like you, I don't drink anywhere near enough, so I'm hoping that will help too. It may be a good idea to get your thyroid checked too, even if it's just to rule that out. Good luck!

    I have had EVERYTHING checked!! Apparently my thyroid is fine (sigh) that sure would have made things easier to understand lol. I have decided after reading posts here and receiving information from my new friends,that I might have actually put my body into starvaton mode, hence no weightloss at low intake, so I will increase my caloric intake to about 1500 and see what happens. Worst case scenerio I gain a pound or two, best case it ups my metabolism. Wish me luck!
  • Hopelessone
    Hopelessone Posts: 270 Member
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    Thanks for the encouragement and advice everyone! I am excited to start this new journey, and with help/advice/encouragement from people like you I know I can do this

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