Im 5'5'' and 175lbs, help me lose 35lbs!

shae47
shae47 Posts: 7 Member
edited January 8 in Health and Weight Loss
I hope Im posting this in the right place. I have struggled with weight loss for at least 3 years. I have lost the same 10lbs year after year only to gain it back. I want this to be my lifestyle change and I feel very motivated to fight harder than ever before. There is just so much information out there and I just want to do whats right for my body type. I really want to slim down and I am afraid to bulk up. I wish I had a picture but basically Im bottom heavy with large legs and muscles. I have a tire around my stomach and my arms are plump. My weight before this 175 was around 135-140. My calorie intake is about 1200 according to my fitness pal. I can actually do that. Im trying to work out about 3-4 times weekly for about 30-45 mins. What are some things I should focus on? Would it be cardio, weight training, diet etc? I need to know where to focus my attention. Please Help!!

Replies

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,432 MFP Moderator
    First, you can either set your account to 1 lb per week and eat back 50% of your exercise calories or set your account to 1 lb per werk and lightly active and not worry about exercise calories. Second concentrate on heavy weight lifting and some cardio. Generally, i would suggest 3 days of weight training and 1-2 days of cardio. If you go to the gym look at a program like strong lift 5x5.


    Btw, i would set macros to about 40/40/20 (c/p/f). This will help with muscle retention.
  • cyclingmom1959
    cyclingmom1959 Posts: 1
    Hi!

    I'm 5'6" and want to lose 35 lbs, too. I've lost and gained the same ten pounds for thirty years, so I'm way ahead of you there. :smile: However, a couple of times I've lost a significant amount of weight, only to have it creep back on after a "life experience". I fall off the wagon, so to speak.

    I've found that the most important tool in your box is to stay motivated and encouraged! I don't like gyms, so I typically just follow an eating plan and walk briskly as many days a week as I can for as long as I can. Sometimes that might be 15 minutes and others it could be 45 minutes.

    I weigh in every day. If I lose a few ounces, it inspires me to lose more. If I gain a few ounces, it inspires me to work harder or to figure out what I did the day before that didn't work (no walking, not enough water, staying within calories but going overboard on the salt, etc.). A friend of mine says that the secret to his success was posting his progress every Wednesday morning. He feels that it was amazing how being accountable to others helped....even though they were strangers. He lost 70 pounds!!

    So have a great weekend and keep on keepin' on!!! Good luck!
  • Guisma
    Guisma Posts: 215
    http://www.healthyweightforum.org/eng/calculators/calories-required/

    I think 1200 is really low for a start, but that depends how fast you want results. Im 168 and megure 5¨¨4 and im starting with arround 1500 to loose 15 lbs in 7 months. That with low activity. What normally happends to me is that after a while i stop loosing weight and have to lower the amount of calories after some months. So ill probably will have to lower 200 calories in the last 4 months.
  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
    I hope Im posting this in the right place. I have struggled with weight loss for at least 3 years. I have lost the same 10lbs year after year only to gain it back. I want this to be my lifestyle change and I feel very motivated to fight harder than ever before. There is just so much information out there and I just want to do whats right for my body type. I really want to slim down and I am afraid to bulk up. I wish I had a picture but basically Im bottom heavy with large legs and muscles. I have a tire around my stomach and my arms are plump. My weight before this 175 was around 135-140. My calorie intake is about 1200 according to my fitness pal. I can actually do that. Im trying to work out about 3-4 times weekly for about 30-45 mins. What are some things I should focus on? Would it be cardio, weight training, diet etc? I need to know where to focus my attention. Please Help!!

    You are eating far too low for someone who is exercising, your net calories should not be under your basal metabolic rate or you won't be getting all the nutrients your body needs for basic health, for a healthy metabolism. Diet is by far the most important, perhaps 80% of your results. Be sure you eat the right number of servings from each food group to tell your body it is not in a famine, your body cannot tell the difference between that and a highly restrictive diet.

    You should not bulk up unless you eat more calories than you burn AND have the testosterone level close to a man AND do a hypertrophy routine, unlikely. When you start a new exercise regime sometimes the muscles can appear to puff out, this is not bulking it's simply them holding more glycogen (carb) fuel and water. Whatever you do at the gym make it very high intensity - cardio intervals or weights, you should be intermittently gasping for air, muscles screaming. Consider classes like BodyPump, Spinning or Boxercise to achieve this. This will give you the best afterburn, metabolism boost for up to two days. Be sure to warm up thoroughly for safety, ten minutes easy conversational pace.
  • LisaGirlfriend
    LisaGirlfriend Posts: 493 Member
    I agree with the others. You have your calorie goal set too low. 1200 is only going to mess with your metabolism and you will not find the long term solution you really want (you may see a short term success eating 1200).

    Go to this calculator and figure out a few things: http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/

    - Your body fat percentage using the Covert Bailey calculator (measurements).
    - Your BMR (you'll need your body fat percentage to get an accurate BMR) - this is the calories your body needs to survive.

    I've been told on here to never NET below my BMR. For me that's 1380 cals a day. Then I exercise 7 days a week, so I eat back those exercise calories - I use a heart rate monitor instead of guessing. I also recommend strength training and some cardio. strength training will change your body. I'm currently doing Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred and LOVE it!! Only 20 minutes a day... then I add some weights after - all in the comfort of my own home. :-)

    Look at this as a lifetime change that isn't going to happen overnight. You didn't gain the weight overnight. If it takes you a year or two to get to goal and a healthy body fat percentage, who cares?? As long as you're heading in the right direction and feeling happy and proud of yourself.

    Good luck to you. You can do this but you have to change the way your mind thinks, or next year you will be posting the exact same thing you wrote above.
  • supplemama
    supplemama Posts: 1,956 Member
    Hi, I totally understand your frustration. I currently weigh 166, started at 238 one year ago, and my goal weight is 130. I'm quite round and bottom heavy also, thick thighs etc., but things have slimmed down considerably. Walking is my primary exercise and I do that daily. I also lift weights 3-4 days a week. On food, I eat on average 600 of my exercise calories back, sometimes more.

    You've been given awesome advice! But I suspect your issue is psychological. You know how to lose weight...but something stops you once you lose 10 pounds. What is it that triggers you to put the weight back on? Once you understand how you feel about your body and weight loss, you will be able to push through after 10 pounds and keep losing. You can do this!
  • AussieTrainer
    AussieTrainer Posts: 171
    I started out w almost the same stats as you, maybe this will help motivate. others in this thread gave you great advice. good luck!!

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833901-2-5-years-lost-40lbs-gained-life
  • shae47
    shae47 Posts: 7 Member
    Thanks so much! Ill get to work so that I do this the right way, I dont want to repeat what I had been doing before. I thought that 1200 was way low and Im glad to hear that I can eat a lil more. I dont mind working out, I actually love it. I just need to do the right workouts and have a balanced diet. I know i can do this!! I hope to be able to post progress pics in some weeks to come!
  • nturner612
    nturner612 Posts: 710 Member
    u can do this! i am about 5'3 and started off about 168-173ish maybe more because my scale had broken. im down to 155ish....hasnt been easy but IT IT DO-ABLE (or however u spell it) u can do this! most of my weight has been in my stomach which totally sucks. stick with it. u will fail....manyh times. just dust off and keep going. u can frined me if ud like :) good luck
  • shae47
    shae47 Posts: 7 Member
    Okay so I went to that website and they are saying my lean weight is 150lbs and my body fat% is 13.9. They say I should only lose about 23-25 lbs. The kicker is that they are saying I could eat 1710 cals a day and still lose weight (sedentary). Thats alot more than Ive been eating... How accurate is that site?
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,432 MFP Moderator
    Okay so I went to that website and they are saying my lean weight is 150lbs and my body fat% is 13.9. They say I should only lose about 23-25 lbs. The kicker is that they are saying I could eat 1710 cals a day and still lose weight (sedentary). Thats alot more than Ive been eating... How accurate is that site?

    I would agree with the 1700 calories but you made a typo on the body fat. You would he ripped at that low. Women generally struggle to get under 14% which is fantastic for women.


    Btw the average women i run numbers for is eating 1700-2100 calories. Its all about fueling the athlete inside of you.
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