Help losing last 10 lbs ?

brandnewlady
brandnewlady Posts: 10
in Health and Weight Loss
My first time posting here, though I've lurked for years. So please be easy on me! :)

I've recently lost 30 lbs these past three months through (lots of prayer) healthy eating and exercising six days a week, but I've lost 60 lbs altogether these past two years.
I don't believe that I've technically hit a plateau, but I would love to prevent it if I can.
I am a 23 year old female, 5'4, and I currently weigh 148.
My eating and exercise habits: 1200 cals a day (usually under, and I'm trying to work on that!), mostly fruit vegetables meat (chicken/fish mainly) and oatmeal mixed with protein powder and flaxseed meal (oatmeal only after my workout in the morning), minimum of 2 liters of water a day, HIIT on treadmill for 25 minutes + HIIT jumping jacks/squats (alternating days), just added a kettlebell workout this week which I do every other day, and also some lower body exercises. I have a Polar FT4 HRM and usually I burn around 400 cals every day that I work out.

One problem is I'm finding it very hard to eat my requirements, and I'm not sure if I should be eating more than 1200 calories. I'd love to keep my pace at losing 2 lbs a week. Another is I don't know if the oatmeal is helping or hurting me. I started having oatmeal this week after doing some research, but I'm not sure if it's doing me any favors.

Also I would love advice on whether or not to add weight training! I'm not afraid of working hard, I've actually grown to love working out. I just need a little guidance on where to go from here.

Btw, you all are awesome! I've gotten so much inspiration and information from these forums.
Any help is greatly appreciated!

Replies

  • cyberiarob
    cyberiarob Posts: 229 Member
    If your caloric goal is only 1200, I would definitely recommend eating back at least some of your burned calories. If not, your net calories would be pretty low and would be counterproductive. Also, weight training is a good idea, just know that it will cause your muscles to grow and your body to retain more water - so your actual weight loss may slow down even though you're still burning fat.
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
    You should always lessen the deficit as you lose fat, not maintain the same static deficit - especially not 2 lbs per week at your weight and fat mass (you end up losing excessive lean body mass if you continue assuming steep deficits beyond what is necessary). With 10 lbs left to lose you should be eating roughly between 250 to 300 calories less than your TDEE. For instance, my actual TDEE is around 2900 calories when lifting 5 days a week (no cardio). Thus, I am eating 2650 calories to lose the final 7 lbs to reach my goal body fat percentage.
  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
    Don't net below your basal metabolic rate, currently you are netting 800 on workout days. Also I am concerned you diet is may not be balanced - are you eating oily fish, other healthy fats and dairy? Are you sure you were getting enough minerals prior to adding oatmeal or even now? Ground flax is great but you need to eat hundreds of grams to get enough calcium for example. Chicken breast is not particularly nutritious, you might consider other meats if you are selecting that.

    How often are you trying to do high intensity intervals/ plyometrics and are you doing full body kettlebells? Is it an hour each day, more or less? Don't overdo the exercise because it puts the body into a state of stress, along with a low calorie intake you will simply end up under recovered and failing to refuel so work at a lower intensity than you are capable of. If you are working hard enough at either the intervals/ plyometrics or the kettlebells whichever you do first you should have legs that are like jelly so cannot do another form of high intensity exercise well. IME most people cannot train at true high intensity more than about four times a week, remember too that even professional athletes cycle their training hard days and easy days hard weeks and easy weeks.
  • brandnewlady
    brandnewlady Posts: 10
    You should always lessen the deficit as you lose fat, not maintain the same static deficit - especially not 2 lbs per week at your weight and fat mass (you end up losing excessive lean body mass if you continue assuming steep deficits beyond what is necessary). With 10 lbs left to lose you should be eating roughly between 250 to 300 calories less than your TDEE. For instance, my actual TDEE is around 2900 calories when lifting 5 days a week (no cardio). Thus, I am eating 2650 calories to lose the final 7 lbs to reach my goal body fat percentage.

    So I should eat less than 1200? Sorry, I don't know what TDEE is.
  • brandnewlady
    brandnewlady Posts: 10
    If your caloric goal is only 1200, I would definitely recommend eating back at least some of your burned calories. If not, your net calories would be pretty low and would be counterproductive. Also, weight training is a good idea, just know that it will cause your muscles to grow and your body to retain more water - so your actual weight loss may slow down even though you're still burning fat.
    So when I workout, I should eat 1600 cals instead of 1200, is what you're saying?
  • brandnewlady
    brandnewlady Posts: 10
    Don't net below your basal metabolic rate, currently you are netting 800 on workout days. Also I am concerned you diet is may not be balanced - are you eating oily fish, other healthy fats and dairy? Are you sure you were getting enough minerals prior to adding oatmeal or even now? Ground flax is great but you need to eat hundreds of grams to get enough calcium for example. Chicken breast is not particularly nutritious, you might consider other meats if you are selecting that.

    How often are you trying to do high intensity intervals/ plyometrics and are you doing full body kettlebells? Is it an hour each day, more or less? Don't overdo the exercise because it puts the body into a state of stress, along with a low calorie intake you will simply end up under recovered and failing to refuel so work at a lower intensity than you are capable of. If you are working hard enough at either the intervals/ plyometrics or the kettlebells whichever you do first you should have legs that are like jelly so cannot do another form of high intensity exercise well. IME most people cannot train at true high intensity more than about four times a week, remember too that even professional athletes cycle their training hard days and easy days hard weeks and easy weeks.

    I don't have too much dairy, I'm lactose intolerant and the lactose free milk would make me go over my daily sugar allowance on its own. Was considering trying soy milk but it doesn't seem much better. I do eat mexican cheese every now and then though. If eating that is good for me, I'd love to enjoy it more often! What other meats would you suggest? I've always heard lean chicken meat was the best for weight loss. =/

    My workouts don't usually go over 45 minutes. On the treadmill, I do 45 secs at 8 mph then 1 minute at 2 mph for 12-14 sets. It definitely gets me tired but nothing I can't handle. The days I do the kettlebell I never feel the workout was good enough so I might get on the treadmill and do a short session or walk for an hr later on. Would an easy day be a 45 minute walk?
  • cyberiarob
    cyberiarob Posts: 229 Member
    You should always lessen the deficit as you lose fat, not maintain the same static deficit - especially not 2 lbs per week at your weight and fat mass (you end up losing excessive lean body mass if you continue assuming steep deficits beyond what is necessary). With 10 lbs left to lose you should be eating roughly between 250 to 300 calories less than your TDEE. For instance, my actual TDEE is around 2900 calories when lifting 5 days a week (no cardio). Thus, I am eating 2650 calories to lose the final 7 lbs to reach my goal body fat percentage.

    So I should eat less than 1200? Sorry, I don't know what TDEE is.

    TDEE is "total daily energy expediture" - or how many calories you actually burn in a day. He's saying you should figure out how many total calories you are burning in a day and make sure you're eating close to that (250-300 calories under).
    If your caloric goal is only 1200, I would definitely recommend eating back at least some of your burned calories. If not, your net calories would be pretty low and would be counterproductive. Also, weight training is a good idea, just know that it will cause your muscles to grow and your body to retain more water - so your actual weight loss may slow down even though you're still burning fat.
    So when I workout, I should eat 1600 cals instead of 1200, is what you're saying?



    According to a quick BMR calculation your BMR is around 1500. So on non-workout days a good calorie intake would be around 1200-1250. On a workout day where you burn an additional 400 calories, a good intake would be around 1600-1650. These numbers would coincide with a weight loss goal of 1/2 pound per week, which is good for someone with not much left to lose.
  • brandnewlady
    brandnewlady Posts: 10
    You should always lessen the deficit as you lose fat, not maintain the same static deficit - especially not 2 lbs per week at your weight and fat mass (you end up losing excessive lean body mass if you continue assuming steep deficits beyond what is necessary). With 10 lbs left to lose you should be eating roughly between 250 to 300 calories less than your TDEE. For instance, my actual TDEE is around 2900 calories when lifting 5 days a week (no cardio). Thus, I am eating 2650 calories to lose the final 7 lbs to reach my goal body fat percentage.

    So I should eat less than 1200? Sorry, I don't know what TDEE is.

    TDEE is "total daily energy expediture" - or how many calories you actually burn in a day. He's saying you should figure out how many total calories you are burning in a day and make sure you're eating close to that (250-300 calories under).
    If your caloric goal is only 1200, I would definitely recommend eating back at least some of your burned calories. If not, your net calories would be pretty low and would be counterproductive. Also, weight training is a good idea, just know that it will cause your muscles to grow and your body to retain more water - so your actual weight loss may slow down even though you're still burning fat.
    So when I workout, I should eat 1600 cals instead of 1200, is what you're saying?



    According to a quick BMR calculation your BMR is around 1500. So on non-workout days a good calorie intake would be around 1200-1250. On a workout day where you burn an additional 400 calories, a good intake would be around 1600-1650. These numbers would coincide with a weight loss goal of 1/2 pound per week, which is good for someone with not much left to lose.

    Okay I understand it now, thank you!

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