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Stalling out and having issues
thecheshirekatt3
Posts: 11
Provide your stats (height/weight/age/bodyfat% if you know it/etc)
Height 5'4"
Weight 154
Age 24
Body fat is estimated based off of the fat 2 fit calculator at 31.7%
What's your current gross intake of calories, on average?
I average around 1200 to 1400 a day. I have a tendency to really have a hard time getting enough calories in with being unable to eat gluten and recovering from eating disorder tendencies.
What's your current average intake of protein, carbs, and fats, in grams? (GRAMS, not percent!)
I average 55 g and up on fat, 60g and up on protein and 160 g and up on carbs, but looking at my numbers it fluctuates quite a bit.
Do you use a food scale and measure everything?
I religiously weigh and measure anything going into my mouth. The only exceptions would be Friday and Sunday dinners when I eat out with family, but then I box half of my meal and usually have the other half the next day, or give it to my husband.
Do you track all of your intake, daily? (Everything?)
Everything, even my water intake.
Do you take cheat days or days off?
Only Friday and Sunday dinners, and with those I try my best estimate if it's at a restaurant that has no calorie information.
How much weight have you lost so far and over what time period?
25 pounds over the last year, mostly from resolving my gluten issues I believe.
Describe your activity (exercise and non exercise) and did you change that activity withing the last couple of months?
Last month I did the 30 day shred every single day. This month I've been doing an hour of pop pilates videos with cardio in there as well 6 days per week. I also teach so I'm on my feet at work most days per week as well as being generally active (walking a mile to buy and heft back groceries, frequent 20 mile bike rides on the weekends and that sort of thing).
How long have you been stalled and if it is not a complete stall please be very specific as to how much you have lost over the stalled period.
I've been stuck at 154/155 for about a month and a half now.
Are you breastfeeding?
No
Do you have thyroid issues/risks or PCOS?
Not that I'm aware of, my last check into all of that showed normal results.
Height 5'4"
Weight 154
Age 24
Body fat is estimated based off of the fat 2 fit calculator at 31.7%
What's your current gross intake of calories, on average?
I average around 1200 to 1400 a day. I have a tendency to really have a hard time getting enough calories in with being unable to eat gluten and recovering from eating disorder tendencies.
What's your current average intake of protein, carbs, and fats, in grams? (GRAMS, not percent!)
I average 55 g and up on fat, 60g and up on protein and 160 g and up on carbs, but looking at my numbers it fluctuates quite a bit.
Do you use a food scale and measure everything?
I religiously weigh and measure anything going into my mouth. The only exceptions would be Friday and Sunday dinners when I eat out with family, but then I box half of my meal and usually have the other half the next day, or give it to my husband.
Do you track all of your intake, daily? (Everything?)
Everything, even my water intake.
Do you take cheat days or days off?
Only Friday and Sunday dinners, and with those I try my best estimate if it's at a restaurant that has no calorie information.
How much weight have you lost so far and over what time period?
25 pounds over the last year, mostly from resolving my gluten issues I believe.
Describe your activity (exercise and non exercise) and did you change that activity withing the last couple of months?
Last month I did the 30 day shred every single day. This month I've been doing an hour of pop pilates videos with cardio in there as well 6 days per week. I also teach so I'm on my feet at work most days per week as well as being generally active (walking a mile to buy and heft back groceries, frequent 20 mile bike rides on the weekends and that sort of thing).
How long have you been stalled and if it is not a complete stall please be very specific as to how much you have lost over the stalled period.
I've been stuck at 154/155 for about a month and a half now.
Are you breastfeeding?
No
Do you have thyroid issues/risks or PCOS?
Not that I'm aware of, my last check into all of that showed normal results.
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Replies
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Hi!
You have a start date of December 2012 - were you dieting before that? If so, how long for and what were your average calories? An estimate is fine if you do not have them
You can PM me if you are uncomfortable discussing here, but can you give me a little more color around your eating disorder tendencies.
Did you exercise before last month?0 -
Don't be discouraged. I can relate. I am also 5'4" . I am 47 years old. Weigh 159 with body fat % at 29.4. I have my calorie goal set at 1340 but I use the Bodymedia armband so it can fluctuate. I exercise 6 days a week including a bit of running, lots of walking and throw in some core and strength training such as Jillian or other DVD's a couple of days a week. My goal is to have a minimum of 12500 steps and a 750 calorie deficit daily but often it is more like 500 and on weekends sometimes 0. I have been seriously tracking since Jan 1st and have lost 12 pounds which is pretty much what my target is set at (1.5 pounds per week) I did have a 3 week period of no loss in that time. I think its important to look at the big picture!! Keep at it. Try taking a weekend off. Sometimes that's enough to fool your metabolism into action again!! Good luck0
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Before December, my relationship with food was not so good. I would go through periods of eating one small meal a day of 5 to 600 calories or not eating at all to having weeks where I would binge on fast food for several meals in a day netting thousands of calories. That went on for a good 3 years with my weight fluctuating wildly between 150 and 180.
As far as exercise, I would go back and foreth. Before last month I wasn't doing any specific or structured routine just my usual activity at work, and walking for groceries with bike rides tossed in here or there. I would also go on 6 plus mile walks 1 to 2 weekends a month.0 -
Don't be discouraged. I can relate. I am also 5'4" . I am 47 years old. Weigh 159 with body fat % at 29.4. I have my calorie goal set at 1340 but I use the Bodymedia armband so it can fluctuate. I exercise 6 days a week including a bit of running, lots of walking and throw in some core and strength training such as Jillian or other DVD's a couple of days a week. My goal is to have a minimum of 12500 steps and a 750 calorie deficit daily but often it is more like 500 and on weekends sometimes 0. I have been seriously tracking since Jan 1st and have lost 12 pounds which is pretty much what my target is set at (1.5 pounds per week) I did have a 3 week period of no loss in that time. I think its important to look at the big picture!! Keep at it. Try taking a weekend off. Sometimes that's enough to fool your metabolism into action again!! Good luck
HI! Thank you for your input. We do ask however that people not give advice on intake threads so myself and SideSteel can get the appropriate information and give non-conflicting advice. Encouragement and/or empathizing is always welcome though
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Before December, my relationship with food was not so good. I would go through periods of eating one small meal a day of 5 to 600 calories or not eating at all to having weeks where I would binge on fast food for several meals in a day netting thousands of calories. That went on for a good 3 years with my weight fluctuating wildly between 150 and 180.
As far as exercise, I would go back and foreth. Before last month I wasn't doing any specific or structured routine just my usual activity at work, and walking for groceries with bike rides tossed in here or there. I would also go on 6 plus mile walks 1 to 2 weekends a month.
How has the restricting/binging been recently? From your diary i t looks like you are not fluctuating too much. Are the urges to binge better now?0 -
Since cutting out the gluten from my diet I've worked pretty hard to keep consistent with eating a bunch of small meals, and since almost all fast food and sweets have gluten and make me sick it's been pretty even keel. Basically the ability to binge on a ton of junk food became a non option for me and I've wanted to focus more on eating whole foods.
Edit to add: I still have some days though where my calorie intake is not so great especially when you factor exercise in to the mix.0 -
Thanks. I want to chat to SideSteel about the best course of action - one of us will respond when we have had a chance to come up with a plan.0
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We would like to suggest a slow increase of calories to get your metabolism up a bit due to your history of eating low calories before cutting again.
This may result in a small weigh gain (water + food weight). The logic is to get your maintenance calories up so you have something to cut from without having to go ridiculously low.
You would have to be be patient - the slower the increase in calories, the less potential there will be for fat gain.
So, with that, we would like to start with you eating at 1,400 calories for the next week and then checking back with us (or earlier if needed). Get as close to that number as possible each day.
Also, you should get your protein up. Ideally you should have your protein at least at 110g - if you cannot do this, it will not be a big issue - just get as close to it as possible. Your fats are fine as is.
Will will also be seeing about changing your exercise routine up to add in strength training, but as we do not want to change too much at once as this can mask results, we will be waiting to do that until your calorie intake is up and your weight stabilized.
Please let us know if you have questions and also get back to us in a week so we can assess whether you should up again or sit there for a little longer.0 -
Thank you for looking everything over. Is the 1400 pre or post workout? My workouts tend to burn 200 calories max from the best estimates I've seen, should i eat those calories back? Other than that, I'll check back in a week and keep you posted.0
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Just eat to the static number - no eating of exercise calories back. However, I just had another look at your diary and your calories have actually been higher in the last week or so (last week's average was 1,467), so we can start at a higher number. Sorry for the confusion - but try to eat to 1,600 next week and then get back to us.0
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Will do.0
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Locking temporarily so we can keep track of active threads better. Please PM myself or SideSteel when you wish to follow up or if you have any questions in the interim. Please link the thread in the PM.0
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Unlocked for update by OP0
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Hi there,
I've managed to average closer to 1700 this week (some days high, while other days pretty low), but am having a tough time getting my protein into the neighborhood of 110g a day.
My weight seems to be fairly stable at 155/156 so I have seen a negligible increase in weight, but with its consistent day to day fluctuation, I'm betting on water and hormonal retention this week.
Further advice would be appreciated 0 -
Hi!
Per your diary you are a little shy of 1,600 on average for the week but you are up by about a 100 cals which is great, so I would suggest trying to get that between 1,600 and 1,700 next week. Fats are averaging out a little high which is generally not an issue but you should try to put a bit more of the 'discretionary' to carbs, however, protein is low as you mention. Here is a thread re protein sources that may help:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/926789-protein-sources
If you can focus on getting your calories and protein up next week and then get back to us. Do not worry too much about weight fluctuations during the week. Just let us know in a week what your weight is doing overall.0 -
This week feels like not so great a week. Monday had me in a pretty bad mental state, so my cals were super low. I believe I still managed about 1600 a day average for the week, but I'm still having a really hard time with protein. My weight seems to be pretty steady, but our scale broke a few days ago and that's been making me fairly nervous.0
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We all have off days. As long as they are not all the time, it's no biggie to be a bit low on cals once and a while. Well done on the calories for the rest of the week though.
Re protein: greek yogurt and chicken are some of the best/easiest sources as well as fish. A small 6oz tub of greek yogurt has 18g protein. If you need, stir half a scoop whey protein in it and you have 30g right there.
When you get a new scale it may be calibrated a little differently so do not get too caught up with the first reading in comparison to the last reading of the old one. It should not be off by too much, but there are usually some differences.
Try to settle your eating to the 1,600 - 1,700 range and let us know what the scale says when you get a new one.0 -
This week was good calorie wise. I picked up a protein powder today to help supplement my protein intake. A few of my days were really good on protein this week so that made me happy. The new scale is weighing me in at between 156.2 and 158.9 pounds, though I have been massively retaining water this week.0
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This week was good calorie wise. I picked up a protein powder today to help supplement my protein intake. A few of my days were really good on protein this week so that made me happy. The new scale is weighing me in at between 156.2 and 158.9 pounds, though I have been massively retaining water this week.
Hi!
If you can update is with your weight once your water retention subsides, we can assess your from there. I had a quick peak at your diary and the protein powder seems to be helping get the protein intake up to much better levels.0 -
Hello there.
This week calorie wish and protein wise was pretty good, and I'm feeling a lot better than I was when my protein intake was sad. My weight seems to keep at around 156.5 and 158.2 so I guess that just means that this scale weighs me up to 3 pounds heavier than my last scale. This month I've also upped the weight on my dumb bells and bar bell from what I was using for the past 2 months.0 -
Hi!
Looks like you have been averaging 1,800 calories recently which is great. If you can sit at that intake for two more weeks so we can start to get an idea of how you do at that level now you have a new scale, then we can advise accordingly.
Good going on the protein and I am glad you feel better - the higher calories no doubt help as well.
Also, yay! about upping the weights for your lifts.
Please update up in 2 week, or more frequently if you need/wish to.0 -
Locking to try to help track open threads. Feel free to PM either myself or SideSteel to unlock when you are ready to give us an update, or earlier if you want to add anything or have questions. Please link this thread in the PM.0
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Unlocked at OPs request0
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Hi there,
My weight is still hanging out at the 156/157 range. Still weightlifting and working out every day. My calorie intake seems to be pretty stable, and protein intake is pretty good. Just waiting to see what to do next.0 -
Tagging this.0
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That is great that your weight has stayed stable with the increase in calories. I want to chat with SideSteel as to the next course of action - we will get back to you soon.0
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Assuming your weight has remained stable over the course of this increase, we would like you to average 1900 kcals for the next week (roughly a 100cal increase) and follow up with us in 1 week with your weigh in.
Thanks!0 -
Hi there.
I had a little bit of a set back over the last few weeks, I had upped my calories, but I ended up ballooning and feeling terrible. I found out that I had a bacterial infection in my gut so I've been taking it easy lately and had to get more rest to heal up. Since I've been resting more, I've been eating a bit less. My weight has gone back to normal at this point and I'm building everything up again, both with eating and working out.0 -
Hi there.
I had a little bit of a set back over the last few weeks, I had upped my calories, but I ended up ballooning and feeling terrible. I found out that I had a bacterial infection in my gut so I've been taking it easy lately and had to get more rest to heal up. Since I've been resting more, I've been eating a bit less. My weight has gone back to normal at this point and I'm building everything up again, both with eating and working out.
I am sorry that you had the infection. I hope you are healed up now. Try to work your calories back to where you had them and we can continue from there.0 -
Locking for now so we can keep track of active threads easier.
When you are 'back on track' and want to update us, or if you have any questions, please PM either myself or SideSteel, including a link to this thread in the PM, and we will unlock it.0
This discussion has been closed.