Am I doing something wrong?

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  • sgmomma
    sgmomma Posts: 299 Member
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    I personally would eat more calories...i'd say like 1650....try it for a few weeks before you change back again i think you may need to eat some more
  • J3ss1caD
    J3ss1caD Posts: 74 Member
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    So.. I've been going "hard" at working out and counting calories for 4 months now. And... I've lost 10lb and 5.3% body fat. I dont feel like thats GREAT progess :(

    I work out ATLEAST 5 days a week.. most of it cardio though. And my caloric intake is 1484.

    What am I doing wrong?
    Where did you get the number 1484 and does that include exercise calories?

    I'm in the military.. and on my base we have this thing called the BOD POD.. it measures your body composition. It measured my BMR at 1167 and my TDEE (sedentary lifestyle) at a 1484. Considering I had a desk job.. I figured my life was pretty sedentary.. so I went with.. instead of the 1800+ for lightly active.

    I too have a desk job and thought i was sedentary, turns out with all the exercise i do (at least an hour a day) i am more in the lightly active category, i wasnt eating enough either because I was eating for the "sedentary" lifestyle. try upping your calories little by little. (50-75 more every week til you get to the caloric intake for lightly active)

    I'm at 1450 now but my trainer wants me at 1700 and we are slowly adding calories back into my eating.

    I'll definitely to try to slowly increase my calories. I just get so worried bc I'm so short. Even 1484 seems high.. but I'll work on it ;)
  • Kimlogans
    Kimlogans Posts: 10 Member
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    I can totally understand your frustration J3ss1caD. I also have been working out for 4 months, 4-5 times a day and have only lost 18 pounds, dont no about body fat becuase I still look fat! I was on a 1200 calorie intake but my doctor moved me up to 1400 which seems find but I still think its to high. I use to drink my dew all day over 4 litler a day and now I drink only water and yet the weight wont come off. Im trying to lose 30 pounds by June. We can support each other, and keep each other motivated. lets make 2013 , our year.
  • J3ss1caD
    J3ss1caD Posts: 74 Member
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    LIFT! Anytime I concentrated solely on cardio I would lose a little bit but when I team cardio with weight training... it definately makes a difference! If you don't have time to do both everyday alternate.

    Also, trying varying your workout from day to day. If you are don't nothing but running on the treadmill for 4mo that will stall your weightloss. Good luck!

    I'll definitely switch my workouts up a little.
    I never run on the treadmill (hurts my knees). And for the most part all my cardio workouts are different. I'll definitely try adding some weight training in.
  • J3ss1caD
    J3ss1caD Posts: 74 Member
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    I can totally understand your frustration J3ss1caD. I also have been working out for 4 months, 4-5 times a day and have only lost 18 pounds, dont no about body fat becuase I still look fat! I was on a 1200 calorie intake but my doctor moved me up to 1400 which seems find but I still think its to high. I use to drink my dew all day over 4 litler a day and now I drink only water and yet the weight wont come off. Im trying to lose 30 pounds by June. We can support each other, and keep each other motivated. lets make 2013 , our year.

    I was on 1200 calories for about a month and started getting HORRIBLE hunger pains. So much that I increased my calories and that was perfect.. and I started losing weight again. But.. increasing it more scares me into thinking its too much and I'll only gain my weight back. And whoooo weeee.. I dont know how you could drink that dew! lol. I'm actually good with drinking water. Its honestly the only thing I drink.. and a cup of coffee.. AND OCCASIONALLY a small glass of Moscato (I really do only mean occasionally.. lol) But yes.. I'll definitely help motivated you!!!!
  • BellaBones
    BellaBones Posts: 136
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    Maybe change what you are eating and how often you are eating. Whole foods is the best bet. Bring fats (omg yes) back into your life, stay away from soda's and what not. It has helped me. I exercise daily so I pick and choose what I do. Sometimes it is an easy day, sometimes I go all out. Strength and cardio. If you do all these things you should be good to go. If you are putting a bunch of processed foods in your body will store them no matter how much you work out. 10 pounds is good though, but you can do better I am sure. There is nothing wrong with wanting more, just do not put to much pressure on yourself and stress out. Make changes and see what happens.
  • karrielynn80
    karrielynn80 Posts: 395 Member
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    So.. I've been going "hard" at working out and counting calories for 4 months now. And... I've lost 10lb and 5.3% body fat. I dont feel like thats GREAT progess :(

    I work out ATLEAST 5 days a week.. most of it cardio though. And my caloric intake is 1484.

    What am I doing wrong?

    first - KUDOS!! that' is good progress / average progress. (i say average b/c my guidlines are set up by a fitness competetor) -
    I just finished a 3 mo cut where I lost 7 lbs & went from 21.4-51.11 bf%. I am now aiming for 13%.
    I work out 5 days a wk like you, doing 4days of lifting + 1 day of cardio & 2 rest days. I also give myself cheats here & there - but eat very lean the rest of the time. . . Calories is one area i'd wonder if you could "improve" on; i'm not sure of your stats (height, weight, etc) but I started my cut @ 1800 + workout cals, when i felt necessary tappering down to 1550 + ONLY cardio cals by end of march.
    Maybe bumping up your calories for a short time would help out or even not show much different progress, but give you more energy (thus allowing you to push harder)... If you do bump your cals up, i reccommend staying away from the scale for an extra wk, b/c you'll probably have an intial weight gain of a few lbs, then back down....

    just my 2 cents :)
  • sgmomma
    sgmomma Posts: 299 Member
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    If it eases your fears any i'm 5'2 and i eat at 1900 daily and i workout 3-5 times a week running and doing jillian michaels dvds.... stay at home mom so other than that im sedentary. I've lost 40lbs gained back 5 over xmas when we moved....
  • Yourkindagirl
    Yourkindagirl Posts: 100 Member
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    The same thing happened to me. I was only eating 1200 calories at 5'2. I began doing Insanity and began toning up, but the weight that I expected to fall of clung onto me. It was because I had upped my exercise by going hard (sometimes burning 500-600 calories) and didn't eat them back. So, I added 350-400 calories to my diet when I go hard. I am beginning to see more calories fall off. Try it for a couple of weeks. Everybody's body is different. My body was in starvation mode.
  • karrielynn80
    karrielynn80 Posts: 395 Member
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    Eating too little. Your body is in starvation mode.
    *** psh, @ 5'1, 1400+ calories, i highly doubt you're in the "starvation" mode category. If you aren't eating back when you are hungry, i'd suggest that. Also, focus more on your macros than your calories. I go over several times a wk & under several times a wk w/ my calories - but stay pretty close to my macros & it hasn't set me back.
    Switch your cardio & strength training around - you will be amazed at the difference it will make. Good luck!

    I cant say much about switching my cardio up (I'm in the military and am currently in charge of a Biggest Loser running group) but I can definitely increase my strength training to see if that helps. Thank you for your help!
    *since you are unable to switch them, i would definately recommend adding more in if you are able - lifting breaks burns more calories in less amt of time + for longer amt of time (after workouts) than cardio [which you may already be aware of being in the military]. . . even if you are able to swap out some of your "running" cardio for strength circuit training - which would still give you a lil of both.
  • danibu98
    danibu98 Posts: 281 Member
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    There's a great group here on MFP called Eat Train Progress run by 2 successful members that may be able to give you some ideas too!

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