Anyone care to check my diary and help me explain....

Just need some guidance from those who could identify what's going on? Scales won't decrease and inches not going down?

To confirm I'm 4ft 11, hovering around 127lbs, 29, doing Stonglifts plus a bit of cardio after, then netball once a week and maybe spin once a week.

I've been advised to eat around 1500.

Until two years ago I underrate for many years and did excessive cardio....and I was about 8lbs lighter. I want to get down as my measurements won't decrease now they've gone up since eating more and doing less cardio.
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Replies

  • patrickfish7
    patrickfish7 Posts: 190 Member
    Stronglifts are compound exercises, one of the best types of exercises that can help to create muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat. Never seen anyone carry round scales measuring how fit people are based on numbers...

    I would monitor your fat percentage if its fat you want to lose, rather than your weight. Take a wrestler who may weight 260 lbs but have a fat % of around 8-12. But I wouldnt say they were fat if I saw them. But compared to my 185 lb? You decide!
  • DizzyLinds
    DizzyLinds Posts: 856 Member
    But my measurements won't go down?
  • patrickfish7
    patrickfish7 Posts: 190 Member
    You say inches aren't going down. What for? Waist/hip? What are they?
  • Montarosa456
    Montarosa456 Posts: 133
    Your diary looks excellent - Really balanced choices.

    Now feel free to dismiss this because I'm most certainly not a expert but have you considered the following?:

    *Changing your routine? - Try two weeks of something completely different aka swimming, jogging, two spin classes and one net ball sesh..or whatever fits..Sometimes our bodies just plateau
    *Eating more? It may take a few weeks for your body to adapt but it may be that as your not hitting your 1,500 limit some days your body needs more fuel?
    *I read on your profile that your BF was/is reducing? I feel BF % is more relevant than weight when trying to get lean

    Best of luck :)
  • DizzyLinds
    DizzyLinds Posts: 856 Member
    Waist, hips, thigh, arm
  • DizzyLinds
    DizzyLinds Posts: 856 Member
    Your diary looks excellent - Really balanced choices.

    Now feel free to dismiss this because I'm most certainly not a expert but have you considered the following?:

    *Changing your routine? - Try two weeks of something completely different aka swimming, jogging, two spin classes and one net ball sesh..or whatever fits..Sometimes our bodies just plateau
    *Eating more? It may take a few weeks for your body to adapt but it may be that as your not hitting your 1,500 limit some days your body needs more fuel?
    *I read on your profile that your BF was/is reducing? I feel BF % is more relevant than weight when trying to get lean

    Best of luck :)

    I do look at my diary and wonder what I'm doing wrong!

    Admittedly I may have a few nuts which I don't add in but that would take me to 1500, or I roll those over as I know I may go out for dinner on the weekend. I've also stopped alcohol for 3 weeks now.

    I did change my routine...nothing happened unless I stopped lifting weights...and then I started to feel softer.
    My bodyfat reduced a bit last year so not had it done since...but my PT at the time was pushing me hard and making me do 2 hour sessions which I didn't feel I should be doing to get where I wanted to. I've since stopped using PT for money reasons too.
  • mkim3138
    mkim3138 Posts: 80
    Diary looks good. How is the intensity of your workouts? Do you wear a heart rate monitor when you workout?
  • mazdauk
    mazdauk Posts: 1,380 Member
    You look pretty lean to me! As others have said, try doing some different exercsies. Have you tried zumba? Its great fun and burns loads of calories, but it works you all over rather than focussing on specific areas. You mgiht just find doing something different gives you a kickstart - after a fairly fast start my weight lossgot really slow, but once I added zumba in it speeded up.
  • tonytoo
    tonytoo Posts: 307
    When you say " a few nuts" that you don't count... how many is a few? 25g or around 40 almonds is 150 calories for instance...
  • DizzyLinds
    DizzyLinds Posts: 856 Member
    No a small handful, usually I weigh them...so possibly 100cals worth of nuts.
  • GravyBrah
    GravyBrah Posts: 34 Member
    It looks like you are already at a 300cal deficit and your Carb and Protein macros are even which is great. I think your Fat macro might be a little too high though, try aiming for 27g a day for your 1200 cal goal. Then you can bump up your Protein and Carbs to 120g to make up the difference. This is known as the 40/40/20 cutting ratio
  • DizzyLinds
    DizzyLinds Posts: 856 Member
    Although most of my fat intake is good fats...not saturated ones.
  • DizzyLinds
    DizzyLinds Posts: 856 Member
    Diary looks good. How is the intensity of your workouts? Do you wear a heart rate monitor when you workout?

    I normally wear a hrm but need to get a new battery. I generally burn around 300-400 calories in a session of weights and cardio. Or a 45-60 minute spin class. That's with my Herat rate getting upto around 160ish...especially if I do jumping/skipping/plyo exercises. I try to having active rests between sets, so might do box jumps and skipping or press ups etc.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,965 Member
    You're sure about logging accuracy? Are you using a food scale? I notice you never have salad dressings, and you log very little cooking oil.
  • DizzyLinds
    DizzyLinds Posts: 856 Member
    Rarely use oil...if I do I log it. I always use a scale...pretty much for everything! I don't really eat salad dressings either.
  • Montarosa456
    Montarosa456 Posts: 133
    Of course a PT is a mega expense..Plus 2hrs of cardio is pretty full on...Well once a week I do a longer run etc but more for endurance over weight loss so I can't criticise your PT for suggesting that but for most people to fit cardio in to everyday life a shorter higher intensity sesh can be just as effective..and may be worth considering?
    Even for just 15/20 minutes..because if you can manage 15/20 minutes at your 'flat out' pace you'll be feeling a real high and it could jump start your bod?
    This may or may not help because we are all different but I try to eat well/balanced and hardly drink (apart from a binge on a mini break this week) and I've lost 2.5% BF (plus around 4.5lbs) in 8 weeks with shorter cardio sessions, adding weights to my routine but I do a circuit/routine with 3/4kg hand weights rather than heavy lifting (I'm still a weights newbie) and a couple of 20/30 min pilates sessions a week.
    I am a recovering cardio addict... :) I was gaining weight, getting slower, losing interest in working out etc..
  • trudijoy
    trudijoy Posts: 1,685 Member
    netball is a crazy high burn because it's so intensive. I coach and ump. and am about to start playing too (just indoor though).

    is your intake consistently at TDEE- however many %? I find it easier to keep standard cals and not eat back exercise ones.
  • tonytoo
    tonytoo Posts: 307
    How long has it been?

    try breaking it all down into calories.

    for each day of the week:

    How many cals eaten
    what do you estimate that to be a deficit from your TDEE
    how many cals burnt in exercise

    then estimate your weekly burn/deficit from that. (estimate / 3500) pounds.

    then tell us! :)
  • GravyBrah
    GravyBrah Posts: 34 Member
    Although most of my fat intake is good fats...not saturated ones.


    I'm not going to disagree, good fats are great for overall health. But if you are looking for actual physical results, you should consider this slight adjustment to you reach your desired goal. Then go back to a healthy maintenance mode.
  • DizzyLinds
    DizzyLinds Posts: 856 Member
    I was told by a MVP member on here to eat at around 1500, as my tdee-15 was around 1700.

    I've kept at programmers for 6 weeks and seen no results.

    My cardio sessions now are more intense higher burns with more circuit style training. Running and high impact exercises have taken their toll on my knees.

    Generally I'm hitting 1500-1600 per day with an average burn of 350cals burn 5 days per week. I'm told not to do tdee but if I did I'd be eating at probably 20%below if I'm on Sidesteel's goal of 1500. According to online calculators my tdee is around 2096.

    I'll try and maybe cut down all fats then?
  • tonytoo
    tonytoo Posts: 307
    TDEE 1711


    sat sun mon tues wed thur Fri

    Eaten 1988 1554 1324 1409 1293 1607 1347 10522
    Exercised 0 200 300 200 200 100 0 1000
    Balance -2967 -0.85

    Based on your last 7 days, with a TDEE of 1711, I would estimate that you should of lost about 0.85 pounds.

    If you haven't then either

    a) you're holding onto the weight for the moment (water weight etc)
    b) your TDEE is off
    c) you're underestimating what you eat
    d) you're overestimating your exercise.

    Try going down to 1200 for a couple of weeks?
  • DizzyLinds
    DizzyLinds Posts: 856 Member
    1200 calories?! As a PE teacher I'm not sat around all day and I think I'd feel very tired on this. Also I've not logged my exercise calories and probably underestimated because I've not had my hrm working. I rather underestimate than over.
  • tonytoo
    tonytoo Posts: 307
    I looked at your diary, as you asked. If your diary isn't a reflection of the truth then I can't help.
  • GravyBrah
    GravyBrah Posts: 34 Member
    I was told by a MVP member on here to eat at around 1500, as my tdee-15 was around 1700.

    I've kept at programmers for 6 weeks and seen no results.

    My cardio sessions now are more intense higher burns with more circuit style training. Running and high impact exercises have taken their toll on my knees.

    Generally I'm hitting 1500-1600 per day with an average burn of 350cals burn 5 days per week. I'm told not to do tdee but if I did I'd be eating at probably 20%below if I'm on Sidesteel's goal of 1500. According to online calculators my tdee is around 2096.

    I'll try and maybe cut down all fats then?


    Everyone's advice is valid but the problem is everyone's body reacts differently. The majority of the numbers on this site are meant for normal to obese individuals. You seem like a dedicated and active person, someone I would consider athletic.
    A perfectly healthy amount of progress for an athletic individual to cut is about a lb a week. If you aren't seeing any progress, the most obvious reason is that your calories are too high.

    The cutting numbers I would suggest you try are:

    127lb X 13 = 1651 cal - 300cal deficit = 1351 cal/day regardless of exercise

    40/40/20 = 135g Protein/ 135g Carbs/ 30g Fats
  • nikki94541
    nikki94541 Posts: 7 Member
    You do not want to under eat as that will hang on. You have muscle weight. Muscle weight is heavier and it also burns fat you are doing the same thing and your body is used to it. you need to feed your body if you are burning a lot of calories. Swimming will burn more and work every muscle in your body. If you increase the intensity of your work outs you will get out of your plateau.
  • surreygirl23
    surreygirl23 Posts: 85 Member
    I'm not an expert by any means, but at first glance, there is quite a lot of fruit... and you're not showing your daily sugar totals.
    Go into your settings and change one of your columns to sugar and see what happens.

    You may well want to ditch some of your fruit for veg's...

    Just a thought! :)
  • DizzyLinds
    DizzyLinds Posts: 856 Member
    So the consensus is to eat lower than 1500. My fruit is quite small portions. I feel I don't seem to be able to eat fruit or veggies now if its hindering weight loss?
  • surreygirl23
    surreygirl23 Posts: 85 Member
    NO! Don't ditch the veg! Vegetables are your friends, embrace your vegetables! Just cut down on the fruit.
    I've just had a quick look and your sugar totals are deffo in the red...

    As I said, I'm no expert. SOmething a nutritionist said to me recently was, if you start to plateau, try varying your daily calories and also the types of food you eat. So, have an egg for breakfast for a couple of days, then some oatmeal, then maybe go all mediterranean and have cheeses and olives!
    Basically, confuse your metabolism.
    Likewise, with the exercise, as someone else said to you earlier. Not easy with your profession of course.

    Anyway, you look great to me! :smile:
  • DizzyLinds
    DizzyLinds Posts: 856 Member
    Thanks, I've gone low sugar, higher sugar had eggs for breakfast, oats, yogurt, stopped pasta , had pasta....no changes!

    How much sugar is recommended?

    I'm trying to lose fat...not just weight by the way.
  • DizzyLinds
    DizzyLinds Posts: 856 Member
    Thankyou for your compliment. I dont think my pic shows how big my lower half is. My strength is really good but my hips and thighs wont slim down and show definition. My tummy is pretty flat and toned it's more on my bottom half. I'm 27.5 waist but over 38 on my hips.

    Haven't had my body fat done for ages. Not sure where to go as i know callipers arent that accurate.