I'm Stuck!!!!!

lisalawsy · July 2013

Hi guys, need some advice. I've been sticking to 1400 Calories per day, some days i may go over slightly but not much. However, i've also being exercising a lot. I've been doing 30 min jog in the morning, 30 min jog in the evening, i do this 5 days a week, and dog walks during the day, every day. Also 4 days a week i do power plate sessions, 3 days a week i do 30 min aerobics, and i do kettle bells every morning. I use a pedometer app when i'm jogging and i put that into myfitnesspal app every day.

When i first started my calorie counting which was about 2 months ago, i lost 4kg in 1 month, easy, and that was with out all the exercise apart from aerobics and power plate sessions every other day. About 4 weeks ago i noticed my weight hadn't changed since my last weigh in, so i pushed my self a bit further and started jogging every morning for 30 mins, a week later i added another 30 minutes in the evening, i've been doing this for about 3 weeks now, and my weight is still the same. I know muscle weighs more than fat, but surely i should be noticing a difference by now? I only started to measure my self yesterday, so i'm not sure if i've been losing inches. However, i do know my clothes are feeling loose but probably because of my first initial weight loss.

One thing i'm getting a little confused with is the calories that i've gained when i've been uploading my jogging into my fitness pal. Say i earn an extra 300 calories per day from exercising, do i use them calories on other meals, for example i felt i had worked hard all week last week and had an indian meal at the weekend, thinking i had earned the extra calories. Does it work this way? One thing i do know is that when your training, you becoming hungry more, although i don't eat big meals, my portions are smaller and they fill me, but after a run i do feel the need to eat something filling rather than something light like a salad.

Any advice would be great! x

mperrott2205 · July 2013

First of all - Yes, use those calories. MFP has already put you into a deficit with your daily target.

2 - Don't go by weight alone, it's the most unstable thing when it comes to fat loss. One day I can be 214lbs, next minute I'm 220... Yet I've lost inches.

3 - Eat when your hungry. If you're hungry after a run, eat. It will not affect your weight loss.

4 - I'm surprised your not dead with the amount of exercise your doing and only eating 1400 calories! It sounds like you're not eating enough calories to support your activity level. You need to figure out your TDEE and then take a SENSIBLE % drop from this. So obviously you will have to up your calorie intake DO NOT THINK THIS IS BAD. http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/ use this.

5 - Having a take away once a week or whatever will not magically add another 10lbs. Live a little

BeachIron · July 2013

How tall are you, how much do you weight and how old are you? That information helps others look at your calculations and provide helpful advice. Also, please open your diary.

Some more general advice that tends to be relevant in these situations:

(1) Make sure that you weigh and measure your food as it is very easy to underestimate how many calories you are consuming if you do not. Your diet is the vast majority of weight loss and it is very difficult to outrun or out-exercise too many calories. I've been there and tried that and it's exhausting.

(2) Definitely keep measuring yourself and taking progress photos. I'd also suggest buying a pair of body fat % calipers and start tracking that. The absolute number of BF% may not be spot on but the trend line is important. It is not entirely unusual to see periods of very little body weight loss but where a significant change in measurements occurs among those engaging in strength training. No one but you really notices a weight loss, but most everyone can see a size change, so isn't that really what you're after?

(3) Don't be afraid to adjust your base calorie allotment up or down when you don't see success over a longer period of time. Answering the questions above will help others help you with this (or just tell you to be patient).

(4) Just as in (3) with your MFP baseline calories, you need to be careful with the number of exercise calories you give yourself. This is another number that varies from person to person and since you ARE supposed to eat those calories every day, you want to have these numbers right. Many people on MFP simply eat back only 1/2 their exercise calories out of caution regarding the MFP numbers. I don't think this is a bad idea as I'm one who thinks MFP overestimates these for a good number of people.

(5) And related to (4), it may be time to sit down and rationalize your exercise program. You need rest days. I say "may" because 8 1/2 hours of exercise (I'm guessing but please help here) isn't so bad. Much more than that is not really necessary though and I'm assuming you want to be efficient with the things that you are really only doing for the benefit and not the pure enjoyment of. I honestly don't know if this is a problem, though you may want to tweak your strength training so details would be helpful.

(6) Be patient. You will have short periods where the scale doesn't change. It happens to everyone.

lisalawsy · July 2013

Thanks for the advice, that's great. Firstly this is the first time i've viewed my profile from here, how do i open my diary?

I am 34, my height is 174cm. My BMI is currently 28.4. A lot of people think i'm mad for trying to lose weight, they don't think i need to, but my BMI is unhealthy and i want to change that because hey i'm 6 years off being 40! People say it's just puppy fat from having 2 kids, that maybe but i would like to lose 17 kilos.

BeachIron · July 2013

Thanks for the advice, that's great. Firstly this is the first time i've viewed my profile from here, how do i open my diary?

I am 34, my height is 174cm. My BMI is currently 28.4. A lot of people think i'm mad for trying to lose weight, they don't think i need to, but my BMI is unhealthy and i want to change that because hey i'm 6 years off being 40! People say it's just puppy fat from having 2 kids, that maybe but i would like to lose 17 kilos.

How much do you weigh?

Go to "Settings" then "Diary Settings" and go down to "Diary Sharing."

pkw58 · July 2013

Hey Lisalawsy,

I think you are doing all the right things, and at age 34 with two kids you are doing great to invest the time into a healthy lifestyle! I think it takes a while to figure out how to balance it all out. If I eat certain foods I retain water like crazy, and have to drink a lot of water to get it to come off. I lose weight exactly like you are ... a bunch comes off at first, and then nothing for 2-3 weeks and then 1-5 more pounds falls off. I think you just have to fake patience with it, and keep alternating your exercise like you are doing. To be honest, I eat at maintenance level most days and don't eat my exercise calories. ( Lost 46 pounds in 2012, entering my second year of mainteance this month). If I eat a snack, I try to eat dense... like protein and/or a banana or apple or 100-200 calories of unsalted nuts.. It works for me, but try a few different items on different days.

I do believe every decade of our life we have to adapt our foods and get stricter with eatting more nutirionally dense foods.

Keep up the good work , just take a bit harder look at your food plan and determine what feeds the hunger pangs but makes nutritional sense... if you read the forums and blogs, there a lot of success stories and "how-to's".

Best wishes!

lisalawsy · July 2013

It's open!

I'm currently at a shocking 85.9 Kilos!!! :noway:

Thanks for the advice, that's great. Firstly this is the first time i've viewed my profile from here, how do i open my diary?

I am 34, my height is 174cm. My BMI is currently 28.4. A lot of people think i'm mad for trying to lose weight, they don't think i need to, but my BMI is unhealthy and i want to change that because hey i'm 6 years off being 40! People say it's just puppy fat from having 2 kids, that maybe but i would like to lose 17 kilos.

How much do you weigh?

Go to "Settings" then "Diary Settings" and go down to "Diary Sharing."

lisalawsy · July 2013

Thanks. I did find it hard to fit everything at the beginning to be honest. I run my own business from home which has it's good points as well as its bad points, but i'm in a routine now where i get out of bed earlier than i used to and do kettle bells straight away, i then put my trainers on, get the dog, and do some jogging first thing. I come home, take a shower, have some breakfast then start work. In the afternoon, i take a lunch break from working, take the dog of a quick walk, some days i do a 30 min aerobic session, other days i jump on my power plate session. I eat my lunch whilst working. When i finish work, i have the house work to do, oh the joys. Haha. I will prep the Dinner and then go out of another 30 min jog with the Dog. By the time i have eaten my Dinner, i'm just about knackered! Haha. But i do rest on the weekends. I'm normally active anyways, and i feel much better in my self for getting up and doing more, i just wish i could see results.

When i was younger i could lose weight very quick, when i had my first child, i had put a bit of weight on, but not much. After a year i went to weight watchers and lost 1 stone very quickly. When i'm determined to do some thing, i put everything into it to get the result i need, that worked about 10 years ago, now i haven't got a clue what's going on with my body.

Hey Lisalawsy,

I think you are doing all the right things, and at age 34 with two kids you are doing great to invest the time into a healthy lifestyle! I think it takes a while to figure out how to balance it all out. If I eat certain foods I retain water like crazy, and have to drink a lot of water to get it to come off. I lose weight exactly like you are ... a bunch comes off at first, and then nothing for 2-3 weeks and then 1-5 more pounds falls off. I think you just have to fake patience with it, and keep alternating your exercise like you are doing. To be honest, I eat at maintenance level most days and don't eat my exercise calories. ( Lost 46 pounds in 2012, entering my second year of mainteance this month). If I eat a snack, I try to eat dense... like protein and/or a banana or apple or 100-200 calories of unsalted nuts.. It works for me, but try a few different items on different days.

I do believe every decade of our life we have to adapt our foods and get stricter with eatting more nutirionally dense foods.

Keep up the good work , just take a bit harder look at your food plan and determine what feeds the hunger pangs but makes nutritional sense... if you read the forums and blogs, there a lot of success stories and "how-to's".

Best wishes!

BeachIron · July 2013

It's open!

I'm currently at a shocking 85.9 Kilos!!! :noway:

Thanks for the advice, that's great. Firstly this is the first time i've viewed my profile from here, how do i open my diary?

I am 34, my height is 174cm. My BMI is currently 28.4. A lot of people think i'm mad for trying to lose weight, they don't think i need to, but my BMI is unhealthy and i want to change that because hey i'm 6 years off being 40! People say it's just puppy fat from having 2 kids, that maybe but i would like to lose 17 kilos.

How much do you weigh?

Go to "Settings" then "Diary Settings" and go down to "Diary Sharing."

That's not shocking. Do you have your MFP setting on lose 2 pounds a week? Try notching that down to 1 pound per week. Your goal is set at just about 1200 calories and you're not eating back your exercise calories. I get an estimate of about 2000 calories for you even at a 20% deficit with the Scooby calculator. I find that Scooby overestimates and MFP underestimates, so try setting your goal so that you're eating 1500-1700 calories a day total. See how that works for a month and then reassess.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Also, you're not getting enough dietary fats and protein. There is nothing wrong with carbs but if they're crowding out the other macronutrients then that is a problem. It's great that you're drinking 2% milk as that does provide some dietary fat, but try adding eggs, avocado, cheese, fish, chicken, beef, and nuts to your diet. As for how much 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass, and 0.35 grams of fat per pound of total body weight is a good general guide. You're not anywhere near this for either macro.

As for training, what are you doing with the kettlebells and how heavy? Work on lifting weights that are truly difficult to lift. If you can do 12-15 reps then the weight is too light and it amounts to endurance and cardio training. Increase it. You want to push your muscles to grow if you can but mostly to not shrink while you lose weight so you lose more fat. This will leave you looking firm when the weight is off.

Work on a strength training routine 3-4 days a week and pick a cardio routine and do it no more than 1 hour a day for 3-5 days a week. That's honestly enough if you're hitting your calorie targets and it also gives your body some rest and recovery time.

lisalawsy · July 2013

Thanks for that, I really appreciate it! x

It's open!

I'm currently at a shocking 85.9 Kilos!!! :noway:

Thanks for the advice, that's great. Firstly this is the first time i've viewed my profile from here, how do i open my diary?

I am 34, my height is 174cm. My BMI is currently 28.4. A lot of people think i'm mad for trying to lose weight, they don't think i need to, but my BMI is unhealthy and i want to change that because hey i'm 6 years off being 40! People say it's just puppy fat from having 2 kids, that maybe but i would like to lose 17 kilos.

How much do you weigh?

Go to "Settings" then "Diary Settings" and go down to "Diary Sharing."

That's not shocking. Do you have your MFP setting on lose 2 pounds a week? Try notching that down to 1 pound per week. Your goal is set at just about 1200 calories and you're not eating back your exercise calories. I get an estimate of about 2000 calories for you even at a 20% deficit with the Scooby calculator. I find that Scooby overestimates and MFP underestimates, so try setting your goal so that you're eating 1500-1700 calories a day total. See how that works for a month and then reassess.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Also, you're not getting enough dietary fats and protein. There is nothing wrong with carbs but if they're crowding out the other macronutrients then that is a problem. It's great that you're drinking 2% milk as that does provide some dietary fat, but try adding eggs, avocado, cheese, fish, chicken, beef, and nuts to your diet. As for how much 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass, and 0.35 grams of fat per pound of total body weight is a good general guide. You're not anywhere near this for either macro.

As for training, what are you doing with the kettlebells and how heavy? Work on lifting weights that are truly difficult to lift. If you can do 12-15 reps then the weight is too light and it amounts to endurance and cardio training. Increase it. You want to push your muscles to grow if you can but mostly to not shrink while you lose weight so you lose more fat. This will leave you looking firm when the weight is off.

Work on a strength training routine 3-4 days a week and pick a cardio routine and do it no more than 1 hour a day for 3-5 days a week. That's honestly enough if you're hitting your calorie targets and it also gives your body some rest and recovery time.

I'm Stuck!!!!!

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