Looking for ways to jumpstart my weightloss

charleydanger
charleydanger Posts: 16
in Introduce Yourself
Hi, I'm new to the whole diet and exercise thing. But I'm really motivated to get down to my goal weight. I'm 5'4, 180lbs. I joined at gym last month on the 8th and since joining, I've been going between 4-5 times a week. I usually do 30 minutes of cardio ( elliptical, arc trainer, row machine), followed by 30 minutes of weight lifting either on machines or free weights. I usually try to burn between 400 and 450 calories when I do my cardio. I've been mostly following a strict diet, though I do occasionally fall off the wagon and a have a cheat day. But I always have a meal replacement shake for breakfast, a lean cuisine for lunch with a piece of whole fruit, and then either baked chicken or fish for dinner, with some kinda of mixed vegetable. Sometimes it's even stir-fry with tofu, or something low calorie. I haven't eaten pork or beef in 10 years, so it's always poultry or fish. I think this is what I'm supposed to be doing, but I'm not seeing any results. Every time I go to the gym, the scale either says I've lost 3 pounds or I've gained two. I've stayed either 177 or 175 for the past month. What could I be doing wrong? And how do I get the weight to come off??

Replies

  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    you've told us what you're eating, but not how much you're eating
  • KimINfortheWin
    KimINfortheWin Posts: 251 Member
    Everyone will ask you to open your diary to the public to assist you.

    They will ask if you accurately measure your foods.

    They will also ask you if you are measuring your body. You could be losing inches but not pounds.


    Good Luck!!
  • ashandloggiesmom
    ashandloggiesmom Posts: 92 Member
    How many calories are you eating? MFP said 1200 per day for me, but I was hungry constantly and not losing, manually changed it to 1400 and bam! Now I'm losing again, maybe your not eating enough as weird as that sounds, your working out a lot. Could be water retention or muscle building or a combo of things. Sounds like your doing the right stuff, you may hop on that scale the next time and be down lots :)
  • verymissk
    verymissk Posts: 262 Member
    Have patience. You've only been working at this for a month. It takes a lot long than that to see measurable results.
  • charleydanger
    charleydanger Posts: 16
    The meal replacement shakes I have for breakfast are 240 calories. The lean cuisines I buy are always 300 calories or less and dinner is usually between 600-700 calories...plus I have low-cal snacks like fruit and pretzels throughout the day.
  • rebecca_c
    rebecca_c Posts: 12
    in a nutshell- you should eat more. The days you did log in you diary, you're netting mostly under 1000 calories and that's too few. Read this and go from there:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/976981-welcome-to-mfp-don-t-worry-there-s-cliff-notes
  • charleydanger
    charleydanger Posts: 16
    Thanks for the tips! I guess it just seemed counterintuitive to eat back the calories I spent all that time trying to burn of at the gym. I hope now I can get down to my goal weight, which is around 125 lbs. It's just been so disheartening to seed my weight stagnate after trying to do all I can.
  • climbamnt
    climbamnt Posts: 190 Member
    My numbers are pretty close to yours (started at 190 and 5'4"), but I don't work out and I lose eating between 1600 and 2000 calories a day, and for a much as your exercise you need to eat more. MFP sort of defaults you to 1200! I used TDEE to figure out what my average daily calorie burn is, and I while I don't "exercise" per say I move a lot through the day getting close 10,000 steps a day (I use FitBit as my activity tracker). Love Lean Cuisines for lunch too! Do you use there codes program for free goodies?

    Also, feel free to add - my diary is open to friends.
  • charleydanger
    charleydanger Posts: 16
    No, I didn't even know they had a rewards program. But I should also say that when I use the term lean cuisine, I mean any o of those frozen diet meals. I usually switch it up between the actual Lean Cuisine, Smart Ones, and Michelina's Lean Gourmet. I stay away from Healthy Choice, their stuff taste funny to me.
  • climbamnt
    climbamnt Posts: 190 Member
    Lol I agree and had to quit eating Healthy Choice blahh! Love Michelina buffalo and egg roll snackers! Best sweet and sour sauce I have ever tasted! Save your Lean Cuisine boxes though, they have a great reward program! Also watch your fat intake, I did low fat when I first started and it messed with my Gallbladder and I had to have it removed a couple of months ago. People think low fat is healthier, but my Gallbladder was used to processing so much bile to digest the fat and I went cold turkey and I got gallstones bad!! Make sure you are still eating lots of healthy fats, this will make you fill fuller too!
  • karri144
    karri144 Posts: 16 Member
    Hi there! You mentioned you eat Lean Cuisines for lunch... just from my personal experience as I used to eat them daily as well, they contain A LOT of sodium, which can lead to water retention. Perhaps this is what is causing your shifts back and forth in weight...? Regardless, I hope you soon pass this roadblock and continue on toa successful journey! :smile:
  • charleydanger
    charleydanger Posts: 16
    That's the part where I'm most ignorant I guess. I don't what the difference is between healthy fats and bad fats and what carbs are good and whatnot. I usually try to stick to a higher protein diet. But I don't really eat too many bad things except on my cheat days! And I've been giving up the fried foods and fast food as best I can, like I may get something once a week. But I heard nuts and beans are good sources of healthy fats so I do incorporate a lot of beans into my diet as well.
  • charleydanger
    charleydanger Posts: 16
    OH yeah, I did hear those things can have killer amounts of sodium. Other than limiting sodium intake is there a way to reduce amount of water I retain?
  • climbamnt
    climbamnt Posts: 190 Member
    Working out will cause water retention (while your muscles are repairing from the workout), and unless you are eating 4 Lean Cuisines a day your sodium is fine. Most of them have 25% of your daily sodium and unless you have a medical condition to be on a low sodium diet you don't have anything to worry about. But as far as Macros go, I track 1) Fat 2) Carbs 3) Protein 4) Fiber & 5) Sodium. For carbs aim for high fiber whole grain less processed etc, up your protein and aim for healthy fats.

    And for me I can't for the life of me remember to pack a lunch or make one the night before so I keep the work stocked with about a weeks worth of meals, and while some people will say that Lean Cuisines are high sodium it is still lower than most quick and convenient options that involve fast food in my area. I should plan better but I am genetically incapable!
  • charleydanger
    charleydanger Posts: 16
    Alrighty, so I found out my TDEE is 2161 and my BMR is 1523. Does that mean I can eat 1523 calories but if I burn 430 at the gym I need to eat them back? Or does that mean I need to eat 1661 calories (2161-500) and not worry about eating the calories I burn? I'm terribly confused!
  • charleydanger
    charleydanger Posts: 16
    Bueller? Bueller?
  • TheBitSlinger
    TheBitSlinger Posts: 621 Member
    The only thing I can suggest is what I do... eat less, move more... a lot more.
  • charleydanger
    charleydanger Posts: 16
    Well I have been doing some reading and while I try to get to the gym 4 times a week,I was told by one of the trainers that I didn't need to go more than that. should I try for 6 times a week?
  • TheBitSlinger
    TheBitSlinger Posts: 621 Member
    Alrighty, so I found out my TDEE is 2161 and my BMR is 1523. Does that mean I can eat 1523 calories but if I burn 430 at the gym I need to eat them back? Or does that mean I need to eat 1661 calories (2161-500) and not worry about eating the calories I burn? I'm terribly confused!

    Yeah, the only way to lose weight is to sustain a caloric deficit, which can be achieve two ways... eating less calories and burning more calories. That being said, staying under a calorie target by eating, say, Snickers and drinking beer probably won't work. Not all carbs are created equal (Google the gylcemic index).

    As long as you are getting good protein in your diet, your body won't go into starvation mode (I've asked two doctor about the "your body will starve w/o enough calories". They both laughed and then talked about protein.)

    If you don't like cardio workouts, then lift weights. The more muscle you add to your body, the more calories you will burn, even while at rest.
  • TheBitSlinger
    TheBitSlinger Posts: 621 Member
    Well I have been doing some reading and while I try to get to the gym 4 times a week,I was told by one of the trainers that I didn't need to go more than that. should I try for 6 times a week?

    Not unless you do not want your body to repair the muscle damage done to it while exercising.
  • maybeazure
    maybeazure Posts: 301 Member
    I'm going to go against the "eat more to lose more" crowd. When I look at your diary it looks like maybe you are eating over your calories. I see a lot of liquid calories...I try to avoid those because they aren't as satisfying as food calories. Many people swear by the TDEE method. I just use the MFP defaults. If you do the TDEE method, my understanding is that you do not eat exercise calories back.
  • charleydanger
    charleydanger Posts: 16
    Well my MFP defaults to 1200 calories, but people told me that was way less than what I needed to be eating. These last couple of days, I've been trying to eat around my TDEE target of 1661. But so far I don't see anything happening...
  • Kymwho
    Kymwho Posts: 183 Member
    Hi there! You mentioned you eat Lean Cuisines for lunch... just from my personal experience as I used to eat them daily as well, they contain A LOT of sodium, which can lead to water retention. Perhaps this is what is causing your shifts back and forth in weight...? Regardless, I hope you soon pass this roadblock and continue on toa successful journey! :smile:


    Yep!!!! ^^^^^ Exactly what she said! I was doing the same with the low cal frozen dinners.. Too much sodium. I've cut my sodium to 1,500mg per day and try my best to stay within that range. If I don't, I gain between 3-6lbs!! Insane how much I retain water!
  • crisbabe81
    crisbabe81 Posts: 170
    Alrighty, so I found out my TDEE is 2161 and my BMR is 1523. Does that mean I can eat 1523 calories but if I burn 430 at the gym I need to eat them back? Or does that mean I need to eat 1661 calories (2161-500) and not worry about eating the calories I burn? I'm terribly confused!

    You need to eat at least your BMR, those are the calories your body needs just to bump blood etc.. You are correct that you would want to aim for 1661. With TDEE it takes into account your activity level, so as long as you went with the right activity level you would NOT eat back exercise calories. Does that make sense?
    Well my MFP defaults to 1200 calories, but people told me that was way less than what I needed to be eating. These last couple of days, I've been trying to eat around my TDEE target of 1661. But so far I don't see anything happening...

    Anytime you increase calories you won't see a change immediately. You may see a gain, but not always. I suggest increasing slowly at first to allow your body time to adjust to the increase and avoid or at least minimize the gain.

    My own personal story.. I am 5'3 184lbs eating 1760. I work out 3-6 times a week, just depends how motivated I am that week. I was at 1200 a few months ago, and for the last 2 weeks I'm at 1700-1760. I didn't gain at all in the increase, the losses this months have slowed but have finally started picking back up. I was like you felt counter productive to eat more. But, it does work.

    I hope this helps. Best of luck
  • charleydanger
    charleydanger Posts: 16
    Thanks! I hope it's all water weight! I'm going to try to ignore the scale for the next couple of weeks and see if there's been any improvement after I cut down my sodium intake.
  • crisbabe81
    crisbabe81 Posts: 170
    Thanks! I hope it's all water weight! I'm going to try to ignore the scale for the next couple of weeks and see if there's been any improvement after I cut down my sodium intake.

    It is mostly water weight. It takes 3500 surplus of calories to actually gain a pound. I think avoiding the scale, or at least disregarding the results for a few weeks is a good plan. Maybe still weight 1x a week as a base line. TDEE isn't perfect, so you may need to go up or down. If you are losing more than 2lbs a week, increase 100cals a week until you are at 2lbs a week. Just be sure you are eating at least BMR from today forward.

    Best of luck.
  • lei24lei
    lei24lei Posts: 2
    the only foods i know that help are fruit and veg...try snack on berrys, celery ,carrot sticks and apples(apples make you feel full) ice pops also help...and non of the above are fattening or bloating...try it see how you get on i garenteee this will help :)
  • charleydanger
    charleydanger Posts: 16
    Thanks for the advice! I'm willing to try anything at this point! Well except for not eating!

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