Advice needed..am getting nowhere :(

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Hey everyone :) i am not new to myfitnesspal as i have been using it for months but have never posted on the message boards so would first of all like to say a big hello :)

Was just really wanting abit of advice.. im 26 and my usual weight is 11.2 and a size 10-12 (im quite tall) and have used my fitness pal for months to maintain this and i love it but since being on a two week holiday in June in Ibiza i have shot up to 11.10 which is heavier than im used to being. I am eating around 1200 cals a day, doing a 45minute walk on my lunch hr, a spin class in the evenings and have started running at the weekends. I have not lost a single pound so have no cut out alcohol at the weekends (i wouldnt be a big drinker but would enjoy a few glasses of wine on a Saturday night which i changed to barcadi and diet coke more recently) which still hasnt helped either. I am not guilty of some of the reasons why people done lose weight.. i dont think its okay to eat more just because im at the gym, i dont drink high calorie drinks etc, i eat lots of melon, blue berrys and drink green tea to speed up my mototablism but nothing has worked and the weight i have gained is all on my stomach and im starting to get upset as im going on holiday in two weeks and know im not going to feel comfortable and feel like giving up as i am not getting anywhere. For breakfast i would normally have a boiled egg and a grapefrut, lunch is a salad or a low calorie cupasoup and dinner is meat and a salad, if im hungry before bed i would have scrambled egg on its own.. so am i maybe just not eating enough? any help would be fantastic as i dont know what else to do :(

Many thanks



Victoria

Replies

  • D782
    D782 Posts: 21 Member
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    Hi Vickie

    If Im being honest I dont think your quite eating enough, because you do so much exercise your body needs more fuel in order to burn the calories. Mainly I would try adding more protein to your diet, it doesnt seem like your getting enough. Hope this helps. Feel free to add me if you like?
  • vickibabe
    vickibabe Posts: 10 Member
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    Heyyy! thanks so much for replying to me..i think thats what it is to because i dont think theres anything else i could possible do :( aw i would love 2 add you but am unsure how..could you add me? lol :)
  • D782
    D782 Posts: 21 Member
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    No problem Ive sent you a friend request :)

    Honestly Im finding the same thing. The app set my calorie goal at 1240 but thats just too low when I work out almost every night and burn 400-500 calories. That means Im only really eating 840 calories a day which is way too low!!

    Ive just upped my calorie intake today so Im going to see how that goes. Ive also upped my protein levels so that should help too. Will keep you posted!
  • Jim_1960
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    Hi Vickie

    If Im being honest I dont think your quite eating enough, because you do so much exercise your body needs more fuel in order to burn the calories. Mainly I would try adding more protein to your diet, it doesnt seem like your getting enough. Hope this helps. Feel free to add me if you like?

    I think this covers of the advice quite nicely.
    Good luck guys.
  • britcanuck14
    britcanuck14 Posts: 114 Member
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    Your diet sounds really good. I think you need at least a few more calories a day if you're doing lots of exercise. You can't starve yourself if you're working out as you're body will hold on to as many calories as it can.

    Hope it works if you choose to try it :)
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,118 Member
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    No problem Ive sent you a friend request :)

    Honestly Im finding the same thing. The app set my calorie goal at 1240 but thats just too low when I work out almost every night and burn 400-500 calories. That means Im only really eating 840 calories a day which is way too low!!

    Ive just upped my calorie intake today so Im going to see how that goes. Ive also upped my protein levels so that should help too. Will keep you posted!

    For both you and the first poster:

    You do know that this site is designed for you to add in your exercise in the Exercise tab? When you do that, you are given XXX number of calories more to eat. If you are set at 1240 and you are exercising for an hour or so, you should be eating around 1600-1900 total...IF you have set your Goals correctly.

    Here, read this:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf
  • infernalcricket
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    Echoing the advice of others-- eat more! Eat to your macros! The food you're eating isn't necessarily bad (no food is bad inherently), but it simply isn't abundant enough.

    Cardio is not an efficient way to burn fat, additionally. Consider adding weight training instead.

    Additionally, I just thought I would point out that 'diet' anything is a bad idea. Artificial sweeteners induce an insulin response in your body and when no sugar actual enters to blood stream, you end up with problems. This can actually cause you to gain weight. If you're going to have a soda-- have a soda, but try to drink one sweetened with (organic) cane sugar. Don't even get me started on high fructose corn syrup, lol.
  • lamarrsgallardo
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    I had the some problem. I had to eat more calories in order to lose weight. So like what everyone else says, eat more but not a lot that will make you gain weight =)
  • vickibabe
    vickibabe Posts: 10 Member
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    Hey thanks everyone for your replies :) Have to say im overwhelmed with how many replies i recieved and am loving all the advice, for the person who mentioned there is a exercise tab yes i have been using this :) i decided i wasnt eating enough so yesterday i ate 1457 and burned 789 through a mixture of walking, spin class and cross trainer, i have to admit tho i did feel a little panicky when i seen i was at 700 cals and that was even before dinner :) hopefully this will work :) thanks so much for your help people :) my diary is now public and you will see that last week was more extreme, please let me know anything you feel i am doing wrong in my diary..i just want to feel comfortable in my clothes again. I have to say though that i was never aware that i had to eat back the cals i was burning in the past and never done this and i ALWAYS lost, i have never had a problem before with losing weight so i have to ask the big question, why burn cals if you are going to eat them all back? xx
  • vickibabe
    vickibabe Posts: 10 Member
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    Echoing the advice of others-- eat more! Eat to your macros! The food you're eating isn't necessarily bad (no food is bad inherently), but it simply isn't abundant enough.

    Cardio is not an efficient way to burn fat, additionally. Consider adding weight training instead.

    Additionally, I just thought I would point out that 'diet' anything is a bad idea. Artificial sweeteners induce an insulin response in your body and when no sugar actual enters to blood stream, you end up with problems. This can actually cause you to gain weight. If you're going to have a soda-- have a soda, but try to drink one sweetened with (organic) cane sugar. Don't even get me started on high fructose corn syrup, lol.


    Please go over this insulin thing with me .. i use artifical sweetners so could these be harming my weightloss??

    many thanks



    Victoria
  • framingsammie
    framingsammie Posts: 144 Member
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    You need to eat more if you exercise because you're taking those calories away from your body which it needs to function. So if you're set at 1500 calories and burn 600 you'd be left with 900 calories net and that's not going to do your body any good long term. At least that's the way I've got my head around the why you need to eat more if you exercise. Feel free to add me as a friend if you like. :)
  • vickibabe
    vickibabe Posts: 10 Member
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    You need to eat more if you exercise because you're taking those calories away from your body which it needs to function. So if you're set at 1500 calories and burn 600 you'd be left with 900 calories net and that's not going to do your body any good long term. At least that's the way I've got my head around the why you need to eat more if you exercise. Feel free to add me as a friend if you like. :)



    just added you :) x
  • mollbllm
    mollbllm Posts: 8 Member
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    I had the some problem. I had to eat more calories in order to lose weight. So like what everyone else says, eat more but not a lot that will make you gain weight =)

    This is something I have never understood, can someone post a link as I am sure the issue has been discussed here previously. One could think that eating less calories means losing more weight! I have however noticed people saying here and there on MFP that eating more makes you lose more which on the face of it seems antithetical to concept.

    In short I am trying to lose fat (weight) by eating little and exercising lots and my weight hasn't really reduced as much as I would have expected. I am assuming the advice from people here would be to eat more but under the calories required for the day as the person whose post I quoted above has said.
  • conniemaxwell5
    conniemaxwell5 Posts: 943 Member
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    I had the some problem. I had to eat more calories in order to lose weight. So like what everyone else says, eat more but not a lot that will make you gain weight =)

    This is something I have never understood, can someone post a link as I am sure the issue has been discussed here previously. One could think that eating less calories means losing more weight! I have however noticed people saying here and there on MFP that eating more makes you lose more which on the face of it seems antithetical to concept.

    In short I am trying to lose fat (weight) by eating little and exercising lots and my weight hasn't really reduced as much as I would have expected. I am assuming the advice from people here would be to eat more but under the calories required for the day as the person whose post I quoted above has said.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13