Help needed..getting nowhere :)

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Hey everyone :) had posted this is the introducin bit when maybe it should have been in the help section. 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

  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
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    How long haven't you lost for? If you've not got much to lose, it can take longer for it to come off. You might also be better off using the TDEE method. Find your TDEE (just search Google for a calculator for it) and eat 80% of that, 1200 can be too low for some people. Even if you stick with 1200, it's probably a good idea to eat back at least some of your exercise calories. Most people seem to eat about half. A lot of people here will probably tell you to eat more, especially if you're tall like you say. If you haven't lost anything for a few weeks, maybe try changing up the exercise routine as well. The body gets better at doing certain exercises the more you do them, so they become less effective over time. If you've only been doing this for a week or two, then not losing weight for that long is perfectly normal and you'll just have to stick at it.

    Also, make your diary public so people can see what you're eating. I'm not great at commenting on diaries, but other people are.

    Edit: Just reread the post and noticed you said the first holiday was June. So definitely look into your TDEE and try some different exercises. Try incorporating some weight lifting if you can.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    Yes, eat more. Your body needs more calories for all of the exercise you're doing.

    I will give you an (extreme) example. Your daily goal is 1200 calories. You burn 300 calories on your walk and an additional 500 in spin class. (Note these are just random numbers I'm pulling, not actual).

    So here's the math:

    1200-800=400 NET.

    400 calories is the total calories you're netting for the day. So you think your body can do all of it's daily functions, like breathing, digesting, keeping your heart beating, moving blood, cell growth, etc on just 400 calories? The answer is no. No, it cannot. Therefor, you need to bring your calories back up to 1200 NET. Since you burned 800 calories in exercise, you now get to eat another 800 calories.

    400+800=1200 NET.

    Pretty simple when you see it like that.
    Don't be scared of the calories. Once your body figures out it's getting what it needs, it will start letting go of the fat stores and you'll lose weight.
  • fleetzz
    fleetzz Posts: 962 Member
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    Sounds to me like you aren't eating enough, but your diary is locked.

    Weigh and measure your food. Keep track of your exercise on MFP, realizing that it overestimates calories. Get a HR monitor for cardiovascular exercise to have calorie burns "more" precise (they are not exact), and make sure that you eat your TDEE -(10-20%) or use MFP to calculate calories to lose and eat back exercise calories. Give it another few weeks, and MEASURE yourself (neck, bust, under breasts, waist, hips, thighs, arms). You can keep track of your measurements, and if frustrated that the scale numbers aren't going down, perhaps you will see the measurements decreasing. In which case who cares what the scale reads.

    Good luck!
  • vickibabe
    vickibabe Posts: 10 Member
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    Hey thanks everyone for your replies :) 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 x
  • vickibabe
    vickibabe Posts: 10 Member
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    Hey thanks everyone for your replies :) 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 x
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    you have 8lbs to lose, so set MFP to lose 1/2lb