i need some help and advise

shazzielee68 · September 2013

Hello everyone

This is my second attempt at using this site, I left it because I was working really hard on balancing my food and exercise and did not seem to get any where .. I was frustrated and confused.

I left this program and started another way of eating to get my weight down and was successful in loosing 23 kg (jan - july and feeling great ) it was a very high protein and quiet strict but it seemed to work for me .. then i went on a big holiday and went back to "normal healthy food" eating everything i wanted in moderation, I maintained my weight and have done to now ( happy about that) I tried to go bak onto that program but found it really difficult as I really missed the foods that i was not supposed to be having ... anyway I have given up on that as i cannot maintain that diet

So here i am back trying my fitness pal but i am still confused.... after my first week weigh in and no movement on the scales

back ground ..
start weight was 130.3 kg I now weigh 107.4 kg.. loss so far about 23 kg
goal is to get to 90 kg so thats 17.4 kg to go (not looking at that i just look to the next 5 kg)
I am 178 cm tall I am a large framed girl, board shoulders and hips (so i am never going to be a super model :laugh: )

the app has got me at 1200 cal per day which i eat ok and do not seem to be hungry

I do aqua aerobics 3 times a week so earn extra food points BUT i never know whether to stick to the 1200 cal or eat till i have eaten all the points???? this is the bit that really confuses me

I thought i had a really good food and exercise week only to be disappointed on the scales this morning ..so disheartening

My foods are healthy choices all fresh fruit and veg, proteins that are cooked in a healthy manner, snacks are nuts whole grain breads or crackers or low fat/sugar dairy , i avoid all processed foods as much as possible, dont drink alcohol so where am i going wrong ?????

any help advise or support will be really appreciated ..I have never wanted to keep my journey going so much but i am truly frustrated

Thanks
Sharon

cupcakekate28 · September 2013

First of all congrats on the amazing weight loss so far!! That's great and you must've worked really hard

I would say that you don't have to eat back the exercise calories, however I have read a lot about your body going into starvation mode and storing fat if your net calories are too low, so I guess have an extra
100 cals or something on your exercise days?

Otherwise, you may have just hit a plateau

try changing up your exercise routine and surprising your body! Do extra little exercises every day - do some squats whilst watching tv during the ad breaks, lunge to the toilet instead of walking, run up and down the stairs a couple of times! Every little helps:)

Good luck, you can do it!! Don't give up!

psuLemon · September 2013

Yes you should eat those extra calories. Large deficits cause issues. Also, based on your ticker I would set you account to 1 lb per week at this point. The more lean you are the more calories you need. I do suggest macros around 40%carbs and 30% fats and protein as this seems to allow you to hit 1g of protein and .35g of fats per lb of lbm. Also, if you exercise 3 days a week you can either eat back those calories or set you account to lightly active and not worry about eating them back since its in your tdee.

Also, if you are not using a food scale I would recommend picking up one to ensure accuracy. Its amazing how easy it is to over count even when using measuring cups.

fionarama · September 2013

personally I have tried the odd aqua robics class and although fun I don't believe they are good workouts. I'd change your routine. Personally for me weight training and moderate cardio is working perfectly.
Even try doing 3 one hour brisk walks next week and see if it makes a difference.
Its usually more than one thing, you probably do need to tweak your diet and your exercise. Are you taking a multivitamin?
really go back to basics, weigh every thing for example.
If you are eating at a deficit you should lose weight, it really is that simple, so if you are not either your servings are too big or something else is going on.

bridgie101 · September 2013

First of all: i'm about the same size as you, so I feel like I can speak to what you're saying.

by the bye - I will eat up to 1500 exercise cals back. As a rule. Sometimes I've been known to eat up to 1700 back.

But to the real issue, that of you not losing.

Firstly, you have to think about your menstrual cycle, and where you're at in it. I don't know about you but my fluctuations used to be up to 2 kg. You have to ask yourself if you are eating more vegetables now - and so have more physical food in your gut.

Secondly, you have to ask yourself how old your scales are. Both kitchen and bathroom.

I weigh myself every day, so I can see whether I'm gaining or losing - but only log the change once a week, for motivation. Drinking alcohol the night before will add a kilo of water to me. So will eating too much salt. I try not to do this stuff before a weigh in (sound like a jockey, don't I.

)

thing is: I'm sitting at home in a chair, recuperating from an operation. I'm what, 97 kg, and I'm sitting in a chair, and so far each week I'm losing around a kilo on a 1200 calorie diet.

It does work. The maths does stack up. It's based upon the laws of physics and if dieters didn't obey the laws of physics, the scientists would be very interested.

If you are consuming fewer calories than you expend, and your maintenance level would say far more - go look on your 'goals' page on the right, top, where it says 'daily energy expenditure' - then you will lose fat. Regardless of what the fluids in your body are doing.

Have faith in the process.

You'll probably sit there at zero loss for three weeks and then lose 4kg in a week. Just wait it out, patiently.

gigglesinthesun · September 2013

you could open your diary for people to have a look.

It usually takes a bit more then a week to see whether something is working. If you were successful and happy on a high protein diet, you can change your macros to reflect that. I assume you got the 1200 cals by selecting that you were sedentary and wanted to lose 2lbs a week. If this is not enough for you (at any point) you can always change the 2lbs to 1lbs and go with that. You don't have too, but I just thought I quickly mention it.

Be aware that MFP overestimates the calories burnt. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is: for example unless you feel like your are about to die it is unlikely you have burned a 1000 calories.

Lastly it's my favourite page to link. It made me realise that I did indeed eat more then I thought
http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/starvation-mode/

shazzielee68 · September 2013

You could open your diary for people to have a look.

It usually takes a bit more then a week to see whether something is working. If you were successful and happy on a high protein diet, you can change your macros to reflect that. I assume you got the 1200 cals by selecting that you were sedentary and wanted to lose 2lbs a week. If this is not enough for you (at any point) you can always change the 2lbs to 1lbs and go with that. You don't have too, but I just thought I quickly mention it.

Be aware that MFP overestimates the calories burnt. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is: for example unless you feel like your are about to die it is unlikely you have burned a 1000 calories.

Lastly it's my favourite page to link. It made me realise that I did indeed eat more then I thought
http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/starvation-mode/

Thank you for your advice ...

How do i open my diary for others to view ?

i chose sedentary as i sit most of the day with my work and have only just started to do the aqua classes ...should i now change this to the next one up?

yes i was wondering about the MFP calories burn thing .. so this is where it gets confusing how and am i supposed to judge the amount of calories burnt with say the aqua classes or the swimming ??

i had a look at that like it was very helpful

i weigh and measure everything so i know that my food part is ok .. i guess its just the exercise part, i do aqua and swimming because i have trouble with a past knee injury and the gym and even sometimes walking aggravates it and then it puts me off as i cant stand the pain, i have found that the aqua aerobics swimming and even walking laps of the 25 mtr pool is good exercise that gets me moving even if it is just a little it has to be better then nothing.

So i will continue on my quest and see how i go this week

Thanks again

xo Sharon

shazzielee68 · September 2013

personally I have tried the odd aqua robics class and although fun I don't believe they are good workouts. I'd change your routine. Personally for me weight training and moderate cardio is working perfectly.
Even try doing 3 one hour brisk walks next week and see if it makes a difference.
Its usually more than one thing, you probably do need to tweak your diet and your exercise. Are you taking a multivitamin?
really go back to basics, weigh every thing for example.
If you are eating at a deficit you should lose weight, it really is that simple, so if you are not either your servings are too big or something else is going on.

Thanks for your reply

I have an old knee injury that give me grief doing any sort of cardio, even a brisk walk seems to give me pain that turns me off doing it again the next day, i figured that if aqua gets me moving it is better then nothing, i also swim and walk laps of the pool, i don't enjoy the gym so it turns me off going .. how you feel about your exercise has a lot to do with how you commit to doing it

I am not taking a multi vitamin ... should i be ?????

its really hard if the app overestimates your the calories that you burn, in relation to the calories you consume

xo Sharon

psuLemon · September 2013

I would do yourself a favor and set your account to lightly active and then you wont have to worry about over estimated exercise calories. also if you can I would start weight training. Weight training has lots of benefits like the preservation of muscle mass.

allshebe · September 2013

You mentioned that one of your snack foods is nuts. Nuts, while generally very healthy, have an amazing number of calories for a very small relative volume. If you don't accurately measure, or even better weigh nut snacks, you can inadvertently add quite a few calories to your day without realizing it. Beyond that, I find I lose in "spurts" - I stay the same or even go up a bit from day to day for several weeks, then drop a couple of pounds and start the cycle again.

i need some help and advise

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