Trying to get to my ideal weight and struggling with it

treenabenyon
treenabenyon Posts: 17
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
I am the healthiest I have been in months! During the year I have gained 13 Ibs and now I am trying to lose it and tone! So I workout to 2 dvds in the morning for 1 1/2 hours 5 times a week and then I do the gym for 1 1/2 three times a week.
so for 3 times a week I burn 1,000 calories. I have been doing this for 3 weeks now and no change on the scale so I measured my waist and hips and inner thighs on Oct 2nd and I am still the same. I eat a healthy breakfast and for a snack I have a bowl of fruit then for lunch I have homemade soup with 3 pieces of crisp rye bread and then for snack in the afternoon I have a bowl of steamed veggies and supper I eat a proper meal with a milkshake supplement drink! I also have 6 glasses of coconut water during the afternoon! then after I come back from the gym I have homemade yogurt fat free Can someone tell me why I am staying the same! the only difference right now is my energy level

Replies

  • Debbie_Ferr
    Debbie_Ferr Posts: 582 Member
    Might be consuming more calories than you realize. Or possible high sodium consumption, therefore water retention.
    Are you measuring/weighing/logging all your food. including drinks, snacks, etc.

    Open your food diary, so we can help.
  • treenabenyon
    treenabenyon Posts: 17
    how do i do that
  • treenabenyon
    treenabenyon Posts: 17
    yes and the only thing I forget is my water intake however I drink water all day and coconut water when I work out
  • treenabenyon
    treenabenyon Posts: 17
    okay I didnt think about the calories in cocunut water! I am 43 yrs of age and 5 " 5
  • treenabenyon
    treenabenyon Posts: 17
    10 st 10 1/2 Ibs about 150 lbs I just changed my setttings for my food diary thanks
  • Debbie_Ferr
    Debbie_Ferr Posts: 582 Member
    thank you for being so open.

    my suggestion, starting this week, log everything.
    that means, go back to Sunday 10/7, and edit...

    1) add foods that you might have missed.
    snacks, candy, fruit, samplings at work, someone's leftovers, anything.
    any drinks or alcohol. especially the 6 coconut water per day.
    did you capture your daily supplement drink ?
    Sunday's Morrison Cafe battered fish, chips, peas meal = 765 calories. (I'm not sure what that is, but here in the states, a battered & fried meal would defintely be more than 765 calories.) perhaps Morrision is understated ?
    you'll see the calories add up fast. and an extra 100 caloires a day translate to about an extra 1 pound in 5 weeks ! ouch!

    2) Log your exercise time accurately. or better yet, under estimate the time. you might want to revisit some of these....
    10-6 4.5 miles/hour x 3 hours. works out to 13.5 miles. wow.
    10-8 Aerobic step 56 minutes. 541 calories.
    10-9 Aerobic step 130 minutes. 1,257 calories.
    If you weren't giving it your all, you might consider bumping down the times. or at least that's what works for me.
    ( I play tennis with a friend for an hour, but we play easy. so I only log 45 minutes into MFP)

    3 ) MFP tends to overestimate calories burned while exercising. all the more reason to under estimate the time.

    ok, hope the above isn't too overwhelming. it's just all the little things can sneak up/add up, and so results might not happen as soon as expected.
    so i find it works for me to err on the high side for my food. and err on the low side for my exercise. and just take it one day at a time.
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
    If you are logging accurately, in terms of both caloric intake and exercise expenditure, I can't imagine why you wouldn't be losing weight and doing so rapidly. Your estimated NET is between 1150 calories and -150 calories. Even if some of the exercise calories are exaggerated, doing 3 hours of exercise 4 days a week is quite excessive. Are you weighing everything you eat using a food scale? And how exactly are you estimating exercise calories?

    Oct 1
    Ate: 1300 calories
    Exercised:145 calories at 15 minutes
    Oct 2
    Ate: 1600 calories
    Exercised: 1250 at 218 minutes.
    Oct 3
    Ate: 1850 calories
    Exercised:1500 calories at 217 minutes
    Oct 4
    Ate: 1450 calories
    Exercised: 275 calories at 45 minutes.
    Oct 5
    Ate: 1300 calories
    Exercised: 1300 calories at 180 minutes
    Oct 6
    Ate: 1650 calories
    Exercised: 1800 at 180 minutes.
    Oct 7
    Ate: 1050 calories
    Exercised: 0 at 0 minutes.
  • 2013sk
    2013sk Posts: 1,318 Member
    Sounds like your doing everything right and eating really healthy.

    Cut out the coconut water for normal plain water, Try and have lots of protein in your diet too!!!

    Patience, I am sure it will fall off when its ready, Don't be too hard on yourself!
  • Debbie_Ferr
    Debbie_Ferr Posts: 582 Member
    ok, cool, look what i found....

    http://www.morrisons.co.uk/Market-Street/Nutritional-Information/

    http://www.beer100.com/beercaloriesimports.htm
  • Debbie_Ferr
    Debbie_Ferr Posts: 582 Member
    This thread was very helpful to me. great suggestions! check it out...
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1103385-what-are-the-top-5-things-you-recomend-to-do-to-lose-weight
  • polluxy
    polluxy Posts: 31
    For your level of exercise, I would try bumping up your protein intake and reducing your carbohydrate intake. For example, instead of those 3 pieces of rye bread, try an egg and one piece of rye bread.

    When you exercise as much as you do, your muscles are in a constant state of repairing themselves. You've got to give them the fuel to do that. Also, carbohydrates are stored in two ways: as glycogen (essentially glucose) in your muscles and liver, and as fat. They are stored as fat far more readily than are protein and fat.

    I eat a low carb, moderate protein, high fat diet and it's worked great for me. But if that's not the way you want to go, just cut back a bit on carbs and bump up your protein (and perhaps your fat also -- to make sure you get enough calories), see if it makes a difference.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    .
  • tracyjoys
    tracyjoys Posts: 69 Member
    How long have you been stalled? I read on another blog here that women in their 40's can plateau for quite some time - even if you are doing everything correctly - until your body is ready to release more weight.

    I'm no expert, but the one thing I can say is please don't panic. That, for certain, will create mayhem for you mentally and physically. As long as the scale isn't going in the opposite direction, you are doing something right!

    As always, the suggestions of people here are terrific. Take the good advice, apply it, and see what works for you!
  • Debbie_Ferr
    Debbie_Ferr Posts: 582 Member
    Might be consuming more calories than you realize. Or possible high sodium consumption, therefore water retention.
    Are you measuring/weighing/logging all your food. including drinks, snacks, etc.

    Hi there, just checked your diary. beware that the MFP food database entries are submitted by us. some are inaccurate.
    I noticed your "Sainsbury - sandwich - 2 cups" today. 356 calories. 0 fat/protein/carb.
    mmm~that seems low.

    You might want to search the database for a more exact description / calorie & nutritional count.
    There's a bunch of database choices for Sansibury sandwiches .... ie Roast pork, chicken, egg, tuna, etc...
    they seem to range from 426 calories & up.
  • treenabenyon
    treenabenyon Posts: 17
    Thank you so much for all your tips! my logging of my food I just use the search button on my fitnesspal thing for my food intake. However I do agree with Polluxy about my potein intake. Now another question for you guys I drink coconut water because hydrates you the best! then in the morning I drink a Sculptress chocolate drink and an hour before I go to bed I drink Spirulina Powder which is blue-Green Algae for Amino Acids and Fatty acids with vitamins and minerals. Has anyone heard of this Spirulina! If so did they see or feel from it?
    Debbie_Ferr I am going to start to log everything in correctly and everything I intake and compare this week to next week.
  • treenabenyon
    treenabenyon Posts: 17
    Thank you so much for your response! I wont give up because I have more energy then ever before and I feel great! but just can't understand why I am not losing. thanx again
  • Debbie_Ferr
    Debbie_Ferr Posts: 582 Member
    Thank you so much for your response! I wont give up because I have more energy then ever before and I feel great! but just can't understand why I am not losing. thanx again

    So glad you got more ENERGY. That's definetly a NSV (Non-Scale-Victory). Keep it up !
    yep, log everything. You might see some patterns / insight that wasn't there before.
    Keep up the good work !!
  • Debbie_Ferr
    Debbie_Ferr Posts: 582 Member
    Interesting article about Coconut water.
    After reading this, I'm not sure if it's worth the calories of 6 glasses a day.
    Especially if you're already eating healthy. And nutrients in your protein drink. And nutrients in your spirilina drink.

    By the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics :
    http://www.eatright.org/Public/content.aspx?id=6442471128

    Might consider cutting out the 6 glasses of coconut water a day? 50 calories x 6 glasses = 300 calories.
    So, consuming 6 glasses a day equates to you gaining approx 3 EXTRA pounds in 5 weeks. ouch.
  • treenabenyon
    treenabenyon Posts: 17
    Interesting article about Coconut water.
    After reading this, I'm not sure if it's worth the calories of 6 glasses a day.
    Especially if you're already eating healthy. And nutrients in your protein drink. And nutrients in your spirilina drink.

    By the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics :
    http://www.eatright.org/Public/content.aspx?id=6442471128

    Might consider cutting out the 6 glasses of coconut water a day? 50 calories x 6 glasses = 300 calories.
    So, consuming 6 glasses a day equates to you gaining approx 3 EXTRA pounds in 5 weeks. ouch.
  • treenabenyon
    treenabenyon Posts: 17
    I am going to read this and i am going to cut out the coconut water and see what happens I thought it was better for you then just straight water or those energy refueling drinks I will keep you posted on my scale problem lol
  • OMGeeeHorses
    OMGeeeHorses Posts: 732 Member
    Bump to read later
  • kandalure
    kandalure Posts: 28 Member
    I took a look at your diary and I don't see your spirulina powder either. I believe that it contains calories that you will need to take into account as well.
  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
    Why do you need extra hydration from coconut water when regular water works just fine ??
  • smc864
    smc864 Posts: 570 Member
    I would cut out any drinks that have calories... only drink water for two weeks and see what happens!!


    I agree with some of the other posts in that maybe you should adjust your macros... Try a 35/30/35 ratio.


    Good luck to you! :)
  • LittleAngelamj
    LittleAngelamj Posts: 43 Member
    Maybe you not eating enough calories.. sometimes that can hender your weight loss as well.
  • LittleAngelamj
    LittleAngelamj Posts: 43 Member
    where can I buy the coconut water from?
  • klkb4
    klkb4 Posts: 3 Member
    Fruit is a wonderful thing!!! It is a simple carb and can be burn quickly However, the only healthy way to deal with refined simple carbohydrates are to keep them as an occasional treat. I try and eat fruits in the morning so I have them all burned up by the end of the day. I noticed in your food diary that you eat a lot of fruit and that is not always a good thing to choose. Your carbs are pretty high along with sugar. You should add lots more protein and also get your carbs from some complex carbs like whole wheat, beans, nuts.

    Throw a handful of shredded chicken in your mushroom soup, change to Greek Yoguart. Fish and eggs are a great sourse of protien. Rolled oats is another great carb and sticks to your ribs!

    I guess what I'm trying to say no much of a good thing is alway a good thing. Balance out your meals and change them up a little!! Try not to eat the same thing everyday!!

    Lastly stay off that scale!!!!!! ( by the way, I'm 49 and I'm also 5' 5" and I weight 135, I just recentaly went from a size 8 to a size 4 and only lost 1lb)
    Good Luck!!!!!!!
  • treenabenyon
    treenabenyon Posts: 17
    Well I have up my intake of food and put more protein in every meal such as soya milk and yogurt etc. I am off my plateau yahoo! So thank you all

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