5'4, 152lbs, trying to get down to 125

daniellexcara
daniellexcara Posts: 114 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Okay so i'm 20 years old and 5'4. I'm about 152 pounds and I would llike to lose 20 pounds or at least be 125. I've been trying to lose weight as well as tone up for a lonnnng time. I just got 100% serious on new years, because I want to look good this summer.

So I calculated my BMR and its about 1520. I definitely understand that I shouldnt eat any less than this, but do I have to net this in order to lose weight? I honestly feel like I eat a lot. You can look at my diary. Actually, please look at my diary.

I work out about 4 times a week and I typically burn 300-400, depending on what im training. I do legs on one day, back and chest on one day, and arms and shoulders on another day. The other day or two is just cardio which is usually a spin class or HIIT on the treadmill.

Basically, I just wonder if I should try to eat more than I already do. I try to do 40% carb, 30% protein, 30% fat, and I get pretty accurate with that but I just dont know how that would be if I ate even more.

So should I be eating more? Should I eat 1520 on rest days and then eat like 1700-1800 on exercise days so I net the 1520? HELP.

Replies

  • daniellexcara
    daniellexcara Posts: 114 Member
    bump
  • Jessicahanzlik
    Jessicahanzlik Posts: 58 Member
    Okay, so when I started dieting and working out I was 5'4, 155lbs. I lost 12lb in one month (I stopped for 2 months because of the holidays and moving)

    This is how I lost 12lbs in one month:
    1200cals a day
    gym 3-4 times a week.

    Do what feel right for your body. Some people will argue "THOES CALS ARE TOO LOW! GOT TO EAT MORE" The thing is, I personally knew I didn't need to eat more because I felt fine with just 1200, not tired, not sick, I felt fine..

    The key to weight loss is breathing.
    Do you know where your fat goes? It doesn't get burned, or sweated out. You actually breath 85% of your fat out. Fat breaks down into carbon and you breath it out.
    Cardio + Diet= Weight loss.

    I hope this helped!
  • maybyn
    maybyn Posts: 233 Member
    I keyed in your stats for the TDEE calculator and it gave me a figure of 2161.

    So if you eat anywhere in between 1520 and 2161, you should lose weight. For example, if you ate at TDEE-15% (ie. 15% below your maintenance weight), then your cals is 1836 per day. This would allow you to lose around 0.5 to 1 lb per week, which is a good loss for you.
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
    Hey! First off, your diary looks awesome, so great job with that. I started out with the same stats as you and reached my goal (which was also 125), so hopefully I can be of assistance! I disagree with the poster above, I don't want to get into it because it's a huge controversy on MFP and always causes problems, but I am one who believes it's not okay to eat or even net below your BMR even if you feel fine or whatever. There's a lot of science and studies to back that up, but, people have different beliefs about it. I'll just tell you what I did personally and hopefully that will help!

    I started off eating 1200 a day (because I was new to weight loss and that's what MFP put me on, so I just trusted it), and I did see results at first! Then I started reading about BMR and stuff. I started to make sure I netted my BMR every day, which was around 1500 just like yours. I lost weight just as fast as I had on 1200, and even faster sometimes! Your workout program sounds good - I also focused a lot on strength training, with some cardio to boost fat loss. Honestly I saw my body completely transform and it was awesome.

    So the short answer to your question is yes, if I were you I would eat around 1800 on exercise days so you're still netting your BMR. If that doesn't always happen it's okay, but I wouldn't consistently eat under that or you could slow down your metabolism. I (unfortunately) gained some weight back because I went to law school this semester and the stress got my eating out of control, so now that I'm trying to lose weight again I'm eating 1800 a day; since I'm pretty active, that means I'll net around 1400-1500 a day. Feel free to look at my diary (though I'm on vacation right now so don't judge my meals lol) and add me as a friend if you'd like! We can do this! :happy:
  • jsickman12
    jsickman12 Posts: 139 Member
    first off fat doesn't get expelled from your body via your breath.....when your body needs energy it breaks down the fat cells to a fatty acid and it goes to your liver and there you get energy to power your body.

    That figure seems about right, you could eat a little more and still lose weight just gauge how your body reacts.
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
    I keyed in your stats for the TDEE calculator and it gave me a figure of 2161.

    So if you eat anywhere in between 1520 and 2161, you should lose weight. For example, if you ate at TDEE-15% (ie. 15% below your maintenance weight), then your cals is 1836 per day. This would allow you to lose around 0.5 to 1 lb per week, which is a good loss for you.

    Also, this!
  • Jessicahanzlik
    Jessicahanzlik Posts: 58 Member
    first off fat doesn't get expelled from your body via your breath.....when your body needs energy it breaks down the fat cells to a fatty acid and it goes to your liver and there you get energy to power your body.

    That figure seems about right, you could eat a little more and still lose weight just gauge how your body reacts.

    Please research your facts first sir
    "In it oxygen combines with the fats to make carbon dioxide and water and release the energy that is needed by our bodies or any living thing to do the things that it needs to do."

    http://dl.clackamas.edu/ch106-06/metaboli.htm


    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolism#Lipids
  • AFitJamie
    AFitJamie Posts: 172 Member
    ...
    Please research your facts first sir
    "In it oxygen combines with the fats to make carbon dioxide and water and release the energy that is needed by our bodies or any living thing to do the things that it needs to do."

    http://dl.clackamas.edu/ch106-06/metaboli.htm

    ...

    I think it is important to ensure material and relevant data is shared and communicated in forums... the fact that we ultimately urinate as a byproduct of cellular activity and expel carbon dioxide as we breath is, I think, basically understood by most people and isn't generally relevant, or useful in regards to fat loss...

    I think it very important to continue your quote to include the next sentence .... "However, the process is much more involved than that."

    It isn't as if the more you breathe, the more fat you burn (... well... I guess to be particularly accurate...It would be true that breathing does in fact require muscle use and thus burns energy and thus may have a contribution to loss... but not so much as to be relevant.) So, I'm at a loss as to how your comment is relevant to the original poster.

    If you look at the OPs diary, she does a pretty good job of managing her food, is fairly active and has been on here a LOOOOng time (we've been "friends" on here a long time) she is sincerely looking for advice since she has done the basics here for some time and doesn't seem to be having a lot of success..

    Danielle, I'd try netting your BMR (although I am also one that believes that there is nothing magical about a number generated by a BMR model). Given your generally consistent approach, I can't really figure where your challenges are coming from unless you actually consume more calories than log because weight/volume measurements are off, etc... Hopefully this will bump this up and others will add in their thoughts...
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    first off fat doesn't get expelled from your body via your breath.....when your body needs energy it breaks down the fat cells to a fatty acid and it goes to your liver and there you get energy to power your body.

    That figure seems about right, you could eat a little more and still lose weight just gauge how your body reacts.

    Please research your facts first sir
    "In it oxygen combines with the fats to make carbon dioxide and water and release the energy that is needed by our bodies or any living thing to do the things that it needs to do."

    http://dl.clackamas.edu/ch106-06/metaboli.htm


    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolism#Lipids
    Thumbs up to Jamie's reply in making sure to share ALL the relevant information.

    That we burn fat by breathing is silly. If that were true then we not would have overweight people because...well...we all breathe.

    Losing weight is about eating at a calorie deficit. Exercise is a plus and helps create that deficit, but it's not totally necessary.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    If your food intake and your calorie counts are accurate, then you need to eat back more of your exercise calories.

    Speaking of exercise calories-where are getting the calorie burn estimations from? Some seem a bit high.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,093 Member
    Do you know where your fat goes? It doesn't get burned, or sweated out. You actually breath 85% of your fat out. Fat breaks down into carbon and you breath it out.

    Then where do the hydrogen and oxygen atoms go?

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