Last 10lbs advice - calorie intake, workouts etc.

midnightisolde
midnightisolde Posts: 60 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi! I'm my current weight is 126-127lbs - down from 150lbs when I joined mfp. My target weight is between 115-120lbs, so I'm on the last 10 pounds of weight loss. My height is 5'4' and my calorie intake is set to 1400 20% protein, 25% fat 55% carbs. I'm usually under the carb intake but over on fat and don't always reach the protein target which I'm looking to improve as I want to preserve muscle mass. Can anyone offer any advice in regards to my calorie intake and macros?

As for workouts, I do a mixture of yoga, Pilates, swimming and HIIT/Tabata. Although not so much of the latter at the moment as I'm currently doing the 30 day shred and I'm on level 2 day 4. I've been looking into getting some more dumbbells as the ones I've had to make do with were just the 1lb zumba sticks which really offer no challenge at all so I've ordered a set of 1kg, 1.5kg and 2.5kg - not heavy I know but it's a start. I've also been looking at kettlebells as I'd like to add those to my routine. I'm also thinking of using some heavy resistance bands with my Pilates exercises. I'd like some advice about what weights would be most beneficial to me as a beginner.

Also, I will be starting Mark Lauren's Body by You bodyweight exercise program too so as you can see I'm trying to work on strength and resistance rather than endless cardio to get a 'toned' look.

I do have gym membership at my university so I'm thinking of looking into starting a strength routine there once or twice a week. What do you think?

Replies

  • midnightisolde
    midnightisolde Posts: 60 Member
    Anyone?

    I do 30 day shred 3/4 times a week and Jillian Micheals Killer buns and thighs once a week. Wednesday and Sunday are rest days on which I do some gentle yoga or pilates.
  • midnightisolde
    midnightisolde Posts: 60 Member
    bump
  • sola24
    sola24 Posts: 334 Member
    I am bumping as I am interested to see the replies
  • acogg
    acogg Posts: 1,870 Member
    My advice at this point is to develop infinite patience. Because you are already small, ten more pounds will be very slow coming off.
  • Virginia90
    Virginia90 Posts: 317 Member
    I'm gonna be honest, it may not be possible for you to get down to that number at your height. I'm 5'1" and my lean body mass is 112lbs. 115 would be impossible for me (even thought it's within the healthy range) because that would be an insanely low body fat percentage (or I would lose lean body mass, which would be bad). It may be worth getting an accurate assessment of your BF% and go by that instead. If you find that you do still have room to realistically lose, then all you need is patience. Sometimes it's less about the number on the scale and finding what's realistic for your body. =)
  • whitemink1
    whitemink1 Posts: 3
    Set carbs at 15% protien at 45% and fat at 40% work out 5x a week for a min of one hour each time. Until you reach your goal
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
    Yeah, I'm going to agree with the poster who said to get your body fat checked to see where you are right now. If you are looking for more definition, at this point focusing on body recomposition instead of weight loss might be a better path. Your goal body may end up weighing a bit more on the scale than your goal weight, and that's an awful lot of exercise to be doing if it's not going to get you where you want to be.
  • dmt4641
    dmt4641 Posts: 409 Member
    Get the book New Rules of Lifting for Women and try lifting some heavier weights at the gym. If you have been dieting for a while, you may want to go to maintenance level or slightly below and focusing on adding muscle for a little while and see if you like the results. I've been doing NROL4W 3 times a week and doing cardio 2-3 times a week and have my calories set to only lose .5 lbs a week to lose the last 10.

    ETA: I am doing 40% carbs 30% protein and 30% fat like NROL4W recommends.
  • midnightisolde
    midnightisolde Posts: 60 Member
    I'm gonna be honest, it may not be possible for you to get down to that number at your height. I'm 5'1" and my lean body mass is 112lbs. 115 would be impossible for me (even thought it's within the healthy range) because that would be an insanely low body fat percentage (or I would lose lean body mass, which would be bad). It may be worth getting an accurate assessment of your BF% and go by that instead. If you find that you do still have room to realistically lose, then all you need is patience. Sometimes it's less about the number on the scale and finding what's realistic for your body. =)

    Well, I got some calipers to check body fat and I'm getting something in the region of 29% to 32% body fat but I'm not sure how accurate that is. My main focus really is body composition I suppose so the actual number on the scale may not matter so much.
  • midnightisolde
    midnightisolde Posts: 60 Member
    Get the book New Rules of Lifting for Women and try lifting some heavier weights at the gym. If you have been dieting for a while, you may want to go to maintenance level or slightly below and focusing on adding muscle for a little while and see if you like the results. I've been doing NROL4W 3 times a week and doing cardio 2-3 times a week and have my calories set to only lose .5 lbs a week to lose the last 10.

    ETA: I am doing 40% carbs 30% protein and 30% fat like NROL4W recommends.

    Thanks. I have switched my macros to 45% carbs 25% protein and 30% fat for now and I have been eating between 1400 and 1500. I am struggling to get enough protein in though. I'm ok at lunch and dinner but I'd like to get some more at breakfast, for which I have Quaker Oats with 180ml semi-skimmed milk, with some almonds, pistachios, fruit and greek yoghurt.

    Edit: I have also changed my recalculated my TDEE and from that decided to up my calorie goal to 1500, then I'll reassess later.
  • ajcmoran2005
    ajcmoran2005 Posts: 173 Member
    Those last 10 pounds are the worst!!! I am a little under 5'5" and honestly it took about six months to go from 130 to 120. I'm about 118-119 now and while I would love to get to 115 I don't think it's going to happen. The one thing that really helped me though was using the TDEE method. I really don't pay too much attention to macros even though I probably should.
  • midnightisolde
    midnightisolde Posts: 60 Member
    I'm gonna be honest, it may not be possible for you to get down to that number at your height. I'm 5'1" and my lean body mass is 112lbs. 115 would be impossible for me (even thought it's within the healthy range) because that would be an insanely low body fat percentage (or I would lose lean body mass, which would be bad). It may be worth getting an accurate assessment of your BF% and go by that instead. If you find that you do still have room to realistically lose, then all you need is patience. Sometimes it's less about the number on the scale and finding what's realistic for your body. =)

    Well, I got some calipers to check body fat and I'm getting something in the region of 29% to 32% body fat but I'm not sure how accurate that is. My main focus really is body composition I suppose so the actual number on the scale may not matter so much.

    My LBM is something like 87lbs to 94lbs. Based on my new protein target, I'll be shooting for 1g protein per 1lb lean body mass - but I'm not sure how I'm ever going to reach that target without protein powder so I've been looking into those.
  • Virginia90
    Virginia90 Posts: 317 Member
    Oh wow, I'm not sure how accurate calipers are, but that seems kinda low for LBM. Unless mine is freakishly high. Lol I have no idea what a "normal" amount of LBM is for a woman my size or your size. I just assumed I was in the normal range, and I'm in no way muscular or do any strength training right now. I had a Bioelectrical impedance analysis done at my chiropractor, which is how I know mine. I laid down on a bed and they put something on my toes and it spit out a receipt with my stats on it. It only cost me $25 to have it done, so maybe call around and see if anyone in the area does something like that? It may give you more accurate results.

    As for protein, egg whites are awesome for that. Eat the whites only and it'll give you a huge low calorie boost to your protein. I buy the liquid egg whites to add to my omelets in the mornings.
  • midnightisolde
    midnightisolde Posts: 60 Member
    Oh wow, I'm not sure how accurate calipers are, but that seems kinda low for LBM. Unless mine is freakishly high. Lol I have no idea what a "normal" amount of LBM is for a woman my size or your size. I just assumed I was in the normal range, and I'm in no way muscular or do any strength training right now. I had a Bioelectrical impedance analysis done at my chiropractor, which is how I know mine. I laid down on a bed and they put something on my toes and it spit out a receipt with my stats on it. It only cost me $25 to have it done, so maybe call around and see if anyone in the area does something like that? It may give you more accurate results.

    As for protein, egg whites are awesome for that. Eat the whites only and it'll give you a huge low calorie boost to your protein. I buy the liquid egg whites to add to my omelets in the mornings.

    Well I'm not sure how accurate they are so I've uploaded some pictures at the Eat, Train, Progress group to see what they think my body fat percentage is. Thanks for the tip about the eggs.

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