I cannot seem to loose weight. Can anybody help ?

Options
PhillyCh
PhillyCh Posts: 18
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello hello !
I turn to you all to maybe get some advice, or just some motivation.

I'm an 18 years old girl, 5'3, 140 lb. and wish to loose 20 lb.
I do HIIT and weight lifting 3 times a week, as for the other days, I walk around campus, and do not have time and energy to workout. I eat around 1500 cals a day, you can normally see my diary.
I think I eat fairly clean, except maybe on thursday, where I have to eat on campus, and I have usually fries for lunch, but consider it my cheat meal of the week. I eat mainly veggies, fruits, fish, occasional red meat ( I do not really love it, but I am not a fan of cutting any food group ) and lean meats.

Yet, I CANNOT seem to loose weight. I've even put on 3 pounds lately, and I wish I knew why ...

So I thought maybe one of you would have an idea, or had an advice.
Maybe I can put a "progress" picture, because weight lifting starts working if you want to see what my body looks like !
«1

Replies

  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    Options
    Some of your logged items are wrong - like the banana with 20g of sugar and no carbs.

    I would suggest you have a protein rich breakfast rather than your current carbohydrate tolerance test. There's a lot of sugar in there.
  • PhillyCh
    PhillyCh Posts: 18
    Options
    Woops, I thought I could trust people of MFP with bananas !
    I'll be more attentive to the macros !

    And .. I'll try to change my breakfast ! Do you have any suggestion for a rich protein breakfast ?

    And thank you for your advice ! :)
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    Options
    An omelette is one breakfast option with a good balance of protein and fat. Add mushroom, cheese, bacon to suit your taste and appetite as required.
  • PhillyCh
    PhillyCh Posts: 18
    Options
    Alright ! Thank you for your answers Yarwell !
  • LissaK1981
    LissaK1981 Posts: 219 Member
    Options
    I seem to lose best hiking. See if you can find a good trail with a decent grade that keeps your heart rate up and gets ya sweatin a bit. Go for about an hour every couple days if you can.
  • PhillyCh
    PhillyCh Posts: 18
    Options
    I'll try to find that, but finding a hiking trail in Paris would be a real miracle haha
    But I can always run on the streets and climb up stairs, that seem like an alternative ! :)
  • JECole2013
    JECole2013 Posts: 65 Member
    Options
    Hi there,

    I normally don't post because I'm not a doctor, just a well-versed dieter!:)

    But, I just want to tell you to hang in there. It isn't easy to loose weight.

    A couple of suggestions:
    Try to stay in a daily calorie deficit (500 calories less than your BMR http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ )
    It is easier to stay in deficit if you stay away from processed foods because so many of the ingredient can cause cravings and don't add nutrients that your body needs, especially if its burning fat.
    Use MFP to make sure you are getting all your macronutrients (fat, protein, carb) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals).
    Most bodies revolt if you don't add daily nutrients from food. And if you can't eat them then add in through supplements. And I mean, that you will be hungry and may struggle with the feeling to binge.
    Pay very close attention to the amount of food you are eating. Weigh everything and calculate calories.
    Try to eat real food as much as you can.
    Lastly, get as much sleep and water as you can (8 hours, 8 glasses).
    Try to work up to daily exercise of at least 30 minutes a day, but if you push that effort too quickly, you might create hunger cravings as your body will need more food. You can also hurt yourself if you start out of shape.
    I have taken the approach of 3 times a day of 30 minutes of moderate cardio with the ultimate goal of 7 days a week.

    My typical day is:
    Breakfast smoothie, homemade, with protein enriched powder, kale, strawberries, greek plain yogurt, water, blueberries
    Lunch is chicken and quinoa soup
    Dinner is something protein (chicken, fish, ground beef) and veggie OR a salad loaded with raw veggies, avocado, etc.
    Two snacks in the day of nuts or cheese.
    As much coffee as I want.
    I struggle with the water, but I keep at it.
    I have a rowing machine at home that I use 3 times a week.

    Finally, its a great thing to ask for help, as you have. You might also seek help from a doctor who understands weight management. Good luck.
  • Pearsquared
    Pearsquared Posts: 1,656 Member
    Options
    Woops, I thought I could trust people of MFP with bananas !
    I'll be more attentive to the macros !

    And .. I'll try to change my breakfast ! Do you have any suggestion for a rich protein breakfast ?

    And thank you for your advice ! :)
    It's handy with fruit, vegetables, and other whole foods like beans and whatnot - if you pluralize them (for example, typing in "bananas" instead of "banana") when you search, you'll usually get the official MFP entry instead of a user-added one (MFP ones do not have asterisks next to them). Foods that don't have nutrition facts attached to them tend to fall victim to really inaccurate entries by other members.
  • leerobbo
    leerobbo Posts: 58
    Options
    Hello hello !
    I turn to you all to maybe get some advice, or just some motivation.

    I'm an 18 years old girl, 5'3, 140 lb. and wish to loose 20 lb.
    I do HIIT and weight lifting 3 times a week, as for the other days, I walk around campus, and do not have time and energy to workout. I eat around 1500 cals a day, you can normally see my diary.
    I think I eat fairly clean, except maybe on thursday, where I have to eat on campus, and I have usually fries for lunch, but consider it my cheat meal of the week. I eat mainly veggies, fruits, fish, occasional red meat ( I do not really love it, but I am not a fan of cutting any food group ) and lean meats.

    Yet, I CANNOT seem to loose weight. I've even put on 3 pounds lately, and I wish I knew why ...

    So I thought maybe one of you would have an idea, or had an advice.
    Maybe I can put a "progress" picture, because weight lifting starts working if you want to see what my body looks like !

    1500 cals is probably too much! When i was on a cut last year i was on 1800 cals but i am 200lbs :)

    Also keep any carbs until late in the day. Your body is in fat burning mode when you wake up in the morning, as soon as you eat carbs like oats or cereal etc your body starts using carbs.

    Also fruit is a no no if you are trying to burn fat, fructose is not your friend. Still to complex carbs like oats, wholemeal etc keep the sugars out the diet.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    Options
    Make sure you are weighing and measuring everything. If you are guesstimating your intake, you may be eating more than you think. :flowerforyou:
  • PhillyCh
    PhillyCh Posts: 18
    Options
    JECole2013 : Thank you for taking time to write such an elaborate answer ! That was very helpful ! I'm already pretty good with the water, and as for exercise, I've always been "active" in my life, so I think my body is already used to exercising regularly, and I try to stick to the most natural/organic products I can find ! I recalculated my BMR ( thanks to the link you provided ) and will eat as much as the results -500 advises.

    Pearsquared : Thank you ! I actually never got the "trick", but I will definitely make sure I pluralize basic aliments to get the most accurate macros !

    leerobbo : Is 1500 really too much ? That's basically my BMR before it's multiplied according to my exercise levels ... And if I cannot eat fruit, what am I going to snack with ? :O But thank you for your answer, I'll definitely keep that in mind, lower my carb intake and see what I can do to stay away from sugar as much as I can !

    jenilla1 : Thank you ! I already measure what I eat, but I'll try to be even more careful !
  • Faye_Anderson
    Faye_Anderson Posts: 1,495 Member
    Options
    I recalculated my BMR ( thanks to the link you provided ) and will eat as much as the results -500 advises.

    Not BMR - 500, that is wrong! You only have 20lb to lose so I would suggest TDEE - 10 or 15%
  • Faye_Anderson
    Faye_Anderson Posts: 1,495 Member
    Options
    Hello hello !
    I turn to you all to maybe get some advice, or just some motivation.

    I'm an 18 years old girl, 5'3, 140 lb. and wish to loose 20 lb.
    I do HIIT and weight lifting 3 times a week, as for the other days, I walk around campus, and do not have time and energy to workout. I eat around 1500 cals a day, you can normally see my diary.
    I think I eat fairly clean, except maybe on thursday, where I have to eat on campus, and I have usually fries for lunch, but consider it my cheat meal of the week. I eat mainly veggies, fruits, fish, occasional red meat ( I do not really love it, but I am not a fan of cutting any food group ) and lean meats.

    Yet, I CANNOT seem to loose weight. I've even put on 3 pounds lately, and I wish I knew why ...

    So I thought maybe one of you would have an idea, or had an advice.
    Maybe I can put a "progress" picture, because weight lifting starts working if you want to see what my body looks like !

    1500 cals is probably too much! When i was on a cut last year i was on 1800 cals but i am 200lbs :)

    Also keep any carbs until late in the day. Your body is in fat burning mode when you wake up in the morning, as soon as you eat carbs like oats or cereal etc your body starts using carbs.

    Also fruit is a no no if you are trying to burn fat, fructose is not your friend. Still to complex carbs like oats, wholemeal etc keep the sugars out the diet.

    :noway:
  • norrisski
    norrisski Posts: 1,217 Member
    Options
    cottage cheese and fruit for breakfast.
  • eazy_
    eazy_ Posts: 516 Member
    Options
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
  • PhillyCh
    PhillyCh Posts: 18
    Options
    Faye_Anderson : I meant BMR multiplied by activity level, I should have mentioned it. BMR multiplied by my activity level - 500 is around 1650. What do you think about it ?
    I calculated my TDEE as well, and my TDEE minus 10 or - 15% is around 1800 ... which seems a little too much, isn't it ?
  • NuggetLovesEdie
    NuggetLovesEdie Posts: 477 Member
    Options
    " Is 1500 really too much ? "

    It doesn't sound like it. If you take your BMR + daily activity just from what you normally do + exercise, you will get a number for your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). If you want to shoot for a slow but steady pound a week, eating 500 calories a day UNDER your TDEE should give you approximately a pound of loss per week because a pound of body fat is about 3500 calories.

    ETA: I plugged your numbers in to this BMR calculator (http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/bmr/), and it says your BMR is just under 1500. That's just what it takes to keep your body alive if you laid in bed doing nothing but breathing all day long. If you are doing exercise and other moving around on top of that, you might be generating a bigger deficit than you intend.

    Seconding making sure you are accurately measuring and logging EVERYTHING... every ingredient of every dish.

    And if you are lifting, it's possible that you are gaining muscle, which might explain the weight gain. Have you checked things like your body measurements to see if you are losing inches rather than weight? Just a thought.
  • Lesa_Sass
    Lesa_Sass Posts: 2,213 Member
    Options
    JECole2013 : Thank you for taking time to write such an elaborate answer ! That was very helpful ! I'm already pretty good with the water, and as for exercise, I've always been "active" in my life, so I think my body is already used to exercising regularly, and I try to stick to the most natural/organic products I can find ! I recalculated my BMR ( thanks to the link you provided ) and will eat as much as the results -500 advises.

    Pearsquared : Thank you ! I actually never got the "trick", but I will definitely make sure I pluralize basic aliments to get the most accurate macros !

    leerobbo : Is 1500 really too much ? That's basically my BMR before it's multiplied according to my exercise levels ... And if I cannot eat fruit, what am I going to snack with ? :O But thank you for your answer, I'll definitely keep that in mind, lower my carb intake and see what I can do to stay away from sugar as much as I can !

    jenilla1 : Thank you ! I already measure what I eat, but I'll try to be even more careful !

    No, 1500 is not to much. I am in my 40s and only had 5 lbs to lose and lost on around that and I am the same height, but weighed 116, so there is no way 1500 is to much, and after looking at your diary, i see you are not eating that on a consistant basis anyway.

    I see you are in Paris. Are you making all of your meals or trusting the database and eating out? Parisian food is very rich with butter and cream (YUM and OMG my favorite city) You may be eating more than you realize.

    If not, then I highly suggest you go see a doctor and have bloodwork done. You may have a thyroid issue or a number of things that make it harder to lose weight. You should have lost at least a KG by now. I know the last time I was in Paris I indugled in everything it had to offer and lost weight because I walked every where. It is not common to see someone that is not super thin in Paris, well that is not an American that is.

    Good luck and please consider going to the doctor and have a physical if you have not had one in the past year.
  • PhillyCh
    PhillyCh Posts: 18
    Options
    Lesa_Sass : Thank you for your answer ! The recommendation the man gave me seemed a little ... well not that fine to me haha
    I know I've been eating less that 1500 calories a day, and never thought you could not eat enough if you did not feel hungry during the day !
    I do make my own food ( well, my mum does, and I do sometimes ) and there is no butter in our fridge, my mother does pay attention not to fall into the french food excesses ( though it's really yummy from time to time, and I'm lactose intolerant anyway, so I stay away from dairy as much as I can, even if sometimes I cannot help but eat a yogurt because I love it too much anyway )
    Even though I have not lost weight, I just compared some "progress" pictures, and my body changed in a good way. Even though I did ont loose weight, it seems leaner ? So maybe the weight loss is coming ?
    But I will definitely get a check by my doctor, it's always helpful to get a full health check !
    And thanks god Paris is a city where people walk a lot to burn off all the good pastries available ! ( Even though many french people do not actually eat all of those, or the butter/cream rich food everyday. We eat those food less than you imagine ! )
  • MeRoHa
    MeRoHa Posts: 95 Member
    Options
    I used the bmr calculator on this site and put in my goal weight. That told me the calories needed to maintain that weight. So that is what I have set my daily limit at. My thought is that if I am eating at the calories it will take to maintain my goal weight that it will be a lot easier to get to and then maintain that goal weight. In my daily logs I try to make sure I consistently get enough protein and try not to go over the sugars. Although that is really hard. Especially if you like fruits. I also try to keep my daily calorie number green. So if I go over on daily calories I try to exercise some until it is back in the green.

Categories