I want to lose 30 pounds by mid/late june.

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  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    I'm 154lb right now. I also eat a 1300ish diet but I usually eat back all my exercise calories and try not to go under 1200calories. 700 is far too low you'll be starving.

    Keep tracking as its easy to drop below 1200cal in your not keeping track.

    Feel free to add me as a friend.

    I also recommend some weight trainings, I nearly always do some weights after my cardio.

    I don't eat back my calories. I keep seeing people saying that everyone who exercises should d this.

    Can anyone tell me why? I thought the point of exercise was to burn calories you eat? Wouldn't eating them back make exercising pointless?

    I started lifting small 10 pound weights and doing other arm exercises at the time I started this in Feb. I stopped because while I started showing some definition, It started to look bulky, as I still have a lot of fat on my arm. My partner even mentioned how ''manly'' my arms started looking.

    Exercise is for fitness.....your body needs fuel for working out.

    1200 (gross calories) 10 pound weights & bulky arms......um no
  • merecard
    merecard Posts: 56 Member
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    Just make sure you are making healthy choices and fueling your body with what it needs.
    You will find what works for you. What works for other people might not work for you. I was having problems not losing weight and I really had to look at what I was eating.. Sure I was under my calories for the day, but it wasn't what my body needed.

    I break my workouts into three segments (now I know not everyone can do that)
    But I get my body working first thing in the morning. Not much just 20 minutes I get up 20 minutes earlier than I did.
    Then on my lunch ( I have an hour lunch) I got for a Curves Workout or I swim.
    Then after supper and after my son goes to bed I do a group exercise with a teacher, or a home DVD.
    I keep my body charged all day. I eat five small meals a day. I drink 1/2 my body weight in water (200 lbs = 100 ounces of H20) That I break up in 6 - 8 segments throughout the day.
    I make sure that I have protein after my hard workouts.
    I don't eat heavy after lunch. Dinner is usually my lightest meal.
    I do not eat within 3 hours of bedtime. Someone told me that eat for what you are going to do in the next three hours.
    And I NEVER exaggerate my time of activity. If I was at kickboxing for 60 minutes, I'll only log 50. If I am at Aqua fitness for 60 minutes, I only log 50 minutes.
    You will get there!! Don't forget to measure yourself. You might not be dropping the weight on the scale, but when you measure yourself and I mean everything!! (neck, bust, chest, waist, hips, thighs, knee, calf, ankle, upper arm and lower arm) THAT is where you will start to notice. Some people will GAIN weight but drop sizes, because a pound of fat and a pound of muscle are not the same SIZE. Think of a pound of fat as a pound of butter and a pound of muscle as half a pound of butter. they are not the same size.
    You will get there!! Before you know it - you will find YOUR groove, and you will be on your way!!
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    I don't eat back my calories. I keep seeing people saying that everyone who exercises should d this.

    Can anyone tell me why? I thought the point of exercise was to burn calories you eat? Wouldn't eating them back make exercising pointless?

    I started lifting small 10 pound weights and doing other arm exercises at the time I started this in Feb. I stopped because while I started showing some definition, It started to look bulky, as I still have a lot of fat on my arm. My partner even mentioned how ''manly'' my arms started looking.

    At 1200 calories you are already at the lowest possible number.....adding exercise gives your body even less fuel.

    Large calorie deficit = fat+muscle loss.

    Modest calorie deficit+strength training+eat enough protein = mostly fat loss

    Healthy weight loss is generally regarded as decreasing your body fat %

    Check you BMR - basal metabolic rate....calories your body would use if you stayed in bed all day
    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    Women don't have enough testosterone to get bulky.....anyway, you are not adding any muscle at 1200 calories....the opposite is more likely.
  • merecard
    merecard Posts: 56 Member
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    But yes, as someone mentioned earlier, you can do weight training - but you don't have to "lift weights" you can use your own body weight and still get strength training. Look at Jillian Michaels from Biggest Loser - she has some amazing training videos that do not use weights. She does cardio and strength training and you see the pounds fall off. Find your groove. I do not eat my calories back either. I eat around 1200 calories a day, but my BIG calorie burn days - I bump that up to 1400-1500 to fuel my body for the tasks at hand. If I don't eat enough, then I do not lose weight. You will get there... It takes a lot of time and effort and research.. You will be addicted to getting the right info!
  • Fit_Fox88
    Fit_Fox88 Posts: 410 Member
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    Re: the store bought meat... there are TONS of those types of meats in the database... for the most part chicken, fish and hamburger are 4 oz servings and sausage is 2 oz (all raw). Type in the brand name and the type of meat (ex. "Kroger boneless skinless chicken breast" and it will pop up) then you just have to enter the correct weight (or estimate in your case- you really need to invest in a food scale- amazon.com has great deals, same w/HRMs).. anyways..

    Also, take advantage of the recipe builder on MFP for things you eat normally in the same quantity... you could easily enter each of your ingredients separately for homemade spaghetti (noodles, sauce, meat) especially with the barcode scanner, or put it in as a recipe so you don't have to enter individually anymore.

    Finally, if you're not using an HRM how are you estimating your exercise calories? The machines are usually way too high and so are the numbers on MFP... you should definitely get an HRM to verify how many calories you're actually burning... you may be burning less than you think and therefore eating more than you think.
  • amw5471
    amw5471 Posts: 111 Member
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    Just to relate to your question about slipping on your eating when you're running errands, I have a snack basket in my car. It sounds terrible but I am actually really good about it. I bought 100 calorie almond packs, lara bars, snack sized beef jerkey, and natural less processed applesauce. Any of these hold me over for my twice weekly 2 hour drives or after the gym when I won't be getting to eat again for a bit and aren't going to make a huge dent in my calorie or nutrition needs.
  • Alyssawinter1221
    Alyssawinter1221 Posts: 118
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    I have about 29-30 pounds to lose, I hope it happens by sometime in summer (before university starts back up in fall). I just wanted to say good luck. I have been loosing about 1.7 pounds a week for the last 10 weeks or so! Which is incredible, especially because I am definitely not the healthiest eater on the planet -- I'm working up to the nutrition part.

    I mostly just wanted to say good luck. And, if you are working out, eating well, getting enough sleep - treating your body right - no matter what the scale says you will FEEL great by June!! :)
  • abrazame
    abrazame Posts: 61 Member
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    My BMR is 1415
    Tdee is 2069

    So I shouldn't eat more than 1415?
  • AlwaysInMotion
    AlwaysInMotion Posts: 409 Member
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    My BMR is 1415
    Tdee is 2069

    So I shouldn't eat more than 1415?

    Nope, you should never consume less than 1415 cals/day (net). BMR is "basic functioning to stay alive" calories.
  • abrazame
    abrazame Posts: 61 Member
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    Finally, if you're not using an HRM how are you estimating your exercise calories? The machines are usually way too high and so are the numbers on MFP... you should definitely get an HRM to verify how many calories you're actually burning... you may be burning less than you think and therefore eating more than you think.

    the excercise videos use give an estimate of how many calories you burn. one video I use give an estimate of 150-250 calories burned. I put in the lowest estimate. Like I said, I know it's not the best method but it's all I got now. The HRMs I looked at are almost 100 bucks, which I can't afford now.
  • Amberlynnek
    Amberlynnek Posts: 405 Member
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    And, if you ARE tracking all of your calories correctly now, you're malnourished. Increase your intake right away.

    I track my calories most days. If I know I am going to go way way over my limit, I don't bother adding it. I track my caloruies by reading the nutritional labels on the food I eat. I do not eat above the serving size so I can enter the calories exactly as it says on the label. If there isn't one I will research the food I am eating and add a 100 extra calories or so to the entry. For example, I often eat chicken. The store I buy it from doesn't put a nutritional label on it so I research how much calories 1 chicken drumstick adds. Most of the things I have read say it's 200 calories. So I enter it as 300 calories. I also try to stay away from things that would be hard to track. Like homemade spaghetti. I add so many things in it, it would take a lot of time for me to add and measure everything out.



    I also use my fitness blender videos to workout. They have the minimum and maximum calories burned for all of their workout videos on their site. I do a little more research on how much I should burn at my weight at the activity level the workout is.

    I know this isn't the best method, but it's the best I have right now until I can get a food scale, heart monitor, etc.

    Ok first, even if you are extremely over your calorie goal it helps to see what you're putting in your body. Logging it also helps deter you from binge eating more. If you REALLY want this as you say, you would REALLY be doing the work. You need to be weighing everything you put into your mouth. You may think 1 cup of yogurt is dramatically less than what you actually end up spooning out. This will take out the guessing game. If you don't have a food scale at the moment, get one. If it isn't financially possible, I'm sure you have measuring cups. You can use measuring cups and not have to stay away from things. Additionally, there's this little recipe function on MFP that allows you to enter the ingredients and get a calorie count.

    I also looked briefly at your diary, you do not log much at all and you do not seem to be eating enough of the right stuff. You are eating a lot of packaged, processed crap like chips or pizza. Learn to shop for produce or make healthier selections. MOst restaurants share their nutrition facts and if not, go with a salad or chicken and veggies. You can always modify.

    Do not trust the burn on the videos, the only way you will ever know your true calorie burn is by getting a heart rate montior, you can get them for as low as $75.

    If you want this as bad as you say, invest about $200 on the appropriate equipment and learn how to make the proper changes. Get creative to get solutions and results. Good luck
  • abrazame
    abrazame Posts: 61 Member
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    Thanks for the advice. As for the heart rate monitor, I don't have the money. It's as simple as that. I can't pull the money out of thin air. I am already spending tons of money on gas, prescriptions, driving my son around to find out why he is not talking at 3 years old. My S.O is also paying most of his mother and father's bills a long with our rent, food, and other bills. By the time we have paid everything I have very little money to spend on ourselves.
    I already spend about 200 bucks on proper workout clothes and weights. I didn't have any sports bras or gym shoes. Ineeded those. I planned on joining a gym but I don't have the nearly 1000 bucks for that either. As far as the exercise, I am working with what I have.


    I am going to try and do better on the food. If look further back most of my meals consisted of one piece of baked chicken about two cups of veggies and usually a half cup of rice or some other side. I had this for dinner almost everyday because I don't know what else to cook when my son is a very picky eater ( He has problems with certain food textures ) and my partner only eats some type of meat can't be baked or grilled ) no veggies, nothing with sauce, etc. His diet basically consist of rice and meat. Everyday. Nothing else. He won't eat anything else. So I have been trying to eat as healthy as possible with those limitations.
    I am also cooking for my brother father and grandmother some days ). This is a ton of food to cook. Then add on 3 or four more meas for me as well.

    This is one of my main problems as far as meals go.
  • DavidSTC
    DavidSTC Posts: 173 Member
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    Thanks for the advice. As for the heart rate monitor, I don't have the money. It's as simple as that. I can't pull the money out of thin air. I am already spending tons of money on gas, prescriptions, driving my son around to find out why he is not talking at 3 years old. My S.O is also paying most of his mother and father's bills a long with our rent, food, and other bills. By the time we have paid everything I have very little money to spend on ourselves.
    I already spend about 200 bucks on proper workout clothes and weights. I didn't have any sports bras or gym shoes. Ineeded those. I planned on joining a gym but I don't have the nearly 1000 bucks for that either. As far as the exercise, I am working with what I have.


    I am going to try and do better on the food. If look further back most of my meals consisted of one piece of baked chicken about two cups of veggies and usually a half cup of rice or some other side. I had this for dinner almost everyday because I don't know what else to cook when my son is a very picky eater ( He has problems with certain food textures ) and my partner only eats some type of meat can't be baked or grilled ) no veggies, nothing with sauce, etc. His diet basically consist of rice and meat. Everyday. Nothing else. He won't eat anything else. So I have been trying to eat as healthy as possible with those limitations.
    I am also cooking for my brother father and grandmother some days ). This is a ton of food to cook. Then add on 3 or four more meas for me as well.

    This is one of my main problems as far as meals go.

    I lost all my weight without a HRM. It would be nice, but if you estimate on the low end for calories burned, like I have, you can do it.

    As for your meals, that sounds like a lot of hard work. Some people make meals on the weekend that they can heat up during the week. If you want variety, and nobody else in your household does, maybe you could do weekend meal prep for your own variety throughout the week. Just a thought.
  • abrazame
    abrazame Posts: 61 Member
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    Also, log everything. If you see a meal empty, it's because I didn't have anything for that meal.
  • BourgeoiseX
    BourgeoiseX Posts: 23 Member
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    I just started today on a 30 pound loss goal.

    I'm looking at May/June too. Let's do this!!
  • abrazame
    abrazame Posts: 61 Member
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    As a couple of days ago I now weigh 150... So I've lost an additional 6 pounds. My waist is now 36 and my thighs are 22. Thanks everyone.

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