Diary critique..losing inches but not pounds

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maybe2m
maybe2m Posts: 18
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello all! I am looking for some "tweaking" to my diet/exercise routine. I am a 49 yr old female, 5'2" full time nurse. Current weight is 150. Goal is 135. I work out for 30-45 min three times a week. On other days I do some light free weight work. Now that the weather is getting better I will be adding longer walks/hikes. I do not consistently weigh my foods, although I usually do weigh out my meats. I am not a big meat eater, I don't like peanut butter, cottage cheese or many nuts. I think my protein needs to be higher but I struggle with this. I am not a protein shake person or even protein bars...they kinda make me gag when I try to get them down. I am not sure what I need to change to lose pounds. I have been at the same weight since I started this seriously on Jan 1st. I am "pear" shaped and the inches I have lost are mostly at the waist and not my hips (which is what needs to shrink!!!) Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! I want to do things that are sustainable and healthy! Thanks for your time!

Replies

  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    The fact that your losing inches shows that you are making progress.

    My first suggestion is to start consistently weighing your food. You are possibly eating more calories than you think since your not weighing everything.*
    Watch the sodium intake. You might want to consider upping your water intake on days where you have a lot of sodium.
    To increase your protein intake maybe consider adding a protein shake to your day.
    If your using MFP exercise calorie burns, then you might want to consider only eating 75% of the calories back. MFP is known for overestimating exercise calorie burns.
  • dixiewhiskey
    dixiewhiskey Posts: 3,333 Member
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    Are you lifting? If you are losing inches, I don't see the problem
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
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    Your calorie goal is really low. You set MFP to lose 2 pounds a week, right? That's way too aggressive since you only have 15 to lose. More realistic targets are:

    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal
    If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal
    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal

    A couple of other thoughts:

    1. You don't have to weigh everything, although a lot of people have a ton of success with weighing everything. I would definitely weight out the more calorie-dense foods, like ice cream, though. You can pack a lot of extra ice cream into a cup.

    2. Be careful with any generic or homemade entries. I didn't see a lot of them, but things like goulash or pot roast can really vary.

    3. Yeah, you need more protein. A good rule of thumb is 0.8 to 1g of protein per pound of LBM, minimum. Just pulling numbers out of the air, if you're 150 and have 30% body fat, that would be 84 to 105g of protein daily. Everyone has a different macro balance that works best for them, so you may do better with more or less protein, but you should aim for that ballpark.
  • maybe2m
    maybe2m Posts: 18
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    2. Be careful with any generic or homemade entries. I didn't see a lot of them, but things like goulash or pot roast can really vary.
    [quote}

    My homemade entries are my own recipes that I have made, not ones pulled out of the database
  • snazzyjazzy21
    snazzyjazzy21 Posts: 1,298 Member
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    You're losing inches, why does it matter what's on the scales?
  • maybe2m
    maybe2m Posts: 18
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    You're losing inches, why does it matter what's on the scales?


    The inches are progress I know, but they are not equilvalent to clothing sizes...and I was hoping to be a smaller size by summer. I was hoping for some tips on what to do to increase my overall weight loss.
  • snazzyjazzy21
    snazzyjazzy21 Posts: 1,298 Member
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    You're losing inches, why does it matter what's on the scales?


    The inches are progress I know, but they are not equilvalent to clothing sizes...and I was hoping to be a smaller size by summer. I was hoping for some tips on what to do to increase my overall weight loss.

    Actually, inches ARE equivalent to clothing sizes. Weight has nothing to do with the size of clothes you fit into, its all about your physical measurements, or inches. If you're seeing a decrease in your measurements then keep doing what you're doing.
  • Rogiefreida
    Rogiefreida Posts: 567 Member
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    I agree that you need more protein in your diet, I try to always build my meals with protein as my main focus so that I can make sure to hit my protein goal for the day and that has worked really well for me.

    Also I noticed that a lot of days your sodium is a little high, IDK if you drink a lot of water or not but some of the weight may be water retention. When my sodium is high and I don't drink enough water I hang onto some extra pounds, so you may want to try and find some choices that are lower in sodium and make sure to drink tons of water.

    I have the most success losing pounds (like you, I can lose lots of inches but the scale doesn't move much for me) when I measure everything. I find it annoying, TBH, but it does work.
  • grubb1019
    grubb1019 Posts: 371 Member
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    If you are loosing inches then your clothing size will go down. You are probably building muscle, so the scale isn't moving right now. Throw your scales away and stick to measuring.

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