To Cleanse or not to cleanse?? and what to do after??

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  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    The scale hasnt moved in about 3 months.. It is so frusterating... I eat lots of veggies and fruits and protien and drink 10-12 cups of water a day i keep a log of what i eat i havent logged on her for while due to a mishap with my phone and the concrete!!! i attend zumba 4-5 times a week for an hour i am a teacher so i am on my feet all day walking. I have two children so i am always with them cleaning or playing.I just dont know what to do from here

    My suggestions.

    Log everything and do it every day.

    Get a food scale to weigh (not measure) as much as your food as possible.

    Review the burns you are entering and how you are coming to those conclusions. Are you using MFP's #s for both the calorie goal and for the burns? Or are you calculating the burns by some other device and doing the TDEE -20% method?
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    You are a teacher, your spelling was being marked.

    Welcome to the internet, enjoy your stay.
  • hkristine1
    hkristine1 Posts: 950 Member
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    Sometimes people hit a plateau.

    No, they don't. No such thing as a plateau. If you're not losing, you're eating more than you're burning.
    This may help you: http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/
    This is I agree with. I lost 42 pounds without ever plateauing, though someone times the scale moved a bit slower than I would have liked.

    So - this is a bit off topic, but not really... wouldn't you come to a point, though, where you stopped losing weight... I mean, I would LOVE to get down to 135 - that's where I have my goal... I'm just not sure my body will let me go that low, so I'm going to try for 140 and then see how it goes, if I can get down to 135... isn't there just a point where the body says "yeah... this is it." ? (not saying that's where the OP is - I have no idea what her measurements are, etc.).

    As for weight loss - my body tends to go in stair steps... holds on to weight for a few weeks and then sheds quickly all of a sudden, and then stops for awhile... but I've never gone more than 2-3 weeks without seeing a drop.
  • hkristine1
    hkristine1 Posts: 950 Member
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    I would also add that I also looked at the exercise diary - 700+ calories for 60 minutes of Zumba is way too high. My gym tells me that SUPER INTENSE (breathless- going to die) working out burns about 10 calories per minute. I think it's likely impossible to keep that up for 60 minutes, and usually with Zumba classes, there are several minutes of warm up and then a cool down/stretching at the end. Some of the songs are slower than others, and there are short breaks in between songs.

    My guess is that for a 60 minute Zumba class (assuming you're actually working hard), you're probably burning closer to 360-400 calories.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    I would also add that I also looked at the exercise diary - 700+ calories for 60 minutes of Zumba is way too high. My gym tells me that SUPER INTENSE (breathless- going to die) working out burns about 10 calories per minute. I think it's likely impossible to keep that up for 60 minutes, and usually with Zumba classes, there are several minutes of warm up and then a cool down/stretching at the end. Some of the songs are slower than others, and there are short breaks in between songs.

    My guess is that for a 60 minute Zumba class (assuming you're actually working hard), you're probably burning closer to 360-400 calories.

    I do a 55 minute intense cardio routine that has my heart going around 165-180 BPM for a solid 45 minutes (the oh-god why heartbeat level where you can almost talk but not quite). I am a 6' tall man weighing in at 185 pounds. I estimate that routine at about 400 calories burned. I would agree that 700 cal for Zumba is likely an overestimate. 10 cal per minute of high 80%+ max heartrate sounds more likely and you won't be in that zone for all of that 60 minutes if you hit that at all (Depends on intensity).
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    To everyone who has been abusing "daniellemarie" - thanks for nothing.

    The good lady asked about what it is and how to cleanse. Besides the good advice about food logging, the best she got from mostof you is patronising rubbish bordering on abuse.

    She just asked a question - does anyone have a good answer? If you dont then stay quiet - everyone's journey is different.
    Bahahaha! Abuse? Really? Yes, we are all so mean. Answering her question of whether or not she should do a cleanse with a negative response. Meaning she shouldn't. Which is what she asked. Butthurt line forms to the right.

    Anyway - to the OP - I agree with those who say you don't need any sort of cleanse. As for your scale being stuck, I also agree with the need for consistent and accurate logging (did I read correctly that you are keeping a written log, just not on MFP after a mishap with your phone?). If you don't have a food scale, get one. Weighing foods is much more accurate.

    Have you taken measurements lately, or ever? How are your clothes fitting? Getting loose, staying the same? If you're not tracking your measurements, start. Often you'll see progress there while your scale is busy messing with your head. I went six months without mys scale moving, but lost inches and dropped a full size during that time. I laughed at my scale and went out to buy new jeans. :drinker:
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    Keep in mind that with heart rate monitors and most forms of tracking calories burned they include your RMR into the total.

    Meaning if you put on a heart rate monitor and do 60 minutes of cardio it might tell you you burned 700 calories. Then just put that heart rate monitor on and sit on your butt for an hour and watch it tell you you just burned 200 calories. While you were doing that cardio it was instead of sitting on your butt so actually you only net burned 500 calories.

    On top of that most exercise equipment and a fair amount of heart rate monitors seem to err on the side of overestimation for whatever reason.
  • nikkihk
    nikkihk Posts: 487 Member
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    Wouldn't you come to a point, though, where you stopped losing weight... I mean, I would LOVE to get down to 135 - that's where I have my goal... I'm just not sure my body will let me go that low, so I'm going to try for 140 and then see how it goes, if I can get down to 135... isn't there just a point where the body says "yeah... this is it." ?

    Not until all that was left of you is skin and skeleton. It's not at all healthy, but if you restrict enough your body will fuel itself on everything you have. That's what anorexia leads to. I'm sure you could get to 135? But it's better if you focus on what feels best for your body. The scale isn't as relevant as your health.
  • bonoeuf
    bonoeuf Posts: 58 Member
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    To everyone who has been abusing "daniellemarie" - thanks for nothing.

    The good lady asked about what it is and how to cleanse. Besides the good advice about food logging, the best she got from mostof you is patronising rubbish bordering on abuse.

    She just asked a question - does anyone have a good answer? If you dont then stay quiet - everyone's journey is different.


    I do love a knight in shining amour.:flowerforyou: Carry on good knight and fight the dragons and evil trolls, your quest will be long and dangerous and very possible fruitless, but I for one shall follow your journey, cos you make me laugh :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    Keep in mind that with heart rate monitors and most forms of tracking calories burned they include your RMR into the total.

    Meaning if you put on a heart rate monitor and do 60 minutes of cardio it might tell you you burned 700 calories. Then just put that heart rate monitor on and sit on your butt for an hour and watch it tell you you just burned 200 calories. While you were doing that cardio it was instead of sitting on your butt so actually you only net burned 500 calories.

    On top of that most exercise equipment and a fair amount of heart rate monitors seem to err on the side of overestimation for whatever reason.
    You sure about that? That doesn't sound right.

    I have been using a heart rate monitor (Polar FT7) for months now and it tells me I burn about 500 calories for an hour of running at about 6.2 mph, which is the number I log into MFP. This number is always at least 200-250 lower than MFP and the treadmill. Look at my ticker. I've lost 42 pounds over the last year, and I have been maintaining a certain weight range for about six weeks now.

    If what you say were true, in maintenance I would be gaining weight because of the overestimation of exercise, and I also would not have been losing while in a deficit.

    And, yes, I weight all my food and accurately log every single day, so there no other miscalculations going on.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    Keep in mind that with heart rate monitors and most forms of tracking calories burned they include your RMR into the total.

    Meaning if you put on a heart rate monitor and do 60 minutes of cardio it might tell you you burned 700 calories. Then just put that heart rate monitor on and sit on your butt for an hour and watch it tell you you just burned 200 calories. While you were doing that cardio it was instead of sitting on your butt so actually you only net burned 500 calories.

    On top of that most exercise equipment and a fair amount of heart rate monitors seem to err on the side of overestimation for whatever reason.
    You sure about that? That doesn't sound right.

    I have been using a heart rate monitor (Polar FT7) for months now and it tells me I burn about 500 calories for an hour of running at about 6.2 mph, which is the number I log into MFP. This number is always at least 200-250 lower than MFP and the treadmill. Look at my ticker. I've lost 42 pounds over the last year, and I have been maintaining a certain weight range for about six weeks now.

    If what you say were true, in maintenance I would be gaining weight because of the overestimation of exercise, and I also would not have been losing while in a deficit.

    And, yes, I weight all my food and accurately log every single day, so there no other miscalculations going on.

    I'll admit I don't know the settings, functionality and workings of every heartrate monitor on the market. Perhaps yours has a setting to subtract your RMR from the amount burned during exercise I don't know. What I do know though is that many if not most do NOT do that and just present you with the amount you burned during that time. The longer your workout the more than number will be inflated by the fact that during that time you are double counting my RMR.

    Clearly if what you are doing is working then keep doing what you are doing. But if someone was having issues I'm just saying overestimation of calories burnt for this reason MAY be an explanation.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    1. cleanses have nothing to do with weight loss
    2. if you want to lose weight eat in a calorie deficit
    3 your body naturally cleanses itself through sweating, peeing, and pooping..
    4. save your money and ditch the cleanse...
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    Sometimes people hit a plateau.

    No, they don't. No such thing as a plateau. If you're not losing, you're eating more than you're burning.
    This may help you: http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/

    oh really?

    so you are saying that weight loss is 100% linear?
  • hasta_la_vista_belly
    hasta_la_vista_belly Posts: 103
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    Cleanses are pointless because the body cleanses itself.

    You mentioned you haven't been logging, so you should really start logging again. To tie in with that, grab a food scale if you don't have one already and start weighing all the food you eat to make sure you are accurately logging. Before I got a food scale, I was probably eating 500 calories more than I thought I was.
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
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    NOT to cleanse. There is no need to. Your body naturally does all the cleansing it needs on its own, without outside help. Don't waste your time and money.
  • _Resolve_
    _Resolve_ Posts: 735 Member
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    No point to it, just move more and eat less. Its really THAT easy.
  • rvclarke
    rvclarke Posts: 2 Member
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    Are you alcohol free? If you have more then 2 drinks at any given time your liver has to stop its routine function to clean out the alcohol. It is a lot of needless calories and your body has to work hard to get it out of your system, which takes away from your healthy lifestyle. And if it isn't alcohol are you getting enough rest? Proper rest plays a big part in losing weight
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    I recently took on a weight loss challange at my zumba fitness class. I have a month to loose all i can the natural way of course!!! I havent ever done a cleanse but i have heard they are really good and help with weight loss. I am just not sure what to do i dont want to take pills or anything i want to do this all natural. I have lost about 35lbs in 8 months but i am now stuck the scale has not moved in awhile... any advice would be wonderful!!!
    i am a teacher

    Good god.
    I'm a writer and editor and sometimes I make typos and spell words wrong. I even (sssshhhhh), when typing faster than I'm thinking, mix up "your" and "you're" every once in a while, even though I know better.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    Are you alcohol free? If you have more then 2 drinks at any given time your liver has to stop its routine function to clean out the alcohol. It is a lot of needless calories and your body has to work hard to get it out of your system, which takes away from your healthy lifestyle. And if it isn't alcohol are you getting enough rest? Proper rest plays a big part in losing weight

    eh?
  • FTF2014
    FTF2014 Posts: 257 Member
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    Wow Iam pretty new here but damn people are quick to jump into a hive mind mentality . If you feel like clearing out your bowels drink 2 glasses of half prune juice half water. Warning this will make you go to to the bathroom a lot. In the future if you can get 30-40 grams a fiber I. Your diet daily you will no longer need a cleanse .

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