can you help me get this right

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Hi,

I'm eating 1200 calories at the moment. I'm 164 cm and 67.9kg a 42 year old women.
I have been doing this for 3 weeks. The first week I lost 1.4 kg week 2 400g week 3 200g.
I do 30 min of interval jogging and fast paced walking. most days at least 5 days. I do not eat back these calories. I'm i meant to be? I don't use a heart rate monitor but I'm guessing it's just under 200 calories give or take.

I'm toying with upping my calories but I'm not sure. all my strength is in my legs I'm week in the upper body and I don't want to loose muscle. any thoughts? should I be eating back my exercise calories and any idea of what I could be burning?

cheers Lilly

Replies

  • lyoill
    lyoill Posts: 59
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    anyone?
  • terbusha
    terbusha Posts: 1,483 Member
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    I would try doing a week at 1400 cal/day and see how it goes. It can help sometimes. What are your macro goals? Also, if you're trying to lose weight, I would add in some resistance training. That works great for weight loss.

    Allan
  • spara0038
    spara0038 Posts: 226 Member
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    I started out at pretty much the same height and weight as you, and it has taken me over 3 months to lose about 19 lbs (8.6kg). Some helpful tips:

    1. Eat more than 1200 calories. Seriously. As the other poster wrote, I would try 1400 cal/day (that's what I do). I don't eat it back.
    2. More protein, less carbs. I can't see what you're currently eating b/c you have your diary set to private. Also, try to maintain a low sodium diet. I always shoot for under 2000 mg, but at least under 2300. Any more than that and your body retains water, and therefore gains weight.
    3. Strength training is a great idea, but I will caution you with this: you may stay at the same weight, or even gain. BUT- it's not to say that you shouldn't do it, just be prepared to not see much progress on the scales. Muscle is more dense than fat, so you may get slimmer but have the same number on the scales. Take progress pictures. They will help to motivate you when the scales are moving slow.
    4. You may see an initial decrease, followed by a plateau. It happens. I lost 7 lbs/3.2kg in my first 2 weeks, but gained some back and then slowed the weight loss. It wasn't until weeks 6-8 that I really stated seeing progress. Hang in there- you didn't gain weight overnight, so you're not going to lose it overnight either.
  • lyoill
    lyoill Posts: 59
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    Thanks everything is telling me to eat a bit more, so maybe I will gradually increase it up a bit. I'm not so concerned with how much I end up weighing but I want to get rid of the extra fat around before I hit menopause. :/