Feeling defeated...need some advice please

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  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    To sum up from before.

    Your BMR is about 1500-1600

    Your NEAT is probably about 1900

    With your 550 calorie daily burn your TDEE is around 2400.

    A 500 calorie deficit would give you 1 pound per week weight loss. To hit this deficit you would eat 1,900 calories per day.

    This is assuming you burn 550 calories every single day.

    Alternatively you could take your NEAT of 1900, subtract 500 to get 1400 for your 1 pound loss per week without exercise and just eat back the calories you burn anytime you exercise.
  • mlcrec
    mlcrec Posts: 66
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    I really appreciate you taking the time to break that down for me. That seems like a lot of calories to me!
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    I really appreciate you taking the time to break that down for me. That seems like a lot of calories to me!

    It only seems that way because when you were putting on that fat you weren't paying attention to how many calories you were eating ;-)

    I also am arriving at that number assuming you are correct that you are burining around 550 calories and/or are doing 5-6 hours per week of very strenuous exercise. The kind where you couldn't talk while doing it.

    Either way 1200 is way WAY to low for you. If you eat that little here is what will happen:

    Your bodies stress response and the activity level you are maintaining will cause your body to retain water which will mask the fat loss (since water weighs quite a lot). From your exercise you will be damaging your muscle in a way that your caloric intake will not be able to repair and you will end up losing muscle over time. You will lose weight, but you will not be fit.

    If you up your calories to about 1900 the stress on your body will be less, the water retention will subside in time as you get used to your exercise, you will have enough fuel to repair your muscle and build strength (not muscle mass, but strength) and you will lose fat and ONLY fat at about 1 pound per week.

    If 1900 scares you then eat 1700 for a while to try it out, that is probably enough to feel the difference and see the results...then you can bump it to 1900 when you are ready or if you feel its needed.
  • nofoodforthemood
    nofoodforthemood Posts: 64
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    Since you are so active bump it up to 1500 calories...with a couple pieces of fruit or something healthy. Your metabolism might need to realign.
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
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    Also remember to weigh your foods with a food scale. There is a huge different between weight and volume. I have yet to see a serving size in volume match the weight. In some cases, going by volume is 50% more calories than by weight.

    Additionally, be cautious with estimated calories burned too. Many calculators over estimate.
  • lcmamom
    lcmamom Posts: 2
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    I am seeing a nutritionist to help me kick start. She has really stressed eating more protein. Just an idea, good luck and keep working at it!
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    Keep in mind everything I am telling you assumes that your calorie logging and exercise burn logging are accurate. Consistency is key here.

    Just for comparison I recently changed my exercise routine to be also about 5-6 hours of strenuous exercise a week and I eat about 2300 calories per day to lose 1.4 pounds per week.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    Whoops, made one mistake on one of the calculators and said you were male instead of female. Fixed it and it suggested 1500 as your BMR and 2200 as your TDEE which would mean eating 1700 calories for a 1 pound a week loss.

    Anyways, long story short...eat more, its good for you.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    I have been working out 4-5 times a week with intense workouts (a mix of exercises & weight training, with a trainer) burning around 550 calories and eating right keeping my calorie intake at 1200. I measured & weighed in today and only lost 1 pound and only 1/4 inch on my hips. I feel very defeated and am unsure of what I need to do to see some improvements. Am I not eating enough? Has anyone else had this problem and found a way to overcome it or just have any advice in general? I am desperate for help!
    Are you wiling to open your diary so we can give more concrete advice?

    1 pounds and 1/4 inch losses are great in my book. Slower the better.
  • Llamapants86
    Llamapants86 Posts: 1,221 Member
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    I just wanted to add that the first couple of days after increasing calories, you will probably gain some water weight. Your glycogen (sp?) will replenish a bit and with that comes quite a bit of water. So don't panic if you see a bit of a step change in the first little while.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    Maybe you need to eat more? I am being told that I should be eating 1400 a day with the 4 day of exercising I do each week. I was told my calorie intake was too low and my body was storing. Well, I uped my calories and lost 2 pounds that week. We will see if it keeps working. This whole weight loss thing is hard!

    You don't lose fat faster by eating more calories that is totally illogical. Keep in mind that weight isnt necessarily fat and under stress the body retains water.
    This.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    I just wanted to add that the first couple of days after increasing calories, you will probably gain some water weight. Your glycogen (sp?) will replenish a bit and with that comes quite a bit of water. So don't panic if you see a bit of a step change in the first little while.

    Yes this is likely true, this might be offset a bit by your body being under less stress with the added food but it is quite possible you will actually gain a little due to water retention at first. Do not worry, you are NOT going to gain fat eating 1700-1900 calories per day at your activity level (again assuming you are exercising daily).
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    I have been at it for 5 weeks. When I eat "healthy" I struggle to get to even 1200 calories and to top it off I am a very picky eater so that makes it hard. And yes this is hard! There is such a science to it and I can't figure it out! It is so frustrating when I am working out harder than I ever have and am not getting results. :(
    You've been at this for five weeks and you've lost 9 pounds? You're doing just fine. Weight loss is not linear.
  • mlcrec
    mlcrec Posts: 66
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    The 9 pound loss was from last year. Thanks again for all your support! I am going to eat more and I will go open my diary, but mind you I am a VERY picky eater!
  • jjplato
    jjplato Posts: 155 Member
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    OP - some good advice here, and I don't necessarily want to pile on here, but when you're diagnosing it makes sense to look at everything, and one thing that often gets overlooked is water -- are you drinking enough of it? It has been shown that well-hydrated fat cells release fat more easily than dehydrated cells. And it definitely works for me. I tend to not drink enough water, so I have to force myself to do it, but when I'm drinking 8-12 glasses of water a day, the weight seems to come off more easily.

    I'm not suggesting that this is your magic bullet, but if you're not getting enough water, it certainly wouldn't do you any harm to increase your intake.

    Here's a synopsis of the study, in case you're interested: http://www.ergo-log.com/euhydration.html

    Good luck!
  • TheCherryMama
    TheCherryMama Posts: 20
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    Yes this! This where i was going to go. 1200 isn't enough to keep you body functioning in a coma! I wish MFP didn't do that crap. Its like the school that sent a note home with a 9 year old with a note saying she was over weight at 66 pounds. Because they used BMI!!!
    I only use MFP to track macros now. And still they wont let me adjust to the exact #! yeah theres my rant... use IIFYM.com and get your BMR and TDEE. Eat more weigh less. MACROS ARE SEXY!
    I am 39, I currently weigh 158 and am 5'5". I am fairly active and my workouts are very intense with a burn of about 550 calories. My goal weight would be between 125-130.

    Alright lets get started then. I'm going to walk you through what I am doing and explain each step.

    First I am going to go to two different online calculators that are used to predict the number of calories at which you would maintain your weight. This number is refered to as your TDEE or Total Daily Energy Expentiture. If you ate your TDEE in calories every day you would neither lose nor gain weight because you are eating exactly the number of calories that your body burns from being alive, your daily activity and your exercise.

    TDEE is broken into three components:

    BMR or basal metabolic rate: This is the number of calories your body burns just being alive. It is your heartbeat, your brain function, your body temperature and your organ function. If you were in a coma this would be your total burn.

    NEAT or non-exercise activity thermogenesis: This is the burn from your normal daily activity plus your BMR. It takes into account things like standing up, sitting in a chair, typing on your keyboard, walking to the bathroom etc. All activity that is not intentional exercise. If you are sedentary your just normal activity usually adds about 300 caloires on top of your BMR

    Finally your exercise burn, this is the calories you burn doing intentional exercise. This plus your NEAT is your TDEE.

    So lets figure out your TDEE.

    First with this calculator:

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

    I am putting that you exercise 5-6 hours a week strenuous exercise and your goal is to lose fat at a 20% deficit which is about as fast as possible while still being healthy.

    The result is your TDEE is 2400 calories a day and you would want to eat 1900 calories per day to lose weight.

    Now this calculator for a second opinion:

    http://exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html

    Here I put in that you did 12 hours a day rest, 11 hours light activity and 1 hour heavy activity.

    The calcluated TDEE is again 2200 which means again for 1 pound lost per week you would want to eat 1700 calories a day.



    So yeah, you want to eat 1700-1900 calories a day roughly.
  • adinutzyc21
    adinutzyc21 Posts: 5 Member
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    1200 calories is starving yourself... The lowest you should go unless you actually see a nutritionist is 1400 (especially if you also exercise!).
    Also I noticed that it's always taken my body a couple of weeks (well, actually more) to adjust and start losing weight. Which usually meant that I'd give up before I even got started. So wait a couple of months before despairing.
    But the general advice here is good. Just don't do 1200 calories a day...
  • MrTolerable
    MrTolerable Posts: 1,593 Member
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    I have been working out 4-5 times a week with intense workouts (a mix of exercises & weight training, with a trainer) burning around 550 calories and eating right keeping my calorie intake at 1200. I measured & weighed in today and only lost 1 pound and only 1/4 inch on my hips. I feel very defeated and am unsure of what I need to do to see some improvements. Am I not eating enough? Has anyone else had this problem and found a way to overcome it or just have any advice in general? I am desperate for help!

    ^right off the bat I'm ganna say maybe kick your metabolism into high gear and eat lighter meals but space them out throughout the day?

    What does "eating right" mean? - what type of diet? - perhaps get your macros in check and up your protein intake?
  • MrTolerable
    MrTolerable Posts: 1,593 Member
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    Yes this! This where i was going to go. 1200 isn't enough to keep you body functioning in a coma! I wish MFP didn't do that crap. Its like the school that sent a note home with a 9 year old with a note saying she was over weight at 66 pounds. Because they used BMI!!!
    I only use MFP to track macros now. And still they wont let me adjust to the exact #! yeah theres my rant... use IIFYM.com and get your BMR and TDEE. Eat more weigh less. MACROS ARE SEXY!
    I am 39, I currently weigh 158 and am 5'5". I am fairly active and my workouts are very intense with a burn of about 550 calories. My goal weight would be between 125-130.

    Alright lets get started then. I'm going to walk you through what I am doing and explain each step.

    First I am going to go to two different online calculators that are used to predict the number of calories at which you would maintain your weight. This number is refered to as your TDEE or Total Daily Energy Expentiture. If you ate your TDEE in calories every day you would neither lose nor gain weight because you are eating exactly the number of calories that your body burns from being alive, your daily activity and your exercise.

    TDEE is broken into three components:

    BMR or basal metabolic rate: This is the number of calories your body burns just being alive. It is your heartbeat, your brain function, your body temperature and your organ function. If you were in a coma this would be your total burn.

    NEAT or non-exercise activity thermogenesis: This is the burn from your normal daily activity plus your BMR. It takes into account things like standing up, sitting in a chair, typing on your keyboard, walking to the bathroom etc. All activity that is not intentional exercise. If you are sedentary your just normal activity usually adds about 300 caloires on top of your BMR

    Finally your exercise burn, this is the calories you burn doing intentional exercise. This plus your NEAT is your TDEE.

    So lets figure out your TDEE.

    First with this calculator:

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

    I am putting that you exercise 5-6 hours a week strenuous exercise and your goal is to lose fat at a 20% deficit which is about as fast as possible while still being healthy.

    The result is your TDEE is 2400 calories a day and you would want to eat 1900 calories per day to lose weight.

    Now this calculator for a second opinion:

    http://exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html

    Here I put in that you did 12 hours a day rest, 11 hours light activity and 1 hour heavy activity.

    The calcluated TDEE is again 2200 which means again for 1 pound lost per week you would want to eat 1700 calories a day.



    So yeah, you want to eat 1700-1900 calories a day roughly.

    I recommend making sure that your consumption is primarily lean meats and lots of eggs.. avoid the filler carps that don't fill.. get those macros in check..

    But yeah def increase the amount you are consuming.

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