Quite the Connundrum

servingthealiens
servingthealiens Posts: 144 Member
edited September 23 in Health and Weight Loss
So here's the deal. I'm 124 lbs right now. I want to get to 118, give or take a couple pounds (I'm 5'4" with a VERY small build, my wrist is 5 1/4" around).

I know that the closer you are to your ideal weight, the harder it is to lose. I also know that smaller people need less calories overall, and also burn less during exercise or day to day activities.

That leaves me in a bit of a bind. I either lose weight veeeeeerrrrrrrry sllllllllooooooowwwwwllly from this point forward (my plateau last time was 122), or find a way to increase my calorie deficit. Thing is, I can't eat a lot less calories without eating next to nothing, since I only get 1200 per day to start with anyway, and that's only .7 pounds per week since MFP won't give you a goal less than 1200.

In my case, would it be the worst thing in the world NOT to eat all my exercise calories? Since I'm small, 1000 *net* probably isn't starvation mode, so if I only eat, say, half of my exercise calories, that should leave me in a position to increase my calorie deficit and push past my plateau without living on a bowl of cereal and a handful of grapes all day.

Thoughts? Anyone else have the same problem and how did you solve it?

Replies

  • staciekins
    staciekins Posts: 453 Member
    As long as you eat your 1200 cals/day, you should be fine. You do not have to eat your "rewarded" cals even though it is recommended because you also lose vitamins and minerals. I take a multivitamin with energy every day and 2 B50 vitamins which also aide in energy which will raise your metabolic rate. Drink PLENTY of water and make sure your "diet" is balanced. Also, if you are intaking carbs (which I hope you are) switch to multigrain or whole grain if you already haven't.
  • NanBar
    NanBar Posts: 283 Member
    A lot of people eat half of their exercise cals. Especially if you aren't using a HRM- because you don't know exactly what you are burning.
  • crackerjack345
    crackerjack345 Posts: 129 Member
    All I can say, is that I hope and pray I have your connundrum some day! I wouldn't think you need to eat your workout calories, but I am certainly no expert! Keep up the good work!!
  • servingthealiens
    servingthealiens Posts: 144 Member
    I don't have an HRM and really don't plan to get one, so I usually leave myself about 75 calories "wiggle room" after exercise anyway and it's worked OK. Not too hungry, lose weight steadily. And MOST of my workouts are runs, which at my weight is about 90 calories per mile no matter how fast I go, so that's generally pretty accurate I figure.

    And I do eat carbs, obviously, and as a vegetarian they're either from fruits and veggies, or yes, I do use whole grain when I can because it's just more nutritious and I don't get those nutrients from other sources. I also take a multivitamin.

    Good to know that it's not "necessary" to eat all of one's exercise calories.
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