Having problems loosing...

karwizz
karwizz Posts: 3 Member
edited September 23 in Health and Weight Loss
I've been FAITHFULLY tracking foods, staying within 1200 cals per day & exercising and after 15 days have gained 1 pound!!! Do I really need to eat less? I weigh 150 & would like to loose 10 lbs. I make most of my own foods and track everything...I'm perplexed! Any ideas?

Replies

  • ashlee954
    ashlee954 Posts: 1,112 Member
    How much are you exercising? Like how many cals do you burn? Do you eat your exercise cals? If you are burning a lot and not eating back at least enough to make your NET calorie consumption around 1200 then it is possible your metabolism has slowed a bit and is holding onto those pounds in fear that you are not going to provide your body enough cals (energy) to function at its optimum.
  • fearlessfatty
    fearlessfatty Posts: 206 Member
    it seems SO counter-intuitive but I didn't start losing until I bumped my calories up to 1500 and spread them out pretty evenly throughout the day, like, every 2 -3 hours I am eating something. AND i started going to bed earlier so I could get more sleep. the hard part is, i think, fine-tuning the "rules" to suit your lifestyle. good luck!!!!
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    If you only have 10 lbs to lose you should set your weekly goal to lose 0.5lbs per week. This will give you more calories to eat and it may sound weird but you may have to eat more to lose the weight. The last few pounds are always the hardest to shed.
  • WildcatMom82
    WildcatMom82 Posts: 564 Member
    I agree with what everyone else has said. I never lost eating 1200 calories, my "sweet spot" was 1500-1800 (when I was around 155 lbs). That was before I knew about net cals, it's so much easier with MFP because they take a lot of the guess work out. I'm bigger now so I keep my net cals at 1550 and have been losing for the first time in awhile. Depending on my workouts that means eating >2000 cals some days, which is hard to believe, but before I wasn't eating enough and therefore not losing.
  • llocke5
    llocke5 Posts: 9
    I was using the calorie goal on MFP when I first started, which put me at 1200 calories. I lost a little weight, but nothing significant. I started working out with a personal trainer a couple of months ago at my gym because my weight loss had stalled. He immediately stated he would bump my calories up because I was killing my metabolism eating fewer calories. I was skeptical, but my trainer does complete in body building competitions, so I had to assume he knew what he was doing. The first week I lost 6 pounds and I have lost 15 total since working with him and eating his meal plan for me. He has me eating roughly 1600 calories per day (3 meals, 2 snacks & 1 extra snack pre-workout).

    I can tell a huge difference in how I feel energy wise since switching. You can eat more calories when you are eating "clean" because your body uses them. On my plan I eat a lot of oatmeal (plain old fashioned oats not the instant which contains a ton of hidden sugar), eggs and egg whites, chicken, lean ground beef, fish, veggies, sweet potatoes, whole grain rice, whole grain pasta, fruit, etc. and I am never hungry. I had to train myself to eat this much and it takes some planning (preparing meals ahead of time) but for me it has been worth it.

    There is also a website Chelle Stafford created...she lost 50 pounds eating clean and now she journals and talks about her food, exercise, etc. I have found it to be very helpful. The site is http://www.billandchelle.com/fitness/index.html.
  • karwizz
    karwizz Posts: 3 Member
    Hi llocke5 -
    Thanks for all that great info... I guess I'll need to step up my calorie input with more whole foods... I will check out Chelle Stafford's website. Thanks!
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