Eat more or stick with it?

pistachiopeas
pistachiopeas Posts: 165 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi folks, today was my 150th day logging into MFP. I started at 150# and I'm now somewhere between 138-139#. I'm 5'2. My initial goal is 135. When I hit 137 a few weeks ago, I thought I'd definitely meet 135 by my goal of September 15th. However, over the last few weeks, I keep bouncing up and down from 137 to 138.6 to 139.8.

My calories are set to 1550, Lightly Active, goal of losing .5# per week, with 30 minute workouts, 7 days per week. I'm not sure what's happening, and I'm feeling super hungry lately. I use a scale and a HRM monitor whenever I exercise, even for walks with the dog. I've heard people say to try eating more when this happens, but I'm scared to do that.

My diary is public and includes my exercise. I'd love to hear any feedback or ideas. I can't imagine eating less so perhaps I need to exercise more? Thanks.

Replies

  • healthyfoxx
    healthyfoxx Posts: 104 Member
    Maybe you're close to getting your period? My weight goes up a bit and I am super hungrier than normal around that time.

    Drinking enough water? If so, then I would just listen to your body and eat a bit more, if you are truly hungry. Keep watching what your weight does. The body does weird things. When I lost my biggest amount of weight, sometimes the scale wouldn't move for a week or two, then BAM! 3 or 4 lbs lighter one day.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Congratulations, what a success! The fluctuations are probably just water retention, no worries!
  • marissanik
    marissanik Posts: 344 Member
    Awesome! Looks pretty good to me. Keep doing what you're doing. Normally people recommend not to be worried until you hit the 6 week mark with no change if you're properly tracking everything accurately. Keep at it!!!
  • amy8400
    amy8400 Posts: 478 Member
    I know you're tracking everything really well since we're MFP buddies :wink: and I'd say it might be time to mix it up. I had a 6 week stall on weight loss in the spring and one of our mutual friends suggested I up my calories slightly but also change up my workouts to include interval training which I did some of on the treadmill. Started working with weights too. Can't say that was the trick, but I dropped another 5 pounds and I have to think it had something to do with the changes.

    Good luck!
  • sportychic87
    sportychic87 Posts: 214 Member
    What about protein shakes? I've been super hungry too, but I bought a couple Kelloggs To Go chocolate protein shakes, and it seems to help a lot. Or up your protein?
  • pistachiopeas
    pistachiopeas Posts: 165 Member
    I know you're tracking everything really well since we're MFP buddies :wink: and I'd say it might be time to mix it up. I had a 6 week stall on weight loss in the spring and one of our mutual friends suggested I up my calories slightly but also change up my workouts to include interval training which I did some of on the treadmill. Started working with weights too. Can't say that was the trick, but I dropped another 5 pounds and I have to think it had something to do with the changes.

    Good luck!

    Thanks, Amy, as always, for your support. I think you're right. I DO need to mix it up, especially where exercise is concerned. I'm going to make it a point to go to a Body Pump class at the Y tomorrow. Do you think I should increase my calories to 1650 instead of 1550?
  • pistachiopeas
    pistachiopeas Posts: 165 Member
    What about protein shakes? I've been super hungry too, but I bought a couple Kelloggs To Go chocolate protein shakes, and it seems to help a lot. Or up your protein?

    This is a good point. I noticed that I haven't been having my usual savory, protein-rich breakfasts. Maybe that has contributed to me being hungrier around mid-morning and lunch.
  • pistachiopeas
    pistachiopeas Posts: 165 Member
    Thank you, everyone, for your encouraging comments. I'm not anticipating my TOM - that's partly why I think this is so strange. I definitely DO need to up my water intake though. I wish it came more naturally. I do drink a lot of La Croix carbonated water but it seems to make me thirstier. Has anyone else experienced that?
  • amy8400
    amy8400 Posts: 478 Member
    [/quote]
    I'm going to make it a point to go to a Body Pump class at the Y tomorrow. Do you think I should increase my calories to 1650 instead of 1550?
    [/quote]

    Yes! I would definitely bump your calories to accommodate the more intense workout you'll be doing with Body Pump. You'll be craving more food with that kind of energy expenditure and that's another way for you to change things up by increasing intake.

    Since I've been gone for the last ten days, I haven't been making my usual morning/midday protein smoothies and I find they really help me feel fuller. I make a blender full in the morning (2 servings) using frozen fruit, yogurt, some milk and a scoop of protein powder. I drink half (makes a tall glass) in the late morning or with lunch and the other half for a late afternoon snack or with dinner. They work out to about 220-250 calories each and they really help boost my protein count and satiety.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Nope, don't increase your calories if you're not losing with what you're eating. Do you weigh everything? That could be your issue. Looking at your diary, I see a lot of questionable entries... Rice or cooked pasta by cup (completely inaccurate), 2 slices of bread, half a small onion etc. Weigh everything.
  • pistachiopeas
    pistachiopeas Posts: 165 Member
    I'm going to make it a point to go to a Body Pump class at the Y tomorrow. Do you think I should increase my calories to 1650 instead of 1550?
    [/quote]

    Yes! I would definitely bump your calories to accommodate the more intense workout you'll be doing with Body Pump. You'll be craving more food with that kind of energy expenditure and that's another way for you to change things up by increasing intake.

    Since I've been gone for the last ten days, I haven't been making my usual morning/midday protein smoothies and I find they really help me feel fuller. I make a blender full in the morning (2 servings) using frozen fruit, yogurt, some milk and a scoop of protein powder. I drink half (makes a tall glass) in the late morning or with lunch and the other half for a late afternoon snack or with dinner. They work out to about 220-250 calories each and they really help boost my protein count and satiety.
    [/quote]

    Thanks for the ideas, Amy! I already ordered more protein powder and I think I'll start having that in a smoothie with almond milk as my breakfast again. This morning I got 20 grams of protein at breakfast and noticed that I felt much fuller than I have been in the past week or so.
  • pistachiopeas
    pistachiopeas Posts: 165 Member
    Nope, don't increase your calories if you're not losing with what you're eating. Do you weigh everything? That could be your issue. Looking at your diary, I see a lot of questionable entries... Rice or cooked pasta by cup (completely inaccurate), 2 slices of bread, half a small onion etc. Weigh everything.

    I've been a little lazy with grains at dinner over the past week and just measured with a cup but normally I do weigh everything. I don't think my diary is questionable by any means. When I enter half an onion it's usually because I've put a whole onion into a large main (like a stew or a saute) that will be 4 servings - one for my partner and two leftover. So I am actually putting in more with 1/2 onion entry than I am actually eating. But I agree with you that weighing is important.
  • dopeysmelly
    dopeysmelly Posts: 1,390 Member
    Maybe add more protein and fats in food not just shakes? It really helps with satiety and I noticed when I started focusing on increasing protein the weight loss did accelerate. I've no idea why but it worked for me.
  • pistachiopeas
    pistachiopeas Posts: 165 Member
    Maybe add more protein and fats in food not just shakes? It really helps with satiety and I noticed when I started focusing on increasing protein the weight loss did accelerate. I've no idea why but it worked for me.

    Thank you - I am really going to focus on the protein and fats. I've been ignoring my macros. Already I've noticed that having 2 eggs this morning really helped me get through the first few hours of the day.
  • dopeysmelly
    dopeysmelly Posts: 1,390 Member
    Maybe add more protein and fats in food not just shakes? It really helps with satiety and I noticed when I started focusing on increasing protein the weight loss did accelerate. I've no idea why but it worked for me.

    Thank you - I am really going to focus on the protein and fats. I've been ignoring my macros. Already I've noticed that having 2 eggs this morning really helped me get through the first few hours of the day.

    I figure my daily meals by starting with protein, then fiber, then fats, and do a little juggling to get everything to fit right over the day.
  • marysidneyherbert
    marysidneyherbert Posts: 69
    I don't have time to read all the above posts, so please forgive me if this has already been mentioned. But I find that I need a little bit of a rest week from exercise after every 7th week. That is, exercise hard for 7 weeks, take a rest week on the 8th. Which for me means light walks, housework, and some stretching instead of riding my stationary bike-desk for 4 hours a day. This seems to give my body a chance to heal and rebuild, and I actually lose a little bit of weight during the rest week. I'm not sure why I lose during the rest week, but maybe it's due to the restoration of normal body fluids from the healing process that I'm going through. Anyway, I don't know all the reasons, but it works for me, and then I can get back to exercising for the next 7 weeks at a greater intensity.

    (Added later: The reason I posted this was that you said you exercise 7 days a week, and with at least 150 days behind you ... I'd say you were due for a rest so your body can restore and rebuild. I also take off from exercise at least 1 day a week during my 7 weeks of working out. Rest is essential so the body can rebuild. It just might help you break through the plateau, especially since it allows you to go back to exercising at a higher level.)
  • pistachiopeas
    pistachiopeas Posts: 165 Member
    Maybe add more protein and fats in food not just shakes? It really helps with satiety and I noticed when I started focusing on increasing protein the weight loss did accelerate. I've no idea why but it worked for me.

    Thank you - I am really going to focus on the protein and fats. I've been ignoring my macros. Already I've noticed that having 2 eggs this morning really helped me get through the first few hours of the day.

    I figure my daily meals by starting with protein, then fiber, then fats, and do a little juggling to get everything to fit right over the day.

    You've had awesome success! Congrats on your loss.
  • bobbycool321
    bobbycool321 Posts: 2 Member
    I do agree with the 'questionable entries' remark though...

    My suggestions:
    Kick out: dairy products, rice, all sugary foods, all cereal, all processed carbs in general...
    Replace with: beans and chick peas for the complexity of the carbs, nuts (not roasted!!) for the healthy fat, shirataki noodles
    Try: oatmeal with soymilk, all-fruit breakfast

    In general, I really think you can still make a lot of progress in the combination department. Counting calories is just 1 aspect of weight loss, I actually think you could actually eat more calories if you stick to healty combinations (especially no fast carbs together with fat), anyway your caloric goal is fine as it is.

    And please continue to have your one time a week ben & jerry's :-) :-)

    Tip: read this: http://www.foodhourglass.com/
  • pistachiopeas
    pistachiopeas Posts: 165 Member
    I do agree with the 'questionable entries' remark though...

    My suggestions:
    Kick out: dairy products, rice, all sugary foods, all cereal, all processed carbs in general...
    Replace with: beans and chick peas for the complexity of the carbs, nuts (not roasted!!) for the healthy fat, shirataki noodles
    Try: oatmeal with soymilk, all-fruit breakfast

    In general, I really think you can still make a lot of progress in the combination department. Counting calories is just 1 aspect of weight loss, I actually think you could actually eat more calories if you stick to healty combinations (especially no fast carbs together with fat), anyway your caloric goal is fine as it is.

    And please continue to have your one time a week ben & jerry's :-) :-)

    Tip: read this: http://www.foodhourglass.com/

    I appreciate you taking the time to respond but I don't think dairy and carbs are questionable foods and I don't plan on cutting them out. Doing that doesn't work for me.
  • psych101
    psych101 Posts: 1,842 Member
    I do agree with the 'questionable entries' remark though...

    My suggestions:
    Kick out: dairy products, rice, all sugary foods, all cereal, all processed carbs in general...
    Replace with: beans and chick peas for the complexity of the carbs, nuts (not roasted!!) for the healthy fat, shirataki noodles
    Try: oatmeal with soymilk, all-fruit breakfast

    In general, I really think you can still make a lot of progress in the combination department. Counting calories is just 1 aspect of weight loss, I actually think you could actually eat more calories if you stick to healty combinations (especially no fast carbs together with fat), anyway your caloric goal is fine as it is.

    And please continue to have your one time a week ben & jerry's :-) :-)

    Tip: read this: http://xxxxxxxxxspamlinkxxxxxx


    No
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    I use a scale and a HRM monitor whenever I exercise, even for walks with the dog.
    Are you 'eating back' even what your HRM says for dog walks? I wouldn't. Unless you're really moving along and your HR is elevated, the HRM isn't really giving you a good estimate. If you're going miles, maybe use an online calculator. .3 X weight in lbs. per mile is a common rec of net burn (BMR removed). So for you that'd only be like 42 calories per mile. Sad, I know.

    Aiming for .5lb loss per week is 250 calories a day. Eating 1550 and eating back makes it really hard to achieve 250 deficits per day because you had better be dead-on in all your estimates-- TDEE, intake, exercise. If you underestimate your intake by 10% (trained loggers usually missed 25%), there's 150 calories of your 250 deficit gone. If you overestimate your exercise by 100, there's the rest. So you may well be eating at maintenance levels now. Though a few weeks of no losses, it's hard to judge from that short a time.

    1800 pre-exercise burn (1550+250) sounds like a lot for someone 5'2" and 139lbs. Mine is usually below that and I'm 2" taller and 15lbs. heavier, but probably older.
  • RHachicho
    RHachicho Posts: 1,115 Member
    Sounds like you might be hitting the point at which your body starts saying .. no were not losing any more fat ... we might need it. Our bodies do have that cut off point and it's different for everyone. I suggest giving carb cycling a try. Or working out like a demon.

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