How can I balance exercise and eating enough

lparham2008
lparham2008 Posts: 2
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm 155 pounds. I would love to be back down in the 130's. I've started running 4 miles a day (8 mph). I also do strength exercises and yoga for an additional 60 minutes after the run. I've completely revamped the way I eat but I'm gaining weight. I know by looking at my diary that I'm not eating enough but I'm unsure how to make sure I'm getting the calories I need without eating junk. I've added my measurements so I can start tracking them but I'm a weight loss novice. It wasn't until I had children and then thyroid cancer that I started struggling with my weight. Does anyone have any suggestions about what I could be doing differently and how to eat good calories? Thank you!!

Replies

  • ghartleroad1
    ghartleroad1 Posts: 51 Member
    It's definitely worth it to meet with a dietician. I didn't know what I didn't know about food. We also quickly determined I was eating too few calories and that was before I was even exercising. After two meetings with the dietician the chart started going down and hasn't stopped in months.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    If you want advice on your diary you should open it so that people can see and give opinions.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    If you want advice on your diary you should open it so that people can see and give opinions.

    ^This. If you want specific advice you'll need to go into your diary settings and set it to public so that we can see it.

    The generic advice is going to be to eat more calorie dense foods. These kinds of foods pack a lot of calories into a little bit of food, so adding them to your day can add more calories without filling you up too badly. These are things like nuts, nut butter, full fat dairy, Greek yogurt, cheese, butter, olive oil, coconut oil, less lean cuts of meat, full calorie sauces and dressings, higher calorie condiments, dark chocolate, avocado, protein shakes or smoothies, fruit juices, etc.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    If you want to open your diary, great. But do not be bullied into it.

    Do not compare yourself to others!! Don't listen to fitness gurus. Focus on you and follow your doctor's advice.

    Lots of people with thyroid issues (I'm one!) cannot eat the same amount of food that people who have functioning thyroids can. The only way I lose weight when averaging 1200 calories a day is WITH EXERCISE. Without the exercise, I would slowly gain on 1200. Thems the breaks.

    Your meds may need adjusting. It happens all the time. That's why you have to keep going in. :)

    Next time you're at the doctor, get a ballpark on target weight and daily calorie goals. Until then, have as much healthy food as you can in your diet and keep up the exercise.

    http://www.fitness.gov/eat-healthy/how-to-eat-healthy/

    Good luck!
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    If you want to open your diary, great. But do not be bullied into it.

    Do not compare yourself to others!! Don't listen to fitness gurus. Focus on you and follow your doctor's advice.

    Lots of people with thyroid issues (I'm one!) cannot eat the same amount of food that people who have functioning thyroids can. The only way I lose weight when averaging 1200 calories a day is WITH EXERCISE. Without the exercise, I would slowly gain on 1200. Thems the breaks.

    Your meds may need adjusting. It happens all the time. That's why you have to keep going in. :)

    Next time you're at the doctor, get a ballpark on target weight and daily calorie goals. Until then, have as much healthy food as you can in your diet and keep up the exercise.

    http://www.fitness.gov/eat-healthy/how-to-eat-healthy/

    Good luck!

    You're really going to use "bullied" to describe two of us suggesting she'd need to open it for specific advice? Really? Especially when her OP reads as though she assumes we'll be able to see it. That seems a little harsh to me.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I'd go see a doctor. All the regular advice will probably not help you, as you probably have thyroid issues because of your cancer.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    If you want to open your diary, great. But do not be bullied into it.

    Do not compare yourself to others!! Don't listen to fitness gurus. Focus on you and follow your doctor's advice.

    Lots of people with thyroid issues (I'm one!) cannot eat the same amount of food that people who have functioning thyroids can. The only way I lose weight when averaging 1200 calories a day is WITH EXERCISE. Without the exercise, I would slowly gain on 1200. Thems the breaks.

    Your meds may need adjusting. It happens all the time. That's why you have to keep going in. :)

    Next time you're at the doctor, get a ballpark on target weight and daily calorie goals. Until then, have as much healthy food as you can in your diet and keep up the exercise.

    http://www.fitness.gov/eat-healthy/how-to-eat-healthy/

    Good luck!

    You're really going to use "bullied" to describe two of us suggesting she'd need to open it for specific advice? Really? Especially when her OP reads as though she assumes we'll be able to see it. That seems a little harsh to me.
    I did not use it to describe you. I've seen it happen before. That's it.

    I do not recall seeing you bully anyone into opening a diary. If you have, I missed it.

    My message to the OP was about them. I say it a lot, including threads you weren't in.

    It's not about you.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    If you want to open your diary, great. But do not be bullied into it.

    Do not compare yourself to others!! Don't listen to fitness gurus. Focus on you and follow your doctor's advice.

    Lots of people with thyroid issues (I'm one!) cannot eat the same amount of food that people who have functioning thyroids can. The only way I lose weight when averaging 1200 calories a day is WITH EXERCISE. Without the exercise, I would slowly gain on 1200. Thems the breaks.

    Your meds may need adjusting. It happens all the time. That's why you have to keep going in. :)

    Next time you're at the doctor, get a ballpark on target weight and daily calorie goals. Until then, have as much healthy food as you can in your diet and keep up the exercise.

    http://www.fitness.gov/eat-healthy/how-to-eat-healthy/

    Good luck!

    You're really going to use "bullied" to describe two of us suggesting she'd need to open it for specific advice? Really? Especially when her OP reads as though she assumes we'll be able to see it. That seems a little harsh to me.
    I did not use it to describe you. I've seen it happen before. That's it.

    I know you like to pick fights and be rude, but do not recall seeing you bully anyone into opening a diary. If you have, I missed it.

    My message to the OP was about them. I say it a lot, including threads you weren't in.

    It's not about you.

    So not a bully, but rude. Got it. Thanks for clarifying. :flowerforyou:
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    If you want to open your diary, great. But do not be bullied into it.

    Do not compare yourself to others!! Don't listen to fitness gurus. Focus on you and follow your doctor's advice.

    Lots of people with thyroid issues (I'm one!) cannot eat the same amount of food that people who have functioning thyroids can. The only way I lose weight when averaging 1200 calories a day is WITH EXERCISE. Without the exercise, I would slowly gain on 1200. Thems the breaks.

    Your meds may need adjusting. It happens all the time. That's why you have to keep going in. :)

    Next time you're at the doctor, get a ballpark on target weight and daily calorie goals. Until then, have as much healthy food as you can in your diet and keep up the exercise.

    http://www.fitness.gov/eat-healthy/how-to-eat-healthy/

    Good luck!

    You're really going to use "bullied" to describe two of us suggesting she'd need to open it for specific advice? Really? Especially when her OP reads as though she assumes we'll be able to see it. That seems a little harsh to me.
    I did not use it to describe you. I've seen it happen before. That's it.

    I know you like to pick fights and be rude, but do not recall seeing you bully anyone into opening a diary. If you have, I missed it.

    My message to the OP was about them. I say it a lot, including threads you weren't in.

    It's not about you.

    So not a bully, but rude. Got it. Thanks for clarifying. :flowerforyou:
    I edited that out as it might be against the rules to say.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Next time you're at the doctor, get a ballpark on target weight and daily calorie goals. Until then, have as much healthy food as you can in your diet and keep up the exercise.

    This is good advice, but the suggestions that you open your diary are good too, for a few reasons. First, someone new to the MFP system or logging sometimes has trouble with the entries, as there are many "generic" or "homemade" entries that apply only to the person who input the entry. You don't know if your lentil soup is anything like another in terms of ingredients or size, for example. While this may not be a problem for you, it often is. Second, while we can guess, we can't see precisely what you are eating and thus what your problem might be in getting enough calories or if you might be eating more than you think.

    What I can say is that when people switch from what they perceive as "junk" to what they perceive as "healthy" food, for the purposes of losing weight, it is not uncommon for them to go overboard with cutting certain types of foods, in particular carbs and fat. For example, assuming that egg whites must be better than eggs, that no oil is always better than some, even if some is just a little olive oil, and sometimes that any meat (or any meat but fish and boneless skinless chicken breast) should be avoided. Similarly, some may think that it's necessary to avoid bread and potatoes and anything that seems like a treat.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    If you want to open your diary, great. But do not be bullied into it.


    Wow - so offering to give specific advice for someone's situation is bullying? Aren't you a little ray of sunshine.
  • lparham2008
    lparham2008 Posts: 2
    Thanks so much for responding!! I thought I had made my diary public. I know it is now for sure so by all means, take a look. I realize the fat isn't going to just fall off (I've been waiting for that to happen) and I'm aware that I'm going to add muscle mass which will keep the scale where it is but at some point you would think that something has to give. I want to build lean muscle and lose weight.

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