Frustrated. Stuck at 123 pounds. Need some assistance.

NiftyNancy
NiftyNancy Posts: 26 Member
edited September 24 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi Everyone,
I really need some help trying to figure out how to lose weight. I have the food down. The exercise down. Now I need a plan. Can anyone help me in terms of how many calories to eat when I don't exercise and how many to eat when I do exercise?

I'm 5 foot 2.
Weight 123 pounds (for over a month)
BMI 22.5
Body fat 28%

My goal is to lose fat and lose weight. My goal weight is 115-118 pounds.
I have a HRM so I know how many calories I burn when I exercise. I am also tracking my food through calorie king. On average, I've had a deficit of 1450-1487 for the last week and haven't lost any weight at all.

I'm thinking about eating 1200 calories when I don't exercise and eating 1500 when I do exercise ( I usually burn 300 calories during a workout). Does anyone have any insight for me. Would greatly appreciate it:)
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Replies

  • autumn13
    autumn13 Posts: 295
    I have the same problem?Anyone with any ideas?
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    since you don't have much weight to lose your caloric deficit should not be more than 250-500/day and you said yours is over 1400 cals. Try changing your goal to 0.5/week and eat all of your exercise calories. The closer you are to your goal the smaller you caloric deficit should be. The issue with having a large deficit with little weight to lose is that you end up burning muscle along with or instead of fat for energy, which lowers your metabolism. Try upping your calories and don't step on the scale for 3-4 weeks.
  • kimmerroze
    kimmerroze Posts: 1,330 Member
    Is that an unhealthy weight?


    I would consider not worrying about the scale, instead start lifting weights or do more lifting weights, and use a measuring tape to track your success. when you get down that small, you aren't goign to see changes on the scale very often, but if you want to improve your BF% I would work on that, but body fat % and what you weigh on the scale have nothing to do with eachother.

    Lift weights, work out hard. eat a lean and clean diet. and you will see changes. But I would drop your goal of wanting to drop those last 5 lbs you are only going to get discouraged. plus what the poster above me says is true... you are eating waay too little.
  • Jessica_Lo
    Jessica_Lo Posts: 199 Member
    Awww you are part of the short frustrated club. ;) Our challenges are different than others and you should totally join my group. lol

    First of all it takes a deficit of 3500 calories to lose a pound so if your deficit was 1400 then it's going to take about 10 days to lose 1 lb which is ok. It takes longer for us.

    Secondly you should be at 1200 a day with higher cals on the day that you exercise IF you feel that you need it. Remember it takes a 3500 deficit so the quicker you add those calories up with exercise the quicker you will get to your goal weight. It's important to listen to your body and if you need more on the workout days then eat them but try to eat higher protein foods as opposed to carbs and sugar.

    Good luck!!
  • yanicka
    yanicka Posts: 1,004 Member
    I am not the best at giving advice since it will probably take me one year to lose my last 10 pounds. I would say to set yourself for 1/2 pounds a week. If you do alot of cardio, try doing HIIT....it will move things around, But the only thing is....it take alot of time to lose those vanity pounds!!! and I would say that 28% fat at 123 pounds is really unlikely....unless you are 5' tall like me.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Awww you are part of the short frustrated club. ;) Our challenges are different than others and you should totally join my group. lol

    First of all it takes a deficit of 3500 calories to lose a pound so if your deficit was 1400 then it's going to take about 10 days to lose 1 lb which is ok. It takes longer for us.

    Secondly you should be at 1200 a day with higher cals on the day that you exercise IF you feel that you need it. Remember it takes a 3500 deficit so the quicker you add those calories up with exercise the quicker you will get to your goal weight. It's important to listen to your body and if you need more on the workout days then eat them but try to eat higher protein foods as opposed to carbs and sugar.

    Good luck!!

    This advice is not very good for someone that does not have a lot to lose, she should be eating close to maintenance and incorporating weight training and only aim for a 250 cal/day deficit.
  • Jessica_Lo
    Jessica_Lo Posts: 199 Member
    I read it as she said that was in a week. No way she has that deficit in a day.
  • shreddingit
    shreddingit Posts: 1,133 Member
    try 1600 wen w/o 1300 wen not..watch your sugar and sodium
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
    I am 5'2' and 123 pounds. I do exercise throughout the week. But I'm not faithful. Some weeks are 3 days, some are 4-5 days. I started out at 130 and was trying to get to 120. I'm not too worried about the number these days.

    I was set up to lose .5 per week (I tried 1 and 2 in the beginning but it was just impossible). I use a digital scale because when you are at a healthy weight range but still trying lose it's hard to see the loss. I have been losing in .2-.4 increments which I can see on a digital scale.

    A couple of weeks ago I changed from 1250 (deficit) to 1480 maintenance. I still eat my exercise calories and at least get up to or over 1200. Some days I have gone higher and some days I haven't quite made it there. I dropped another 1 1/2 pounds in these 2 weeks. ( I have never had more than a 320 calorie deficit since I joined this site). I have my protein at 40% (carbs - 40% and fat - 20%) so I know to get enough in me to hopefully combat any muscle loss (I don't know if this helps since I'm no expert). I do strength training but not serious heavy weight lifting yet. That's my next goal with P90X.

    I do weigh daily. I have finally gotten over the number obsession and do it to see my weight fluctuations. There is actually a pattern! I slack a bit on the weekends and might get a little more carbs or sodium and I will see a small jump. I'm usually back to normal by Wednesday. TOM - 2-3lb gain overnight! But goes back down through the week.

    This has seemed to work for me. But everyone is different.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    I read it as she said that was in a week. No way she has that deficit in a day.

    I took it as 1450-1487/day for the past week, only the OP knows for sure.
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
    Oh and spend some time reading the link in my signature: "Relatively light and looking to get leaner". Heavy weights is the way to do. You can message the Stroutman81 and tell him your goals and he will give you a general rundown of what you need to do to get the BF& down. And once again it involves heavy weights.

    The majority of the carbs I get are from fibrous veggies.
  • Jessica_Lo
    Jessica_Lo Posts: 199 Member
    I read it as she said that was in a week. No way she has that deficit in a day.

    I took it as 1450-1487/day for the past week, only the OP knows for sure.

    Lol yeah I'm thinking week. She's little so that would mean she would either not eat or work out like a beast and since she said she gets 300 cals w workouts I'm thinking this is definitely in a week. :)
  • noltes2
    noltes2 Posts: 202 Member
    You might need to ask yourself if your goal is realistic. If it is realistic for you, you definitely will want to eat MORE calories and change your goal to 1/2 pound a week so your body doesn't freak out with the reduction.
  • becca32887
    becca32887 Posts: 14
    Can I join that club too?? I am also in the same situation I am 5' 3" and 123 but want to mainly flatten my tummy more but also get down to about 115.... that is a healthy weight for us that are a bit shorter. But my goal is to lose these next pounds in the next 3-4 months!!

    I understand the eating too and excerise...just make sure you get the right nutrition!!!

    I am here for ya and understand!!
  • kimmerroze
    kimmerroze Posts: 1,330 Member
    Just fyi... Im 5'3" and the BMI calculator says anywhere from 105lbs to 140 for my height range.. so asking your self to be near the very bottom of that is going to be a challenge 125 is right in the middle of that weight scale.
  • NiftyNancy
    NiftyNancy Posts: 26 Member
    Need to clarify.
    I had an average of 1450 deficit per day for the last week.
    Which means it is just an average.
    For example...one day i would eat 2000 calories and after burning 600 calories would have a deficit of 1400 for that day.
    The next day I wouldn't exercise and ate 1450 calories.

    So it is an average per day for 1 week. Does that make sense?
  • Jessica_Lo
    Jessica_Lo Posts: 199 Member
    Can I join that club too?? I am also in the same situation I am 5' 3" and 123 but want to mainly flatten my tummy more but also get down to about 115.... that is a healthy weight for us that are a bit shorter. But my goal is to lose these next pounds in the next 3-4 months!!

    I understand the eating too and excerise...just make sure you get the right nutrition!!!

    I am here for ya and understand!!

    Yes Becca!! You are definitely welcomed. Adding you!!
  • NiftyNancy
    NiftyNancy Posts: 26 Member
    Here is a second post to clarify. Sorry If i made it confusing.
    After eating and exercising I would have about 1400 left over per day. On some days less and on same days more. I just picked 1400 as an average.

    I promise you it sounds like i am little but i'm really not. I'm hispanic so I have a curvy shape and maybe if i didn't have curves, I would be small..but i'm round in a lot of places. I can barely fit into a 5/6 (it is really tight). so I am in between 5/6 and 6/8.
    I think 118 is pretty good weight for me. Just right now when I look at pictures I look really big and I dont' feel good about myself. I also forgot to mention I'm 37 years old...and I have a pear shape.
  • Jessica_Lo
    Jessica_Lo Posts: 199 Member
    Need to clarify.
    I had an average of 1450 deficit per day for the last week.
    Which means it is just an average.
    For example...one day i would eat 2000 calories and after burning 600 calories would have a deficit of 1400 for that day.
    The next day I wouldn't exercise and ate 1450 calories.

    So it is an average per day for 1 week. Does that make sense?

    O no. A deficit means under your required cals so you actually wouldn't have had a deficit in any of those days. Your calories are just averaging 1400 +/- a day. You need to go under that to lose weight.

    You need to figure out how many cals a day you need to lose. My guess would be around 1200 and that's where you should be daily with your calories. Even if you work out and say you get 600 calories then you can go up to 1800 for that day but no more.

    Does that make sense?
  • Jessica_Lo
    Jessica_Lo Posts: 199 Member
    Here is a second post to clarify. Sorry If i made it confusing.
    After eating and exercising I would have about 1400 left over per day. On some days less and on same days more. I just picked 1400 as an average.

    I promise you it sounds like i am little but i'm really not. I'm hispanic so I have a curvy shape and maybe if i didn't have curves, I would be small..but i'm round in a lot of places. I can barely fit into a 5/6 (it is really tight). so I am in between 5/6 and 6/8.
    I think 118 is pretty good weight for me. Just right now when I look at pictures I look really big and I dont' feel good about myself. I also forgot to mention I'm 37 years old...and I have a pear shape.

    I am shaped the same way. :smile:
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