Frustrated. Stuck at 123 pounds. Need some assistance.
NiftyNancy
Posts: 26 Member
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:)
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
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I have the same problem?Anyone with any ideas?0
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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.0
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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.0 -
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!!0 -
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.0
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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.0 -
I read it as she said that was in a week. No way she has that deficit in a day.0
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try 1600 wen w/o 1300 wen not..watch your sugar and sodium0
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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.0 -
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.0 -
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.0 -
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.
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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.0
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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!!0 -
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.0
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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?0 -
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!!0 -
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.0 -
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?0 -
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. 0 -
also, I think my definition of deficit and yours are different. I am probably wrong...
what I meant by deficit is that after eating and exercising i have 1400 calories left over in a day.0 -
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?
I think you have the definition of deficit confused. Deficit occurs when you are burning more calories than you put in, basically eating less than the body requires to maintain your weight. Read the link that hpsnickers1 posted about lean people trying to get leaner by Stroutman, he knows his stuff.0 -
Yes got it!! Thank you...I think that is what I will be trying this week....i hope it works...i'm getting upset with this weight loss thing..geez.0
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Are you sure you're body fat percent is right, it seems pretty high for someone your height/weight (if it is correct you only have 89lbs of lean body mass)? When was the last time you had it tested using something more than a tape measure (i.e. a caliper)?
Also this is a good link:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/12250-1000-calorie-deficit-not-for-people-with-healthy-bmi
The OP's screenname is now SHBoss1673. I have found that he and Stroutman's posts/blogs seems to be the most unbiased and informational. Plus they are willing to answer any questions they can so take advantage of that
I'm not an expert but from what I've learned, your deficit should not be any great than 250/day because your BMR is going to be very low, probably around 1200. Multiply that times 1.2 (for a sedentary lifestyle) and you should be eating around 1450 calories a day to maintain. 1450 - a 250 deficit is 1150 NET calories per day. Again, that should be your goal for NET calories (i.e. - how many calories you consume minus calories burned from exercise) To lower BF% you should focus more on lifting now than cardio and eat back your exercise calories since you've already incorporated a deficit through eating.
Note though that all of these number are estimates so you have to tweek things to see what works for you but you should be averaging a .5 lb loss per week if you keep your deficit at 250. However, you may not always see a loss if you start strength training because of water weight. The important thing is to focus on measurements and BF%.0 -
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?
I think you have the definition of deficit confused. Deficit occurs when you are burning more calories than you put in, basically eating less than the body requires to maintain your weight. Read the link that hpsnickers1 posted about lean people trying to get leaner by Stroutman, he knows his stuff.
Thanks. I couldn't seem to word it right!! :flowerforyou:0 -
Ellis- thank you for your response! I checked my body fat with a body fat monitor (OMRON). Yes it is high...and yes it is true....I have a lot of fat on my body. I can see it all over my arms, stomach, thighs, butt...yuk..... that is why i am trying to lose body fat as well. I had gained a lot of weight when my boyfriend moved in...
I was weighing 118 when I met him and went up to 129 for my highest...
When i decided to put an end to the weight gain, I lost 4 pounds in 1 month just by reducing portions....no exercise....
Then I wasn't losing anymore....so I started adding exercise...then i only lost 2 pounds ....and I've been stuck at 123 ever since....
I notice that fat is going down a little with the cardio i've been doing....I think i was eating a lot of crap before but now i am trying to picking healthier foods. that is why i have so much fat on my body...I noticed my tummy has gone down a little and my arms too...
so this is why i am frustrated b/c I thought i was working out enough and eating enough to lose weight and i guess i haven't....0 -
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?
So if your net calories are 1400, what is your maintenance if it is 1800, your deficit would be 400 (1800-1400) and it would take 9 days to lose 1 lb (3500/400)0 -
To the OP...
I have just that last 15 lbs. to lose myself. Although our dimensions are extremely different ( I'm 6'1" and 216 lbs. ) I don't have much body fat left to lose so this is probably the hardest point for your fat loss expectations. It defintely requires the most tweaking to get the results. I have found that the only thing that is denting my BF% now is calorie cycling. It's a concept of zig-zagging your calories throughout the week. Today I eat 2600...tomorrow 2000....next day 2200 and so on.
Check out this site and plug in your numbers.....http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm0 -
Jay - thx!! Will try it.0
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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:)
I am 5'2 and once weighed at 123. I was eating about 1260 cals. a day. I am down to 112 and now eating about 1200-to 1300 a day. I did do a splurge day once a week. Up your protein to. Make sure for your snacks you eat a carb with protein. example fruit and string cheese or almonds or cottage cheese. Eat 5 meals a day. Do you drink lots of water? I never ate my exercise cals bc I exercised at night at like 9 or 10 at night so it was a little late. I haven't gained any of it back.0
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