Discouraged..

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oneallmama
oneallmama Posts: 108 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello all! I've been a member for about a year and a half... but haven't been very committed to inputting all of my food and counting my calories... About a year ago I got down to 143 pounds from 153... but I done it very unwise and didn't eat enough. I now realize that I was most likely losing muscle mass rather than weight because I wasn't eating enough. I got burned out at 143 and was a wreck.. My metabolism was shot because of lack of food, I struggled to stay awake throughout the day, and I was generally cranky. So, I ended up quitting exercising and worrying about what I ate, and put all of the weight back on, and then some! I went through depression, because I had given up and told myself to suck it up and start eating healthy and exercising again. I've been exercising on an upright bike for about four months now, and am down to 146 from 154... but my weight loss is on hold. I can't figure out why I'm not losing anymore. I want to get down to 135 which is a reasonable goal. Maybe I'm not eating enough? Maybe it's fluid retention? I'm not sure, but I am back to counting my calories so I can make sure that I don't under eat. Can anyone give some suggestions to help me the rest of the way? Here's the calories I normally burn throughout the week: 60 minutes of upright exercise bike on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and I burn around 900-1000 calories (I pretty much pedal all out on one of the highest settings), and 45 minutes on Tuesday and Thursday and I burn around 700 calories on those days. Saturday and Sunday is a rest day. Also for reference I'm 5'3. Thanks ahead of time for all of the input.

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  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    How long has your weight been stuck? How do you measure your food? How do you determine those burns and how much of them do you eat back?
  • jillmarie125
    jillmarie125 Posts: 418 Member
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    How do you know your calorie burn?
  • wilsoncl6
    wilsoncl6 Posts: 1,280 Member
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    malibu927 wrote: »
    How long has your weight been stuck? How do you measure your food? How do you determine those burns and how much of them do you eat back?

    All good questions. Also, you are pretty close to your goal so you are bound to run into some slow downs around this time as your TDEE changes and you have to either adjust your workout or caloric intake to compensate. Are you actually burning the amount of calories you think you are? Are you actually taking in the amount of calories that you think you are? Women have larger fluctuations in weight in general than men due to water retention, monthly and the like. Don't get discouraged if you don't see any change for a while.
  • mitch16
    mitch16 Posts: 2,113 Member
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    I honestly think you are overestimating your calorie burns.
  • oneallmama
    oneallmama Posts: 108 Member
    edited November 2014
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    My weight has been at a stall for about 2 weeks now, I go by the serving size for my food, and the upright exercise bike has a telemetry device built into it, I tested it to see if it was actually keeping up with my HR by taking my pulse and counting and it's pretty dead on.
  • wkwebby
    wkwebby Posts: 807 Member
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    Sounds like you don't weigh your food. If this is the case, you might want to start doing that instead of the cup or tablespoon measurements used for typical serving sizes.
  • danajdawe
    danajdawe Posts: 6 Member
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    oneallmama wrote: »
    My weight has been at a stall for about 2 weeks now, I go by the serving size for my food, and the upright exercise bike has a telemetry device built into it, I tested it to see if it was actually keeping up with my HR by taking my pulse and counting and it's pretty dead on.
    I highly recommend weighing your food.. When it comes to serving sizes, a company is required to put it on the packaging, but it isn't always accurate... Take potatoes for example, they have a serving size on the bag, and how many calories that serving size is. What you don't realize is that they take the total weight of the bag and the amount of potatoes in the bag and average out the weight... It's NEVER accurate! Buy a scale, and weigh whatever you can!
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    I'd agree you're over estimating your calorie burn. I do spinning a lot, and I burn around 300 calories for 45 mins hardcore spinning. I used a HRM to check that, although I weighed less (pre pregnancy) when I used it, but even so, I doubt I burn more than 350 now. I can't get quite the same intensity on an exercise bike as I can on a spinning bike either.

    How many calories do you have per day?

    Maybe you should mix up your exercise of the cycling is all you're doing.
  • klassen7
    klassen7 Posts: 2
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    The study, published late last month in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research and reported in The New York Times, followed 81 overweight but healthy women for 12 weeks, during which they walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes three days a week. The women were told to eat as they normally would. After the exercise period, the researchers found that over two-thirds of the group (55 women) gained weight and fat mass. Some had gained as much as 10 pounds in fat — not muscle, which is a common cause of initial weight gain when starting a regular workout routine. The probable culprit: exercising made the women hungrier, so they may have eaten more calories without realizing it, and they also may have moved around less when they weren't at the gym.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
    edited November 2014
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    oneallmama wrote: »
    My weight has been at a stall for about 2 weeks now, I go by the serving size for my food, and the upright exercise bike has a telemetry device built into it, I tested it to see if it was actually keeping up with my HR by taking my pulse and counting and it's pretty dead on.

    Two weeks isn't all that much to worry about. However, you're most likely underestimating your intake and overestimating your burns. Yes, exercise machines overestimate quite a bit. Buy a food scale, weigh everything you eat, and only eat back half your exercise calories.
  • oneallmama
    oneallmama Posts: 108 Member
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    DawnieB1977 wrote: »
    I'd agree you're over estimating your calorie burn. I do spinning a lot, and I burn around 300 calories for 45 mins hardcore spinning. I used a HRM to check that, although I weighed less (pre pregnancy) when I used it, but even so, I doubt I burn more than 350 now. I can't get quite the same intensity on an exercise bike as I can on a spinning bike either.

    How many calories do you have per day?

    Maybe you should mix up your exercise of the cycling is all you're doing.

    I would say I usually consume around 1300-1400 calories a day, I had been dancing and it was a great workout for my whole body so maybe I should start that back up as well.

  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    oneallmama wrote: »
    DawnieB1977 wrote: »
    I'd agree you're over estimating your calorie burn. I do spinning a lot, and I burn around 300 calories for 45 mins hardcore spinning. I used a HRM to check that, although I weighed less (pre pregnancy) when I used it, but even so, I doubt I burn more than 350 now. I can't get quite the same intensity on an exercise bike as I can on a spinning bike either.

    How many calories do you have per day?

    Maybe you should mix up your exercise of the cycling is all you're doing.

    I would say I usually consume around 1300-1400 calories a day, I had been dancing and it was a great workout for my whole body so maybe I should start that back up as well.

    Definitely vary it a bit more and try to incorporate some strength training. I've been trying to challenge myself to improve my fitness, like I go jogging with a friend once a week now, and I make myself use the rowing machine at the gym which I used to hate.

    If you really were burning say 700 calories a day then you should eat a little more.
  • oneallmama
    oneallmama Posts: 108 Member
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    @malibu, usually I eat a bowl of cereal in the morning, leftovers from the other day for lunch, and for dinner I make a meal.. usually a casserole or something along those lines. I'm afraid I've not been eating enough protein though because I'm losing my hair. I already went to the Dr. about it about 6 months ago and she said my thyroid was fine, so that ruled it out...
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    I just looked on your profile page. Seems like you've had some stress lately with your daughter, that could explain the hair loss?
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    I missed where you said you follow the food labels, so I reworded my answer. Just estimating what you're eating isn't enough. You have to be diligent and make sure what goes in is as close to what they say. Measuring cups won't work either, as your cups may not come out to what theirs do. A food scale is going to help you tremendously, even just to see what a proper serving of cereal is.
  • klassen7
    klassen7 Posts: 2
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    You have to incorporate weight training and HIIT into your routine have a look at this article. Its about men but use the info and have someone at your Gym rework it for your particular needs. I have been back in work out mode for a month, I'm 59 and its taken me the whole month to drop 3-4 lbs. The nice thing about the HiiT is that when you leave after 45 minutes you will continue to burn calories, with straight cardio it stops almost immediately when you get off the bike?? So i have been told.

    Hope this helps.
  • oneallmama
    oneallmama Posts: 108 Member
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    DawnieB1977 wrote: »
    I just looked on your profile page. Seems like you've had some stress lately with your daughter, that could explain the hair loss?

    Possibly.. Her health is a lot better since then and I figured it would go away (my hair loss) but I'm still losing hair and getting a lot more grays.

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