5'4 , 134 lbs 22 year old young lady in need of advice, and perhaps a few friends?

jshay295
jshay295 Posts: 110 Member
edited November 11 in Health and Weight Loss
Hey everyone. Not sure exactly where to start, just going to jump into it.
Ive been using mfp on and off over the last two years or so to moniter my portions and attempt to lose a few lbs (I believe when I started here last August I was 142-143) . And it has helped me keep things under control that is for sure. However, this January I decided to take it seriously ,log everything religiously (except when I cant find a generic entry to match random, non-chain restaurants. Then I usually do a quick cal entry).

Anyways , since the beginning of January I had it set to lose one lb a week, but I was wondering if i should change it to lose half an lb a week ? Lately I've been getting more headaches, which is usually my first sign of hunger. So yesterday I checked what my daily calories would be if I set it to lose half an lb a week, and it jumped from 1390 to 1640 calories a day. Im not sure if its just a mental thing or not, but 1640 seemed like a big jump for me, so I lowered it to 1540 calories.

These days I work out two to three times a week, usually just weightlifting with a small amount of cardio beforehand. I typically eat 3/4ths to all of my exercise calories back.

Right now I am at 133.3 lbs , working towards 130 lbs, then I will re-evaluate and see If i want to go down to 125. When I was 18 and the same height as I am now, I was 118 lbs but had no muscle so I am not sure if that is something I will want to get down to again. Anyways, once I get to 130 or 125 I was going to focus less on losing weight per se, and focus more on losing body fat and strengthening my muscle.

What I want advice/opinions on are the amount of calories I am eating right now. Did I make a mistake by bumping it up a little? I know most people do when they are close to their goal, I just don't know if I did it too early or what. Also any advice for when I do meet my goal would be appreciated. Oh, and those that are my size with similar goals, how often do you weigh in? I was going to do it every other week now instead of every week as I have in the past, as seeing such a small loss weekly drives me nuts lol.


Lastly, if you are in the same situation as me, feel free to add me as I would love some people on my friends lists that are in similar situations as me and can comment on my statuses with relevant tips/advice and encouragement.

Thanks for reading...I know it's a bit of a rambling post...Still morning where I am :smile:

Replies

  • SergeantSausage
    SergeantSausage Posts: 1,673 Member
    edited January 2015
    When in doubt, check it out. Do the math - it's not Rocket Surgery, right?

    1640 - 1390 = 250 additional calories a day
    250 x 7 days a week = 1750 additional calories a week.
    1750 additional calories per week / 3500 calories per pound = 0.5 additional pounds each week.
    -1 ( negative (losing a pound a week)) + the additional new 0.5 pounds calculated above = NEW NET LOSS OF (0.5) HALF A POUND.

    Ayup.

    Checks out.

    Try not to freak out about it. Follow the program.
  • Chrisparadise579
    Chrisparadise579 Posts: 411 Member
    Hey, awesome job on your weight loss so far that is fantastic, and way to get back into it hardcore, you are definitely going to kick some butt. Alright so calorie level, 1600 for most women is perfect! that is what usually works best and you should be able to lose a pound per week, however that is using the TDEE method so you wont be eating your exercise calories back. People usually prefer this method because you have a set calorie and macro limit and dont have to constantly adjust you calories, its typically a more consistent weight loss. I think you will be extremely impressed with the results when you increase your calories as you will most likely lose even more weight. Keep doing awesome! I know you got this
  • bonniejo
    bonniejo Posts: 787 Member
    I think 1540 is a great idea. Even if you would technically lose weight faster the other way, you would give up and your body wasn't happy. This deficit should be good :)

    If you find you aren't losing weight, I would increase the exercise so you can eat more food, but only eat half the calories. Thats a big if though, so stick with what you're doing for now :)
  • MusicalSharon52
    MusicalSharon52 Posts: 31 Member
    Don't be disappointed if you hit a plateau from time to time. I find my weight loss alternates with losing inches. Stay on track, change your routine now & then so your body doesn't acclimate to new eating/exercise patterns. Insufficient calories will put your body in starvation mode, making it harder to drop pounds. Don't get frustrated if it isn't dropping as fast as you want. (That can cause binge eating). Stay on your plan. MODERATION seems to be the key. If you fall off the wagon, forgive yourself and go forward. Good luck!
  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,081 Member
    You've managed to stick with it for this long and you've lost around 10 lbs already in less than 5 months (or a year and 5 months?, not so clear from your post) so that amounts to around 2lbs per month or 0.5 lbs per week or possibly even less.

    You are obviously happy with your previous rate of weight loss but despite your goals being set to 1lb per week, in reality you have been losing less than that unless you have noticed an increase in the rate of weight loss this month.

    Unless something has drastically changed recently, ie. You are now exercising a lot more, maybe you were already eating more than you thought as you weren't losing very quickly. In which case stick with what you were doing before because if not then your weight loss could slow down even further which you may not be happy about, though having said this it depends how much you want to lose.
  • jshay295
    jshay295 Posts: 110 Member
    Thank you for the replies everyone,

    sorry to clear it up : I was 142 when i first joined in August 2013, for some reason though I noticed my earliest entry save is November 2013 when I was 136 . I think I was going through a phase where I was using the site to track calories, but logging my weight elsewhere.


    I dropped to 121 lbs last March , but it started climbing from there, with small, nonpermanent losses between then an now. (Given that im currently @ 133, you can see I did a bit more gaining LOL.)

    Again, thank you for your replies and the friend requests.

  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,081 Member
    Ok, that's unfortunately what happens when you get a bit less strict about logging, it's happened to me plenty of times before too. 121 lbs is the lowest weight I've ever been too and I managed to stay there for a couple of years but when I thought I could maintain it without being so aware of what I was eating I started to slowly gain, and now I'm back at 142! I wish I'd stuck to being strict with myself.

    Maybe better to lose more slowly now and work out if the amount MFP is giving you to lose 0.5 lbs per week is correct and that way when you get to where you want to be you can work out what you need to maintain which you know will be even more, so you won't go hungry.

    You're lucky if you are able to eat 1650 and still lose but if you're unsure, eat that amount and closely monitor your progress for at least a month as in that time you should be losing a couple of pounds.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    If you're losing at the 1540, then you're golden.
  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,081 Member
    Just to add, it sounds like initially between August 2013 and November that year you were losing 0.5 lbs per week, and then from then until March 2014 you lost 1lb per week but then started to pretty much maintain that weight until now. Do you remember the calories you were eating during the periods of slower or faster weight loss and also maintenance? That might help you work out what was easiest to stick to as you have to be able to maintain your lower weight too when you get there.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    Chrisparadise579 wrote: »
    1600 for most women is perfect! that is what usually works best and you should be able to lose a pound per week.

    You do realize that women come in all different heights, weights, ages, shapes and sizes, right? I don't know how you could possibly claim that one single calorie goal is going to be "right for most women".

    OP, please ignore this advice... it's rather silly. Do the math using your own numbers.
  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,081 Member
    Yes I agree with the above poster, I wouldn't lose by eating 1600 on days when I didn't exercise (probably gain) and even on days when I did I would probably only maintain at that level but everyone is different.
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