Where am I going wrong?

nataliea683
nataliea683 Posts: 64 Member
edited November 13 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all

Bit of background - I've been on here a while now, only trying to take it seriously since January. I have had bad food days and I know I have but looking at my net calories I don't go over very often.

I'm 5ft 4-5in, 12st 3lbs and my starting weight was 12st 4lbs in January! I had been doing 30-45 minute exercise classes 3-4 times a week (metafit & bootcamp style classes) before I won 5 free PT sessions at a new gym 5 weeks ago, which I have now joined and go 3-4 times a week for an hour doing a mix of cardio and strength training.

I eat 1400 calories a day and use a Fitbug to track my exercise/calories burned and put the results on here and eat back some of my exercise calories. Do I need to increase/ decrease my calorie allowance?

Please help me!
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Replies

  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    You are probably eating more than you think.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    You need to open your diary. Most probably, you are eating a bit more thanyou think you are.
  • m4mefit
    m4mefit Posts: 21 Member
    Hi, Nataliea683,
    You need to check online for things like the difference between what you burn without exercising, and what you burn with exercising.
    Also having said that you need to make sure you can crack the difference between loosing weight gaining muscle and having a balanced lifestyle for a better well being.
    I don't know much about what I'm saying but I know a bit about getting the right meal at the right time when exercising.
    I've been here for a bit but only discovered this difference and I think it's useful for you too.
    Cheers,
    Happy MFPling:)
  • nataliea683
    nataliea683 Posts: 64 Member
    edited March 2015
    I've opened my diary

    I do think I'm slowly losing inches rather than weight but it's a bit annoying when I am doing all this exercise (which is new to me) and dont feel like it's making any difference :neutral_face:
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    Moderate exercise will not help much in losing weight, it will help you get in shape. Even if your weight does not change at all. Your diary seems in general ok, so maybe try for a while not eating back any of your exercise calories. Like for a week or two and see what happens.
  • PurpleTina
    PurpleTina Posts: 390 Member
    Are you weighing your food?
    Biggest change I made to my diet was actually weighing things like pasta and rice; its incredibly easy to add lots of calories by estimating them!
  • iofred
    iofred Posts: 488 Member
    I normally try not to eat my exercise calories.
  • RaspberryTickleChicken
    RaspberryTickleChicken Posts: 629 Member
    PurpleTina wrote: »
    Are you weighing your food?
    Biggest change I made to my diet was actually weighing things like pasta and rice; its incredibly easy to add lots of calories by estimating them!

    +1

    Eyeballing things is what got me fat in the first place so I weigh EVERYTHING before consumption.

    And despite what some preach, personally I do not believe that 1400 calories of donuts, biscuits, & chips = 1400 calories of lean protein, veggies, & complex carbs.

    Although both technically fulfills the allotted calories requirement, there are a lot more bad fat, sugar, & sodium in the first regiment than the latter. It does all add up & maybe hindering progress.

    Good luck.
  • nataliea683
    nataliea683 Posts: 64 Member
    yes i weigh my food - the majority of the time, always weigh evening meals and go off the nutritional information on packets for breakfast/ lunch if i haven't made it myself. if I've made my lunch myself it's always weighed out
  • nataliea683
    nataliea683 Posts: 64 Member
    bump
  • royston_ashby
    royston_ashby Posts: 71 Member
    edited March 2015
    Message me... I'll try help you
  • janeybean30
    janeybean30 Posts: 6 Member
    I feel a bit of a hypocrit giving advice as I'm no expert but your looking for help n advice and I will try offer some.:)
    Quick look at your diary, you seem to eat quite a lot of carbohydrates (especially sugary ones) at every meal with not a lot of veggies. Just a thought, as I said I'm not a dietician or nutritionist.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    <puts on mother's hat> How are you not starving eating so little real food? Where's the vegetables, they are filling and bulk up meals and give you great nutrition.

    <puts on dieters hat> Carbs don't matter (I eat 50-60% of my diet in carbs)- balance and adequate protein does. Aim for adequate protein

    Aim
    nataliea683 wrote: »
    I've opened my diary

    I do think I'm slowly losing inches rather than weight but it's a bit annoying when I am doing all this exercise (which is new to me) and dont feel like it's making any difference :neutral_face:

    Then it's working - scale weight means nothing and it's easily masked with water weight fluctuations due to sodium, change in exercise and hormones
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    What's a fitbug and what are you doing to earn such large exercise calories?
  • scoleman58
    scoleman58 Posts: 25 Member
    edited March 2015
    I always start with the basics. I always ask those trying to loose weight if they know the concept of how weight is gained and lost, because until I understood this very easy process I had a hard time losing and if I did, it was hard keeping it off.

    I'll share the very basic concept and provide a like to a page that explains it very well, the site is the one that I read and finally it clicked in my brain "OK, that makes since, that is why I am doing what I am doing"

    It's all about math (kind of), You body burns a certain amount of calories a day, even if you lounged on the couch all day. In order to lose weight you need to deficit (by exercise, or eating less or both) to this amount. Lest use 1700 as an example of how many calories your body burns (this is just an example number, there are way to get an estimate of what you own body burns). The next important number is 3,500. This is the number of calories in a pound. That mean in order for you to loss 1 pound you have to have a deficit 3,500 calories below what your body burns over time. Let me explain how this can be done in a healthy manner.

    Our next "magic" number is 500. If you eat 500 calories less every day that what your body burns; in this example it is 1700, (so that would be 1200 a day) in 7 days you would have lost one pound (500 x 7 = 3500; 3500 deficit = 1 pound; lost). This is does without considering exercise. Exercise is the icing on the cake, you can lose additional weight and improve your health in many ways. I would suggest cardio in the fat burn zone for at least 30min (this is not running nor seldom jogging but walk at a steady to brisk pace for most people.) mixed with strength training. (females, you will never "look like a guy" from lifting weights without taking a testosterone)

    And finally here is the link that contains all the info I just summed up, it's only about 3 pages from a guy that tired everything except understanding how weight is lost and applying it, once he did, he had tremendous success. No supplements, no fade diets, just real food eaten in the right amounts at the right number of calories on a day to day basis.

    http://www.theloseweightdiet.com/

    Good luck nataliea683.
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    aggelikik wrote: »
    Moderate exercise will not help much in losing weight, it will help you get in shape.

  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    edited March 2015
    I beg to differ. Exercise burns calories and that's a definite plus. Exercise also boosts your metabolism. And maybe it's just me, but exercise makes me feel better and inspires me to eat fewer calories. Exercise plays a MAJOR part in losing weight.
  • scoleman58
    scoleman58 Posts: 25 Member
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    I beg to differ. Exercise burns calories and that's a definite plus. Exercise also boosts your metabolism. And maybe it's just me, but exercise makes me feel better and inspires me to eat fewer calories. Exercise plays a MAJOR part in losing weight.

    I agree with you atypicalsmith. If doing the right amount and "enough" of it but this alone is not the way yo lose weight. What I explained above is. the moderate exercise is a bonus. The more muscle you have the more calories you burn in a resting state. There also the "after-burn effect" too. It's not a huge amount but it's there. One key is keeping your heart in the "fat burn" zone and doing at least 30 mins or more. There are many calculators out there that can help find this zone. It will be based on BPM, heart rate.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    I beg to differ. Exercise burns calories and that's a definite plus. Exercise also boosts your metabolism. And maybe it's just me, but exercise makes me feel better and inspires me to eat fewer calories. Exercise plays a MAJOR part in losing weight.

    The amount of exercise that is necessary to even burn the calories of one extra apple is unproportionally high. You physically can't exercise enough to make up for a diet that has too many calories.
    scoleman58 wrote: »
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    I beg to differ. Exercise burns calories and that's a definite plus. Exercise also boosts your metabolism. And maybe it's just me, but exercise makes me feel better and inspires me to eat fewer calories. Exercise plays a MAJOR part in losing weight.

    I agree with you atypicalsmith. If doing the right amount and "enough" of it but this alone is not the way yo lose weight. What I explained above is. the moderate exercise is a bonus. The more muscle you have the more calories you burn in a resting state. There also the "after-burn effect" too. It's not a huge amount but it's there. One key is keeping your heart in the "fat burn" zone and doing at least 30 mins or more. There are many calculators out there that can help find this zone. It will be based on BPM, heart rate.

    There is no fat burn zone. You're burning fat all the time, even when not exercising at all.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    edited March 2015
    janeybean30 wrote: »
    I feel a bit of a hypocrit giving advice as I'm no expert but your looking for help n advice and I will try offer some.:)
    Quick look at your diary, you seem to eat quite a lot of carbohydrates (especially sugary ones) at every meal with not a lot of veggies. Just a thought, as I said I'm not a dietician or nutritionist.

    Irrelevant to weight loss
    OP "most of the time", is the wrong answer, you need to weigh everything. If you're not losing, you're not in a deficit.
  • TimTim15552
    TimTim15552 Posts: 7
    stevencloser wrote: »
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    I beg to differ. Exercise burns calories and that's a definite plus. Exercise also boosts your metabolism. And maybe it's just me, but exercise makes me feel better and inspires me to eat fewer calories. Exercise plays a MAJOR part in losing weight.

    The amount of exercise that is necessary to even burn the calories of one extra apple is unproportionally high. You physically can't exercise enough to make up for a diet that has too many calories.


    This I disagree with, yes I admit that just doing the exercise won't burn off the amount of calories that you will get through eating an apple but you will how ever burn off a lot of calories through muscle repair from DOMS, this burns a lot more calories and brings your metabolic rate right up, thus why weight training is also a good way of losing weight.


    Also Natalie you need to consider what sort of times you are eating and foods, I have recently put my client on a 1200 calorie diet and she is telling me she is feeling stuffed a lot of the time but the calories are "to low" for her.

    I hope this helps

    Message me if you would like more advise

    Tim Smith
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    I beg to differ. Exercise burns calories and that's a definite plus. Exercise also boosts your metabolism. And maybe it's just me, but exercise makes me feel better and inspires me to eat fewer calories. Exercise plays a MAJOR part in losing weight.

    not if you are eating in a calorie surplus…

    your can't out train a bad diet..

    if OP is overeating and training then she will gain weight.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    The amount of extra calories burned from muscle repair is smaller than you think.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    scoleman58 wrote: »
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    I beg to differ. Exercise burns calories and that's a definite plus. Exercise also boosts your metabolism. And maybe it's just me, but exercise makes me feel better and inspires me to eat fewer calories. Exercise plays a MAJOR part in losing weight.

    I agree with you atypicalsmith. If doing the right amount and "enough" of it but this alone is not the way yo lose weight. What I explained above is. the moderate exercise is a bonus. The more muscle you have the more calories you burn in a resting state. There also the "after-burn effect" too. It's not a huge amount but it's there. One key is keeping your heart in the "fat burn" zone and doing at least 30 mins or more. There are many calculators out there that can help find this zone. It will be based on BPM, heart rate.

    you really think OP has put on any appreciable mass since January 1 eating 1400 calories a day and doing "classes"..???
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    edited March 2015
    [
    stevencloser wrote: »
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    I beg to differ. Exercise burns calories and that's a definite plus. Exercise also boosts your metabolism. And maybe it's just me, but exercise makes me feel better and inspires me to eat fewer calories. Exercise plays a MAJOR part in losing weight.

    The amount of exercise that is necessary to even burn the calories of one extra apple is unproportionally high. You physically can't exercise enough to make up for a diet that has too many calories.
    scoleman58 wrote: »
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    I beg to differ. Exercise burns calories and that's a definite plus. Exercise also boosts your metabolism. And maybe it's just me, but exercise makes me feel better and inspires me to eat fewer calories. Exercise plays a MAJOR part in losing weight.

    I agree with you atypicalsmith. If doing the right amount and "enough" of it but this alone is not the way yo lose weight. What I explained above is. the moderate exercise is a bonus. The more muscle you have the more calories you burn in a resting state. There also the "after-burn effect" too. It's not a huge amount but it's there. One key is keeping your heart in the "fat burn" zone and doing at least 30 mins or more. There are many calculators out there that can help find this zone. It will be based on BPM, heart rate.

    There is no fat burn zone. You're burning fat all the time, even when not exercising at all.

    Of course if you're eating cheesecake for breakfast, pizza for lunch, and a 24 oz. steak with a loaded baked potato for dinner, exercise will NOT make up the difference. I'm not talking about how much you have to exercise for an apple. An apple is about 100 calories. Just living and breathing for an hour is about 60 calories. So if you only ate an apple every hour, you would burn 960 calories a day. That doesn't include sleeping and not eating apples. Sheesh!
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    [
    stevencloser wrote: »
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    I beg to differ. Exercise burns calories and that's a definite plus. Exercise also boosts your metabolism. And maybe it's just me, but exercise makes me feel better and inspires me to eat fewer calories. Exercise plays a MAJOR part in losing weight.

    The amount of exercise that is necessary to even burn the calories of one extra apple is unproportionally high. You physically can't exercise enough to make up for a diet that has too many calories.
    scoleman58 wrote: »
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    I beg to differ. Exercise burns calories and that's a definite plus. Exercise also boosts your metabolism. And maybe it's just me, but exercise makes me feel better and inspires me to eat fewer calories. Exercise plays a MAJOR part in losing weight.

    I agree with you atypicalsmith. If doing the right amount and "enough" of it but this alone is not the way yo lose weight. What I explained above is. the moderate exercise is a bonus. The more muscle you have the more calories you burn in a resting state. There also the "after-burn effect" too. It's not a huge amount but it's there. One key is keeping your heart in the "fat burn" zone and doing at least 30 mins or more. There are many calculators out there that can help find this zone. It will be based on BPM, heart rate.

    There is no fat burn zone. You're burning fat all the time, even when not exercising at all.

    Of course if you're eating cheesecake for breakfast, pizza for lunch, and a 24 oz. steak with a loaded baked potato for dinner, exercise will NOT make up the difference. I'm not talking about how much you have to exercise for an apple. An apple is about 100 calories. Just living and breathing for an hour is about 60 calories. So if you only ate an apple every hour, you would burn 960 calories a day. That doesn't include sleeping and not eating apples. Sheesh!

    where did you come up with the 960 calorie number from eating an apple every hour? and if your ate a 100 calorie apple every hour in a 24 hour day that would be 2400 calories a day …

    and who eats cheesecake for breakfast, pizza for lunch, and steak and loaded baked potato in a day?? Why do people always create these straw man arguments..???
  • sgthaggard
    sgthaggard Posts: 581 Member
    aggelikik wrote: »
    Moderate exercise will not help much in losing weight, it will help you get in shape. Even if your weight does not change at all. Your diary seems in general ok, so maybe try for a while not eating back any of your exercise calories. Like for a week or two and see what happens.
    Moderate exercise still burns calories which is what weight loss is all about yes? Burn more calories than you eat? Eat fewer calories than you burn?
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    [
    stevencloser wrote: »
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    I beg to differ. Exercise burns calories and that's a definite plus. Exercise also boosts your metabolism. And maybe it's just me, but exercise makes me feel better and inspires me to eat fewer calories. Exercise plays a MAJOR part in losing weight.

    The amount of exercise that is necessary to even burn the calories of one extra apple is unproportionally high. You physically can't exercise enough to make up for a diet that has too many calories.
    scoleman58 wrote: »
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    I beg to differ. Exercise burns calories and that's a definite plus. Exercise also boosts your metabolism. And maybe it's just me, but exercise makes me feel better and inspires me to eat fewer calories. Exercise plays a MAJOR part in losing weight.

    I agree with you atypicalsmith. If doing the right amount and "enough" of it but this alone is not the way yo lose weight. What I explained above is. the moderate exercise is a bonus. The more muscle you have the more calories you burn in a resting state. There also the "after-burn effect" too. It's not a huge amount but it's there. One key is keeping your heart in the "fat burn" zone and doing at least 30 mins or more. There are many calculators out there that can help find this zone. It will be based on BPM, heart rate.

    There is no fat burn zone. You're burning fat all the time, even when not exercising at all.

    Of course if you're eating cheesecake for breakfast, pizza for lunch, and a 24 oz. steak with a loaded baked potato for dinner, exercise will NOT make up the difference. I'm not talking about how much you have to exercise for an apple. An apple is about 100 calories. Just living and breathing for an hour is about 60 calories. So if you only ate an apple every hour, you would burn 960 calories a day. That doesn't include sleeping and not eating apples. Sheesh!

    What I'm saying is, if you just exercise and don't pay attention to your food (even good homemade meals can have too many calories, not just pizza and cheese cake), you likely won't lose weight unless you exercise for a lot of time daily and don't eat too much intuitively. A 500 calorie deficit just through exercise is not that easily achieved. If you just pay attention to what you eat and don't care about exercise, you will still lose weight. Which leads me to say that exercise is not going to make your weight loss successful if it wasn't going to be successful without it to begin with. So it's definitely not a major part in weight loss.
  • juleszephyr
    juleszephyr Posts: 442 Member
    I have had a quick look at your diary and I would say it is pretty refined carb heavy. I know for me cutting down on refined carbs and avoiding wheat helps with weight loss. maybe try to replace some of the bread, pasta and cake products with brown rice, rye bread and complex carbs.
    Also weigh everything, don't eyeball or guess. Try this for a month and then re-assess. Losing weight is mainly to do with being in a calorie deficit, exercise is a great way to get fit but if you want to shed pounds it's 80% nutrition I'm afraid...
  • _Terrapin_
    _Terrapin_ Posts: 4,301 Member
    sgthaggard wrote: »
    aggelikik wrote: »
    Moderate exercise will not help much in losing weight, it will help you get in shape. Even if your weight does not change at all. Your diary seems in general ok, so maybe try for a while not eating back any of your exercise calories. Like for a week or two and see what happens.
    Moderate exercise still burns calories which is what weight loss is all about yes? Burn more calories than you eat? Eat fewer calories than you burn?

    I'd have to eat 2,550 to meet the requirement. Truly makes no sense.

    OP- -(nataliea683)weigh your food(you aren't- - -> see your example of brown bread always the same entry) introduce fruit and vegetables in your diet(why? exactly), eat back a portion(up to 50%- - -> why? Your body needs fuel on days you workout) of exercise calories AFTER you figure out a more accurate way of logging the calories burned. In the end, make small changes over the next several weeks and review your progress. Weighing your food(as much as possible) is a good starting point. You can be frustrated or you can progress toward your goals the choice is always up to you. Be well.

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