Yet another TDEE Idiot

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I am a 60 year old vegan female. No insults please. Tape measure says I have 26% body fat by Covert Bailey. When it was measured about 3 years before it was something like 44%. As if. Oh well.

BMR 1197
TDEE 1440
Calories 11% deficit 1279 lightly active per Heybales spreadsheet

Goal weight 105 (9 stinking pounds)

Eating approximately 1200 calories

Exercise:

Pole (Nordic) walking 1 hour avg 6 days week heart rate 140-160

Monday: 30 minutes of whole body and dumbbells @ 2 min intervals 10 sec rest

Wednesday: 20 minutes HIIT weights

Friday: 30 minutes "heavy" the most I can do is about 10 really good pushups at a time, 20 halfway pushups or 10 pushups plus 10 girl pushups; I can't squat unless I do wall squats, can't bend.
Triceps dips
Triceps pushes on counter
Biceps curls on counter
Plank
Situps
Military press 8-10 pounds 5 x 3
Side lateral 8 pounds as many as possible
Front lateral 8 pounds ditto
Chest flye on bed
Triceps extension 1 10 pound dumbbell
Rows 5 pound dumbbells or single rows 8 pounds

I am hypothyroid, on medication.

Stuck at 114 pounds, 9 more to go. What am I doing wrong?

Replies

  • PeachyPlum
    PeachyPlum Posts: 1,243 Member
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    I'm not an expert, but I am thinking it might be time to increase your calorie intake? You're basically only eating your BMR and you're working out really hard.

    My gut says you're not eating enough (it also says your calculated TDEE might be inaccurate). Have you checked out the Eat More 2 Weigh Less group? They have a ton of information over there, it's worth a read.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    How long have you been at 114 pounds?
  • scottacular
    scottacular Posts: 597 Member
    edited March 2015
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    fkwan wrote: »
    No insults please.

    Dang, I had some really good ones too.
  • simplydelish2
    simplydelish2 Posts: 726 Member
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    The one stat you didn't give was your height. Is it possible that you are already in the healthy zone?
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    Assuming the numbers you gave us are correct, you should be losing weight. Since you aren't, that means one or more of the numbers you gave us are incorrect.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,397 MFP Moderator
    edited March 2015
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    fkwan wrote: »
    I am a 60 year old vegan female. No insults please. Tape measure says I have 26% body fat by Covert Bailey. When it was measured about 3 years before it was something like 44%. As if. Oh well.

    BMR 1197
    TDEE 1440
    Calories 11% deficit 1279 lightly active per Heybales spreadsheet

    Goal weight 105 (9 stinking pounds)

    Eating approximately 1200 calories

    Exercise:

    Pole (Nordic) walking 1 hour avg 6 days week heart rate 140-160

    Monday: 30 minutes of whole body and dumbbells @ 2 min intervals 10 sec rest

    Wednesday: 20 minutes HIIT weights

    Friday: 30 minutes "heavy" the most I can do is about 10 really good pushups at a time, 20 halfway pushups or 10 pushups plus 10 girl pushups; I can't squat unless I do wall squats, can't bend.
    Triceps dips
    Triceps pushes on counter
    Biceps curls on counter
    Plank
    Situps
    Military press 8-10 pounds 5 x 3
    Side lateral 8 pounds as many as possible
    Front lateral 8 pounds ditto
    Chest flye on bed
    Triceps extension 1 10 pound dumbbell
    Rows 5 pound dumbbells or single rows 8 pounds

    I am hypothyroid, on medication.

    Stuck at 114 pounds, 9 more to go. What am I doing wrong?


    Your bolded part will probably prevent you from using a TDEE calculator. Generally, when have used the calculators for those with your condition, I have to subtract a few hundred more calories. But what I would probably suggest (since calculators are estimates) is eat 1300 calories for 4-6 weeks and modify based on the results. It's potential if you want to eat more than 1300 calories, that you increase exercise/intensity to burn more calories.


    Also, how long have you been stuck? Can you open your food diary? And do you use a food scale? With less than 10 lbs to go, there is little room for error.

    Additionally, I would probably look into a structured full body routine. The lifts you do are heavy on the isometric side and you will see much greater results out of compound moves like the squat, deadlift, lunge or deadrows.

    Personally, I would aim for a full body routine 3 days a week and then cardio the other 2-3 days that you workout.
  • Chels_C17
    Chels_C17 Posts: 4 Member
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    Wow you aren't eating much and moving quite a bit. In general how do you feel? Why do you want to be at 105? It seems as if you are beating yourself into the ground with diminishing returns. I would suggest upping your cals a bit and make sure to eat enough protein to facilitate muscle growth and fat loss.
  • HeySwoleSister
    HeySwoleSister Posts: 1,938 Member
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    OP, what is your height? I'll start out by assuming that you are quite short and that your goal weight is reasonable...but that may not be the case.

    Being 60 and hypothyroid makes losing weight doubly hard. Just glancing at your workout, one think I'd suggest is continuing your weight work but using heavier weights (and getting progressively heavier!) for fewer reps. If you have gym access, consider a session or two with a trainer to learn compound lifts with a barbell. If not, there is quite a bit you can do with dumbbells, so don't let that discourage you.

    Lifting heavier and progressively heavier still will help you in two important ways. You will preserve your muscle mass, which is an important key to keeping your bodyfat% down, for one. You will likelier be happy with your body at whatever weight when you feel strong and muscular. Secondly, especially at 60, progressive resistance training will help you to preserve bone density. As a vegan, you already face some challenges due to reliance on vegetable sources of dietary calcium (although some dark greens have lots of bioavailable calcium) and lifting weights is even more important for you because of this.
  • Abby2205
    Abby2205 Posts: 253 Member
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    You don't have a lot of good options here. You only have a calculated deficit of 240 calories, so even small inaccuracies in your TDEE and/or logged calorie intake could wipe it out altogether. And I believe it's quite possible that a calculated TDEE could be wrong for you because of your thyroid, even with medication. And you really don't want to eat less than 1200. The only thing I'd suggest is being very very diligent with your calorie tracking, weighing and measuring everything and casting a skeptical eye on entries in the database. You can't afford to be underestimating.
  • fkwan
    fkwan Posts: 28 Member
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    Height is five feet.
  • fkwan
    fkwan Posts: 28 Member
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    I take a multivitamin and calcium citrate supplement and 5000 IU vegan D3 3 x week. Upping calories just makes me gain weight. Leaving things alone just well, leaves things alone, I apparently have to (a) go to BMR or below and/or (b) keep net carbs below 50 to even lose just 5 pounds. Very sad. It could be a lot worse, though.
  • HeySwoleSister
    HeySwoleSister Posts: 1,938 Member
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    fkwan wrote: »
    I take a multivitamin and calcium citrate supplement and 5000 IU vegan D3 3 x week. Upping calories just makes me gain weight. Leaving things alone just well, leaves things alone, I apparently have to (a) go to BMR or below and/or (b) keep net carbs below 50 to even lose just 5 pounds. Very sad. It could be a lot worse, though.

    OK, work on the heavier weights, you will hopefully raise your BMR a little and also benefit your bones and overall satisfaction with your body. Good luck!