What am I doing wrong? Less than 16 lbs lost in 4 months (pics)
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Muscle weighs a lot more than fat and takes up less volume. So you toned up and lost fat. Toned woman are a lot more attractive than just skinny. I would not worry about weight and work on being toned but you're going to have to bump up the protein intake to do that. If you need numbers, use body measurements and ignore the scale. Nice job by the way.0
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The issue is you don't think 16 pounds is good progress. That's about a pound a week which is right on track with how little you have to lose.
I agree you need to up your calories and hopefully you see this as a reality check that you need to adjust your expectations so you are losing weight in a healthy manner. Upping your calories may result in a slower loss, but you have less than 20 pounds left to lose and at your weight and height you are already in the "normal" weight range.
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Emma hon, I see some very concerning things in some of your posts, and specifically that you were happy with your progress until you stepped on the scales. It's just a number, go back to the happy!! If you want to build muscle, you're going to have to accept that you will weigh more than you would without the muscle, so learning to ignore the scales is a good thing.
FWIW I agree with others that your goal is set too low. I'm a couple of inches taller than you, used to weigh 56kg in my late teens. I got close to that weight again a few years ago and was skeletal. Like seriously you could see the bones in my shoulder joints.
Concentrate on getting your calorie intake up a bit, and work on body recomp. Ignore the scale.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »
What are you afraid of?
Gaining more weight, of course(
A fear that you will gain weight if you eat more than 900 calories is a sign that something is wrong.
Yes. This. Perhaps it's not the scale that is the issue-have you thought about talking to a therapist? Have you considered you may need to speak to someone about anorexia? I don't mean it in a bad way by any means but speaking to a therapist is something I have considered even for my own relationship with food. I don't want to be "scared to eat". Consuming 900 calories is not healthy, nor is the fear, anxiety, control etc. It may not be now (anorexia) but can you recognize some of the patterns that may be following down that path? Hoping you find some comfort, and happy soon
When I think of anorexia I think of people that are so so so much skinnier than me. We don't really have therapists here who can consult on such matters and anyway, I have so much bigger problems than my attitude to food. Well, as far as I think. Thank you for your support!
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janejellyroll wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »
What are you afraid of?
Gaining more weight, of course(
A fear that you will gain weight if you eat more than 900 calories is a sign that something is wrong.
Yes. This. Perhaps it's not the scale that is the issue-have you thought about talking to a therapist? Have you considered you may need to speak to someone about anorexia? I don't mean it in a bad way by any means but speaking to a therapist is something I have considered even for my own relationship with food. I don't want to be "scared to eat". Consuming 900 calories is not healthy, nor is the fear, anxiety, control etc. It may not be now (anorexia) but can you recognize some of the patterns that may be following down that path? Hoping you find some comfort, and happy soon
When I think of anorexia I think of people that are so so so much skinnier than me. We don't really have therapists here who can consult on such matters and anyway, I have so much bigger problems than my attitude to food. Well, as far as I think. Thank you for your support!
Anorexia and/or disordered eating can affect anyone. It's shown in the media as being super-thin models, but the reality is that a LOT of people have disordered eating patterns, and they can be harmful at any weight. I agree that it might not be a bad idea to talk things out with someone. If going to a therapist is intimidating, you could start with a registered dietitian and maybe get some feedback on your eating habits that way.0 -
harpsdesire wrote: »I think you look like you've toned and put on muscle! You look great, and so close to your goal weight it is going to be slow. I don't think it seems like you're doing anything wrong.
Oh thank you, I hope you are right!Muscle weighs a lot more than fat and takes up less volume. So you toned up and lost fat. Toned woman are a lot more attractive than just skinny. I would not worry about weight and work on being toned but you're going to have to bump up the protein intake to do that. If you need numbers, use body measurements and ignore the scale. Nice job by the way.
I was just thinking about that too. I hope this is all muscles who am I fooling
The issue is you don't think 16 pounds is good progress. That's about a pound a week which is right on track with how little you have to lose.
I agree you need to up your calories and hopefully you see this as a reality check that you need to adjust your expectations so you are losing weight in a healthy manner. Upping your calories may result in a slower loss, but you have less than 20 pounds left to lose and at your weight and height you are already in the "normal" weight range.
I'm just thinking from a perspective that I've gained too much by winter and I felt soooo disgusting, eating too much and hating myself in the mirror. The last drop was when my pretty winter coat didn't button on me. So, I'm really scared to go back
Well, today I made it to the limit of 1200 0 -
Nony_Mouse wrote: »Emma hon, I see some very concerning things in some of your posts, and specifically that you were happy with your progress until you stepped on the scales. It's just a number, go back to the happy!! If you want to build muscle, you're going to have to accept that you will weigh more than you would without the muscle, so learning to ignore the scales is a good thing.
FWIW I agree with others that your goal is set too low. I'm a couple of inches taller than you, used to weigh 56kg in my late teens. I got close to that weight again a few years ago and was skeletal. Like seriously you could see the bones in my shoulder joints.
Concentrate on getting your calorie intake up a bit, and work on body recomp. Ignore the scale.
Thanks, I'm trying that:) I hope it will be good for me:) It wasn't very easy though to reach that 1200 limit. When you are not eating pasta calories are hard to come by 0 -
For everyone saying 16 pounds in 4 weeks is good progress, why do you also recommend she increase her calorie intake? Whatever she is doing, she is losing at a safe and very successful pace. 900 calories seems low for the amount of weight loss, and I'm betting she gets a little more than that on average. If her TDEE is around 1700 calories and she is losing a pound a week, then it is likely she is eating around 1200 calories daily, give or take (500 deficit x 7 = 3500 deficit weekly). It might be a 100 calories more or less depending on her actual TDEE that calculators can't quite measure, and variations in weekly exercise expenditure. If she increases her calorie intake from what it most likely is to cause a pound a week of loss, she needs to be careful to still be in a deficit while not hitting maintenance.0
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Nony_Mouse wrote: »Emma hon, I see some very concerning things in some of your posts, and specifically that you were happy with your progress until you stepped on the scales. It's just a number, go back to the happy!! If you want to build muscle, you're going to have to accept that you will weigh more than you would without the muscle, so learning to ignore the scales is a good thing.
FWIW I agree with others that your goal is set too low. I'm a couple of inches taller than you, used to weigh 56kg in my late teens. I got close to that weight again a few years ago and was skeletal. Like seriously you could see the bones in my shoulder joints.
Concentrate on getting your calorie intake up a bit, and work on body recomp. Ignore the scale.
Thanks, I'm trying that:) I hope it will be good for me:) It wasn't very easy though to reach that 1200 limit. When you are not eating pasta calories are hard to come by
Whereabouts are you located Emma?
Also, is there a reason you're avoiding pasta? Carbs are not the enemy, so no reason to exclude them. Some other ways to get your cals up: nuts, avocado, oils, full fat dairy... 0 -
You don't have much to lose and you've been losing 1 lb a week. That's pretty good.
Actually nobody knows how fast she is losing because she is guessing as to her starting weight; but she has the mindset to lose fast. Which means that she is not trying to (or even aware of the need to) minimize non fat mass loss.
OP: you may want to consider whether your involvement in the modeling industry is skewing your perception of what is normal. The strong guy on steroids and the lean long distance runner cannot have the same body.
You may really want to look into increasing your strength and then arm wrestling with some of the models you find distressingly thin. Yes, they are thinner than you, and you are stronger than them...
Greek yogurt is relatively high protein, and low fat, for the amount of Calories it has. Nuts and seeds easily add a lot of 'healthy" calories and fats to your meals: almonds and walnuts, pumpkin and chia seeds, even hemp hearts.
You can easily mix some fruit and nuts into plain greek yogurt, so it is silly to be claiming you can't eat more than 900Cal a day.
You mention "many other problems" and "weight/or food is not one of them". Becoming thin/thinner is not going to affect your other problems.
As you are already at a healthy weight you may want to evaluate the risk/rewards associated with trying to be thinner and decide whether that's where you need to be putting your energy.
Note that not a single person here is advocating that you should not work out, or become stronger/healthier.
The problem some of us have is that you appear to be starving yourself by eating 900 +/- margin of error calories, when you probably need closer to 2250 to fully fuel your body and workouts.
For some of us who are obese or overweight eating at a deficit is likely to make us healthier. For someone who is already in the normal weight range... not so sure that you don't have better options.0 -
You need to eat 1200 calories a day or your body goes into starvation mode - slowing down your metabolism, making if difficult to lose weight. Remember that muscle weighs more than fat. In my opinion you should stop trying to lose weight and concentrate on maintaining your current weight.-2
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Schollelois wrote: »You need to eat 1200 calories a day or your body goes into starvation mode - slowing down your metabolism, making if difficult to lose weight. Remember that muscle weighs more than fat. In my opinion you should stop trying to lose weight and concentrate on maintaining your current weight.
No. Stop posting this myth.
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astralpictures wrote: »For everyone saying 16 pounds in 4 weeks is good progress, why do you also recommend she increase her calorie intake? Whatever she is doing, she is losing at a safe and very successful pace. 900 calories seems low for the amount of weight loss, and I'm betting she gets a little more than that on average. If her TDEE is around 1700 calories and she is losing a pound a week, then it is likely she is eating around 1200 calories daily, give or take (500 deficit x 7 = 3500 deficit weekly). It might be a 100 calories more or less depending on her actual TDEE that calculators can't quite measure, and variations in weekly exercise expenditure. If she increases her calorie intake from what it most likely is to cause a pound a week of loss, she needs to be careful to still be in a deficit while not hitting maintenance.
I thought it was 16# in 4 months, not weeks. I feel the people recommending she eat more than 900 calories are thinking about helping her body (organs, muscle, brain function) stay alive. To me, she's got an undiagnosed ED based on her posts - can't eat more, scale weight freaking her out, avoiding eating certain foods).0 -
Nony_Mouse wrote: »Nony_Mouse wrote: »Emma hon, I see some very concerning things in some of your posts, and specifically that you were happy with your progress until you stepped on the scales. It's just a number, go back to the happy!! If you want to build muscle, you're going to have to accept that you will weigh more than you would without the muscle, so learning to ignore the scales is a good thing.
FWIW I agree with others that your goal is set too low. I'm a couple of inches taller than you, used to weigh 56kg in my late teens. I got close to that weight again a few years ago and was skeletal. Like seriously you could see the bones in my shoulder joints.
Concentrate on getting your calorie intake up a bit, and work on body recomp. Ignore the scale.
Thanks, I'm trying that:) I hope it will be good for me:) It wasn't very easy though to reach that 1200 limit. When you are not eating pasta calories are hard to come by
Whereabouts are you located Emma?
Also, is there a reason you're avoiding pasta? Carbs are not the enemy, so no reason to exclude them. Some other ways to get your cals up: nuts, avocado, oils, full fat dairy...
I'm from Ukraine, Lugansk.
The last time I cooked myself some pasta, I got 3500 calories that day)) They weigh quite a lot, so one portion would be about 1000 calories... Nope, I prefer having multiple meals a day than a single one. I bought some good cheese with nuts and have a sloce or two when I have a calorie gap to fill in the end of the day0 -
Schollelois wrote: »You need to eat 1200 calories a day or your body goes into starvation mode - slowing down your metabolism, making if difficult to lose weight. Remember that muscle weighs more than fat. In my opinion you should stop trying to lose weight and concentrate on maintaining your current weight.
NOPE!
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I thought it was 16# in 4 months, not weeks. I feel the people recommending she eat more than 900 calories are thinking about helping her body (organs, muscle, brain function) stay alive. To me, she's got an undiagnosed ED based on her posts - can't eat more, scale weight freaking her out, avoiding eating certain foods).
Yes, and my math still stands. That is a pound a week, which is 3500 calories a week or 500 calories a day for a deficit. If she wants to try for half a pound a week, which is still good, I wouldn't start any higher than maybe 1350 calories now and see how that works.
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astralpictures wrote: »I thought it was 16# in 4 months, not weeks. I feel the people recommending she eat more than 900 calories are thinking about helping her body (organs, muscle, brain function) stay alive. To me, she's got an undiagnosed ED based on her posts - can't eat more, scale weight freaking her out, avoiding eating certain foods).
Yes, and my math still stands. That is a pound a week, which is 3500 calories a week or 500 calories a day for a deficit. If she wants to try for half a pound a week, which is still good, I wouldn't start any higher than maybe 1350 calories now and see how that works.
I agree, I think she is likely eating a bit more than what she thinks do to the rate of her weight loss if she has actually has lost 16 lbs . She did state that she did not actually weigh herself back when she started so she may have lost much more than she thinks.
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You don't have much to lose and you've been losing 1 lb a week. That's pretty good.
Actually nobody knows how fast she is losing because she is guessing as to her starting weight; but she has the mindset to lose fast. Which means that she is not trying to (or even aware of the need to) minimize non fat mass loss.
OP: you may want to consider whether your involvement in the modeling industry is skewing your perception of what is normal. The strong guy on steroids and the lean long distance runner cannot have the same body.
You may really want to look into increasing your strength and then arm wrestling with some of the models you find distressingly thin. Yes, they are thinner than you, and you are stronger than them...
Greek yogurt is relatively high protein, and low fat, for the amount of Calories it has. Nuts and seeds easily add a lot of 'healthy" calories and fats to your meals: almonds and walnuts, pumpkin and chia seeds, even hemp hearts.
You can easily mix some fruit and nuts into plain greek yogurt, so it is silly to be claiming you can't eat more than 900Cal a day.
You mention "many other problems" and "weight/or food is not one of them". Becoming thin/thinner is not going to affect your other problems.
As you are already at a healthy weight you may want to evaluate the risk/rewards associated with trying to be thinner and decide whether that's where you need to be putting your energy.
Note that not a single person here is advocating that you should not work out, or become stronger/healthier.
The problem some of us have is that you appear to be starving yourself by eating 900 +/- margin of error calories, when you probably need closer to 2250 to fully fuel your body and workouts.
For some of us who are obese or overweight eating at a deficit is likely to make us healthier. For someone who is already in the normal weight range... not so sure that you don't have better options.
I've bought a pack of greek yogurt today with an intention to use is as a dressing with the vegetable salads I make. I'm really low on protein and high of fats, to I think a little protein will be perfect for me. Thanks.
I know losing weight is not going to take my problems away. Though nothing will. But exercising and cooking my meals wisely helps me to take my mind off it. You know, like those guys in the movies locked in prisons, who start doing push-ups cause they have nothing else to do
Unfortunately, I gain weight very easily all my life
On a usual day, not dieting, I would consume about 1500-2000 calories and gain weight day by day. My whole family are overweight, I guess it's genetics... 0 -
Nony_Mouse wrote: »Nony_Mouse wrote: »Emma hon, I see some very concerning things in some of your posts, and specifically that you were happy with your progress until you stepped on the scales. It's just a number, go back to the happy!! If you want to build muscle, you're going to have to accept that you will weigh more than you would without the muscle, so learning to ignore the scales is a good thing.
FWIW I agree with others that your goal is set too low. I'm a couple of inches taller than you, used to weigh 56kg in my late teens. I got close to that weight again a few years ago and was skeletal. Like seriously you could see the bones in my shoulder joints.
Concentrate on getting your calorie intake up a bit, and work on body recomp. Ignore the scale.
Thanks, I'm trying that:) I hope it will be good for me:) It wasn't very easy though to reach that 1200 limit. When you are not eating pasta calories are hard to come by
Whereabouts are you located Emma?
Also, is there a reason you're avoiding pasta? Carbs are not the enemy, so no reason to exclude them. Some other ways to get your cals up: nuts, avocado, oils, full fat dairy...
I'm from Ukraine, Lugansk.
The last time I cooked myself some pasta, I got 3500 calories that day)) They weigh quite a lot, so one portion would be about 1000 calories... Nope, I prefer having multiple meals a day than a single one. I bought some good cheese with nuts and have a sloce or two when I have a calorie gap to fill in the end of the day
Okay, I'm no help with locating a therapist in the Ukraine who may be able to help with disordered eating stuff! Perhaps you could phone around and see if you can find someone? I do think it would be beneficial for you.
That seems an awful lot of cals for pasta! Are you weighing it cooked or uncooked? A cup of cooked pasta would only be a couple of hundred calories.
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If not 25 then 15 at least.... In my belly and hips. Just look at the updated photo
And now were are getting somewhere.
At a guess, and god knows I am not anywhere near as capable as some of the people in the exercise and fitness groups at judging these things, you are at just about 25% body fat right now.
http://www.builtlean.com/2012/09/24/body-fat-percentage-men-women/
Realistically, aiming for less than 20-22% fat is questionable. So, assuming you manage to lose mostly fat, you only have a total of about 2kg-3kg (4.5lbs to 6.5lbs) available to lose.
Which means that eating at maintenance or at a small deficit and trying to build up to maintenance is where you should be!
Unless you think that getting your body fat to where you stop menstruating makes sense...0
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