Am I eating enough to lose weight

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claireholden37
claireholden37 Posts: 21 Member
in Food and Nutrition
please can anyone advise I am a 5ft 7inch , 41 year old female weighing 144ibs and I was wondering am I eating enough as I don't tend to eat all my exercise calories back . Should I be eating some back as I don't seem to be losing any weight thanks

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  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    If you aren't losing weight then eating more would be an odd course of action - that's the least likely thing to work!

    Much more likely your calorie allowance is too high or your food logging isn't accurate, there's a lot of suspiciously round numbers in your food diary which suggests a lot of guessing.
  • itsMcKay
    itsMcKay Posts: 131 Member
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    You're at an extremely healthy weight for your height and age. Have you considered shifting your goals away from weight loss to other goals? Such as getting stronger, faster, having better posture, becoming a better dancer, etc.?
  • Carol_
    Carol_ Posts: 469 Member
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    Have you lost any weight yet? If you are losing one pound or so a week..you are ok.
  • claireholden37
    claireholden37 Posts: 21 Member
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    I weigh everything as I am a type 1 diabetic so carb count just find it easier to round everything off easier for me to work out .
  • claireholden37
    claireholden37 Posts: 21 Member
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    How many calories would you suggest as I have loads left every day ? Don't want to keep wasting my time as I am trying really hard . My food diary is open
  • claireholden37
    claireholden37 Posts: 21 Member
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    Yes I have lost around 23lb since feb 2014 I just want to tone up and gain some muscle not really sure if my macros and calories are right. I am doing a lot of cycling , sessions in the gym which include squats. Cardio and some weights and I also do a little bit of running that's why I thought I might not be eating enough and my body is holding on to the weight to be fair I probably don't need to lose anymore.
  • hebcy
    hebcy Posts: 4 Member
    edited May 2015
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    I would love to know what people say in response to this because I am in the same boat. I am losing only about a few pounds a month with the same body type, but I have 40 pounds on you. According to my tracker I am at a 10,283 calorie deficit so far this week but the scale sure wouldn't know it. Maybe since we both buy at Aldi they are sneaking something in our food to keep us coming back. ;)
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    You should be losing the last few pounds slowly so that's a good thing - as is the exercise you are doing.
    You absolutely aren't wasting your time!

    If your body is in a consistent deficit it cannot hold on to weight long term, you may have periods when weight loss stalls - that's totally normal.

    Suggest trying to be consistent and make a small reduction in calories - then it's a matter of patience I'm afraid. Look at it as practice for maintenance!
  • claireholden37
    claireholden37 Posts: 21 Member
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    sijomial wrote: »
    You should be losing the last few pounds slowly so that's a good thing - as is the exercise you are doing.
    You absolutely aren't wasting your time!

    If your body is in a consistent deficit it cannot hold on to weight long term, you may have periods when weight loss stalls - that's totally normal.

    Suggest trying to be consistent and make a small reduction in calories - then it's a matter of patience I'm afraid. Look at it as practice for maintenance!

    Thank you for your reply. Do I not need to eat back any exercise calories then as some days I can have a few hundred cals left ?
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
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    At 144lb and 5'7", you don't have much weight to lose. Probably you won't lose a pound a week. And your diary is very inconsistent, so you may not be as accurate as you think you are.
  • claireholden37
    claireholden37 Posts: 21 Member
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    47Jacqueline wrote: »
    At 144lb and 5'7", you don't have much weight to lose. Probably you won't lose a pound a week. And your diary is very inconsistent, so you may not be as accurate as you think you are.

    How is it inconsistent the only thing I don't log every day is my exercise
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Personally I prefer to eat more on big exercise days and your exercise calorie estimates look reasonable - maybe circuit training looks high but that's a devilishly hard thing to estimate (even with gadgets).

    In the end calorie balance is the thing - whether you alter that by eating back less exercise calories or adjusting your base calorie setting is personal preference.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited May 2015
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    This link might be able to provide something helpful...

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1
  • LilyKirkwood95
    LilyKirkwood95 Posts: 3 Member
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    Do you mean you're worried your body is not getting enough calories, i.e. It's in starvation mode?
  • claireholden37
    claireholden37 Posts: 21 Member
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    LilyKirkwood95 wrote: »
    Do you mean you're worried your body is not getting enough calories, i.e. It's in starvation mode?

    Yes that's what I have been thinking . I originally started by doing slimming world and I found the more I ate the more I lost so taking a bit to get used to calorie counting
  • LilyKirkwood95
    LilyKirkwood95 Posts: 3 Member
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    claireholden37 wrote: »
    Yes that's what I have been thinking . I originally started by doing slimming world and I found the more I ate the more I lost so taking a bit to get used to calorie counting

    I always try my best to reach my calorie goal + eat enough food to make up for exercise, otherwise your body is in starvation mode and when you eat, it deals with the calories you take in differently, which basically makes you less likely to lose fat and more likely to lose muscle weight - the weight you don't want to lose (I study biology at uni so I can explain the physiology better if you ask).
    If your settings are set to lose weight then your calorie goal should be lower than your BMR, and that's where the calorie deficiency is coming from that will enable you to lose fat healthily. A deficiency of 3500 calories = 1lb of fat loss.
    I understand it can be hard to reach calorie goals, I'm only on 1200 a day because I'm 5' 6 and 137lbs, just losing a few pounds I put on in order to prevent becoming overweight and get back to how I was, and sometimes I struggle to meet that and worry my body isn't getting enough for effective weight loss.
    I would recommend the diet I'm on, it's 35% carbs, 35% fat, 30% protein, and eating higher protein percentages in your diet is proven to boost your metabolism, meaning more effective weight loss. People say calories are just calories but they need to read into the science behind metabolism to understand that the body deals with carbs and protein differently because they are different molecules (again, biology student).
    I hope this helps! :smile:

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