I'm so lost D:

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mickeywolfie
mickeywolfie Posts: 17 Member
edited July 2015 in Health and Weight Loss
Ok so, I'm 5'3 and currently 210. Ultimately I want to be at least 150-160 but I set MFP with a goal of 170 to start off. My body looks like it's kinda just naturally thick though. My weight goes up and down over the years but not by much and I've been in the 195-210 range for years. The only time I lost weight was while I was pregnant (severe nausea made it hard for me to gain) and after I gave birth nine months ago (Was 180) and I still breastfeed but not as much since she's getting older.

On days I do some exercising,I'm not hungry or craving anything. I usually just drink water the whole day and have to force myself to eat a few things. But on days like today...where I basically just sit and do schoolwork and move around the house and play with my little one, I end up eating over what MFP set my calorie limit to (I haven't logged everything today sadly but i'm sure I'm up to like 1500-1600 for some reason i'm just craving stuff,my stomach hasn't growled since I woke up though)...my limit is apparently 1,350. But i'm lost...according to MFP to maintain this weight,I need 2,100 cals/day so as long as I eat 500 below that I should lose,right? I stay way below that though,I think the most I ate was 1800 cals (I had burned 273) a couple of weeks ago,it was stress-eating and I ended up feeling like crap so I haven't done that again and I'm cutting back on the snacking but it's still an issue. I'm never really like hungry, I just have cravings, I mostly eat snacks throughout the day and I often sleep through breakfast time.

But exercising is difficult lately.While my little one is awake she gets bored so easily so i'm always trying to entertain her and trying to keep up with schoolwork at the same time. I used to workout and stuff while she napped but now that she's older, she's up most of the day and her naps are short. Now I use her naptime to catch up with classes because her naps are so short, by the time i'm ready to workout she wakes up. I've been kind of trying small exercises instead of getting on the treadmill like I used to,like jogging in place and push-ups, some burpees,squats,things like that. The squats have obviously been working on my butt and calves but i've never had trouble toning below my thighs. My thighs,belly, and upper arms are the most fatty parts. Makes it hard to get shirts and pants that don't stretch in the thigh area,plus i'm hippy. But by the time she's down for the night,i'm tired also otherwise i'd workout then. I've tried walking around with her in a carrier on my chest but she wants to crawl around on her own. She doesn't like the stroller for long either. She likes me holding her or her crawling around and when I involve her she wants to go do other things.

But i'm lost on even knowing how to lose weight. How many cals should I be eating to lose? How many should I burn? I've started noticing my thighs are catching what i've been snacking on and I don't want to gain more, I feel like I am :( I see so many of you even losing like 5 pounds in a few weeks and I keep feeling like i'll never be that 180 again unless I have horrible nausea again or I have another baby -_- That won't be happening for a bit though and it's not the way to lose weight. I was noticing that drinking green tea every day seemed to help but I stopped, I don't know if it was psychological or what.

Replies

  • BWBTrish
    BWBTrish Posts: 2,817 Member
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    When you eat less calories than you burn you lose weight

    Knowing how much you eat you do by weighing ALL your solid food on a food scale ( dont use cups and spoons or serving sizes but weigh your food). And log them here on MFP

    You dont need to exercise
    Just keep to the calorie allowance MFP gave you and eat around that number.
    And you WILL lose weight.

    MFP is set up this way that you have a deficit so the number of calories it gave you should make you lose weight.
    Now when you can exercise you eat 50% back of those calories.

    Walking a lot helps too, i started that way.

    In a way it is pretty simple just follow your calorie allowance here on MFP and weigh as accurate as possible :)

    Now consistency and patient are your biggest friends in this. And remember you can eat everything!!!! as long as you keep weighing counting and logging. There is no magic...no pills no oil, tea, good or bad foods...

    I eat it all and lost almost 100 pounds by weighing ALL my food on a food scale everyday.
  • Jmgkamp
    Jmgkamp Posts: 278 Member
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    You don't have to exercise. It's great for your health, and it can "earn" you more calories. But... calories are what will make you lose or gain.

    I'm 42, female, and 5'2". I started at 219 (ugh! so glad I stepped on the scale before I got even bigger...). Now, 4 months later, I'm 51.5 pounds lighter. Fifty-one and one half.

    I eat 1200 calories per day, and I started adding in exercise about a month into it. If you can get out for a walk with your little one, do it. My kids love to work out with me :). I'll put on a workout DVD or YouTube and they get dressed in the craziest outfits ever, and we all go to town burning some calories.

    If you can't exercise, no worries. Just count your calories, DRINK YOUR WATER, and voila! Weight loss WILL happen.

    Not sure how many calories you'll need, but MFP will tell you. I'm stuck with 1200, but boy can I get the most out if that.

    If I can do it ANYONE can. Good luck. I'm rooting for you!!!
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    HI Mickey,

    Welcome. I was fat my entire life, so when I turned 40 I got tired of it. By the time I was 42, I was about 75 pounds less than my highest weight ever. The first time I lost that weight, I worked with a wonderful trainer who taught me to log food, count calories, factor in exercise, and he pushed me woo high heavens with the weights. I maintained for about a year, but allowed myself to fall into old habits and gained 33 pounds back over a five or six year period.

    Two years ago I found MFP and started using their tools, the ones my trainer had taught me that I'd forgotten about: logging food, eating within a calorie goal, logging exercise, only this time I added in weighing my food and striving for accuracy in both calories in/calories out.

    I lost 44 pounds and have been maintaining for a year and a half. I am at the lowest weight I've ever been in my life as an adult. In fact, I am at the weight now I was at 11 years old! Imagine that!

    All from weighing food, logging, being mindful of how much I eat, not depriving myself, and simply moving more and eating less. If I can do this after being obese my entire life, then you and anybody else can do the same!

    All that is required to lose weight is to eat at a calorie deficit. How you get there is individual. :)
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
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    Be good to yourself. Fuel your body adequately. None of this "starve/catch-up" cycling.

    What have you got your MFP weekly loss goal set to? It may make your calorie limit too low so then of course you can't stick to it.

    If you have a reasonable, sustainable goal, you can eat a tasty diet that is still going to have you lose weight, even if you don't have time to exercise.

    Exercising does help one's mood. I've lost over 20 lbs by calorie counting and walking. Take bubs for walks in the pram if you want to boost your endorphins.

    It's a slow process, but giving up won't get us anywhere!

    My best wishes to you.
  • mickeywolfie
    mickeywolfie Posts: 17 Member
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    My weekly loss goal is 1.5 pounds. I didn't want to cut my cals too high because I do breastfeed and that requires me to eat just a bit more.

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