metabolism booster to Jumpstart weight loss

Hello everyone I am a 20 year old college student and this past year I started the depo shot as birth control and I've gained about 20 lbs going from 135 to 155. (I've never been so heavy in my entire life! ) During the past year I have not been as active as I should have been. However in May I decided I wanted to shed the pounds. I started restrictions my diet to 1320 calories a day. Must days I have a smoothie fruit, kale, yogurt, and orange juice smoothie for breakfast then the same smootie and 6 Ritz crackers and a slice of cheese for lunch. For dinner is normally 3.5 Oz of boneless skinless chicken breast, a sweet potatoe, and some kind of green veggies. I've upped my intake of water to about 75 Oz a day. I run and walk about 2 miles a day so 4 miles total. I also do squats and various abdominal exercises (2 months and no real noticeable changes yet but hopefully some will come soon). On top of that I am doing a summer internship where I am required to carry gallons of water daily and walk long distances. Because of this internship I am in a secluded area and have no transportation to a gym. However the program ends in a few weeks and I will be back in school and have ready access to a gym. But until then I am looking for a metabolism booster that will help me with my weight loss. I don't expect this to be a long term thing and even after I stop using it I plan on continuing to eat healthy and exercise because at this point it's become a part of my life lol thanks in advance for any and all advice.
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Replies

  • katepace1
    katepace1 Posts: 36 Member
    I would suggest you high intensity interval training. You said you're running and walking. How hard are you running? Try a peak 8, meaning 8 cycles of 90% effort (sprinting) and corresponding recovery period (walking), for 2 or 3 of your workouts each week.
  • earynnm
    earynnm Posts: 6 Member
    Ok I'll try that. Thank you
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    You cannot out exercise a bad diet

    You put on weight because you ate more than you needed to fuel the amount you were moving

    Eat fewer calories than you burn

    Weigh all your food and log it accurately and consistently

    In 2 months you are still eating at maintenance for the amount you are moving as you should have seen scale movement by now
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    You are walking running about 100-150 calories there - that's not significant, that's a banana

    You are not eating 1325 calories on average
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    edited July 2015
    .
  • smotheredincheese
    smotheredincheese Posts: 559 Member
    Have you been weighing and logging everything? Smoothies can pack a lot of calories so your probably eating/drinking more than you think.
  • earynnm
    earynnm Posts: 6 Member
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    You are walking running about 100-150 calories there - that's not significant, that's a banana

    You are not eating 1325 calories on average


    I have been eating 1320 calories a day on average and yes I am measuring everything out and logging what I eat.
  • earynnm
    earynnm Posts: 6 Member
    But you are right that I need to kick up the intensity of my work out. How many calories should I be burning per workout? I didn't exactly say I've never had to work out before to maintain a weight I was comfortable at in the op but I've never had to work out before so im still trying to figure these things out.
  • MamaBirdBoss
    MamaBirdBoss Posts: 1,516 Member
    edited July 2015
    Drinking more water doesn't help you lose weight. :)

    A "metabolism booster" would be more exercise. But I strongly suspect that you're not being perfectly honest with what you're eating or else you're counting it wrong. On 1350, anyone with a weight of 155lbs who is walking more than 4 miles a day would be losing some weight. (That would get you just beyond "sedentary" calories.) Also, I find it pretty unlikely that a reasonable serving of what you describe would satisfy a normal person's hunger. Basically drinking TWO meals? Either there's a lot more in the smoothie than the cals you're recording, you're starving all the time, or else you have no sense of hunger.

    I don't currently belong to a gym, BTW, and I'm losing weight just fine. There are lots of bodyweight exercises you can do, plus of course running outside.
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    earynnm wrote: »
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    You are walking running about 100-150 calories there - that's not significant, that's a banana

    You are not eating 1325 calories on average


    I have been eating 1320 calories a day on average and yes I am measuring everything out and logging what I eat.
    How are you measuring everything out? Cups? Spoons etc. It really does matter.

    You don't need to exercise or move around at all to lose weight, you just need to put less in than you burn. The exercise helps with the fact that you can eat more and still be in a deficit and also helps you look better rather than skinny flab.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    earynnm wrote: »
    But you are right that I need to kick up the intensity of my work out. How many calories should I be burning per workout? I didn't exactly say I've never had to work out before to maintain a weight I was comfortable at in the op but I've never had to work out before so im still trying to figure these things out.

    You are 20 years old and dont understand sufficiently how successful weight loss works. Rabbit nailed it in assessing whats happening with you based on the information you provided. If you had truly been on 1320 calories then you would have lost weight. You are eating more thna you think and burning less so the result is you are not in deficit. Get your food deficit under control first.
  • kianne123
    kianne123 Posts: 4 Member
    Everybody is different and everything people advise you will give you something to think about and test out.

    You may also not be eating enough calories. I weigh 11st, am 5ft7" and walk between 2 & 4 miles a day. I have found out, over the last year, that in order to lose weight I need to be eating 1200 calories per day. I can have the odd day slightly under but if I decided to eat under that amount for a whole week, I'd see very little difference on the scales.
    I also suggest changing your food around, have different proteins, carbs, fruits and vegetables. Your body breaks different foods down in different ways (working harder on some of them) and will get bored and lazy with working on the same foods everyday.

    It will take a while for you to understand your body, just stick at it!!
  • professionalHobbyist
    professionalHobbyist Posts: 1,316 Member
    earynnm wrote: »
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    You are walking running about 100-150 calories there - that's not significant, that's a banana

    You are not eating 1325 calories on average


    I have been eating 1320 calories a day on average and yes I am measuring everything out and logging what I eat.


    A really good scale is cheap

    It can be your friend on actually knowing what you are taking in.

    Lots on here used this one so I spent $22 and got one

    Totally worth it

    qncfgm3g7b9c.jpg

  • MamaBirdBoss
    MamaBirdBoss Posts: 1,516 Member
    kianne123 wrote: »
    Everybody is different and everything people advise you will give you something to think about and test out.

    You may also not be eating enough calories. I weigh 11st, am 5ft7" and walk between 2 & 4 miles a day. I have found out, over the last year, that in order to lose weight I need to be eating 1200 calories per day. I can have the odd day slightly under but if I decided to eat under that amount for a whole week, I'd see very little difference on the scales.
    I also suggest changing your food around, have different proteins, carbs, fruits and vegetables. Your body breaks different foods down in different ways (working harder on some of them) and will get bored and lazy with working on the same foods everyday.

    It will take a while for you to understand your body, just stick at it!!

    This isn't true other than that a body that thinks it's starving will hold onto water to offset fat loss for short periods of time.
  • kianne123
    kianne123 Posts: 4 Member
    As I said, "everybody is different". Food changes make a huge difference. Variety is the spice of life!
  • earynnm
    earynnm Posts: 6 Member
    The smoothies are around 300 calories each then I drink water with them and yea it wasn't fully satisfying at lunch so that's why I added the crackers and cheese. Also I thought If I stayed under my calories and exercised more I was doing things right but apparently that isn't the case since all I'm doing is burning off a banana so that's why I said I'm unsure now. But I am 20 like you pointed out, I know how to use a scale, measuring cups and measuring spoons. So I do know how much I am eating.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited July 2015
    earynnm wrote: »
    The smoothies are around 300 calories each then I drink water with them and yea it wasn't fully satisfying at lunch so that's why I added the crackers and cheese. Also I thought If I stayed under my calories and exercised more I was doing things right but apparently that isn't the case since all I'm doing is burning off a banana so that's why I said I'm unsure now. But I am 20 like you pointed out, I know how to use a scale, measuring cups and measuring spoons. So I do know how much I am eating.

    Nope you're not logging properly

    you cannot say words like 'around' you need to weigh and log every ingredient

    You absolutely are not eating what you think you are, because if you were you would be losing weight even without any exercise at all .. it is highly likely that your sedentary calorie burn would be above 1300

    I'm sorry but until you fix that you're on a maybe I will, maybe I won't highway to possible weight loss

    If you fix it you will have a much easier path

    You shouldn't be using cups and spoons for anything solid .. you can even weight oils

    You also may be choosing wrong entries from the database

    Unless you are around 4ft you would lose weight if you were consistently consuming 1300 calories, unless you have some kind of metabolic or hormonal disorder in which case you need a doctor and a battery of blood and thyroid tests

  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    kianne123 wrote: »
    Everybody is different and everything people advise you will give you something to think about and test out.

    You may also not be eating enough calories. I weigh 11st, am 5ft7" and walk between 2 & 4 miles a day. I have found out, over the last year, that in order to lose weight I need to be eating 1200 calories per day. I can have the odd day slightly under but if I decided to eat under that amount for a whole week, I'd see very little difference on the scales.
    I also suggest changing your food around, have different proteins, carbs, fruits and vegetables. Your body breaks different foods down in different ways (working harder on some of them) and will get bored and lazy with working on the same foods everyday.

    It will take a while for you to understand your body, just stick at it!!
    She isn't failing to lose weight due to eating too little.

    Why you anthropomorphize digestion? That's not how it works. That's not how any of this works.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    OP - you do not need a metabolism booster….just do the following and read the sticks I reference..


    1. Enter stats into MFP and set for x amount of weight loss.
    2. Eat to the number that MFP gives you.
    3. get a food scale and weigh all solid foods, and as many liquids as possible.
    4. log everything
    5. make sure that you are using correct MFP database entries
    6. realize that there are no bad foods and that while the majority of foods should come from nutrient dense sources, there is nothing wrong with having pizza, ice cream, cookies, etc, as long as ones micro and macro needs are met.
    7. macro setting are typically .85 grams of protein per pound of body weight; .45 grams of fat per pound of body weight; fill in rest with carbs.
    8. find a form of exercise that you like and do it < not necessary for weight loss, but is for overall health and body comp.

    couple stickies I would recommend:

    Recomposition:
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/33125652#Comment_33125652

    Bulking:
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10049766/bulking-a-complete-guide-for-beginners

    sidesteels guide:
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
  • evileen99
    evileen99 Posts: 1,564 Member
    edited July 2015
    kianne123 wrote: »
    I also suggest changing your food around, have different proteins, carbs, fruits and vegetables. Your body breaks different foods down in different ways (working harder on some of them) and will get bored and lazy with working on the same foods everyday.

    It will take a while for you to understand your body, just stick at it!!

    Does your heart get "bored and lazy" beating the same way every day? SOOO much wrong with this statement.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    kianne123 wrote: »
    Everybody is different and everything people advise you will give you something to think about and test out.

    You may also not be eating enough calories. I weigh 11st, am 5ft7" and walk between 2 & 4 miles a day. I have found out, over the last year, that in order to lose weight I need to be eating 1200 calories per day. I can have the odd day slightly under but if I decided to eat under that amount for a whole week, I'd see very little difference on the scales.
    I also suggest changing your food around, have different proteins, carbs, fruits and vegetables. Your body breaks different foods down in different ways (working harder on some of them) and will get bored and lazy with working on the same foods everyday.

    It will take a while for you to understand your body, just stick at it!!

    on what planet can you not enough calories and gain weight???? I want to know where this is coming from….
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    kianne123 wrote: »
    As I said, "everybody is different". Food changes make a huge difference. Variety is the spice of life!

    barring a meedical condition we all break down and process food in the same way ..and CICO applies to everyone.
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    kianne123 wrote: »
    As I said, "everybody is different". Food changes make a huge difference. Variety is the spice of life!

    Just no.

    The only thing that makes a difference sometimes are medical conditions. Science is always the same. Energy balance works for everyone.

  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    kianne123 wrote: »
    Everybody is different and everything people advise you will give you something to think about and test out.

    You may also not be eating enough calories. I weigh 11st, am 5ft7" and walk between 2 & 4 miles a day. I have found out, over the last year, that in order to lose weight I need to be eating 1200 calories per day. I can have the odd day slightly under but if I decided to eat under that amount for a whole week, I'd see very little difference on the scales.
    I also suggest changing your food around, have different proteins, carbs, fruits and vegetables. Your body breaks different foods down in different ways (working harder on some of them) and will get bored and lazy with working on the same foods everyday.

    It will take a while for you to understand your body, just stick at it!!
    She isn't failing to lose weight due to eating too little.

    Why you anthropomorphize digestion? That's not how it works. That's not how any of this works.

    I love you so much right now. That statement right there is beautiful.

  • kianne123
    kianne123 Posts: 4 Member
    Whatever guys, I was just trying to be helpful. I'll continue doing what I know works for me.

    A bit of positivity wouldn't go amiss, not exactly helping, more like lecturing.

    Oh and what the hell is a "meedical condition"?!?!
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    edited July 2015
    kianne123 wrote: »
    As I said, "everybody is different". Food changes make a huge difference. Variety is the spice of life!


    As much as we would all love to believe that, we aren't. The reason there are formulas such as the Katch McArdle, mifflin st jeor, etc... is because most people are statistically the same. And of course with statistics, there will always be outliers (those generally with medical conditions).

    And in all my time here, the average person who doesn't lose weight has 1 and/or 2 issues: 1. accuracy of logging (doesn't use a food scale) or 2. doesn't log consistently. Both generally lead to inaccurate knowledge of the calories in.

    OP, can you open your food diary?
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    kianne123 wrote: »
    Whatever guys, I was just trying to be helpful. I'll continue doing what I know works for me.

    A bit of positivity wouldn't go amiss, not exactly helping, more like lecturing.

    Oh and what the hell is a "meedical condition"?!?!
    Inaccurate positivity does, in fact, go amiss.

  • ljmorgi
    ljmorgi Posts: 264 Member
    kianne123 wrote: »
    A bit of positivity wouldn't go amiss, not exactly helping, more like lecturing.

    There's a difference between being positive and allowing patently erroneous information to go unchallenged.
  • Neversettle78
    Neversettle78 Posts: 206 Member
    ljmorgi wrote: »
    kianne123 wrote: »
    A bit of positivity wouldn't go amiss, not exactly helping, more like lecturing.

    There's a difference between being positive and allowing patently erroneous information to go unchallenged.

    I agree. No one was lecturing...they are simply loudly stating that what you said was completely wrong and making sure the OP didn't use that information to guide her.

    I also would love to have a peek at the OP's food / exercise diary. I suspect there is either little or nothing in there.
  • kianne123
    kianne123 Posts: 4 Member
    I wasn't talking about you lecturing me. What I do works (for me), I've lost 3 and a half stone in total. Don't worry I shall keep my ideas to myself in future.
    I hope you all have wonderful lives and accomplish all your wanted achievements.