Nutritionist help please! :(

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Sarcastic1
Sarcastic1 Posts: 14 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I need help. I started this a few months back and was initially successful, losing more at first than I expected. I was losing about 3/4 to a full pound a day. Maybe water weight, so my first five pounds were a breeze. Then I "fell off the wagon" and stopped signing on because I thought I had a good handle on it myself (and my internet is slow :(). I am a little more than a month away from my goal of being at 120lbs. I have been stuck at 128.8 for a month now. I walk hills everyday for at least 30 minutes at a brisk pace. I stay under 1200 calories (I log everything I eat in a book if not online). So yesterday I logged, came in more than 200 calories UNDER my goal, did 45 mins of walking/running hills and this morning I was at 129.4! I am freaking out. Someone with nutrition experience please help.
Also, I feel like 4lb weigh gain during my period (temporary but discouraging every month) is excessive and unneccesary. In addition to very low sodium intake is there anything else I should be doing? I take Diurex which helps a little.

Replies

  • Oompa_Loompa
    Oompa_Loompa Posts: 1,099 Member
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    you need to eat AT least 1200 calories a day. And the days you work out..you need to eat those calories burned. That's probably why your not really loosing. Also try to add some weight training in.
  • NBabi91
    NBabi91 Posts: 270 Member
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    The problem may be that you are coming in under 1200 calories. You need to eat at least 1200 a day or else your body may go into starvation mode and start storing fat. Try to eat healthy calories like a lean protein.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    1200 Net is the recommended minimum you should get. So if your goal is 1200 and you burn 300 from exercise you should acutally eat 1500 (1200+300) to net 1200 (1500-300). What you are doing eating 1100 and burning 300 is a net of 800 which is way to low, you need to eat more.
  • McGruber03
    McGruber03 Posts: 113
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    What is your height? What is your age? Is your current BMI within normal limits? 120 lbs could possibly be an unrealistic number for you. And I agree with the above...with all of that exercising, you need AT LEAST 1200 calories, if not more, depending on your age.
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
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    The problem may be that you are coming in under 1200 calories. You need to eat at least 1200 a day or else your body may go into starvation mode and start storing fat. Try to eat healthy calories like a lean protein.

    This isn't necessarily true. There's no set floor in terms of energy intake that switches the "starvation mode" on for everyone. But your point remains... from the sound of the original post, she's consuming far too little.
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
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    Also, I feel like 4lb weigh gain during my period (temporary but discouraging every month) is excessive and unneccesary. In addition to very low sodium intake is there anything else I should be doing? I take Diurex which helps a little.

    Also, you need to keep it real. Manage your expectations. You don't get to dictate what is and isn't reasonable in terms of weight fluctuations... especially during your period. That's the way of the body. Some people will fluctuate 5-8 lbs in a day... maybe more if they're very large. Again... manage your expectations. Otherwise this is going to be a very frustrating journey for you.
  • TrainingWithTonya
    TrainingWithTonya Posts: 1,741 Member
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    Without being able to see your logs, I can't offer a lot of specifics. But, my opinion is that you probably aren't eating enough. With just a basic calculation that doesn't take anything but weight into account, I get that you should be eating 1350-1700 calories not counting exercise. That's for a sedentary person and eating no less then 80% of BMR and daily activity with No planned exercise.
  • girlinahat
    girlinahat Posts: 2,956 Member
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    what you don't say either is what your maintenance calories will be. For me this is more important than the 1200 a day marker. For example, I have 20lbs to lose, and my maintenance calories are 1560. I have set myself at 0.5lb a week as a goal, which puts my daily calories at 1300.

    As you get closer to your goal you probably need to think about bringing your calories UP closer to your maintenance calories and plan on losing less weight at a time. Your body will thank you for it. Forget about 1200 as a goal (although aim to be above this) but find out YOUR goal based on YOUR figures. You say you are a little more than a month away from your goal of 120 and you currently are 128lbs? That means your goal loss is too high. Aim for 0.5lb a week, keep eating healthily and keep on the exercise.
  • Sarcastic1
    Sarcastic1 Posts: 14 Member
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    You are all amazingly quick at the response time, thanks! Well, I'm 5'8", 29 yrs old, BMI this morning was 19.6 which I know is on the lower end of healthy, but by body fat on the scale (not sure of the accuracy) was 24%, pretty high. Ugh. I am more concerned about that than the BMI, I don't want to be a fat skinny girl. I am a teacher, and school ended Monday, so I am not on my feet as much, but with two children under 5 I am def. not sedentary. So, I am terrified of adding calories esp since I am now 6 lbs down from when I started and figured that the less I weigh the fewer calories I require. I think my BMR is 1300.
  • up2me2lose20
    up2me2lose20 Posts: 360 Member
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    I agree with PP's. Under 1200 is just not enough fuel for your furnace. I would be hungry all the time eating only or under 1200 cals. MFP worked for me ... setting goals and following the calorie guidelines they gave to me. I'm 5'6" and now 125lbs and I feel like that's as low as I want to go. The harder you work the more you need to consume to get that fire burning. :)
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
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    That is not a high bf% for a female. What are you gauging your judgement on? 24% is in the normal range for a female. And here's the kicker...

    Leanness is a function of maximizing muscle mass and minimizing fat mass. The road to leanness isn't the same for everyone. When you have a lot of fat to lose, obviously focusing on reducing fat mass should be a priority with a secondary emphasis on muscle maintenance.

    On the other side of the fence though you've people that need to place a greater emphasis on muscle growth/maintenance if they're ever going to reach leanness. Put differently, more and more weight loss won't yield leanness as it's the quality of body composition that matters more than anything else.
  • Juggernautpint
    Juggernautpint Posts: 70 Member
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    The problem may be that you are coming in under 1200 calories. You need to eat at least 1200 a day or else your body may go into starvation mode and start storing fat. Try to eat healthy calories like a lean protein.

    Agreed!
  • Dietitiankelly
    Dietitiankelly Posts: 1
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    Hi. Im a Registered Dietitian and Lic. nutritionist. A few things automatically came to mind when I was reading your post. First, like everyone else is saying your intake is far too low. My guess is you are pretty fit, good muscle mass, etc. That requires more energy than you are consuming. Next, I don't know your BMI or anything but, when people hit a stubborn plateau and they are so close to their ideal weight it sometimes means that you are where you need to be. For example if youbare within the healthy BMI range you should try to maintain this weight and. If you try to get lower and still fail I would say that this weight is what your body has deemed comfortable and resistant to change. Lastly, 4# weight gain is not at all abnormal during menses. Use caution with the pills, the body is very sensative to fluid shifting and electrolyte changes. Those pills could be signaling the body to release the bloating but could also be affecting your electrolytes in a way that makes your body remain in a stressed state. This absolutely ensures any weight loss effort will be much more challenging.

    In all I suggest: eat more, reevaluate your goals to ensure you are being realistic, stop the pills.

    Good luck. Oh and lastly if you need a nutrition expert in your area always make sure its an RD or licensed at the very least. There are a lot of frauds out there. Go to www.eatright.org and enter your zip code, it will give you a list of professionals in your area.
  • Sarcastic1
    Sarcastic1 Posts: 14 Member
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    @stroutman: I read that percentage in a fitness mag, thanks for the heads up that it may be incorrect.
    @Dietiticankelly: Thank you for your time and advice. I will seriously consider adding in some calories. How long do you think it might take before I start to lose again?
  • McGruber03
    McGruber03 Posts: 113
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    At 5'8", your ideal body weight is 140 lbs! At 140 lbs, your BMI would be 21.3, still normal. You may be beating yourself up for nothing! 120 lbs might be unrealistic for you, and if you set unrealistic goals, you may be missing very important vitamins and minerals. For example; are you getting enough calcium to avoid osteoporosis in the future? Enough vitamin C? Enough Fiber?

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