Very confused soul here.

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hyunnys
hyunnys Posts: 7
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm very confused and lost.
I started my diet starting this month. I lost about 4.5lbs first week and the weight loss stopped.
I know 4.5lbs was probably the water loss and not 'fat' loss.

The past two weeks, I've been doing all kinds of things. (I know two weeks are very short, but I felt like it was two years)
I'm online all day to see which method is better. Should I eat right? Should I just starve myself till the body has to give up on fat? Now I ended up on MFP. Probably if this fails, I really will starve myself.
Three years ago I was on a diet. I lost about 10lbs or bit more. I ate 6" subway daily. I woke up too late to eat breakfast. I ate half of the sandwich for lunch and the rest for dinner. I worked out about an hour a day. It tooke me about a month or a month and a half. After I lost interest, I ate normally and stopped exercising. Thank god, I did not gain back weight until last Summer when my family went for a cruise trip where I gained 4.5lbs which I lost again this month.

So I'm again at LW. I should eat healthy and my body will follow me. But it's so discouraging when my number does not change. From my past experiences, my body takes one whole month before it starts to lose weight. For a whole month, no matter how hard I try, the scale wouldnt change a bit unless I cheat for one meal (Then, obviously it goes up) but it never goes down. And then, after one month, it started to go down.

MFP says I need to eat 1200 NET calorie a day to lose 1lb/week or 700 NET calorie a day to lose 2lbs/week. Not sure which one is better.
Eating:
This is my worst area. It's really really hard for me to eat a lot. This month, I ate average of 800 cal/day. This is the pure intake, not the net calorie. And I was fully satisfied most of the time. And it got worse when I started to eat 'healthy' Fortunately and unfortunately, I don't like fattening stuff like cookies, salad dressings, desserts/sweets, cream cheese, etc. I do like fried stuff but I as long as I don't eat out, I'm safe. I don't like vegetables too much, but starting this month, I started to eat salads. Since I don't like salad dressing, I eat it with Salsa which is only 10 calorie. And I eat a lot of stuff in fat free so most of foods are pretty low calorie. Today, for instance, I had omelette for breakfast. It had one egg, one turky bacon, broccoli, spinach, crab, jalapeno, and salsa. It still was 190 calorie and I was so full. And I'm not hungry till lunch. I had Salmon and spinach salad which was about 200 calorie total. My two biggest meals are only 390. There is no way I can meet 1200 NET calorie. To raise my calorie, I tried to raise with munching some almonds. But almonds are very high in fat and I do not want to overeat it.
Exercise:
I do cardio everyday for 60 min (sometimes I miss saturday or sunday) I do elliptical for 30 min and walking/jogging for 30 min which burns total of 500 calorie or over. I do couple sets of random muscle training every other day or so.
My plan is to do P90X plyo, yoga, kenpo, or cardio (hour long each) maybe on M,W,F (of course not all 4 a day but one a day randomly chosen) and do Abs (15min) other days on top of what I'm doing. I'm guessing I'm probably going to burn a lot of calories. Even if not, I ceratinly know I burn about 500 calorie just with cardio exercise. Now my food intake dilemma comes in again. So I'm supposed to have 1200 NET car for 1lb/wk or 700 NET cal for 2lb/wk. That means I need to eat like 1700++ for 1lb/wk or 1200++ for 2lb/wk. This is A LOT for me. I'm having trouble eating 800 calorie a day. I'll easily eat 500 calorie if I don't try.

So I'm asking anyone out there. Do I REALLY need to eat 1200 to 1700 calorie a day to lose weight? I feel like I'll gain weight. 1700 calorie is two times more than I eat. Heck that's more than 8 REGULAR meals worth of calorie.
Can I eat 1200 and still lose 2lbs/week?
I'm aiming for 1200 because I cannot imagine eating 1700 calorie a day. How do you eat 1700 calorie? I kinda see if if you eat out. But if you're cooking your meals at home then I don't really see how it's possible.

Some stuff about me:
I usually eat breakfast-snack1-lunch-snack2-dinner, although I sometimes forget snack1.
My BMR is 1367cal/day.
My CW is 134.5lbs. If I get toned up, I'm trying to lose 20lbs (lose fat, gain muscle). If I'm not toned up, I'd like to lose a bit more. I'll decide when I actually reach the weight.

Well, I know it's a long post. Thank you for reading!

Replies

  • RissaDean
    RissaDean Posts: 189 Member
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    You mention all the things you DON'T like, but what DO you like? What are you eating that fills you up for only 800 cal/day?

    If you're cooking at home, be sure that you are measuring EVERYTHING. Little things like a dab of olive oil there, etc can add up. Measure and weigh EVERYTHING for a week, and then see where you are. You might think you are eating 4 oz of chicken, but you are really eating 5 or even 6 ounces. You may think you're eating 800 cal, but it could be closer to 1000 or even a bit up from that.

    Also, you say that your body typically takes a month to adjust and start losing, but you've only been working on it for two weeks this time. Keep at it for a full month, and THEN decide what changes to make.

    Hope this helps!
  • Shae3891
    Shae3891 Posts: 53 Member
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    a couple things come to mind
    1. it sounds like you might actually not be eating enough calories so your body might be storing fat- MFP has been working for me and clearly many others so I suggest trying what it reccomends for at least a month- if you gain weight, 134 is already not to bad a number unless you're super short, so you likely won't gain much and it will probably come off pretty easily once you figure out what works.
    2. You may not be eating the right things I can't imagine that you;d get a lot of fiber and protien in from the small amount of calories you eat, try high protien, high fiber foods. Greek Yogurt, oatmeal and whole grains have been working for me.

    3. I really don't like veggies much either but my dietician really recomends them and suggests I eat canned and cooked veggies becuase your body breaks them down better. I have colitus so I have to eat food that are easy on my digestive track, but she also says when yuor body breaks them down easier, you don't retain/gain weight as easily.
    4. it might help to meet with a dietician, most work healt insurance plans will cover at least a couple appointments to develop a plan.
    5. Finally remember that you likely didn't get overweight in a day, so it won't come off that quickly, don't get discouraged and stay on the wagon :)

    Hope that helps
  • LauraMarie37
    LauraMarie37 Posts: 283 Member
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    Yes, you probably really do need to eat 1200-1700 to lose any weight, and you definitely need to eat 1200-1700 to lose weight and keep it off. MFP is FILLED with women like you (I'm one of them), women who for years out their body in starvation mode by eating 800 calories per day and exercising for three hours. And the weight never came off! And then once we tried MFP's suggested calories, the weight just drops off.

    If you are older and/or have been starving your body consistently (ie, no "cheat days"), and especislly if you are post-menopausal, when you start to eat 1200 calories per day, your body will probably gain 2-3 pounds and then stay there for a whole month. Don't give up! After your body really "believes" that you won't be starving it again, it will be able to let go of that excess weight. After a month, you'll not only begin to lose weight, but you will be amazed at how much more fit you are now that your body has fuel! Exercises that used to be hard will become easier so much more rapidly!

    In terms of eating more, remember it is healthy - crucial! - to eat fat, especially the "good" fat found in things like almonds. So go ahead and use those to boost your calories! Really, your body will thank you SO much.

    You can do this - AND be much more healthy!
  • eeeekie
    eeeekie Posts: 1,011 Member
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    do you watch your sodium intake and get enough water?

    subway everyday...seems like a crash diet with TONS of sodium. You might want to track it and see how you're doing on that. If you go over you won't lose weight because you'll retain water. I used to unknowingly go over my sodium by 1000's and wonder why I wasn't losing weight. That was part of my problem.

    You also need to eat more calories as you said ...I think that might be one of the issues. If you have problems getting your calories...try drinking a protein shake? I've seen people who are full after 800-900 calories and just drink a protein shake or eat a bar and then they hit their 1200.
  • hyunnys
    hyunnys Posts: 7
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    Thank you for everyone's reply!!

    @RissaDean: I actually do measure everything in detail. I recently bought a scale that measure to 1g/1oz.
    And of course I measure oil, too. I don't like to put oil either (I know olive oil is good for you, but I just don't like it too much). So I just put just enough (couple drops) so that I don't ruin my pan lol I'm just not patient enough and TOO good with portiona control that my stomach shrunk.

    @Shae3891: The thing is... even though I said 134, I usually don't exercise so I do not have much of muscle. So most of my weight is actually fat. (I think I have 30-33% or more body fat) I'm thinking about eating whole grain bread like you suggested. People talk about carb a lot, so I tried not to eat them much. Probably one wheat toast every meal would easily be 300-400 calorie.

    @LauraMarie37: It is really comforting. I was still deciding whether I should eat 1200 calories a day. But now I'll definately try. It's just that I'm trying to lose weight in 4 months and I think I'm pushing it too hard. Hopefully I don't feel discouraged when I see the scale goes up.
  • ladyhawk00
    ladyhawk00 Posts: 2,457 Member
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    Recommend reading these threads that address most of what you mentioned:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/238282-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing-redux

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/175241-a-personal-view-on-exercise-cals-and-underfeeding

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/230930-starvation-mode-how-it-works

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/186814-some-mfp-basics

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/231636-the-eating-when-you-re-not-hungry-dilemma

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/9433-expectations

    Chronic lack of appetite can be a signal of severely decreased metabolism. As for how to increase cals in a healthy way:

    Planning is key. Focus on balanced macros (protein/fat/carbs) in each meal/snack. Start with making sure to eat at least 3 meals a day. Breakfast is important when you're trying to overcome a habit of irregular eating or underfeeding. Once you've adjusted to that, add in snacks. Then, gradually increase the amount of cals in each meal/snack. Just 50 cals more for each meal/snack adds up. If you know you'll be working out, increase cals throughout the day.

    If you're not feeling hungry, a good way to increase cals without much volume is healthy fats from natural oils (olive/canola), nuts and nut butters (almonds, pistachios, walnuts), and avocados. Also, I would stay away from "low cal" or "low fat" options. Partly because you want to increase cals, and partly because those foods are usually processed and not nutrient dense, and the cals or fat they take out is replaced by sugar (real or substitute) and sodium - not a good trade off. A fruit smoothie, protein shake or chocolate milk are good cal boosters, because drinking cals can be easier than eating when you aren't feeling hungry.

    Typically, it may be hard for a week or two, but your body will adjust to the increased intake and you'll find it isn't an issue for long. Eating more will truly help your metabolism, and your appetite will increase with it.
  • cowpacino
    cowpacino Posts: 77 Member
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    ok the first thing you need to do is to find out your BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate. This tells you how many calories your body burns if you don't do anything except rest. There is a BMR calculator in the "tools" tab in MFP, once you find out this, deduct 500 calories from it and make that your goal. Try not to loose too much too fast, you don't want your body thinking it's starving, because that changes the way your body works, making your body store every ounce of fat it can get a hold of, it also makes it easier to stick to your diet because you're not always hungry, and it'll help keep your skin tight if you have a lot to lose.
  • nikkircaddell
    nikkircaddell Posts: 56
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    Your body will only use fat stores for a short period when it goes into starvation mode because it is easier to break down muscle and then body organs if you don't keep a healthy number of calories throughout the day then you are losing more of what you need in your body than fat and if all of your muscle is getting torn down then your metabolism slows because muscle takes more calories to sustain itself than fat does. Be careful with how much you are eating and get your doctor to check your blood off and on and tell him/her how little you are eating because some vitamins and minerals that get too depleted can lead to severe malnutrition problems like paralysis, bone loss, and vision loss.
  • elliecolorado
    elliecolorado Posts: 1,040
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    I was the same way when I started, I was hardly ever hungry and it was due to years of chronically under eating. Once I started making myself eat on a regular schedule (at least 6 times a day) I had more of an appetite. For me eating 1200-1500 calories a day helps me lose weight. Starving yourself may work for a while, but eventually you will have to start eating regularly again and you will just gain all of the weight back.

    I track calories, carbs, protein and sodium very closely. I have found that what works the best for me is a high intake of protein and low carb intake, when I start getting lazy about tracking and eating more carbs my weight loss slows down drastically. I also keep my sodium under 1500mg a day. I also would suggest staying away from low-fat or no-fat products, especially dairy like cheeses because they have a lot more sodium than the full fat versions. Since I have been doing it this way and making sure that I eat at least 1200 calories on days I don't exercise and I usually eat close to 1500 on days I do exercise I have been losing consistently 2.5-3.5 lbs average a week, and all of the years I spent under eating I didn't lose weight. I know it seems counter-intuitive, but you need to eat more to lose weight. When your body doesn't know if and when it will get food again it wants to hold on to everything you eat.

    You may want to read this thread:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing
  • Slinkybaz
    Slinkybaz Posts: 312 Member
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    She has already given her BMR as 1367 so you are therefore encouraging her to eat just 867 calories per day? I'm no expert and can't really comment as I've only been doing this for 4 weeks but everything I've seen so far from others says you should be at LEAST eating 1200 calories per day. If 867 was going to work and she's currently eating around 800, wouldn't the weight have been moving already?
  • ladyhawk00
    ladyhawk00 Posts: 2,457 Member
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    ok the first thing you need to do is to find out your BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate. This tells you how many calories your body burns if you don't do anything except rest. There is a BMR calculator in the "tools" tab in MFP, once you find out this, deduct 500 calories from it and make that your goal. Try not to loose too much too fast, you don't want your body thinking it's starving, because that changes the way your body works, making your body store every ounce of fat it can get a hold of, it also makes it easier to stick to your diet because you're not always hungry, and it'll help keep your skin tight if you have a lot to lose.

    Just for clarification, you do NOT create your deficit from your BMR. BMR is basal metabolic rate - what you burn just for basic functions, as if in a coma. To determine an appropriate deficit for weight loss, you need to get:

    BMR + daily activity level = maintenance calories (what you would eat to maintain current weight)
    You create a deficit from maintenance calories (which on MFP does NOT include purposeful exercise).
    However, MFP does this for you. All you need to do is enter your info correctly, choose an appropriate loss per week goal, and then follow the goals provided.

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