Not losing but gaining

How do you know you aren't going over 1200 calories a day? If you aren't measuring your food on a food scale and logging it I don't see how you could possibly know how many calories you are eating.

It is very likely you are eating more food and are not burning as many calories as you think.

Christal80 wrote: »

I have been exercising for about a month,3 days a week I burn 350-400 cardio,and 2 days a week I burn 800 cal through cardio.I haven't logged my food intake but I know I am not over 1200 cal per day.I haven't lost any weight instead I have gained and I continually keep gaining.I am feeling so discouraged and depressed.Any tips?I am 132.5 wanting to be 118.

The two halves of this statement are contradictory, unless you are drastically undereating.

Also, how tall are you? Depending on your height, 118 may not be realistic.

The other piece is exercise. Most folks not only underestimate their calorie intake, the over estimate their calorie burns. If you're getting your burn from the machine or from MFP, you're better off going with about half of that for the actual burn.

What kind of cardio are you doing that burns 800 cals?!

In order to lose weight and burn fat, you will need 2 things: a healthy eating plan and some kind of activity that you enjoy. Although each of them are equally important, the bulk of your time should be devoted to a balanced diet. This means as much as 80% of your diet planning has to be on nutrition.
Eating a healthy blend of foods with proteins, carbs and fats will help the body to process the intake much better and stoke the fat burning processes that are inside of everybody. Protein is especially good for building the kind of lean muscle tissue that burns excess calories and targets fat cells.
You will also need an activity to accentuate the diet plan. It can be anything that will be done on a regular basis. Some of the most popular types are walking, swimming, biking, yoga or resistance training. Any of them will do and can complement the diet plan. Shoot for 1 pound per week maximum and this weight loss will be permanent.

If you are interested in more facts on weight loss, this is my favourite site:
http://fatburningmethods.com

Christal80 wrote: »

I go according to my heart rate monitor,I know the numbers on the equipment are always higher than my monitor.I have most likely underestimated my calorie intake:)Wish losing weight was just as easy as gaining.

With your stats, you are already in the healthy weight range, and 118 is pretty close to the bottom of that range. Losing vanity lbs is sl-o-o-o-o-w, so making sure your data is correct is key. It took me over a year to lose @ 15 lbs, because I wasn't willing to go hungry, and to be honest, because I wasn't always as exact as I could be. So patience is going to be really important.

You might also want to look at replacing some of the cardio with weight training. You might not have to lose that much weight to get the look you want, adding some muscle can make you look "tighter" without your scale weight changing that much. Hang in there :drinker:

m27un wrote: »

I do 4lbs a week. No drinking at all. 16 cups of lemon water per day. Lots of flax and chia seeds. 1 hour of intense interval cardio every second day. Weight training on in between days!

1600 total calories for me per day!

1. Four pounds per week is ridiculous, especially for the OP at 5'4" and 132.5 pounds. The most she could push is two pounds per week, though that's not what I'm advising for her. I'm half an inch shorter than OP and I started at 139. I lost 2 pounds per week until I hit 121 then switched to 1 per week until I hit 118, then switched to half a pound because my body communicated that it was not happy with such a deficit anymore. OP doesn't need to burn out.
   
   
2. 16 cups of lemon water per day is unnecessary. Lemon water is not a weight loss/fat burning miracle as some people believe. If you're just drinking it because you like the taste, I can tell you that all the acid from the lemons is ruining the enamel on your teeth unless you're rinsing your mouth out thoroughly after each glass and even then some damage will be done. OP doesn't need 16 cups of lemon water to see progress.

It is not any more difficult to lose "vanity pounds" than it is to lose, say 100 pounds. Eat at a deficit. Oh! And your calorie allowance needs to shrink once you start to lose weight. That's all.

because you are already starting out very light at 132, every calorie in your case counts even more!! A 300 pound person can be loose with logging food and exercise but someone as small as yourself that is so close to goal really has to tighten it up! I know you're gonna kill it!

Orphia wrote: »

If you're new to logging, you'll find some helpful posts in this MFP "Announcement" thread:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300319/most-helpful-posts-general-diet-and-weight-loss-help-must-reads#latest

Also, watch this video. It shows how important weighing your food correctly is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY

Congrats on the great exercise routine, and good luck!

This

I have very similar goals/stats (5'5" g.w. of 125) and I've been losing about .5 - 1 lb per week for the last 3 weeks. My daily goal is 1200 per day but I really struggle with weekends, when I blow through the roof. Let us know how your tracking goes and keep up the good work with exercise!