Help!

neziecen
neziecen Posts: 21 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm trying to lose weight but somehow I'm just maintaining, I have reduced my calorie intake however I do have cheat days too. I know I'm not very active, could that be the problem??

Replies

  • emdeesea
    emdeesea Posts: 1,823 Member
    You may be undoing your calorie reduction days with your cheat days. If you eat enough on an entire cheat day, you'll cancel all of your effort and maintain.



  • ConnorMacFarlane21
    ConnorMacFarlane21 Posts: 13 Member
    Probably a combination of inactivity and cheat days (who can blame you for cheat days, though?!).

    Try to figure out how many calories your body burns/uses throughout the day. Use an online calculator to figure out your resting metabolic rate (RMR). Your RMR is, loosely, the number of calories your body uses just to exist and maintain its current form. Use a few different sites to learn your approximate calorie range.

    Add to your RMR the number of calories you burn throughout the day (ie. walking, exercising, doing physical chores, etc). Now, you'll have a decent figure telling you roughly how many calories you'll be using during the day.

    So long as the total calories you consume are fewer than the calories you burn, you'll most likely be losing weight!

    For example, my RMR is approximately 1800 calories/day. If I have a busy day where I also work out, I'll tack 500 calories onto my daily total, meaning I'll burn roughly 2300 calories that day. So long as I consume less than 2300 calories (while getting healthy doses of protein), I'll most likely be cutting fat.

    Limiting cheat days and getting a little exercise will definitely help, but it is also worth tracking your calorie counts. If you are in a caloric deficit, you're almost certainly losing weight (the larger the deficit, the more weight you'll lose). A small caloric deficit can be pretty manageable and comfortable, allowing you to lose small amounts of weight while not going diet crazy.

    Sorry to ramble! Best wishes :)
  • Laney293
    Laney293 Posts: 7 Member
    That could be the problem. Do they say 80% diet and 20% exercise? Also, when you have cheat days, do you just have the one treat on these days or treat yourself throughout the day? There's absolutely nothing wrong having a cheat day, just don't overdo it. Re: exercise swimming is good and works every muscle in the body, failing that maybe a long walk or a home DVD if you don't want to join a gym.
    Hope this helps. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
  • ReaderGirl3
    ReaderGirl3 Posts: 868 Member
    neziecen wrote: »
    I'm trying to lose weight but somehow I'm just maintaining, I have reduced my calorie intake however I do have cheat days too. I know I'm not very active, could that be the problem??

    If you make your diary public people can take a look at it and offer suggestions.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
    Sounds like you've found your maintenance number.

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