Help! How am I going to lose with these numbers?

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ljbhill
ljbhill Posts: 276 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,

I have been on a plateau for so long it could be called maintaining! One week I am down a little, only to be back up a little the following week and so on.

My cals were set to 1200 but that sets my weekly weight loss prediction at only 0.7 Ib. This is barely any loss per week! I can't go below 1200 cals as that is not healthy and I am already exercising 4 times a week for around 40 minutes. I am just a few Ib's off goal and I really want to get there!

To combat this, I started zig zagging from 1200 (1100, 1300, 1100 etc) and the week I did it, I lost. I then decided to up it to zig zagging around 1300 from the forum advice of others who said below 1200 is too low (1300, 1500, 1300 etc). I am thinking that those numbers are too close to my maintenance (my zigzag up day is 1500 which is maintenance) and have seemed to put on the weight I lost from the previous week which has made me lose focus and blow out! Argh! So frustrating!

I'm at a loss at what to do. Any suggestions would be welcome!

Replies

  • routerguy666
    routerguy666 Posts: 188
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    Yeah, can't just point at a number and assume it is going to produce the deficit you need to achieve a given rate of weight loss. Go see a doctor, find out your BMR and then do the math from there. Or examine your own results - if eating 1200 calories a day results in no weight loss over a few weeks then that is your maintenance calorie level. Subtract from it and eat at the reduced level for a few weeks and see what happens.
  • gunnarpalm
    gunnarpalm Posts: 59 Member
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    You should probably look to changing the macro nutrient intake... Like change your percentage of protein higher, it takes your body more than 20% of the calories taken in in protein to process them vs. only 5% to process carbs/fat. Additionally, eating more vegetables will help keep some of the calories from being absorbed... just some things that will help... not all calories taken in are equal. I try to get to a 40% protein, 30/30 carbs and fat intake.. this is hard to achieve without taking protein supplements but you can definitely change what you have been doing, maybe start with 33.3 across the board.

    Good luck!
  • MummyOfSeven
    MummyOfSeven Posts: 314 Member
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    Whatever you do, DON'T go below 1,200cals/day, that puts your body into starvation mode and that's never good. I was losing no weight at all on 1,200cals, as soon as I upped it to 1,400cals I started losing weight. Try to eat your carbs during the middle of the day and your protein for your evening meal.
  • myurav
    myurav Posts: 165 Member
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    it sounds like your body is trying to hold on to the fat that it has left because it's not getting enough food. if you're at around 55 kg, and i just put in that you are 5'5" (the average for most women), your BMR (basal metabolic rate) is 1400 cals/day. that means, if you did absolutely nothing, you would still burn 1400 calories per day. if you are moderately active (3-5 times/week), you should calculate it by 1.55 to get your maintenance calories, which would bring you over 2100 cals/day just to maintain!

    my best suggestion for you is to start increasing your calories. once your body realizes that there's no famine going on, it will be easier to shed the weight. you can still zig-zag your calories if you want, as this is also a good way to keep your metabolism up.

    i know it sounds like a lot of calories, but i have talked to a lot of people on this site who eat around 1800-2000 cals/day and still lose! check out fat2fitradio.com to get more information about that.

    good luck!
  • brisucci
    brisucci Posts: 1
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    I was the same way--had plateaued for way too long.... But the way I started losing again wasn't changing my diet, but changing my exercise. Don't do the same workout 2 times in a row--make it different; shorter but higher intensity one day, and then longer and not as high intensity the next. It keeps your metabolism guessing, and it takes off--particularly if you're doing some strength training in there to build muscle as well. The higher intensity exercise adds to your calorie goal for the day, and you can eat more. I think my body was in starvation mode, and the metabolism just wasn't working any longer. But I can say, I've started losing again, and can fit into my old clothes that I couldn't before. Turbofire is what I started doing. But beware, it can be hard on the joints.
  • vettle
    vettle Posts: 621 Member
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    You'd be surprised how high your maintenance calories are. I'd say probably around 1700 with little or no exercise. check

    www.freedieting.com

    it'll tell you what you need to know. Stick with the zig zag at a higher calorie. it worked for me.
  • ambermichon
    ambermichon Posts: 404 Member
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    Are you eating your exercise cals when you workout? I do (within 200 or so to allow for error) and I have been losing 1.5 a week
  • cownancy
    cownancy Posts: 291
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    Personally, I would cut my carbs to 100g per day and I can't see your protein, but I would aim for 80 g per day and try to keep the sugar under 80. See if that jump starts you. It should work better with your work outs to burn fat. But, I agree with seeing a doctor. Have him check your blood for nutrient levels.
  • ljbhill
    ljbhill Posts: 276 Member
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    Thanks heaps guys. I'm only 5 foot 2 and weigh 55kg. I always eat my exercise calories so rarely only consume 1200 cals. I already eat no carb dinners prefering to spread them out over breakfast and lunch. I'm going to stick with the zig zagging but am making my lowest day 1200 and my highest 1400. Hopefully that will do it. I'm still not sure how to work out my maintanence calories though?
  • ljbhill
    ljbhill Posts: 276 Member
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    Oh and thanks V. I checked out freedieting.com

    My zig zag should look like this for slow weight loss-

    Monday- 1357
    Tuesday- 1086
    Wednesday-1628
    Thursday- 1018
    Friday- 1221
    Saturday- 1493
    Sunday -1357

    Tuesday and Thursday, below 1200 cals. Eeek! That's low! I will have to make sure I exercise on those two days so that I can eat more calories on those days.

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