Finding a good balance between work/college/intake calories/exercise?

brianaschug
brianaschug Posts: 2 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
In the beginning, it was easy to lose weight, I went from 230 lbs to 165 lbs in about a little under a year. Now I seem to go between 161 to 164. To reach my BMI, I still need to lose another 25 lbs. Which should be easy, but here's the issue. I work two jobs and go to college. I work every shift from first to thirds, and some days I pull doubles. I have a step counting watch thing, but it's not a top brand so no top calorie tracker connects to it to give an accurate balance. Most days I can range from active to highly active, which if I under eat my body thinks I'm starving, and I gain. I overeat after I lose a little bit, but if I overeat on a day that wasn't active I gain. I'm not sure what to do in this issue to get to my end result.

I'm just not sure how to go about this. I'm vegan and try to get as much of my calories through very calorie dense food with a lot of fiber. I don't drink sugary drinks; when I snack it's very healthy, and I try to walk every day. It just seems to not make a difference most days.

Replies

  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,889 Member
    Oh, you have a lot going on!

    First, yes, it's easier to lose weight when you have a lot to lose, and you can lose faster, because your body has a lot of fat to supply a deficit with. So now that you're lighter, you have to be more diligent, and you have to be more patient and tolerate the slower loss, which can give an impression you're not losing weight at all, because of water weight fluctuations.

    Do not worry about your old step counter. Exercise for health and wellbeing, not for weightloss.

    Your body can't think, and you can't gain weight in a calorie deficit. What is happening, is that you overeat after you lose a little bit, and you probably overeat on days you "gained", too, maybe even to reward yourself for being active, as well as comforting yourself for not being as active as you think you should - does this sound even remotely familiar?

    If you eat lots of calorie dense foods, it's easy to eat too much. Calorie dense foods are typically low in fiber. No foods are in themselves healthy or unhealthy, your diet as a whole is made up of many different foods, that over time, determines its healthfulness.

    Do you log your calorie intake here on MFP? If you have set it up with your stats, and weightloss as a goal, and use your food diary, and a food scale, and use them both correctly, you will lose weight.
  • brianaschug
    brianaschug Posts: 2 Member
    Sorry I was using the wrong words, most of my food I made. Not calories dense foods. In my mind it sounded right, but wasn't. I am going to take your advice, I created two new week meal plans and found two new excerise plans to try to change up my usual routine to see if that helps. I do tend to eat more on the days I pull doubles, which I could be overeating on those day which makes sense. I usually do is a scale, but lately I havent due to wasn't making a difference. The issue was still occurring, but I think I'll try again!
  • vingogly
    vingogly Posts: 1,787 Member
    You might focus on maintenance and your college studies. If you're not doing so, you could start doing some strength training. I've gone in and out of maintenance twice over past several years, now I'm back focusing on losing the rest of what I want to lose.

    What this has done for me is provide practice on maintaining my losses, which is what I'll be doing for the rest of my life once I've reached my final goal. Continue logging and weighing yourself, but if your plateau is frustrating you, why add that stress to the others in your life right now?
  • Courtscan2
    Courtscan2 Posts: 510 Member
    I wish I had some sage advice for you, but feel like I am in a similar boat - my life is absolutely hectic, and I'll manage to pull it all together for a few days and will lose a bit but as soon as I lose focus I end up right back where I started. I try to eat well all the time, and think I am eating under my calorie limits, but clearly am not unless I am diligently tracking, as I end up regaining and losing the same 2 kg over and over again. The trick is, I think, to maintain that focus long enough that it becomes habit and not something I try to "fit in" but just part of my routine. Which I struggle to make a reality.
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