Guidance needed!

Hi!
So ive been on mfp for quite some time and I always find great advice lurking through these forums!
I am in need of advice once again!
So a few months back I upped my workouts a bit to prepare for my wedding in april. Weddings over but Im still going strong! I do a little over an hour of cardio 6 days a week followed by 15 or 20 minutes of weights/circuit training. I also understand that calories burned are estimates but I dont think mine are too outrageous...the eliptical has my stats plugged in and I work out really hard with a high resistance.
So up until a month ago, i was eating about 1200 calories and somedays a few hundred exercise calories, some days not. I was losing at a good pace of .5-1lb a week.
Well these days I am simply a bottomless pit with my eating. I am eating the 1200 plus every single exercise calories (knowing damn well they are innacurate to some extent) which usually amounts to me eating anywhere from 1600 up to 2000 calories a day. I feel good otherwise but of course my weight is no longer going down...i was thrilled to see 129 and today im back up to 132.
My question is, if it were you, would you cut back on the cardio? I find it really helps me mentally but i dont want to take steps backward. Im not sure if I am losing inches but I can tell you my clothes are not fitting looser. Thanks for reading!
Stats:
SW: 165
CW: 132
GW: 125 ish
Height: 5 feet 0 inches
And yes, I weigh/measure everything down to my stupid gummi vitamins!!

Replies

  • katechris65
    katechris65 Posts: 30 Member
    With seven pounds to go it's going to be slow.

    Those 2 pounds you see on the scale may or may not be due to exercise/stress/sleep/hydration/salt/menstrual cycle, whatever it may be.

    It takes a long time to lose those last few pounds. You'll get there.

    I appreciate the response! It has been over a month since i have seen 129. The scales been up and down from 130 to 132. Scared at how much higher its gonna go!?
  • lthames0810
    lthames0810 Posts: 722 Member
    If it was me, I would reduce my food intake, but only a little and keep the exercise since you like it. Do this for several weeks and see what your weight does then adjust again if needed.

    The good news is that you may have stumbled on to a rough estimate of your maintenance calories. That weight change from 129 to 132 is just a normal day to day fluctuation.
  • katechris65
    katechris65 Posts: 30 Member
    maybe1pe wrote: »
    I mean honestly it’s no wonder you’re a bottomless pit.... you were eating 1200 and doing 1hr + exercise 6 days a week... you weren’t eating enough to properly fill your workout intensity most likely.

    Any upward scale shift by a couple of pounds is likely replenished glycogen and the physical weight of more food in your system.

    How have your workouts been since eating more? Are you faster? Stronger? How do you feel physically?
    It may be worth taking this as a maintenance break and reevaluatating in a few weeks.

    Yes, I feel stronger than ever to be honest! If this routine helped me tone up I'd be ok staying at this weight. Im a few lbs from being 'normal weight' but the way my body is shaped i appear pretty slim.
    Thanks for the feedback, very helpful!
  • ladyreva78
    ladyreva78 Posts: 4,080 Member
    Have you considered taking a diet break for 2 weeks? Give yourself a bit of a vacation from the 'going strong' bit you've been doing?
  • katechris65
    katechris65 Posts: 30 Member
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    Have you considered taking a diet break for 2 weeks? Give yourself a bit of a vacation from the 'going strong' bit you've been doing?

    What do you mean by diet break...do you mean counting calories?
  • katechris65
    katechris65 Posts: 30 Member
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    Have you considered taking a diet break for 2 weeks? Give yourself a bit of a vacation from the 'going strong' bit you've been doing?

    What do you mean by diet break...do you mean counting calories?

    Eating at maintenance for a time period. Giving your body time to adjust to the current weight/size, giving your hormones time to catch up and just plain giving yourself a break from the deficit.

    ETA:
    This explains some of the reasons:
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10481830/the-diet-break/p1

    There's another, longer one, but I can't find it right now.

    ETA2:
    Found it!
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1

    I appreciate ya, thank you! I think I will try that. I'm probably arleady eating at maitinence so we shall see.
  • 150poundsofme
    150poundsofme Posts: 523 Member
    Luv my gummy vitamins.
  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,594 Member
    NovusDies wrote: »
    Any chance you are pregnant?

    ^^Not a bad question. Every time I got pregnant my hunger went crazy at the beginning.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    NovusDies wrote: »
    Any chance you are pregnant?

    ^^Not a bad question. Every time I got pregnant my hunger went crazy at the beginning.

    It was mostly tongue and cheek because the OP was recently married.