Support/help needed desperately!

Options
BACKDROPsilhouette2
BACKDROPsilhouette2 Posts: 5
in Health and Weight Loss
After some relocation issues and unneeded stress, I'm back to trying to lose weight again. HOWEVER, I do need some help in making sure that I am not setting myself up for failure with my exercise/eating habits.

I'm six feet tall, female, eighteen years old, and I weigh 240-245 pounds depending on when I weigh myself. I would like to lose anywhere from 70 to 100 pounds depending on how I feel once I get closer to those goals. I eat 1200 calories a day.

My fitness plan spreads over 95 days (to start with). The first five days it's jogging in place for 15-45 minutes a day. The next fifteen days Is jogging or walking 30-60 minutes a day. The next fifteen is running, jogging, or doing ski steps or jumping jacks 30 to 60 minutes a day. The next few 15 days do similar things, but increase to two workouts a day, 30-60 minutes.

In addition to this, I've decided that I need to get up and do something every half hour, because I go to school online, work online, and spend my free time online. So every half hour I'll be getting up and doing three minutes of jumping jacks (it may end up being a total of 60 minutes a day)/

MY QUESTION...is that with that, would I be safe eating 1200 calories, or should I increase my eating to more calories as the workouts get longer and I'm burning more calories? If I'm burning 1000 - 1500 calories in a day, will I be fine eating up to 1700 calories?

I know the calorie deficit is built in so that you lose 2 lbs per week even if you don't exercise, I just worry that eating more calories despite exercise won't do me any good. I say this because my family is in a very bad financial situation right now and we are living off of TV dinners, pasta, boxed meals, canned vegetables, and occasionally something that could be considered healthy . . . I just fear that eating more calories of food that isn't really good for me will make things worse on me.

If anyone has any suggestions, words of advice, or just some things you think I should know I would be grateful. I have problems with stepping back and looking at my plans with a logical eye, and I don't really have anyone that I can go to for information on this topic, so I hope someone can talk me through this and help me so that I end up with a safe way to go about my weight loss journey.

Replies

  • NyxDominique
    NyxDominique Posts: 271 Member
    Options
    1200 is the min calories you should take in a day. You should eat back at least half of your excerise calories. So if you are planning to burn 1000 calories you should eat 1700 calories mininium.

    Also I wanted to point out that 3 mins of jumping jacks (while some excerise is better then no excerise) prob won't help. Your heart needs sustained excerised for at least 10 mins for it to "burn" calories so to parsay. So doing 3 mins every 30 mins doesn't work the way you would hope. Yet, it is still good to get up and get the heart pumping.

    Good Luck, and be careful...
  • BACKDROPsilhouette2
    BACKDROPsilhouette2 Posts: 5
    Options
    Well so far, three minutes is what I could stand to do at once because I'm not in the best shape. I just want to get up and do SOMETHING throughout the day. Whether it really burns calories or not, I wouldn't know because I don't have any sort of heart rate monitor.

    Thank you for your input! :3
  • splackk
    splackk Posts: 163
    Options
    And this is why I hate the magical 1200 number. 1200 is not acceptable for everyone- it is even less than I eat at 5'1'' and 116ish pounds, although it is definitely closer to how much I can safely eat than someone 6' tall and weighing more.

    Short answer- for someone of your height and current build, especially if you are looking to burn 1000 cals a day plus, 1200 is nowhere near enough. Calculate your BMR and activity level to determine how much you should be eating. You can still eat and lose weight, but do it smart from the beginning and you'll be much more likely to stick with it- that means giving yourself adequate nutrition.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Options
    first off, i think that a goal of 140, when you are 6 feet tall, is very low.

    Also, exercising twice per day for an hour really isnt neccessary, and you should have a rest day at least once per week to let your body repair itself. Also, you should add some strength training to your routine, to build a nice toned body that burns more calories when you're doing nothing (yay!!).

    I think its great that you have such a detailed plan, but u need to remember this is a lifestyle change, so it needs to fit into your routine for the rest of your life, and its something you can work on in the future not just the next 90 days.

    if you're going from doing no exercise, i would start with maybe a walk in the morning and then 30 minutes cardio in the afternoon (as you say you are sat at a desk all day) every other day, and then build it up if you feel its neccessary.

    Good luck!
  • Musicgrl4life
    Musicgrl4life Posts: 132
    Options
    For your height, I think you should be having more than 1200. Because I'm btw 5'6 and 5'7 and it's saying i should be having 1500 daily. I think somewhere between 1400-1600 would be good for you. But you can enter the information here and see what it tells you. and I know it's difficult to eat healthy on a tight budget. Just try to fit more fruits and veggies in when you can, and also watch your sodium amount. Too much sodium leads to water retention which isn't good.

    Great idea about fitting the exercises in every so often. Good luck to you! You can add me if you'd like to.
  • BACKDROPsilhouette2
    BACKDROPsilhouette2 Posts: 5
    Options
    I don't plan to burn 1000 calories a day from the start . . . I'd get burned out fast. I'm working up to everything. This past few days I've just been burning 400 a day, roughly. MFP says to eat 1380 a day right now for 2lb a week loss.

    @ Tavistock ;; I'd be perfectly fine with 170, I just say 70-100 because the height to weight charts say that 140-180 would be good for someone of my height. I really just want to lose until I feel comfortable with myself and am healthy.
    And the 95 day thing doesn't mean I'm stopping after that, it's just something to get me started! So I have somewhat of a 'diary' for each day for 95 days.

    Thanks for all of the suggestions and corrections, I'll make sure to listen to you guys and revise what is needed.

    EDIT;;
    I'm working on some strength training things to put in, however I'm not sure what all I can do in my bedroom! I'm in the process of doing research on it.
  • splackk
    splackk Posts: 163
    Options
    What do you have your activity level set to, and are you eating your exercise calories back? People have very different opinions on eating back exercise calories, so that's up to you, but I'm sure people will chime in with the exercise calories bit. If you are burning that much (400 is still a lot!) be sure you aren't still set on sedentary.

    Just for messing around I plugged in some minimum numbers for mfp too and it said for 6 foot and 240 pounds even sedentary to eat at least 1,440 Calories / Day, up that 200 even for lightly active. Just keep your long term success in mind, if you don't think you can reasonably stick to a plan eating that little for a month, a year, or forever, it will be much more difficult to stick.

    I know how difficult it is to eat healthy when your only options are processed foods too. Being both on a tight budget and having no access to a kitchen means eating mostly prepared foods for me too, and it's a pain. I try to stock up on as many fruits as I can, as well as veggies I can eat raw, whenever they're on sale, but sometimes eating not-so-great foods is the only option, and in those cases just pay close attention to serving sizes. Definitely keep an eye on the sodium too!
  • Fatbuster205
    Fatbuster205 Posts: 333 Member
    Options
    OMG! I think you are approaching this all wrong. Absolutely do not eat more because you are supposedly burning it off through exercise! If you are losing weight too quickly then you do need to increase your calories but you need to give it two or three weeks just to see how you get on. You seem to be intending to do a lot of exercise - possibly too much too soon. Aside from anything else you need to factor in rest times for your body to recover and stay healthy. Exercising like a whirling dervish will just be obssesive and could be counter productive. Get the tape measure out for starters - it needs to be your new best friend. Also try standing in front of the mirror and talking to yourself as though you were somebody asking you to help them - become your own best friend! Cultivate a little voice in your head which keeps you in check when you are making bad decisions. Try to incorporate some fresh veg at least into your diet - if you go to markets it can be surprisingly cheap. If money is really tight consider trying to grow some in pots! I am still pulling carrots and trust me they tast eout of this world when from earth to mouth is less than 10 minutes (obviously washed and cooked in between!).
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
    Options
    OMG, absolutely DO eat more :smile:

    1200 sounds very low for someone your height and weight. By all means use this as a base point but if you ar exercising that much you really need to give your body some nutrition to work with, so if you are exercising eat back those calories.
    It doesn't sound as though you have to much choice in what you eat, but make the most of any fruit or veg that you have access to, and google "budget recipes" - things like dahl using dried lentils is incredibly cheap and good for you too.
    Good luck!
  • misskinky
    misskinky Posts: 9
    Options
    I think 1200 is very low for your height/weight and you are likely to hit a plateau or burnout. i'm 5'6, 150ishlbs and i was told by a nutritionist that 1200 is far too low even for me.
  • BACKDROPsilhouette2
    BACKDROPsilhouette2 Posts: 5
    Options
    Thanks guys, I'm upping to 1680!
    I'm also changing it so that cardio isn't every day to allow for rest, and that I'm doing some strength training when I'm not doing cardio! Still trying to find some things I can do at home, but I'm working on it. I'm going to ask my mom if we can afford to buy some weights.
  • heyghoge
    heyghoge Posts: 153 Member
    Options
    not sure where you live, but re: affordability, try asking on freecycle or craigslist. goodwill/salvation army/secondhand shop might be another option. in a pinch, soup cans, milk cartons filled with sand, etc., work too! if there's a will there's a way. good luck. :)
  • rajivdubey
    rajivdubey Posts: 382 Member
    Options
    You must take baby steps.

    If you want to lose 100 Pounds..start with 10 or 20 first! It will motivate you to do more and lose. Get off sugars, breads and other white foods!
  • nettie1969
    nettie1969 Posts: 107
    Options
    Thanks guys, I'm upping to 1680!
    I'm also changing it so that cardio isn't every day to allow for rest, and that I'm doing some strength training when I'm not doing cardio! Still trying to find some things I can do at home, but I'm working on it. I'm going to ask my mom if we can afford to buy some weights.

    Don't bother buying weights - save that money for some nice nutritious food ... just use whatever is around the house. When I first started exercising I used small cans of baked beans ... then water bottles with tap water (and gradually increased the water level) then bottles filled with rice. Cereal boxes, cartons of whatever ---- it doesn't matter what you use. Just start with an equal (easy to hold) low weight then increase it.

    So far as what you can do at home .... a lot of people here do 30 day shred.

    For those who want to do the 30 Day Shred but don't have the DVD, you can download it free. Just wait 45 seconds and click on regular download. Then bookmark the page with the video for future use.

    http://www.megaupload.com/?d=V04V4SX7

    There are also lots of other free programs online that you can download and use for both your cardio and strength sessions which will not cost you much.

    Cheers

Categories