question about how weight loss works.

twinsies041
twinsies041 Posts: 52
edited October 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I've been doing my fitness pal for about 3 weeks now. I'm beginning to get frustrated. I"m STUCK at 140 (i'm 5'9) and I've always been 130-135. Right now I would be happy with 135. I feel like i'm doing pretty well. My calorie goal is 1200 and occasionally I go over by about 100 but not often. I've gotten serious about exercising this week because I was irritated with my results. I'm on day 3 on the 30 day shred and walk at least 30 minutes every other day. WHAT AM I DOING WRONG? I'm getting so irritated. I feel like the only way to do it is to starve myself and I know that's not the answer. I will say that i do occasionally indulge in sweets but I always add them to my food log.

Do you think it's time to get serious and cut out sweets and carbs? I have 3 month old twins and Im going to my husbands family for thanksgiving and I would really like to be down to 135 by then.


Someone PLEASE help me out here. What would you do in my situation?

Replies

  • Sublog
    Sublog Posts: 1,296 Member
    You're probably not counting your calories right. Most people don't. Its normal. Weight your food with a food scale instead of using volume measurements. Double check everything you log to ensure the macros meet the calorie amount. Its also possible you have a very moderate deficit which is being masked by fat loss.
  • 0PhAtDaDdY
    0PhAtDaDdY Posts: 569 Member
    R U drinking lots of water....
  • You're probably not counting your calories right. Most people don't. Its normal. Weight your food with a food scale instead of using volume measurements. Double check everything you log to ensure the macros meet the calorie amount. Its also possible you have a very moderate deficit which is being masked by fat loss.

    Where can I get a food scale? are they expensive?
  • R U drinking lots of water....

    ...kinda :)
    probably about 4 to 5 of the regular sized bottled waters. I'm not drinking any other calories though.
  • d2footballJRC
    d2footballJRC Posts: 2,684 Member
    You're probably not counting your calories right. Most people don't. Its normal. Weight your food with a food scale instead of using volume measurements. Double check everything you log to ensure the macros meet the calorie amount. Its also possible you have a very moderate deficit which is being masked by fat loss.

    Where can I get a food scale? are they expensive?

    I bought mine from Amazon.com for like $20.

    Exercise will help a lot, it's going to take longer then 3 days though. In fact at first when you start working out you'll most likely gain as the muscles take on water to repair themselves.
  • Jemmuno
    Jemmuno Posts: 413 Member
    I know this sounds counter productive, but you probably need to eat more. If your eating below your BMR on a regular basis your body is going to go into starvation mode and hold on to everything it has. Also, do you eat back your excersise calories? That would probably help as well. Your body needs a good balance intake and whats burned for you to be able to lose weight.

    Personally I've calculated my BRM at about 1500, on a regular day with out exercise I burn about 2000-2200 calories, then on days that I do excercise I burn about 2800-3000 calories. For me by eating between 1500-2000 each day depending on exercise I consistently lose weight. I also, take a womens one a day and calcium everyday I'm not sure if that helps with the weight loss though.
  • 12skipafew99100
    12skipafew99100 Posts: 1,669 Member
    Wal-Mart has them for 5 or 6 bucks.
  • skierxjes
    skierxjes Posts: 926 Member
    You're probably not counting your calories right. Most people don't. Its normal. Weight your food with a food scale instead of using volume measurements. Double check everything you log to ensure the macros meet the calorie amount. Its also possible you have a very moderate deficit which is being masked by fat loss.

    Where can I get a food scale? are they expensive?

    I got mine from Walmart for like 5 bucks
  • d2footballJRC
    d2footballJRC Posts: 2,684 Member
    I also want to add... It's a weird cycle working out and exercising.

    I will go a week where I don't lose much if anything I might even gain a bit then the next week it'll drop like it's hot. I was told by Dr. that is how it'll be a staggered loss. You can't expect it to just go off instantly like that. Keep at it!
  • chubiD
    chubiD Posts: 260
    In amazon you can get food scales for ~10 bucks (and more, of course), they work nicely and give you a better idea. I can't live without my scale and my measuring cups/spoons.

    I'd say increase the intensity of your cardio workouts, and take your measurements! You might be losing inches...

    Good luck!
    Dani
  • you may have hitten your first plateau, which basically means you have reached the limit of weight you can lose doing the excersises your doing. the best way to break them are to increase your excersise reps/times. if youre lifting, increase either the weight of the reps, if youre running, cardiovascular workouts, increase the time doing it or add some resistance. your calories sound good though. plateaus suck haha but if u stick to it, you can break them
  • abellante_0205
    abellante_0205 Posts: 368 Member
    how long have u been doing this? You will not get results right away. It took me a year to lose 24.3 lbs!!!!! Everyone's different... I didn't stress too much about what I was eating, I was trying to work out everyday and I did for the most part. I didnt get MFP until March 2011, because I didn't think I needed to count calories, but I got stuck trying to lose my last 19.3 lbs.. I have lost at least 10 of those lbs so far and I'm struggling again to lose the 9.3 lbs or so that I have left -- last time I checked weight which was on the first of October and I was 109.8 lbs. I am trying to lose 9.8 lbs. Btw, no that weight isn't too low for me, I'm 4'11" and i have physical disabilities that if i am overweight I have a hard time walking, and I did for a couple years but ignored it until the beginning of 2009. You may want to check your carbohydrates and sugar/sodium levels, sodium is the culprit most of the time. Plus empty calories.... like pop or candy... may need to be cut down if not already! I quit drinking pepsi a few months ago -- I'll admit, i drink it once in a while, but not everyday like i used to, and honestly I do not miss it!
  • babyblake11
    babyblake11 Posts: 1,107 Member
    You should change your goals to lose half a pound a week and keeep up the exercise and eat back most of your calories. You dnt have much more to lose so your body is demanding more food. Still get a food scale though, they are helpful as.
  • chubiD
    chubiD Posts: 260
    I just came across another post of yours, where you say that sometimes you're 200 cals under your goal... that certainly doesn't help
  • In amazon you can get food scales for ~10 bucks (and more, of course), they work nicely and give you a better idea. I can't live without my scale and my measuring cups/spoons.

    I'd say increase the intensity of your cardio workouts, and take your measurements! You might be losing inches...

    Good luck!
    Dani

    Dumb question but how does a food scale work?
  • neuro316
    neuro316 Posts: 42 Member
    If you only have 5 pounds to lose, I would change your MFP settings to lose 0.5 lb/week. You are well within the healthy range for your height (and heck, I'm trying to get down to 130-135 as well and I'm 6 inches shorter than you are!), so even though you might think you need to lose 5 lbs, your body doesn't necessarily agree. It may also be worth it to focus on strength training and toning exercises, and use your measurements as a gauge more than the scale.
  • hazelnut861
    hazelnut861 Posts: 390 Member
    That's exactly where I platued and my same goals! I started zigzag zagging my calories to net between 1200 and1500 after exercise. Sometimes depending on how hard I exercised id eat up to 1800. I think my bmr without exercise is 1600a or something. It's changing lol. But anyways, after a week or so the scale budged. I gave it a while longer and it moved a little more. Then I dropped to 1300 and more often than not I eat back all my exercise calories and sometimes I go over. I'm still steadily using about a pound a week. And I always go over my protein especially on workout days (6 days a week) and watch my fiber closely. I also switch up what exercise routine by switching around days and exercises. And a food scale will be sooo helpful! And double check what you log into mfp because there's a lot of inaccurate things in the database.
  • hazelnut861
    hazelnut861 Posts: 390 Member
    In amazon you can get food scales for ~10 bucks (and more, of course), they work nicely and give you a better idea. I can't live without my scale and my measuring cups/spoons.

    I'd say increase the intensity of your cardio workouts, and take your measurements! You might be losing inches...

    Good luck!
    Dani


    Dumb question but how does a food scale work?
    you set the dish on the scale, push tare, set food on plate. Usually there's a booklet included that tells you calories per gram.
  • I just came across another post of yours, where you say that sometimes you're 200 cals under your goal... that certainly doesn't help

    That's from before I lowered my daily intake. also sometimes If i don't know how to add something I just don't
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
    Eat more. You should only be trying to lose a half pound a week. Let MFP set your goal. I bet it'll be above 1500. I never went below 1750.

    As I understand it:

    You only have 5-10lbs to lose, which means you have very little fat stores as far as your body is concerned. It doesn't like to release said fat stores unless it is sure it is getting enough food. It will start using muscle as fuel and/or adjust your metabolism so it can live off the 1200 you are feeding it.
  • psych101
    psych101 Posts: 1,842 Member
    my response would be to eat more. Honestly.

    You dont have a lot to lose, so set your goal at 0.5lbs per week and if you exercise try to eat most of those calories as well. I'm the same height as you, weigh 170lbs at the moment, workout 6 days a week and I eat 2100 - 2400 calories a day and I'm still losing.

    You gotta fuel that body to get what you want out of it!
  • Otrepsi
    Otrepsi Posts: 24 Member
    The less amount of fat your body has to lose, the harder it is to lose it. For a person your height, 1200 is way too low. You should be netting much closer to your BMR. Your calorie goal is so low that your body may be trying to slow your metabolism, making it even harder to lose anything.

    I would recommend bumping up your calorie intake; set your goal as 0.5 a week and eat at least that, and I would eat back half to all of your exercise calories. You need to let your body know that you're not starving by feeding it properly.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    Another thing to consider is that you JUST had twins! Three short months ago! Your body will come back, and if you're within 5-10 pounds of your normal weight now, that's frickin' amazing, and you've got nothing at all to worry about. You're a normal human woman, not some celebrity that goes all buck-nutty exercising 26 hours a day, 8 days a week to get their pre-baby body back in two weeks for a swimsuit calendar.

    In addition to what Psych and Rachel said about eating more an only going with 0.5 pounds a week, keep in mind that if you're breast feeding, you need to add additional calories to compensate for the stress that's putting on your body.

    Eating less and starving is not the answer. Fueling your body properly and having patience is.
  • AnninStPaul
    AnninStPaul Posts: 1,372 Member
    You're probably not counting your calories right. Most people don't. Its normal. Weight your food with a food scale instead of using volume measurements. Double check everything you log to ensure the macros meet the calorie amount. Its also possible you have a very moderate deficit which is being masked by fat loss.

    Where can I get a food scale? are they expensive?

    Target, Wal-Mart, etc have them in the same price range as Amazon -- $20 and up. It's good to get one that you can zero out as you add things -- so you can put your dish on the scale, hit zero, add the cereal to a serving, hit zero, pour in the milk, etc.
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
    Another thing to consider is that you JUST had twins! Three short months ago! Your body will come back, and if you're within 5-10 pounds of your normal weight now, that's frickin' amazing, and you've got nothing at all to worry about. You're a normal human woman, not some celebrity that goes all buck-nutty exercising 26 hours a day, 8 days a week to get their pre-baby body back in two weeks for a swimsuit calendar.

    Oh, somehow I missed this part of the OP! Yeah, my kid is 16 months and I'm still 5lbs above pre-PG!
This discussion has been closed.