opinions on my calorie intake

cppeace
cppeace Posts: 764 Member
edited October 4 in Health and Weight Loss
hi everyone :)
Im Kimmy 28 and 5'7" weight 236 was the last good weigh in which was 9 days ago and 6 days after starting my exercise routine. Since then my weight has been steady going up. I know Ive been told that for the first 2-3 weeks exercise can mae you retain water and appear to gain wait. Well today will mark day 21 of my aerobics and jogging ect exercise. i typically burn according mfp 400-500 calories when I exercise. Im getting an hrm in a few das and will know more accurate numbers on burns then but at my size the intensity Im putting in my exercise I figure Im burning atleast 300 any rate... If I go over 1300 I wont lose the 2lbs a week I want so just curious what ya'll opinions are. Lol btw if the scale doesnt start dropping this week the exercise will be droppefor now cause I was steady losing without it lol ad seeing scale steady rise even if the jeans are getting baggy is bad for my mind lol
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Replies

  • SergeantSunshine_reused
    SergeantSunshine_reused Posts: 5,382 Member
    So even though exercise is good for you, and your pants are getting baggy, you are going to let a scale number effect you? And stop or slow down exercise? I would rethink that:flowerforyou:
  • Dexy_
    Dexy_ Posts: 593 Member
    So even though exercise is good for you, and your pants are getting baggy, you are going to let a scale number effect you? And stop or slow down exercise? I would rethink that:flowerforyou:


    ^^^ THIS
  • morganadk2_deleted
    morganadk2_deleted Posts: 1,696 Member
    Are you eating enough? Are you eating your exersise calories?

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficit

    Go to the tools section and figure out your BMI:

    Generally someone with a BMI over 32 can do a 1000 calorie a day (2 lbs a week) deficit
    With a BMI of 30 to 32 a deficit of 750 calories is generally correct (about 1.5 lbs a week)
    With a BMI of 28 to 30 a deficit of 500 calories is about right (about 1 lb a week)
    With a BMI of 26 to 28 a deficit of about 300 calories is perfect (about 1/2 lb a week)
    and below 26... well this is where we get fuzzy. See now you're no longer talking about being overweight, so while it's still ok to have a small deficit, you really should shift your focus more towards muscle building, and reducing fat. This means it is EXTRA important to eat your exercise calories as your body needs to KNOW it's ok to burn fat stores, and the only way it will know is if you keep giving it the calories it needs to not enter the famine response (starvation mode).

    This is just a part of it! please read the link above
  • cppeace
    cppeace Posts: 764 Member
    at this point I am just attempting to get below 200lbs the healthiest fastest way possible. Eating a very healthy diet of 1200 calories I was dropping around 2lbs a week I added in exercise to improve this loss. Toning and being in better shape can wait till in the onederland if exercisng is going to halt my weight loss. Sorry it's not like I have a sedentary lifestyle. I work a very active job and have lots of stuff that keeps me up and active. so, yes , for the sake of my sanity and self motivation I will halt exercise if the scale keeps rising.
  • KaySera
    KaySera Posts: 45 Member
    So even though exercise is good for you, and your pants are getting baggy, you are going to let a scale number effect you? And stop or slow down exercise? I would rethink that:

    ^^^^THIS^^^^

    High blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol don't show up on the scale....but go the way you're going and they'll show up soon enough. IGNORE what your scale says; go by the way your clothes fit!
  • Nessbumxoxo
    Nessbumxoxo Posts: 1
    When I started exercising to lose weight for my wedding the scales didn't drop at all. In fact I gained weight in the first few weeks. HOWEVER, overall I lost 6% body fat, dropped a dress size and gained muscle and strength. You need to look at what type of exercise you do whether it is cardiovascular, fat burning or strength training. I would focus more on body fat percentage and dress size rather than a number on the scale. If you're pants are baggy then you're doing the right thing. Stop stressing yourself out over it, you'll increase your cortisol levels, decrease your metabolism and put your mind in the wrong place which generally leads to giving up. Stay strong and keep going!!
  • Ritala1987
    Ritala1987 Posts: 135 Member
    it may just be your muscle building as to why the scales are moving in the wrong direction. that will change, keep it up, your body will only thank you for it :) also, have you been taking measurements???this could be changing dramatically even when the scales arent! :)
  • proudmommylmb
    proudmommylmb Posts: 39 Member
    Since you were dieting and not exercising your body was getting rid of the fat reserves. As you add in exercise, your body should start enhancing your muscles...muscles typically way much more than fat. And often times your body may be easily adapting to exercise and building muscle strength compared to someone else so it appears like you are gaining weight.

    What kind of exercise are you doing? If you are building muscle at this point, you may want to slow down and or wait on that. I would just run everyday until I reach my goal weight THEN start toning up. It sounds like you are losing weight, but also keep an eye on your intake. If you want to lose more fat, decrease your carb intake....
  • redfroggie
    redfroggie Posts: 591 Member
    Without being able to see your diary it's hard to know if you are eating properly and the right amount. You said you were on 1200 calories and losing and then added in exercise and are not losing. You may not be eating enough. Your sodium levels may be higher than you realise especially if you eat a lot of processed foods. Make your diary public and everyone can give you more informed advice. If you are losing inches that is a good thing. Morganadk2 has some good information posted there, read it and see if it may apply to you. Don't give up on your exercise because once you find the right balance the pounds will start to fall off. Good luck and hang in there.
  • cppeace
    cppeace Posts: 764 Member
    my diary is now cmpletely public. Lol cept for my one cheat day, which I have one a month, I am on a vegetarian diet. Very healthy eating. Im over on carbs occassionally but they are all good carbs. Never reach protien goal but with pb and guac I make fat goal or close sometimes. Im expecting to see the scale down this week. So I doubt I shall stop exercise.
  • SergeantSunshine_reused
    SergeantSunshine_reused Posts: 5,382 Member
    I would increase your protein intake and lower the carbs honestly. Protein is important!
  • margo36
    margo36 Posts: 222 Member
    Looks like you are not eating enough. I always eat my exercise calories and lose weight every week.
  • Rachiepie6
    Rachiepie6 Posts: 423 Member
    If you are starting to exercising, you will be building up muscle, but losing fat. So take your measurements and go by them and the way your clothes fit and the way you feel. Scales will not give you a 100% accurate representation of your progress. Don't stop exercising!! Keep going!
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member
    As a vegetarian, I'd say, looking over the last 5 days or so, you're definitely not eating enough vegetables. You need to up your overall intake so you're getting at least 5 portions of varied veg each day - this will help you hit macronutrient targets, and will improve your digestion. It will also help you feel fuller.
  • cppeace
    cppeace Posts: 764 Member
    protien just does not leave me feeling full. I eat a potato and am fine for 2 hours or more I drink my protien shake and I need food in a half an hour tops. I'm over 40g on protien so I know that is not unhealthy low. if when water weight goes away this week I havent lost my two lbs ish area then I will eat back more exercise calories but I do eat back 50-100 or so of them already.
  • SergeantSunshine_reused
    SergeantSunshine_reused Posts: 5,382 Member
    Hard for me to give filling protein advice since I am not a vegetarian honestly :] Shakes arent too filling ill agree with you there. Protein will help you protect your muscle mass at least some.

    To all of you saying she is gaining muscle mass at such a fast rate:HIGHLY unlikely.
  • cppeace
    cppeace Posts: 764 Member
    Im on a veg. Diet primarily because fruit and veg has the lowest calories so I can snack all day. I have a picky pallet. I love meats but they are high calorie so its logical to drop them to mantain my calories. Theres not many fruit and veg that I like ad when it comes to meat Im aprimary chicken eater. I dont like beef fish brocolli brussel sprouts asparagus any berries. When I make a salad it typically consists of lettuce spinach tomato and maybe carrots... And a little fat free dressing... i also eat beans for protien... This is prolly all just water weight Im whining abonut anyway...
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member
    Beans are probably the most satisfying vege protein. Try a range of them. Cottage cheese is good, try that with your potato instead of cheddar. Look into adding lentils into food too. Yoghurt is also pretty good. Quorn and soya substitutes help.

    If you add in some veg based protein with every meal and then drink your shake once a day, you'll be over protein goals with little trouble. And again, having fresh veg in there will help too.

    Have a look at the vegetarian society website for some ideas on protein. And get yourself some good vege cookbooks - rose elliott is wonderful, the river cottage veg book is nice.
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member
    Im on a veg. Diet primarily because fruit and veg has the lowest calories so I can snack all day. I have a picky pallet. I love meats but they are high calorie so its logical to drop them to mantain my calories. Theres not many fruit and veg that I like ad when it comes to meat Im aprimary chicken eater. I dont like beef fish brocolli brussel sprouts asparagus any berries. When I make a salad it typically consists of lettuce spinach tomato and maybe carrots... And a little fat free dressing... i also eat beans for protien... This is prolly all just water weight Im whining abonut anyway...

    OK, I don't think I've ever advised someone to eat meat but... I don't think your logic is logical here. Eat lean meat! If you like it, if you are not vege for any coherent reason other than weightloss, you're setting yourself up with an unsustainable long term diet. Your dietary diary frankly doesn't *look* like a vegetarian's - and now I know why. You're not one! :-)

    Lean meat is going to make you feel fuller, increase your protein, and if you intend to go back to meat eating, then it makes sense to learn to do so in a healthy way now.
  • discodaddy61
    discodaddy61 Posts: 161 Member
    the truth of the matter is this. how much water are you drinking? lack of water will cause you to retain it which increases weight gain.
    also to few calories puts your body on starvation/defense mode and so it keeps what you have stored to avoid not having enough fuel for your daily needs. also its ok to eat a good meal if you are going to burn at least half of them with your exercise. please let me know if i can help i can point you toward some simple articles to help educate you on nutrition with exercise. always dave
    ps you can add me as a friend if you like
  • lydt5880
    lydt5880 Posts: 90 Member
    Im on a veg. Diet primarily because fruit and veg has the lowest calories so I can snack all day. I have a picky pallet. I love meats but they are high calorie so its logical to drop them to mantain my calories. Theres not many fruit and veg that I like ad when it comes to meat Im aprimary chicken eater. I dont like beef fish brocolli brussel sprouts asparagus any berries. When I make a salad it typically consists of lettuce spinach tomato and maybe carrots... And a little fat free dressing... i also eat beans for protien... This is prolly all just water weight Im whining abonut anyway...

    OK, I don't think I've ever advised someone to eat meat but... I don't think your logic is logical here. Eat lean meat! If you like it, if you are not vege for any coherent reason other than weightloss, you're setting yourself up with an unsustainable long term diet. Your dietary diary frankly doesn't *look* like a vegetarian's - and now I know why. You're not one! :-)

    Lean meat is going to make you feel fuller, increase your protein, and if you intend to go back to meat eating, then it makes sense to learn to do so in a healthy way now.

    ^^I totally agree!
  • Jutta26
    Jutta26 Posts: 1
    Keep up the exercise. I had the same struggle initially. The weight was just not going down, but people started commenting on how much slimmer I looked, when I myself hadn't noticed it so much.

    A great motivator for me was when I googled muscle vs. fat on google images. It shows a five pound piece of fat and another one of muscle. It clearly shows the massive difference in volume, whist the weight is exactly the same.

    Looking at your diary I just think where is the actual food, i.e. nutrition?

    If there are not many vegetables you like, maybe try and see how friends are preparing theirs. Very often it's a case of having eaten something that wasn't nicely cooked and then we don't try it again. So it's definitely worth reading up a fee receipe and trying again.

    Good luck and keep up the exercise.
  • cppeace
    cppeace Posts: 764 Member
    lol the veg diet started as a cleansing vegan diet for two weeks I got used to not eating meat. I dont miss it. I dont feel deprived how I eat now. Im not tempted by people eating meat or junkfood in front of me. I have amazing will power. When I set my mind to something I quickly achieve it. I planned on slowly introducing chicken and ground turkey back into my diet once I lost into the 190s. Like I said fruit ad veggie eating allows me to eat often . Another example: a potato with cheese leaves me full but a chicken breast doesnt give me the carb burst of energy or keep me fuller longer so logic dictaes the potato is the better choice for me.
  • klynn22091
    klynn22091 Posts: 47 Member
    looking at your log, you miss breakfst quite a bit which is bad for you, add you dont log any water? Drink water, as for not eating meat, thats fine but you should definitely find a way to make up for the protien you are missing!!!
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member
    OK, well, if you're persisting with a vegetarian lifestyle, you need to eat more veg. Bottom line. Unless the last week or so of your diary is some weird anomaly, you're not eating enough vegetables.
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member
    Alright, but you have to look at more than just calorie intake. You're not getting your micronutrients and you're not getting your protein. If you want to eat like a vegetarian, you have to eat like a vegetarian. If you don't up your veges, and if you don't get sufficient protein from vegetarian sources, you're not going to lose weight in a reliable manner, and perhaps more importantly, you're going to end up very unhealthy.

    Up your veg. Up your protein. Potatoes aren't a good substitute for lean meat - they're potatoes.... :-) Seriously, I'm about 99% certain this is your problem. Not enough veges, primarily, and protein as a secondary issue.
  • DanielleC1231
    DanielleC1231 Posts: 3
    1200 calories is too low for your weight. It is not recommended for women to go below 1200 calories ever so in theory, once you start to lose weight, your caloric needs will go down. If you're only taking in 1200 now, when you start to lose weight, you'll have nowhere to lower to. I know it seems counterproductive(and also contradictory to the recommendations from MFP :) ) but you need to actually be eating more. You're doing a lot of cardio activity and your body is holding onto water and fat because you aren't giving it enough fuel. So extra weight you're holding onto is water weight and not muscle gain, especially if you aren't getting enough protein. The most muscle a woman can hope to gain is 1 pound per month. And that is under absolute optimal conditions - meaning getting adequate protein and strength training. I'm sorry that I didn't read the entire thread in-depth but from what I saw, you may not be getting enough protein and that is really important. Regardless of recommendations you've read, you should be getting at least 1g of protein per pound of body weight. Hope this helps!
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
    Hello there!

    I'm going to just mention a few things, but you can take it or leave it. Good luck with your goals!

    Im on a veg. Diet primarily because fruit and veg has the lowest calories so I can snack all day.

    and
    Theres not many fruit and veg that I like

    ^ The above two quotes concern me. You should be able to find foods that are not calorie dense that aren't exclusively fruits and vegetables.

    I love meats but they are high calorie so its logical to drop them to mantain my calories.

    No offense at all m'am, but this is not logical and not true, either. Lean chicken breast is not calorie dense, since you mention that you like it, you should eat it, regularly.

    This is prolly all just water weight Im whining abonut anyway...

    I don't think you're whining, I think you're concerned. But I also don't think you're making good decisions. You need to increase calories a bit, but you also need to keep exercising and you need to make food decisions that, at the very least, meet the following circumstances:
    1) Provide you at least some level of enjoyment.
    2) Allow you to meet your macro needs.

    Right now you're not doing either.


    Lastly: Have you been to a physician to get your thyroid hormones checked, and to have a fasting blood glucose test done?
  • cppeace
    cppeace Posts: 764 Member
    lol ok what ya'll aren't understanding is the following, and keep in mind I am taking no offense to anything said or offered. I always take account of advice and accept or reject as I see fit :) When I say I have a picky pallet I am dead serious. Here is a list (shortened) of stuff I will not eat simply because I don't like the taste.
    celery, bell pepper, pasta, rice(unless mixed with creole food) pork and beans, green beans, beef, sausage, brussel sprouts, asparagus, squash, caulaflour, berries(yeah all berries including cherries but not tomatoes), most versions of stew, gumbo, fish,several varieties of cheese, ... Theres a lot more I'm just not thinking of...

    Except for chicken I am incorporating most of what I like to eat in my diet.I love potato, the cheeses I'm eating, guacamole, peanut butter, grapes, bananas, cantaloupe, Certain varieties of beans like bush's with brown sugar, cashews and other nuts, honey dew melon, I'm drinking the whey protien junk for protien, I switched to chipins, I have some fruit ice cream pops.

    With such a picky pallet how did I gain such weight you may ask? I love fried food. I'm a cajun. We pan fry everything. So my chicken would be- you guessed it pan fried. Now tell me, is it still logical to put it in my diet? Bread, fresh rolls like bread, Pizza.. Yeah can really eat that on a healthy diet lol
    I never said I felt hungry and didn't eat. I'm feel fine on this diet. All I was basically asking was if I should be eating back more of my exercise calories in the beginning. It became this epic discussion about my veg diet.

    I'm never hungry when first up I eat about two or three hours later and classify that under snacks most of the time.
    I drink between 6-12 cups of water a day. I sometimes forget to log it is all.

    I exercise with aerobics and jogging in place some crunches and pushups, bicycle if my feet hurt too bad and a little stair stepping.

    Well that's about all I can think of for now.
    Kimmy
  • cppeace
    cppeace Posts: 764 Member
    oh and I never said I fasted, if I used that word I did by mistake. I went on a two week cleansing diet of nothing but fruit and vegetables.. Eating 1800 calories or more. Energy went through the roof and felt super healthy so at the end of the two weeks all I did was add in some dairy and canned/frozen veg like beans and such. As I stopped losing on this diet I slowly lowered my calories. first down to 1600 started losing like half a pound a week, went down 10 1400 started losing about a pound a week went down to 1200-1250 started losing close to pounds... There was about a month between each drop in calories. Always kept my water intake the same. I've been on my veggie kick for about 4 and half months- losing if we say 236lbs a total of 34lbs and feeling healthy and energetic.. The surplus energy is why I decided hey let's add in some extra exercise besides work(Cause I work hard at work all night ) and I figured if I add exercise might kick it up to 2.5lbs a week.
    I expected to not lose the first week. I figured I'd just come in neutral as my body adjusted and with sore musles and such.. WRONG I gained 2 lbs.. It almost stopped my exercise right then and there. I forced myself to continue though the nnext week lost 4lbs so means shed the water weight and lost my normal two pounds both weeks.. Kept exercising and now steady gaining. I'm guessing it is all water weight and hoping this week the weight will be back where it is supposed to be.
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