46 yrs old, 5' 4" 142 lbs

Options
lambertj
lambertj Posts: 675 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Hi, i've been using myfitnesspal for about a year now, lost 11 lbs, gained it back by being lazy and am now attempting to lose it again. About a month ago I started back on it, eating 1200 calories a day, doing the stairmaster for 45 minutes a day/5 days a week and although I lost 4 lbs, I am now back up 2 lbs. Needless to say this is becoming very frustrating. I do see that as i'm getting older it is harder and harder to get the weight off and keep it off so i've been supplementing with grapeseed extract and Coleus Forskohlii (per Dr. Oz helps speed up metabolism and burns more fat). I'm just at a loss as to what to do anymore and feel as though i'm failing miserably. It seems the more I learn about nutrition and eating right, the more confused I get. Some say i'm not eating enough therefore my body is going into starvation mode. Some say I need to work out more than 5 days a week, longer than 45 minutes.I've always been confused about whether or not to eat my exercise calories as well. Any tips, motivation, etc that anyone can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Replies

  • Yooperm35
    Yooperm35 Posts: 787 Member
    Options
    If you just keep doing what you are doing, you WILL see results. If you were 'lazy' before and are moving now, that is more than you were doing before. If you know you have not eaten an excess of 7000 calories (3500=1 lb) then I'd attribute it to water retention. My weight fluctuates a LOT throughout the day. Sometimes I'll go to bed and weigh 7# more than I do in the morning when I wake up.

    I have been at a standstill for many weeks - but looking back, I got lazy with my eating habits. If I exercised more, I felt it was a free pass to eat more (and sometimes not 'good' choices in my food!).

    Good luck! You can do it!
  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
    Options
    The reason you get so much different advice is because all of our bodies work in their own way. We are not exactly alike. Try playing around with different settings for a couple of weeks at a time until you find what works for you. You may need more calories, and the only way you will know is to try slowly raising them and see what happens. I am your height and when I raised my calories to 1450, I dropped 1.5 lbs right away. I won't say that will work for you, but it might.
  • Teliooo
    Teliooo Posts: 725 Member
    Options
    Are you eating those cals back? If not, you should be. I eat about half of mine back most times. You have so little to lose that this should help you. Also maybe up your cals to around the 1400 mark at your height, you probably should be on more. Are you quite active? 1200 is so little to eat. I had a plateau recently, started eating more and in two weeks alone my loss is now up by 5 pounds. Drink lots of water too. I have lost a lot of weight it my life ( I used to weigh about 280, now at 170) so I know how frustrating it can be but I have found weight loss quite easy as I allow myself good weeks and bad weeks and try not to sweat the bad ones too much. It has taken me 6 years to get here. You look great and that little amount for weight to go will come soon x
  • balancebean
    balancebean Posts: 96 Member
    Options
    We are of similar age and height. I feel your frustration. I also have been following a 1200 calorie diet and exercising about 4 times per week for about 40 minutes. I have had long plateaus, 2 lbs. up, etc. First I saw lost inches; then the pounds started coming off. I could have a stellar day, drink tons of water and weigh in high. Try weighing in once per week and stick with your 1200/day. Exercise. Drink 64 oz. water/day Eat some, but not all of your exercise calories back. It may take 2 weeks, but you will see a drop, unless of course it's that TOM. Also, I gave up diet soda. I have heard, but don't know if it's true, that diet soda prevents weight loss.
  • MyCoachNYLA
    MyCoachNYLA Posts: 158 Member
    Options
    Hi, i've been using myfitnesspal for about a year now, lost 11 lbs, gained it back by being lazy and am now attempting to lose it again. About a month ago I started back on it, eating 1200 calories a day, doing the stairmaster for 45 minutes a day/5 days a week and although I lost 4 lbs, I am now back up 2 lbs. Needless to say this is becoming very frustrating. I do see that as i'm getting older it is harder and harder to get the weight off and keep it off so i've been supplementing with grapeseed extract and Coleus Forskohlii (per Dr. Oz helps speed up metabolism and burns more fat). I'm just at a loss as to what to do anymore and feel as though i'm failing miserably. It seems the more I learn about nutrition and eating right, the more confused I get. Some say i'm not eating enough therefore my body is going into starvation mode. Some say I need to work out more than 5 days a week, longer than 45 minutes.I've always been confused about whether or not to eat my exercise calories as well. Any tips, motivation, etc that anyone can provide will be greatly appreciated.

    Calorically you should consider increasing your intake as your base is around 1250-1300 which over time can stall your body from releasing the fat especially since you have a fitness plan in place.

    My recommendations are these to see results within 2-3 weeks minimal:

    Intake: 1400/day
    Ratios: 40/30/30 (protein, carbs, fats)

    Take out dairy or soy (if you use those products) and only incorporate greek non fat yogurt using stevia as a sweetener and alcohol free extracts for the flavoring.

    Take out high glycemic fruits (bananas, grapes, dried fruits) and put in apples, melons, berries.

    Take out nut butters or just use them once a day in a high quality protein shake (I use no sugar added nut butters sparingly)

    Consider using Ezekiel bread (flourless) products. They metabolize better and keep the blood sugar more leveled than other bread products.

    Asparagus (if you like it) is a great natural diaretic along with Vit. B2 to help with water retention.

    Eat your higher glycemic (starchy) carbs at breakfast and lunch and minimally at dinner (so like, 1/2 cup of brown rice at dinner)

    Make sure you are getting in your Omega Oils. For us gals in our 40's, it is a huge help.

    TRAINING:

    Interval training at 20 minute increments would be ideal for you. Mainly due to the fact that you allow your body the recovery it needs on this type of training approach. The 45 minutes (assuming you are training in your THR of no more than 75%) is not as effective as the HITT (Interval) approach especially for us as we get older. Trust me on this one as a trainer and as a 46 year old figure competitor. We have to be more aggressive at training to get into the fat cell but at the same time, get adequate recovery time. Incorporate this approach 3-5 days a week while getting in some resistive weight training.

    Any questions, just let me know. I am here to help as much as I can.

    Thanks for sharing your situation.

    Best,
    Coach Nyla
    ISSA Certified Fitness Trainer
    NPC Figure Competitor
    "If nothing changes, nothing changes."
  • michedarnd
    michedarnd Posts: 207 Member
    Options
    Well, I didn't read through your diary, but there are several possibilities, here:

    a) Given your age, weight, height, and the fact that you look like you are in good shape, you may BE at a good weight according to your body. That's the most obnoxious possibility for those losing weight, but, honestly, I'm 5 inches shorter, and that's not much above my own recommended goal weight.

    b) You might be eating too little for your activity level and body type, as some people suggest -- especially if you are not eating back exercise calories. MFP already has you set up with a defiicit. If you are making it LARGER with your exercise, it may be too large. Also, I found that marking yourself as sedentary and then exercising five days a week didn't work for me. When I marked myself as lightly-active, it raised the calories, and that worked better for me. DON'T aim for 2 pounds a week.

    c) Make absolutely CERTAIN you are drinking enough. I'm still heavy enough to see the difference in my face when I retain fluid, so I NOTICE how much of a difference it makes when I under-drink. You retain. Also, how is your sodium?

    d) You might have macro-nutrient-balance issues. I tend to use Zone diet numbers --- 40% protein, 30% fat, 30% carbs. Some women swear by 40/25/35 for this. You need to play with it.

    e) Are you taking a multi-vitamin? Sometimes, the body will plateau if it feels that it has too little total nutrition.

    f) Are you losing INCHES? You might be making invisible progress that will show up on the scale, soon. Keep track in more than one way.

    g) I have found that calorie-cycling breaks one out of plateaus (look up zig-zag diet). You will ALSO notice that they recommend much higher calorie counts.

    I hope ONE of these helps! :-) Good luck!
  • lambertj
    lambertj Posts: 675 Member
    Options
    Wow, thank you all so much for your replies, information and support. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. I'm not too much over my ideal weight but i'm at that age that if i don't watch it, it will continue to creep on. To be honest, yesterday, due to sheer frustration I did eat over my 1200 calories and ate all my exercise calories in the hopes to zig zag my calories a bit. I am going to print off all the information you gave me and increase my calories a bit. I do see that I am eating mostly carbs with protein and fat pretty equal so I need to cut back a bit on the carbs and increase the protein and fat to get to a better ratio. Thank you Coach Nyla as well, i wonder if i have been over working myself with my 45 minutes of stairmaster/5 days a week. in addition to that, i've been doing 30 burpees in the morning as well as 60 sit ups and 20 push ups (not much time in the a.m. just a little something I do to get the blood flowing). I helps to know that i'm not alone in my frustration, this is very hard. I can see why some people just give up when they don't see results but i'm committed to getting these lbs off. I have all the will power in the world to do this just need the knowledge. Thanks again :)

Categories