Too little or Too much?

KatieScarle77
KatieScarle77 Posts: 21
edited October 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Hiya,

I joined back in August and had a bit of weight loss for the first few months, then got a bit disillusioned as the weight wasn't going anywhere so fell of the wagon!

Decided I needed to sort myself out and got back on here :)

Initially I was on 1200 calories a day then decided to raise it to 1600 as the weight had stopped going.

Since raising it to 1600 my weight has stayed pretty much the same.

However I am a pretty active person, walking to work 2 days a week (approx 14 miles there and back per week), 2 days renovating a house and 1 day carrying out odd jobs and chores.

So I don't see how I can be maintaining my weight. I don't over indulge on the weekends.

I don't see where I'm going wrong at the minute and it's really frustrating :(

Replies

  • BeautyFromPain
    BeautyFromPain Posts: 4,952 Member
    bump
  • stayxtrue
    stayxtrue Posts: 1,186 Member
    There could be many reasons why it doesnt look like you are using weight. For example:

    - If you are gaining muscle as well as losing the fat that can effect it.
    - Also are you meeting your macros?
    - water intake, this is paramount, as water helps to cleanse the body, I am a huge advocate for water.

    - Some people dont lose weight on certain types of diets
    - how much sugar are you consuming?

    - You want to be in a 20% calorie deficit. So your maintenance x .20 = an amount, you then need to subtract that from your Maitenance.

    - I am no expert on this, I would say do some research, but definitely get that 20% calorie deficit and maybe ramp up the exercise and also incorporate some strength training in there.

    Good luck
  • KatieScarle77
    KatieScarle77 Posts: 21
    I don't think I'm gaining muscle as I don't really do much in the way strength/toning exercising (I know I really should do that though!)

    What do you mean by meeting Macros?

    I drink quiet a bit of water in a day, though the amount does vary greatly day to day.

    I wouldn't have said that I consume a lot of sugar (I'll ignore Christmas day lol) though having just added sugar onto my food diary as another item to track I'm already over and I've only had breakfast!

    I shall work out what my 20% deficient should be and go from there.

    Thanks :D
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    You can only really gain strength and definition while on a deficit.

    Eat at true maintenance for 2 weeks and see if the metabolism kick starts.

    Make sure you know your important 3 numbers:
    BMR
    TDEE
    Body Fat %

    With all 3 you can set your MFP setting to drop weight or gain in a healthy manner.
    Never eat below BMR because it slows the metabolism.
    Body fat is the true measurement of weight loss and not the scale.
    Scales lie!

    20% below TDEE for weight loss and 20% above for gains.

    I have a group of friends who are going to eat at maintenance for 2 weeks starting January 1st.
    These are folks who are hitting the weight loss/gains plateau and need to give the body a break.
    Try it!
    I did it and lost weight because my metabolism kicked in!

    Good luck!
  • hbrittingham
    hbrittingham Posts: 2,518 Member
    First of all, cute kitties!

    Second of all, I just glanced at your diary for the last couple of weeks. You aren't logging your food very often. In order to really know where you are in your calories, you have to log your food. It would also help if you log your exercise, too. You say you are eating 1600 calories a day, but the few days you did log, you were nowhere near 1600. You were closer to 1200. Try logging every single thing for two weeks and then see where you are weight-wise.
  • KatieScarle77
    KatieScarle77 Posts: 21
    Have just worked out the folowing:
    BMR = 1575.9
    TDEE = 2166.86
    Body Fat % = 35.6% (According to the my Pedometer)

    So if I did it right I should be looking at 1730ish calories a day.

    I know I've not been logging much on the food diary recently, been having a nightmare time, so haven't had much access to the computer and the app I had on my phone won't work for some reason :(

    I find on my quieter days (weekends) I'm kind of afraid to eat up to the 1600 as I know that I'm not doing much in the way of exercise etc and I don't want to mess things up so I tend to drop my calories back down again.

    Should I just eat the whole amount each day regardless of how much exercise I'm doing?

    I do find some days that it is a real struggle to eat all the calories, certain food really fill me up even though they are low in calories so I don't feel like eating anything else
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    Dont kill yourself.
    Keep in mind that doing cardio will help make you hungry!
    Eat calorie dense food to meet your macros daily.

    youll want to play with the macro sliders so your protein is as close to your lean body mass.
    Should fall somewhere between 25-35%.
    Be sure the fat slider is between .45-.60g per lean body mass.
    Carbs will auto set after that.

    Daily cardio is key in the beginning!
    So waking up 30 mins earlier you could go for a light jog for 20 mins in the morning then eat breakfast after!
    If you do cardio first thing before you eat you can actually say "Today I burned pure fat!"
    =D
  • KatieScarle77
    KatieScarle77 Posts: 21
    I'm having a play with the Macros now, just trying to figure them out :D

    I usually do some kind of exercise before breakfast because I've never been able to eat that soon after waking up
This discussion has been closed.

Categories