at a loss, please help

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13

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  • micheledarling
    micheledarling Posts: 18 Member
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    hi i am a sahm and i have been setting my activity levels at lightly active but never log things like walking or housework and i walk quite a bit with the kids. i just see being a sahm as being a lightly active lifestyle i plan to start swimming and will log that as i see it as extra from my daily routine
  • sloew
    sloew Posts: 106 Member
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    Your BMR is close to 2000 calories. That's not even factoring in a activity level. Just for the sake of comparison mine is around 2100 and I am 5'11' 200+ pounds. Anyway, I would get that rechecked you're either an anomaly, have a very active "sedentary" lifestyle or your calculations are wrong.
    [/quote]


    ^^^
    ..and you are male and Sloew is female! Makes a difference in BMR calculations too.. maybe they mistakenly accounted the wrong gender when doing her calculations.. i think a recheck for sure.. I have never heard of such a high bmr in a female.
    [/quote]

    I'll call today to see if I can get it rechecked.. I've been using essential oils for metabolism so that could acount for a high metabolism. I looked on the paper and it says for female. Essentila oils could not have anything to do with it but that is the only other thing I can think of. My husband has an apt tomorrow, maybe they can fit me in too.
  • sloew
    sloew Posts: 106 Member
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    hi i am a sahm and i have been setting my activity levels at lightly active but never log things like walking or housework and i walk quite a bit with the kids. i just see being a sahm as being a lightly active lifestyle i plan to start swimming and will log that as i see it as extra from my daily routine

    I only log what I go out and do for workout, not normal daily stuff. I don't count going to the park or walks or light workouts. just the ones my hr gets up for 20 min or longer.
  • AntWrig
    AntWrig Posts: 2,273 Member
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    Your BMR is close to 2000 calories. That's not even factoring in a activity level. Just for the sake of comparison mine is around 2100 and I am 5'11' 200+ pounds. Anyway, I would get that rechecked you're either an anomaly, have a very active "sedentary" lifestyle or your calculations are wrong.


    ^^^
    ..and you are male and Sloew is female! Makes a difference in BMR calculations too.. maybe they mistakenly accounted the wrong gender when doing her calculations.. i think a recheck for sure.. I have never heard of such a high bmr in a female.
    [/quote]

    I'll call today to see if I can get it rechecked.. I've been using essential oils for metabolism so that could acount for a high metabolism. I looked on the paper and it says for female. Essentila oils could not have anything to do with it but that is the only other thing I can think of. My husband has an apt tomorrow, maybe they can fit me in too.
    [/quote]
    No oil is going to increase your BMR by 500. Wait, you're not taking supplement "S" are you? Nah, you wouldn't be here if you did.
  • micheledarling
    micheledarling Posts: 18 Member
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    oh ok i see. do u not think your activity should count as lightly active then? sorry not trying to crash ur thread. i struggle with this altho im losing on average 2 lbs a week and feel great so it must be fine for me altho im still in the early stages. also i weigh quite a bit more than u and my bmr on here is just over 1800. anyway hope u get get off ur plateau soon x
  • DarrenSeeley
    DarrenSeeley Posts: 41 Member
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    When weight gain starts to slow or in your case stops, it's a sign that something is not working as it should. 99.99999% of the time there is a very good reason for it. It is important to start with the more obvious causes before wasting time looking at microfactors such as type of food, sodium levels etc.

    Clearly as others have said your BMR is incorrect. I would guess by around 500 calories.

    Secondly, based on your diary and your genuine BMR I see you are eating at least 1000 more calories a day than you should. That's around 2lb in weight a week. If you do no exercise, you could gain up to this amount. If you add in any real exercise then you will more likely just maintain.

    It's no mystery to me, your numbers are just wrong. When you get those right you'll be back on track.

    Best wishes
  • ladyraven68
    ladyraven68 Posts: 2,003 Member
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    took a peek at your diary - and i know you said youve been changing your calories up so im not going to comment so much about being over because i dont know what your goals were set as for the past week - however your sodium is through the roof! do you drink water? i didnt see any logged.. sodium makes me hold on to water like crazy..
    how long were you set at each calorie goal before changing it? you should give it at least a month, if you havent.
    im also a SAHM, definitely more active in the spring and summber! i have my daily goal set as my bmr (1845) and log all exercise, and eat those calories back. but i also use a HRM. do you use one or do you go by MFP or a machine for those numbers? they may not be accurate and you might be overeating unknowingly.
    have you had your thyroid and such checked?

    My goal was set at eating maintanance so instead of changing the numbers I just watched the net to keep it between 2400-2500, My maintanance is 2550.

    I do drink water, I jsut get bored calculting it. lol. I drink a good 2 liters a day.
    I know my sodium is high, I've been trying to work on that but some days it's rough just b/c I'm trying to get the calories! ie. Bean soup is one of those that's high sodium but is healthy for you, besides the sodium.

    I use a hr monitor for my workouts.
    I had the basic thyroid test done but I'm waiting for the dr to call to make an apt to get more tests done.

    Why are you set to maintenance if you are trying to lose weight?

    Redo your goals and set it to 1lb a week loss - what does that give you?
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    You are 173 today because you ate 5300 mg of sodium on Monday and followed up with another 3500 on Tuesday, that's the long and short of it. Excess sodium means water retention. If you're weighing daily or even weekly, you need to pay attention to sodium as it will effect your hydration levels.
  • adairt1
    adairt1 Posts: 14
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    5'6" 173? Unless you are a body builder I don't understand why you want to maintain. I'm thinking your ideal weight would be between 140-150. I agree with everyone else. You are taking in too many calories. I'm a 5'10", 198lb man and my BMR is 1930. I really don't think yours is right. Maybe your figure is BMR with activity added. Something doesn't add up.
  • lenya_maria4516
    lenya_maria4516 Posts: 40 Member
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    Try drinking water! Some days you have drunk nothing. I find it helps a lot.
  • time2bhealthy
    time2bhealthy Posts: 211 Member
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    bump for later
  • Rays_Wife
    Rays_Wife Posts: 1,173 Member
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    I'm not an expert by any means, but looking through your diary it looks like your sodium and carbs are WAY out of control. I agree with everyone so far that says this. You are consistently going over your sodium and carbs by a large amount. Sometimes you go over on cals by a significant number, not just a few. usually when you meet your goal within a 100 cal. range you are fine, but you're not. It's weird though that your protein looks good....usually when your carbs are through the roof, the protein suffers. Good job on the protein. Now just work on getting those sugars down and sodium down!
  • lacewitch
    lacewitch Posts: 766 Member
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    try this
    take BMR
    workout how active you are using this
    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/
    then take that as your daily calorie this factors in an average amount of exercise and smears out over the week so it's not high one day and low the next

    then start thinking about healthy food - it's not just calories - what you eat matters too"!
    as pointed out sodium i a real diet killer and all your cells are designed to work at a set level of electrolytes ( potassium sodium etc) if you are to high they do not function properly ( equally if they are to low but unless you are drinking massively more than 2L per day this is difficult) and all weight loss will be much harder!
  • bryntevans01
    bryntevans01 Posts: 25 Member
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    Look at your excercise loggings, running in particular. If your running at 5.5 min/miles you should be in with a shot at the 2012 Olympics!!! Do you have an iPhone? Go running with mapmyrun app. You'll get an accurate pace which you can use.
    Also try working out first thing in the morning before breakfast, it'll boost your metabolism bucket loads, also try usn.co.uk for nutritional snacks.
    Generally if you plateu in training/weight loss your body has got used to something whether your diet or certain excersizes that you do, try to mix it up a little bit. Remember cardio burns fat but weights burn fat for longer!!!
  • sloew
    sloew Posts: 106 Member
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    Wow that sodium is too high. Why don't you try and choose products with less sodium. Get rid of the bean soup and make your own. I agree that sugars/carbs should be lowered.

    I do make my own.. but it's with canned beans and diced tomatoes and such... I need to brave it up and do dried beans instead. :heart:
  • sloew
    sloew Posts: 106 Member
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    I hope this clears it up for most....

    I have been eating over the 2100 b/c I was trying to eat at mantanance to see if it worked, maybe give my body some extra fuel or something just for a week or so. My goal is to aim at 2100. I have been focusing mostly on getting between 2400-2500 just for a week then cutting back. I have heard that I need to shock my body so I thought this would maybe do it???

    With workouts I use a hr monitor so IF it seems crazy I am focusing and do the min based on the calories. If I can't get it right on I under calculate for it.

    My medabolic test was done first thing in the morning. I basicaly woke up got dressed fixed my hair and drove to the nutritionist office and breathed in a machine for 15 min. They printed out the result right there and it was set for a 28 year old female at 5'6 weighing 170 lbs. I have an apt to redo it in the morning. I will let you know what it is.

    I have been drinking at least 64 oz of water but not imputing it. I will start adding it.

    I will start watching sodium and with calories set at 2100 should take carbs down.

    I have cut out my 'treat' of 1/4 C of M&M's. I haven't had them for 2 weeks now. Although last year I ate whatever when ever and lost just fine so that is what is confusing me. I just watched calories.

    Thank you all for your support!
    My goal 2100 (unless the BMR test is diff tomorrow) Lower Sodium and carbs/sugar, and drink more water.
  • tinamina78
    tinamina78 Posts: 241 Member
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    For the past week

    My advice would be to stick with one plan for more than a week... I know it's hard when you don't see results after changing a habit. You think it should happen all at once, but it won't. Keep up the good work with getting healthier calories and stay consistent with it for a few months. Your body will change and you'll see the results. But, just as we didn't gain it all in a week, we won't lose it all in a week. Hang in there :flowerforyou:
  • skinnyjeansdiva
    skinnyjeansdiva Posts: 119
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    Hey I had a quick look in your diary. I only went back a few days but some days your over 2000 cals, I know people say you should eat back your cals but maybe for a week don't eat them all back. If you are exercising you need the extra cals to fuel the body but maybe cut back a little. Your body probably needs a little shock to stimulate the weight loss again.

    sort of...this also would depend on how much you weigh, the more you weigh the more calories you should eat yet keeping the deficit that mfp gives you. It would be a bit scary to see someone who weighs 300 lbs only eat 1200 cals per day, our bodies need energy.
  • skinnyjeansdiva
    skinnyjeansdiva Posts: 119
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    Wow that sodium is too high. Why don't you try and choose products with less sodium. Get rid of the bean soup and make your own. I agree that sugars/carbs should be lowered.

    I do make my own.. but it's with canned beans and diced tomatoes and such... I need to brave it up and do dried beans instead. :heart:

    Sodium will not cause one to not lose fat, just retain a few lbs of water weight. it has been proven that if one drinks a lot of water and exercises regularly then they can eat more of sodium w/o it having a negative effect on the body. Its always good to lower sodium but it's not causing you to not lose fat. I would talk to your dr or a nutritionalist for advice rather than taking some of the not so accurate advice on here. Good luck to you!!
  • NBabi91
    NBabi91 Posts: 270 Member
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    The sugar and sodium intake is an issue. There are some days you are 97 over in sugar and 2000 over in sodium. There is more to weight loss than just calories. Take to cut back on your sugar and sodium intake.

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