Hi all, I'm getting married in July and it's really important to me to lose fat. I Started on MFP guide of 1340 cals (lose 1lb per week) but quickly felt cold, energyless etc and realised this wasn't feeling too healthy. I then changed my settings to loses 0.5lb per week which now gives me about 1500 cals. My exercise is just long walks with the dog which I eat back calories from and I have just started doing press ups, sit ups but seem to be gaining weight. I'd love to know what else I should be doing in the way of weights, I have access to my sons barbells and dumbells. Nervous as since upping my cals and doing pressups and situps I have gained 3 lb, don't think this could be muscle weight just from doing those. I Was only dieting for about a month on 1340 cals, was this long enough to damage my metabilism? Sorry this is long winded but would love some advise on starting weights, how many should I be doing and how long for etc. I'm 5'3, 148lbs. Mt BMR is 1411 and tdee before any exercise is 1971. Any advise much appreciated, thanks! P.s I have opened my diary.

Hi Josephine!

Dieting on really low cals (which, BTW 1340 is really low) for any length of time can affect our BMR. But not to worry, because the shorter the duration, the quicker your body bounces back. The main issue that most of us have when first upping our cals, in inconsistency. It is hard mentally and often physically to increase the amount of food we've trained ourselves to eat, so we'll often eat high a couple of days, then question ourselves, and drop the cals back down for a a couple of days. As we repeat this process, our body just considers this a binge/purge cycle, and adjusts accordingly. The adjustment is what kicks us into starvation mode. Our body will hoard in times of plenty, because it has quickly learned that times of famine are just around the corner.

If your TDEE is 1971 (which could possibly change as you add in weight training, 1971 is pretty low for a TDEE), then your weight loss cals would be around 1675. However, because you're saying that your TDEE is 1971 *before* exercise, I'm wondering if that # is correct. TDEE should include exercise. Either way, TDEE increases as you exercise, so as you begin to incorporate strength training, adjust your TDEE (-15%) accordingly.

You may want to pick up a copy of New Rules of Lifting for Women. It is an excellent source of reading, and also has an eating/workout plan to help you figure out how to incorporate your weights.

You can also check out sites like bodybuilding.com which has lots of workout plans. There is even a "pick-a-plan" section where you punch in your stats, and your goal, and it gives you plans to choose from. Just be sure to adhere to your own personal weight loss cals, not a general number given on websites.


There are also weightlifting magazines for women, like Oxygen or Muscle & Fitness Hers, that will feature workout plans every month.

So remember, stay consistent w/your cals until your body adjusts. Definitely incorporate some weight training in the mix, and you'll be one smokin hot bride

Kiki

Thank you!! That's exactly what i've been doing....eating what seems to be loads some days and then thinking I've got to be "good" for a few days, especially if I haven't exercised that day. My other half can't believe that i'll lose weight eating the amount i'm eating the last 2 days, it's more than I was eating before I started my weightloss journey. Still, not eating much clearly wasn't working so i'll give this my all, keep eating lots of healthy food and i'll check out those websites!

There is a current special "fat loss" edition of Oxygen magazine on bookshelves now, and it features workouts and meal plans (around the 1700-1800 cal level), so you may wanna check that out as well. I skimmed through it at the bookstore the other day...