Finding a balance.. advice?

betaleonis
betaleonis Posts: 176 Member
edited November 2024 in Motivation and Support
Hi, my name is Andy. I'm 5'3 and 23 years old. I've been (what my mother calls), "slightly overweight" for about 10 years. I have very active summers in which I tend to slim down a bit, but I've never really gotten into shape and maintained it year-round. This is my ultimate goal - to be healthy.

My weight loss journey started at the end of January, when I stepped on the scale and realized I was in the 160 range and my heaviest ever. I was under-eating, and averaging about 600 calories a day, without any real exercise. I lost my first 10lbs or so, basically through my extreme calorie deficit, and then stumbled upon MFP in the middle of February (weighing in at 153). I took my starting measurements, and started learning about adequate nutrition and fitness protocols.

After two weeks of working my way up to 1200 calories, (without eating back exercise cals), I weighed in at aprox 148.6 - and stayed that way, for almost 3 weeks. I decided to increase my calories (which was very difficult, for an under-eater), lost a pound, but now have gained two back. I assume this is my body adjusting to more calories.

I hope my body keeps adjusting, because I'm just starting to understand net calories, and the importance of eating back exercise cals - especially on those days when I burn more. For the past few days I've managed to pull my net up to about 1100 calories (on days of heavy exercise) and I am super terrified, haha!!

I do cardio 4x a week, interval training - strength 2x a week, the 30ds daily, and I take my dogs for a long walk every day. I spend most of my day in a classroom, so I've put my activity level to Sedentary and just log all exercise.

I'm not too concerned with what I am eating (I'm an all-natural kind of girl), and I love to cook with fresh ingredients - but more so if I am heading down the right path. Should I eat back all my exercise cals, even when it feels like too much food?

So in total, I've lost 8 inches and 4 lbs since Feb 15th, just to sum it up. I know the scale is not my friend, but I feel rather disheartened that I have gone back up on the scale, and would appreciate any comments or support ^_^

I just want to make sure I am on the right track!

Replies

  • fluffy4u
    fluffy4u Posts: 8 Member
    Hi. Great achivement in weight :)
    As it seems you're doing a great job there :)

    In general if someone try to lose weight has to have calorie deficit.... but still when you workout and use more energy than your food intake, should eat it back, because if not, then your muscle can't regenerate,...
    In my case I eat arround 1800cal, so as I have calculated for myself, if i do nothing, only lie arround, then I must eat 1500cal for my body to function normaly... any additional exercise or walk or job adds aditional calories... so for loosing my pounds I eat 1800 to 2500cal, and workout almost everyday, for about an hour or 2. I found out that when I have bigger calorie defict, more hungry I get and then I have problems to overeat or eat even chocolate things.
    On internet you have a lot of pages and even here, i believe, you can calculate how much calories you need for maintaining your goal weight and current weight. Compare it :) you'll see how much you'll need to eat when you'll be at final goal weight (don't forget about aditional exercise and it's amount of energy needed)

    A little about me :)
    I'm 23 year old girl, named Mateja. I'm 5'4 and at the moment I have 191lb. When I began to change my lifestyle I had 212.8lb. With help of another account on LIVESTRONG I managed to lose arround 20lb, but I have still problem with eating, and to overeat frequently.... I guess I needed another encouragment, so I started on MYFITNESSPAL from the start, when I gained a bit back.
    I love to cook at home, but ussually I eat too much, so I still need to balance my portion sizes a bit, but I'm almost there. :) Just home-baking makes it hard for me, specially if I'm making my favourite chocolate granny cookies. It makes me also hard to resist to chocolate.
  • 714rah714
    714rah714 Posts: 759 Member
    Andy, not only do you have a strong head on your shoulder, you're doing a hell of a good job in determining what works best for you. Much admiration and wishing you all the best for the future.
  • betaleonis
    betaleonis Posts: 176 Member
    I really appreciate that, dude. Thank you!
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