OK have at it

What are you trying to accomplish? If you want to look better, than you should be aiming to gain muscle. But even if you are sedentary with NO exercise, your TDEE is around 1581. But if you are active with kids or you workout, your TDEE is higher and under eating is just killing your metabolism.

I am trying to get back to where I was last year. Which was 10 pounds lighter, felt better, looked better, clothes fit better. People were complementing me. The most recent "complement" I have gotten was "oh your getting fatter!" Seriously.

Stop worrying about weight. Also, if anyone is saying you are getting fatter, they are crazy. YOu don't have much room to do anything except increase weight by increasing muscle mass. Below is the result from doing so.


http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/392784-skinny-fat-vs-fit-photo?hl=skinny+fat&page=2#posts-5441852

Just some observations, although nothing that has not already been said...you need to eat a bit more and add some more fruits and veggies into your diet. For your snack instead of the trail mix, try some carrots or celery with a bit of hummus or FF ranch dressing....

I am currently in a weight management health program and the dietician says to eat every three hours whether it is a meal or a snack to keep the body's metabolism going. I personally have to set a timer to help me with this as I can go up to 6 hours between meals which obviously isn't good. She also says to try to have at least 3 of the 4 food groups at each meal if you can and then 2 at your snack...'

some favorite snack I like are graham wafers with peanut butter, apples & peanut butter and even just a cup of homemade vegetable soup made with low sodium chicken broth and just whatever veggies I have in the fridge. I make a big pot of it and then just eat it throughout the week...

It looks like you eat a lot of the same foods during the week...try mixing it up a bit. I do that as well sometimes, and so my body falls into a rut of sorts, you want to keep throwing your body for a loop so that it has to work harder to burn up the calories from the different foods you are giving it...instead of that liverwurst I believe it was, buy a rotisserie chicken and take the skin off..it's great for sandwiches or on salads. Salads at lunch are great and then I usually vary the toppings, so some chicken, or tuna or deli ham/turkey things like that, sometimes just a hard boiled egg on it....

I didn't look at your calorie thing but that's a significant jump for someone who apparently is eating few calories. Perhaps, it's not calorie related at all. The first thing that came to my mind is could you be pregnant? Something that is easily overlooked and sometimes people are unaware or have normal periods and don't have any signs until they start putting on weight. Just a thought.

It's simple, you won't lose weight with net calories of 600-1000 a day. You seem to work out so I would guess you need at least 1600 calories net to lose weight.

I know you will all tell me to eat more, but if you look back several days you will see I vary my calories up and down and don't always under eat.

Nope, I looked through for a week and you definitely under-eat. You don't want to hear it, but cycling between 800 and 1100 calories is way too little fuel. You will likely try and look for every other answer under the sun because you don't like my opinion, but to me it is pretty obvious what the problem is.

Also, your diary is very light on produce. Add some fruit and veg in there!

^^ This. Also, if you are really doing 30DS, there is no way you getting enough food. You need to eat back the Calories you burn from that every day. Your body isn't going to give up the fat if it knows it isn't going to get fed properly. I didn't believe it at first either, but it is the truth.

I'm not going to comment on eating more as many people already have and I don't think I have anything to add to that regard beyond what they've said. One point of contention I do have is on your estimate for BMR. I did a quick check and your BMR should be closer to 1325 than 1175. My $0.02

What I will mention though is consistency. I've NEVER liked the idea of zig zagging calories. I don't think it works and believe it can mask actual progress you may be making.

I would strongly suggest that you pick a calorie target and a macro target, and hit it EVERY single day for two weeks. Only after that time should you reassess and see if you should change things.

The people saying you won't lose weight eating 600 calories a day are wrong, you will lose weight that way. But it's REALLY bad for your body and you'll lose a lot of muscle mass in the process. If you liked the way you looked 10 lbs lighter, I guarantee you that losing 10 lbs of muscle won't make you look any better than you do right now.

I personally think that picking a target, even if it's below the magical 1200 calorie mark, and consistently eating that many calories along with a good balance of protein, fat, and carbs, will do much more for you than your current diet ever would. Now you *should be eating over your BMR, but that's beside the point. Try to eat a consistent amount of food, and get adequate nutrients. I suspect you'll start seeing better results.

And last, talk to your doctor and get an idea of what a healthy wt would be for you. I know the shorter we are the less we weigh, so talk to him/her and get an idea of where you should be with your wt.

Good luck to you, I hope you are able to meet your goals.

I have spoken to my doctor and he put my healthy weight at 105.


Thank you for your help!

Why is your healthy weight at 105? It's a little strange to have a specific weight. A range would be more realistic. You are already in the healthy BMI range with so little body fat, so I don't understand the need of the doctor to say 105 is it.

I agree with everyone that say you are undereating, and I think you should eat more real food. I mean all you are eating for breakfast is protein powder.

He actually said 103 - 108 which is where I was at the time I talked to him. So I just went with the middle number

That is still only the low end of the healthy BMI range for your height, and a very narrow range. I guess I just don't know what he was basing it on, if not BMI.

I would seriously question my doctor if they gave me a range of healthy weight like that. A good doctor wouldn't do that. I have worked in family medicine for 15 years. I want to know where he came up with these magical numbers?

I think you should look into a dietician/nutritionist's help with your diet.

Keep it up! I know it's tough. You're doing great!

He picked the numbers based on what I was fluctuating between for a year and that I was healthy at those weights.

I don't have much to add. Eat at your BMR--net, more vegies, less processed stuff, more water (I'm always trying to drink more water, too), etc. I eat at my BMR and eat almost all my exercise cals back and I'm finally losing again after a 6 week plateau spent eating much less. Also, I changed up my weight routine and that helped. I eat 3 meals a day, not six, and it hasn't affected my metabolism one way or the other. (I lost 50+lbs eating 3 meals) Do what seems right for you in that regard.

My point is, the one thing everyone has said here is for you to eat more. That's the one consistent piece of advice you've gotten, so I'd try that first. Maybe that's all you need to change.

I would love to hear about your progress!
Also, I think you're really brave for "putting it out there" when you needed help. Best to you! :flowerforyou:

1200 calories a day did nothing for me but make me mad. I'd change my setting to 1/2 pound a week (maybe 1 lb/week) with exercise. Eat back most or all of what you exercise. I've been doing that and realizing a 1/2 lb/week loss. Not being extremely overweight, it takes a bit of time to see some results.