skeptical....

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2

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  • antoniosmooth
    antoniosmooth Posts: 299 Member
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    Are you eating back your exercise calories at all?

    Just putting this out there. If your calorie goal is currently 1200 and you burnt off say 300 calories, you would now have to eat 1500 calories for that day, not 1200, because you have essentially only eaten 900 calories if you didn't eat them back.

    I totally concur with this!! Your body could have also become accustomed to your workouts. Change it up a bit a few times a week. Don't get me wrong your workouts are GREAT!!! What I'm suggesting is a changeup of building lean muscle on the muscle groups you don't normally work. Building LEAN muscle in those groups will give your body the extra boost of metabolism from those lean muscles.

    You can also take a number of BCAAs in the morning which can boost your metabolism giving you that extra bit of internal fat burning when you aren't working out. L-Carnitine and L-Glutamine is a good place to start with simple BCAAs.
  • chrisb75
    chrisb75 Posts: 395 Member
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    I'm 36, 5'9, 154.

    Without knowing ANYTHING else about you:

    1) Using these numbers (and your post that you want to lose 10 more pounds) your BMR comes up to 1480 calories. This is the MINIMUM number of calories you should eat. This is the number of calories needed to maintain your muscles and all your organs.

    2) Your TDEE for your goal weight for 3-5 days of exercise a week is 2227 calories

    You should eat 2227 calories PER DAY and more if you exercise a lot. The fact that you gained 5lbs in two days says that your body is starving. That is expected because you have completely damaged your metabolism eating at 1200 calories for so long. Use the tools here and read for yourself. It sounds counter-intuitive, but it does work

    http://fat2fitradio.com/tools
  • Gosser
    Gosser Posts: 178 Member
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    What the previous post said.

    Never eat below your BMR
    Eat 500 less calories a day than your 'from normal daily activity' figure to lose a pound a week (as shown in your goals page)
    Eat back your exercise calories on days when you work out

    You may add weight to start, but once your body realises it will still get the food it needs it will start losing again.
  • ImRadical4Jesus
    ImRadical4Jesus Posts: 144 Member
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    Hello...I took advice from someone here and I went to Fat2fitradio.com to find out what I should really be eating in a day. When you go to this site, click under "Top Links" the All Calculators. Then click "Military Body Fat Calculator" you will need to know your measurements. Once you fill that out, it will give you your BF% (body fat).

    The you click on the BMR under Top Links. Fill it out. Look under the "Katch-McArdle Forumla" this will tell you what your BMR is.

    Then read the paragraph "How Many Calories Should I Eat?" There you will see a chart called the "Activity level". Find the level you are at and be honest. That will give you the total of calories you should be eating in a day for your body to get to your goal. This is a slower process which is better for your body. You didn't gain the weight just over night. You can set it 200 or 300 under what the "activity level " tells you, but once you get to your goal you need to eat what it tells you so you can maintain your weight.

    Then I set my own goals using these numbers. When I exercise , I eat back most of it "earned back calories". I have heavier work out days on MWF so I eat more those days. I also have Carbs at 40% Fat and Protein set at 30%.

    I don't know what you are eating in calories right now, but if you choose to re figure using these things I mentioned, your body will need to adjust so don't get discouraged. I gained at first but am now loosing. Never eat under your BMR!

    Once you loose weight, revisit fat2fit.com and re-calculate again, the numbers will change, then you adjust your figures on MFP.

    I hope this helps, I was so frustrated when I first started and this has been very helpful to me. You are more than welcome to friend me. You can see my diary.
    Blessings
  • Nopedotjpeg
    Nopedotjpeg Posts: 1,806 Member
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    I cannot eat any carbs at all or I immediately gain weight, I swear. It's very frustrating. Any suggestions?

    I doubt this a lot. Unless by "carbs" you mean grains and refined sugars. Even then I doubt it.
  • morgansmom02
    morgansmom02 Posts: 1,139 Member
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    If you put complete trust in this website, it will work.
  • mes1119
    mes1119 Posts: 1,082 Member
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    I'm 36, 5'9, 154.

    you might not have any more weight to lose. focus on muscle building and fat decrease, not the number on the scale. your bmi is 22.7 which is well within the normal range.

    figure out your body fat percentage and go from there.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    I'm 44, 5'8", and 140lbs (as of this morning! Woohoo!) I recently joined the eat more to lose more camp, and so far it's working for me! I'll chime in with the others in saying that 1200 calories is not enough. I went to the fat2fit website & used their BMR, body fat, goal weight & calorie calculators.

    I know it seems crazy to up your calories to lose weight, but really it's no more crazy than saying exercise more and eat less - it's like asking your car to go farther on less fuel. Only with our bodies, they try to adapt to more exercise and less food by retaining everything they can, rather than efficiently using the fuel you give it.

    It does take a little time. You mentioned upping your calories and gaining some weight - this is not uncommon - you have to give your body a chance to adjust, and it may take a month or more.

    I am also down to those last few pounds, which are the most stubborn, for sure. I upped my calories at least a month ago,and have been sort of bouncing between the same few pounds lost and gained for weeks! Then this week- breakthrough. I've suddenly dropped over 2lbs in the last two days - and I feel like I pigged out on the weekend! But I eat pretty clean, mostly natural, healthy foods.

    It takes some time to figure out what works best for you - but the 1200 calories ain't workin' for ya, so give the higher calories a shot for 4 - 6 weeks. Read through the fat2fit site, great info there, and there's a group here too, but can't think of the name of it at the moment (someone help with a link? :tongue:). Check out this thread as well: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/518533-major-sucess-with-higher-calories?error_user_id=6941661&error_username=AmyRhubarb&hl=higher+calories

    Great info from people having success with eating more. Hang in there!
  • llmichalek
    llmichalek Posts: 48
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    skeptical about whether myfitnesspal will actually help.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    Found the group: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/3817-eat-more-to-weigh-less

    I've tried a couple of other online calorie/fitness trackers & used them in the past, but MFP has been the best for me. Great people here, I've learned a lot, it's easy to use, love the phone app, awesome support all the way around.
  • llmichalek
    llmichalek Posts: 48
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    Well I just joined yesterday so I don't really have anything in my diary yet.
  • graelwyn
    graelwyn Posts: 1,340 Member
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    skeptical about whether myfitnesspal will actually help.

    You wont know if you do not try.
    Your choice is to carry on as you are, getting nowhere at all, or to try something new.
    Seem to be a vast number of people on Mfp who have had amazing success using Mfp, and to me, that is testimony enough.
  • llmichalek
    llmichalek Posts: 48
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    Nothing jumps out as being a reason. Have you talked to your doctor about it?
  • llmichalek
    llmichalek Posts: 48
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    I have just recently gone to my doctor. I was tested for thyroid, blood sugar, anemia, etc. Nothing was wrong. He said the same thing, that maybe I am at my natural weight. But before I had baby number 2, I was 15 pounds thinner, so I don't see why I can't do that again.
  • llmichalek
    llmichalek Posts: 48
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    "almost exactly".....that made me lol!!
  • llmichalek
    llmichalek Posts: 48
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    She turned one on 4/26 :)
  • llmichalek
    llmichalek Posts: 48
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    Wow I left for 2 hours and came back to a WHOLE Lot of info!! Thanks so much for all your suggestions! It would be too much for me to quote and respond to everything, so I will try to respond to what I can.

    As for carb intake, I am speaking of bread, starch, sugar, etc. I swear, I eat a sandwich, I gain a pound the next morning weigh in. It does make sense that maybe my body is starving. I am hungry a lot, but like I said, when I do eat, I gain weight. So I end up going back to 1200 cals a day. I am very strict with it and have a lot of willpower, so yes, I truly eat 1200 or less a day normally. Yesterday I ate 1068 calories.

    I do eat pretty healthy for the most part. I stay away from processed foods, bad fat, and usually even sugar. I only drink water and black coffee. I don't eat fried foods, I use stevia or agave nectar for sweeteners. I try to eat lots of fruits and veggies and lean meat and fish. I do occasionally eat red meat, and if I am really hungry I will eat small amounts of carbs in the form of pasta, crackers, or bread, but I always regret it since I put on a pound from it.

    When I set up my profile, I put my goal at 2 pounds a week, and mfp told me I need to eat 1200 calories a day. Since that's what I was already doing, I was somewhat skeptical. But I guess I need to lower my expectation to 1/2 to 1 pound a week. I did weight about 150 a few yeas ago and was getting married so I went on a very low cal, high exercise diet, and lost 15 pounds in a month. I wanted to do the same thing this time, but it just isn't working. Ugh.

    I will try to shake up my exercise routine a bit. I don't mind at all, as I'm tired of running the same path every day pushing the stroller :)

    Thank you all for your advice and well wishes. I really hope I can turn that 0 to a 10 on that scale down there!
  • chrisb75
    chrisb75 Posts: 395 Member
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    You CANNOT lose 2lbs a week with only 14 to lose. You are KILLING your metabolism. When you stop "dieting" you are going to balloon up like crazy.
    Wow I left for 2 hours and came back to a WHOLE Lot of info!! Thanks so much for all your suggestions! It would be too much for me to quote and respond to everything, so I will try to respond to what I can.

    As for carb intake, I am speaking of bread, starch, sugar, etc. I swear, I eat a sandwich, I gain a pound the next morning weigh in. It does make sense that maybe my body is starving. I am hungry a lot, but like I said, when I do eat, I gain weight. So I end up going back to 1200 cals a day. I am very strict with it and have a lot of willpower, so yes, I truly eat 1200 or less a day normally. Yesterday I ate 1068 calories.

    I do eat pretty healthy for the most part. I stay away from processed foods, bad fat, and usually even sugar. I only drink water and black coffee. I don't eat fried foods, I use stevia or agave nectar for sweeteners. I try to eat lots of fruits and veggies and lean meat and fish. I do occasionally eat red meat, and if I am really hungry I will eat small amounts of carbs in the form of pasta, crackers, or bread, but I always regret it since I put on a pound from it.

    When I set up my profile, I put my goal at 2 pounds a week, and mfp told me I need to eat 1200 calories a day. Since that's what I was already doing, I was somewhat skeptical. But I guess I need to lower my expectation to 1/2 to 1 pound a week. I did weight about 150 a few yeas ago and was getting married so I went on a very low cal, high exercise diet, and lost 15 pounds in a month. I wanted to do the same thing this time, but it just isn't working. Ugh.

    I will try to shake up my exercise routine a bit. I don't mind at all, as I'm tired of running the same path every day pushing the stroller :)

    Thank you all for your advice and well wishes. I really hope I can turn that 0 to a 10 on that scale down there!
  • Todzilla7
    Todzilla7 Posts: 24
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    The biggest concern you need to realize is that eating too few calories actually causes your body to do some very destructive things that might explain what is happening to you. Starvation mode encourages your body to:

    1. Store the food you eat as fat AND

    2. Cannablize your muscle tissue to use for energy.

    So when your body thinks it's starving, it does everything you DO NOT want it to do... tearing down muscle tissue and creating fat. You want to do the opposite,.. create muscle tissue and shrink fat reserves. You can't do this if you don't eat enough...
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    I would definitely look into upping your intake. Do you log your food and exercise here? If so, you need to be watching your net calories for the day. If you eat 1200 but burn 300 in exercise, that really leaves you with 900 net calories, which is REALLY low. I agree with chrisb75 too - setting at 2lbs a week isn't realistic. sadly, when we get down to those last few pounds, the progress slows down. Well, the progress of dropping pounds, but if you're exercising & eating well, the all over progress is awesome - fat & inches lost, & you are in better shape. :smile:

    I'm 44 years old, 5' 8", 140 lbs, and probably fall between lightly active and very active, depending on the day of the week. I am set at 1700 calories per day to lose 1/2 lb a week. And if I go over on calories, I don't sweat it - I eat if I'm hungry and I eat healthy, so if I'm over, no big deal. And like I said before, it's working! I have 2lbs to go to reach my current goal weight of 138lbs.

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