Calories - Need advice!

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barefoot76
barefoot76 Posts: 314 Member
About me:
36 years old
4'9" tall
CW fluctuating between 107 and 109 since I joined
GW 98 (been here before, so I know I can do it, and K-A suggests UGW @ 93 lbs)

I'm fairly active. When I started on MFP, I had already gone back to the gym in April 2011 to lose weight and get in shape, but the scale had gone in the wrong direction, up from 108 (where I am now) to 115. In November 2011, I started training for two half marathons, one in January and one in February, thinking that would help me manage my weight, but no dice. When I joined MFP, I weighed about 111, and based on what I know I used to eat, I would guess that I was eating around 1800-2000 calories a day.

Using the Katch-McArdle formula, my BMI is around 1100 and my goal weight TDEE is around 1600 calories per day.

So I started cycling my calories, keeping them low on weekdays and spiking on weekends, averaging about 1600 calories a day. But that didn't work. I mean, I lost the initial few pounds, but I've been stalled ever since. I've cleaned up my diet immensely (my diary is open, feel free to look). I cooled off my running and weights routine starting in April, thinking I might be carrying water weight for muscle repair. I started getting more sleep and doing stress relief. I brought my average down to about 1440 calories per day. At first, I lost another pound, down to 106. A couple of weeks later, I was back to 108. I've been gaining and losing the same 3 pounds for four months.

According to all the calculations, I should be losing at least a half pound a week, which means I should be at 101 by now. But, like I said, I've been 108 pretty much since my third week on MFP. And I'm not doing anything drastically different than when I used to weigh 98 lbs -- other than that I've since developed severe food allergies.

When I joined MFP, I thought 1200 calories a day was the magic number, but there is a "eat more to weigh less" craze on MFP, so I ate more. Now I'm thinking that eating less to weigh less (ahem, common sense) is the way to go, but I'm not sure how much less. If half a pound a week is 1750 calories, and I currently eat 1440 calories a day, to drop 1750 calories a week would bring me down to 1190 calories a day. Not impossible, but... a little scary.

I'd love advice and support, ideally from people who have lost those "last ten pounds," and how you did it. Bro science is not really necessary, thanks.

Replies

  • barefoot76
    barefoot76 Posts: 314 Member
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    Oh, and FWIW, I've had my bloodwork done and everything tested perfect. No thyroid conditions or anything. So I can rule that out.
  • barefoot76
    barefoot76 Posts: 314 Member
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    Anyone?
  • phatphd
    phatphd Posts: 45
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    I don't know that this will be comforting, but sometimes our bodies determine our weight for us -- a weight at which our body is comfortable, even if we aren't. In theory, given my height, I can weigh 86 lbs and still be a "healthy" weight. But at that weight, I was fainting regularly and couldn't ever get warm. So even though the charts and numbers indicated I could comfortably weigh that little, my body told me I needed to weigh more.

    And the weight our body selects for us isn't necessarily static. Sometimes it changes with age, activity, illness. Like you, I struggle with many, many allergies (both food and environmental) and my autoimmune issues have certainly affected my weight.

    My advice? Try and listen to your body rather than locking yourself in to a particular number. Be kind to yourself, especially on intense allergy days. Be flexible - about food, about exercise, about the number on the scale - and don't forget to nourish, respect, and love your body and yourself.
  • barefoot76
    barefoot76 Posts: 314 Member
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    (((((((((((((phatphd))))))))))))))) Thanks!