Advice please!

krystyleee
krystyleee Posts: 219
edited December 2024 in Food and Nutrition
I swear I'm always on here asking for advice, lol. But I need it!

Okay I've been exercising a LOT the last couple of weeks, and I will have my cheat food once a week or week and a half. But I'm trying to figure out why my weight is not going down. I know, I know, I shouldn't pay SO much attention to the scale. I try not to. But I swear I am seeing a different and I get on the scale and it hasn't moved. I'm trying to be patient. And I finally took my measurements so I will start judging by that weekly, as well.

Could it be my calorie intake? Back in early 2011, I lost 20 lbs, eating healthy and exercising most days out of the week. I was consuming 1,200 cals/day. Now I am doing the same thing and not seeing a difference. Should I be upping ym calorie intake? I've upped it to about 1,300 now, but I'm not sure if I should up it anymore. I'm kinda scared because I don't want to GAIN weight, but I also don't know exactly how all that nutrition stuff works, so maybe I need to.

What has worked for you and what do you suggest?

BTW--
Height: I'm 5'2''
Age:
SW: 190 (Jan, 2011)
CW: 174
GW: 135

[ Diary is open ]

Replies

  • annieu613
    annieu613 Posts: 143 Member
    You are definitely not eating enough. You have to eat at least to your base calories every day, and if you're burning calories it's good to eat them, too. You're basically starving your body right now, so it's clinging to every calorie you take in, and I'm sure it's ruining your metabolism. Eat more.
  • krystyleee
    krystyleee Posts: 219
    Annie - Thank you! I wasn't sure how all of that worked. I find it hard to eat more than this since I work all day and I work out and I usually work out and gain even more calories. How many calories do you suggest? Maybe 1,500? T
    I really appreciate your help!
  • annieu613
    annieu613 Posts: 143 Member
    Well, I looked at your diary and you have it set to 1300. Is that what MFP suggested? You should never eat below your BMR (basal metabolic rate). This is the amount of calories you burn just by living. I calculated yours based on your age/weight/height and it said 1600, so that's what you should eat at a minimum.

    If you're having trouble getting that many calories in, I would suggest adding some higher calorie healthy foods. Avocado, nuts, peanut butter, dark chocolate, whole wheat crackers (like wheat thins) and dried fruits are just some ideas.
  • krystyleee
    krystyleee Posts: 219
    Actually from everything I put into MFP I believe it was 1,215. I upped my intake to 1300 about 2 weeks ago. Thanks for the info! I will change my intake!
  • annieu613
    annieu613 Posts: 143 Member
    Yea, I've found that MFP tends to underestimate BMR calories. I use this calculator: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/
  • cinasana
    cinasana Posts: 40
    I think you are eating the right amount of calories conidering that you want to lose weight. I know, people are going to attack me because you are "starving yourself"....(I assure you, you are not)
    If you want to lose weight, you eat at a calorie deficit. This whole starvation mode thing is over-hyped nonsense. It's something too commonly said in a society where we love to over consume....
    Just be patient girl. It will start to come off. You are doing everything RIGHT! I lost 20 pounds doing things just the way you are now ;)
    Jenny
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    I swear I'm always on here asking for advice, lol. But I need it!

    Okay I've been exercising a LOT the last couple of weeks, and I will have my cheat food once a week or week and a half. But I'm trying to figure out why my weight is not going down. I know, I know, I shouldn't pay SO much attention to the scale. I try not to. But I swear I am seeing a different and I get on the scale and it hasn't moved. I'm trying to be patient. And I finally took my measurements so I will start judging by that weekly, as well.

    Could it be my calorie intake? Back in early 2011, I lost 20 lbs, eating healthy and exercising most days out of the week. I was consuming 1,200 cals/day. Now I am doing the same thing and not seeing a difference. Should I be upping ym calorie intake? I've upped it to about 1,300 now, but I'm not sure if I should up it anymore. I'm kinda scared because I don't want to GAIN weight, but I also don't know exactly how all that nutrition stuff works, so maybe I need to.

    What has worked for you and what do you suggest?

    BTW--
    Height: I'm 5'2''
    Age:
    SW: 190 (Jan, 2011)
    CW: 174
    GW: 135

    [ Diary is open ]

    From Fat 2 Fit:


    Harris-Benedict Formula
    There are a few different methods to calculating yourbasal metabolic rate (BMR). One of the most popular, developed in the early 1900's is called the Harris-Benedict formula. Based on this formula, your current BMR is 1605 calories.

    How Many Calories Should I Eat?
    Based on your goal weight, the following chart was generated. The chart shows the number of calories that you should eat on a daily basis to reach your goal weight. At Fat 2 Fit Radio we advocate eating like the thin, healthy person that you want to become. The calorie levels you see in the chart are not extreme, but they do create that all important caloric deficit that is required to get you to your goal weight in a safe manner. Once you reach your goal weight, you will continue eating the same number of calories for the rest of your life to maintain that weight. You'll never be on a diet again.

    Based on how much activity you do on an average day, the calories in the right column will be the number of calories that you will be able to eat at your goal weight. If you start eating those calories right now (eating like the thinner you), you will eventually become that thinner person. As you get closer to your goal weight, your weight loss will start to slow down. It is OK to eat a few hundred calories less per day (200-300) to speed up your weight loss at this point.

    Activity Level Daily Calories
    Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1926
    Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 2207
    Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2488<---This is your TDEE
    Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2769
    Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 3050


    So cut 20% from that and eat it daily.

    I'll run numbers with my calculator now....

    On my calc I get

    BMR 1510
    TDEE 2341

    Set MFP to 1872 daily
    Protein and Fat 30% each.

    Dont bother eating back cals from working out since its included in this calculation.
  • krystyleee
    krystyleee Posts: 219
    Thanks everyone!
  • krystyleee
    krystyleee Posts: 219
    Dan--
    I was just in your other post and calculated all of this! Thanks for the website and thanks for your help!
  • krystyleee
    krystyleee Posts: 219
    I think you are eating the right amount of calories conidering that you want to lose weight. I know, people are going to attack me because you are "starving yourself"....(I assure you, you are not)
    If you want to lose weight, you eat at a calorie deficit. This whole starvation mode thing is over-hyped nonsense. It's something too commonly said in a society where we love to over consume....
    Just be patient girl. It will start to come off. You are doing everything RIGHT! I lost 20 pounds doing things just the way you are now ;)
    Jenny

    I agree! And I did lose 20 lbs in the beginning (took about 4 months) but for almost a year now I've been doing the 1,200 calories and I haven't changed and t's so frustrating. I am going to try upping my calories some (which is hard because I never go over now), just to see if it helps because what I'm doing now isn't working anymore :grumble:
  • Zichu
    Zichu Posts: 542 Member
    I think you are eating the right amount of calories conidering that you want to lose weight. I know, people are going to attack me because you are "starving yourself"....(I assure you, you are not)
    If you want to lose weight, you eat at a calorie deficit. This whole starvation mode thing is over-hyped nonsense. It's something too commonly said in a society where we love to over consume....
    Just be patient girl. It will start to come off. You are doing everything RIGHT! I lost 20 pounds doing things just the way you are now ;)
    Jenny

    I'm not saying your method is wrong, everybody does it differently, but I think it can cause problems when someone is so used to eating at such a low amount, especially under 1000 calories. I see it leading to a life of failure because once she gets to her goal weight, she would have to consume at least 1700 calories if she was sedentary and a hell of a lot more if she was moving about.

    I see a number of people on here that get into a routine of eating way too little and then struggle to get anywhere near there BMR, never mind there TDEE.

    I used this site: http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html
    I found out your TDEE for sedentary and it's 1919, so even to maintain your current weight, you would need to eat 1919. To lose half a pound a week, you would eat 1669, for a pound a week, it's 1419.

    I would recommend 1669 calories, this way, you won't find as difficult to eat that same amount of calories once you do reach your goal weight. Remember people, just because you are losing quickly and eating little to nothing doesn't mean you are going to find it easy to get back to eating at maintenance. Try eating around the same amount of calories now as you would when you reach your goal for goal maintenance.
  • krystyleee
    krystyleee Posts: 219
    I think you are eating the right amount of calories conidering that you want to lose weight. I know, people are going to attack me because you are "starving yourself"....(I assure you, you are not)
    If you want to lose weight, you eat at a calorie deficit. This whole starvation mode thing is over-hyped nonsense. It's something too commonly said in a society where we love to over consume....
    Just be patient girl. It will start to come off. You are doing everything RIGHT! I lost 20 pounds doing things just the way you are now ;)
    Jenny

    I'm not saying your method is wrong, everybody does it differently, but I think it can cause problems when someone is so used to eating at such a low amount, especially under 1000 calories. I see it leading to a life of failure because once she gets to her goal weight, she would have to consume at least 1700 calories if she was sedentary and a hell of a lot more if she was moving about.

    I see a number of people on here that get into a routine of eating way too little and then struggle to get anywhere near there BMR, never mind there TDEE.

    I used this site: http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html
    I found out your TDEE for sedentary and it's 1919, so even to maintain your current weight, you would need to eat 1919. To lose half a pound a week, you would eat 1669, for a pound a week, it's 1419.

    I would recommend 1669 calories, this way, you won't find as difficult to eat that same amount of calories once you do reach your goal weight. Remember people, just because you are losing quickly and eating little to nothing doesn't mean you are going to find it easy to get back to eating at maintenance. Try eating around the same amount of calories now as you would when you reach your goal for goal maintenance.

    Thank you very much! I'm going to stick to 1600. It's close enough and it's about an average of what I got and what everyone else is saying. And I agree. The methodology makes sense to me now. Hopefully it works!
  • cinasana
    cinasana Posts: 40
    Let us know if you notice improvements/changes with increasing your cals. :-). Good luck xo
  • skinnynerd
    skinnynerd Posts: 110
    I notice bigger losses with 1600 calories than with 1200 calories. Good luck!
  • annieu613
    annieu613 Posts: 143 Member
    I think you are eating the right amount of calories conidering that you want to lose weight. I know, people are going to attack me because you are "starving yourself"....(I assure you, you are not)
    If you want to lose weight, you eat at a calorie deficit. This whole starvation mode thing is over-hyped nonsense. It's something too commonly said in a society where we love to over consume....
    Just be patient girl. It will start to come off. You are doing everything RIGHT! I lost 20 pounds doing things just the way you are now ;)
    Jenny

    Lol, did you look at her diary? She's eating way less than 1200 cals/day.
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