I've seen a lot of these types of posts on here, but I just quickly wanted to see if I can get some advice?
I have been going to the gym 3-4x per week for about a month now (30 mins cardio, roughly 45 mins weight training per time). I really don’t have time to go more often than this due to work, so I try to do both cardio and weights in one day. I tend to split the days weights into upper body, lower body and core, so I tend to go 3x as I find I’m too sore otherwise and need a break between the days.
My diet is good, I usually eat around 1100-1400 calories per day (depending on if I exercise of not), and try to keep my macros as recommended by myfitnesspal. According to my Versa, I burn around 2000 calories on days when I don’t go to the gym (I sit at a desk all day, try to get up and move every hour or so), and between 2700-3000 on days where I do go. I drink around 1-1.5 litres of water or other non-fizzy drinks, e.g. sugar-free squash/cordial per day, but on the higher side of this when I go to the gym.
Some stats about me – I am female, 24 years old, 5’7” and weigh around 190lbs, so I have a lot to lose. I have been at this for just over a month now, so I would have expected the scales to start dropping by now, but I have actually put on around 2lbs. I am losing inches, which I know is important, but as I am overweight I would have expected to be losing weight as well?
Not sure what to do really – any advice? I would really like to see the scales start moving soon as it’s very demotivating. Thanks in advance.
Written by
emilyb95
2 stone
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Losing inches is a great start - and being fit will make it easier for you to lose weight. You might have gained some muscle.
If you "slim smart" weight loss is not so hard! It is not all about motivation and masochism.
Some of us here find that what works is a combination of The Low Carbohydrate, High-Fat (LCHF) diet (see the forum here on Health Unlocked) and Not Snacking All Day AKA Intermittent Fasting (IF). See:
Hello and welcome to the Weight Loss Forum emilyb95
At first glance I would suggest you are not eating enough, the NHS BMI checker suggests 1958 - 2518 kcal per day, see here nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-we...
It’s a common mistake to think you need to be hungry and deprived to lose weight. MFP is good but usually underestimates how much you should eat.
Secondly, You don’t mention WHAT you are eating, fat is really important for energy, satiety and regulating blood sugar, see here healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...
However, if you are losing inches that’s a very good measure of losing the dangerous, abdominal fat and you should congratulate yourself 👍👏🎉. A few more tweaks will see the scales moving, but your BMI is only just in the overweight category so please don’t beat yourself up, small steps and permanent change is far more effective 😊
You will have been given links to Pinned Posts when you first joined but I am also going to tag you in the Welcome Newbies post which gives lots of links and information to help you. Please read this are fully as it will guide you around the workings of this Forum.
This is a very busy forum with lots going, and nothing beats joining in, reading posts and replying to others. Our group Weigh-in and the Daily Diary are probably the best places to start.
I tend to stick around the 1300 calorie mark as I find that I am not really hungry enough to eat more, and my 3 meals fill me up.
For breakfast I would usually have a fat free yogurt with fruit, for lunch often a can of soup with a slice of best of both bread, and dinner varies, 9/10 it is something healthy; sometimes I have salmon and fresh vegetables, sometimes a jacket potato with prawn marie rose, or as a treat I will have something Mexican but in moderation (fajitas or enchiladas - my favourites, but usually on a gym day as I know they are not very healthy!). I will also occasionally go out for a meal (maybe once ever 2 or so weeks) and I don't restrict myself when I do this - if I am going out, I will choose whatever I fancy as otherwise it will make me miserable haha.
I try to moderate what I eat, without restricting myself from the foods I love, as I don't find it sustainable to deprive myself - I don't really see it as a diet, rather just choosing to eat healthily the majority of the time. If I want a piece of chocolate, or some crisps in the day, I will have them as an occasional treat. I have also really started drinking protein shakes (low fat) from powder on days I go to the gym, as from my macros I have noticed that I am always low on protein.
Sounds as if you are doing really well, hunger is the best indicator 😊. Personally, I don’t really enjoy low fat products and would prefer less of the ‘high octane’ stuff, which also keeps me full for longer. But you are right to eat what you enjoy and not feel deprived
If you are losing inches, and feel well and energised, I would stick with it a little longer. But please read the links so you have all the information
How about getting the protein into your diet from food, rather than shakes? And, like IndigoBlue, I'm wondering about the low fat. The best thing I learned here is that dietary fat doesn't make us fat. You might find this interesting fatismyfriend.co.uk/
BridgeGirl On days when I don't exercise, I get plenty of protein from my diet. But some days when I exercise, depending what I have eaten, I can be more than 60-80g deficit in protein according to MFP. Usually when I see this, I amend my food to increase protein, such as adding high-protein snacks, but I often still find myself under my protein target - in this case, I have a shake which contains about 20g protein just to top me up
And with regards to the low-fat, I just prefer the taste. I know that sounds odd, but I really enjoy my fat free yogurt as it has tasty fruit pieces in. And with the protein shakes, I choose low fat because other than protein, it doesn't really have any nutritional value
Sounds like you're working really hard to balance things day by day yet you're not seeing the results. I hope you can pinpoint why things aren't working. It doesn't sound like any lack of effort on your part and you're following "the rules" as best you can. Maybe it's "the rules" that are at fault, rather than you.
From my own experience, I'm well over twice your age, weighed a little less than you do when I started and am shorter; my exercise is mainly walking; I don't go to a gym. I took my calorie range from the NHS BMI calculator nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-we... which gave me around 1500 - 1900 a day to start with. I lost weight steadily eating around 1700 - 13lbs in 12 weeks.
By that time, I was starting to understand how poorly the low fat message has served us and began to make changes to my way of eating (rather than focusing on how many calories) so I now eat very differently than when I first arrived here and am at a healthy weight, 42lbs lighter.
You have been given really good advice here and I don’t know if you have seen results from the advice you have been given because I am trying to read these off my phone.
However, if you are doing basic exercises at the gym (and you are anything like me) you will lose dangerous fats but then might start bulking up. If you can afford to it, I recommend finding someone who specializes in HIIT (Cross Fit is my favorite) or if you have the means at home, YouTube has a lot of amazing videos for HIIT workouts that do not require the use of equipment. These videos run anywhere from 10 min to 1.5 hours depending on what you want.
As with anything, check with your doctor before starting HIIT to make sure you are not doing more harm than good on joints and ligaments.
There's plenty of information here to help you on your journey, just follow this link to our chat thread and a list of all the activities we run. We've found active participation to be key to success, especially with our weigh-ins and Daily Diary.
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