Advice needed

[candytpw]

I'm 21 now, have been losing weight for more than a yr and a half already and have lost 54lbs.
The weight loss progress looked fine in the beginning, but it slowed down quite a lot during recent months. I've only lost 10 lbs since August. I'm actually wondering if I'm not eating or exercising the right way...

Here's some information: I'm 164cm and weigh 131lbs. Approximately 1300 ~ 1500 calories a day. Exercising every day on a stationary bike (the kind that can be folded up...) for 80 minutes, about 28 ~ 30km. Some moderate calisthenics and weight lifting every other day.

I know it's essential that I get enough sleep, but... coz life is just too busy, I could never get more than 6 hours of sleep. Some pretty serious fluid retention (up to 6 ~ 8 lbs of weight gain) due to PMS also forces me to drink less water during the two weeks prior my period (otherwise, I can hardly fit into any clothes). To make things worse, I have to eat out very often. Healthy food choices are hard to find here in Hong Kong...

My goal weight is 115lbs, which means I have to lose 16lbs. And I want to lose them all by the end of April.
So, my question is: What can I do to speed up my weight loss? Any advice will be appreciated!

Thanks a lot!

 

[Ando3242]

The eating out might be the problem. Not knowing your situation of if you are too busy, perhaps you can find a way to not have to eat out such as preparing healthy food to eat beforehand.

Also, those last 10-20 pounds will take a lot longer to lose than say 10-20 off your initial weight. The more you have to lose the faster it goes. As long as you are continuing to lose weight, even if its slow at least you are making progress.

Hope this helps and congratulations on losing 54 pounds. That is no easy feat.

 

[candytpw]

The eating out might be the problem. Not knowing your situation of if you are too busy, perhaps you can find a way to not have to eat out such as preparing healthy food to eat beforehand.

Also, those last 10-20 pounds will take a lot longer to lose than say 10-20 off your initial weight. The more you have to lose the faster it goes. As long as you are continuing to lose weight, even if its slow at least you are making progress.

Hope this helps and congratulations on losing 54 pounds. That is no easy feat.

Thank you!

The eating out thing is surely a problem... When there isn't a microwave available, it means I'll have to eat cold/unheated things... which is precisely the reason why I dun prepare food... *sigh*

I'm curious about the "last 10 - 20 pounds takes longer" thing. I've heard about it, but dun quite get the reason why.

 

[Ando3242]

Thank you!

The eating out thing is surely a problem... When there isn't a microwave available, it means I'll have to eat cold/unheated things... which is precisely the reason why I dun prepare food... *sigh*

I'm curious about the "last 10 - 20 pounds takes longer" thing. I've heard about it, but dun quite get the reason why.

From what I gather, the reason the last 10-20 pounds takes longer is because at a higher weight the body needs more calories to sustain itself.

This example might be extreme, but it illustrates the same idea. Take an elephant and a mouse. Feed them both a mouse-sized diet. Whats going to happen? The mouse will be fine, but obviously whats going to happen to the elephant? He will surely lose a lot of weight and starve. Perfect amount of calories for the mouse, far too small amount of calories for an elephant.

I'm not suggesting you were an elephant and now you are a mouse, but that's how it seems to work.

 

[candytpw]

From what I gather, the reason the last 10-20 pounds takes longer is because at a higher weight the body needs more calories to sustain itself.

This example might be extreme, but it illustrates the same idea. Take an elephant and a mouse. Feed them both a mouse-sized diet. Whats going to happen? The mouse will be fine, but obviously whats going to happen to the elephant? He will surely lose a lot of weight and starve. Perfect amount of calories for the mouse, far too small amount of calories for an elephant.

I'm not suggesting you were an elephant and now you are a mouse, but that's how it seems to work.

*lol* your example sounds fun.
And that brings up another question: Am i keeping the right balance?

I've tried all kinds of online calculators. Given my activity level, I can reduce my calories intake by 600 , still eating up to 1800 calories and *still* losing a pound per week. And here, I'm confused... if that calculator is correct, I'm running a calorie deficit of aruond 800 - 1000 every day (coz i'm only eat 1300 - 1500), and with that, I should be losing 1kg per week...

I don't think I have to cut my calories further and make my body think I'm starving... but, is my body already reacting as if I'm in starvation?

 

[Ando3242]

*lol* your example sounds fun.
And that brings up another question: Am i keeping the right balance?

I've tried all kinds of online calculators. Given my activity level, I can reduce my calories intake by 600 , still eating up to 1800 calories and *still* losing a pound per week. And here, I'm confused... if that calculator is correct, I'm running a calorie deficit of aruond 800 - 1000 every day (coz i'm only eat 1300 - 1500), and with that, I should be losing 1kg per week...

I don't think I have to cut my calories further and make my body think I'm starving... but, is my body already reacting as if I'm in starvation?

This one is kind of a mystery as the reason can be any number of things. Calculators are not always completely accurate, and we are even more unlikely to be 100 percent accurate in determining how many calories are we taking in or burning off. It could also be muscle gain, water retention, or even constipation. The number on the scale of course isn't just our fat.

Are you drinking a lot of water and eating a lot of fiber? If not this might help get things moving.

I'm not really a huge expert on this topic so a second opinion might be good. But, nonetheless if you are still losing a pound a week that is pretty good especially since you are on those last 10-20 pounds.

 

[wishes]

If i were you I would start double checking the calories you are eating. Chances are your portion sizes have just creeped up and you have kept on using the same measurements etc.
It happens to a lot of people (i still do it!) and very often over or under estimating whats in their food, especially when eating out. Theres no telling what weird things some places put in food! (I once had a salad, when i got to the bottom the bowl had half a cup of oil in it :/)

 

[Ando3242]

If i were you I would start double checking the calories you are eating. Chances are your portion sizes have just creeped up and you have kept on using the same measurements etc.
It happens to a lot of people (i still do it!) and very often over or under estimating whats in their food, especially when eating out. Theres no telling what weird things some places put in food! (I once had a salad, when i got to the bottom the bowl had half a cup of oil in it :/)

I notice a lot of times a few hundred calories can easily fly under the radar. Awhile back I had a habit of drinking Crystal Light Slurpees from 7-11. Since Crystal Light drinks are calorie free I just assumed that the Slurpee was. I eventually looked up the nutrition facts to realize while they were only a fraction of the calories in regular slurpees, they did have calories. Though the calorie content didn't really seem that much doing this for awhile really added up. Even the smallest changes can make a big difference in the long run.

 

[candytpw]

I notice a lot of times a few hundred calories can easily fly under the radar. Awhile back I had a habit of drinking Crystal Light Slurpees from 7-11. Since Crystal Light drinks are calorie free I just assumed that the Slurpee was. I eventually looked up the nutrition facts to realize while they were only a fraction of the calories in regular slurpees, they did have calories. Though the calorie content didn't really seem that much doing this for awhile really added up. Even the smallest changes can make a big difference in the long run.

*lol* The drink with the highest calories that I do drink once in a while is the nestcafe coffee, 107.5 calories per can. Other times, it will be water, tea or black coffee with a pack of brown sugar. I monitor my diet very closely by keeping a weight loss diary only which helps me keep track of my calories intake. Almost all of the food I order is boiled and oil free (the only good thing about chinese dishes to dieters... ). But what could still escape my radar are the undetectable ingredient... there is simply no nutrition facts I could find.

Certainly I've considered water retention and constipation. These are my biggest headaches... vitamins and lactulose solution certainly helps reducing the symptoms but not much... Eating lots of veges doesn't really help (Even when I eat veges like spaghetti). Drinking more water when I'm suffering from my monthly water retention simply make things worse. my jeans size would go from M/L to XXL...

Anyway, I'm trying to change my workout routine tomorrow once my new piece of equipment arrives. Hopefully, it'll give me a break through.