Weight-Loss Not losing weight-Calorie Issue?
- Thread starter BiancaV88
- Start date
Weight-Loss
Without more info on how often you are eating and what kinds of food you are eating I can provide these general tips for eating.
- NEVER skip breakfast. When you wake up it is important that you have breakfast to get your metabolism jumpstarted in the morning. Dont go too crazy though, a light breakfast of a healthy smoothie or some fruit and grains are a good way to go.
- From there aim for small meals every 4-6 hours. The small portions mean you wont be storing anything your body cant use at the time and the 4-6 hour intervals keeps your metabolism going.
- Watch what you drink. Try to avoid sugar filled pops and juices, stick with water as much as possible (a bunch of ice in the glass makes it much more enjoyable). On that note drink LOTS of water throughout the day, it is required for numerous functions in your body including flushing your system.
- Another thing to keep in mind, if you starve yourself when you do finally eat your body is going to store everything it can as fat as a survival mechanism. Starvation more harm than good. 3150 calories a day while you are trying to lose weight seems a bit high but I dont have enough of an educational background in nutrition give definative support for or arguement against this. Speaking from personal experience though I am 5'10 and when I started losing weight I was over 260lbs. I dont have exact calorie numbers to give you that I went with while losing weight but I aimed for 2000 or less with an emphasis on less than 2000 calories a day for a while when I was breaking the 200lb platue I hit. I continued to lose weight for some time until I surpassed my target weight.
- As far as exercise is concerned you are certianly doing plenty of it, but I would like to suggest changing up your routines a bit. As you do the same routines day after day your body adjusts to them. As these routines get easier to complete they are no longer having as much of an affect as they once were so you need to change it up. Instead of jogging 2 miles try running 3-4. Instead of using the treadmill try an eliptical. Also explore intense activites you may not currently use, wether it be rock climbing, bicycle riding, swimming, or anything else that is a change of pace.
I hope this helps out. Good luck with your goals!
- NEVER skip breakfast. When you wake up it is important that you have breakfast to get your metabolism jumpstarted in the morning. Dont go too crazy though, a light breakfast of a healthy smoothie or some fruit and grains are a good way to go.
- From there aim for small meals every 4-6 hours. The small portions mean you wont be storing anything your body cant use at the time and the 4-6 hour intervals keeps your metabolism going.
- Watch what you drink. Try to avoid sugar filled pops and juices, stick with water as much as possible (a bunch of ice in the glass makes it much more enjoyable). On that note drink LOTS of water throughout the day, it is required for numerous functions in your body including flushing your system.
- Another thing to keep in mind, if you starve yourself when you do finally eat your body is going to store everything it can as fat as a survival mechanism. Starvation more harm than good. 3150 calories a day while you are trying to lose weight seems a bit high but I dont have enough of an educational background in nutrition give definative support for or arguement against this. Speaking from personal experience though I am 5'10 and when I started losing weight I was over 260lbs. I dont have exact calorie numbers to give you that I went with while losing weight but I aimed for 2000 or less with an emphasis on less than 2000 calories a day for a while when I was breaking the 200lb platue I hit. I continued to lose weight for some time until I surpassed my target weight.
- As far as exercise is concerned you are certianly doing plenty of it, but I would like to suggest changing up your routines a bit. As you do the same routines day after day your body adjusts to them. As these routines get easier to complete they are no longer having as much of an affect as they once were so you need to change it up. Instead of jogging 2 miles try running 3-4. Instead of using the treadmill try an eliptical. Also explore intense activites you may not currently use, wether it be rock climbing, bicycle riding, swimming, or anything else that is a change of pace.
I hope this helps out. Good luck with your goals!
Jenniferag
New member
The thing that helps me the most with finding out how many calories to eat a day was to wear a heart rate monitor for one normal day.
Online for my body it says I burn around 1600 calories a day but when I wore my heart rate monitor for one day that I didn't work out I really only burned 1080!
You can get one for cheap and you'll know exactly how many calories you really burn that will help you tweak your eating
Online for my body it says I burn around 1600 calories a day but when I wore my heart rate monitor for one day that I didn't work out I really only burned 1080!
You can get one for cheap and you'll know exactly how many calories you really burn that will help you tweak your eating
BiancaV88
New member
The thing that helps me the most with finding out how many calories to eat a day was to wear a heart rate monitor for one normal day.
Online for my body it says I burn around 1600 calories a day but when I wore my heart rate monitor for one day that I didn't work out I really only burned 1080!
You can get one for cheap and you'll know exactly how many calories you really burn that will help you tweak your eating
How does the heart rate monitor tell you how many you burn in a day? Is there a special program in the monitor that tells you? I've never used one before =)
your heart rate is fairly accurate at predicting calories burned for cardio type exercises as your heart rate is directly related to how much oxygen your body needs to meet statis. And your oxygen consumption rate is directly tied into caloric burn. So you can measure heartrate, a formula is then used to calculate the amount of oxygen used, which is then used to calculate the amount of calories are needed to be used with that amount of oxygen to meet stasis.
They can be somewhat inaccurate though as it's using a generic number for VO2MAX. (which is still pretty close for the average person) If you're able to find a HR monitor that allows you to input VO2MAX it will be more accurate. But you will have to get your VO2MAX tested at a medical facility.
It is however fairly inaccurate to measure caloric burn when doing resistance training and oxygen isn't used as a fuel source. So things like sprinting, weight lifting, etc etc the HR monitors will grossly underestimate your calories burned.
They can be somewhat inaccurate though as it's using a generic number for VO2MAX. (which is still pretty close for the average person) If you're able to find a HR monitor that allows you to input VO2MAX it will be more accurate. But you will have to get your VO2MAX tested at a medical facility.
It is however fairly inaccurate to measure caloric burn when doing resistance training and oxygen isn't used as a fuel source. So things like sprinting, weight lifting, etc etc the HR monitors will grossly underestimate your calories burned.
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Harold14370
New member
How long have you been stalled at your current weight? You may just be experiencing a plateau, where you are retaining water weight. Those can last a few weeks at at time. You will probably lose a whole lot of weight all of a sudden pretty soon.
I do think you should be eating more than 1600 calories, though.
I do think you should be eating more than 1600 calories, though.
BiancaV88
New member
My weight stopped moving since Sept. I lost a good 20lbs between August and September 27th. Since then, I have been going to the gym religiously, doing classes and even other cardio machines and stuff. Ive been counting my calories and some days I don't even get to 1600. I do notice at the end of the day I get a headache but from what I noticed, I dont eat any different than before counting. I eat the same. I havent been eating a lot of fruit the past couple of weeks or veggies so maybe thats an issue too. I am not sure, its irking me =(
how do I get past this plateau? My cousin who is a bodybeach coach said I should eat 1600 and do some changes in my workout like lift and jump on the treadmill and run and then lift a rep again. I'm not sure =( and I would like to run outside cause I feel the treadmill limits me but I am scared to be seen running out in public and also the wind lately in chicago has been GROSS
In what ways are you making your workouts harder? As in, are you constantly increasing the speed/resistance of your cardio? Are you constantly adding more reps to your sets, or increasing the weight of your weights for resistance training? Constantly trying to do HIIT reps faster than before, or doing more of them?
If you're doing the same routine that you've always done without changing the workout to be harder, your body will adapt and become efficient at it.
If you're doing the same routine that you've always done without changing the workout to be harder, your body will adapt and become efficient at it.
BiancaV88
New member
well when im on the elliptical, i used to just stay at normal resistance (no resistance) but lately I bumped it up to 15. Not sure if thats the highest on the machine, I will have to double check. And I usually do the aerobics program on it.
on the treadmill I added recently 2.0 for the elevation and I try to jog and run at 4.5 5.0 but I lose breath fast and it seems so fast...but im trying =(
and on the arc trainer I just went on 40 resistance level and I do high knees and some short knees on it.
I just recently started lifting 10-12lbs instead of five. Five got too easy and so is 7.5
i'm surprised you're still looking to count calories, even though it's not working for you. my advice would be to change your training and focus getting those fruits and veg back into your diet. grab a trainer at the gym and tell him you've plateaued and you'd like his help. chances are he can give you a trial workout for free. make sure he's making you do things you've never tried. and don't be afraid to go out running. i know when i see someone big running on the street, i think, good for you!
Jericho
New member
Sometimes the body hits a plateau. Don't get discouraged. Take another look at your diet because you might be slipping and actually overeating. you are doing fine. Like I said, don't get stressed out, and you might not even need to change your exercise.
For a week, refocus on your food diary and see what happens.
Daybehavior
New member
Is there an average time frame at which plateaus occur? Or is all variable depending on your weight, diet and variety of exercise? I've been on my program for about four weeks, lost 16 lbs. I've had a pretty consistent routine of 1.5-2 hour mix of treadmill/elliptical 5-6 days a week and ~1500 daily calories. I don't know if I should keep this up since its working or I might totally need to do a remix next week.
Bianca, sorry if it seems like I'm jacking your thread but since the issue of plateaus came up, I thought I'd pop the time frame question
Bianca, sorry if it seems like I'm jacking your thread but since the issue of plateaus came up, I thought I'd pop the time frame question
Not everyone will plateau at the same time, for that matter it is possible that some people may not hit a plateau at all during a weight loss program if they make the proper adjustments to their diet and exercise plans when weight loss starts to slow down.
If you are worried about hitting a plateau or you have hit one take a look at your diet and see what changes you can make. Are you making as many healthy choices as you can or have you started splurging on snacks or "junk food" more frequently again because after some weight loss you "earned it"? I hear this a lot, "well I worked out today", as a justification for getting extra sides and larger portions for meals as well as large deserts of ice cream and other such unhealthy eating behaviors. It is ok to treat yourself from time to time, to avoid it is to invite fits of uncontrolled binging into your diet, but just because you worked out should not mean you always get to splurge, otherwise you are canceling the effort you made during the workout. That said, to recover from exercise you will need more nutrient intake than you would on a day you did not exercise, try to keep it healthy though.
Another thing to adjust to avoid or overcome plataeus is the exercise routine. As your body repeats the same exercises time after time it becomes better suited to perform them and as it adapts the exercises gradually lose their effectiveness. Two ways to solve this are to either increase the intensity or to change the workout altogether to something that incorperated different movements utilizing new muscles or the same ones in a new way (muscle confusion).
If you are worried about hitting a plateau or you have hit one take a look at your diet and see what changes you can make. Are you making as many healthy choices as you can or have you started splurging on snacks or "junk food" more frequently again because after some weight loss you "earned it"? I hear this a lot, "well I worked out today", as a justification for getting extra sides and larger portions for meals as well as large deserts of ice cream and other such unhealthy eating behaviors. It is ok to treat yourself from time to time, to avoid it is to invite fits of uncontrolled binging into your diet, but just because you worked out should not mean you always get to splurge, otherwise you are canceling the effort you made during the workout. That said, to recover from exercise you will need more nutrient intake than you would on a day you did not exercise, try to keep it healthy though.
Another thing to adjust to avoid or overcome plataeus is the exercise routine. As your body repeats the same exercises time after time it becomes better suited to perform them and as it adapts the exercises gradually lose their effectiveness. Two ways to solve this are to either increase the intensity or to change the workout altogether to something that incorperated different movements utilizing new muscles or the same ones in a new way (muscle confusion).
Harold14370
New member
This is a pretty good article about plateaus.
Daybehavior
New member
Excellent posts, guys. I just realized even today I still used that "I deserve this" self delusion and got a double cheeseburger and six piece nuggets at McDonalds >_<
I worked it into my calories but that's an extremely dangerous mind set which I need to fix. I don't "deserve" shit for now.
That article was pretty cool and explained some of the things that bothered me.
I worked it into my calories but that's an extremely dangerous mind set which I need to fix. I don't "deserve" shit for now.
That article was pretty cool and explained some of the things that bothered me.