Posts by amb19440

Hey, congrats on the 13 lb. loss. I'm also in the same boat as you. I started CC around the end of April after seeing my doctor talk to me about my cholestrol , blood pressure, and sugar levels. My first two weeks on my diet I lost 8 lbs., since then though, it's been about a 1-1 1/2 lb. loss per week. Except for this last weigh-in, I stayed the same weight from the previous week. So far to date, I've lost 19 lbs. As far as advice, I'll give you the advice of my doctor when he talked about losing weight: moderation and portion control. Especially for me the moderation part.  I used to do fast food meals two or three times a week, now since dieting, I've done fast food twice in the 7-8 weeks I've been dieting. I haven't cut it off 100%, but I'm not eating it all the time. I'm also paying more attention to the nutrition labels on the boxes and portioning my foods based on the portion sizes on the box. Also using the food log on CC helps you plan accordingly, and shows you what you are doing on your diet.

Hi jblarghp: What type of workouts are you doing?? Are you doing any strength training, such as lifting weights?? If so, chances are you are exchanging fat for muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat, but muscle is more efficient at burning calories than fat. Also understand you can't spot reduce any part of your body, such as hips, thighs, stomach, etc. In due time, your body will eventually get to those spots to use for burning calories.

As for your weight, a scale is only part of the whole weight loss picture. Besides weighing yourself, have you taken any tape measurements?? While you may not be losing any weight by the numbers, chances are you may be losing inches off your waist. Try doing waist measurements on a regular basis to see if you're losing inches off your waist. Also, take a look at your clothes: are they fitting better than before?? That's another good indication of something happening.

When I started watching what I ate, along with being more active with exercise, my doctor mentioned two words to me: moderation and portion control. I'm a believer in moderation if you stick to it. People who go on diets sometimes tend to treat diets as a death sentence in that they won't be able to eat ice cream anymore, eat fast food anymore, eat things they loved that they know are fattening anymore, etc. This is usually what causes people to fall off the wagon. For about 7 weeks, I have lost 19 lbs. with a couple of trips to fast food restaurants, and a once in awhile scoop of ice cream. I use my food log at CC to see what calories I have taken in each day, and maybe plan to have a burger or ice cream on a cone. It also allows me to see when I had that burger or ice cream last, so I can get an idea about when another time would be for those things. Going cold turkey usually doesn't tend the best results, as people will want something that much more while going cold turkey.

O.k., here is what I came up with for you. Your current Basic Metabolic Rate is 1496 calories. That is what you need without exercising to maintain body functions. You mentioined your exercise level was sedentary, so I also did a second calculation, using the Harris Benedict formula taking your BMR times their multiplier for sedentary activity, which is 1.2. So, with your BMR of 1496 x 1.2 = 1795.2 calories. Their activity multiplier is higher for people who exercise more. So 1795 calories is your maintainance target. From there, to lose one pound of weight a week, for example, you would need to shave off 500 calories a day, or come in at 1295 calories a day. If you were eating 1200 calories a day, an increase of about 100 calories would work out as well. You seem to be in a position where you can't lose more than a pound of weight at a time, because any further reduction in calories per day, and you will eventually stop losing weight. The body goes into starvation mode, which means it conserves calories to continue to function properly, thus your fat burners will run much slower.

Original Post by imcoolsoni:

Okay so these are my stats: SW: 152 CW: 145 GW: 130 Height: 5'5 Age: 26. (started last week)

I was to lose 15 pounds by August 1st which is in about 5 weeks.  I know you can only lose 2 pounds a week but is there anyway I can do 3 pounds?  I know it's all math so I thought maybe if I eat a certain amount of calories and burn a lot that I might be able to do it.

CC told me to eat 1200 cals a day so thats what I have been doing. I only went to the gym twice last week but I am planning on going 5 times this week and burning 700 cals.

 

Can you lose more than 2 pounds a week?? It's possible, but definitely not recommended. Everybody's body is different when it comes to losing weight. Some people can diet/exercise and lose the 2 pounds a week easily, while others may only lose 1 pound a week. The 1200 calories you mentioned is a bare minimum that women can eat and function normally. However, again, everybody's different. I did a Basic Metabolic Rate, or BMR on the information you gave, and it shows just for proper body function, you need 1499 calories per day. If you exercise 5 times a week, your will need more calories for fuel, so now you are looking at 2323 calories a day. To lose 2 pounds of weight, you would need to shave off 1000 calories a day, or take in 1323 calories. Anything less than that would go below the 1200 calories bare minimum. Any fewer calories, and your body will stop burning extra calories, and go into what's called starvation mode. That is a survival tool your body has to keep you functioning normal.

Original Post by linz6700:

5.8 feet 140lbs wanna drop 5-10 by mid to end aug.

 In order to do a BMR (Basic Metabolic Rate) calculation, I will also need your age, as that's part of determining where you stand calorie wise.

Original Post by linz6700:

Im super frustrated in order for me to lose weight ive got to work out like a mad woman -- twice a day for max results

 

AND eat like a mouse

 

what gives?!?!?!?!

Can we get some more information about yourself, such as age, height, weight, weight loss goals, etc.??

I tried eating slow a couple of times, and timing myself to see if my body did signal I was full after 20 minutes. The truth is, it did, around 20 minutes. One time it was about 22 minutes, the other time about 18 minutes. So, there is truth to this fact that if you eat slow enough, and chew your food, and savor what it is you are eating, your body will signal full in about 20 minutes.

Original Post by broom_closet:

I'm horrible! I ate 4 boxes of cereal in the past half a week....

I know, its not a balanced diet at all!!

Would it really be that bad to just eat cereal all the time just cause I want to.... :P

I wonder if I'd ever get sick of it!! But I guess nobody gets sick of their drugs/addictions eh....

 I don't know if they still run these commercials, but the ones for Special K from Kellogg's use to show commercials of people eating cereal even in the evenings watching a movie. If it's the kids sugary sweet cereals, I would definitely not eat them all the time. As for the Bran cereals, like Bran Flakes, Special K, Raisin Bran, etc. If I did that, I would probably only do it for no more than 2 meal replacements, leaving dinner as a regular meal. With whole milk at 150 cal. a cup, that could be around 300 calories a one cup serving. But how many of us eat only one cup of cereal and milk?? I know my cereal portions are usually close to 2 cups of bran flakes and 1 1/2 cups of milk, so that would take the calories up over 400 cal.

I think the biggest shock is when you first start off doing a food journal, and seeing what you are eating, and the calories they really are. My big shock was fast food. Whenever my wife worked evenings, I'd be too lazy to cook dinner for myself, so I would "rationalize' that I should get McDonalds, Burger King, etc. This would happen 2 maybe 3 times a week. When I started logging in what I was getting at fast food restaurants, I couldn't believe the number of calories per visit I was ingesting. Nowadays, I still visit fast food, but maybe once or twice a month, and even then I am cautious about what I will eat there, and also any impact from that day's food intake.

I don't doubt the calorie content for the cereal mixes they make are high. Just eating a bowl of sugary sweet cereals is bad enough. But you have to admit, whoda thunk of having a cereal-only restaurant that allows you to run wild with different concoctions and combinations of cereal and other ingredients??

On a sad note, I found out when I got onto the Cereality website that the Philadelphia location closed up. Couldn't believe that one , as they were near Temple University, and of course college students + late evenings study + cereal as comfort food = much dinero.

Yep, about all you can really do is get a ballpark figure.

I agree with you crazydiamondchrysalis, her stats don't add up.

lilwags08: Could you provide more information about yourself?? You mentioned you are 41, and weigh 170 lbs. with a goal of weighing 150 lbs. How tall are you?? How much weight are you looking to lose each week?? Finally, what is your current waist size?? The reason I'm asking about such things is that the information you provided in your first post doesn't quite add up. There are a couple of BMI calcuators I use, one that goes beyond just your BMI index, and I would like to plug your stats in to see what they say about your losing weight. If you could provide the extra info. I would really appreciate it. We can see whether if it's the diet part or the exercise part that needs to be adressed.

This is always a tough question to answer. As everybody so far has said, it depends on what works for you. For so long, the rule was to eat three meals a day, the reason being that after each meal, your body starts to get hungry for food about 3-4 hours afterwards. But again, everybody's different. Some people can eat 3 meals and it works for them, others need a couple of snacks between meals to help them out. If you are worried about snacking in-between meals, then your starting point should be to eat bigger breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. Also, eat long enough so that your brain signals to your body that you are full. This usually takes about 20 minutes from the time you take that first bite of your meal. Once you've done it for awhile, you can see if that's what you need to do, or you may have to try something different.

 I agree very much with "whatever works for you", but if whatever works is causing you to get frustrated and lose focus, then whatever works isn't working out. In the case of Xxana, weighing herself every day seems to be not helping her out mentally. She did comment on how she needs to not obsess herself with daily weigh-in's. The study you are referring to, which I did find online, only refers to people who have already made their weight loss goals and are trying to maintain their weight. It doesn't address the issue during the time someone is acutally trying to lose weight. Maintaining weight and losing weight are two different animals.