Little help...! Conflicting information on weight loss?
I generally think I am pretty clued up on the best way to lose weight, but there are so many conflicting opinions that I sometimes feel like my head is going to explode! Don't eat too low as it risks slowing your metabolism, but if you eat too much it is stored as fat, it isn't what you eat but how much you eat...no wait, it is actually what you eat that matters......ahhhh!!!
I am a 23 year old, 5 ft 9.5 active person, and I weigh 150lbs. I would love to drop 10lbs. I do cardio 6 days a week, and weight and strength training 2-3 times a week. I vary my calorie intake, with the maximum being 1800 and minimum being 1200. For breakfast I have yoghurt, lunch I have chicken salad and fruit, afternoon I have a snack bar, dinner I tend to have a healthy Weight Watchers ready meal. I also take supplements. Some days I eliminate carbs completely and really up the protein I am eating. But....my weight always stays the same.
Would anyone be able to advise me on why this is? Thank you in advance! :-)
My guess is that it´s because you are already at a healthy weight (right in the middle of the range) and you are doing an excellent job of maintaining your ideal weight.
Original Post by mephyle:
My guess is that it´s because you are already at a healthy weight (right in the middle of the range) and you are doing an excellent job of maintaining your ideal weight.
Uh, what she's doing is definitely not maintenance bc I have similar stats (5'9"...probably 5'9.25" since it's not exactly on the mark, 149 lbs) and my maintenance is 2050 cals but more like 2500-2700 because I train.
@kabellasmile: Whoa your stats are eerily similar to mine. I'm almost the exact height+weight, doing strength training 3 times a week and aerobics 6 x a week. My original goal was to get to 140 as well but now I got a inch-based goal not a weight goal (see last paragraph below).
The only thing I spot food-wise is that 1200 cals/day is too little on your lower calorie days. 1520 should be where your BMR is at, so you should eat at least 1520 and just exercise extra for the calorie deficit (or just settle for the smaller cal deficit). I would continue what you're doing except vary between 1520 and 1800/day, with one day per week at 2200 cal/day to keep your metabolism fast. Other than that I'm sure you're taking the right vitamin/fish oil/etc.
Also read up on carb cycling. Basically you eat the same amt of protein every day (~150g) but moderate your carb intake to high, low, "no"-carb days.
If you're really desperate, trying eating "whole foods"...no foods with more than 1-2 ingredients. Ex: a piece of chicken breast, some broccoli, some carrots, some quinoa. Also eat "clean"...no preservatives or artificial sweeteners/coloring. I haven't followed this particular advice myself since I am happily addicted to chocolate and JIF (yes, HFCS and trans fats...but my sanity is more important) for an occasional treat. I've seen it work wonders on girls and guys cutting down body fat % though (6-packs on a girl).
Exercise: try switching up your exercise routine. If you've been doing the same exercises for a while your body could be used to it. I like plyometrics (jumping rope, jump squats, jumping jacks, etc...) and I see a lot of trainers suggest it on women who are only trying to lose 10 lbs.
Finally: I'm sure you've heard this already but try measuring body fat loss with inches instead of weight. You could be building a lot of muscle which would look much leaner than fat and thus keep you at the same weight but make your clothes fit better. During my 1.5 month "plateau" in weight at 150lbs, I lost 1 inch off my waist and 0.75 inch off my hips. At this time I built quite a bit of definition in my bicep/tricep/shoulder/back/quads/etc. I can also see a 2-pack (lol) on my abs. Now I'm back to losing weight (verrrry slowly...0.5 lbs/week max for me because my higher calorie day is 3500 cal and as mentioned I don't eat only whole clean foods).
:) Good luck!
Use this http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expend iture-advanced never eat below your BMR (BMR is the number of calories your body would require to stay alive if you were in a coma) try to keep a deficit of 500 calories a day from your TDEE, with that you should lose a pound a week. Because you have so little to lose losing any faster than that may be difficult to maintain. try to not have a deficit of over 1000.
Original Post by diyaliu:
Original Post by mephyle:
My guess is that it´s because you are already at a healthy weight (right in the middle of the range) and you are doing an excellent job of maintaining your ideal weight.
Uh, what she's doing is definitely not maintenance bc I have similar stats (5'9"...probably 5'9.25" since it's not exactly on the mark, 149 lbs) and my maintenance is 2050 cals but more like 2500-2700 because I train.
@kabellasmile: Whoa your stats are eerily similar to mine. I'm almost the exact height+weight, doing strength training 3 times a week and aerobics 6 x a week. My original goal was to get to 140 as well but now I got a inch-based goal not a weight goal (see last paragraph below).
The only thing I spot food-wise is that 1200 cals/day is too little on your lower calorie days. 1520 should be where your BMR is at, so you should eat at least 1520 and just exercise extra for the calorie deficit (or just settle for the smaller cal deficit). I would continue what you're doing except vary between 1520 and 1800/day, with one day per week at 2200 cal/day to keep your metabolism fast. Other than that I'm sure you're taking the right vitamin/fish oil/etc.
Also read up on carb cycling. Basically you eat the same amt of protein every day (~150g) but moderate your carb intake to high, low, "no"-carb days.
If you're really desperate, trying eating "whole foods"...no foods with more than 1-2 ingredients. Ex: a piece of chicken breast, some broccoli, some carrots, some quinoa. Also eat "clean"...no preservatives or artificial sweeteners/coloring. I haven't followed this particular advice myself since I am happily addicted to chocolate and JIF (yes, HFCS and trans fats...but my sanity is more important) for an occasional treat. I've seen it work wonders on girls and guys cutting down body fat % though (6-packs on a girl).
Exercise: try switching up your exercise routine. If you've been doing the same exercises for a while your body could be used to it. I like plyometrics (jumping rope, jump squats, jumping jacks, etc...) and I see a lot of trainers suggest it on women who are only trying to lose 10 lbs.
Finally: I'm sure you've heard this already but try measuring body fat loss with inches instead of weight. You could be building a lot of muscle which would look much leaner than fat and thus keep you at the same weight but make your clothes fit better. During my 1.5 month "plateau" in weight at 150lbs, I lost 1 inch off my waist and 0.75 inch off my hips. At this time I built quite a bit of definition in my bicep/tricep/shoulder/back/quads/etc. I can also see a 2-pack (lol) on my abs. Now I'm back to losing weight (verrrry slowly...0.5 lbs/week max for me because my higher calorie day is 3500 cal and as mentioned I don't eat only whole clean foods).
:) Good luck!
Ditto Ditto Ditto!!
The only thing I would disagree with is "if you're desperate try whole foods"; I would stick with whole foods regardless. Best way to improve your health overall! Packaged or processed foods contain far too many "fake food" ingredients, keep it fresh, in season and varied!
Also, 150 at 5'9? Sounds like your body isn't interested in losing any weight! :)
Haha thank you....do you not think I need to, then? x
you are at a healthy weight if you want to be a different size take up weight training and cardio to "sculpt" your body
Thank you, but that is what I am doing currently....just wondering if there was anything huge that I was missing. x
My daughter is almost 5'8 and weighs 146. She looks incredible, nice strong shoulders, lean legs and a little waist. She was a competitive athlete for 6 years and then for the past two has played only sports at school and has joined a gym. She does cardio each visit, but also weight trains.
Add some weights, maybe take a look at crossfit.com and change it up! Clearly there is some reason you think you need to lose weight, perhaps it is simply because you step on the scale... chuck it! :)
Hmm maybe my next course of action should be to become a competitive athlete! Haha. Thank you so much for your advice!! xx
Haha well actually I do work in Marketing...did you want to buy a snuggie?! :-P
I am a 23 year old, 5 ft 9.5 active person, and I weigh 150lbs. I would love to drop 10lbs.
Freaky! My stats are exactly the same as yours except I'm now at 148. I'm trying to get down to 145lb (65kg) but I have really been struggling. Its almost like my body just doesn't wont to go any lower. Every time I relax in my diet or exercise regime my weight almost imediatley bounces back to 69kg (~153lbs) and wont budge. So I'm trying not to let the numbers get me down and focus on fittness and body composition instead.
5.9 and 150... hmmm... I think that there's no need to lose any weight, remember that because you are training you are building up muscle which is probably why you are not "seeing" weight loss. So where there is not fat, there is muscle, which is a great thing! I think you should maintain this weight and not go lower than that.. good luck!
