NEED TO LOSE 20 pounds in 6 months! HELP!`
Im 17 and im celebrating my debut on may next year. i want to look great and not be overweight for once. but my weight is acting like a madman.. I started 150 lbs and i've already lost 6 pounds. now i down to 144. but whenever i eat more than my usual which is below 1000 cals, i go back to 148 or higher\. i work out everyday for 40 mins doing crunches and ab trainings but i don't see results. i really want to reach my goal of 125 pounds but it seems impossible to achieve because of this situation. I NEED YOUR HELP. any tips and information would do. thank you
You're going to need to reset your metabolism. It's been squashed by chronic undereating, I'm afraid.
Eat more, about 2000 calories a day. Do this for three weeks. You'll gain a tiny bit of weight at first, but it'll be mostly food weight in your colon. It'll level off soon. If you haven't started losing weight by the end of those three weeks, drop down to 1800 calories, no lower. You should lose weight on this.
If, after another three weeks at 1800 calories, you still aren't losing anything, add in some extra cardio exercise. Do NOT eat less. You're a teen, and your body absolutely REQUIRES that much food to survive.
Sorry hon, I know it's tough. But it's the only way to get your body's metabolism purring again :)
Exactly what vbeattie said - you need to eat more, not less, your body is currently running in starvation mode and will continue to hold onto the calories you give it until you start giving it what it needs to function correctly.
Also, try to make sure that you have a well rounded source of nutritious foods including sources of protein (such as lean meat, fish, poultry, eggs, milk based foods, beans, legumes, etc) - this will allow you to build some muscle which will in turn allow you to burn more calories.
I agree - the food choices are the biggest thing. Real food, more protien, lots of veggies and frequent small meals will get your metabolism kicked back up.
I love that you set aside 40 min a day! good job. What you do in those 40 min is critical. Read up on strength training and alternate strength with cardio. (There is plenty of tried and true information on this site about workouts. Your crunches won't do the trick but have no fear as the other things will get you where you want to go if you put your mind and body to it! Good luck and we want to see an updated photo on your debut!
You'd be better off spending your 40 minutes walking briskly, or doing any kind of cardio training, or doing strength training exercises. Working on your abs doesn't burn much calories, so you won't burn a lot of fat and you'll never see your abs if you still have fat on top of them. Good luck!
Hey, I'm in a fairly similar situation to you. I'm 20 and started out at around 150lb (I work in kg, and I was about 68) but I have to lose a load of weight for sport (I do lightweight rowing, which has a maximum weight limit or 59kg, or 129lb) so I know how you're feeling! So far, in the last 2 months I've lost just over 3kg and am 139lb as of this morning. The way I achieved this was by calculating my Basal Metabolic Rate (which takes into account your sex, age, height, and weight, plus your activity level) and then subtracting 500cals/day. You can find the calculation here:http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ bmr-formula.php
I have a nutritionist, so I'm getting a lot of help with this, but it definitely can be done! For example, I'm 164cm, and was 68kg. As a 20yr old female, my BMR was 2,300, which takes into account the fact that I do around 20 hours of exercise/week. So I restricted my calories to 1800/day and I'm feeling great. The key is to cut unhealthy fats. My nutritionist tells me to avoid foods with more than 30% fat (cut out cheese, cream etc), but drink skimmed milk and eat fat free yoghurt so you still get your calcium. Avoid processed foods. Also, keep track of everything you eat, it will really help you if you understand what you're eating. Lean protein and the right amount of carbs will actually help you lose weight safely and efficiently. My goal is 500g or 1lb per week, but I've found myself exceeding it some weeks when my training is more intense.
As a couple of other people have said, it's also really important to do more than just abs workouts. Do lots of long, relatively low intensity cardio sessions. I do around 15 hours per week of cardio at a level that's enough to get me sweating, but not so much that I couldn't keep up a conversation with somebody next to me. Go running, use a cross-trainer, whatever works for you!
Anyway, I hope this helps, and good luck!
Also if you can divide the meals into many smaller meals you will pep up your matabalism. I have a timer set for 3 hours, I never go longer with out at least 100 cal "snack". Doing this has helped me keep my energy up all day. Next name your plan, mine was "just get off the couch" I used it to remind me that if I ever catch myself sitting for an hour I need to "just get off the couch", I started just taking a walk around the block, that led to more and more...So fat I am 45# down since the ned of June.
But I used this tool in this site that gives advice on how many calories i should intake a day and it says 1,674. should I follow it or should I just stick to 1800 cals a day? wouldn't it make me fatter? I'm 5"3 in height by the way.
THANK YOU.
Original Post by vbeattie:
You're going to need to reset your metabolism. It's been squashed by chronic undereating, I'm afraid.
Eat more, about 2000 calories a day. Do this for three weeks. You'll gain a tiny bit of weight at first, but it'll be mostly food weight in your colon. It'll level off soon. If you haven't started losing weight by the end of those three weeks, drop down to 1800 calories, no lower. You should lose weight on this.
If, after another three weeks at 1800 calories, you still aren't losing anything, add in some extra cardio exercise. Do NOT eat less. You're a teen, and your body absolutely REQUIRES that much food to survive.
Sorry hon, I know it's tough. But it's the only way to get your body's metabolism purring again :)
But I used this tool in this site that gives advice on how many calories i should intake a day and it says 1,674. should I follow it or should I just stick to 1800 cals a day? wouldn't it make me fatter? I'm 5"3 in height by the way.
THANK YOU.
Original Post by mythals:
Exactly what vbeattie said - you need to eat more, not less, your body is currently running in starvation mode and will continue to hold onto the calories you give it until you start giving it what it needs to function correctly.
Also, try to make sure that you have a well rounded source of nutritious foods including sources of protein (such as lean meat, fish, poultry, eggs, milk based foods, beans, legumes, etc) - this will allow you to build some muscle which will in turn allow you to burn more calories.
what type of foods should I eat? can I just eat salad and chicken? or maybe sandwiches and fruits?
THANK YOU
Original Post by kyfox:
I agree - the food choices are the biggest thing. Real food, more protien, lots of veggies and frequent small meals will get your metabolism kicked back up.
I love that you set aside 40 min a day! good job. What you do in those 40 min is critical. Read up on strength training and alternate strength with cardio. (There is plenty of tried and true information on this site about workouts. Your crunches won't do the trick but have no fear as the other things will get you where you want to go if you put your mind and body to it! Good luck and we want to see an updated photo on your debut!
I will certainly update a photo of mine on my debut.. I just hope I look better when that comes :(( IM SO DESPERATE RIGHT NOW..
So I should do strength training with cardio right?
THANK YOU
Original Post by Tate65:
Also if you can divide the meals into many smaller meals you will pep up your matabalism. I have a timer set for 3 hours, I never go longer with out at least 100 cal "snack". Doing this has helped me keep my energy up all day. Next name your plan, mine was "just get off the couch" I used it to remind me that if I ever catch myself sitting for an hour I need to "just get off the couch", I started just taking a walk around the block, that led to more and more...So fat I am 45# down since the ned of June.
There's a problem with food every 3 hours because I go to school and teachers don't allow us to eat in the classroom. I don't think I can eat every 3 hours.
THANK YOU
I'm no expert but like what everyone else said, you're not eating enough. I'd say 1600-1800 is a good place to start but it really just depends on how active you are and how rigorous your workout is. I'm doing the "couch 2 5k" running program right now and I'm on week 2 so even though I go "running" everyday I'm only running like 5-8 mins and walking the other 12. So that can really make a difference in how many calories I burn.
If you're worried about eating too much just eat stuff that's actually good for you. Try not to eat too much processed food(chips, sugary drinks etc.), limit what you can and try cooking more. It really helps. Also go for more fruits and vegetables. Salad is good but it depends on your definition of salad. I had a friend who I used to eat with in the dining hall on my college campus everyday and we'd both get salads. Mine consisted of baby spinach, red leaf lettuce, carrots, onions, radishes, cucumbers, etc. with some light Italian dressing. Her salad was iceberg lettice, drenched in ranch with a teaspoon of shredded carrots on top...that's not the type of salad that's going to help you lose weight so hopefully your salad isn't like hers.
One more thing, try to eat lots of fiber, if you're eating processed food like bread or instant oatmeal try looking for high fiber whole grain options. For example I eat instant oatmeal for breakfast most mornings because it only takes a minute in the microwave and it's yummy :D most of them(even the generic brands which is what I buy) have high fiber options that have 10 grams of fiber. Fiber is your friend. <--just make sure you check how much sugar is in it since some have more than others and less sugar is better.
Hope that helps :D good-luck with your weight loss. I'm sure you can do it, you're already stepping in the right direction by going for it! If you start to lose motivation or think about eating crap that you know you shouldn't just find pictures of dresses for your party and tape them on the fridge and your mirror. It really helps me stay focused on what I want.
