The Sedentary Effect

Hi there everyone,

I was wondering that if you guys would happen to know if my sedentary lifestyle is nullifying all my chances of further weight loss.

To begin, I'm 19 years old, 5ft 4in with my weight fluctuating between 115-120 on a monthly basis for the past two years. I didn't bring up a scale to my university dorm for fear of the consequences of disappointment, so every time I return home, I get a chance to weigh in.

I've been calorie counting since early December and have noticed little to no change in my figure. I always make sure to eat the minimum 1,200 and allow myself room for 100 additional calories or more for miscalculations and more active days.

I’ve been doing the 7 day Slimquick Cleanse this past week and completed the process last night, but I have noticed no change in my body or appetite.

I am also restricted to choices provided by the campus cafeteria, but I have never ventured to eat a slice of greasy pizza, fried chicken, or even white bread.

I always drink plenty of water, tea, coffee and reasonable amounts of diet soda.

What am I doing wrong, if anything? I’ve always been obsessed with my health and my weight and I try to make all the right choices, but I feel like I’m not going anywhere. Have I hit my sedentary plateau?

Well, my breakfasts usually consist of 3 or 4 of the following:

• Mini-Wheats or Raisin Bran with skim milk
• Plain oatmeal made with water
• Apple
• Yogurt

At lunch

• Always a large salad, consisting of lettuce, tomato, cucumber, celery, tofu, tuna, baby sweetcorn, green peppers and a minimal amount of dressing.

• Always a bowl of soup, usually around 80-100 calories.

• Sometimes a small scoop of ice cream or a bowl of yogurt with sprinkled cereal on top.

• Sometimes an apple

At dinner

• Always another large salad with the same ingredients as before, but with additional chicken, fish or turkey breast.

• Always a bowl of soup

• Once or twice a week a scoop of ice cream

• Sometimes A fruit

Snacks (usually four or five times tops a week)

• Granola bars such as All-Bran or Special K (around 100 calories)

• Thinsations (100 calories)

I may be completely wrong, but my diet seems reasonably tailored towards weightloss, but my lack of overall activity and the long hours I spend sitting in chairs may be deducing my chances of shedding some unwanted pounds. In the last 31 days, my fat intake is at 19%, Protein at 22% and Carbs at 59%. Could that be my problem? Too many carbs or a high sugar intake? My stomach always feels bloated, which I associate with my high fiber intake, but I always have A grades on the analysis page. I walk around school everyday and I've visited the gym in spurts for short cardio workouts.

Any hints, tips or comments? Thank you so much for your time, it’s greatly appreciated!

other than being short on protein, what you're eating looks reasonable.

but i have no doubt that becoming more active (and eating more) would be of benefit.  it doesn't take much to have an effect, especially if you've been sedentary for awhile.  maybe enlist a friend in your dorm in an evening run/walk plan or a class?

are you sure that adds up to 1200? and anyway at just 19 you should be eating 1500 minimum. and your body doesn't need to lose anymore weight.

all of these are probably the reason for your lack of loss but i'm sure other people will go into much better detail so just wait for them to reply. i'm sure they'll say pretty much the same thing though!

http://www.kidsnutrition.org/bodycomp/bmiz2.h tml

Do yourself a huge favour and click the above link.  If you enter your stats you'll find that you're not even close to being overweight.  You're very, very slim, in fact.  BMI 20.6  You have no 'unwanted pounds' ... except in your own imagination.

Someone who is 19 and has your stats, even if you're not vigorously active, needs about 2000 cals a day to maintain her weight.  The most sedentary, bedridden teen needs 1800.  So eating 1200 calories means you are starving.  And that is incredibly unhealthy which is at odds with your claim that you are obsesssed with your health.  Yes, you'll bloat because your stomach acids are churning away trying to digest nothing.  You're risking all kinds of medical problems associated with malnutrition.  You're not losing weight because your metabolism has slowed to a crawl but your body will be under stress...

Being health-conscious is normal but being obsessed to this extent is not normal.  When someone who is slim, young and beautiful thinks they need to lose weight, they have a problem.  And your behaviour fits a lot with 'disordered eating'.

Do think this through and, if you can't see yourself eating normally voluntarily then talk to someone close.  Your parents, a university counsellor or your doctor.

Thank you again for both of your replies.

Gi-Jane, I visited the link you provided and entered my stats, because truthfully what you said shocked me:

"A 64-inch, 116 pound 19 year old girl has a BMI of 20.0.... This suggests that this girl is at a healthy weight. A healthy weight range for this particular girl would be from about 110-152 pounds."

So, in a sense, if I were to drop more then 6 pounds, I would then infact be dangerously slim.

So if my calorie intake is currently incredibly unhealthy, what do you suggest? Should I add tablespoons of peanut butter to my diet? I just don't want to blow up all of a sudden because I'm changing my intake. How can I slowly adjust to a benefiting, health-consciously higher meal plan without packing on the pounds?

All the foods I eat, which are regularily in large amounts, are nutritional and highly recommended. No word of a lie, I'm usually the last person to leave the cafeteria because I've gone to get seconds. My peers even acknowledge the fact that I have a hearty appetite. I'm trying to double back on myself and what I'm writing to see if I sound unreasonable, or commiting myself to some form of extreme self-deprivation, but it just doesn't communicate that way to me. I wouldn't say I starve myself and I certainly wouldn't say I'm on the verge of disorder (I understand that denial is the first step ;) ), I'd just like to lose the excess flab that's gathered around my bum, waist and hips without the thought of endangering myself.

don't you get tired of always eating the same thing for lunch and dinner?

soup is usually really high in sodium.  i would at least eat something more spontaneous for lunch.

btw you can lose more weight by being sedetary, but you won't get any "slimmer".  i've lost too much weight, and being sedetary, it's all muscle weight and i'm as flabby as ever.  i never starved myself but i did have a select number of "clean foods" that i rarely deviated from and i don't think in the long run it was healthy for me to be so strict and regimented.  i would suggest to diversify your eating, and don't restrict your calories for at least a couple days a week.

I actually love what I eat. When I was little, whenever I would cry, my mom would always give me some variety of fruit or vegetables to shut me up. We can always crack jokes that she made me an emotional eater.. but really, she did.

I agree with you on the high sodium intake that comes with eating so much soup, but it's so damn cold here that I find it most comforting. Most else of what I eat contains minimal amounts of sodium so I guess it compensates; I could be wrong.

There isn't much more spontaneity offered in the cafeteria. I put whatever I can into my salads, such as deli turkey slices, corn, chickpeas, etc.

And as for the flabby "slimness", I agree with you on that one sister. I may be small, but I've got no visible toneness. My body simply doesn't look nice. So I may not need to lose weight, I just need to get up off my butt and start working out, which I'm dreading.

I have 5 and 10 lb weights in my room, but there isn't much space for mobility. And I have floor push up bars and a leg toner that have been sitting in my closet since December break.

I guess I'll get on that.

My real question after all that: should I really up my intake?

Original Post by 8jk7:

So if my calorie intake is currently incredibly unhealthy, what do you suggest?

I'm glad you're thinking of eating more.  I suggest you broaden the scope of what you eat and you increase the portion-sizes of proteins, fat and the complex carbohydrates.  Even a slice of  that 'greasy pizza' might not go amiss.    Currently you're filling up on 'large salads' which are very healthy but basically bulky quantities of fresh air.  Fine if you want to lose weight, not so good if you're chronically undereating as a result.

A bigger breakfast helps a lot.  Some eggs, maybe as well as the cereals.  At lunchtime have a chunky sandwich with the salad rather than a bowl of soup.  At suppertime add a jacket potato to the salad and chicken, or a serving of pasta perhaps.   If you add a few snacks during the day.... cereal bars, nuts and raisins, for example... you can easily make up the 700-800 cal shortfall

With adequate nutrition and some light exercise you will probably find that your muscle-tone improves and that your body firms up.  Undereating as you have been your 'flab' is more likely to be due to muscle-wastage...

Since you are already at a healthy weight, exercise and toning is probably the answer to flab you speak of.  There is such thing as 'skinny fat' and building some muscle through eating a calorie surplus (yes, eat more than you burn) and weight training will help build muscle, which should help burn some of the excess flab while allowing you to stay a healthy weight.

You should eat to gain muscle for a few weeks, yes, you will gain a little, but it will be muscle, if you are working out and eating lots of protein, then you can safely cut calories to lose fat without ever putting yourself into the underweight category.  www.bodybuilding.com has a lot of info for women about gaining muscle and body sculpting, and as long as you aren't working out 2 times a day and taking major suplements, you won't get bulky and manly because women just don't bulk naturally.  We have far too much estrogen for that.

I think being totally sedentary and cutting to lose at your size and weight will be very hard and probably unhealthy.

Edit:  I say that what you will gain is muscle based on your very healthy, low-fat diet.  Not because eating to gain = muscle.  Just to clarify, eating to gain muscle takes a strict diet, but you already have that, you just need more calories.

I think you should try doing weight training. I'm in a similar situation where my weight is fine, but I still feel flabby. I'm 5 lbs lighter than I was in high school when I did sports all year, but I don't feel as good or fit. I know I'm personally missing the muscle I used to have. Good thing weight training is so much more pleasant to me than cardio.

Read The New Rules of Lifting for Women by Lou Schuller (I should get a commission as I am always reccomending his book!). Check out the TNRLW group under Fitness here on cc. You are thin (maybe even skinny fat). You do not need to lose weight, you need to gain muscle (which will make you gain weight but look better, so don't worry about the scale!) Double check your calorie calculations. Cafeteria food is notoriously high in salt AND fat, though you seem to be eating lots of "real food", fruits, vegies, salads. Lots of salt and fat in soup and deli meets. Follow gi-jane's advice... gradually increase your calories to the 2000 range and lift! Enjoy college!

Just a quick update:

I hit a little over 1,500 cals today, first time I've done that in a while. I also left my cave and killed 300 of those calories playing water polo for a first time... my arms are either on fire or slowly decaying. Water sports = ouch. Especially when most of your physical activity comes from rare trips to the common room.

Hope all's well with everyone,

Happy counting!