Work out less if you can't eat more?

Hello all!

My problem, like many of you out there, is that it seems like my weight loss is ?stuck?.  I?m a 23 y/o F, 5?5? and range between 132-135 lbs . . . I am going on vacation this summer and my goal weight is 130 lbs but would love to be 125 lbs.  Ever since Feb, I?ve been working on these last few pounds but they don?t seem to want to let go.  I started to really work out and eat healthy back in Feb and when I first started, I was about 136lbs so not much has changed on the scale (but a little has changed in inches because clothes fit a little better).  I know I shouldn?t be hung up on the number on the scale but I am because last year I got to 130lbs for another vacation and I want to get there again.  I know I am now not the same clothing size as I was then because the clothes that I purchased for my trip don?t fit as well as they did last year (I?m using those clothes as measurement in addition to the scale).

Right now, I work out 5-6 times a week, burn anywhere from 400-600 cals at the gym and *try* to eat 1400 cals a day (my expenditure is 1700 cals a day at Sedentary).  I find it kind of hard to eat the 1400 cals because (1) it?s quite a bit of food when you eat a lot of veggies and fruits and (2) psychologically, I can?t break that barrier of eating more.  But from what I?m doing now, I can?t seem to get that scale to move down . . . it does for a couple of days and then the next it?s back up and it?s so frustrating.  I?ve changed my caloric intake and my workout routine after 3-4 weeks of little or no progress ever since Feb.

So with all that being said, my question to all of you that have been successful in breaking that plateau (don?t know if I?m really at a plateau because I didn?t lose any real amount of weight in the first place), should I just work out a little less (say burn 300-400 cals max) and continue to eat what I?m eating now, or maybe slightly less (like 1300 cals)??  I?ve accepted the fact that I can?t eat any more so instead of hurting my body by depriving it of food, should I just ease up on the exercising?  

Any help/advice/thoughts would be appreciated!

Thanks!

My first impression is, as you have said, you are not eating enough.  With eating a MAX of 1400 calories a day and burning 500 of that off, you are at a daily net intake of 900 calories.

That is too low for your body to be happy and healthy.  So you are not on a weight loss plateau, you are simply not eating enough to convince your body to let go of the weight as it feels (and you are) starving it.

Sedentary of 1700 means a NET intake of 1200 at a minimum to lose weight.

You can look at adding some calorie right, healthy foods in your diet.  Things such as olive oil and nuts.  Both are very  nutritious and can easily add a few hundred calories in small amounts.

If you want to continue to work out, you need to eat more.  Aim for a 1200 - 1300 net intake.  this is after you have factored in your exercise.

Thanks for your input.

I actually do add olive oil to some of my foods and I eat almonds as part of my snack and I add flaxseeds to my meals as well.  It's just hard because I don't want to add TOO much.  The way I breakdown my meals is this:

Breakfast ~300 (1/3 cup oatmeal, 1 tbsp of flax, 1 tsp of peanut butter, 1 cup skim milk)

Snack~200 (1 cheesestring, 1 med apple, 8 almonds)

Lunch ~300 (varies from tuna with tomatoes and cucumbers with olive oil and vinegar dressing to chicken breast with lettuce & tomatoes...plus a piece of fruit as "dessert")

Snack ~200 (1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1/2 cup of yogurt, 1 tsp of flax)

Dinner ~ 300-400 (varies)

See those total numbers that I allow myself for each meal add up but really when you count the actual calories from the food, it's not really the 200 or 300 that I allow myself . .. so I don't get the full 1400. 

I realize that if I want to continue to work out as much as I do now, then yes, I'm going to have to eat more . .. but my question is really, if I don't want to eat more, would it be just as effective for weight loss if I just worked out a little less so I wouldn't have to eat all that much?  I would still be working out, just not as much.

FRUIT!  one of purest foods you can eat, especially on an empty stomach.  I can't imagine only eating 1/3 cup of oatmeal!  I'd have at least a cup.  Anyways - fruit is often hi-cal, and takes only 20" to digest if on empty tummy.  Quick snack.  Great for adding calories.  Z

>>> I realize that if I want to continue to work out as much as I do now, then yes, I'm going to have to eat more . .. but my question is really, if I don't want to eat more, would it be just as effective for weight loss if I just worked out a little less so I wouldn't have to eat all that much?  I would still be working out, just not as much.<<<

Yep, that would work fine.  I lost my first 20 lbs simply by working on the nutrition part of my diet.  I then clued in that exercise AND proper eating are the real keys to being healthy, so if you are still working out, then great!  Weight loss is 80% nutrition and 20% exercise.  Cutting a little exercise should be ok.

I?d aim for 3-4 hours of physical exercise per week.  So that would be 1 hr per day for 3-4 days, as a minimum.

You can lose weight by not working out.   If you are having such a hard time just getting 1400 and your body is starving since you burned 600 of that at the gym... so you only got 800... then you are in some serious problems.

SO many people go down this path and don't realize it.

And hey remember 1700 is without exercise.  If you burn 600 exercising then you burned 2300 for the day in expendature.

So eating more won't hurt your weightloss at all.  Infact it's the best way to get your body sculpted into the perfect shape to fit into those cloths again.

You could lose 10 pounds just dieting alone... but you could still have enough fat that those cloths don't fit as good as you want.

Food for thought.

But you should be eating more.

1200 + what you burn exercising + if you are on your feet most of the day another couple hundred calories.

Under eating is going down a very bad path.  Muscle damage, organ damage, eating disorders, and even death.

The exhaustion that over takes you eventually is reason alone to increase the calories.

I have gotten hooked on my daily work outs...

I feel wrong eating over 1500 calories...

But you reach the point where you know you are just going to have to do it.

You know this, I'm certain...

Because you answered your own question.