Putting on weight instead of losing ?

DisneyLover

Hello all.

Stats: 5 foot 11. Female. HW: 235. CW: 224.

I lost 4 pounds in December and haven't lost any since !!

I had Binge Eating Disorder so for me the most important thing is to cut down. I used to be very ill and could eat 8 + bowls of corn flakes when I got bad.

Anyway, I'm walking 3-6 miles a day and average steps is 10'000. I'm working out once a week at a boot camp class for 45 mins and doing two workouts at home 30-40 mins.

I'm eating well, calories ranging from 1'700-2'000. I'm eating all the proteins - eggs, chicken etc. The right carbs... Ahhh I'm so frustrated. I'm allergic to a lot of things and have had a sore stomach for a week so I don't know if I'm just bloated.

I want to start running but I have weak legs from kidney disease and at my weight I don't want to start running yet but still

Going to Electric Picnic in Sep and wanted to be down to 200 but now I dont think thats going to happen

How do you all stay motivated ?

Maglight

Not sure what your age is but for argument I've assumed 25 as you are going to EP.

A 5 foot 11, 25 year old female who weighs 224 pounds has a basal metabolic rate of 1845 (slightly less if you are older). That means you need 1845 calories per day just to keep your body running. Based on the exercise schedule outlined you are moderately active. This gives you a Total Daily Energy Expired (TDEE) of 2,859. That's the number of calories you need to consume each day to maintain your current weight at your current activity level.

To lose one pound per week, you should reduce your daily TDEE calories by 500. That means a daily maximum calorie intake of 2,359.

Your current calorie intake should have you on track to lose 1.5 - 2 pounds per week.

Are you tracking everything you eat? MyFitnessPal is really helpful for this. Are you weighing and measuring your portions accurately or just eyeballing them?

If you are sure you are tracking correctly then just stick with it. The weight will start to drop again. You have already made progress and are probably feeling better than before you started this journey. Focus on your wins to date and don't let yourself slip back into old habits because of frustration. It will happen for you. Good luck

DisneyLover

Maglight wrote: »

Not sure what your age is but for argument I've assumed 25 as you are going to EP.

A 5 foot 11, 25 year old female who weighs 224 pounds has a basal metabolic rate of 1845 (slightly less if you are older). That means you need 1845 calories per day just to keep your body running. Based on the exercise schedule outlined you are moderately active. This gives you a Total Daily Energy Expired (TDEE) of 2,859. That's the number of calories you need to consume each day to maintain your current weight at your current activity level.

To lose one pound per week, you should reduce your daily TDEE calories by 500. That means a daily maximum calorie intake of 2,359.

Your current calorie intake should have you on track to lose 1.5 - 2 pounds per week.

Are you tracking everything you eat? MyFitnessPal is really helpful for this. Are you weighing and measuring your portions accurately or just eyeballing them?

If you are sure you are tracking correctly then just stick with it. The weight will start to drop again. You have already made progress and are probably feeling better than before you started this journey. Focus on your wins to date and don't let yourself slip back into old habits because of frustration. It will happen for you. Good luck

Sorry I forgot to put my age but fair play, Im 25 in July ! I'm using My Fitness Pal and for steps etc, my FitBit. I'm not measuring portions, I know calories when I look at food from my old ED.

Yes I suppose you're right. Might just weigh myself in a few weeks instead

Mellor

Maglight wrote: »

That means you need 1845 calories per day just to keep your body running. Based on the exercise schedule outlined you are moderately active. This gives you a Total Daily Energy Expired (TDEE) of 2,859.

That way over estimating imo.
1 45 min boot camp, and 2 home workouts is not going to burn that much extra over a week.
Using that 1845, sedantry calories (x1.2) are about 2215. That's probably a reasonable calories burn on non training days. 2 hours a week of training is maybe 700 cals total. Which averages out to +100 cals per day. 2315 total
2400 tops with incidentally activity.

@DisneyLover, hay many calories does your fitbit ssay you burn on non-training and training day? (bare in mind it tends to overcount a little)

Maglight

She is also walking 3-6 miles per day. Maybe use the lightly active conversion of 1.35 instead. I would classify her activity as sedentary

Mellor

Maglight wrote: »

She is also walking 3-6 miles per day. Maybe use the lightly active conversion of 1.35 instead. I would classify her activity as sedentary

The 3-6miles per day isn't additional "exercise". It's just her incidental daily movement counted by her fitbit. It's about 10,000 steps a day. Which is usually considered a reasonable everyday target.

DisneyLover

Mellor wrote: »

The 3-6miles per day isn't additional "exercise". It's just her incidental daily movement counted by her fitbit. It's about 10,000 steps a day. Which is usually considered a reasonable everyday target.

Yeah, I wouldn't even count that. I work in a hospital so 10'000 is my average 4/5 days a week.

I went all out for 7 days and lost nothing. Of course then I went mad over the weekend and ate dominos and everything else. Its so hard cause at my weight it should be coming off

DisneyLover

Mellor wrote: »

That way over estimating imo.
1 45 min boot camp, and 2 home workouts is not going to burn that much extra over a week.
Using that 1845, sedantry calories (x1.2) are about 2215. That's probably a reasonable calories burn on non training days. 2 hours a week of training is maybe 700 cals total. Which averages out to +100 cals per day. 2315 total
2400 tops with incidentally activity.

@DisneyLover, hay many calories does your fitbit ssay you burn on non-training and training day? (bare in mind it tends to overcount a little)

So do you recommend me doing the boot camp class, 2 at home workouts and then like 3 brisk walks a week ??? I have kidney problems and the boot camp wrecks my back and my calves (where the kidneys effect) so I can only go once a week atm

Alf Veedersane

DisneyLover wrote: »

Yeah, I wouldn't even count that. I work in a hospital so 10'000 is my average 4/5 days a week.

I went all out for 7 days and lost nothing. Of course then I went mad over the weekend and ate dominos and everything else. Its so hard cause at my weight it should be coming off

A week isn't enough time for it necessarily to show up.

Not sure what "going all out" involved but it's possible it wasn't the solution. You're looking for a lifestyle change that you can maintain on the long term rather than going all out to lose weight and then falling back into old habits.

Pick elements of your diet to improve, make better choices that you can sustain and trust in the process.

Professor Moriarty

DisneyLover wrote: »

Yeah, I wouldn't even count that. I work in a hospital so 10'000 is my average 4/5 days a week.

I went all out for 7 days and lost nothing. Of course then I went mad over the weekend and ate dominos and everything else. Its so hard cause at my weight it should be coming off

There's your problem right there. 1 average Domino's Pizza = 1700 calories.

DisneyLover

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

A week isn't enough time for it necessarily to show up.

Not sure what "going all out" involved but it's possible it wasn't the solution. You're looking for a lifestyle change that you can maintain on the long term rather than going all out to lose weight and then falling back into old habits.

Pick elements of your diet to improve, make better choices that you can sustain and trust in the process.

Im cutting down a lot. I'd easily eat 10 + chocolate bars a week, 2 pizzas, chips everyday, full fat coca cola... So I've cut down to like 2 chocolate bars, 1 pizza, chips twice.. I know its a lifestyle but its so annoying. It should be coming off. I lost 40 pounds before and it was no bother.

Alf Veedersane

DisneyLover wrote: »

Im cutting down a lot. I'd easily eat 10 + chocolate bars a week, 2 pizzas, chips everyday, full fat coca cola... So I've cut down to like 2 chocolate bars, 1 pizza, chips twice.. I know its a lifestyle but its so annoying. It should be coming off. I lost 40 pounds before and it was no bother.

You did it for a week though. Any change or lack thereof across 7 days isn't indicative of whether something is working or not.

And cutting back on the bad choices may be stopping any gain but maybe it's not enough to generate a loss.

Either way, you need to be patient and give it more than a week, which may have not even been 7 days.

Mellor

DisneyLover wrote: »

So do you recommend me doing the boot camp class, 2 at home workouts and then like 3 brisk walks a week ??? I have kidney problems and the boot camp wrecks my back and my calves (where the kidneys effect) so I can only go once a week atm

Stick to the current 3 workouts make them count. Then really focus on your diet. To put it into perspective;
Those 3 workouts are say 1000calories.
A pizza, 2 chips, 2 chocolate bars is 3000-4000calories.

Cutting down might stop weight gain. But it might not be enough for weight loss.
My advice would be to aim for 2000 a day. Track EVERYTHING on MFP. Don't count exercise, treat it as a bonus. If you want a treat at the weekend then save up a few hundred calories by not using up your 2000 allowance. But actually check how much you saved. Don't just assume it was a pizza and chips wortg

Zillah

DisneyLover wrote: »

So do you recommend me doing the boot camp class, 2 at home workouts and then like 3 brisk walks a week ??? I have kidney problems and the boot camp wrecks my back and my calves (where the kidneys effect) so I can only go once a week atm

People in comas who haven't moved in ten years remain a healthy weight because their diet is controlled by their carers. Exercise is good and helpful but it is not the solution. You can't beat yourself up with exercise for a week to purge the sin of eating, that's not how the body works. Eating is good and healthy and you'd die without it, but it needs to be what your body needs, not what your cravings demand.

Your diet is where the problem lies and your diet is where you'll find the solution. Obviously you can't just click your fingers, especially with your background, but you need to make steady and permanent changes and think about what weight you'll be six months, a year and ten years from now, not what the scales will say next week.

Macy0161

Mellor wrote: »

The 3-6miles per day isn't additional "exercise". It's just her incidental daily movement counted by her fitbit. It's about 10,000 steps a day. Which is usually considered a reasonable everyday target.

Would 10,000 steps not be considered more than sedentary though?

Alf Veedersane

Macy0161 wrote: »

Would 10,000 steps not be considered more than sedentary though?

Possibly but trying to gauge how many calories makes up the TDEE in order to eat at a deficit, you're better off to err on the side of caution.

Mellor

Macy0161 wrote: »

Would 10,000 steps not be considered more than sedentary though?

The sedentry multiplier equates to about 400 calories burned through activity (after I rounded up). A 10,000 step walk is maybe 500 calories. When you take out the energy you'd burn staying in bed (as it's already counted in your BMR) it's in the right ballpark.
Maybe with other activity it's a little low, but I'd bet it's closer than the near 3000 estimate.
With weight loss it's definitely better to underestimate rather than overestimate imo

FizzleSticks

This post has been deleted.

DisneyLover

FizzleSticks wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

I've gone to gyms around my area and none of them suit me. I have a bike and an exercise bike at home. Im wondering if 3 workouts a week - 30 mins - like 10 mins kettlebells and 20 mins of bike is enough with 2 30 min brisk walks and one 40 min bootcamp class a week.. Im finding it so hard to get motivated. It should be falling off me !! I went up to 16'8 last week and as of today I'm 16'4. But still I wanted to be like 14'7 for Electric Picnic Sep 1st. Ughh

DisneyLover

Mellor wrote: »

Stick to the current 3 workouts make them count. Then really focus on your diet. To put it into perspective;
Those 3 workouts are say 1000calories.
A pizza, 2 chips, 2 chocolate bars is 3000-4000calories.

Cutting down might stop weight gain. But it might not be enough for weight loss.
My advice would be to aim for 2000 a day. Track EVERYTHING on MFP. Don't count exercise, treat it as a bonus. If you want a treat at the weekend then save up a few hundred calories by not using up your 2000 allowance. But actually check how much you saved. Don't just assume it was a pizza and chips wortg

I tried doing cold turkey then after 4 days went mad lol. I'm trying to do 90/10 ? So I'm aiming for 1'700 day so 1'190 'bad' calories a week.

I work in an ED and get an average 5 hours a sleep 5 days a week and 10 hours on my days off. I don't know if this is effecting weight loss and diet that much though.

I've started eating breakfast. I didn't eat it before. I can't eat before 9 am cause it sets my IBS off lol.

This is the diet I'm gonna be aiming for, let me know if I should change it ?

Breaky: Porridge with fruit or wholemeal toast with s.egg / beans.

Snack: 2 portions of fruit.

Lunch: Lean protein, veg, mash, 1 small butter. I have to say lunch time in work is the worst - is a small portion of chips that bad ? Or is it ok twice week ? Also going to try bring tuna in.

Snack: Glenisk high protein yoghurt, cashew nuts, small portion dark choc chips.

Dinner: Whatevers at home. Sounds lazy to say I'm exhausted from work, but I am. Sometimes I can have my lunch at 2, a snack then get home at 10 pm and have say sweet and sour chicken and rice.

Mellor

DisneyLover wrote: »

I've started eating breakfast. I didn't eat it before. I can't eat before 9 am cause it sets my IBS off lol.

I have a coffee at 9, I usually don't eat until 10 or 11am.
It's not an issue.

Macy0161

DisneyLover wrote: »

This is the diet I'm gonna be aiming for, let me know if I should change it ?

There's nothing "bad", well maybe the chips (but you know that yourself if you're honest), but imo it comes down to portions. Like how much porridge, how many slices of toast, how much yogurt?

There's a few things that I'd say you'd have to watch - the scrambled eggs, pure eggs or butter and milk in the milk too? The mash, the same, just potatoes or with butter and milk?

fussyonion

OP, I have IBS and I definitely think it impedes weightloss when it flares up. This has been my experience & I've been on a weightloss journey for 21 months now.

Bianca Crystal

Zillah wrote: »

DisneyLover wrote: »

So do you recommend me doing the boot camp class, 2 at home workouts and then like 3 brisk walks a week ??? I have kidney problems and the boot camp wrecks my back and my calves (where the kidneys effect) so I can only go once a week atm

People in comas who haven't moved in ten years remain a healthy weight because their diet is controlled by their carers. Exercise is good and helpful but it is not the solution. You can't beat yourself up with exercise for a week to purge the sin of eating, that's not how the body works. Eating is good and healthy and you'd die without it, but it needs to be what your body needs, not what your cravings demand.

Your diet is where the problem lies and your diet is where you'll find the solution. Obviously you can't just click your fingers, especially with your background, but you need to make steady and permanent changes and think about what weight you'll be six months, a year and ten years from now, not what the scales will say next week.

This is so true! it's all about food. I'm 5 foot 9 and I used to try to lose weight with exercising/jogging/walking 10000 step a day or more and didn't lose anything. I guess my body adjusted to all those exercising. I also tried paleo, low carb that didn't work either. I tried low calory diets (1200 a day), it worked for some time and then I gained it all back. 
And finally, I decided to go healthy instead of skinny. I switched to healthy hi carb low-fat nutrition (whole grains, potatoes, vegetables, greens, fruits). At first, I didn't lose weight eating everything I wanted even though it was healthy. But when I began eating smaller portion sizes strictly 4 times per day (total 1800-1900 calories) then my weight began melting without any exercising!!! when I don't need to lose weight I eat around 2000-2300 calories of healthy stuff a day and don't gain any weight anymore. Walking and boot camp is great for health in general, but losing weight is all about food!

DisneyLover

Bianca Crystal wrote: »

This is so true! it's all about food. I'm 5 foot 9 and I used to try to lose weight with exercising/jogging/walking 10000 step a day or more and didn't lose anything. I guess my body adjusted to all those exercising. I also tried paleo, low carb that didn't work either. I tried low calory diets (1200 a day), it worked for some time and then I gained it all back. 
And finally, I decided to go healthy instead of skinny. I switched to healthy hi carb low-fat nutrition (whole grains, potatoes, vegetables, greens, fruits). At first, I didn't lose weight eating everything I wanted even though it was healthy. But when I began eating smaller portion sizes strictly 4 times per day (total 1800-1900 calories) then my weight began melting without any exercising!!! when I don't need to lose weight I eat around 2000-2300 calories of healthy stuff a day and don't gain any weight anymore. Walking and boot camp is great for health in general, but losing weight is all about food!

Ive lost one more pound in 10 days lol.

Im eating 1800-2200. I eat fine and then binge every couple of days, thinking that I might have binge eating disorder - Youre not meant to think about food 24/7..

If its all about food Im screwed that way so lol

Alf Veedersane

DisneyLover wrote: »

Ive lost one more pound in 10 days lol.

Im eating 1800-2200. I eat fine and then binge every couple of days, thinking that I might have binge eating disorder - Youre not meant to think about food 24/7..

If its all about food Im screwed that way so lol

Just because you binge doesn't mean you have binge eating disorder. It could be that you're trying to go too far one way that you lose discipline easily. Or you might not want it enough yet.

DisneyLover

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Just because you binge doesn't mean you have binge eating disorder. It could be that you're trying to go too far one way that you lose discipline easily. Or you might not want it enough yet.

Nope I had it a few years ago. I used to eat corn flakes til I felt sick. I started counting them and was eating up to 12 bowls a go. Im thinking cognitive behavioral therapy or an ED clinic ?

DisneyLover

And Im addicted to sugar !! If I have a snickers, Ill have at least one more. Addicted to soda too ! Sucks

Bredabe

Have you had your thyroid tested?
Could you be pregnant?

I have IBS too, its a B*&^h when you dieting!

Alf Veedersane

DisneyLover wrote: »

Nope I had it a few years ago. I used to eat corn flakes til I felt sick. I started counting them and was eating up to 12 bowls a go. Im thinking cognitive behavioral therapy or an ED clinic ?

CBT would definitely be useful by the sounds of it.

DisneyLover

Bredabe wrote: »

Have you had your thyroid tested?
Could you be pregnant?

I have IBS too, its a B*&^h when you dieting!

Not pregnant - having a nice time without men for a while lol. Never had my throid tested ?? And its awful Im bloated all the time and feicin cramps!