Hi everyone!!! I am curious to know how many calories you take in? How many pounds do you lose per week? How often do you exercise?? If you are around my current weight this would be really helpful.
I am stuck!! I have change my calorie intake. I have increased my workouts. I just can't seem to get back into the groove of things. I used to take in 1800 calories and exercised 1-2 times per week and was losing pretty consistently. Then I had a plateau that lasted months. I just maintained during that time. I would zig zag calories, add more intensity to my workouts then the scale finally moved down 2 lbs. But here I am again almost 1 month later and still at the same weight. What is going on? Now I exercise 2-3 times per week and am taking in anywhere from 1500 to 2000 calories daily.
I aim for 1500 a day although there are plenty of days I only get 1200 and I very seldom go over 1500. I do no work out much - I walk the dogs but I walk them off leash so I just amble along and they run around. I never go much more than a mile, some of it uphill but otherwise not much of a workout. I also do a half hour, 45 minutes on the Wii Fit on five or six days a week. Also not really much of a work out. I tend to lose about 2 pounds a week.
Early diet (July-September): started at 300 lbs, exercised mildly: 5-10 minutes on the stationary bike twice a day, every day (all I could do!). I ate 1800-2000 calories a day, lost 2 lbs a week.
Phase 2 (October-January) started at 260ish, exercised moderately: 20 minutes on the bike in the morning, 30-45 minutes of walking at night, every day. I ate 1300-1400 calories a day, lost 2 lbs a week
Phase 3 (January-April) Started 220ish: exercised more heavily 30-40 minutes on the bike in the morning, started jogging intervals in my walks. Walk/jog 3 miles at this point. I ate 1500-1600 calories a day, lost 2 lbs per week.
Current phase (April- ?) Started 200. Exercising heavily. Quit jogging because of hip problems. Riding bike 90 minutes a day in two sessions, added hand weights while I am on the bike in the morning, added some pilates-type activities in the afternoon (about 20 minutes). Eating 1700-1800 calories a day. Weight loss much more erratic since I added strength training, but still averaging 2 lbs a week.
Each of these phases arose organically as my body's needs and capacity shifted.
My calorie target is 1800 but lately I haven't been meeting it, so more like 1300. I've switched to 95% whole foods, and I just seem to need less this way. I'm keeping my target at 1800 for now, but if this keeps up I will probably lower the target to around 1500...no sense eating food I'm not hungry for. Pounds lost each week 2-3, and exercise is not as good as it should be, 2 days a week of cardio, getting ready to add strength once I work out a program.
I'm in the same boat you are. I'll be stealing ideas from this thread as well. Only difference is I am working out 5-6 days a week. Calories are about the same, I don't go higher than 1900 though.
1800-2000. Been at it about 10 weeks, and lost about 10 lbs. However, I was only doing 30 min exercise 3x a week.
I know I'm going to have to bump that up because I'm on a plateau too. I'm going to add more days before I add more time. I'm not at ACSM guidelines yet.
ACSM suggests 30 min 5x a week to maintain health and reduce health risk. (Or 20 min cardio 3x plus 2 weight training workouts 2x)
To lose weight or maintain weight loss it suggests 60 to 90 minutes 5x per week.
I can't really tell you how much I lose a week, because I weigh each month, but I usually lose 5-10 pounds a month.
I aim for 1800 calories, but often end up around 1500. I exercise at least 30 minute 3-5 times a week -- biking, elliptical, or gardening at this time. I want to get back to doing aerobics tapes when my tendinitis stops flaring, and swimming, hiking, paddling when it's warm enough.
Currently I eat a whole foods diet, between 1200-1700 calories a day. According to my GoWear Fit, I burn between 2100 (sedentary day) to 2900 (really active day) calories a day.
I exercise at least 30 minutes a day, 6 days a week, and on 3 days I exercise about an hour and a half - combo of cardio and weights.
When I first started, I was losing 2-3 pounds a week. However, since I've kicked up the exercise, I've slowed down the loss to approx 1 pound a week. However, I've been losing inches rapidly, and I'm much stronger and fitter!
Oct 2009 - Dec 2009, 353 pounds, started watching what I ate, did not really exercise a whole bunch, walked maybe 1 or 2 days a week and lost 40 pounds by the end of December.
Jan 2010 - February 2010 Bought my GoWearFit armband and started counting calories. Eating on average 1500 calories a day. Started walking more frequently 5 days a week. Lost 11 pounds in January and 10 pounds in February.
Mar 2010 - May 2010 Still eating 1500 calories a day but the weight loss slowed in March/April and I had increased walking to 3 miles a day 6 days a week by end of April. March lost 10 pounds but April only 8.5 pounds, (I think). At the beginning of May I have started adding jogging in intervals to my walking routine of 3 miles. I have already lost more in May than I did in all of April.
I have hit several plateau's along the way. I just keep working through them, telling myself it is not about the scale moving so much as this is now my lifestyle, regardless of whether the weight comes off, because if I go back to my old habits, I won't maintain and I will be back where I started faster than I realize.
I've learned so much from others here on what they have modified when hitting plateau's. If you are not logging your food, then I would suggest starting and entering it in a online tool that can help you analyze what the nutritional value is of what you are eating so you can see that maybe you need to reduce the carb intake for the same amount of calories.
Thank you all so very much. Shmead..I really like the way you broke that down that is going to be very useful to me.
Seems like I have to add more workouts. I will bump that up to 4-5 times per week. Thanks again!
Adding in more workouts,yes, and sticking to the lower end of your calorie allotment on a consistent basis. Lots of people have a hard (or impossible) time losing while consuming 2000 calories.
I used the sparkpeople website to help me determine my daily calories.
I have some limited exercise abilities at this time - no weight baring exercises. I do some upper body stuff along with stretches and strengthening exercises - and a bit of cardio and chair dancing.
According to my exercise and goals - sparkpeople has suggested I should have between 1200 and 1550 calories per day.
I lose about anywhere from 4 - 8 pounds a month.
Last edited by Beverlyjoy; 05-17-2010 at 01:07 PM.
June-October: 1200-1350 calories per day, usually the lower end. Exercise 3-5 x weekly, swimming. Weight loss about 2-3 pounds per week.
October to January: Calories the same. workouts 3-5 x a week and focusing more on exercise. weight loss, 5-8 lbs monthly.
January to present: Calories 1300-1500, workouts 5 x weekly, running, and lifting. Weight loss about 1 lb weekly.
Age is a factor. I'm in my late forties and would not lose on a higher calorie allotment. Some younger people lose well on the higher end. I have upped my calories a bit because I couldn't stick to 1200 and run without being really hungry.
In the beginning I exercised little, and mostly focused on food and the weight came off fast.
Just curious....
Only difference is I am working out 5-6 days a week. Calories are about the same, I don't go higher than 1900 though.
