[Sarah Ann]

Hiya Stef

I hope you can help me - I am getting VERY confused.

Basically I am eating 1500 cals a day and I am walking (on the Moors) and jogging on a rebounder - and between them they use about 500-600 cals a day, according to my pedometer. On top of this I have taken up swimming once a week for an hour and this week I have started doing a Power yoga video every day which takes about 45 minutes.

I am not cheating on the calories - everything is weighed and I keep a log of both my calories and my exercise - so I'm not fooling myself - but I just can't understand why this week I seem to have gained 1lb since Monday.

Veggie has suggested that I might not be eating enough - could that be an answer?? Could it be something to do with the yoga which I started on Monday?? I don't like the idea of cutting back my calories any more.... HELP!!!!

[stef]

Sarah Ann,

You do need to eat more. Your daily energy intake seems to be less than 1000 Kcals after exercise adjustment. THIS IS A STARVATION DIET! You probably need to be KEEPING about 1500 kcals AFTER exercise.

The idea is to cause an energy deficit, so you eat about 2000, work of 5 - 600 and are left with 1500 kcals to live off! Presently you are working off vital calories. So much so that your body thinks it is being starved. Consequently it is storing EVERY calorie you eat, in order to preserve vital function (heart, lungs and brain). The digestive system is one of the first functions to shut down when energy input is low, so it is possible to gain weight this way.

Check out WW and SW diet and exercise programmes. You will see that they allow about 600 more kcals a day for those adding exercise to their diet regime.

As for the amount of exercise you are doing a day my own research shows that you need to be doing about 1hour a day (7days a week) to get any help with weight loss. This is backed up by very recent, but small studies in USA and Australia. So you aren't doing too much, but you don't really need to be doing any more. It really does seem to be the kcals you consume that needs to be adjusted.

Please get back to me if you need any more info, but the bottom line is up the cals by about 500 a day and let time take it's course. You can't continue as you are now without storing up problems for yourself.

Good luck, it's great to know you are aware that you need to adjust what you are doing - I'll help whenever I can! Stef

[flumper]

wow sarah what great advice just before the weekend , so tell us what are you going to use those extra calories on!!!!!!

[Sarah Ann]

Thanks for that Stef. I did wonder if it was something like that, but it is reassuring seeing it written down by you. I don't know what to do now.... I don't often feel very hungry any more (strange, but true)! I wasn't really doing the extra exercise to lose weight - it was more to try and tone up and lose this wobbly tummy.

Time to have a bit of a re-think!!!!

I am really enjoying my exercise just as it is (even the yoga this time) - so I think I will increase my calories rather than reducing exercise. Not sure what on though - maybe a bigger breakfast and lunch.

[flumper]

sarah why not use them at supper time then, while kevin has his supper you could have toast or something, that way you dont miss out before bedtime while keving goes to bed all full and satisfied

[Sarah Ann]

Brilliant idea, Kim! I should have thought of that.... its the only time of day I feel at all hungry.

[Sarah Ann]

Think I have got it sorted out in my head now....

Brekkie: 300 cals (stays about the same)
Mid morning fruit snack: 80 cals (same)
Lunch: 350 cals (increase of 100)
Mid afternoon fruit snack: 80 cals (same)
Dinner: 800 cals (increase of 100)
Supper : Whatever is left over.... probably about 300-400 depending on how much exercise I have done.

Maybe a bit more on Mondays when we go swimming....

Gosh - it sounds a lot! Stef - if you get to see this - would you say this is a reasonable breakdown??

[stef]

Hmmmmmmmmm!

Try increasing the breakfast allowance. It is ABSOLUTELY the most important meal of the day. If your bowl of cereal is c200 kcals including the milk then add some fruit to it and a round of toast WITH jam/marmalade/whatever. That should increase it to about 500kcals.

My daily eats/exercise goes like this

7 am: B'fast 1: Fruit only smoothie @ 160kcals
7.30 - 8.15: Swimming @ c.340kcals
8.30: B'fast 2: Cereal, banana, toast and coffee @ 460kcals
11 am: Fruit + yoghurt (lo fat) @ 200kcals
1pm: soup + roll + fruit @ 350kcals
4pm: fruit @ 100kcals
6pm: fruit @ 100kcals
6.30 - 7.30pm: Teach or take part in aerobics @ 3 - 450kcals
8pm: Lo fat meal up to @ 600kcals

So Eats = 1970kcals
Exercise = c 700kcals
Leaves me with 1270kcals. A bit low but it leaves 200kcals for me to make a mistake with!!! Coffee with friends ALWAYS includes a sweet something!

If I don't do the evening class I eat my main meal earlier and drop one or both the afternoons fruit snacks. But then I normally eat a banana or have a round of toast about 11/2 hours before going to bed.

I eat the 2 bfasts so's as I don't exercise in a carbohydrated depleted state (this is bad news for exerciseing to lose weight).

I have difficulty eating all of it but I lost more weight and felt better when I got the hang of it.

Good luck! Stef

[Sarah Ann]

Thanks for that, Stef. You have given me some good ideas there - I need to eat lots and lots of fruit and vegetables because they keep my blood pressure down, so I like the idea of the fruit only smoothies.

I will TRY and increase my breakfast - but I am truly not a breakfast person.... its a hard struggle to eat the porridge made with skimmed milk which I force down at 6am right now. Pre-dieting I never used to eat anything until at least 3 in the afternoon. Maybe I'll have a banana just after it.

I did increase my calories yesterday and I feel a WHOLE lot better for it today. I slept much better and I didn't feel quite so irritable. Like Kim suggested I had a light snack while my husband was munching his way through his supper of two rounds of toasted cheese and ham sandwiches - he is trying to GAIN weight! Somehow it made the smell of that toasting cheese easier to cope with.

Fingers crossed for the scales on Monday.... just so long as I lose this pound I have gained I will be a happy bunny.

How's your weight loss going??