A lot of interesting ideas on this thread. Fortunately, there is science which when done correctly trumps opinions.
Muscle burns 3x as many calories as fat. A lb of fat burns roughly 2 kcals every 24 hours and a lb of muscle about 6. Hoping to put on a bunch of muscle to speed up your metabolism? Well - good luck with that.
A plant based diet is not superior for ... anything unless it is compared to a poor diet. Any diet based primarily on a variety of whole foods is going to work well. Genetics and lifestyle will determine what might be the best macronutrient breakdown.
As for your metabolism Emma, you could have it tested and find out for sure. You can get your BMR and total burn tested and see how few calories you actually burn but you would need to have it test several times at least to get an idea of what exactly is going on.
First, if you look at the studies upon which the calorie calculators are based the scatter plots show that most people fall along a fairly standard curve but there is deviation and there are true data outliers.
Second, people adapt at faster or slower rates than others in the face of declining or increased calories. In other words, if 1500 calories is matintinence you may need to drop calories far lower than expected to lose a lb a week due to your body quickly adapting in the face of reduced intake. Also, your body may not increase it's BMR, SPA and NEAT much in the event that calories are above maintinence.
Finally, you may be very efficient. Meaning that while your BMR might not be slow you could be very good at resting when you're not moving. Small movements over the course of a day can add up to a lot of calories burned.
Have you ever worn a bodybug (gowearfit)? I don't believe they are accurate in most people but what they are good at is measuring and monitoring movement. I wore one for three months and by using one I was able to get into the habit of moving around a lot as it became a bit of a game to see how many calories I could burn in a day outside of formal exercise. It's also when I realized how many calories you can burn just by walking.
A lot of interesting ideas on this thread. Fortunately, there is science which when done correctly trumps opinions.
Muscle burns 3x as many calories as fat. A lb of fat burns roughly 2 kcals every 24 hours and a lb of muscle about 6. Hoping to put on a bunch of muscle to speed up your metabolism? Well - good luck with that.
A plant based diet is not superior for ... anything unless it is compared to a poor diet. Any diet based primarily on a variety of whole foods is going to work well. Genetics and lifestyle will determine what might be the best macronutrient breakdown.
As for your metabolism Emma, you could have it tested and find out for sure. You can get your BMR and total burn tested and see how few calories you actually burn but you would need to have it test several times at least to get an idea of what exactly is going on.
First, if you look at the studies upon which the calorie calculators are based the scatter plots show that most people fall along a fairly standard curve but there is deviation and there are true data outliers.
Second, people adapt at faster or slower rates than others in the face of declining or increased calories. In other words, if 1500 calories is matintinence you may need to drop calories far lower than expected to lose a lb a week due to your body quickly adapting in the face of reduced intake. Also, your body may not increase it's BMR, SPA and NEAT much in the event that calories are above maintinence.
Finally, you may be very efficient. Meaning that while your BMR might not be slow you could be very good at resting when you're not moving. Small movements over the course of a day can add up to a lot of calories burned.
Have you ever worn a bodybug (gowearfit)? I don't believe they are accurate in most people but what they are good at is measuring and monitoring movement. I wore one for three months and by using one I was able to get into the habit of moving around a lot as it became a bit of a game to see how many calories I could burn in a day outside of formal exercise. It's also when I realized how many calories you can burn just by walking.
Goodluck
I agree, but weight loss is equal parts diet, health, emotional well-being and control.
My reasoning for suggesting a plant-based diet (paleo-vegan for me) has more do with a lot more thought goes in what you eat (at least for me, technically you could eat sweet potato fries all day in this diet). Just after grocery shopping today I already noticed I pay more attention to labels plus I have to make sure I am not deficient in any vital nutrients.
It is just a way of sort of psychologically conditioning myself as weird as that sounds.
There is a reason that there is no blanket diet for everyone and it has to do with their emotions, control and lifestyle background (basically how they were raised). There is lots of ways that a person can be successful in weight loss whether it is vegan, Mediterranean, Atkins or Weight Watchers but I was just suggesting one that I had read has worked for people and I am going to try. That may not be scientific but again my weight has a lot to with my control issues and Paleo was helpful with that and now I want to try to take it a step further.
Just another way I am different. I have been going to the gym for at least a year now. Doing weights about 3x per week. I am not saying I am "buff" but I have reasonable muscle. I typically go to the gym 3 x per week but recently, I went every night (for 6 weeks) and did cardio for about an hour, and you know what? Nothing. I had the same weight loss as when I was just eating less. I have always suspected exercise / weights just does not work for me OR I need to spend like 6 hours in the gym to get what *normies* do at 1 hour.
Suffice it to say I have gone to the gym my entire life. Been decently active and really haven't seen good results. Even looking to my mom... she was always strong as an ox. Routinely beating my brother in arm wrestling. But she could not eat a lot.
I don't mean this in a critical way, but I'm particularly curious about the parts I put in bold. What do you consider "doing weights"? What is cardio for "about an hour" to you? What is "decently active"?
Since you don't want to share your actual diet or exercise routine....how will anyone have a good enough picture to offer any insight?
Since you don't want to share your actual diet or exercise routine....how will anyone have a good enough picture to offer any insight?
I didn't ask you or anyone else to offer insight. I asked if there were other people like me out there that had an efficient body. That is the topic of the thread.
I am still seeking people who are like me and have an efficient body. Please post or PM me.
I didn't ask you or anyone else to offer insight. I asked if there were other people like me out there that had an efficient body. That is the topic of the thread.
I am still seeking people who are like me and have an efficient body. Please post or PM me.
But how will we know if we don't know more?
Person A might consider a good cardio workout to be walking on a treadmill, zero incline, 3 mph, for 30 minutes.
Person B might consider a good cardio workout to be jogging on a treadmill, 8 incline, 4.5 mph, for 45 minutes.
Person C might consider a good cardio workout to be running on a treadmill, 10 incline, 6 mph, for 35 minutes....and then running stairs for 10 minutes.
All can be considered cardio, and each will give you different results.
Person A might consider a good cardio workout to be walking on a treadmill, zero incline, 3 mph, for 30 minutes.
Person B might consider a good cardio workout to be jogging on a treadmill, 8 incline, 4.5 mph, for 45 minutes.
Person C might consider a good cardio workout to be running on a treadmill, 10 incline, 6 mph, for 35 minutes....and then running stairs for 10 minutes.
All can be considered cardio, and each will give you different results.
I agree with this. You may think you are burning lower than you are. And as John suggested you can get your basal metabolisc rate tested if you are very concerned. I didn't come to the conclusion that I tend to burn less calories than the average joe without some serious calculating over many years. Also your BP is not low, that's fine. Same with your resting heart rate, that's still within normal limits.
My BP runs around 90/60 on a good day, but sometimes is as low as 80/50, which is low but for me I'm ok. I start to feel unwell when I get into numbers like the 70s/40s...My resting heartrate is (when I'm not prego) in the low 50s, and occasionally in the high 40s, and I had a sleep study done several years ago, and I was told the next day that I had several times during the night when my heart rate was in the 30s. It was like this long before I was a runner, and I have been asked if I was a runner in my early 20s because of this unusually low heart rate. Your basal temp is fine. Mine is about 96.0 in the AM but I have done some reading that has suggested this may be related to my thyroid, despite being on medication. And my thyroid is not that off, without meds I only hav a tsh of about 3.0 which is on the border of the new normal range. My doctor treats it because I am very symptomatic at 3, but the hypothyroid symptoms stop when I'm in the 1 range.
What I was getting at was abnormally low numbers, which yours are not. I have theories about these numbers being connected to effiecently running bodies.
Anyway, if you are not willing to provide extra info then people will eventually stop helping you. Most people here have been doing this for a very very long time and some may have experience with different types of diet and exercise that may be more effective for you. I know for me, staying lower carbs helps a lot. But I don't know if you are already eating lower carb if you don't want to provide any info.
Also I have found that certain exercise does help as well, but the exercise description you gave is vague, like the other poster pointed out so I cant say "well try this or this, it may help".
Most of the time, with this being a weightloss forum, people are posting for insight and help to lose weight. Very rarely do we get posters that say I can't lose weight and I don't want help fixing it, I just want to meet other posters that can't lose either. That's why you are going to get a lot of responses trying to assist you in how to get through any challenges to achieve your goal. Saying you don't want insight on weightloss on a weightloss forum...well, come on now.
As for your metabolism Emma, you could have it tested and find out for sure. You can get your BMR and total burn tested and see how few calories you actually burn but you would need to have it test several times at least to get an idea of what exactly is going on.
I would suggest this, if you have come to the point where you are convinced that your BMR is that low. This would be your final confirmation, then you can go from there about possibly being on a medical supervised low calorie diet, or seek out medical professionals that have the education to advise you on how to go about healthy weight loss. Also, if you have the proof that you are burning as low as you think, you can take it back to your doctor and make sure they have checked every possible thing to be sure there is not an underlying condition causing this.
There is a lot of controversy over plant-based diets, with many people assuming that it is "dangerous" because you don't get enough fat/protein/b12, or whatever they want to claim. This isn't true, and there have been a handful of solid, independent studies on the benefits of sticking to a (delicious) plant-based diet.
If you're worried about your protein intake, think of it this way:
40 grams a day is more than enough for an adult woman.
My bowl of granola and almond milk this morning was:
approx 1 cup unsweetened almond milk: 2g protein, 4g fibre, 35 cal
approx 1 cup granola: 7g protein, 10g fibre (!!), 190 cal
1 small banana: 2g protein, 30-60 cal?, 1g fibre
that's 11 grams of animal, trans fat free protein just for breakfast. Super filling, SUPER delicious, 15 grams of dietary fibre, and all for under 300 cal.
Meat is totally unnecessary, and just think - your body, in all her infinte wisdom, doesn't always use all the protein you give her, because she doesn't always need it. What happens when she doesn't? she stores it to use tomorrow!
It is VERY hard to develop a deficiency eating modern diets, even when you are eating vegan.
If you'd like to give it a try, I have an endless amount of resources and support to provide!
So only one person responded. That person is 20 years older than me (and thus should have a slower metabolism) and actually eats more than I do and is a bit less active. So I have completely had it and decided to see the doctor. I hope that she will do what I ask and test what I ask... I know I may face and uphill battle.
My problem seems to be in the way of metabolism. I have high cholesterol. Even after losing weight my cholesterol went up. On a program of eating diet food. That makes no sense unless my body is not processing normal food properly. I feel like I have some sort of hypothyroid issue. While... my TSH always comes back normal... and well under three... I don't care.
I came up with a theory. Iodine deficency. http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2011/...iciency_01.htm. I have to be careful because too much Iodine can hurt you just as much as too little... but... it makes a ton of sense for me.
- from the day I was born my parents were on a low salt diet. I never eat salt.. I never put it on my food. I don't even cook with it. I usually substitute it in any cooking. What does table salt have ... iodine!
- according to this... much of iodine in salt is eliminated by cooking.. so you might think you are getting enough but you are not.
- my mother always had exactly the same issues as I do ... having to eat very little... she died of stomach cancer. According to the link, stomach cancer is linked to iodine deficiency.
- I have long suspected that working out hard actually DOES NOTHING for my dieting. Walking actually seems to be better.. turns out.. there is a reason... sweating can really reduce your iodine stores.
I am going to have my doctor test it to see if I am low but also eat more anyway. I had thought my multi had it in there but it does not.
So only one person responded. That person is 20 years older than me (and thus should have a slower metabolism) and actually eats more than I do and is a bit less active. So I have completely had it and decided to see the doctor. I hope that she will do what I ask and test what I ask... I know I may face and uphill battle.
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Only one person responded to what?? Did you start another thread somewhere?
To this thread. So only one person said they had the issues I did (by PM).
Ah, ok. Well definitely get to a doc, have them test your metabolism and go from there. Bring with you a food log to show her what you are consuming, and exercise, and sleep too. You may not want to post it here, but I can pretty much promise you that if you just walk into a doctor's office and ask them to do what you ask, it will not happen. However, if you bring the evidence on the first appointment (so do a log like the week leading up) it will give the doctor some idea of what's going on and they may be more willing to run the needed tests. There are A LOT of people that *think* they "can't" lose weight, and it turns out they are making errors and its not their metabolism, therefor you are in a tight position that you are trying to show the doctor you are not one of those people. Go prepared, have the food/ exercise/ and sleep (no harm in that) ready. Make sure you are specific with amounts, measurements, times, speeds on treadmill, weights etc. And this way you will already be one step closer to getting what you need to solve this. Good luck!
