Ladies I don't think I understand this concept of calorie counting. I joined fitday.com and it tells me what calories I need to eat to lost weight. I just joined it this last week. The problem I am having is that I keep GAINING weight. I don't think I am understanding how I am supposed to count and log these. Please please help! I am getting so very frustrated!!!! I am afraid if this keeps going I may quit and I don't want to! I want to change my life and be successful at this. I am not able to exercise a lot but I am doing the 30 day challenge on the Wii Fit and of current. Once I get stabilized on that I will add more in. I also and EXTREMELY hungry since I started working out. Does anyone else have this problem? Please help....Any advice is appreciated.
Make sure you are paying attention to portion sizes, and remember that not all calories are created equal. ie- 100 calorie packs may fit into your daily calorie allotment but probably don't fill you up at all, and certainly don't add much nutritionally to your diet. As far as exercise, if you can't do a lot at once, break it up. 30 minutes of exercise a day is still 30 minutes whether you do it all at once or three 10min sessions or six 5min sessions!
The problem with some of those sites and programs is that they use a certain formula to calculate your calories based on your body weight. The issue is that muscle consumes more calories than fat, and at a higher weight your body weight is made up of a larger percentage of fat than the calculator assumes...does that make sense? So, I personally find that these calculators WAAAAAY overestimate how many calories I should eat. When I am less than 250 or so, it might be closer, but at my current weight, they are way off. There is just too much fat on me for that formula to work.
So I don't know how many calories you are eating, but if it's more than 1800 I would say drop down to 1600-1800 and see if that helps.
Also you say you keep gaining, how long have you been at it? If it hasn't been 2 weeks yet, I would give it a teeny bit more time. You body might be adjusting or retaining water or something and you'll see it start to drop off soon.
As for the wii fit....well...I think it's a bit of a joke as far as being a workout but if you are starting from being completely sedentary, it might be a good thing to help you get started. Just remember that when you've gotten used to that, you'll need to branch out a bit.
If you are moving more, and eating around 1600-1800 calories and STILL not losing, then I think you should see your doctor...you might have something else going on.
Thanks Ashley! Those are great tips! I never thought of breaking down my workouts like that. Does Yoga count as a workout? I don't sweat when I do that. I am hoping to work up to being able to do the P90X. But I think that is a ways off. I can do the Richard Simmons intensity. I am one of those women who has a ton of workout videos....not done most but I could rent them out. I would love a weight loss partner. I want to be accountable to someone. I tried the hubby but he lets me slip.
Ahhhhh, sorry, my mistake! That might be way better than the wii fit, I have not tried it.
Okay, in my opinion (and I am nobody, not a dr, not an expert, etc) that is too many calories. How did you lose the 10 lbs you've lost so far? I would suggest you try the 1600-1800 range and see if that suits you better.
Do you have netflix? There are a lot of workout videos on there that you can stream to your tv with your wii. I like to do the zumba-ish ones. It doesn't matter if you are uncoordinated or feel like you have to stop and march in place for a minute, because you're in your own house.
Those calorie calculators can be WAY off when it comes to calculating the calorie needs for someone our size. Also, it can't take into account the different metabolism rates of the individual either so I would say that you need to play with your calories a bit.
Maybe try to knock it down to, say 1500 - 1800 a day and see what happens but remember to give it a fair chance. Your body will need some time to adjust to the new way of eating and sodium consumption can lead to water retention which can equal a significant weight gain seemingly overnight. Drinking plenty of water is one of the big keys to combating this problem.
How many days have you been gaining? You can't look at short term fluctuations. This is a marathon, not a sprint. If you have just increased your activity level or changed what you are eating you may have a temporary gain but it does not mean you are doing anything wrong or should abandon your plan. Also your weight can fluctuate up and down throughout the month for no apparent reason. You need to look at the overall trend, not the daily number.
Actually your calorie level seems quite reasonable at your weight and activity level. Stay the course for now and re-evaluate in a few weeks.
Lifeasme,
It is a great plyometric and running workout type. It is what I am doing with hubby. I want to add some other type of workout with it now that I am not as sore. Also our little reward for working out for a week is to go sit in the in laws hot tub. What a great reward! I never had one and I love it! We are talking about if we each lose 100 lbs we will look at buying one for ourselves. I will check out the streaming videos on netflix. Thank you for the great ideas. I am going to bring my calories down to 1800 for a week and see where I am.
I think how I lost the 10lbs was I cut out fast food and soda. That made me drop those pretty quick. I am also not buying any preprocessed food. No bagged salad or anything. I am making my own. (As much as possible.) Thank you so much for all the great advice!!!!
Desidoo, i think you're doing a great job, and that you're probably eating around the right number of calories for you! How do you track your calories, do you weigh your portions or base it on volume measurement (tablespoons, cups, etc)? I remember the first time i weighed the food I was eating and realized the difference in weight between "1 tbsp" and "30 grams" was huge. I was underestimating my calories eaten by quite a bit.
I am going by volume measurement. I'm guessing down the road I need to invest in food scale. I am also looking at the bodybug. It looks like a good tool but I am trying to decide if I want to spend that much money on it. Thank you so much for the info.
THANK YOU THANK YOU TO ALL YOU OTHER LADIES AS WELL!!!!!!
Ladies I need help
