I'm not doing well. Thoughts?
My Fitness Pal put me at needing 1200 calories a day. For three weeks, that was plenty. I burn an average of 400 a day exercising, exercising 6 days a week, and some days I eat those calories back, some days I don't, I just try to listen to my body. For 3 weeks, I was losing at a steady pace.
My HW was 211, but that was while 9 months pregnant with my third child. I got down to 180 in the first couple of weeks after her birth and over the course of the past 18 months my body settled at 159.8 naturally. I started counting calories and exercising every day the second week in February and I have lost 11lbs and 12 inches since then, getting down to 148.8.
But, I am not sure I am doing what is right, or healthy, for my body.
For the past week, I have been starving! I am not doing anything differently than I was, I'm working out just as hard. My 1200 calories are clean foods; my family is on a fairly clean and restricted diet because of food sensitivities in my oldest child.
I am getting about 60g of protein a day. Between 15-22g of fiber per day. Aunt Flow/ TOM isn't due for another 9 days. I drink 100oz of water a day. I am 26, and 5'4".
I'm started thinking that 1200 net calories a day just wasn't enough, so I upped it to 1400-1500 and I have gained back a pound - I am 149.9, for 4 days in a row.
It seems that I can go back to 1200 a day and be hungry all the time, or I can go up to 1400-1500 and gain weight back. :/ I'm frustrated.
I work a physically demanding job - I am a "parts girl". I work in a parts house and I deliver auto parts. This means I am regularly lifting heavy truck batteries, brake rotors, etc. I move constantly, while carrying heavy objects. I work on planograms during slow periods, where I rearrange very heavy auto parts. I climb up and down ladders with heavy parts regularly. I assumed it was all of the calories burned at work that was causing me to be hungry all the time, but since I have gained a pound back, I'm second guessing.
I know this is choppy and rambling, but hopefully y'all can decipher it enough to tell me what you think I might could tweak.
I would love to hear from anyone who has experienced something similar, and what worked for you.
I have lost weight on low carb before, but it isn't a lifestyle that I think I can sustain. For long term purposes, calorie counting seems to fit best with my life. I did lose 30lbs counting calories when I was 18, but I was also taking Adipex, so I was never hungry then. My 18 month old still breastfeeds once a day, so I couldn't take anything now if I wanted to (and I don't). I did sustain that 30lb loss for 2.5 years, until I got pregnant.
UPDATE I upped my calories to 1400, and I am losing again, and finding it a thousand times easier! I burn about 400cal 6 days a week exercising, so if I'm hungry, I eat those back. I typically eat back around half of my exercise calories, sometimes more, sometimes less. I'm losing 1-1.5lb a week, and I'm thrilled with that.
Last edited by L J; 03-20-2013 at 04:43 PM.
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