[audreymonroe]

Hey all. So two weeks ago I finally saw the 170's - I weighed in at 179.8. The next week I was up to 180.2, and this week I'm up to 180.4, and beginning to get nervous that this will continue. I'm not exactly sure what I am doing wrong. I'll break it down:
1) I'm averaging about 1200 cals a day (I didn't mean to go lower than 1400, really, but I quit drinking alcohol). At my height and weight (5'10'', 180), could my body be in starvation mode? Also if I stagger my caloric intake day by day, will that really help my metabolism?
2) I worked out 4 times last week and 2 times this week. I'm planning to step this week up to 4-5 times. In one workout session I usually get 30-45 mins of moderate to brisk cardio in, and only about 10 mins of strength. Would more strength help me lose?
3) I totally drink water - I promise, no problems there.
4) Food - It usually looks something like this:
B) eggbeaters or cereal (shredded wheat or cheerios)
L) chicken salad w/ salad spritzer, or 1/2 a turkey sandwhich
S) 1/4 cup unsalted nut mix, or 100 cal pack of whatever
D) chicken or salmon filet w/ steamed veggies --- any problems here?
5) I'm considering, instead of counting calories, going on a structured diet. Does anyone have any advice for pear-shapes who are about 30 lbs overweight?

Sorry for sounding somewhat desparate, but I do NOT want to backslide, and, honestly, I would love to be in the 160's by Thanksgiving when I go home and see my family, , which would require at least a loss of 1.5 lbs a week. Alright, let me know what you all think, and thank you if you made it to the end of this post!

[gailr42]

I hear your frustration! I don't have any advice except to be patient. I'm sure someone will have some hints for you. I am just being supportive.

[Azure]

I'd definitely re-evaluate your calorie intake. I'm much happier on 1400-1600 calories a day. I tend to stagger it so on days where I work out hard, I have more like 1600, but try not to get below 1400 any day. My BMR/RMR is about 1500 according to the online calculators I've used. I don't want to let my calories dip below that on average.

I'd suggest maybe trying to up your calories--see what your BMR/RMR is and go from there. I'm sure you'll be just fine. .2 and .4 of a pound are nothing--that's retaining a little bit of water or something...nothing to freak out about. But you don't want your metabolism drifting into neutral because your calories are too low. Experiment with them for a couple weeks and see what happens

[JayEll]

I agree with what Azure has said. I'd try upping your calories, especially if you are exercising that much. If it were me, I'd go up to between 1300 and 1400 per day to start and see what happens after a couple of weeks.

Also, you might want to adjust your nutrients so that your ratio of proteins/carbs/fats is closer to 30%/40%/30%--if you are counting calories. Different programs have different percentages--this ratio is The Zone ratio, and it works for me.

I don't know whether there are diets specifically for pear-shaped versus apple-shaped--maybe others will have recommendations. Be sure to check out the 3FC reviews of different plans (go to the main page and click Diets in the top bar).

Good luck! Don't worry!

Jay

[audreymonroe]

Thank you so much ladies. I'm going to up my cals to an average of 1450, and stagger them. I'm also going to try tracking my nutrient percentages, and really get my exercise in 5 days a week. Thank you again!

[veggielover]

I weigh about 2-4 lbs heavier around the time of ovulation and about 1-2 heavier than my lowest monthly weight around TOM. This is why I always weigh myself at the week after TOM to be more consistent. It may be the case for you where you're experiencing a little weight change for physiological reasons.

[GatorgalstuckinGA]

i third fouth etc the advice of upping your calories...i'm at your same weight and i'm loosing weight. I average about 1500 cal. I do have one day a week (not planned) where it seems to go higher...like 1800 and i've seen that really does help?? i think given exercise you aren't giving your body enough energy and its going into "starvation" mode. also it doesn't look like you have a whole heck of a lot of fruit and veggies...those really will help you. In addition to 3 meals i suggest 2 snacks. I eat most days 5 times a day...and i'm doing well with the weight loss thing. hope that helped

[audreymonroe]

Yes, that helps very much, thank you!!!