Advice Needed

[katiebridges]

Ok a bit about me first. Im 25 and Female. Weigh 125 Pounds, am 5'4...and a half and wear a UK size 8-10.

I havent got lots of weight to lose but in the last 6 months or so I've put on 7pounds and would like to lose them and get rid of the 'muffin top' Ive developed on my hips.

I have a desk job and don't normally do that much exercise but I walk to the station and from there to work so usually walk about a mile a day. I usually have a terrible diet of snacks rather than main meals but this week I've cut out the snacking in place of proper meals and have taken a 15-20 minute short run every other day to supplement my walking.

The below has been my food intake for the week but I haven't lost a single pound! This week I have been getting between 1200 - 1300 calories a day. I've cut out all drinks apart from water which Im drinking lots of.

Shouldnt I have lost at least a pound?

Advice needed. Thanks

Food Diary


Saturday

Special k
Beef Broth Soup and 2 Slices Brown Bead
Fish and Salad
2 Rich Tea Biscuits


Sunday

2 Rich Tea Biscuits
Special K
2 Slices Brown Toast and Half Can Beans
Large Tomato
Pork, Vegtables and Gravy



Monday

Special K
2 Slices Brown Toast and Half Can Beans
Grapes
Apple
Grilled Chicken and Salad
2 Rich Tea Biscuits
Banana


Tuesday

2 Rich Tea Biscuits
Special K
2 Slices Brown Toast and Half Can Beans
Banana
Grapes
Pork, Vegtables and Gravy



Wednesday

Special k
Beef Broth Soup and 2 Slices Brown Bead
2 Cheese Snack a Jacks
Fish and Salad and 1 Slice of Brown Bread



Thursday

2 Rich Tea Biscuits
Special K
Beans on Toast
2 1/2 Slices of ham
2 Snack a Jacks
Chilli
2 Rich Tea




Friday

Special K
Beef Broth Soup and 2 Wholemeal Rolls
2 Snack a Jacks
Large Tomato
Salmon and Vegtables
2 Rick Tea Biscuits

 

[Omega]

I dont know about the others - but for me a list of food and a rough total calorie number doesnt make a lot of sense. I only know how the foods that I eat add up... and how they break down nutritionally. I never eat most of the things that you are listing (e.g. biscuits, cereal, bread). I even had to stop eating most soup (including a lot of home made) because of the sodium content (stock cubes and paste is really high sodium)...

In fact - it could easily be that sodium is causing your problems. Add in the fact that most women do not lose weight every week of the month due to water retention due to TOM - there is every chance that your problem is water retention alone since you are just looking at a 7 day window.

My best advice is to log things in - that way we will see not just the calorie total - but the break down of nutrients. It is hard for me to say whether you are getting enough of anything from that - especially considering that so much has no quantities...

If you are not hitting the following targets - tighten that up and see how you go.
protein - 63g minimum to 120g depending on the amount of exercise you are doing.
fibre - 25g minimum
calcium 1000mg minimum
sodium 2400mg maximum
incorporate healthy fats - but you do not want your fats exceeding 30% of your diet

drink at least 63 fl oz water a day - I am a similar weight and 2 litres covers it.

a 40, 30, 30 percent split of protein, carb, fat is considered to be balanced.

You may well have to increase your calories but that should be ok as long as you are in deficit (and you will see that from the calorie balance).

If you are hitting those targets then post a query in the advanced weight loss section so that other people are likely to look in. Here - you are kind of limiting yourself to UK members seeing your query.

I see that for exercise you are limiting yourself to walking and running. I think that you would benefit from doing other forms of exercise - because for people with your BMI - the problem is often more one of toning than of weight as such... I suggest that you read the exercise section. I personally think that things like pilates have helped me in this area.

Even if losing weight well - the best that you could hope for is about a pound in a week. The 1 to 2 pounds a week that you hear of is actually better described as about 1% of weight per week. People with more weight to lose tend to lose more. Since a lot of people weigh between 100 and 200 pounds you can see where the idea came from... At your weight - you are doing well if you lose 1.2 pounds a week. That will feel more like the one pound that you seem to have anticipated losing as a bare minimum.

 

[BigBob]

What's a pound amongst friends.

I'm no expert, but my understanding is that there are so many other factors - like fluid retention - that you shouldn't expect to see 1lb reflected in the scales. ( I went up 4lbs in a weekend - I'm sure it was due to sodium intake - but it doesn't half challenge the motivation)

One thing that helps me - when the scales are not reflecting my valiant efforts is this :
1lb of fat = 3,500 Calories.

So, every time you've expended 3,500 calories more than you've eaten - 1lb of fat has to go.

The "numbers" on the scale may take a little while to reflect this "fact" - but they will eventually.

So for me - it helps to record the calories I've consumed. There are also sites where you can calculate your BMR (ie how many cals a day you'll burn) and with that - I can be sure that I am consuming less calories than I'm expending.

So, in summary, I don't think you should expect to see a 1lb change in weight - which means if next week you're up 1lb on the scales - don't worry about that either. Keep to the diet, keep maintaining the log and give the scales time to catch up with you. They will.

 

[Omega]

The great thing about fitday is that you log both your food and your exercise. It also takes in your profile info so knows your weight, age, gender etc.

It then not only calculates the basic BMR - but adjusts it to take into account your lifestyle and exercise.

It then shows your calorie balance by comparing to your food.

It is an amazing tool to get for no money...