Goal achieved

M

marmot

0
Hi all,

wasn't sure where to put this post but here goes. So after 3-4 months of work I have achieved my goal WEIGHT. I'm female 5 3, 23 years old and now weigh105 lbs down from 115lbs. Kept my calorie intake low, maybe lower then I should have, I figure around 1300 cal a day with essentially no cheat meals during this time.
I have weight enlarged because although I achieved my goal weight I still don't have the "shape" I want. Still have large (strong) leg and am v. small from the waist up. So not sure if I should try and loss more weight or just accept that this is the shape my gene dictate I should be. Workouts have been 5 days a week 30-45 min cardio followed by 1-1 hour 15 min weights. With one day of yoga and a rest day.
To the point. I am finding it hard to increase my calorie intake, because I guess I'm afraid I'll go backwards. I have restricted what I have eaten for so long that 1) I don't really feel like eating certain bad food (even though I know one should be able to enjoy treats once in a while) 2) I think that if I start eating bad food I wouldn't be able to stop i.e. a cheat meal becoming a cheat day! Has this kind of thing happen to anyone else before?
I really feel I should increase my calorie intake because my energy can be low sometimes and I want to be able to do other activity after the gym.
Sorry for the long draw out thread, any imput or shared experiences would be appreciated, cheers.
 
Congrats on your success....remember it well; cause later in life when you're older you'll gleefully reflect back on the "good old days" when simple diet & exercise was all it took to drop weight and get into shape. ;)

I don't endulge the concept of "Cheat days"....I think it's a turn-key to cheat-days and falling-off the wagon altogether. Sure, now and then we all have some food we shouldn't...but, well...ya know.

Again, congrats!
 
marmot said:
I have weight enlarged because although I achieved my goal weight I still don't have the "shape" I want. Still have large (strong) leg and am v. small from the waist up. So not sure if I should try and loss more weight or just accept that this is the shape my gene dictate I should be. Workouts have been 5 days a week 30-45 min cardio followed by 1-1 hour 15 min weights. With one day of yoga and a rest day.
Click to expand...

At your current weight of 105lb and height of 5'3", your body mass index (BMI) is 18.6, already at or below the low end of the "healthy" range (your previous weight of 115 gave a BMI of 20.4, near the low end of the "healthy" range). So it may not be a good idea to try to lose more weight. However, you can still try to get stronger and more fit, which can change your body composition (fat vs. lean percentage) and "shape" (you did not define what your goal in that respect was or what is unsatisfactory now).

If you believe that you are "skinny fat" (low weight / BMI, but too high body fat percentage), then it may be better to try to gain muscle instead of lose fat / weight, since too little muscle in a "skinny fat" condition may be functionally limiting. Also, more muscle will increase base metabolic rate (BMR), burning more calories even at rest.
 
Last edited:
thanks for the imput.
I figure my maintain calories is 2000 kcal, chose moderate activity. So I probably could increase my calorie intake. It is difficult to say exact calories because I am living with people at the moment, friends of the family, and they will start looking at me funny if I start measure EVERYTHING I eat. (they already give me weird looks for measuring my morning oats).
Yeah that is what I am worried about with my BMI and weight, thats why I don't really want to lose anymore weight. My goal is to have a particular shape rather then weight. The 10 lbs I lost seemed to mostly have come off my arms and waist, rather then my legs, where I genetically seem to hold the fat! I suppose the best bet would be to increase my calorie intake and to try and maintain the same weight, lowing my body fat and increasing my lean muscle mass, does this sound right? if so how do I go about doing this? cheers.
 
really i figured out that your mantenance level was about 2300 that might even be an underestimate, even so that would put a safe fat loss diet at 1800,thats probably why you didnt get the results you wanted your at way to low of a cut did u know that w/o excercise women arent suppose to drop below 1200 so your pretty close to that with excercise, i bet if you increase your calories slowly and continue your plan you will get the results you want your body's probably in starvation mode holding on to every bit of fat it gets from your diet
 
If you want to eat at maintenance, you might want to try just listening to your body. I personally believe our bodies are not made to be super skinny or super fat. If you are eating clean healthy foods, and avoiding refined white sugars, your body should know how much to eat. Just make sure you don't stuff yourself or leave yourself starving.

I read in my psychology text that when babies were given the opportunity to consume any natural foods, they would consume a certain amount of one food until they got enough of the nutrients in that food, and then would start to consume a food that contained a different nutrient that their bodies needed. They were actually consuming food based on what their body was telling them. However, when they started to consume refined foods, this all got thrown out of wack and they no longer were able to tell. This may be off topic, but I thought it was interesting.
 
Congratulations on getting your weight down and meeting your goals this shows real commitment and control over yourself. Keep this up and I am sure you will meet you future goals aswell.

In regards to your weight I wouldn't worry so much about the actual number as opposed to your figure and how you feel. It is easy to get in the mindset that eating nothing will lose you weight but this isn't necessarily ther best way to do it as you will also want to gain a bit of muscle to get you the shape you want and to make sure you stay healthy as well as thin and light.

You do nto necessarily have to have a cheat meal or day to increase your intake you can just eat more of the healthy foods you have been eating. BY making sure your food is still healthy but increasing your calorie intake to 1800-2000 of your 2300 maintenance you are still in a deficit that will help you make sure you dont put on unwanted fat but with weight training you can put on some muscle mass as you will have more fuel in your body to do this.

I hope this helps and you continue with your great changes.
 
thanks for all the great advise and encouragement I really appreciate it. Yeah I figure I better increase my calorie intake especially if I want to do more outdoor activity like rock climbing and mountain biking. I like being active, so I better feed the body so it can do the job! I will try and increase my calorie intake in health ways. Today I had a soy milk drink (6 grams proteins plus extra goodness!). Will have more fruit and maybe instead of turkey slices in my tortilla have a 4 oz chicken breast does, that sound about right?
Also I tend to go to the gym first thing in the morning, don't really feel like eating anything because it tends to upset my stomach if I eat before the gym. What I do is drink half of my protein whey isolate, is this a good or bad idea?
Thanks again
 
If you can't stomach any real food having some of your protein shake is definitely a good idea. You want to have something in your stomach to tell your body its time to get up and get movin.
 
Hi again,

So if I want to maintain the same weight and increase my lean muscle mass how should I go about doing this? To give you guys an idea of my training schedule here what I have planned for tomorrow.

45 min spin class followed by

3x15 oblique exercise (additional 5kg)
3x15 hyper extension (additional 10kg)

3x30 calf raises (20kg)
3x15 45 degree leg press (45kg)

3x30 (leg raises, abs exercise)
3x15 (lateral squats)

3x15 bicep curls 12lbs
3x15 triceps dips

followed by stretching.

This is a typical workout. Sometimes focus more on chest, shoulders etc.
Does this looks good for increase lean muscle and maintain weight?
Will I have to increase my calorie intake above maintain?
Cheers again!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top