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cinamet
New Member
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Posted: 10 May 2008 10:07 pm |
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| Please help me. I am 40 years old, 5'5 and weigh 207lbs....40% body fat. I have been dieting since September 2007 and started at 250lbs. About 8 weeks ago I got stuck and have not lost a single pound in 8 weeks. Started at a gym 3 weeks ago and no budge at all in my weight or body fat. I am working with a trainer 3 days a week....one hour of strength/circuit and 30 minutes of Cardio. I am also doing ABS - 30 minutes every day and on my no strength days I am doing at least 45 minutes of cardio. I eat at max 1400 calories...try to stay around 1200. I have lost a total of 3 inches in the last 3 weeks....but I want the weight off. My trainer thinks I may be doing too much cardio and it is causing my body fat not to change. I am worried that I am not eating enough and I am so worried to eat more because I worked so hard to get here. How many calories should I be eating...how many protiens, fat and carbs. I am disciplined, I want this, I have to get over this plateau,
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 11 May 2008 06:07 am |
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1) unadjusted RMR calculates as 1600 (I've assumed you're female) and so with your current BMI I think it is ok to go down to 1200 (and also it is accepted that the RMR formula is biased and over-estimates the needs of people with higher BMI values). That is not to say that you are definitely not one of those people particularly sensitive to calories being lowered, it might be worth increasing calories to 1600 to see if it helps but I wouldn't do it just yet.
2) Protein needs should be calculated based on ideal weight. Fo the sake of argument let's say it is 140lb; I currently believe values of 1.0 - 1.4 grams per kilo are appropriate for an exerciser, giving a range of 64 .. 89 grams (so at 1200 calories that is 21.3% - 29.7% of calories; at 1600 calories that is 16.0% - 22.3%)
3) some believe that fat is best kept at 15-20% of calories for weight loss; then again another belief is that 20-30% of the population are insulin resistant and benefit from moderating their carb in take (and if carbs go down, fat should go up); Tom Venuto suggests a starting point of 50% of calories from carbs (so when you've worked out how many calories and protein you're going to have this will dictate the fat amount - it'll be whatever is left); so for example if you've decided on 1200 calories and 75g of protein (25%), 150g of carb (50%) that leaves 25% of fat (or 33.3g). (healthiest fat sources are raw nuts and seeds and avocado; unhealthiest are trans fats found in processed and fried foods and saturated fats in animal products; oils are somewhat dubious)
4) To state the obvious, you can't lose inches without experiencing a change in body composition and if the scales have not moved this means you've gained muscle and lost fat. This make me glad you're keep track of measurements, because it suggests your method of tracking body fat might be suspect - may I ask which technolog(ies) you are using? (as an aside, yesterday I was at a promotional stand trying an Omron body fat analyser they were selling for around $100 - a variety you stand on and have handles to hold. I was flattered with an initial reading of 7% but wanted confimation so I asked for repeat readings on the very same machines. I then got 10%, 19% and 8.9%; with this sort of reliability they can keep the machine). It is well known that somebody new to exercise initially experiences muscle gains.
Do you already have macronutrient breakdowns of what you've done so far (what are your typical days) or will you start tracking now?
Do you feel as though you are bringing enough energy to your workouts? That may determine when you should be trying the 1600-calorie experiment but it s a judgement call because if you are not really stalled (fat loss masked by muscle gain) then you might be needlessly slowing down your progress.
Hope something here helps
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cinamet
New Member
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Posted: 11 May 2008 02:46 pm |
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Nir Thank you, that really helps. I have been averaging the following macronutrients...my acutals are in red.
Actual
CALORIES:
1,240
1,179
CARBS:
146g
100g
FAT:
54g
32g
PROTEIN:
53g
41g
FIBER:
21g
17g
SODIUM:
1,922mg
1,850mg
It seems like I need to increase my protiens. I am using the body fat analysis at the gym, I stand on the scale with bare feet and it tells me my body fat percentage. From what I have read on the site, those are not entirely accurate. What are your thoughts on dairy....yogurt, cheese, lowfat icecream?
Thankyou for your help. I am glad I have found this site.
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 11 May 2008 02:56 pm |
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you ask about dairy
there are 3 issues: 1) weight loss 2) sticking to a diet 3) health
let's look at the low fat ice-cream first:
1) from a weight loss perspective, the main thing that counts is calories, so that means you can lose weight eating anything
2) to stick to a diet, people need to feel full. Obviously if you spend most of your 1200-1600 calories on something like that you will not feel full, you feel hungry and be liable to fail. On the other hand some people are afraid to give up on foods and the diet mentality sets them up for a binge at a later date, those people find ocassional scheduled 'free meals' useful, others find it useful to have an allowance of rubbish (mine is up to 10% of my calories)
3) health: I'm assuming I don't need to tell you that the low-fat ice cream is full of sugar.
I actually believe that dairy is not good for your health (look this up on the internet) and as a result I only use very small amounts of whey protein powder (a teaspoon) on ocassion, and a splash of milk in my coffee or cocoa drinks if I am somewhere with milk available (I no longer buy it). You might not be sufficiently concerned about health to have the same policy as me at this time. Before I was concerned about dairy, I used to buy low-fat cottage cheese as it was a tasty source of protein, and I also liked no-fat no-sugar natural yogurt
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cinamet
New Member
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Posted: 11 May 2008 09:47 pm |
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| Thanks for the information about dairy...I do not really like dairy...I just wanted to make sure I did not have to have it to lose weight.
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kakki
Senior Member
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Posted: 12 May 2008 02:29 pm |
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| Sorry to jump in... But you may not need dairy for weight loss but you do need the calcium for bone health. So if your not taking in dairy, make sure you get calcium some where else.
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cinamet
New Member
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Posted: 13 May 2008 12:30 am |
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| Nir, I was talking to my husband tonight about the great advice you have given me. He thinks my weight loss may be slow because I have PCOS. I have been taking Metformin for about a year to control my symptoms....perscribed 1000mg, but I have only been taking 500mg. Do you think Metformin is hurting my weight loss?
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 13 May 2008 04:01 am |
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I do not know the answer (and I am not medically trained). In fact the first thing I did was to Google PCOS. Here are a couple of pages that came my way: http://www.womens-health.co.uk/pcos6.asp http://pcos.insulitelabs.com/PCOS-Weight-Gain.php
They both state the close relationship between PCOS and insulin resistance, for which both diet and exercise are prescribed, so the answer to your original question at the top is to certainly keep the cardio going;
one criticism of Dr Atkins has been that in his book he assumes that everyone is insulin resistant wheras other people estimate that only 20-30% of the population are. However if you know that you are insulin resistant, obviously you should use that to your advantage. Looking back at your food intake figures carbs appear to work out at 30-40% of calories so I guess that means you are already moderating your carb intake, which appears to be the advice given.
(by the way my main tip for moderating carb intake is to focus on 2 food groups, green vegetables and nuts and seeds; they are both low in carbs, eaten in the right balance provide enough food to be satisfied and the right number of calories - basically eat as many green vegetables to feel like you're eating all the food you want, and then top up calories to the required level with nuts and seeds, allowing of course for any other foods you decided you want to include - but you can still be succesful using just those 2 food groups)
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personsmom
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 13 May 2008 01:45 pm |
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Hi Cinamet,
I seldom post, but read daily. I felt compelled to answer your plea for help. I was diagnosed Type2 Diabetic and prescribed Metformin. Have been taking 1500mg a day for a few years now. Although the weight loss is slow and I do have to work at it, it does come off. I am currently 50 yrs old, 5'5" and 140 lbs. Striving for the 130 I once was. My calorie intake is aprox. 1200 a day and I treadmill about 60 min no less than 5 days a week. Like Nir has stated, carb counting/watching is important. White foods are not our friends. The only ones I have lately are cauliflower, onion, and mushrooms. Not all at the same time :~) Carbs come from fruit and veges and whole grains. If it is possible to get an appointment with a nutritionist/dietitian that will help. A diabetes educator or a dietitian that has diabetes knowledge is optimum. I had one and she gave me a guide as to how many carbs per meal/snack. The more refined the carb, the quicker the spike. Paring carbs with lean protein is essential. Protein helps slow the process. As stated by Kakki you need your calcium. I'm not a milk drinker but I do enjoy yogurt and that is also to keep the PH balance as we are also more prone to Yeast Infections. I also take a calcium/VitaminD supplement. Consistancy is our friend. Everything affects insulin use/storage. Keeping a schedule helps. Take time to read the packaging labels, if you dont already. "Total Carbs" are important, but also read the ingredients. Sugars or any form of it should not be in the beginning ingredients. I have bought "Nutri-Grain" bars, total carbs OK for pre workout snack. WRONG first ingredient "High Fructose Corn Syrup".
Hope my experiences help you.
Lee
Last edited on 13 May 2008 01:46 pm by personsmom
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