I clench butt too much!

[vamp]

Tracy, not sure about the exercises or how to tweak for you personally with what you have available. However I have a couple of things that may help overall.

First, counting calories that you have burned is far from accurate and when you do such things as interval work or weight lifting it is really not accurate to use charts or machine counters or anything like that. Trying to balance what comes in to what goes out can not only be frustrating but for some people it becomes so important as become obsessive compulsive about it and then become sick from it. Concentrate on what goes on and sticking to your daily exercise. Your body will show you that although the math is difficult to balance, it knows what it is supposed to do if you give it the building blocks it needs (nutrition, sleep and exercise)!

Second, at 1,500 calories, I believe you have caused the plateau. Your body is hitting starvation mode. You should be up to a minimum of 2000 calories a day with a decent protein intake. Your muscles are having issues repairing and growing do to lack of energy and protein to do so. Therefore, your body is trying to use the smallest amount of energy to do the exercise you are demanding of it and trying to store and hold onto everything it has. By upping your calories you can up your metabolism and see more results. This can be very confusing but it is true.

Cheers!!

[CracyTracy]

Thanks for the info, Vamp, but it confuses me more.

I don't keep up with how many calories I burn versus how many I take in myself. I use MyFitnessPal, which asks how many minutes I have done certain cardio exercises, including calisthenics, and calculates it for me. It is obviously not an exact science, but it gives me an estimate. When it comes weight lifting, which I don't do except for the kettle bell, it only counts reps but does not give an estimate on how many I have burned. Also, I am not sure what you are calling interval training. Counting calories is what has gotten me this far. I don't understand how it can be bad.

The next thing that confuses me is the amount of calories you say I should take in. current BMR is 1525. It is understanding that I need to eat/burn less than that to lose fat. I just upped calories to 1600 a couple of weeks ago (from 1300) to allow for this. If I up caloric intake to 2000, wouldn't it be counterproductive, in that I am taking in more than I need at rest, and the only calories burned would be exercise calories, which I now need to burn more of (exercise more) to do this? This is contradictory to what I have read and been told before. And how do I eat 2000 a day of I eat healthy foods? Fruits and veggies don't have that many, as is the case with fish and chicken. Also, I don't know how to do burn more calories than 700 at home, and that is if I do an hour and a half of cardio.

And you mentioned sleep...what's that? LOL If I take time to exercise every day, and fulfill family and work obligations, I may get 4-5 hours of sleep. Again, as with trying to eat more calories, I know this is a problem. However, there is no getting around it.

I just got extremely confused. I just don't understand how everything I have been doing until now is wrong when I have gone from an XXXL to a L in 6 months. Thanks for the help!

[musculArgirl2]

I'm not sure myself. Mainly because i have hard time eating extremely healthy all the time. I do know though that for people with pcos and insulin resistance and problems with the endo system, your metabolism might be lower than a normal person. Not sure if you are insulin resistant.

At the same time though i want to be able to eat as many calories as i possibly can while at the same time losing weight.

so I really don't know what the right answer is though. i just thought i would mention that a person with endocrinology disorder might be different that a person with a normal metabolism.

I'm not saying that it is for sure. But things i've read seem like it may be. I don't know for sure though.

[Boss Man]

Inv relation ot the 2,00 calories, no eating more will not hinder you in the long-term, as the caloiries you are earing now may be causing the starvation mode as was suggested by Chris, so if you eat more you will have more spare calories to burn and to build muscle with. The extra calories will be good and after a process of around 1-2 weeks, your metabolism should be used to them and within about 3-4 weeks your mindset should become used to consuming them and it should become fairly natural to plan them and eat them.

BMR, (Basal Metabolic Rate), is the minimum amount of calories deemed healthy to consume to have a properly functioning metabolism, but when you exercise you need to consider this below requirements, unless in some way you or someone else calculated a BMR roughly based on current activity levels, then you can use such a calculation to based a modest daily caloric increase on.

However the 2,000 calories suggested should be good for now, to help you do what is required.

[CracyTracy]

Thanks for the input musculArgirl2 and Boss Man!

musculArgirl2, I had not thought about that! I will mention that to doctor and see what he says. Thanks!

Boss Man, I think I finally figured it out, thanks to a friend who pointed out I wasn't factoring in the calories I expend on a daily basis, such as at work, when I am on feet and walking for the majority of 10 hour shift. That MAY add 300-500 more expended calories to calculations, but I am not sure since I have no way to calculate it.

I went up to a 2000 calorie plan Monday, but it is really discouraging. First off, I have to make time to eat 5 or 6 times a day, which is hard since I sleep during the day when I am not picking kids from school and keeping them, and I find it hard to eat more than once at work. Second, and most discouraging, I have gained 4 calories since I started this plan. That makes me wonder if I am eating the right foods. I am eating protein bars (not too much), frozen dinners, veggies, fruit, chicken, etc. I just don't know if I am eating the right things. How do I know if I am eating too many carbs, or fat grams? It tells me how many I take in on MyFitnessPal but I am not sure that is what I need to eat since it originally put me on a 1200 calorie diet. Is there any way for me to make sure I am eating properly WITHOUT eating cooks veggies, because I hate them. And why did I gain weight?!

Thanks for helping me through this, everyone!

[vamp]

Well, you probably gained weight for several reasons... 1. your muscles may finally have the resources to grow and repair properly, 2. Because you have been "starving" your body it is hording because it wants to be safe for the next time you do it (it will give them up with time) 3. frozen diners are not healthy and the high amounts of sodium in them could be causing water retension. 4. The diet you are consuming is higher in poor fats and carbs than your calculator suggests. ... maybe more reasons but none that I know.

If you just started this past Monday then I take it you weigh in everyday? If so you should not. We vary our weight due to many reasons by up to 5lbs. throughout the day and from day to day. You should pick 1 day a week at the same time to weigh yourself and that is it. Usually first thing in morning before consuming anything but after your morning toilet. Secondly, the weight on your scale can not tell you if you gained or lost fat or muscle. It is a poor substitute for a tape measure and a camera. On your weigh in day you should measure your body at hips, waist, thigh, and chest. Some also like to measure the upper arm. Then take a front, side and back photo from the same location every week or two. The measurements and the pictures will show the changes better than a scale. If you gain a pound of muscle but lose a pound of fat the scale will read the same. A tape measure will move because a pound of fat is like the size of a tennis ball where as a pound of muscle is like the size of a marble. The tape measure and the pictures will show this progress that a scale never will. This is why a scale is poor to show you progress. Although everyone calls it weight loss, the truth is that it is fat loss. Actual scale weight never can say whether one is fat or muscular and in truth, if one is 150 lbs muscle or 150 lbs fat, the muscular person always looks healthier and usually is

15 grams of carbohydrates is 1 serving of carbohydrates. According to the Canadian Food Guide (I believe the American is very similar) woman ages 31-50 should have 6 servings a day. So that means, of starchy Carbs (potato, breads, cereals, rice, etc) you should have a total of 90g. on 6 meals, that would be 15g each meal. This is a good starting point as a guide, not absolute. If you are curious, it also says you should have 7 fruits and vegies, 2 milk and alternatives and 2 meat and alternatives. These are guidelines and not absolutes but perhaps it can help you some.

Meals can be as simple as an ounce of nuts and a banana, or some vegies sticks with a piece of cheese, a yogurt and an apple. Smaller meals are only 330 calories for 6 meals... http://www.sparkpeople.com/blog/blog.as ... orie_meals" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; these are only examples for you to show you what you could eat for this amount of calories and the difference of healthy filling foods and not so healthy not so filling foods... I do not advertise or follow this web page but was only looking for examples for you and this was one of the first to pop up on search.

I hope this information helps and is not too much at once for you.
Chris

[CracyTracy]

Thanks Chris. Let me just start off by saying that I know I shouldn't weigh every day. However, it is a compulsion I have had all life. I can not walk past a scale without weighing. I have tried to work on that, but meds and work have not helped so far. Also, I don't know when to weight, since I work 4 nights out of the week, meaning sleep only three days at night, if I sleep. That makes it confusing for me, or body, or both.

As far as measuring myself, I know I am supposed to measure, but don't have a tape measure meant for measuring human any. I keep trying to remember to get one, but keeping forgetting. However, I have been taking pictures, and honestly don't see much, if any, change. I have a side by side comparison of butt (the only pics like this I could find). I don't see a difference from the older one to the one I took yesterday. I will post a link below to get your opinions.

I also know that frozen dinners, even if they are Healthy Choice, aren't the best option, but when I either have time to cook or exercise, I choose exercise. I generally only use them at work, when the only other option is fast food. I am going to try to work in that, though, and try to pre-cook food days in advance for work meals. It is just very hard to find time to do that, even when I am off work.

As far as carbs go, do I not need to lower intake to 50? That seems to be the number that keeps popping up when I search for 2000 high protein, low carb diets. Also, I have a problem in that I hate cooked vegetables, and have a problem finding vegetables that I can eat raw, or knowing what I can eat raw.

It is quite daunting, because it seems like I have been doing everything wrong, from the way I have been walking to the way I have been eating. I am determined not to give up, but it is frustrating to see lack of weight loss and have to learn how to eat healthier when already had to teach that to myself a few months ago.

Thanks for your input.

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3/cr ... -16-13.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[vamp]

I hear you are frustrated. With practice it does get better.

Turnip or rutabaga I enjoy raw and hate cooked.
Potato I will eat raw.
Carrots, peppers (all), onion, celery, all lettuce and cabbage, endive, green and yellow (wax) beans, all lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, etc.

As for cooked veggies, they have more to give you raw anyway. So many people overcook their veg also. Most I bring to a boil and then shut it off and let sit for five-ten minutes right on the element in the pot. They stay crunchier and tastier I find. Or I steam them... if the veg is soft or even mushy I think they taste awful!

When weighing take the night or day shift, regardless. After you sleep and before you eat. Being obsessive, compulsive about a scale is dangerous and if you must weigh yourself every day, I say throw it out and buy the tape measure, heck some dollar stores carry them, you find them in the sewing section. The scale lies to you constantly and means little for health or accomplishments in exercise, you really don't need it!

As for pictures, take full body pics, front, back and side, in your bathing suit or bra and panties. These are for you, no one else! taking pictures of body parts in full clothing will never really show what you are looking for because it has no perspective with your entire body, that is not just a health view but artistic and realistic views as well.

As for eating things like frozen dinners and fast food over fresh prepared like cheese and crackers and veg and fruit. It is perspective. A lean cuisine garbage meal is the same price as enough apples for one person for a week. A chocolate bar is enough money to buy a bunch of bananas or a dozen eggs for a week for one person. Eating healthy and making your lunch, in the end is a choice. Chopping veggies, slicing cheese or making a homemade soup while watching your favorite show is possible. It is easy to say I don't have the time, but 9/10 times, people choose not to take the time.

I am sorry to harp, and I often sound very lecturing.
Please forgive poor way of saying things.
I know you can do it with time and practice, all the best things in life take both of these!

[CracyTracy]

Thanks for your help, Vamp.

I realize that weighing every day is not healthy, but it is impossible to throw the scales away, since I work in a hospital and I am surrounded by them. I was able to avoid them last night, but only because I was the only phlebotomist working and was so busy I couldn't take a break.

I will make a note to go buy the tape measure tomorrow when I go to the store. However, the pictures like you suggested are probably not going to happen, since the only full body pictures I can take by myself would be the front pictures. Evidently I have not taken enough selfies to be flexible enough to take full body pictures from the side or the back, and no one, including myself, wants to see me or take pictures of me in very little clothing. It is probably best for self-esteem and everyone else if I just do the tape measure.

I will have to work on the veggies I will eat, because I don't eat many vegetables a lot of people eat, hence one of the many reasons I have had an unhealthy lifestyle until recently. For instance, I have never had turnips, rutabagas, or endive, and I don't eat most peppers, onions, beans or peas, with the exception of Pork and Beans and Edimame. I will work something out.

I never chose frozen dinners because of the prices. I chose them for their convenience, because of the lack of time. However, I will work on making fresher meals, but these meals will have to be made possibly days in advance, as I truly don't have time to meals when I work, considering other daily obligations. I don't have time to meals while watching favorite shows, and DVR has the proof. I haven't even seen the last season of "Doctor Who" yet! LOL So I will work on the fresher foods, but it won't be a daily occurrence.

I apologize if I sound like I am trying to justify eating and weighing habits, as this isn't intent. I am just trying to convey to you where I am coming from.

Also, I am not trying to sound rude or ungrateful for your help. I am very grateful! It is just a bad day after last night at work, added with the manic state I am in right now, words may come across more cross than I mean for them to. To be honest, I have almost quit trying to lose weight several times in the past couple of weeks. It is just depressing and discouraging to find out that I have been eating wrong while trying to eat right, and trying to relearn what I just relearned. Maybe I will feel better when I get some sleep and get last night out of head. Again, I apologize if this sounds rude or ungrateful in the least bit. Thanks for your help!

[vamp]

I don't find you rude and no need to apologize. I am not in your shoes so It is difficult to understand and see all things the way you do. You have been doing a great job at conveying your feelings and trials that you are overcoming. I am very glad you are continuing to learn and press on. Your health is always worth the effort and you should be proud of yourself for fighting the good fight. It is a fight and therefore there will be setbacks and stumbles. It is OK, it is part of the journey!

I have issues with flexibility also, so when I use the camera feature on phone, I set the 10 sec delay and set the camera leaning on something to take the picture. Perhaps you could use this function on your camera on a phone or digital camera for yourself if you wish.

I know you can figure out your diet over time and find healthier and fast ways to get what you need done. That coupled with some decent resistance training and a little cardio and I am sure you can reach your goals. You obviously have a difficult work schedule which is stress on itself. That coupled with your desires to be more fit and have healthier eating habits I can understand how feeling like quitting would just be easier on you.

I am glad you have not quit and still keep trying! You are worth the effort !!

[Boss Man]

The 50g number you talk about in relation to carbs could be fibre. You could and should go higher than 50g carbs a day, or you'll be struggling to get to 2,000 calories and you'd need a serious amount of fats to compensate, as they are the most calorie dense of the all the macros.

Fibre is recceomended at around 35-50g per day, to avoid both constipation issues and diarrhoea issues and insoluable fibre is a good one as it softens stools up, but if you had an issue getting enough fibre you could try supplements like psyllium or psyllium husk, or try dissolvable fibres, like Fibresure, Benefibre and Metamucil.

A couple of issues sometimes with supposedly healthy cuisine meals, is the salt content, which if too high can cause water retention as Chris eluded to, but also the fibre can sometimes be poor or non-existant, so people eat a healthy meal but wonder after a few days, why they start feeling a bit lethargic downstairs and develop inadequate stool habits.

I saw a packet of food once that said pasta with tomatoes and roasted mushrooms, which sounded healthy, but closer inspection revelaed it was meant for 2, but if one person consumed it all from memory it would have been about 75% of your daily salt limit and 1.25 days worth of saturate fat intake and some people could have probably eaten a whole one, because the picture didn't look as if half the contents would be enough for one person.

So you may need to re-evaluate what your boxed cuisine meals are like, because there should be greater transparency in relation to salt, fats, sugar and carbs on the packaging, compared to 10 years ago and if any look a bit inadequate, then stop buying them.

I know things may be a bit frustrating, but you're still learning and still adapting and the problem is you're letting the scale dictate to some extent, so every little 0.1lb here 0.1lb there is giving you unneccessary concerns, because change of a significant note won't happen within a month, you need 4-6 months to really get significant change, with some noticable change being possible in the first 2-3 months.

Stick at it and try not to get too down about this and if possible, hide the scales at home, put them out of sight somewhere where you might need a small stepladder to reach them, so then if you give yourself a weekly weigh in day and time period, you'll be able to get the scales, but frequent weighing would require you to get the stepladder each time, hopefully being a trigger in your head that says no, it's not weigh in day.

Alternatively, leave a post-it note on the scales, to remind you not to weigh until a certain day and time of the week. It might stop you doing it more often, if there is a visual reminder stuck to the scales.

I'm proud of you Tracy and I want you to be proud of you for still persisting and not giving up. You didn't give up because something in the back of your mind said you were worth it and you ARE worth it, so chin up, keep believing and just be a bit more patient with the whole process and yourself, because Rome wasn't built in a day and it's a marathon not a sprint and you never know, you might be displaying a more positive outlook in 2 months from now .

GOOD LUCK and keep on updating us, because you're a lovely Lady and we as a community do want to help and support you, to be the sort of person you deserve to be .

[CracyTracy]

Well, I have given the 2000 calorie diet a try and have had no success at getting over the plateau. I did lose the couple of pounds I gained, so I am back at the same weight I was four weeks ago, but that was probably fluid. I know that weight is not the entire package when trying to get healthier and smaller. However, I find it hard to believe I can weigh 170 and get into a size 6 (US) because muscles are THAT toned, especially when I have fat to lose. I have cut out the frozen meals, and eat only chicken, fish, fresh fruits and veggies, and whole grain pastas. I don't know what to do anymore.

Edited to add: I should also add I eat at least five times a day now.

[Boss Man]

Don't forget though you may have gained some muscle as well as getting fat loss, so don't be too quick to assume it's not working .

[musculArgirl2]

I find it hard to believe I can weigh 170 and get into a size 6 (US) because muscles are THAT toned,

It really is true though that you can lose inches and body fat and not weight. Athena (karrie) on here lost not that much weight at all last year but she became much more toned and lost body fat. A lot of the bodybuilding women are really muscular but wear small sizes. i don't know about what weight they were at and that of course depends on height too.

[CracyTracy]

I don't want to sound like Negative Nancy, but I haven't gotten a chance to exercise much in the past two weeks due to an injury from falling through a porch with rotten wood, and low blood pressure problems, so I doubt I have gained that much muscle. I also realize bodybuilding women weigh more and wear smaller clothes, but I still have fat to lose, and I do not want muscle to fill that space because that would be gross, and no offense to bodybuilding women, but I don't want to look like them. I seriously doubt I can weigh 170, and have muscle fill that space where fat is without looking gross or look like I want to. I need burn the fat off too, and not just gain muscle.