I tried Bethenny's method of eating for about 3 weeks. I think I put my body in starvation. I was trying to be mindful of all of her eating habits taught from the book but frankly, Bethenny didn't really talk about how the eating plan changes for athletes. Yes, I consider my fat arse to be an athlete. I do 3 days of weight training and now I do 5 days of cardio so yea, I am an athlete.
I was not hungry on Bethenny's eating plan so I think this made it more difficult for me to determine as to whether or not I should have been eating more. For kicks I tracked how many calories I was actually eating over a period of 3 days. I was eating 1200-1400 calories which is far too low for someone that is burning 500+ calories in the gym each day. It became really apparent that I was not eating enough when I looked at my weight for the past 2 weeks and saw the scale remained the same. I only bounced around from weighing 199-201 and then I hit 5 days in a row of weighing 200.
So, I posted for some advice on the bodybuilding forum to try and get some insight as to what was going on with my eating plan. A really nice woman that is totally fit and competes professional took a look at my calorie count and said that she knew it was due to me not eating enough.
Here's what she had to say:
You gotta eat - actually you are probably eating way too little. I weigh less than you and workout and have to eat about 2600 calories just to maintain. I eat 2200 calories and I LOSE weight. Don’t let anyone fool you - weight loss is simple thermodynamics - take in less than you use and you WILL lose weight. That said take in too LITTLE and your body will shut down in order to save you.
You are doing way too much cardio. I do at most 30-min cardio a day about 3-4x a week.
Last comment it takes 3 weeks for weight loss to register on the scale. Gotta be patient if you really want to win this game. Weight loss takes time and the weight, if you do it right, will not come off like on the Biggest Idiot - a healthy weight loss is 1-2 lb/wk on average. Hope this helps.
So I took her advice and decided to look into my calorie count. I tried to figure out what my BMR was by using a free calculator online but it became confusing trying to figure out how many calories to take out to try and lose 2 lbs a week adn how many calories I needed to add back in to make up for my workouts. I then searched around online and discovered that many people thought the Livestrong Applet for their cell phone helps tremendously with keeping track of how much you eat each day and track your workouts. You start off by entering your weight and whether or not you are trying to lose weight or gain weight. You then enter how much weight you would like to lose each week and finally you enter your daily activity level. I had started off by entering moderately active but then I was shocked to see that the applet told me my minimum calorie count was 1,883 calories. I ate this calorie count for 2 days and basically maintained my weight. Yesterday was my first day of entering a workout into the applet and then it had upped my calories for the day to 2300 calories. That seemed so high but I was gonna give it a fair chance. I woke up this morning to weighing the same amount I had for the past 3 days so I decided to set my Livestrong profile to "light activity" so that it would drop my daily calories. Now I am to consume 1,499 calories a day. I do get to eat a little over 1900 because of my 600 calorie burn session this morning. I'm hoping this calorie adjustment finally gets me on weight loss track!
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OK. I’m fascinated with your whole journey. It’s May 14 2010, not sure if you are still going ? I am trying to lose 29kg and have been scouring the web for inspiration/ ideas. I’ve joined WW 8 weeks ago and so far so good. All I can find on the net are people that have ‘always struggled with their weight’.
Where are those that never struggled then gained 29kgs over 4 years, like me? I think I remember you saying youre a life struggler?
What I can’t grasp is wether your blog is a weight loss story or just a life struggle to maintain with the occasional loss? This is week 80 something? and you’ve lost 22pounds in all that time? Yet you seem to work out constantly…I’m confused, you don’t over eat although confess cheating occasionally, you have all these pop up ads for stuff you recommend yet there is barely a change in weight over nearly 2 years. You must be swapping fat for muscle how else could you still weigh so much after all this time? How do you keep going, seriously?
Hi Andi,
I want to know the answers to your questions myself. Yes, I have been a life struggler and it seems I have not found an eating plan that works for me. When I count calories, I seem to hang onto the weight. I just know that the minute I stop working out, I’ll gain weight. So its as if I must workout just to maintain. 5 years ago I weighed 242 and dropped 25 lbs in 3 months following weight watchers and doing P90. Although I refuse to do WW, perhaps it is the one thing that I need right now. How is WW going for you?
Well, you are amazing, I am going good on WW, can have 21 points but found the weight was not shifting until I kept it to 18points and exercised an additional 3.5 points (about 40mins/day of high intensity-sweating/puffing/can’t talk exercise, yuk! but it’s done in 40mins, sigh) I lose 500gms -1kg aweek if I stick to that. I’m honestly not hungry and cravings are pretty much gone. I’ve found the foods I like that fit the points, keep me full and it’s ok. I’ve been on WW once before and lost 13kg to reach goal of 50kgs. Jeez I thought I was HUGE then at 63kgs, little did I know I’d balloon up to 79kgs over the next 4 years. Yikes! I have a friend who has ‘always struggled’ and she has ‘tried everything’ but just likes food too much to face a life of restricted eating and exercising constantly so resorted to a gastric band which worked like a miracle and she reached her goal of 75kg (sorry not good with pounds) She was 110 kg. However she began having fluid taken out for holidays or celebrations and soon developed tthe habit of vomiting if she ate too much. Her stomach and esophagus all ulcerated so all fluid now out of band and back to weight watchers having gone right back to 110kgs. My husband says, “its so unfair I’m a fat person who does everything he can to stay thin and you’re a thin person who does everything you can to be fat!” It’s true I gained that weight because I ate,ate, ate and was lazy. He’s one of those that never sits still and resricts his treats because he knows he’ll just pack it on. Well good luck and thankyou for responding to me, it’ll be interesting to see how things go and if I’ll stick to my WW. 20kgs to go……