Hi there!
I apologise for the long post – I wanted to be as accurate as possible so please bear with me – I really need help!
I am 24, 5'0" and weigh 137 pounds. My goal weight is 112 pounds which will put me in the middle of a the healthy BMI range. I’ve read lots of other posts and people always answer with “Eat more! You’re starving yourself! What’s your TDEE?” – but remember, I’m very short! My TDEE and BMR are low figures!
My BMR is roughly 1250 calories (it varies a bit with different calculators). Admittedly, I don't do a lot of cardio because I hate running and have bad knees, and can't afford to join a gym or a netball/ badminton/ squash team... but I DO do lots of weight training (two days on, one day off) as I understand that the body will try to get rid of muscle before fat which is no good for my metabolic rate. I swim twice a week (short sessions) in the residential pool but I'm moving house soon so that will be gone. I walk everywhere and average about 6,000 steps a day – I know that sounds low but I have an office job that I have to drive to. I find excuses to walk around but I work at a computer so there’s only so much I can get away with!
I track my food with obsessive accuracy using the online food diary connected to the Flex. I drink one cup of tea in the morning with half a sugar but after that I drink water ONLY… except at weekends when I splurge on a sugar free fizzy drink or a naughty cider (or two).
I eat 1200-1350 calories a day during the working week. My TDEE, calculated without counting my weight training, is 1553. I can’t eat any fewer calories, it’s just not sustainable.
At weekends, I up that to 1600-1800 a day as I tend to go out or see family. Life is for living!
I eat food that I can afford to buy which means that my diet tends to be about 55-60% carbs but I make sure to eat fruit and veg. I rarely snack and eat very little chocolate but I don’t cut out junk food completely otherwise I end up binging.
I’ve tried eating a more protein rich diet and cutting carbs to a 100-150g per day max, but this is expensive and made no difference AT ALL in 2 months.
At present, I eat:
- a cup of tea with half a sugar (at 08:45ish)
- a banana as a late breakfast (around 10:00)
- a normal sized, hot lunch (around 12:15)
- an apple if I get hungry in the afternoon
- a small dinner – usually nothing more than something the size of half a can of beans on one slice of bread with butter… but I always include veg.
- sometimes I’ll then eat a small amount of cheese, chocolate or crisps if I have any calories left
And that’s it. I stop eating by 18:30 which means I fast for 15.5 hours as suggested to me. It’s meant to be 16-17 hours but I begin to feel faint! Especially as I have to eat a small dinner.
As you may be able to tell, I’ve been trying to make gradual, sustainable changes that I can stick to for the long term.
But yet, I linger at 137 pounds and have done for a year.
Any ideas?
Please help! Thank you!
