Trying to get started in the right direction...

[MRS.OFFCERMOORE]

I've always had body confidence issues. With the stress of this past year, I've found myself at my heaviest weight. I'm 5'2'' and nearly 150lbs. I've made the decision to change my lifestyle. I've never been to a gym, or ran for fun for that matter. I bought P90x, and insanity, resistance bands, and good workout gear. I'm ready to get started. I've been eating healthy, cut out all sodas and added sugars, and have incorporated more fruit and veggies in my diet. I've noticed my daily calorie allowance is really low! The past week I've logged my food, and I over eat my budget.... and I've hardly eaten at all! My workout is only negating my calories, so in the end I'm maintaining my weight. Any advice?

Moderator edit: format

[TikiPaka]

Don't beat yourself up..  Just keep moving and stepping as I truely believe the more you walk the weight will come off.  Not that it's the only thing but also portion control of the foods you like helps.  Eat 6 times a day to keep you metabolism going.  Breakfast (most important), snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack.  Try not to eat after 7pm at night so it doesn't just lay there..  Snack on good foods that will also help fill you and curb your appitite.  You'll find that eating 6 times like this a day will help you stay full and not cheat.  Portions are important but you can and will loose weight just by stepping!  I hope this helps..  And just never give up, you are worth it..

[divedragon]

what is "really low" and where did this information come from.

I've done those workouts you mentioned and they may be a bit advanced to start with.  I know P90X has a fitness test you need to pass before you do the program.  There is a P90 program that is similar, but less intense to get you ready for X.

Careful of too many fruits.  The sugar in fruit, fructose, can create more fat in your liver as it's not turned into blood glucose.  Go with high fiber veggies which will help make you feel full and mitigate any insulin response from carbs and protein.  You can eat a lot of veggies without adding tons of calories.  Good fats also mitigate insulin response as does vinegar.

[SebringDon]

@MRS.OFFCERMOORE

I'm guessing that if your calorie allowance is really low, you've got your weight deficit set at two pounds per week (if you're using the Fitbit food plan). Can you give us more information, like age, BMI, what weight deficit you've got set? How many pounds do you think you need to lose? What's your step goal? Are you getting any active minutes yet? All of those will have an impact on your calorie burn, your calorie allowance, and your eating habits.

[Emzor]

From previous experience, I have found that if you try to do too much at once right at the start of your journey, you end up giving up as it's too much change at once.

You need to start slowly.  First start by working on your food intake, measure everything out and try to stay under your calorie allowance. Eating lots of fruit and veges helps with keeping to the allowance because they are low in calories. Don't "treat" yourself for the first couple of weeks so your body can get used to the change in food.  While doing this, start aiming to get your step goal everyday. The increased movement will burn more calories than your body is used to burning. If you're getting to your step goal easily, change it to more steps! Your body needs to be pushed slightly in these first couple of weeks.

Once you get used to the eating under budget and light exercise, then you can start incorperating some extra things. By then your body will be used to exercise and you will be able to push it further and further.

Good luck 🙂

[emili]

I think you are shooting in the dark. I don't think you know what you are eating towards- the numeric goal and what should be the make up of that numeric goal. weight loss is science. for the time being don't worry what fitbit says your calories should be. I would recommend you figure this out. Do any online calculator to figure out your BMR. From there decide what a comfy caloric deficit is 500,700,1000. That's your number to eat towards everyday. Now figure out what that number is made up of. How many calories towards protein, carbs, fats, etc. Do it for a week. Lose weight- yay keep going. stay the same- you may need to lower your deficit, gained- really need to lower your deficit. just like you went shopping for the workout gear- you need to plan your food. find a reliable calorie resource and invest in a scale. measure and weigh everything and log it in your food log. this will help keep track of your calories. I would recommend holding off exercising until you have your food figured out and get really good at tracking. Maybe two weeks. it will also give you time to see if you calorie calculation is right. Then you start moving and adjusting for burned calories. Hope this helps, Best E

[SebringDon]

@emili

Isn't holding off on exercising going to result in exactly that low calorie allowance that @MRS.OFFCERMOORE is worried about? If her BMRs in the 1300 range, she could easily be looking at 800 to as low as 300 calories per day to eat if she maintains a sedentary lifestyle while trying to lose weight.

My advice would be just the opposite. Determine your BMR, determine how many steps a day you can manage as a goal, and eat to your BMR (maintenance) while you get established on a regular walking routine for a week or so. The difference between BMR and steps will act as a temporary deficit while you're getting settled in. Then set up a food plan with a reasonable deficit based on your level of activity and the total weight you have to lose, and work the food plan. That's the way Fitbit's designed to work.

I would never recommend anyone eat below their BMR. If they're the least bit active, they'll end up with a huge daily deficit and probably in starvation mode as well. And they'll probably be discourage like @MRS.OFFCERMOORE because it leads to a ridicuously low daily calorie allowance.

[divedragon]

@MRS.OFFCERMOORE

Additional information is necessary before any of us can help.  Can you provide:

hight

weight

age

BMI

Brief description of current eating habits.

Where did you get your calorie allowance from?

We need this information in order to provide any meaningful advice.  There are some universal truths in dieting, but they tend to be on a very high level and can be quickly underminded by other behaviors and metabolic processes.  The more information you can give, the better the advice will be.

[emili]

@SebringDon-nope. just a different philosophy. Most trainers will tell you when you are below 1100 calories to not exercise until you adjust and begin to lose. There is a period of calorie adjustment, sugar adjustment, etc that needs to be worked out before you can start moving. Walking is not intense exercise, so of course, go walk. I would still be mindful though of low calorie intake.  worked for me- all I'm doing is sharing.

[Dominique]

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@divedragon wrote:

@MRS.OFFCERMOORE

 Additional information is necessary before any of us can help.  Can you provide:

hight

weight

age

BMI 

---

Actually, BMI is not necessary, since it can be obtained from height and weight.

@MRS.OFFCERMOORE can determine her BMR and TDEE herself, using this online calculator. It uses the same formula (Mifflin-St. Jeor) used by Fitbit.

[Dominique]

OK, based on your profile, it looks like you’ve only had your Fitbit for 3-4 days. Your step count so far suggests your lifestyle is mostly sedentary. Forget about P90X, Insanity etc. for now. Instead, focus on reaching the default Fitbit step goal (10,000 steps a day / 70,000 steps a week). No need for a gym membership, no risk of getting injured. Then, nail down your diet: it doesn’t matter whether you’re eating healthy or not, it’s primarily about total calories. Your BMI is not that bad (27.4, just in the middle of the overweight range). You only need to lose 14 pounds to be within the normal weight range. Start getting your 10,000 steps, get your portions’ size right and you’ll be on track.