1 month into diet...

[lighthouse]

Hi everyone. I started a diet a month ago, 1500 calories with 30 min of cardio. Since then I have lost 6 lbs. (I was 5'2 144, now Im 138. ) However, I feel that I should have lost a little more weight, atleast 2 pounds. SO I was thinking of decreasing my calorie intake to 1200 and increasing my cardio to 45 min. I also thought of going on an oatmeal/soup diet. If I eat a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast and lunch, and soup for dinner, I'd have to lose weight because I'm pretty much eating mush everyday lol. Is this stupid of me?

[amtjrtcet]

You need to make sure you are getting adequate vitamins. Try keeping your calorie intake at 1500 but increasing your cardio to 45-50 minutes at a moderate intensity. Cardio is best before breakfast on an empty stomach. Working out in the am also speeds up your metabolism for the day. Make your biggest meal breakfast, try eating 5 small meals a day. Make your last meal of the day strickly a lean protein and veggies, and at least 3 1/2 hours before you go to bed.

As for just the oatmeal and soup, not a good idea.

Oh, real important, drink at least 9, 8 oz glasses of water a day, stay off the caffine.

[RayKay]

Hi everyone. I started a diet a month ago, 1500 calories with 30 min of cardio. Since then I have lost 6 lbs. (I was 5'2 144, now Im 138. ) However, I feel that I should have lost a little more weight, atleast 2 pounds. SO I was thinking of decreasing my calorie intake to 1200 and increasing my cardio to 45 min. I also thought of going on an oatmeal/soup diet. If I eat a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast and lunch, and soup for dinner, I'd have to lose weight because I'm pretty much eating mush everyday lol. Is this stupid of me?

 

NO, do NOT go down to 1200 calories. All that will do is cause your body to go into starvation mode (which messes up your metablism and has you holding onto fat stores) and also be deprived of nutrients that will not only affect your health, but your body weight too. 1500 is already fairly low depending on your lifestyle and age. I for example am about 120 something pounds, but I have to eat about 2500-3000 calories a day to maintain due to my athletic activities (the more I am doing some days...like having bike races or all day rides, or big runs, the more I need to fuel). A woman my height and weight whom does relatively little exercise needs more like 1800 calories.

 

I won't even get into how bad going on an "oatmeal and soup" diet would be for you...you'll be malnourished, low on energy, suffer several deficiencies in calcium, protein, complex carbs which feed your muscles and brain and other vitamins and minerals. It is not about "whether you food is liquid or solid", it is about the substance and calories you are taking in.

 

Food is FUEL, not an enemy. You should be thinking healthy lifestyle, not rapid weight loss. You should be replacing and energizing your body regularly. You would not drive away without gas in the tank, right? Well, same goes for moving your body or living...you need "gas in the tank". Just choose the good quality gas!

 

For long term, healthy weight loss, you should only be losing 1-2 lbs a week, so you ARE on track. Any faster tends to be due to drastic changes which you cannot maintain.

 

Add some strength training (muscle tones you up and burns calories but will not make you bulky) and do cardio 3-5 times a week (stick to what you are doing for now, and build endurance over time....depending on your goals). Take rest days too to prevent burnout. And if you UP your exercise, you have to UP your calories...

[redandblack]

Hey,

 

I wouldn't go below 1500 calories. Your diet is working, but it will take a little bit of time to loose weight. 5 lbs a month is a good way to do it and it won't be such a strain. I can forsee you burning out on 1200 calories a day with added exercise. Also, your body could start storing fat if you cut your caloric intake too much. Up the exercise if you want, but I wouldn't cut back on food intake. Also, remember to eat nutritious food that will fulfill your daily nutritional needs.

 

Good job so far! Keep it up!

[kellbell]

Hey Lighthouse!

 

Awesome news! Believe it or not...in order to loss weight properly, you have to EAT! Think of your body as a furnace...it needs fuel in order to burn energy properly. If you start starving yourself calories, you body may think it is starving so your metabolism will slow way down. Your body is very smart and a wonderful machine. It knows what its doing (most of the time anyway LOL)

 

My advice to you is to 6 smaller meals a day. Seriously. Have a good breakfast, then a few hours later, have a small snack like nuts, or fruit. Then have something light for lunch and so forth. Make sure you are getting your vitamins, protein, iron, good carbs, and dairy. Your body needs all of those in order to function properly and keeps your brain sharp. If you do not eat properly, you will feel tired, lethargic, just blah.

 

Keep up the good work. Remember you want to lose the weight gradually and properly. That way your chances of keeping it off are greater and you will not damage any of your vital organs.

[lighthouse]

Thanks for the quick replies. Its just upsetting me because these online charts are saying that I am OBESE at 5'2 138! I mean I have a little more around my waist line than I'd like, but I wouldnt declare myself excessively overweight to the point that I am obese, so I dont know what to think of those charts.

Also I have been doing a lot of ab/glute/hamstring exercises with the stability ball as well as kickboxing, so Im almost certain I have gained some muscle. My midsection looks a little bit better but I still need to tone up some. As far as my "obesity", Im not sure how Im going to get out of that range quickly... haha.

[Batya33]

My advice is to find a plan that will work long term. Obviously oatmeal/soup will not (and depending on the soup it could be full of fat/salt). It's fine to give yourself a jump start but you need to find a life long way of eating that is doable and fulfilling. I would recommend weight watchers.

[tylercdurden2004]

Well if you are just starting out and doing strength exercise its likely you have retained water in your muscles which adds wieght. When ever I start working out the first week or two I gain weight even if I appear to be losing fat. My muscle grow instantly but this sadly not do to real muscle growth but water retention. Work out longer and harder but keep eating the same or maybe even more.

[redandblack]

You should try running on a regular basis.

[LostInMyThoughts]

Thanks for the quick replies. Its just upsetting me because these online charts are saying that I am OBESE at 5'2 138! I mean I have a little more around my waist line than I'd like, but I wouldnt declare myself excessively overweight to the point that I am obese, so I dont know what to think of those charts.

Also I have been doing a lot of ab/glute/hamstring exercises with the stability ball as well as kickboxing, so Im almost certain I have gained some muscle. My midsection looks a little bit better but I still need to tone up some. As far as my "obesity", Im not sure how Im going to get out of that range quickly... haha.

 

I understand your frustration, but online charts aren't really accurate.

 

They don't take into account bone structure or over all muscularity. Muscle is more dense than fat, and dense bones increase over all weight.

 

A much better approach is to gauge your body-fat %. Most gym's will do this for free. Of course Body-Fat % isn't the end all either, as women typically have higher body fat % (in fact they can stop menstrating if their body-fat dips too low!).

 

Additionally I would forgo arbitrary caloric limits. See if your gym will measure your Basal Metabolic Rate. That gives you a much better indicator of how many calories you burn in a day. From there, you can figure out how much calorie deficit you need to achieve your weight loss goals--but like the other posts have said; don't starve yourself. Your body needs nutrients, and if it's straved for them, it will be counter productive as all nutrients you take in will be converted and stored as body fat.

 

Good luck!