# Weight Loss Suggestions?



## ForsakenMe (Aug 30, 2010)

Height: 5'4
Current Weight: 132 lbs.
Goal Weight: 125 lbs.
How: Losing 1 pound a week.

Okay, I'm so confused. I use this website called "MyPlate" and it tells me that, according to my goals, height, and current weight (as well as me being just lightly active everyday), that I should take in 1,541 calories a day. So in order to lose weight, you have to burn more calories than you take in... So I calculated and listed some exercising methods and it came up to being 3 hours and 30 minutes long... But don't you think that's a little too much?  I am not athletic at all, so you can imagine I'm not too excited about this.

What do you think? This is what my "plan" looks like:

_Walk: 2 mph (30 minutes) - 206 calories
Walk back home: 2 mph (30) minutes - 206 calories (equals 412 calories)
Jumping Rope: (1 hour) - 602 calories (equals 1,014)
Stationary Bycling: (1 hour) - 329 calories (equals 1,343)
Jumping Jacks: (30 minutes) - 248 calories (equals 1,591)

EQUAL TIME: 3 hours and 30 minutes (7:00 AM to 10:30 AM, Monday to Friday)_

Please don't laugh at me, I'm really inexperienced on this whole weight loss business. :crazy: Thank you.


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## Psilo (Apr 29, 2009)

Just make sure you ease yourself into an exercise routine if you aren't that active to begin with. It can be hard on your body to go from inactive to a hard routine all at once. For weight loss, stick with cardio (which you have) and avoid weight lifting as it won't help.

Also, pay attention to what calories you intake. Cut out soda. I cannot stress this one thing enough. Diet drinks are crap, and so are the sugary flavored waters. If you drink soda through the day like most people, it's insane how much sugar and sodium wasted calories you can take in. Plus, they are dehydrating. Switch to healthier versions of foods you already eat. Whole grains are great for you (but if you aren't used to a high fiber diet, it will take a few days for your stomach to adjust) so use whole grain breads and pastas. Fiber is also thought to slow the absorption of sugars in the intestines. Tree nuts are very good for you as snacks, and air popped (not greasy bag or movie style) popcorn has very little of anything in it it can also make a good snack. Find some fruits that can be a good substitute for when a sugar craving hits. Most fruits do have quite a bit of sugar, but enough vitamins and fiber it isn't wasted like processed sugary snacks are. 

There's no substitution for eating smaller portions and healthier portions for weight loss. Adjust your diet.


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## ForsakenMe (Aug 30, 2010)

Thanks, I think I know what to do now. =]


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## wonderfert (Aug 17, 2010)

I suggest Myfitnesspal.com, it's the same concept as MyPlate, though I've never had it suggest eating more calories to lose weight. It's also free, so there's a bonus right there.

I agree with everything Psilo said. I'd just advise that if you don't already have a decent fiber intake, ease yourself into it or it'll cause blockage problems. Or just increase your water intake.

As for your exercise routine, I'm no expert, but it seems excessive to do 3 hrs and 30 minutes. Does MyPlate tell you how many days it expects you to do this routine?


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## ForsakenMe (Aug 30, 2010)

wonderfert said:


> I suggest Myfitnesspal.com, it's the same concept as MyPlate, though I've never had it suggest eating more calories to lose weight. It's also free, so there's a bonus right there.
> 
> I agree with everything Psilo said. I'd just advise that if you don't already have a decent fiber intake, ease yourself into it or it'll cause blockage problems. Or just increase your water intake.
> 
> As for your exercise routine, I'm no expert, but it seems excessive to do 3 hrs and 30 minutes. Does MyPlate tell you how many days it expects you to do this routine?


It's weird because I hear that, for people who for some reason can't exercise, that they should at least cut their calorie intake between 1200-1500 calories a day, and then maintain their weight at 1800. MyPlate suggests way too many calories, I feel. 

I'll try your website, it looks really interesting!


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## wonderfert (Aug 17, 2010)

ForsakenMe said:


> It's weird because I hear that, for people who for some reason can't exercise, that they should at least cut their calorie intake between 1200-1500 calories a day, and then maintain their weight at 1800.


I'm at 1200 calories a day right now, losing an average of 1-2lbs a week and only doing 45-60 minutes of exercise 5 days a week. Obviously, you may lose more or less at that level, but increasing past 1500 seems very odd.


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## ForsakenMe (Aug 30, 2010)

wonderfert said:


> I'm at 1200 calories a day right now, losing an average of 1-2lbs a week and only doing 45-60 minutes of exercise 5 days a week. Obviously, you may lose more or less at that level, but increasing past 1500 seems very odd.


Impressive!  I should stop using MyPlate then... I already signed up on the website that you suggested and I like it very much so far.


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## wonderfert (Aug 17, 2010)

Glad you like it. Hopefully it'll help. Good luck to you. roud:


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## EvanR (Nov 28, 2009)

I usually vomit, quick and effective.


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## northernsky (Feb 21, 2009)

That's not right, you are not taking your basal metabolic rate into account. Just running a human body takes an average of 1500 cals a day (breathing, heart beating, heating etc) so you absolutely don't need to burn 1500 EXTRA cals a day! 500 cals a day = 1 lb lost in a week. You can do this by cutting back 250 cals of food and 250 cals of exercise. 

Search online for the Harris Benedict equation, this will tell you your basal metabolic rate so you know how much energy you burn in an average day and use this as your baseline.
EG: BMR = 1500, adjust for light exercise = 1800, so you aim for 1550 cals and 250 cals exercise.

Hope this helps!


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## wonderfert (Aug 17, 2010)

As an addition to northernsky's post, there is a BMR calculator on MFP, so it'll also adjust your intake to whatever your daily activity level is.

I'm mainly stationary, hence my 1200.


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## viva (Aug 13, 2010)

Shew, I'm glad someone else caught that. Poor thing, you were probably having a heart attack thinking you had to exercise that much! You'd pass out. As was said above, find a BMR calculator, find out how many calories you (approximately) burn a day just by existing, and THEN add however much you exercise on top of that.

1 pound lost = 3000 calories burned. To do a pound a week, that's a little over 400 extra calories you'll need to burn every day. You'll want the calories you burn by existing + the calories you burn by exercise to equal 400 more than the calories you consume in food each day. So, in theory, the more calories you burn in a day, the more you can eat and still stay on track with your goal.

I hope that made sense. I lost 20 pounds this summer purely by doing the math, so it does work.


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## Onomatopoeia (Nov 2, 2010)

After more than an hour to an hour and a half of cardio, it's pretty much wasted beyond that. You don't need 3 1/2 hours a day unless you're training for something.
Stick to an hour of moderate to high cardio 5 days a week, but be sure to change it up. Your body will plateau if things become too routine... it sort of knows what to expect and knows what it can get away with ;D If you're used to running for an hour, mix it up here and there by swimming or doing a work out video.
Weights burn calories, but since you're female I imagine you're not trying to bulk up your arms or legs. Stick to light weights (no more than 15 pounds per weight for arms) for 20-30 minutes every other day to tone up.

As for diet, watch your sodium intake. For every 200mg of sodium, you need 200mg of potassium (equal to one banana) for balance. Avoid frozen weight control meals such as Lean Cuisine; they're packed with sodium (usually around 800mg). 
The best thing I did for myself was to cut out processed foods that contained more than 15 ingredients. I couldn't see my body needing to digest so many ingredients. Also, if it has Soybean Oil, Palm Oil, or HFCS I won't touch it. 
I lost about 10 pounds just from these changes while cutting my calories to about 1600, and I *feel* so much healthier and energized from cutting out the things that were weighing me down. Hope this helps!


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## dagnytaggart (Jun 6, 2010)

ForsakenMe said:


> It's weird because I hear that, for people who for some reason can't exercise, that they should at least cut their calorie intake between 1200-1500 calories a day, and then maintain their weight at 1800. MyPlate suggests way too many calories, I feel.
> 
> I'll try your website, it looks really interesting!


That's friggin NOTHING dude. If you eat any less than that, it's simply anorexia.

I'd starve to DEATH if I had to only eat 1800 calories a day. And I'm 117 lbs. 

So don't worry about it, average recommended intake is 2000-2500 calories a day, and even that's too little for me. 

Unless you have a really slow metabolism, then maybe you need to get your thyroid checked.


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