RoaminRome's Journal, 08 June 2015

If you are losing weight but gaining muscle keep in mind muscle weighs more.  

are you sure that 1602 is not your BMR? That seems a bit low to be your TDEE. How tall are you?  

If you're between 30 and 40 yrs old and between 5 and 6 feet tall, working out just 3x a week (hypothetically), you should be consuming between 1750-1950 to lose about 1lb per week. Just give it a try, bump up your calories to at least 1600 for a few days and see what happens. You can try zig zagging using this calculator http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm (Link probably won't work in here so you'll probably have to copy and paste) You can also try this one http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ I hope you're able to find something that works.  

Another suggestion is to eat 6 small meals a day, at least. A meal could be an apple and something else. The key is to keep your metabolism going. Every time your metabolism gears up you burn more calories. Hence 6 small meals. It really works. 

Agreed 1200 is a little low, and your body is likely holding onto any nutrients you are intaking becaues it thinks your going to starve. Aside from that 1.8 pounds or even 5 is no big deal, water consumption, salt (water retention), are all factors. Same thing I tell everyone, ignore the scale, lightly use the mirror, focus on how you feel! 

Great advice ElleLianet I would also recommend high protein. It will curve hunger, build lean muscle and burn fat. Remember to GO-YA! 

It really does matter more what you eat rather than how much you eat. I couldn't go with any kind of deprivation so I went low-fat, still had my carbs, so I was fine. Still tried to be reasonable about amounts, but since a lot of what I like to eat falls into carbs, I'm okay. It's working for me. Everyone is different. Find what you can do without and do without it. For me it was fried foods. 

for water, try drinking half your weight in oz. So if you're 218, you should drink 109 oz a day. Aim for 80-90g of protein a day and try to only stick with REAL food. I know someone mentioned low fat or fat free....it may work but if you really think about it, low fat and fat free are just filled with other chemicals that our bodies cannot process, therefore it's turned into fat. I no longer eat fat free or light....that stuff is nasty anyway lol. Stay away from frozen meals....again, more chemicals. No whole wheat bread....it just turns into sugar. Sprouted grain bread is much better. NOt cheap but better for your body. Ezekiel 4:9 bread is pretty good and I try to only eat 2 slices a week to make it last. Try to eat protein and something green with every meal (spinach, broccoli, kale, salad, zucchini) THe things I stock up on are: whole milk cottage cheese....GREAT protein. I usually eat 3/4 cup for 19g protein. whole milk String cheese....8g protein Hard boiled eggs.....6g...I like to eat one after a work out or before Deli Sliced Turkey or Chicken (not prepackaged)....20-30g protein Protein Bar (with good, healthy ingredients...not junk)....10g protein Tuna...13g protein Chicken and Spinach sausage....18g protein Plain Whole milk yogurt (I actually make my own now)...8g protein...I like to add almonds and raw honey. Apples bananas cucumbers (they help for bloat! :-) ) Carrots When we eat beef, we try to stay with 92% or above and make sure it's antibiotic free. Grass fed beef would be ideal but they don't sell any where I shop. If you can, go organic...again pesticides can get stored in our bodies and cause inflammation, and nine of the 10 most common pesticides are endocrine-disrupting, which have been linked to weight gain. While these chemicals have a number of different effects on our bodies, one of the scariest is that they mimic estrogen; it's like giving us a shot of female hormones, which undermines our ability to build lean muscle and promotes fat storage. Something to think about!  

a rule of thumb for organic to help save money....if you're going to eat the skin/peel, buy organic. Meat and dairy should be organic. I don't usually buy organic meat because our store doesn't carry it but we try to stick with non antibiotic/hormone meat If it has artificial anything in it, don't eat it.  

nothing sucks more that busting your butt and not seeing any results - for me working out does NOT help me lose weight at all! It does however totally change my shape - nicely shaped legs, shoulders etc. For me weight loss is all about the food. (Most recent studies will back this our - new work just out of Harvard) Hurman beings were not designed to eat the kind or quantity of carbs that we have become accustom to. In fact the only time we would have found high carb foods (beets, carrots, apples, peaches etc) was in the fall when we were meant to get fat!!! Focus on lean proteins, pumpkin seeds, coconut oil and LOTS of leafy greens push through this YOU CAN DO IT!!! We are all in this together!  

HIIT (hight Intensity interval training) is a great way to burn fat because it raises your heart rate and then brings it down and takes it back up and this burns fat fast. You can do as little as 5 mins or as much as 30 mins and probably burn MORE fat than if you were to use the elliptical at a steady pace for an hour or run at a steady pace for an hour.