Advice Needed
 

I just joined FitDay and so far I like what I see. I need advice on how to get started on my 'lifestyle changes'. I am 50 years old, fairly active and very busy. According to FitDay (and everything else I have found) I consume less calories per day than I burn. I put my lifestyle as sedentary, which I am not. I entered this week's food from a log I have been keeping. During the past couple of years we have had a fitness program at work and I have joined in but seen no weight loss. We had a 4 month step challenge during which we tried to increase our steps by 10% each month for 4 months. I succeeded in increasing my steps each month and did not lose an ounce. I attended 8 weeks of boot camp twice a week and did not lose an ounce. I eat very few sweets, small 100 calorie bread rounds for sandwiches, very little fried food, and I drink a ton of water. I need to lose about 50 pounds but I don't know what approach to take. I work full time, teach one dog obedience class, take one dog obedience class, teach 2 agility classes and take one agility class weekly. I also train my dogs and compete with them in obedience, agility, and hunting competition so I am not really sedentary! My thyroid function is normal. I am diabetic and taking metformin and actose. Any suggestions on how to jump start my metabolism? I need to lose weight and get in better shape for my health plus I am going to need to run fast to keep up with my standard poodle in agility!

Hi skelly; welcome! The two things that popped into my head when reading your post were (1) Are you eating enough, such that your body isn't hanging on to everything in order to conserve energy, and (2) what proportions of fats, carbs and proteins are you eating?

You are one busy lady! Congrats on making the time to take care of yourself :).

Have you ever been tested for other endocrine or hormonal disorders? If your numbers are accurate but there's still no results, there must be a reason. Cushing's disease comes to mind but there are others.

I have wondered about whether I am eating enough. It seems that frequently when I travel out of town and come back thinking I ate bad I will actually have lost a little weight. I am not sure the right way to eat more!

I have regular physical exams and lab work done. I actually work in a lab that specializes in alternative approaches to health. The thyroid profile was an extensive one and everything was normal. My chem screens are normal except for blood glucose and lipids.

Hi! We have one similar interest--dogs and are about the same age. I am with everyone else as I don't think you eat enough. I am a bilateral amputee, beneath the knee and don't get much exercise. However in walking throughout the house and wherever, I can expend anywhere from 80% to 200% over what the fully abled bodied person does, but I think of my retired life as sendentary except when I go back to school in the fall, which is what-sendentary. My point is that I eat around 1600 cals a day Plus I am very tall--just over six feet--so that plays into it too. I lose weight when I don't cheat. This week, if I make it to Monday, will be my first non-cheat week. I have been a member this time for three weeks. I can't speak for all because height, age, weight, activity all play apart in how much you should eat, but from what I have read a person who falls within the normal range can eat anywhere from about 1800-2200 and maintain her weight. Stands to reason that if you are overweight with the level of activity that you have you should be able to fall into that range of calories or just below and still lose weight. Your body is probably now in starvation mode and you should gradually add in more calories over the day to increase your daily caloric intake and see how that works for awhile and eat five or six small meals or three small meals and snacks to stoke your metabolism.

One other thing that wasn't mentioned is are you or have you gone through menopause? It slows the metabolism also. So you have two things to consider; am I eating enough and am I eating often enough so my body doesn't think that I am starving it. Good work on the exercise!

How much protein are you getting? I too live a very active life, but started this journey at 244.6 pounds. After I found fitday I realized that I was getting 80-90% of my calories from carbohydrates :eek: ! In order for me to lose weight I had to boost my protein intake up to 30-40% and drop the carbs to 40%.

Almeeker is absolutely correct. If you are very active than an increase in protein is necessary. The carbohydrates help to break down the protein and turn it into muscle. Right now you could be burning muscle when it should be building up and the fat should be burning. With the help of protein and larger muscles burn more calories. While it takes 3500 cals to burn fat, it only takes a 1000 to burn muscle. This probably is your cyclic situation that you are in now and you still may need to increase. You didn't mention your height or weight, so there is no way of telling, but this will be done anyway as I would keep everything else the same and just increase the protein by lean meats, some nuts, some beans, bars, or powder, etc. It's your choice.

Just back from grocery shopping and I have purchased fruits and veggies and low fat snacks to try to add at least one snack daily. Figuring out the best way to eat has been a huge challenge the past few years. 4 years ago I was diagnosed with an abscessed diverticuli and a duodenal ulcer. I have had several bouts with that and more recently inflammatory bowel disease which periodically requires a low fiber diet. My new doctor wants my blood sugar to never be above 100 and he wants 4 readings a day. Trying to eat right for that and fit in snacks is quite a challenge! I think he is just going to have to deal with it being a little higher so that I can eat more fruits and snacks to lose weight. In the long run that should help with the blood glucose issue and is better than being on medicine only. As far as menopause goes I am in the begininning stages of it. Hormone levels confirmed it and I am sure that is adding to the already troublesome weight gain issues. Getting older and staying healthy sure is a challenge!

I don't eat a lot of carbs due to being hypoglycemic for most of my life. I have never been able to eat simple carbs without also eating protein as that was a sure way to cause an insulin spike resulting in low blood sugar. I am now a diabetic so I have to be very careful about eating carbs, especially simple sugars. The first few days of tracking my food on FitDay shows that I am eating too many fats, which is easy to do when you are used to watching carbs. I think my approach is going to be less fat, more complex carbs and protein and add at least one snack in the afternoon. We are going to attempt to eat dinner earlier on the days we can so I will also try to add a snack on those evenings. Hunger has never been an issue for me and I literally have to remind myself to eat a snack!

I can see why you are struggling, Skelly. You are dealing with a lot. I was just reading an article about protein on this site and it mentioned Whey protein. I knew I had powdered protein, but didn't know if it was Whey. Well that is written on it bigger than I'd have to be blind not to see it. Aparrently all that powdered stuff is whey. I thought of you as I read it. The article said that each meal should have protein in it and that protein burns builds muscle and burns fat. Actually, it is much more complicated than that but that is what eventually happens. Protein doesn't go in like a lawn mower and mow the fat down. The use of the muscles does. I've used whey and it doesn't make you bulk up, like the body builders. I became more toned. It's just something to think about and snacks don't have to be fruit, Shelly. There's an article in here or maybe another site, that gives 50 healthful snacks. I could think of one and that is that string cheese. I haven't tried them. I don't eat cheese by itself. If you go below the articles that are shown, there are different areas of interests.

And yes, it is a pain getting older. My body sometimes knows it, but my mind doesn't. I think the other site is caloriecount.com, but like this one you have to join.

Skelly,

So far it looks like you are on track with the health issues and some reason to why you can't get the weight off. You have received some very good points from the other users. Also, if possible, try to eat small meals and snacks every two hours. I've noticed personally my metabolism working fine if I eat every two hours. My body is no more in starvation mode. Drink plenty of water as well. Water plays a crucial part in weight loss.

Best of luck.

Thanks. I drink a lot of water most days. Unsweet tea as well. I teach class after work tonight so I have my lunch, dinner and snacks with me for the day. I just entered breakfast, lunch, dinner and two snacks into my logs and it only comes to 1063 calories! With an hour of setting up class, an hour of teaching class and then taking an hour class I most likely need to eat more today. Any suggestion for adding more protein to my meals or snacks without adding more fat?

Protein rich foods.

Beef

* Hamburger patty, 4 oz – 28 grams protein
* Steak, 6 oz – 42 grams
* Most cuts of beef – 7 grams of protein per ounce

Chicken

* Chicken breast, 3.5 oz - 30 grams protein
* Chicken thigh – 10 grams (for average size)
* Drumstick – 11 grams
* Wing – 6 grams
* Chicken meat, cooked, 4 oz – 35 grams

Fish

* Most fish fillets or steaks are about 22 grams of protein for 3 ½ oz (100 grams) of cooked fish, or 6 grams per ounce
* Tuna, 6 oz can - 40 grams of protein

Pork

* Pork chop, average - 22 grams protein
* Pork loin or tenderloin, 4 oz – 29 grams
* Ham, 3 oz serving – 19 grams
* Ground pork, 1 oz raw – 5 grams; 3 oz cooked – 22 grams
* Bacon, 1 slice – 3 grams
* Canadian-style bacon (back bacon), slice – 5 – 6 grams

Eggs and Dairy

* Egg, large - 6 grams protein
* Milk, 1 cup - 8 grams
* Cottage cheese, ½ cup - 15 grams
* Yogurt, 1 cup – usually 8-12 grams, check label
* Soft cheeses (Mozzarella, Brie, Camembert) – 6 grams per oz
* Medium cheeses (Cheddar, Swiss) – 7 or 8 grams per oz
* Hard cheeses (Parmesan) – 10 grams per oz

Beans (including soy)

* Tofu, ½ cup 20 grams protein
* Tofu, 1 oz, 2.3 grams
* Soy milk, 1 cup - 6 -10 grams
* Most beans (black, pinto, lentils, etc) about 7-10 grams protein per half cup of cooked beans
* Soy beans, ½ cup cooked – 14 grams protein
* Split peas, ½ cup cooked – 8 grams

Nuts and Seeds

* Peanut butter, 2 Tablespoons - 8 grams protein
* Almonds, ¼ cup – 8 grams
* Peanuts, ¼ cup – 9 grams
* Cashews, ¼ cup – 5 grams
* Pecans, ¼ cup – 2.5 grams
* Sunflower seeds, ¼ cup – 6 grams
* Pumpkin seeds, ¼ cup – 8 grams
* Flax seeds – ¼ cup – 8 grams

Shortcut: An ounce of meat or fish has approximately 7 grams of protein.

There's more but this is what I eat.

Also check out this website http://www.fatfreekitchen.com/nutrit...ein-foods.html