Losing that last bit of weight

bubbulgumdude

Hi everyone!

I was wondering if anyone had any tips to losing that last bit of weight.
I am 5'4 112 pounds and have been stuck on 8 stone for the last few weeks.

Heres an example of my diet over the last 3 days so you can give me some pointers to where i'm going wrong. I also try and go for 3 40 minute runs a week and dance/ go for walks on the days in between.

Example day 1:

maple peacan crisp cereal
coffee
an orange
tuna salad
coffee


Example day 2:

maple peacan crisp cereal
an orange
chicken salad
a granola bar
smoothie


Example day 3:

Yogurt and Muesli
2 salt and vinegar rice cakes
2 oranges
5 crackers + hummus
light apple rice pudding


I know I am not over weight but I really want to lose that last few pounds to feel super confident in my body!

Cheers!

runawaybishop

Is that your normal daily diet or something new you have moved onto in the last 3 days?

Stench Blossoms

You are delusional if you think you need to lose weight.

runawaybishop

The amount eaten looks tiny alright.

Stench Blossoms

runawaybishop wrote: »

The amount eaten looks tiny alright.

My snacks for the day are bigger than what she eats in a full day.

Pro Hoc Vice

bubbulgumdude wrote: »

Hi everyone!

I was wondering if anyone had any tips to losing that last bit of weight.
I am 5'4 112 pounds and have been stuck on 8 stone for the last few weeks.

Heres an example of my diet over the last 3 days so you can give me some pointers to where i'm going wrong. I also try and go for 3 40 minute runs a week and dance/ go for walks on the days in between.

Example day 1:

maple peacan crisp cereal
coffee
an orange
tuna salad
coffee


Example day 2:

maple peacan crisp cereal
an orange
chicken salad
a granola bar
smoothie


Example day 3:

Yogurt and Muesli
2 salt and vinegar rice cakes
2 oranges
5 crackers + hummus
light apple rice pudding


I know I am not over weight but I really want to lose that last few pounds to feel super confident in my body!

Cheers!

Well 1 as you say your not over weight by most standards your possibly underweight. But the amount of refined sugar in the cereal and granola bar and possibly yogurt and muesli depending on make is pretty high the bar as an example has 12 gms of sugar and 52 gms of the cereal has 13 gms of sugar add to that all the fructose it seems pretty clear it's not in anyway a balanced diet. As the diet is low calorie the amount if calories from sugar is very high, intake of sugar according to WHO is between 30 to 50 gms a day and no more than 10% of total calories. As another example 5 crackers could exceed 20 gms of sugar.

To give an example the cereal 52 gm portion has 220 calories, and a huge 13 gm of sugar. The calories from the sugar is 52 the max it should be is 22 so about 7.5 gm too much sugar per portion.

bubbulgumdude

runawaybishop wrote: »

Is that your normal daily diet or something new you have moved onto in the last 3 days?

no no this is just an example of what i've been eating for the last say 6 months

bubbulgumdude

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

My snacks for the day are bigger than what she eats in a full day.

well my bmi is 19.0 which is a healthy weight so its not like what I'm eating too little

bubbulgumdude

Pro Hoc Vice wrote: »

Well 1 as you say your not over weight by most standards your possibly underweight. But the amount of refined sugar in the cereal and granola bar and possibly yogurt and muesli depending on make is pretty high the bar as an example has 12 gms of sugar and 52 gms of the cereal has 13 gms of sugar add to that all the fructose it seems pretty clear it's not in anyway a balanced diet. As the diet is low calorie the amount if calories from sugar is very high, intake of sugar according to WHO is between 30 to 50 gms a day and no more than 10% of total calories. As another example 5 crackers could exceed 20 gms of sugar.

To give an example the cereal 52 gm portion has 220 calories, and a huge 13 gm of sugar. The calories from the sugar is 52 the max it should be is 22 so about 7.5 gm too much sugar per portion.

I totally see where you're coming from, less sugar intake from cereals + yogurts etc is probably best

runawaybishop

bubbulgumdude wrote: »

no no this is just an example of what i've been eating for the last say 6 months

Its hard to determine portion size but it looks like you are eating a fairly low calorie diet. This isn't something we recommend and definitely not if you are already fairly light, which you are. Its also very low in protein and seems to be very high in sugar and completely lacking in veg.

Low calorie diets that do not contain the right ratio of protein/carbs/fat can easily lead to you losing muscle mass and ending up skinny-fat. You'd get better results upping your protein intake and doing resistance training such as lifting weights, kettlebells etc.

Linka

bubbulgumdude wrote: »

its not like what I'm eating too little

You are. There is no mention of meals outside some kind of salad. You need to up your fruit, veg and protein. What makes you think being underweight will make you feel confident? What you need to do now is maintain that weight and focus on toning rather than more weight loss.

bubbulgumdude

runawaybishop wrote: »

Its hard to determine portion size but it looks like you are eating a fairly low calorie diet. This isn't something we recommend and definitely not if you are already fairly light, which you are. Its also very low in protein and seems to be very high in sugar and completely lacking in veg.

Low calorie diets that do not contain the right ratio of protein/carbs/fat can easily lead to you losing muscle mass and ending up skinny-fat. You'd get better results upping your protein intake and doing resistance training such as lifting weights, kettlebells etc.

I actually do eat a lot of veg, I eat a pretty big portion of salad filled with tones of veg everyday and I eat tone of fish so I am definitely getting a lot of protein!
But you are right about it being high in sugar, i can switch the cereal with more fruit

bubbulgumdude

Linka wrote: »

You are. There is no mention of meals outside some kind of salad. You need to up your fruit, veg and protein. What makes you think being underweight will make you feel confident? What you need to do now is maintain that weight and focus on toning rather than more weight loss.

Hmm, I dont really think so. You're right I do eat a form of salad everyday but it is always filled with tones of vegetables and some form of meat/fish, and I am constantly nibbling on fruit too, so the foods I am intaking besides from the occasional cereal bar which is high in sugar is all very healthy.

Linka

bubbulgumdude wrote: »

Hmm, I dont really think so. You're right I do eat a form of salad everyday but it is always filled with tones of vegetables and some form of meat/fish, and I am constantly nibbling on fruit too, so the foods I am intaking besides from the occasional cereal bar which is high in sugar is all very healthy.

Honestly, I'd be focusing on maintaining and toning if I were you. If you are actually getting your fruit, veg and protein in then you're not doing anything wrong.

runawaybishop

bubbulgumdude wrote: »

I actually do eat a lot of veg, I eat a pretty big portion of salad filled with tones of veg everyday and I eat tone of fish so I am definitely getting a lot of protein!
But you are right about it being high in sugar, i can switch the cereal with more fruit

Fruit has plenty of sugar in it already. You aren't eating enough protein at all i would say. Try eggs for breakfast, or bacon, add more dairy to your diet - you should try and get some protein in every meal. I am not sure how full of veg your salad is, is it as full of veg as having veg and meat for dunner though?

Your bmi would tend to indicate you are light and shouldn't be looking to lose more weight. Do you want to lose weight or is there some stubborn fat you want to lose?

Cardio won't really help you tone up.

bubbulgumdude

runawaybishop wrote: »

Fruit has plenty of sugar in it already. You aren't eating enough protein at all i would say. Try eggs for breakfast, or bacon, add more dairy to your diet - you should try and get some protein in every meal. I am not sure how full of veg your salad is, is it as full of veg as having veg and meat for dunner though?

Your bmi would tend to indicate you are light and shouldn't be looking to lose more weight. Do you want to lose weight or is there some stubborn fat you want to lose?

Cardio won't really help you tone up.

actually adding more eggs in my diet is a good idea! Ok cool i'll take that on board! Well, different types of vegetables, I wouldn't be having potatoes, but i'd have say cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, corn, onions, a mixture of different veg from the fridge.

I mainly just want to loose more weight on the bottom half, i'll try up my exercise a little more.

bubbulgumdude

Linka wrote: »

Honestly, I'd be focusing on maintaining and toning if I were you. If you are actually getting your fruit, veg and protein in then you're not doing anything wrong.

ok cool i'll just keep going then i guess, maybe more exercise

Pro Hoc Vice

bubbulgumdude wrote: »

Hmm, I dont really think so. You're right I do eat a form of salad everyday but it is always filled with tones of vegetables and some form of meat/fish, and I am constantly nibbling on fruit too, so the foods I am intaking besides from the occasional cereal bar which is high in sugar is all very healthy.

Too much fructose can be as bad as too much refined sugar. http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/nutrition/a/fructosedangers.htm

runawaybishop

bubbulgumdude wrote: »

actually adding more eggs in my diet is a good idea! Ok cool i'll take that on board! Well, different types of vegetables, I wouldn't be having potatoes, but i'd have say cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, corn, onions, a mixture of different veg from the fridge.

I mainly just want to loose more weight on the bottom half, i'll try up my exercise a little more.

Ok, remember diet and cardio remove fat but resistance training improves your shape and will help burn more calories. Too many people go low calorie and do loads of cardio and end up being thin and flabby rather than toned.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/skinny-fat_b_1799797.html

^^ good article on this.

bubbulgumdude

runawaybishop wrote: »

Ok, remember diet and cardio remove fat but resistance training improves your shape and will help burn more calories. Too many people go low calorie and do loads of cardio and end up being thin and flabby rather than toned.


^^ good article on this.

ah thanks!

whirlpool

OP, you are 5 foot 4 and 8 stone. I had a look at the UK's health service website and it says you are a healthy weight but you are dangerously close to being underweight. I've no doubt that you already know this. You say you want to lose that last bit of body fat. What last bit of body fat? You have no more to lose. And you say you want to do this so that you can feel more confident.

To summarise, you have said that you are lacking in confidence because you are not medically underweight. That is not a physical issue, that is a mental issue.

As an aside, the more muscle you have (and it sounds like you almost don't really have any) the more calories you will burn and faster. So as has been suggested, work on increasing your muscle size. (Or "toning" as it's often labelled in order to make women who are unnecessarily afraid of having big muscles want to do it.) That will give you a healthy, attractive body. But if you lose any more bodyfat without building muscle, you risk a wealth of medical difficulties.

Don't lose any more bodyfat. It's dangerous.

Tayla

bubbulgumdude wrote: »

I mainly just want to loose more weight on the bottom half, i'll try up my exercise a little more.

When you say you want to lose weight on your bottom half, are you flabby there? or do you just want to be smaller?

Linka

bubbulgumdude wrote: »

I mainly just want to loose more weight on the bottom half, i'll try up my exercise a little more.

Have you spoken to a personal trainer / instructor yet? I'm worried about your perception of weight loss. You can't just lose weight in any one area, if you lose weight it comes from your body as a whole. You're trying to lose weight while targeting a certain area, without any regard for the danger you are putting your own health in.

I'm not being smart with you, but if anything I say to you sinks in, please just stop with the want for weight loss before you begin looking emaciated. You've got the carrot and the donkey syndrome, you'll just keep wanting more weight loss because you're so focused on one area. It's a mugs game, and nobody I've ever known has ever been attracted to the skeletal look.

What can really help problem areas is toning them. There will never be a massive loss, because that is your bodies natural shape. What it will give you is a more toned, defined look that is far more healthy looking. You need to realise that the thinnest of people suffer from cellulite and saggy bums etc. You're approaching this all the wrong way. Even if you've spoken to an instructor before, do it again - with full honesty, and they will be able to assist you. The healthy way about it too.