Help!

FatAnaMarie

So I decided to sign up for this site, after a frustrating trial at losing weight with a handwritten weight loss journal. I started in September at 170 lbs, and now it's December, and I fluctuate from 158-160. It's frustrating!
I've been eating much less than I've ever been.
I've been doing low impact cardio for an hour and a half three times a week, then a Blogilates for the other three. My caloric deficit is huge, and even when it's my "Free days", I don't overindulge. I haven't had ice cream since September, and have only drank sugar free hot chocolate THREE TIMES since the start of Fall.
I feel so frustrated and angry that I haven't been losing much weight, especially the fact that I am still huge. Fine, my pants are loosening up slowly, and I can now feel my collar bone (I like touching it to reassure myself that it is working). But I've reached a very awful plateau. I've been 160 since the end of October, and nothing seems to be working to shift me out of it.
I'm on the verge of looking for diet pills to help me kick start this awful rut, and I really really need help. My sister started this weight loss journey with me, and she lost so much already! I know we're built differently, and all that, but she has lost approximately 30-35 pounds the past six months.
And what do I have to show for?
A measly ten!
Granted she was heavier set than me, but now she's thinner, but I digress.
Granted that she did do a crash diet that involved only mushrooms and cabbages (which I cannot do since being that hungry disorients me and I can't be disoriented in my job), but I digress.
I know that since I didn't do the same methods as hers, not as extreme, I shouldn't expect the same amount of weight lost, but come on!
SIX MONTHS AND ONLY TEN POUNDS!
Something must be wrong with me...
I think I only lost like two, maybe three weeks total where I wasn't able to do my low impact cardio and blogilates (for reasons of depression, house guests, and just plain laziness). That's six to nine weeks lost of cardio workout, and six to nine weeks lost of blogilates. And still nothing!
Not even twenty pounds!
I've reduced my carb intake to almost nothing (I sometimes end up eating a small roll or some crackers to pair up with my meals), I eat more fruits (since I still can't stand veggies), I only use olive oil while cooking, and I check the boxes for serving sizes.
Why why why why...
If I sound angry, I'm so sorry, but it's because I am.
This has been a very frustrating weight loss journey and I feel like such a big failure.
Just please... if this site has so many wonderful success stories... Just please help me...

queenliz99

Hi, please don't get frustrated, it shouldn't be this hard. You need to open your diary so we can help you. You might be eating more than you think.

999tigger

This is perhaps the most common question. Why am i not losing. It looks like you have been dieting for 3 months and a bit depending when you started. Sept, Oct, Nov and this bit of December, so thats c 3lbs a month. You say six months, but i will assume thats a typo.

The number one answer for people who arent losing weight as fast as they think they should be is because they are eating more than they think and burning in exercise less than they think. Instead of getting angry, learn from the people who follow and give you suggestions about where you have been going wrong.

1. Your logging needs to be full and accurate so you know what you are eating. the site gives you an easier way to record and make sense of he data.
2. If you arent weighing your food on a scale then you should be as it will help give you a more accurate picture of whether you are in deficit and how much.
3. Make sure your deficit is set correctly according to your aims and using maintenance as a start point.
4. Are you eating back any exercise calories. Id probably no eat any back but others eat 50% max.

You might not want to believe it but more accurate logging has ot a good chance of getting things moving again if you make sure you are in deficit. Every 250 calories per day over a week equates to about 1/2 lb.

Dong get angry get smarter. learn how other people do it and read up on the stickies on the forum if you wnat to do it better.

MKEgal

First, congrat's on losing your first 10 lb.

Here's a post I did with a bunch of links to helpful things, including sexypants and a post about measuring & logging food accurately.

FatAnaMarie wrote:

I started in September at 170 lbs, and now it's December, and I fluctuate from 158-160. It's frustrating!

How tall are you, and what is your current calorie goal / goal weight?
Is that a healthy weight based on your height & BMI? Because if you're aiming too low, it's going to be very difficult to lose, you'll feel awful, etc.

My doctor & dietician told me to eat 10x my healthy goal weight (based on BMI).
So if you want to weigh 140, eat 1400.
That's TOTAL, not net. Ignore net, ignore exercise. Most weight loss comes from controlling calories in.

"Most weight loss occurs because of decreased caloric intake.
However, evidence shows the only way to maintain weight loss is to be engaged in regular physical activity."
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/physical_activity/index.html

my pants are loosening up slowly, and I can now feel my collar bone

Are you taking measurements? Noticing your clothes fitting differently is good, because you know you're doing something right. Even if you replace 1 lb of fat with 1 lb of muscle, your clothes will fit looser because fat is fluffy & muscle is lean.

I've been 160 since the end of October, and nothing seems to be working to shift me out of it. I'm on the verge of looking for diet pills to help me kick start this awful rut

Prescription appetite-control drugs aren't given to just anyone. You have to be severely obese & have co-occurring problems (though some doctors are pretty flexible on those).
Nonprescription supplements are worthless. (Other than fiber, which will fill you up for a while, but why not just eat an apple or some carrots & get some nutrients while you're at it?)

1 - Pay attention to calories in. Measure or weigh everything for a while. You're probably eating more than you think.

1.5 - Once you have a handle on what you're currently eating, nudge your calories down by 50-100 / day and give it a couple weeks without changing anything else to see if that starts you losing again.

2 - Increase exercise intensity or duration. Go to an hour 5 days a week, increase speed, increase incline, add in some jogging intervals...

My sister started this weight loss journey with me, and she lost so much already! I know we're built differently, and all that, but she has lost approximately 30-35 pounds the past six months.

From what you say, it sounds like she didn't do it in a healthy way, and probably once she goes back to eating normally she'll gain the weight back. If you learn to eat healthfully and make exercise a regular part of your life you'll maintain the weight you're losing.

I've reduced my carb intake to almost nothing (I sometimes end up eating a small roll or some crackers to pair up with my meals), I eat more fruits (since I still can't stand veggies), I only use olive oil while cooking, and I check the boxes for serving sizes.

You need carbs to run your body. And fruits are carbs, so are veggies.

Here's a table which explains the healthy ranges for macros.
page 1, carbs, 45 - 65% of calories (4 cal per gram)
page 2, fat, 20 - 35% of calories (9 cal per gram)
page 4, protein, 10 - 35% of calories (4 cal per gram)

Eating higher protein & lower carbs leads to more weight loss
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MKEgal/view/2014-08-09-high-protein-diet-685553
Try 45% carbs, 20% fat, 35% protein

For our 1400 cal example,
carbs 630 cal, 158 g
fat 280 cal, 31 g
protein 490 cal, 123 g

SnuggleSmacks

If you eat less than you burn per day, you will lose weight. Barring an actual medical issue, this is pretty much set in stone. Calories in - calories out = weight gain/loss. Period.

But, although the formula is pretty much set in stone (again, barring medical issues), there are many things which can effect the number at either end of that equation.

For example, with calories out, the original estimate of your daily expenditure is just that - an estimate. It's based on population averages. You might have an average metabolism, and you might not. You might be further along the bell curve and have either a faster or slower metabolism than the average. So you might have to play with the numbers a little to see.

Also, your lean body mass will effect your metabolism. More muscle = more calories burned. As you lose weight, you also lose some muscle, and burn less calories due to your lowered body weight, but also because of your lowered lean muscle mass. (This doesn't have a huge impact for most people, but the effect is there.)

For calories in, inaccurate measuring/weighing of foods is the number one thing that messes us up. Using a food scale can help significantly. To get an idea, pour out one cup of large-piece cereal (like shredded wheat squares, something like that) from the top of freshly opened box...then pour out one cup from the very bottom of the box. If you weigh the two portions, you'll find that the second cup weighs a lot more than the first, because the smaller, crushed up bits from the bottom of the box were able to fit together better, so more of them got into the cup. Labels are often very misleading as the the amount of food that there is in the package, so you can't rely on that either.

Another thing that can mess you up is water. Your body will hold on to water for a number of reasons, including hormonal fluctuations, a sodium-heavy meal, and muscle repair due to changes or increases in activity (ie. exercise). You can hold a significant amount of water (boxers often release 10 lbs or more of water before a match) and this can mask the weight you're actually losing in the form of fat (and, unfortunately, muscle).

Things you can do:

Use a measuring tape and progress photos in addition to the scale to judge your progress.
Use the fit of your clothing as further proof of progress.

Use a food scale religiously and log accurately everything you eat. Once you know you're tracking your intake accurately, start a spreadsheet tracking your calories in each day, your weight, and what you think your calories out should be. Do the math (calories in - calories out = weight loss/gain) and see if you need to adjust your calories out (keeping in mind that 3500 calories should be 1 pound.)