More Problems Losing
bokaba
Posts: 171 Member
Unfortunately, my weight is zig-zagging again (not necessarily again as it has been going on for months). It may go down for a few days, but then goes back up. I am weighing/measuring everything as best I can and am unable to see any consistent weight loss even at less than1500 calories a day (MFP purports that this gives me a 2200 calorie deficit per day). I appear only able to lose weight at the sub-1200 calorie range (and this has been true in the past when I have lost weight). I am not sure why I have to constantly starve, suffer disorientation, headache, exhaustion, muscle weakness, dizziness, and miss essential nutrition in order to see any kind of loss when others much smaller, much older, and much less active than I am are losing on more than 2000 calories a day. I am becoming increasingly frustrated and disillusioned.
This scientifically and mathematically makes no sense to me. I had a thyroid stimulating hormone test recently and it was at the lower end of the acceptable range, but also had developed a vitamin D deficiency. I plan to go to the doctor and get a full thyroid test including T3 and T4 hormone as well as measure my RMR to see if anything unusual is going on. Perhaps it is far lower than MFP calculates. I am close to giving up (trying to lose weight that is) and just sticking to a healthy, well-balanced diet and remaining the size I am rather than endure a lifetime of hardship to stay thin. I was able to attain a less than 200 pound weight at around 17-18, but it required a strict diet of less than 1200 calories and at least two hours of intense cardio (running hills, etc.) to reach and even maintain. Short of a lifelong starvation diet that will probably put me in an early grave, I am running out of ideas. I’ve lost a grand total of three pounds in four months as of today.
Stats:
Male, 6ft. 280 pounds, 29 years old
This scientifically and mathematically makes no sense to me. I had a thyroid stimulating hormone test recently and it was at the lower end of the acceptable range, but also had developed a vitamin D deficiency. I plan to go to the doctor and get a full thyroid test including T3 and T4 hormone as well as measure my RMR to see if anything unusual is going on. Perhaps it is far lower than MFP calculates. I am close to giving up (trying to lose weight that is) and just sticking to a healthy, well-balanced diet and remaining the size I am rather than endure a lifetime of hardship to stay thin. I was able to attain a less than 200 pound weight at around 17-18, but it required a strict diet of less than 1200 calories and at least two hours of intense cardio (running hills, etc.) to reach and even maintain. Short of a lifelong starvation diet that will probably put me in an early grave, I am running out of ideas. I’ve lost a grand total of three pounds in four months as of today.
Stats:
Male, 6ft. 280 pounds, 29 years old
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Replies
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Are you weighing EVERY SINGLE ITEM you eat? Because your diary is showing the same numbers nearly each day...banana 100g, avocado 1/5, strawberries 2oz. And a lot of other items are showing as slices (bread especially, which can easily weigh more than it says). You also have days not logged at all...Christmas Eve/Christmas I understand, but the entire weekend before has nothing. You absolutely need to tighten up your logging, because 1500 is very low for a man your size. I'm six inches shorter and about 90 pounds lighter, and I eat more than that each day.0
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MFP has a hypothyroidism & hyperthyroidism group: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/753-hypothyroidism-and-hyperthyroidism
I have Hashimoto's (autoimmune thyroid disease), and I lost just like everybody else—by eating fewer calories than I burn.
A 6', 280 lb. male does not maintain on "less than 1,500 calories." You're underestimating your food &/or overestimating your burns.0 -
What happens to the scale when you consume, say, 2000 on rest days and a few hundred more on active days?0
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I'm going to guess that you won't give up.
Just a hunch.0 -
I don't believe the values you are entering into the diary. Who eats just part of a banana? If you aren't losing weight, it is because you aren't being honest with yourself.0
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I also saw 1/5 Of an avocado. How do you get that amount?0
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I know a lot of people are skeptical of what I eat, so I will go ahead and post pictures of everything I am eating for a couple days. As far as avocados and bananas go, there the 1/5 is just what 1oz calculates to be, and for bananas, they are usually either pre-cut and frozen cut in half and refrigerator for later use.
Here is my dinner: chicken breast, brown rice, and green beans (beverage was water with my exciting new Blendtec in the background). I will probably have 1/2 cup of Fiber One before bed (the same thing I had for breakfast). Also note that is a small plate, not a full size dinner plate.
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I know a lot of people are skeptical of what I eat, so I will go ahead and post pictures of everything I am eating for a couple days. As far as avocados and bananas go, there the 1/5 is just what 1oz calculates to be, and for bananas, they are usually either pre-cut and frozen cut in half and refrigerator for later use.
Here is my dinner: chicken breast, brown rice, and green beans (beverage was water with my exciting new Blendtec in the background). I will probably have 1/2 cup of Fiber One before bed (the same thing I had for breakfast). Also note that is a small plate, not a full size dinner plate.
You need to weigh your food using a food scale. Measuring cups/spoons are not accurate.0 -
Do get things checked out with a doctor. 1200 calories is incredibly low for a young male active for 2 hours a day... that in itself could have caused you a lot of trouble. You need a good assessment to sort things out, but, given that you are tracking accurately, you need many more than 1500 calories a day. I would say take a break from trying to lose weight while you work with the doctors and get stabilized. Continue to track so you can get a good idea of how many calories you can maintain on. Gradually build up to where you should have less than 500 kcal deficit per day (including your exercise; or stop at the point that you start to gain). Once you have the medical questions answered and have a good idea of your maintenance, you can start to cut down slowly, so that you have a 500-1000 kcal deficit per day.0
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I am weighing/measuring everything as best I can and am unable to see any consistent weight loss even at less than1500 calories a day (MFP purports that this gives me a 2200 calorie deficit per day).
Stats: Male, 6ft. 280 pounds, 29 years old.
If your weight has stabilized, then you're underestimating your food &/or overestimating your burns. You lose weight by eating fewer calories than you burn—period. You're not maintaining on a 2,200-calorie deficit—you're eating at TDEE (total daily energy expenditure).0 -
Without seeing exactly what you eat all the time, it's hard to say what might be wrong here. I know sometimes the way the log works doesn't reflect what you're actually measuring - do you weigh everything? I'm glad you're pursuing testing for your thyroid function. I also had a vitamin D deficiency and once I worked on correcting it my weight loss efforts seemed to work better - my joints were not as painful, and it seems some studies indicate that more normalized vit. D levels are correlated with more success with weight loss.
I'm 6' tall and started at 293 lbs. I initially started with 1,800-2,000 calories per day and lost ~2lbs per week for quite a while. Now I'm ~210 and am losing 1-1.5 lbs/week on 1,600-1,750 calories. Do you log all your snacks? All your beverages? Do you weigh your food, or guesstimate portions? Do you log the cooking oils and sauces from food prep? Lastly, do you eat back calories burnt? Unfortunately the calorie burn numbers are notoriously inaccurate, and eating them back can be tricky territory.
For me, consistency has been key. I don't log every day any more, but in the beginning I would eat wonderfully for days at a time, but if I allowed myself to relax and logged the indulgences I allowed myself, they almost always cancelled out the deficits I had earlier in the week. I needed to be more honest with myself. I can't say this is your situation because I don't know you, but this is a very common issue for many people who feel they're working very hard but not seeing results. Unfortunately it can be easy to "undo" the hard work with one blowout.
If you're still having difficulty and can't seem to figure out why, a discussion with your doctor or a dietician should be helpful. Barring health problems, a caloric deficit will result in weight loss - the first place to look is any possible reasons you aren't actually in a deficit. Your numbers are definitely in deficit territory, but being at 1,500 calories could be leading you to feel hungry and irritable and more likely to slip on those habits.0 -
Hopefully you will be able to see exactly what I eat. I plan to post pictures of everything I'm eating for the next couple of days. I log all my snacks and don't drink any beverages that contain any calories. I usually do feel hungry and irritable, otherwise, I won't lose anything.0
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I'm confused. What you're eating right now is maintaining your weight. How is photographing it going to change anything?0
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Because many are in disbelief that I eat so little and am not losing. It will not change anything.0
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Try weighing out all your food. It makes a huge difference.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY 0 -
There is, in that meal, approx 15 green beans, about 1/2 a cup of rice, some soy sauce, and ~6 oz of chicken. Weighing it won't make enough of a difference to account for the issues OP is having, given his stats. I lost 50 lbs using measuring cups, and my margin for error was narrower than his.
+1 revisiting this with a doc.0 -
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Hopefully you will be able to see exactly what I eat. I plan to post pictures of everything I'm eating for the next couple of days. I log all my snacks and don't drink any beverages that contain any calories. I usually do feel hungry and irritable, otherwise, I won't lose anything.
While pics can be helpful, they don't tell the full story. I looked at your diary where you logged that meal and saw chicken, beans, and rice. Did you cook the chicken in any oil? Was there any sauce on your rice?
You only logged under 800 calories that day. If this is accurate, this is unhealthy and there is no way you are getting the appropriate nutrients for someone of your size. You logged only 19 grams of fat and 52 grams of protein - no wonder you're feeling tired, hungry, and miserable! It might be worth taking a break from trying to lose and working on re-establishing a healthy balance, for your mental and physical health's sake.0 -
lalepepper wrote: »You only logged under 800 calories that day. If this is accurate, this is unhealthy and there is no way you are getting the appropriate nutrients for someone of your size.
It's obviously not accurate, or the OP would be shedding pounds.0 -
There's sauce on the rice and oil on the chicken, neither of which are in your diary.0
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lalepepper wrote: »You only logged under 800 calories that day. If this is accurate, this is unhealthy and there is no way you are getting the appropriate nutrients for someone of your size.
It's obviously not accurate, or the OP would be shedding pounds.
I understand this - my point is he is maintaining that he is accurately logging everything, but both can't be true.
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lalepepper wrote: »lalepepper wrote: »You only logged under 800 calories that day. If this is accurate, this is unhealthy and there is no way you are getting the appropriate nutrients for someone of your size.
It's obviously not accurate, or the OP would be shedding pounds.
I understand this - my point is he is maintaining that he is accurately logging everything, but both can't be true.
That's more vague than it needs to be. We know with certainty that the logging is broken, so there is no need to even think about worrying about nutrient levels implied by a (non-existent) 800 calorie diet.
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I'm going with check back with doctor. Very good chance you have hypothyroidism, and that can cause maintenance at too few calories or actual weight gain. One of the main symptoms.
I was also at the "low end of acceptable", but doctor did the full panel and confirmed diagnosis. Since I've been on the proper amount of medication, I went back to being able to lose weight.
I appreciate everyone's suggestion about food scales, but I used measuring cups and such had no problem losing weight once my thyroid levels got back to normal. I believe the OP is watching his diet sufficiently, especially since he experiences the dizziness, etc, if he drops lower.
OP, I'd stay at the 1500 for now and "maintain" your weight until you get further testing.0 -
There's sauce on the rice and oil on the chicken, neither of which are in your diary.loveliftlaughxo wrote:Try weighing out all your food. It makes a huge difference.
OP, you're eating varied wildly--800, 850, 1500, 2050, 1350, not logged, not logged, and 1800. Two previous posters pointed out logging errors. Anything's possible, but overeating seems more likely than a medical issue. You want to lose quickly. Find a stable amount that still feeds your muscles and brain enough--say 1600 or 1800--and try it for a couple weeks.
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brandiuntz wrote: »I'm going with check back with doctor. Very good chance you have hypothyroidism, and that can cause maintenance at too few calories or actual weight gain. One of the main symptoms.
I was also at the "low end of acceptable", but doctor did the full panel and confirmed diagnosis. Since I've been on the proper amount of medication, I went back to being able to lose weight.
I have Hashimoto's (autoimmune thyroid disease). Meds (in my case, Synthroid & Cytomel) reduce the fatigue so I can be more active. But I lost the weight long before my thyroid levels entered the "normal" range, and I did it just like everybody else—by learning to log everything I eat & drink accurately & honestly.
OP, please see a doctor.0 -
lalepepper wrote: »lalepepper wrote: »You only logged under 800 calories that day. If this is accurate, this is unhealthy and there is no way you are getting the appropriate nutrients for someone of your size.
It's obviously not accurate, or the OP would be shedding pounds.
I understand this - my point is he is maintaining that he is accurately logging everything, but both can't be true.
That's more vague than it needs to be. We know with certainty that the logging is broken, so there is no need to even think about worrying about nutrient levels implied by a (non-existent) 800 calorie diet.
Fair enough!0 -
brandiuntz wrote: »I'm going with check back with doctor. Very good chance you have hypothyroidism, and that can cause maintenance at too few calories or actual weight gain. One of the main symptoms.
I was also at the "low end of acceptable", but doctor did the full panel and confirmed diagnosis. Since I've been on the proper amount of medication, I went back to being able to lose weight.
I appreciate everyone's suggestion about food scales, but I used measuring cups and such had no problem losing weight once my thyroid levels got back to normal. I believe the OP is watching his diet sufficiently, especially since he experiences the dizziness, etc, if he drops lower.
OP, I'd stay at the 1500 for now and "maintain" your weight until you get further testing.
Don't people with hypothyroidism usually have high TSH levels (and low T4) unless the hypothyroidism is caused by pituitary failure (which would probably cause severe symptoms)?
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As I have told you every single time you make a thread about this, start logging properly. Weigh everything (you aren't), eat to your goal every day (you aren't), monitor for a few months to see how your calorie goals should be changed (assuming you haven't), if you are using MFP's settings for eating without including exercise into your energy expenditure then log and eat back 50-100% of the exercise calories (which you do not appear to be doing either).
ETA the whole "log properly" has been given to you as advice for mooooonths. Seems to be the only piece of advice you completely ignore entirely 100%.
ALSO another ETA. You posted an example of a meal. This is not weighed, and if it is logged even close to the proper weight then you probably aren't always logging the correct entry (i.e. estimating based on cooked instead of raw when you are using the raw entry would be an example). You have also had plenty of non-logged days in which you easily could have been eating calorie dense foods, and you have regularly had days in red. So overall your total intake is higher than you think it is, and your energy expenditure is lower than you think.0
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