At my wits end, really need some advice.
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Yes Ive been doing Weight watchers since last JuneHow were you tracking your food before?
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Did you track all your calories? I thought they worked on a points system and had 'free' foods.0 -
Ah yes that's true, there are free foods, fruit and most veg are' free'0
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Do you weigh your food using a digital scale?
Exactly what I came in to post:flowerforyou:0 -
Ah yes that's true, there are free foods, fruit and most veg are' free'
You look to be mixing up the two methods.
Track your food accurately for at least 4 weeks. Keep on the calorie allowance you have now. After a few weeks, see where you are and if you have not made progress, drop your calories down by a couple hundred.
Log your fruits and veggies - you may well be eating more than you think.0 -
Yes I've only just started using this site, 3 days ago because my WW subscription is ending . I'm not running the two methods of tracking at the same time Because of the 'free' foods it wouldn't be compatible anyway.
Its true you can end up eating more than you think with fruit and veg, if they are 'free' then it can be easy to forget they have calories and it can add up. I think it is WW trying to encourage people to eat more healthily.0 -
Eat more, but what you add in keep it only dark leafy greens, fruits and vegetables. Cut out refined sugars and flours. Good luck!0
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Remain calm! Weight loss can be tricky, but you can sort it out and get results.
1) It is possible that you aren't burning as many calories with exercise as you've calculated, even if you calculated them with "calories burned" calculators.
2) It is possible that your actual activity level is lower than you've projected. You might be more sedentary and therefore burning fewer calories. You could try setting your activity level to "sedentary," and seeing what recommendation you get. Sometimes people set their activity level for the extra exercise they're doing AND count their exercise, which means they're counting their exercise twice.
3) I don't know how tall you are or what you weigh, however my maintenance calories are lower than 1800 a day, before exercise, and sometimes after exercise. You could try cutting another 300 calories a day.
4) You could track your weight loss with measurements rather than weight. That way, if you gain muscle and get heavier, but lose inches, you'll know that you've lost fat.
Good luck!0 -
Sounds like your body has gotten use to the routine. You need to change it up. When your body does the same workout and eats the same calories day after day, week after week it get use to it. Maybe next week change your exercise routine, then the following week go back to your regular schedule and so on. See if that does anything. Good luck!
This is probably the best answer.
I will just add, "pls dont cut down your calorie intake, just increase the intensity of ur exercise as well as the duration. Like what she said, ur body get used to the routine.0 -
If your metabolism has slowed significantly in the last 8 months, there is a good chance it would have beem accompanied by dramatic changes in your energy levels during exercise. Have you felt particularly fatigued or sluggish during your workouts? If so, I would suggest you increase daily calories. Otherwise, fluctuate your calories throughout the week, as intermitent fasting has proven helpful for continued weightloss. Also, be diligent with your calorie counting. Good luck!0
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Eat less food.
The end.0 -
I didn't say 6,000 calorie a week. I said 4,500 cals. Its based on the average calorie burn for my exercise classes and calories burned from walking based on my height, weight, speed and distance.Are you sure you are burning over 6,000 calories a week? That is a TON of calories. Where did you get that estimate?
Last week i 'earned' 90 activity pp on Weight Watchers.
Of course it will vary each week to some degree but not wildly.
Hello from another person who just gave up WW this past week, so I understand your WW language
I just went and converted KGs to Pounds, and our stats are pretty similar. I am 5'6.5" and started at 216.
Question regarding your post above: When you're not exercising, do you have a desk job or are you pretty active in your daily life? It sounds like you are not using a heart rate monitor or an ActiveLink to measure your APs. 90 APs is a lot - that's approximately 9,000 calories burned via exercise and more than 12/day, which seems REALLY high for somebody taking 7 classes a week, plus walking. What I learned when I started using the ActiveLink is that I was way overestimating my APs. I might have burned 700 calories in Zumba, which would be about 7 APs. But I sat at my desk job for the 8 hours prior to that, and I wasn't reaching the baseline activity that they assume you meet by just 'living.' So at the end of the day I hadn't really 'earned' 7 APs. it was more like 3APs, because I had to reach my 'baseline' before that activity started to count as extra. Does that make sense?
I can't really help with the food, yet. I'm trying to figure out my own calories as I convert over from WW. It's a big adjustment to 'eat more.' I keep thinking WW had me on 1200 a day, but then when you add fruits/vegetables and any APs, it was probably closer to 1600/day. But I'm working out a lot more now than I was then, so I'm trying to find a good balance. I've tried to eat really well this week and the scale hasn't budged at all (Tuesday is my weigh in day, so I have a few days left). I know it's 'only one week,' but I've been eating crap for months, so you would think the scale would throw me a bone.
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Make sure your drinking enough water. This was my biggest issue. I have been told that your body will retain more water as you start to work out more to avoid becoming dehydrated. Adding more water to your diet may help your body adjust to the extra workouts and avoid dehydration.0
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Sounds like your body has gotten use to the routine. You need to change it up. When your body does the same workout and eats the same calories day after day, week after week it get use to it. Maybe next week change your exercise routine, then the following week go back to your regular schedule and so on. See if that does anything. Good luck!
I'm sorry, but this is pseudo science and horrible advice. Routine can make diet plans more difficult to follow, so it is no doubt good to vary your routine. However, there is no science to the idea that there is any physical effect from doing the same verses different things. Losing weight is extremely simple math: calories out > calories in.0 -
No study has ever found a point at which anyone loses more by eating more. It becomes less efficient to reduce intake at some point (removing 10 more calories might only add 7 to the deficit as metabolism slows) but it never starts going the other way. NEVER.
Thank you for this. It is unfortunate to see all the bad advice given out by people here based on nothing but bad pseudo science.0 -
Sounds like your body has gotten use to the routine. You need to change it up. When your body does the same workout and eats the same calories day after day, week after week it get use to it. Maybe next week change your exercise routine, then the following week go back to your regular schedule and so on. See if that does anything. Good luck!
Unfortunately, that is another myth. On the plus side, do the exercise that you enjoy. You'll be more motivated to do it regularly.0 -
I know how you feel! I wish you lots of luck and congratulations on how far you have come already! You are an inspiration to people out there like me who are just beginning.
There is so much information out there that it tends to get very confusing. My simple (no scientific) advice is to just keep on going. If your body feels good, and you are satisfied with your diet, just keep going!0 -
So As I said I will try eating less calories- about 1400 and using the MFP tracker and see how I get on. I will keep the level of exercise pretty much the same as it is still a big challenge for me, I also generally hate exercise; I don't get that ' feel good ' rush that everyone talks about so I will do what keeps me motivated.
If I don't lose weight over the next couple of weeks I will try something else.0 -
I know how you feel! I wish you lots of luck and congratulations on how far you have come already! You are an inspiration to people out there like me who are just beginning.
Thanks!0 -
Eat less?
Errr no. The opposite actually. Burning 4500 calories a week is 640ish calories minus'd from your daily 1800, which means you are eating less than 1200 calories a day. You don't eat anywhere near enough to provide the energy needed to fuel your workouts, therefore your body is keeping hold of everything you do consume and not letting go of excesses. NET 1800 and you'll lose weight.
This is actually a myth. Google "Starvation myth" for details. If in is less than out, you lose weight, first law of thermodynamics ensures that, your metabolism may slow (and you have to adjust the calories you eat to cater for that) but you will lose weight.
But in the long run, you really don't want your metabolism to slow down like that.0 -
Eat less?
Errr no. The opposite actually. Burning 4500 calories a week is 640ish calories minus'd from your daily 1800, which means you are eating less than 1200 calories a day. You don't eat anywhere near enough to provide the energy needed to fuel your workouts, therefore your body is keeping hold of everything you do consume and not letting go of excesses. NET 1800 and you'll lose weight.
This is actually a myth. Google "Starvation myth" for details. If in is less than out, you lose weight, first law of thermodynamics ensures that, your metabolism may slow (and you have to adjust the calories you eat to cater for that) but you will lose weight.
But in the long run, you really don't want your metabolism to slow down like that.
This is where a 10-14 day training break and above-TDEE refeed can be useful.0 -
TDEE Refeed?0
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By that I mean taking a break from all training to let your body rest and recuperate, and eating at or slightly above TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) for a short period of time. The refeed should get a lot of it's extra calories from carbs (calories from fat do not have the same effect).
When in a caloric deficit the metabolism slows down to some degree as hormone levels fall. This decreases your TDEE so that you may no longer be in a caloric deficit at all. The calories that you used to lose weight at are now too many to continue to lose weight, and your fat loss plateaus. It's the body's way of trying to restore balance to the thermodynamic energy balance equation that you deliberately upset by dieting and exercising in the first place.
The influx of carb-rich calories has been demonstrated to assist in the restoration of thyroid, leptin, and testosterone levels which are naturally suppressed in response to a sustained caloric deficit. As a result, your slowed down metabolism speeds back up to some degree, and TDEE increases with it. When you recommence your diet and exercise routine at the previous level, you are once again in a caloric deficit and fat loss resumes, smiles return, etc.
The other approach is to increase training intensity (which increases the chances of injury and further upsets the hormone balance) or decrease calories taken in (which makes you frustrated, hungery, irritable, further reduces hormonal balance, etc).
As others have said if you are truly in a caloric deficit you will lose weight (though it's not guaranteed to be fat loss, it could be muscle instead). But you absolutely need to be in a confirmed deficit, and you want to do whatever you can to make that loss be fat. Keeping the hormonal balance happy is a good way to keep the body strong and healthy and the metabolism cranking, giving you the highest possible TDEE. It's also a great break mentally, your training aches and pains will go away, and you'll be ready to CRUSH your workouts with renewed vigor when you start back up. It's a great plateau busting strategy. It's also very difficult to talk someone whose weight loss has stalled into stopping their workouts and eating so much more than they have been. Most people are afraid they are going to pile the weight back on during those two weeks.0 -
OK this sounds interesting , kind of re setting everything again. I'm still not sure how I work out TDEE? Sorry if I sound dumb but this is all new to me so I want to be clear.
I've realised on this site that people just assume you know what they are talking about.
Its true that I am very reluctant to stopped the training and diet ( but esp the training) partly because I hate it and worry i wont start back up again esp with me being as frustrated as I am right now.0 -
Good job on your research. Our bodies have a built in mechanism to prevent starvation. When we do not get enough calories, our thyroid will release reverse T4. This hormone goes to our cells and causes them to utilize as little energy as necessary, in order to conserve energy needed for vital organs to survive. This is shown to us as a "reduced metabolism". The whole process is actually more complicated than that but the above is the main controller.0
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OK this sounds interesting , kind of re setting everything again. I'm still not sure how I work out TDEE? Sorry if I sound dumb but this is all new to me so I want to be clear.
I've realised on this site that people just assume you know what they are talking about.
Its true that I am very reluctant to stopped the training and diet ( but esp the training) partly because I hate it and worry i wont start back up again esp with me being as frustrated as I am right now.
The OP of this thread has put together an excellent primer on the basics. That includes calculating what you burn throughout the day (TDEE). I prefer to start with BMR and add all exercise manually to get TDEE.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12/
As to your point of us assuming a certain level of knowledge, yes, we want to help, but we also want you to seek knowledge independently. Use google or MFP's search function on terms, calculations, etc you don't understand. If you are conversant on the basics we can talk intelligently about specifics that apply to YOU.
Most people instinctively fear taking a diet/training break. They fear they'll balloon back up and lose that progress they've already worked so hard for, or that once they stop they'll never recapture that drive that caused them to start the first time and stay on a break forever. There's no reason for either of those to happen. Make it a part of your plan and stick to it. Your frustration should evaporate once you realize that what you are experiencing is normal and there are solutions.
A rest/reefed can be a powerful tool. To use a Leigh Peele-type analogy, you'll get to the finish line faster if you stop and take a pit stop now and then rather than running in the red until the engine quits or you run out of gas.
Weight loss is a practical application of science. It's not subject to opinion or what we think we're entitled to eat. Once you divorce emotion from it and control both calories in and calories out it's really just a game of math. Now, you can work with the science or against it and still persevere, but against is harder. You may feel like you are doing everything right and life is just being unfair by not letting you continue to lose, but if you're stuck for more than a few weeks you need to adjust something.
One last thing: if you truly hate your training look for something you won't hate. Maybe it's swimming or dancing or tennis. It doesn't HAVE to be a fitness class. And training is about fitness. Weight loss is about diet. The two often go hand in hand but keep them separate in your mind. The very best training in a deficit is resistance training to preserve muscle mass and fight that metabolic reduction.0 -
Yes I have a bit of learning to do, thanks for the post.
As for the exercise, the classes I'm going to now I like better than other things I have tried and I have stuck with them and there have been big improvements in my fitness and muscle tone.I still try new things as well. Its good to shop around.
And you are right about the break actually, there have been a couple of times when I haven't been able to exercise for a couple of weeks and I did get back into it with out any problems. Exercise has become part of my routine now which is great.0 -
But in the long run, you really don't want your metabolism to slow down like that.
Slow down like what? Studies on people with a BMI over 20 show a metabolic slowdown of between 4% and 10% when they go on reduced calorie diets. People throw around crazy numbers from the MN study where one guy with less than 7% BF had a 40% slow down and act like that is the norm or is common. It is not. Granted, 10% is more than twice 4% but the math just doesn't work if you start running your calories up and down to try to keep it closer to the 4% mark. It isn't an instant switch - when you start eating more trying to get it back up you will be at the reduced metabolism to start with, getting even more extra calories. IMO, it is much simpler to just assume you will need to cut back a little extra to cover it. I think the roller coaster works for some because it gives people a day here and there as a break from their diet, making it easier to stay on it.0 -
Eat less?
Errr no. The opposite actually. Burning 4500 calories a week is 640ish calories minus'd from your daily 1800, which means you are eating less than 1200 calories a day. You don't eat anywhere near enough to provide the energy needed to fuel your workouts, therefore your body is keeping hold of everything you do consume and not letting go of excesses. NET 1800 and you'll lose weight.
This ^^^^^
DO NOT eat less. Your body CANNOT lose if there is not enough energy put back in your body to burn fat! If you do not eat enough your body will hold on to your calories and fat and you will not lose.0 -
I was in the same situation - same length of time losing weight, same types of classes. While moaning on the NHS Forum, someone responded by informing me that as I was now a quarter of a person less than when I started, it stood to reason that I did not need the same amount of calories that I did at the start of my weight loss.
This advice, coupled with "honest logging" as someone here put it, has resulted in my weight loss starting again. I also jump started it by having a wee go on the Fast Diet.
Sometimes, you just need to take a time out or try something a bit different.
I wish you well and hope you stick with it.0 -
This ^^^^^Eat less?
Errr no. The opposite actually. Burning 4500 calories a week is 640ish calories minus'd from your daily 1800, which means you are eating less than 1200 calories a day. You don't eat anywhere near enough to provide the energy needed to fuel your workouts, therefore your body is keeping hold of everything you do consume and not letting go of excesses. NET 1800 and you'll lose weight.
DO NOT eat less. Your body CANNOT lose if there is not enough energy put back in your body to burn fat! If you do not eat enough your body will hold on to your calories and fat and you will not lose.
Bro science backed up by nothing really. If you are burning more than 1800 and you eat 1800, you will lose weight. If you eat 1200 you will lose more but it might be too little to function well and if you have trouble with keeping on track the binge monster might visit. But don't buy into the "eat more to lose more" craziness.0
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