i need help!

ieatstickers

I'm feeling down this week. I started losing weight last month, but I stopped after the first week and a half. However, I started back up again last week. I worked out for at least an hour a day and stayed under 1200 calories, too. However, when I weighed myself for my first weekly weigh in I didn't lose anything. Not even a lowsy pound. I'm extremely disappointed in myself. But I start to think that it might of been my fault. When I was losing successfully I pushed myself in my workouts. I did tae bo, jump roping, walking, and kickboxing a day. This week I only did tae bo with Billy Blank's, and I usually didn't finished the entire routine. Also, all my calorie choices were unhealthy ones. Ice cream, fast food, soda . . . basically "empty" calories. While I did make sure I stayed under 1200 calories, I think it didn't help that I chose to squander my calories on bad ones.

I'm going to try to fall back to my old routine this week, since that worked out much better, even if it was exhausting. Trying to do at least four workouts a day and eating more healthy.

Anyone have any advice? Basically I want to effectively shed pounds every week. Any tips? I'm hoping to be a size 9 by my birthday, which is August 29th. I'm currently a size 17. Any tips for those who are losing weight successfully would be great.

abricklin

Can I ask either a. how much you weigh or b. how many calories you shoul be NETTING. Unless you weight about 100 lbs, I doubt MFP is telling you to net 1200 calories. If you worked out at least an hour a day even MOST days a week and stayed UNDER 1200 calories you are not eating enough. is that 1200 eaten or net? You need to a. make sure you are consuming enough calories, staying as close to the MFP set net calories for your weight and weightloss goals and b. you are NOT eating crap. Give yourself a break once a day or every other day. I have some edys slow churned ice cream almost daily after dinner, either 1/2c for 100 calories or 3/4c for 150 calories. It is low fat and has lots of carbs but I account for it and eat less carbs at dinner and always track it.

Are you tracking your food and exercise on MFP

I never wore juniors bottoms because they are cut WAY TOO NARROW. If you are actually a size 17, why don't you try normal, non youth sizes, and put on a 14 or 16 and see how they fit, you will be surprised that you are probably a much smaller size already than you think. I am not sure that losing 4 dress sizes in 2 months is realistic but everyone is differnet. Don't set such huge goals, break it down. I would like to lose 5 lbs by July 4th, etc. so you feel successful throughout our journey rather than a failure on July 31st when you are only a size 15 and think that the size 9 is unattainable by August 29th, give up and revert to your old ways.

jdier

Well, you should be eating at least 1200 calories so your body doesn't starve itself. Starving your body will actually make you gain weight in the end. Try reading Jillian Michael's book "Winning By Losing". She gives you the tools to lose a lot of weight in just a few months. I love that book...seriously! Good luck on the weight loss! :flowerforyou:

ieatstickers

my doctor told me the least i should eat is 1200. and i don't starve myself either. i haven't been hungry throughout the day, and the most i usually eat when i go over is about 1600. As for netting, I'm not sure what you mean. I'm new at this so I have absolutely no idea how to calculate that. I know dropping sizes may be unrealistic to do in a couple of months, but frankly I don't believe that 2 lbs a week is healthiest crap. No offense. I hear people say this to me all the time. I'm sure it's fine if the person is much thinner. But I'm obsessed. And those people on Biggest Losers usually lose around 7-10 pounds week, because they push themselves.

And yes, I've been tracking my food and calculating my exercise. I'm usually always around 1200 calories a day, and gain net calories for an hour of exercise.

Jcrowe0317

Don't get so down on yourself. You are doing the right thing. You are beginning again. I set small goals for myself. I try to loose a pound a week but it usually does not show up as a pound a week. It averages that amount. I also believe that you need to eat more. I never really believed that until I used MFP. I seem to be eating more. I have always exercised yet not lost much weight. Many folks have told me to eat more. I now believe them. I eat about 20% of the calories I gain by exercising. Give more healthy food a try and set smaller goals. Most important... pat yourself on the back for starting again.

Callmefia

my doctor told me the least i should eat is 1200. and i don't starve myself either. i haven't been hungry throughout the day, and the most i usually eat when i go over is about 1600. As for netting, I'm not sure what you mean. I'm new at this so I have absolutely no idea how to calculate that. I know dropping sizes may be unrealistic to do in a couple of months, but frankly I don't believe that 2 lbs a week is healthiest crap. No offense. I hear people say this to me all the time. I'm sure it's fine if the person is much thinner. But I'm obsessed. And those people on Biggest Losers usually lose around 7-10 pounds week, because they push themselves.

And yes, I've been tracking my food and calculating my exercise. I'm usually always around 1200 calories a day, and gain net calories for an hour of exercise.

Those people on biggest loser also do that with a doctor and personal trainers on site. They also injure themselves often too. And several of them gained their weight back when they left the ranch....

Usually a heavy person (like me @ 202 lbs and size 16) can lose 5-10 pounds in the first few weeks but its mostly water weight etc. After that its really hard to lose more than 2 pounds a week.

As for being new and not getting it, you should read some of the posts that are meant to be read by new people. It will explain the whole net calorie thing. (eat back your exercise calories!) I know it sounds like the wrong thing to do, but you really sometimes need to eat more to lose weight, under eating is not going to help you lose.

If you keep working out all this much you are going to injure yourself and then you'll be stuck on the couch and just gaining more weight. You should listen to the advice people offer on these boards, and your doctor too!

abricklin

netting = calories after activity.
If your dr says to net 1200 calories and you are burning 500 working out, you should be eating 1700 to NET 500. its like money. What did you take in (1700) what did you use as startup costs (500) you are netting 1200 calories.
As others have said, you should eat at least SOME of the calories you are eating from working out to fuel your body. 1200 calories is the amount your dr recommended but thats likely for your body as a couch potato so that are still losing weight b/c to sustain you each day, your body may be using 1800 calories for example, so you would still be losing 600 calories a day by sitting on the couch which would be over 1 lb per week sitting on the couch. When you add activity to that, you need to eat some of it to fuel yourself since you are not being a couch potato.

For example, I weigh 193lb and am 5'3, 26 years old, female. I used a generic BMR calculator and my BMR (basal metabolic rate) is 1670 calories. So, laying in bed 24/7 by body is burning 1670 calories sustaining me. If I am eating 1200 a day and not exercising, I should still be losing weight. Follow?

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

ieatstickers

I think so. I sort of get the BMR, I think. Mine says 1709 calories. Does that mean if I eat 1709 calories a day and sit on the couch, I will still maintain my weight, because I burn that same amount just by sitting?

ieatstickers

Also, I read that site about how to lose weight and calorie deficit. It said to go at least 500 calories of my BMR, which is 1200 and that's exactly what I've been consuming. So, I'm confused why this week was such a failure when I was eating the amount of calories I should have.