Not burning calories even though working out at 80% of max heart rate!!! HELP!!!
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I'm sorry if I missed it but I don't think you've mentioned how much you are eating. As in, how many calories are you eating?
I have PCOS. I have lost around 55 pounds. Women with PCOS, whether or not they are insulin resistant, have lower BMRs than women without PCOS. In general, exercise is not mandatory in order to lose weight since you can create a caloric deficit by reducing what you eat. However, with a lower BMR, weight loss is easier/more sustainable when you add in exercise. This is because you get to eat a bit more when you exercise (the MFP method calls for eating exercise calories), which means that you are going to be more comfortable through the process. For me, HIIT increases my appetite to an extent to where the extra calories it earns me are too few to make up for it. So I focus on walking and easy running as far as cardio goes. Right now I lift weights 4x/wk and then do cardio 3x/wk.0 -
LisaJayne71 wrote: »None of the data upon which you are basing your conclusions is accurate. HRMs are not all that accurate to begin with, and that's under ideal exercise conditions. Wearing one for 12 hours yields nothing but garbage.
There are some people who are "fast responders" to diet and exercise when it comes to weight loss, and some who are slow to respond. So if may be that you have some yet to be defined medical issues. However, I seriously doubt that your problem is "low calorie burn" with exercise. I know that doesn't make it any less frustrating.
I was under the impression that a HRM with a chest strap was pretty accurate compared to others?
I am obviously one of the slow responders and without a doubt I think I have underlying medical issues but I don't know where to start or which kind of doctor to go to... I'm fed up being fobbed off by GP's
To be very honest, you sound impatient, it doesn't sound like you have underlying medical problems.
Do some reading up on weight loss - there's a lot of info on here - and adjust your expectations. With 60lbs to lose, losing 14lbs in a month is VERY good.0 -
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I have never achieved a 14lb weight loss in a month - ever. I am far more overweight than you and older than you and I don't have PCOS or thyroid issues. What I have learned is that I am one of those special snowflakes for whom this weight lost and quest for health journey will just be difficult than the average person.
OP - Get a new dr that will test your thyroid. Make sure it is a full thyroid panel (not just a TSH). Try the website "stop the thyroid madness" for one opinion on what constitutes a full panel. If anything, it will rule something in or out.
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I do HIIT running 30 secs on/ 30 secs off for up to 30 minutes or until I feel like my legs will give way. I do this on an empty stomach having just had water. I then have breakfast, and go to Curves gym where I do 30 minutes of strength training 4-5 days a week and stretch.BrianSharpe wrote: »You may be surprised to know that you "burn more fat" as a source of fuel while your heart-rate is relatively low than at more intense levels. Having said that it's not the fuel source that counts for weight loss but the energy balance (ie total calories in & total calories out).
What type of exercises are you doing? Obviously running (and swimming or cycling at reasonably intense efforts) would, most likely, burn more than 300 cal per hour but, personally, I burn less than that in an hour of strength training
2 days a week at the moment I have a PT session as well for an hour where I am doing a mixture of cardio and intense strength training too.
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I guess I am not seeing a need for thyroid tests or blood panels. OP lost 14 pounds in a month. That is nothing to sneeze at. I don't see any indication of a medical problem causing her weight loss to be more difficult than anybody else's.
People really make things more difficult than they are. You don't have to futz around with your heart rate or wearing an HRM 12 hours a day. Weigh/measure/accurately estimate your food. Log it accurately. Add in exercise if you'd like. Create a caloric deficit. Lose weight.0 -
OP how many calories are you eating????0
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£10,000 and I did feel totally conned out of the cash.. however other people did lose loads of weight... mainly men who didn't have PCOS!! I was upfront with them about my condition before I went and they promised they could help me as they knew what they were doing... anyway.. that was 3 years ago now and I've dealt with that! I'm just trying to move forwards now and find the best help I can to lose the weight!MeanderingMammal wrote: »LisaJayne71 wrote: »The weight loss camp I was at had us wear them for 12 hours a day as we were exercising all day apart from lunch break (1 hour) and two 30 min drink and rest breaks in between.
In that case it sounds like they were using them for things that they're not designed for, your comment about 12 hour afterburn would support that they didn't know what they were on about. I hope they didn't con you out of too much cash
Your results are ok, but weight loss is as simple as calories in vs calories out. PCOS is a collection of related conditions that aren't well understood, hence the difficulty getting meaningful advice from a GP. Notwithstanding that, the physics still works as it should.
Concentrate on your calorie deficit, train to help your health from both a cardiovascular and lean mass perspective. That means eating in deficit, doing CV work and doing some resistance work. I'd also suggest moderating your expectations about rate of loss, as 3lbs per week is very aggressive and may be couterproductive in the longer term.
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LisaJayne71 wrote: »
£10,000 and I did feel totally conned out of the cash.. however other people did lose loads of weight... mainly men who didn't have PCOS!! I was upfront with them about my condition before I went and they promised they could help me as they knew what they were doing... anyway.. that was 3 years ago now and I've dealt with that! I'm just trying to move forwards now and find the best help I can to lose the weight!MeanderingMammal wrote: »LisaJayne71 wrote: »The weight loss camp I was at had us wear them for 12 hours a day as we were exercising all day apart from lunch break (1 hour) and two 30 min drink and rest breaks in between.
In that case it sounds like they were using them for things that they're not designed for, your comment about 12 hour afterburn would support that they didn't know what they were on about. I hope they didn't con you out of too much cash
Your results are ok, but weight loss is as simple as calories in vs calories out. PCOS is a collection of related conditions that aren't well understood, hence the difficulty getting meaningful advice from a GP. Notwithstanding that, the physics still works as it should.
Concentrate on your calorie deficit, train to help your health from both a cardiovascular and lean mass perspective. That means eating in deficit, doing CV work and doing some resistance work. I'd also suggest moderating your expectations about rate of loss, as 3lbs per week is very aggressive and may be couterproductive in the longer term.
10k?! :huh: *kitten* me!0 -
How many threads did you open on this subject? Am sure posters addressed the points this morning.
300 cals in an hour imo is lowish, but it depends on what you are doing as well as intensity , duration and your weight. As am sure I said if its not continuous, then the amount will be lower.
To burn significant calories in the gym requires you to do a significant amount of exercise. Its an option to go less intense, but for longer. One thing i failed to take into account this morning is that the 80% heart rate might have just as much to do with your level of fitness. What toad said but am sure it was all said on the other thread.0 -
I actually didn't mention the calories as that part I'm ok with.. I'm more bothered with the not burning many calories for the effort put in...I'm sorry if I missed it but I don't think you've mentioned how much you are eating. As in, how many calories are you eating?
I have PCOS. I have lost around 55 pounds. Women with PCOS, whether or not they are insulin resistant, have lower BMRs than women without PCOS. In general, exercise is not mandatory in order to lose weight since you can create a caloric deficit by reducing what you eat. However, with a lower BMR, weight loss is easier/more sustainable when you add in exercise. This is because you get to eat a bit more when you exercise (the MFP method calls for eating exercise calories), which means that you are going to be more comfortable through the process. For me, HIIT increases my appetite to an extent to where the extra calories it earns me are too few to make up for it. So I focus on walking and easy running as far as cardio goes. Right now I lift weights 4x/wk and then do cardio 3x/wk.
But I stick to 1000 calories a day. I've tried 1200 a day with exercise in the past and I've gained so I find 1000 works for me. I was told years ago by a well respected endocrinologist in London that as a woman with PCOS I may find I have to eat as little as 500 cals a day to lose weight without exercise so if I want to eat more I'd have to exercise!! She told me that about 15 years ago and it depressed me even then!!
That's interesting what you say about HIIT for you, I have just started doing HIIT because I read it was particularly beneficial for women with PCOS!!!!! So much different info around it's hard to know where to start!!
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I guess I am not seeing a need for thyroid tests or blood panels. OP lost 14 pounds in a month. That is nothing to sneeze at. I don't see any indication of a medical problem causing her weight loss to be more difficult than anybody else's.
People really make things more difficult than they are. You don't have to futz around with your heart rate or wearing an HRM 12 hours a day. Weigh/measure/accurately estimate your food. Log it accurately. Add in exercise if you'd like. Create a caloric deficit. Lose weight.
I don't see an overwhelming need either, but OP said she really thought she had another underlying medical issue and one sure way to find out is to ask and be done with it.0 -
If you are truly eating 1000 calories a day you would be dropping weight. More then likely you are eating more then you think. You need to invest in food scale weigh all solid foods and measure liquids only.LisaJayne71 wrote: »
I actually didn't mention the calories as that part I'm ok with.. I'm more bothered with the not burning many calories for the effort put in...I'm sorry if I missed it but I don't think you've mentioned how much you are eating. As in, how many calories are you eating?
I have PCOS. I have lost around 55 pounds. Women with PCOS, whether or not they are insulin resistant, have lower BMRs than women without PCOS. In general, exercise is not mandatory in order to lose weight since you can create a caloric deficit by reducing what you eat. However, with a lower BMR, weight loss is easier/more sustainable when you add in exercise. This is because you get to eat a bit more when you exercise (the MFP method calls for eating exercise calories), which means that you are going to be more comfortable through the process. For me, HIIT increases my appetite to an extent to where the extra calories it earns me are too few to make up for it. So I focus on walking and easy running as far as cardio goes. Right now I lift weights 4x/wk and then do cardio 3x/wk.
But I stick to 1000 calories a day. I've tried 1200 a day with exercise in the past and I've gained so I find 1000 works for me. I was told years ago by a well respected endocrinologist in London that as a woman with PCOS I may find I have to eat as little as 500 cals a day to lose weight without exercise so if I want to eat more I'd have to exercise!! She told me that about 15 years ago and it depressed me even then!!
That's interesting what you say about HIIT for you, I have just started doing HIIT because I read it was particularly beneficial for women with PCOS!!!!! So much different info around it's hard to know where to start!!
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So how many times are you going to the gym and what is it you are doing and for how long and at what intensity?
Is the 300 you are geting an estimation by your hrm on how much you are burning doing hiit becayse if so you have your answer there. HRMs are unsuitable for measuring hiit because hiit in general is too individual and too difficult to measure accurately. You didnt tell us that this morning.0 -
LisaJayne71 wrote: »
I actually didn't mention the calories as that part I'm ok with.. I'm more bothered with the not burning many calories for the effort put in...I'm sorry if I missed it but I don't think you've mentioned how much you are eating. As in, how many calories are you eating?
I have PCOS. I have lost around 55 pounds. Women with PCOS, whether or not they are insulin resistant, have lower BMRs than women without PCOS. In general, exercise is not mandatory in order to lose weight since you can create a caloric deficit by reducing what you eat. However, with a lower BMR, weight loss is easier/more sustainable when you add in exercise. This is because you get to eat a bit more when you exercise (the MFP method calls for eating exercise calories), which means that you are going to be more comfortable through the process. For me, HIIT increases my appetite to an extent to where the extra calories it earns me are too few to make up for it. So I focus on walking and easy running as far as cardio goes. Right now I lift weights 4x/wk and then do cardio 3x/wk.
But I stick to 1000 calories a day. I've tried 1200 a day with exercise in the past and I've gained so I find 1000 works for me. I was told years ago by a well respected endocrinologist in London that as a woman with PCOS I may find I have to eat as little as 500 cals a day to lose weight without exercise so if I want to eat more I'd have to exercise!! She told me that about 15 years ago and it depressed me even then!!
That's interesting what you say about HIIT for you, I have just started doing HIIT because I read it was particularly beneficial for women with PCOS!!!!! So much different info around it's hard to know where to start!!
There's no reason why you need to eat only 1000 calories per day unless you are very small. What are your height, weight, age, and activity level.0 -
I weigh everything I eat down to the last gram and I track everything.. and I measure liquids too... I'm pedantic about it
If you are truly eating 1000 calories a day you would be dropping weight. More then likely you are eating more then you think. You need to invest in food scale weigh all solid foods and measure liquids only.LisaJayne71 wrote: »
I actually didn't mention the calories as that part I'm ok with.. I'm more bothered with the not burning many calories for the effort put in...I'm sorry if I missed it but I don't think you've mentioned how much you are eating. As in, how many calories are you eating?
I have PCOS. I have lost around 55 pounds. Women with PCOS, whether or not they are insulin resistant, have lower BMRs than women without PCOS. In general, exercise is not mandatory in order to lose weight since you can create a caloric deficit by reducing what you eat. However, with a lower BMR, weight loss is easier/more sustainable when you add in exercise. This is because you get to eat a bit more when you exercise (the MFP method calls for eating exercise calories), which means that you are going to be more comfortable through the process. For me, HIIT increases my appetite to an extent to where the extra calories it earns me are too few to make up for it. So I focus on walking and easy running as far as cardio goes. Right now I lift weights 4x/wk and then do cardio 3x/wk.
But I stick to 1000 calories a day. I've tried 1200 a day with exercise in the past and I've gained so I find 1000 works for me. I was told years ago by a well respected endocrinologist in London that as a woman with PCOS I may find I have to eat as little as 500 cals a day to lose weight without exercise so if I want to eat more I'd have to exercise!! She told me that about 15 years ago and it depressed me even then!!
That's interesting what you say about HIIT for you, I have just started doing HIIT because I read it was particularly beneficial for women with PCOS!!!!! So much different info around it's hard to know where to start!!0 -
HIIT I have only just started about a week ago when I read an article saying that women with PCOS should do HIIT.So how many times are you going to the gym and what is it you are doing and for how long and at what intensity?
Is the 300 you are geting an estimation by your hrm on how much you are burning doing hiit becayse if so you have your answer there. HRMs are unsuitable for measuring hiit because hiit in general is too individual and too difficult to measure accurately. You didnt tell us that this morning.
Up until then I had been doing walking on a high incline for 30 minutes, 30 minutes on the arc trainer and 5 days a week and 4- 5 days a week strength training for 30 minutes at Curves.
I have also had 10 hours of PT sessions over the last 5 weeks where he has been doing resistance training with me and Cardio. So basically I have been doing a min of an hour 6 days a week for the last 9 weeks.
I didn't know the HRM is unsuitable for HIIT training.
My max heart rate was worked out for me by the PT I am currently using.0 -
There is no way on earth that you are going to gain weight on 1200 calories per day unless you are very small. What are your height, weight, age, and activity level?0
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OP, I know you said you do HIIT running. But how many miles total are you covering in 30 minutes? Figuring out your average speed (or pace) is a good way to figure out why you aren't burning major calories. If your walking intervals are slowing down your overall speed to say 4-5 miles an hour, you're not going to burn crazy calories whereas running 5.5 miles an hour will burn more.
I used to focus on speed intervals (very fast running-for me-alternating with walking). But I found that 1) I couldn't sustain this workout for very long and 2) I couldn't cover many miles because of the slow intervals. So I started slowing down my run and keep it mostly steady with a slight bump up or down in speed. This allows me to go longer and cover more miles, which ultimately burns more calories.
I know, I know, there are tons of articles about HIIT being more effective--but I think true HIIT is perhaps way more intense than you or I could ever do.
Regardless, 14 lbs in a month is outstanding. Clearly you've done something right! I wouldn't worry about how many calories you burn as long as you are burning SOMETHING and eating at a deficit.
I try to burn an additional 200ish calories a day. That's it. Because that's all I need to bump up my eating calories to a comfortable level while still in a deficit.0 -
I'm 5ft 2 and 43 yrs old and currently about 60 pounds heavier than I want to be. Exercising 6 days a week and have been doing that for the last 9 weeks without fail. I've taken time off to focus on my health and get fitter and lose weight.LisaJayne71 wrote: »
I actually didn't mention the calories as that part I'm ok with.. I'm more bothered with the not burning many calories for the effort put in...I'm sorry if I missed it but I don't think you've mentioned how much you are eating. As in, how many calories are you eating?
I have PCOS. I have lost around 55 pounds. Women with PCOS, whether or not they are insulin resistant, have lower BMRs than women without PCOS. In general, exercise is not mandatory in order to lose weight since you can create a caloric deficit by reducing what you eat. However, with a lower BMR, weight loss is easier/more sustainable when you add in exercise. This is because you get to eat a bit more when you exercise (the MFP method calls for eating exercise calories), which means that you are going to be more comfortable through the process. For me, HIIT increases my appetite to an extent to where the extra calories it earns me are too few to make up for it. So I focus on walking and easy running as far as cardio goes. Right now I lift weights 4x/wk and then do cardio 3x/wk.
But I stick to 1000 calories a day. I've tried 1200 a day with exercise in the past and I've gained so I find 1000 works for me. I was told years ago by a well respected endocrinologist in London that as a woman with PCOS I may find I have to eat as little as 500 cals a day to lose weight without exercise so if I want to eat more I'd have to exercise!! She told me that about 15 years ago and it depressed me even then!!
That's interesting what you say about HIIT for you, I have just started doing HIIT because I read it was particularly beneficial for women with PCOS!!!!! So much different info around it's hard to know where to start!!
There's no reason why you need to eat only 1000 calories per day unless you are very small. What are your height, weight, age, and activity level.
I was told by an endocrinologist to stick to low calories0
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