Not burning calories even though working out at 80% of max heart rate!!! HELP!!!

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Replies

  • LisaJayne71
    LisaJayne71 Posts: 197 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    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?
    I HAVE gained weight on 1200... It HAS happened to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • daydreams_of_pretty
    daydreams_of_pretty Posts: 506 Member
    OP, have you considered maybe trying therapy? You seem to have unrealistic expectations related to weight loss and an obsession with the idea that you have PCOS and need to commit to radical things to overcome it. You lost 14 pounds in one month, though. That's a lot, even for someone who is 60lbs overweight. That's about a quarter of what you have to lose, which is kind of insane.

    You're making yourself crazy. :( Did you really spend so much money on a weight loss program?
  • mwyvr
    mwyvr Posts: 1,883 Member
    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.

    That sounds like over-training. Ok for a short period (a few days) not ok for weeks and months.

    PS: You are probably burning more than your device has been reporting.

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    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?
    I HAVE gained weight on 1200... It HAS happened to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    How much did you gain over what time frame?
  • ddetermined2013
    ddetermined2013 Posts: 2 Member
    How much weight do u need to loose the more u have the faster it comes of when ur staying on track maybe u dont have a lot to loose thats why u feel like its taking long also 14 lbs is good it took me like 6 months to loose 50lbs and now i have to start all over cause i fell of track be patient keep doing what ur doing and u will het there maybe try change up ur routine a bit somtimes it helps
  • davert123
    davert123 Posts: 1,568 Member
    OP - what HRM are you using ? Something doesn't seem right here at all. ^ The problem with HIIT and HR is that the HRM expects each heartbeat to be associated with a certain amount of effort. With HIIT a lot of the heartbeats are associated with you sitting still (I'm not knocking HIIT, it is truly fantastic just pointing out the problem with HRM). I'm guessing something is screwy with your estimates somewhere along the line. If you are having 1000 a day and this includes your exercise then I'm guessing the way you are estimating calorie intake is wrong - if you are constantly doing 80%+ heart rate for an hour you will ne burning more than 300 calories no matter what the HRM says. If you are doing this and not dropping weight over a prolonged period of time (weeks not days) then something is going wrong with your calcs somewhere :-) Can I look at your food diary ? PS what is your maximum HR ?
  • LisaJayne71
    LisaJayne71 Posts: 197 Member
    jaga13 wrote: »
    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.
    I'm not good on miles etc!
    I run at 10 kph (6.2mph) for 30 seconds, then I straddle for 30 seconds, then back on again for 30 seconds.. I do this for 30 minutes but sometimes I burn out at 25 minutes.
    Maybe you're right about HIIT needing to be faster than my body can handle!!!

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    OP, have you considered maybe trying therapy? You seem to have unrealistic expectations related to weight loss and an obsession with the idea that you have PCOS and need to commit to radical things to overcome it. You lost 14 pounds in one month, though. That's a lot, even for someone who is 60lbs overweight. That's about a quarter of what you have to lose, which is kind of insane.

    You're making yourself crazy. :( Did you really spend so much money on a weight loss program?

    I completely agree with this advice.
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    OP, have you considered maybe trying therapy? You seem to have unrealistic expectations related to weight loss and an obsession with the idea that you have PCOS and need to commit to radical things to overcome it. You lost 14 pounds in one month, though. That's a lot, even for someone who is 60lbs overweight. That's about a quarter of what you have to lose, which is kind of insane.

    You're making yourself crazy. :( Did you really spend so much money on a weight loss program?

    I completely agree with this advice.

    I have to agree also.
  • Nuke_64
    Nuke_64 Posts: 406 Member
    I weigh everything I eat down to the last gram and I track everything.. and I measure liquids too... I'm pedantic about it

    Open your diary.
  • LisaJayne71
    LisaJayne71 Posts: 197 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    OP, have you considered maybe trying therapy? You seem to have unrealistic expectations related to weight loss and an obsession with the idea that you have PCOS and need to commit to radical things to overcome it. You lost 14 pounds in one month, though. That's a lot, even for someone who is 60lbs overweight. That's about a quarter of what you have to lose, which is kind of insane.

    You're making yourself crazy. :( Did you really spend so much money on a weight loss program?

    I completely agree with this advice.

    It's not an idea that I have PCOS, I do have it. I've seen the scan with the cysts on the ovaries and I've had the blood work done with my testosterone levels being too high and I have all the symptoms of it so please don't say it's all in my head. I don't need therapy. I hadn't looked at the fact that 14 pounds was a quarter of my goal so that does help a little putting it into perspective for me and I know I am being hard on myself but I need to keep pushing myself. But to be told it's all in my head and no way will I gain weight on 1200 calories a day is insulting when it has happened to me.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    OP, have you considered maybe trying therapy? You seem to have unrealistic expectations related to weight loss and an obsession with the idea that you have PCOS and need to commit to radical things to overcome it. You lost 14 pounds in one month, though. That's a lot, even for someone who is 60lbs overweight. That's about a quarter of what you have to lose, which is kind of insane.

    You're making yourself crazy. :( Did you really spend so much money on a weight loss program?

    I completely agree with this advice.

    It's not an idea that I have PCOS, I do have it. I've seen the scan with the cysts on the ovaries and I've had the blood work done with my testosterone levels being too high and I have all the symptoms of it so please don't say it's all in my head. I don't need therapy. I hadn't looked at the fact that 14 pounds was a quarter of my goal so that does help a little putting it into perspective for me and I know I am being hard on myself but I need to keep pushing myself. But to be told it's all in my head and no way will I gain weight on 1200 calories a day is insulting when it has happened to me.

    You don't often answer a straight question though!
  • LisaJayne71
    LisaJayne71 Posts: 197 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    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?
    I HAVE gained weight on 1200... It HAS happened to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    How much did you gain over what time frame?
    I did it for 2 weeks with exercising 5 days a week and I gained 6 pounds. Dropped it down to 1000 and lost 4 pounds over 2 weeks with the same level of exercise.
  • Nuke_64
    Nuke_64 Posts: 406 Member
    I'm 5ft 2 and 43 yrs old and currently about 60 pounds

    Assuming you weigh 170 lbs, Your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate: the number of calories you'd burn if you stayed in bed all day) is estimated to be 1484. You will not gain weight if you only eat 1200 calories consistently every day.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    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?
    I HAVE gained weight on 1200... It HAS happened to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    How much did you gain over what time frame?
    I did it for 2 weeks with exercising 5 days a week and I gained 6 pounds. Dropped it down to 1000 and lost 4 pounds over 2 weeks with the same level of exercise.

    You do know that none of that gain or loss was possibly fat.....?
  • LeslieB042812
    LeslieB042812 Posts: 1,799 Member
    jaga13 wrote: »
    I'm not good on miles etc!
    I run at 10 kph (6.2mph) for 30 seconds, then I straddle for 30 seconds, then back on again for 30 seconds.. I do this for 30 minutes but sometimes I burn out at 25 minutes.
    Maybe you're right about HIIT needing to be faster than my body can handle!!!

    Well, that's part of it, then. If that's what you're doing, then you're only running about 1.55 miles (assuming you make it the whole 30 minutes). Depending on weight and speed and incline, running a mile typically burns 75-110 calories, which means that you would be burning approximately 135 calories per 1/2 hour (assuming the average of those two numbers)--less than your estimate of 300/hour!
  • davert123
    davert123 Posts: 1,568 Member
    just a word of warning OP. Scales measure total body weight and not just fat. If you drop 14 lb in a month then I'm guessing this will be 4 lb water, 5 lb fat and 5 lb lean body weight (muscle etc) . If you drop too fast you lose muscle which makes you weaker and less fit :-( do a search for MFP Sexypants in google and you will bump into a brilliant thread by sidesteel and sara which explains a lot of stuff :-)
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    to be honest try weight training on days you dont do cardio, I would alternate every other day. maybe you are doing to much exercise? I know when I was working out twice a day,I got to the point that I stopped losing anything. once I toned it down to once a day for 30-60 min,I started losing again.low calories doesnt mean below 1200 or at least it shouldnt. my daughter sees an endo for a few different issues and they told her 1200 calories although now some days she eats more,she is losing weight,but shes losing inches quicker than the weight, I know everyone is different and different things work for them.I would take a rest day or two as well. any dr that tells you to eat only 500 calories to me is a nutjob. your body cannot survive long on that,you will waste away.
  • devil_in_a_blue_dress
    devil_in_a_blue_dress Posts: 5,214 Member
    So you have 60 pounds to lose, lose 14 pounds a month --- and are unsatisfied??

    You need help with gaining a healthy perspective.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    HIIT is more difficult to measure because of the stop start nature and the guess work that goes along with the afterburn epoc effect, which can be very individual. HRM are for steady state which is what rabbit first said this morning. Perhaps the 300 you are looking at just reflects the calories you have burned during the time exercising and no epoc. In that sense it would increase over time as epoc takes effect, but difficult to say by how much.

    Not disputing your maxhr, no idea about your pt, there are many formulas for calculating it and 220-hr is the least accurate, but often used.

    I have just looked up PCOS and HIIT and see it is recommended. I think its more for the claimed benefits on insulin resistance as opposed to extra calorie burn.
    http://www.nature.com/ijo/journal/v32/n4/full/0803781a.html
    http://www.clinicalendocrinologynews.com/index.php?id=12128&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=310705&cHash=0a02844dd1f632526de8624b080ef696


    Id add the following:
    1. Dont worry too much about calorie burn, even at an hour a day continuous exercise of 500 a day thats 3000 or under under 1lb a week. You have to do a lot of exercise.
    2. People have pointed you towards logging and accurtaely controlling your food intake becayse its more influential and easier to manage. You should get accurate in that area first.
    3. Start managing your expectations, as it will just be slower with pcos, but not impossible. Friend some other pcos members as they will be able to adbise on how they coped. Jemh is always sensible, but am sure there are some active groups.
    4. Be patient, but determined. You cna do it and the pcos is just soemthing you have to imo.
    Good luck and try not to beat yourself up or stress.