Defeated

adia8551

Hello All,
I usually never post to public forums, but I figure I really don't have anything left to lose and I'm at a breaking point. For the better part of a year, I have been diligently tracking my calorie in-take (remaining at 1200 calories per day) and exercising at least 5 days a week. I am in a dedicated Yoga practice which leaves me in class upwards of 8-10 hours per week and have a group trainer focused on H.I.I.T, which is roughly around 5 hours a week.
I have completely cut out sugar from my diet as well as processed food. I cook all of my meals at home so I know exactly what is going in to each meal. I weigh all my food as well to get the most accurate portion sizes as possible, in keeping with what is suggested. I have also talked to a nutritionist who claims that I am really doing everything right and suggest I have my thyroid levels checked (my thyroid turned out to be fine).
I went through a bought of Lyme Disease in the Fall of 2014, which brought my weight down significantly. But as fast as it came off, it came back on with a vengeance. I was strictly limited to my physical activity until well into January, but was so strict with my diet that I had hoped this might have been a catalyst to the weigh loss I have been fighting for going on three years.
I weighed myself today for the first time in a month and I was in tears. Not only have I not lost weight, but I gained weight. It could be attributed to muscle displacement, but I figured I would have shed some pounds. My clothes fit the same and I avoid mirrors at all cost. I know it's really about being healthy and how you feel more than what the scale reads, but I am unhappy and am deep into avoiding social situations as I am so uncomfortable in my body- I don't even recognize myself. What do you do when you feel that all this work and sacrifice is for nothing?

Thank you for any advice or suggestions in advance.

A

dubird

First, have you talked to your doctor? Rapid weight gain could be something else and you should rule everything out.

Second, if your body is used to physical exercise and you suddenly have to stop, it takes a while to adjust. You might not have been adjusting your calories enough to compensate, which wouldn't be uncommon.

Third: Weighing yourself once isn't a good indicator of where you're at. You need to start weighing yourself once a week, at the same time of day, to see the TREND of where your weight is going. Extra weight could be water retention or bloating, and that's something that happens to everyone, especially women. Don't let one scale reading demoralize you. If you're weighing yourself every week and it keeps going up, then you need to reevaluate your activity level and your food. Make sure you're using a good scale for food, not just estimates, when you're trying to find the leaks.

Anyhoo, if your clothes still fit you, I personally wouldn't worry about it. I tend to pay less attention to the number on the scale and more how I look and feel. And how my clothes fit! Motivation has to come from within so ask yourself why you're doing this. Give yourself an honest answer and make that your motivation. You'll have bad days, days where you want to shoot your scale or eat ALL the food, but you can't let that derail your progress. Outside support is good, but finding your own motivation is the key to helping you get back on your feet when you're down.

Faithful_Chosen

Okay, I am going to say the thing you don't want to hear: barring medical issues (and I really do suggest getting yourself checked completely), there is only one explination you are stuck on your weight or even gaining. That is that you are eating more than you are burning. So either you eat more calories than you think, or you burn less than you assume. Or both. It sounds like you are eating at maintenance now. I'm not attacking you, I am simply saying that there is a very simple law concerning weight and that is it.

Are you weighing all your food in grams on a digital scale? No 'cups', 'pieces', or 'spoons'? Are you noting baking oils, dressings, and liquid calories? Would you feel comfortable opening your diary?

I do wish you the best of luck and I hope you see results soon

Vickilick

I don't have anything additional I can offer in way of advice, but I hope you can find some peace within yourself to continue to progress with your diet plan. ❤️

LauraJane_57

Hey there- I know how frustrating that is. Before my Lyme diagnosis I was eating super healthy, working out anywhere from 5-10 hours a week between yoga and rock climbing and nothing I did, short of starving myself (which I did occasionally while juice fasting), I was still a solid size 12 and not budging in either direction with my weight. I know you said your thyroid is good, but in my case, it turned out to be systemic inflammation from the Lyme and co-infections. Have you ever had your C3a or C4a levels checked? (They're markers for inflammation due to Lyme and mold). Also perhaps your adrenals as those are closely related to hormones and your endocrine system. For me, as soon as I addressed inflammation, the pounds literally started to fall off... No joke, at times I was losing 2lbs a day. I am on an extremely strict no sugar (very limited fruit even), gluten free, paleo, anti-inflammatory diet. It's tough, but when I stray, I feel it immediately and the scale goes up.

Wishing you luck!

runningjellybean

Laura, what are you on? I just found out my adrenals need some help.