losing hope

SweetShannaBee
SweetShannaBee Posts: 8 Member
edited November 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
After a month and a half of excercise and eating better and drinking water (no sodas but I still drink a glass or two of sweet tea on occassion) I have yet to lose any weight or inches. I'm getting so discouraged.

For excercise, I use a stationary bike. Some days I do HIIT and other days I cycle moderately. I do HIIT for 10 minutes. On my leisure days I cycle between 10-20 minutes. Sometimes I get on the bike multiple times a day. I've cut as much. carbs and sugar as I can. I hate to sound whiny, I just need some encouragment/advice/support.

I do have PCOS and I've heard it's hard to lose weight but I've been following the advice on the PCOS support blogs I follow.

Also, quick question: when you started trying to lose weight, how long did it take to see results?

Replies

  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    I see no mention of calorie deficit and adhering to one...that is how you lose weight. "Eating better" does not necessarily mean you are in a deficit, and it is extremely hard to create one with exercise alone.

    And to answer your question I saw weight loss within my first week of entering a deficit/logging my food.

    I saw no weight loss when I "ate better" and exercised.
  • SweetShannaBee
    SweetShannaBee Posts: 8 Member
    arditarose wrote: »
    I see no mention of calorie deficit and adhering to one...that is how you lose weight. "Eating better" does not necessarily mean you are in a deficit, and it is extremely hard to create one with exercise alone.

    And to answer your question I saw weight loss within my first week of entering a deficit/logging my food.

    I saw no weight loss when I "ate better" and exercised.

    Sorry I forgot to post. I try to stay between 1200 and 1500 calories a day.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    SweetShannaBee wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    I see no mention of calorie deficit and adhering to one...that is how you lose weight. "Eating better" does not necessarily mean you are in a deficit, and it is extremely hard to create one with exercise alone.

    And to answer your question I saw weight loss within my first week of entering a deficit/logging my food.

    I saw no weight loss when I "ate better" and exercised.

    Sorry I forgot to post. I try to stay between 1200 and 1500 calories a day.

    It's been a month and a half? Are you weighing your food on a food scale? Are you eating back exercise calories and if so how are you estimating the burns?

    I'm sorry to say but after that amount of time, if you're not losing...you're eating at maintenance.
  • SweetShannaBee
    SweetShannaBee Posts: 8 Member
    arditarose wrote: »
    SweetShannaBee wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    I see no mention of calorie deficit and adhering to one...that is how you lose weight. "Eating better" does not necessarily mean you are in a deficit, and it is extremely hard to create one with exercise alone.

    And to answer your question I saw weight loss within my first week of entering a deficit/logging my food.

    I saw no weight loss when I "ate better" and exercised.

    Sorry I forgot to post. I try to stay between 1200 and 1500 calories a day.

    It's been a month and a half? Are you weighing your food on a food scale? Are you eating back exercise calories and if so how are you estimating the burns?

    I'm sorry to say but after that amount of time, if you're not losing...you're eating at maintenance.

    No I don't have a food scale. I will need to get one I guess. Maybe I am just maintaining. I'm not gaining weight. So eating at maintenance makes sense, thank you, I appreciate your input.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    SweetShannaBee wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    SweetShannaBee wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    I see no mention of calorie deficit and adhering to one...that is how you lose weight. "Eating better" does not necessarily mean you are in a deficit, and it is extremely hard to create one with exercise alone.

    And to answer your question I saw weight loss within my first week of entering a deficit/logging my food.

    I saw no weight loss when I "ate better" and exercised.

    Sorry I forgot to post. I try to stay between 1200 and 1500 calories a day.

    It's been a month and a half? Are you weighing your food on a food scale? Are you eating back exercise calories and if so how are you estimating the burns?

    I'm sorry to say but after that amount of time, if you're not losing...you're eating at maintenance.

    No I don't have a food scale. I will need to get one I guess. Maybe I am just maintaining. I'm not gaining weight. So eating at maintenance makes sense, thank you, I appreciate your input.

    Yeah, you're eating a bit more than you think most likely and/or over estimating calories burned. Don't forget to log all cooking oil, drinks, condiments. Here is a video on why it is important to weigh foods.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY
  • SweetShannaBee
    SweetShannaBee Posts: 8 Member
    arditarose wrote: »
    SweetShannaBee wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    SweetShannaBee wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    I see no mention of calorie deficit and adhering to one...that is how you lose weight. "Eating better" does not necessarily mean you are in a deficit, and it is extremely hard to create one with exercise alone.

    And to answer your question I saw weight loss within my first week of entering a deficit/logging my food.

    I saw no weight loss when I "ate better" and exercised.

    Sorry I forgot to post. I try to stay between 1200 and 1500 calories a day.

    It's been a month and a half? Are you weighing your food on a food scale? Are you eating back exercise calories and if so how are you estimating the burns?

    I'm sorry to say but after that amount of time, if you're not losing...you're eating at maintenance.

    No I don't have a food scale. I will need to get one I guess. Maybe I am just maintaining. I'm not gaining weight. So eating at maintenance makes sense, thank you, I appreciate your input.

    Yeah, you're eating a bit more than you think most likely and/or over estimating calories burned. Don't forget to log all cooking oil, drinks, condiments. Here is a video on why it is important to weigh foods.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY

    Thank you.
  • rendersby
    rendersby Posts: 3 Member
    Keep up the good work - stay on the path. It has taken me some time to really understand I can not "out exercise an improperly documented diet". Once I got that a bit more precise, looked more at conservative fitbit exorcise calorie burn readings vs raw MFP guestimates or the machine numbers (which unfortunately tend to be a bit too generous on bikes/elipitcals/treadmills), the math started checking out. I realize fitbit or other wrist based heart rate monitors are not an exact science either, but it has been a game changer for me, big time. With the more conservative readings I (only recently) started hitting a deficit and like a very slow magic show the weight started trending down. I still need to wrangle my diet a bit more but now I can understand, identify and acknowledge my slips vs being let down, or being frustrated/surprised with counter results. The most important thing to keep in mind is eating healthy and being active is something to embrace and focus on for life (not a temp diet) and in itself, in the very pursuit of it - it is a victory. Eventually with some adjustments in the monitoring, balance of intake deficit vs expenditure leveraging exercise to further help create more deficit, the scale will follow.
  • mtpage04
    mtpage04 Posts: 41 Member
    You might also consider changing how you use your bike time. HIIT training on your bike will give you more bang for your buck in the same time period. Best of luck to you!
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
    first, start using a food scale so you know how much you are actually eating, then go from there
  • Expatmommy79
    Expatmommy79 Posts: 940 Member
    Don't forget to measure all oils and condiments. Stir fry can easily compete with a cheeseburger if you aren't careful with the oils and sauces you use.
  • courtney_love2001
    courtney_love2001 Posts: 1,468 Member
    Of course do all the things they mention above (strict calorie counting, weigh foods) but also it might be worth it to see your MD. Are you on metformin for your PCOS? It, along with MFP, could help get your started with weight loss.
  • beemerphile1
    beemerphile1 Posts: 1,710 Member
    Make your diary setting open to public so some of these smart people can check for logging problems.
  • emdeesea
    emdeesea Posts: 1,823 Member
    Get a food scale and use it every day. You will see a difference.
  • Jenfromtheblock84
    Jenfromtheblock84 Posts: 140 Member
    Don't give up. It takes time to realize what works for you. Just keep at it and like the others have said try to more accurately calculate your calories in and calories out. I know for me I do the elliptical and MFP guesstimates a good 200 more calories burned than my HRM.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    The food scale will make a huge difference.

    I have PCOS. Not everybody with PCOS is the same but try not to think of it as a hindrance to your weight loss. I didn't necessarily get that tone from your post but I'm putting that out there because I see multiple posts a month from ladies who fall back on "my PCOS prevents me from losing weight." Keep in mind that we all have different challenges when it comes to losing weight, be they medical issues or budget issues or lack of knowledge or anything else. When your mind is set on it, it will happen. You seem open to figuring out what works so I think you are going to do well.

    Like I said, the food scale is going to make a difference. My suggestion is to pick a calorie level and stick with it for 3 weeks. No scale movement and you know your logging is on par (you're weighing solids, measuring liquids, logging using verifiable nutrition info such as MFP entries that match the USDA's info or that on food packages)? Drop your calories by 100 and give it another 3 weeks.

    I can't tell how tall you are or your current weight but judging by your picture, I would suggest setting up your MFP profile for a 1 pound per week loss and use that as your calories to start.
  • MommyMeggo
    MommyMeggo Posts: 1,222 Member
    Turns out all of Jan I was eating at mostly maintenance (lost 1lb in Jan) and also not honestly/accurately logging everything. I also gave into Chinese take out, wine, and pizza....so I sorta sabotaged myself. And I think the TDEE calculator gave me too much credit. HOWEVER! I learned in the process!! This is a change for life so I cant get broken down from 1 month of learning my body, energy expenditure and the most important; accountability. So Ive made adjustments. A lot of people have to re-evaluate. So now Im at a larger deficit and logging every.single.thing.
    Like...every.single.goldfish.
    I count my pretzels and measure oil. (apparently I use a LOT and dont actually need to) - this is an adjustment for me.
    I have measuring cups and spoons out constantly and weight everything.
    So after all that rambling<sorry>, my point is... Tomorrow is a new day! PLAN TODAY! You can do it. Keep going!
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