Exercising to death and loss is slow

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  • Sloth2016
    Sloth2016 Posts: 846 Member
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    Envious! I dropped 10 lbs this past year. I am very happy about that.

    You are making great progress. A year at that rate will make amazing differences in your health and how you feel!
  • jessef593
    jessef593 Posts: 2,272 Member
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    Stop starving yourself and eat more. As a guy who is only 170. I eat 3x as much as you do with half the exercise and still lose weight. It takes time. But Jesus, actually eat something, why would your body give up precious energy when it's literally starving?
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    Post bariatric surgery and the VLCD that brings you will have a lower TDEE

    Also I would warrant your med team know better about your personal circumstances than anyone here

    The important thing to note is that you're on the right track...you are losing ..,yes it might be slower than you wish but even so it's going down

    If you started June 22 that's 6 weeks ...and over a pound a week is great

    So you just have to keep on keeping on

    Because, seriously, what's your alternative?
  • tml0119
    tml0119 Posts: 7 Member
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    Sued0nim wrote: »
    Post bariatric surgery and the VLCD that brings you will have a lower TDEE

    Also I would warrant your med team know better about your personal circumstances than anyone here

    The important thing to note is that you're on the right track...you are losing ..,yes it might be slower than you wish but even so it's going down

    If you started June 22 that's 6 weeks ...and over a pound a week is great

    So you just have to keep on keeping on

    Because, seriously, what's your alternative?

    I don't know what VLCD and TDEE are but thanks for the feedback. Yesterday, I took the day off from weights and cardio and worked in the pool with styrofoam weights. It was a good workout. Today, new session with personal trainer of kettleballs for 30 minutes. Yowzer!!!
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
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    VLCD is very low calorie diet and TDEE is total dialy energy expenditure. What @Sued0nim is saying that you are making your body less efficient by eating too little after having bariatric surgery. I agree with her. 1lb a week is a good loss. And more importantly than the number, how do you feel?
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    Yep what she said ..sorry for acronyms I've been posting here too long

    This
    tml0119 wrote: »
    Sued0nim wrote: »
    Post bariatric surgery and the VLCD that brings you will have a lower TDEE

    Also I would warrant your med team know better about your personal circumstances than anyone here

    The important thing to note is that you're on the right track...you are losing ..,yes it might be slower than you wish but even so it's going down

    If you started June 22 that's 6 weeks ...and over a pound a week is great

    So you just have to keep on keeping on

    Because, seriously, what's your alternative?

    I don't know what VLCD and TDEE are but thanks for the feedback. Yesterday, I took the day off from weights and cardio and worked in the pool with styrofoam weights. It was a good workout. Today, new session with personal trainer of kettleballs for 30 minutes. Yowzer!!!

    Sounds great

    Keep going
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    Your body is probably on starvation mode. It thinks you're starving so its storing everything away. It will even out as long as you consume healthy calories and stay active. Also, once we hit a weight, our body fights to keep or bring us back to that weight. Hence part of the difficulty of weight loss. It honestly sounds like you are taking all of the necessary steps and as long as you keep up with the doctor visits and nutritionist. Good luck on your journey! :smile:

    starvation mode is a myth ....

    if starvation mode is real why are people dying of starvation in the third world? If starvation mode was true they would all be fat...
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    tml0119 wrote: »
    Wow, lots of feedback from you all. I appreciate it. To clarify some info ... I started back on the journey around June 22. I document every morsel of food I eat on Myfitnessplan. I weigh and measure my food. The PT is a personal trainer :-). Yes, I'm not eating enough but my nutritionist says that as long as I'm getting in my protein, that's a "good start". Had bariatric surgery 3 years ago, lost 80, put half back on. Blood work good - no issues with mal-absorption or vitamin deficiencies. Anyone know a good site or book to help understand how building muscle and losing weight work? Thanks again for your input! Very nice of you to respond.

    Is your nutritionist familiar with your new exercise plan? MFP is designed to eat exercise calories back, but obviously being post-surgery you have special circumstances that need a much more personalized approach. You might want to talk to them about the possibility of protein shakes to supplement your protein needs and get some additional calories in since food volume is a concern.

    I would also recommend talking to your PT about the amount of exercise you are doing, and figuring out how to work in some more rest days. I know it can be hard to stop when you're trying to lose weight and are really motivated, but rest days are important for recovery, and can help you actually be more effective in your workouts because your body has the energy to push harder.
  • kendahlj
    kendahlj Posts: 243 Member
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    SueInAz wrote: »
    First off, I'm going point out, as I am sure others will, too, you aren't eating enough. I'm not trying to be mean just realistic and I think you may need some harsher language to put the point home. Tough love, if you will.

    At your weight and with your activity level you should be eating more. 800-900 calories per day is, frankly, ridiculous, especially since you're working out. There's no reason to starve yourself to lose weight and eating too little will cause you to lose more muscle than you should. In your 60s you should be working hard to maintain as much muscle mass as possible, its loss is what contributes to a slower metabolism as we age. The amount of protein you're eating is not going to help with muscle loss since you aren't eating enough of anything else. You are starving your body and when you do that it starts to cannibalize your muscle mass because it doesn't know when it's going to get the proper amount of food again and wants to conserve your fat stores. Your doctor was right about the gym but your calorie intake isn't supporting what you're doing and it's counterproductive to your long term goals.

    If you've increased your exercise lately it's possible that water gain for muscle repair is masking your fat and muscle loss. Hormones and your sodium intake can also cause increased water retention.

    How are you validating your calorie counts? Are you weighing your food to be sure your portion sizes are correct? Are you entering your exercise into MFP? I'll assume you aren't eating back those calories since you're eating so little.

    Has the scale moved at all since 7/23? A little up, a little down? If not, it could be your scale. Are you also taking body measurements?

    No, she is eating enough, but very likely not calculating it correctly.

    OP, unless you are using a food scale to measure the pre-cooked weight of the protein you are eating, AND calculating for the fat used to cook it, you're underestimating your calorie consumption, probably by a lot.

    Please make sure you're being accurate.

    How much do you think she's off by? 300 calories? 500 calories? Even if she is eating twice what she thinks (1600), that's a nice deficit for a 254 pound woman who exercises every day. She should be losing...
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,535 Member
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    Bariatric Surgery may be part of the clue. When the body's calorie intake is reduced by A LOT, the body intern reduces metabolic rate. That's why it's so easy for people who basically have really high deficits over a period of time, to regain weight quite quickly when they eat more than they are used to. It may take some time for you body to get used to low calories plus exercise.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

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  • cricket490
    cricket490 Posts: 31 Member
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    I think you are doing great to have lost 7.5 pounds in the past month. You are exercising at a pace that most young people would envy. However, maybe you should increase your calorie intake. My dr. told me not to go below 1200 and that 1500 would be even better. (for me)

    Losing weight is hard but after a certain age it is more resistant than when you were younger. Believe me, I know. I work out 5-6 times a week and my weight is slowly dropping but I am not in a hurry.
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
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    OP, another thing to seriously consider when you're talking about very low calorie diets is burnout. Weight loss isn't about taking your calories as low as possible, it's about how long you can maintain your deficit. At your current weight (and of course depending on how much you want to lose), you should be prepared for it to take a year or more to lose the weight. Can you stand eating at 900-1100 calories for a year? If not, you need to regroup and find an intake that you can comfortably live with for a year.
  • Sharon_C
    Sharon_C Posts: 2,132 Member
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    tml0119 wrote: »
    Anyone know a good site or book to help understand how building muscle and losing weight work?

    To build muscle you need to be in a caloric surplus so losing weight and building muscle don't go hand in hand. You can maintain the muscle you have while in a caloric deficit.