Can you tell me something positive?

nehaad88

I feel like I have lost all my motivation. I havent been to the gym in so many days because I never seem to have any energy. I am eating 1200 (+/- 100) cals consistently for last 65 days (I use a food scale and pre-log my meals in the am and stick to it, so I am fairly certain). I was super regular at the gym in Feb (lost 2 kilos), alright in March (lost 1.5) and just dont want to go anymore (gained back 1.5 and lost back 1 of it). I have lost only about 4 kgs in this period. I did not move for 3 days last week, resulting in a 1.5 kg jump on scale.

I tried calculating my BMR, which came out to be roughly 1550. That means if I dont workout, its almost impossible for me to lose weight. And eating 1200 calories is not leaving me with any energy to workout.

Can our calculations wizards work my numbers and tell me what to do?

I am a 28 YO woman, 84kg, 5 feet 6 inches in height and work a desk job bloody 10 hours a day. I am vegetarian 29 days a month so aide my protein intake with whey protein concentrate on gym days.

This is just so depressing. I know weight loss is not linear, I know it could all be water weight. I just need some hope.

Thanks

theowlbox

I can't help you with the weight loss, but I can try on the positivity.

I know it sucks right now, but you seem like you are setting up all these positive habits that are pretty good for you. You seem mindful, committed and willing. You are logging and methodical. All excellent. The fact that your body is holding on for dear life to that weight is just a sign that even your fat cells have intense resolve. You will figure this out. Or someone else will. And it will all just tumble into place. You are on the edge of a weight loss cliff holding on to tiny bit of dried brush. It will eventually give out. And it will do that because you have set up an entire life full of positive and weight loss supportive behaviors! Chin up. You are doing a great job. You just need to tweak and tweaks are absolutely doable.

nehaad88

theowlbox wrote: »

I can't help you with the weight loss, but I can try on the positivity.

I know it sucks right now, but you seem like you are setting up all these positive habits that are pretty good for you. You seem mindful, committed and willing. You are logging and methodical. All excellent. The fact that your body is holding on for dear life to that weight is just a sign that even your fat cells have intense resolve. You will figure this out. Or someone else will. And it will all just tumble into place. You are on the edge of a weight loss cliff holding on to tiny bit of dried brush. It will eventually give out. And it will do that because you have set up an entire life full of positive and weight loss supportive behaviors! Chin up. You are doing a great job. You just need to tweak and tweaks are absolutely doable.

Thank you for your kind words. I hope something changes soon.

middlehaitch

Try changing your deficit to .5 or 1lbs a week, it should give you s more manageable deficit.

Also start eating back more of your exercise calories.
Start at 75% and adjust up or down so after 4-6 weeks you are losing at your goal. If you exercise you need to fuel it. If you decide not to exercise, just eat your MFP basic calories.

1200 cal is the minimum for women and most women can lose weight, with accurate logging, on much more than that.

Cheers, h.

Oh something positive.

My mum just turned 90 and I am going to the uk for a couple of months to celebrate with her.
Or
I lost weight counting calories and have maintained that loss for over 7 years.

pamfgil

If the gym is too hard try getting a pedometer and aim to increase your steps, once you get up to 5 to 6 thousand you can increase your activity level to lightly active which should give you a bit of extra room

TavistockToad

You're confusing bmr with tdee... you need to eat below tdee to lose weight, not below bmr.

LearningToFly13

I'm not surprised you have no energy.. . You're not eating enough. Google Scoobys calorie counter. It amazes me how many people expect to race round the track with no fuel in the tank

fiddletime

I don't know how you're at 1200 cal. I'm 5'2", weigh 134, and am 62 years old. I eat 1200 cal and half my exercise calories, to lose about a pound a week. If I get hungry I maintain for a few weeks, get my energy back, and continue the journey. You'll get there, as long as you don't give up. You don't need to exercise to lose weight. I exercise because I like to. But it makes me hungrier too, as is to be expected since I'm burning more calories. Hang in there. And go to a pound a week loss and tell us what it says.

msdemeanor70

I'm positive you can do this! But I agree with most - you need more calories. Scooby's calorie calculator is a good source for BMR and TDEE... http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

malibu927

Change your goal to .5 kg a week. 1200 is way too low if you have no energy.

Candyb38

I agree with everyone that you might not be eating enough. Also what kind of exercises are you doing in the gym? Are you getting enough sleep? I've noticed that I have to change my workout routines quite frequently also I found that weightlifting, strength training broke my plateau. I also find that working out at night makes me more tired the next day. You'll get there. Even if you dont feel like going to the gym do a short workout video on youtube. Dont give up.

Leenizi129

So here's what I would tell you never take it for granted because it could be gone that fast. Take nothing for granted! Be kind to.yourself! You can do anything you want to do! You do have the power use it! And the biggest Motivation is because you can!

GoldBikiniGoals

My positive message for you is this: I'm 10lbs lighter than you and the same height and steadily losing on 1900 calories. You can absolutely be eating more. On anything under about 1500 calories I'm dragging my butt without even working out, I can't imagine dropping to 1200.

There are lots of high protein options out there for vegetarians, the struggle is that high protein also often ends up meaning high volume because of the types of foods you're able to eat. My best advice is to focus on making sure any veggies you're taking in are higher protein options (Ex. broccoli). How many grams of protein are you aiming to eat per day? Dairy options like greek yogurt are 100 cals or under for 8g of protein, cheese strings are 6g for 60 cals. You can also add some of your whey protein (or grab a plant based one if you'd prefer) to something like morning oats to give yourself a little boost right out the gate.

*Edited because apparently after getting two university degrees I still can't spell.

onward1

I'm more than 6 inches shorter than you and many years older and 1200 a day is too low for me. Eat more, you'll feel better.

nehaad88

Thank you all for your comments. I will consider eating more once I stop freaking out at the idea of gaining anymore weight. I find my weight is very volatile. If I derail for a few days, then I will most certainly be back at the original weight.

I will at least eat some of my exercise calories back, hopefully before the exercise and then work on steadily increasing my intake.

It's funny how I know all of this, I can process all of it, I know the gameplan to implement it but just can't bring myself to it.