Hard time losing

michail71

By the way, do you use a scale to weigh your food portions? That helps considerably.

psuLemon

Thanks everyone.

I am making a doctor's appointment for next week. I should have maybe mentioned that I was seeing a "weight loss specialist" last year. His only option to me was to take phentramine. He never did a single blood test or any other physical testing. Just the only answer to weight loss is I need to take uppers.

I know that I was careful with my measurements, but I'll try again and see what I might have been doing wrong.

I have a lot of things to survey and see where I'm going wrong.

If you want to provide the information I requested above, we can take a look at what your calories could look like. I suspect that your deficit was too large. If you don't feel comfortable, you can PM me the information.

Lake_Po

Thanks everyone.

I am making a doctor's appointment for next week. I should have maybe mentioned that I was seeing a "weight loss specialist" last year. His only option to me was to take phentramine. He never did a single blood test or any other physical testing. Just the only answer to weight loss is I need to take uppers.

I know that I was careful with my measurements, but I'll try again and see what I might have been doing wrong.

I have a lot of things to survey and see where I'm going wrong.

If you want to provide the information I requested above, we can take a look at what your calories could look like. I suspect that your deficit was too large. If you don't feel comfortable, you can PM me the information.

When I say plateau, I guess I don't mean it in the long-term, proper sense of the word. I meant like, maybe 2-3 months. I do weigh and measure my food MOST of the time.

I'm 5'2, 220lbs, 27, workout routine is pretty weak. I go to the gym maybe 3 times a week for an hour. I walk on the treadmill for that entire time at 3.0mph, usually a very slight incline. The rest of the week is usually spent running errands (grocery shopping,etc) cleaning the house, walking the dog and I do hair and skin care so I'm on my feet a good bit of time throughout the day. Now less because I'm not so busy, but during the time I was talking in my post, I spent about 5-7 hours a day actively doing something that was mildy strenous: walking, lifting, bending, turning...etc. I would rank myself just above sedentary for activity.

When I calculated my TDEE-20% right before I posted, it said my calorie intake should be at around 1900. I can't even imagine I would lose weight at that when 1500 isn't making me lose weight. That being said, maybe at 1500 I'm overestimating or poorly calculating and I'm actually going over, but I can't imagine I'm going over more that maybe, 200 calories a day and I consistently stay between 220-225lbs for months now. I'm just starting to feel very defeated and it's quite possible that it's my own fault. I just feel exhausted of trying some days. I think I'm looking for something a little more structured so I can follow it, rather than being left to my own devices to make choices because apparently I'm making the wrong choices.

Mokey41

Are you eating back exercise calories?

Lake_Po

Are you eating back exercise calories?

Only on days when it's really necessary because I'm more hungry and I expended a lot because I did something special (ie: when I spend 9 hours walking around NYC, I will usually indulge more)

wamydia

I think you're on to something when you say that you feel like you need something structured to follow. I think it's important to form a plan and stick to it for a period of time to see how it is working before you make adjustments. So, I suggest that you pick a method -- either use the MFP calculator to determine what your calorie goal should be for you to lose however much you want per week or, if you prefer, use the TDEE-15 or 20% calculation and then set that calorie goal using MFP's custom settings. If you are doing the MFP calculator, you should set rules for yourself about what counts as exercise that you will eat back and stick to it. My suggestion is that you only include activities that are deliberate exercise (went to the gym, went for a walk, etc) and account for the rest of your activity as part of your activity level setting on MFP. The TDEE folks can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that when you use the TDEE-15 or 20% calculation, you are supposed to include your normal amount of exercise in calculating your TDEE and not eat the exercise calories back, so that it is an important distinction.

Beyond that, just be very good about weighing and measuring and tracking accurately and consistently. Weigh once a week at the same time, wearing the same clothes (or none) and preferably after you get out of bed and have gone to the bathroom but haven't eaten or drank anything. Do it for a few months and see what happens. If you still aren't losing, it is possible that you are over estimating exercise and underestimating calories, but it will be safe to try adjusting one way or the other as long as you continue to track what you are doing the same way you have been. You will be able to get an accurate picture of how various changes affect your body as long as you continue to track, weight, measure, etc. consistently. When you make changes, it's also important to try the new plan for a few more months and see what happens before you make more changes. It can take that long for your body to catch up to what you are doing.

I hope this helps and good luck!

michail71

Is it possible you were recomping? Basically, where your weight remains the same but you're gaining some muscle from increased activity. That's actually a good thing.

Also, what's your mental state and energy level like? Do you feel sluggish or in a mental fog? Sometimes going too low will trigger your metabolism to slow down. Though that takes an extreme deficit for an extended period of time. Given the stats you just posted you should be able to eat around 1300 - 1600 calories per day and drop 2 to 1 lbs per week.

I do strength training/body building so I routinely go through bulking and cutting phases. I frequently will stall out with both trying to gain or lose weight. One theory on weight loss stalls is that it is water weight in the fat cells that occur after lipolysis. Then something triggers the body to shed the excess water resulting in a sudden drop of weight overnight.

It sounds like you are doing everything right, you even know what TDEE is so that puts you over 99% of the population.

Anyway, don't give up. Setbacks and slow progress are normal!

psuLemon

When I say plateau, I guess I don't mean it in the long-term, proper sense of the word. I meant like, maybe 2-3 months. I do weigh and measure my food MOST of the time.

I'm 5'2, 220lbs, 27, workout routine is pretty weak. I go to the gym maybe 3 times a week for an hour. I walk on the treadmill for that entire time at 3.0mph, usually a very slight incline. The rest of the week is usually spent running errands (grocery shopping,etc) cleaning the house, walking the dog and I do hair and skin care so I'm on my feet a good bit of time throughout the day. Now less because I'm not so busy, but during the time I was talking in my post, I spent about 5-7 hours a day actively doing something that was mildy strenous: walking, lifting, bending, turning...etc. I would rank myself just above sedentary for activity.

When I calculated my TDEE-20% right before I posted, it said my calorie intake should be at around 1900. I can't even imagine I would lose weight at that when 1500 isn't making me lose weight. That being said, maybe at 1500 I'm overestimating or poorly calculating and I'm actually going over, but I can't imagine I'm going over more that maybe, 200 calories a day and I consistently stay between 220-225lbs for months now. I'm just starting to feel very defeated and it's quite possible that it's my own fault. I just feel exhausted of trying some days. I think I'm looking for something a little more structured so I can follow it, rather than being left to my own devices to make choices because apparently I'm making the wrong choices.

While i understand that you think you can't lose at 1900 calories a day, I would disagree, especially for a person your current size. So if you follow the standard formula's, your BMR is around 1777. You are lightly active because you are on your feet for a large part of the day, and then you do light exercise. Even if we don't count exercise your TDEE is about

1777- 1.375 = 2443

If we did 20%, you would be aiming for around 1950 calories. This isn't that uncommon for women to lose as shown by the thread below. If you have been honest about weighing your foods and measuring, then it's possible your body cannot handle a large deficit. With this said, i would suggest trying for one month to up your calories to 1950 (pending on your blood test). I would set macro's at 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fats and do NOT eat back exercise calories. You aren't burning a lot of calories anyways while only walking for an hour. Also, I would suggest slowly upping your calories to minimize water weight. So this week finish at 1500 calories, next week go to 1725 for two weeks and then go 1950 for 4 weeks. So it's more of a 6.5 week plan.


When you go to the gym, I would highly suggest changing your routine. Use the gym, for weight training. You are on your feet so you get cardio. If you want to do some intense cardio, then do that for 20 minutes and weight train for 40 minutes. If your want, start with the smith machines or arch trainers but eventually go to free weights or barbells. Weight training is very beneficial; it makes you stronger, it prevents loss of lean body mass, strengthen bones and much more.

If you follow this plan and it doesn't work, then you just have to readjust. There are many factors that can affect your weight loss. Long periods of suppression can reducing your resting metabolic rate or there might be a medical issue or a food intolerance. For some people, it takes several months to figure out a good plan. It's not to discourage, but adjustments are always required. Think of it like going to the doctor, they won't always have the perfect diagnosis the first time but you take the factors and adjust.


http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/506349-women-who-eat-more-than-1800-calories-a-day