doing it "right" getting nowhere

SweetMae1

I need advice: I'm doing Jillian Michaels' Body Revolution (hereafter= BR) and breastfeeding my 14 month old. I wear a HRM when I exercise. Here is what I've been doing:
M/F BR(330 cal) & 60 min walk (300 cal) - 650-700 cal each day
T/Tr BR/60m walk, 60 min spin class (700-800 cal)-1350-1600 per day
W/Sa just a 60min walk because a lot of the BR cardio messes with my joints- 300-350 per day
Sun rest.
I have been eating 1800 cal a day of clean foods (extra for nursing) and based on my
Weight should be losing 1-2 lbs a week. After 6 weeks, I've lost NOTHING!
Someone said that if I'm gonna be working out this much I should replace some exercise calories and net at least 1600, so I'm trying that this week. Any Thoughts? how long before the calorie thing should work?

ladynocturne

So are you saying you gross 1800 calories a day, regardless of your exercise?

So it looks like this:

M/F 1800-650= 1150net calories.

T/Th 1800-1350=450 net calories.

W/Sa 1800-300=1500 net calories.

You should be netting your calorie goal of 1800.

SweetMae1

no, i'm trying to NET 1600 instead of grossing 1800.
on tues/thurs this means eating about 3k calories which just seems insane.

cwolfman13

underestimating calorie intake and overestimating calorie burn with exercise is pretty common place. This is match, plain and simple...if you're maintaining weight then you are not at a calorie deficit. I started losing immediately when I went into a calorie deficit. Make sure you're weighing and measuring everything and you should allow for some estimation error with your HRM as well.

Duck_Puddle

no, i'm trying to NET 1600 instead of grossing 1800.
on tues/thurs this means eating about 3k calories which just seems insane.

You need 3k cal those days because you're doing 3+ hours of exercise (and 2+ the other days). To me, that's the insane part. If you don't want to eat that much, consider a more reasonable & sustainable exercise program.

chandanista

Some people have a very hard time losing weight while breastfeeding. I am one of those people. I did a lot of workouts before weaning, and feel that the strength I had once I was able to wean DS and track calories properly really helped. I figure my calorie estimates on making milk were way off...I don't know for sure but that's my thought. And hey, having some strength when you try to lose weight is not a bad thing!

Factory_Reset

You are breastfeeding, therefore you get to consume more.

You need to net the 1600-1800, or whatever your goal is.

And as a mother of 4, I never, ever lost weight while breastfeeding. Make sure you're getting enough for you and your baby...THAT'S WHAT MATTERS!!!

SweetMae1

i guarantee my food logging and HRM are right on. i am not new to all this. i am VERY aware of what is going into my mouth and how hard im working. if anything i'm UNDERestimating my burn.

ladynocturne

no, i'm trying to NET 1600 instead of grossing 1800.
on tues/thurs this means eating about 3k calories which just seems insane.

Okay well I thought you said you were going to try that because someone suggested it. Does that mean you just started trying to net 1600 over the past couple days?

I dunno, I could easily eat 3000 calories twice a week without thinking about it. Maybe you're being too restrictive with your food? You can try adding more good fats on the day you do spin class, like avocado, nuts/nut butters, extra olive oil to dishes ect.

Honestly, I think the excessive exercise is causing water retention. I think if you backed off a little, maybe gave yourself an extra day of rest/ate your calorie goal, you'd see the scale move in a week or so.

I understand the desire to be gun-ho about weight loss and getting healthy, but it feels like you're over doing it a little

DebbieLyn63

What ^HE (cwolfman) said.

Try accurately measuring and weighing everything, and eating a flat 1600 per day, regardless of exercise, and see if that works.

edited because I am too slow.

cmriverside

You're BREASTFEEDING a human. Add 500 calories a day to your Goals JUST FOR THAT. Then eat the exercise calories. Use a digital food scale and weigh everything you eat. Eating approximates doesn't work.

For that matter, you shouldn't be trying to actively cut calories. Talk to your OB/GYN.

skullshank

i guarantee [...] HRM are right on.

can you?

SweetMae1

i should maybe mention i have PCOS and have successfully lost weight previously with no problem and have coached many others to lose large amounts of weight,

that said, i'm at a loss in this particular situation. :-(

Holly_Roman_Empire

You are breastfeeding, therefore you get to consume more.

You need to net the 1600-1800, or whatever your goal is.

And as a mother of 4, I never, ever lost weight while breastfeeding. Make sure you're getting enough for you and your baby...THAT'S WHAT MATTERS!!!

I agree with this. I never lost weight while breastfeeding either, and I'm quite surprised with your low calorie intake and high exercise regimen that your milk supply hasn't dissipated. Since you stated you just started netting to 1600, I would up that even more and see how it goes.

SweetMae1

absolutely as far as food. like i said if anything the HRM is underestimating as every source i plug my workouts into estimates higher.

Hornsby

It's gotta have something to do with breast feeding for sure. You should definitely be losing if your numbers are correct.

ladynocturne

i should maybe mention i have PCOS and have successfully lost weight previously with no problem and have coached many others to lose large amounts of weight,

that said, i'm at a loss in this particular situation. :-(

Yes you should have mentioned that. I do not generally give advice to posters who have PCOS because of my limited knowledge on how it works or how to help them.

SweetMae1

i'm breastfeeding a toddler. not an infant. my supply is fine for the nursing that she is doing. i didnt ask you to judge

Cranquistador

i guarantee [...] HRM are right on.

can you?

NO.

Holly_Roman_Empire

absolutely as far as food. like i said if anything the HRM is underestimating as every source i plug my workouts into estimates higher.

Just out of curiosity, what kind of HRM are you using? I have known at least two people on MFP that used a brand of HRM and once they switched to another brand, they realized the previous HRM had been severely overestimating the burns.

chandanista

i'm breastfeeding a toddler. not an infant. my supply is fine for the nursing that she is doing. i didnt ask you to judge

What?
Who's judging?
Lost...FTR, I breastfed both my kids well into toddlerhood, and didn't see anything in this thread as judging.

DebbieLyn63

My daughter is 25 and 5'3". She lost 60 pounds over the past year eating around 1600, while breastfeeding for the first 6 months or so. She went from around 190 to 130. She was working a full time job that is fairly active, and was running a few days a week. She looks fantastic now. She did have to lower her calories a little bit when she quit nursing.

SweetMae1

thanks to everyone who is being helpful and supportive. i've been trying to net the 1600 to start because on some days i jsut can't eat that much- Three THOUSAND calories?!

i'm a gym rat and i feel like crap physically if i'm not working out a ton. i was working out 4h a day through my first trimester and 1-2 the rest of my pregnancy.

move on from judging my lifestyle and answer the question please.

SweetMae1

absolutely as far as food. like i said if anything the HRM is underestimating as every source i plug my workouts into estimates higher.

Just out of curiosity, what kind of HRM are you using? I have known at least two people on MFP that used a brand of HRM and once they switched to another brand, they realized the previous HRM had been severely overestimating the burns.

polar FT4

smarionette

no, i'm trying to NET 1600 instead of grossing 1800.
on tues/thurs this means eating about 3k calories which just seems insane.

Its a bit of a mind game at first, but you get used to it. Think of it this way eating more = more available resources to build more muscles. You can't build muscles if you aren't eating enough. More muscles = increased metabolism = you can continue to eat ice cream (or guilty pleasure of choice).

cmriverside

Under eating and not losing.

I'm not sure, but I think I may have read about that somewhere...

OH. Found it.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/919346-still-think-your-1200-or-less-diet-is-a-good-idea

SweetMae1

i'm breastfeeding a toddler. not an infant. my supply is fine for the nursing that she is doing. i didnt ask you to judge

What?
Who's judging?
Lost...FTR, I breastfed both my kids well into toddlerhood, and didn't see anything in this thread as judging.

folks who told me i had no business trying to lose weight while nursing

Cranquistador

thanks to everyone who is being helpful and supportive. i've been trying to net the 1600 to start because on some days i jsut can't eat that much- Three THOUSAND calories?!

i'm a gym rat and i feel like crap physically if i'm not working out a ton. i was working out 4h a day through my first trimester and 1-2 the rest of my pregnancy.

move on from judging my lifestyle and answer the question please.

if you can't eat enough stop exercising that much!

Cliffslosinit

You're BREASTFEEDING a human. Add 500 calories a day to your Goals JUST FOR THAT. Then eat the exercise calories. Use a digital food scale and weigh everything you eat. Eating approximates doesn't work.

For that matter, you shouldn't be trying to actively cut calories. Talk to your OB/GYN.

QFT

So you can read this again.:flowerforyou:

Holly_Roman_Empire

i'm breastfeeding a toddler. not an infant. my supply is fine for the nursing that she is doing. i didnt ask you to judge

Not judging, just merely taking a moment to express my surprise. I tried to lose weight while breastfeeding, albeit unsuccessfully, and my supply went down, to a point where I had to supplement with formula. If this is something you don't have to worry about, then good for you.

da_bears10089

I would say that your calorie estimates are high. HRM are still just estimations. Mine says that i burn really high also, but i KNOW i'm not burning over 600 cals/hr during Zumba. I would adjust your activity levels on MFP to ACTIVE and eat what that says regardless of how much you workout. If you want to log your exercises, put them in for 1 calorie rather than what your HRM says.