75lbs Down, Now stalled and Frustrated.

invermont25
invermont25 Posts: 38 Member
in Motivation and Support
Hi All.

38 year old female CW 157 and SW 230 Lost 60 pounds on one of those "point counting" methods. Plateaued after a year as you can only eat so many fruits and veggies without counting the points but the calories still add up. I've gotten as low as 151 since starting MFP a year ago but have put on 6 pounds over the last 2-3 months. Now I'm hoping that some of that is added muscle but regardless....I'm so frustrated and my jeans are feeling tighter. I started running in May 2012 and had done several 5k's and was up to running 18-20 miles a week (3-6 miles per run) when I tore my Achilles in August while running. After a month or so of trying to balance letting it heal with continuing to run I had to stop. I was only hurting myself more, to the point that I was having a hard time just walking any distance at faster than leisure pace. I found Jazzercise and fell in love with it. It some days bothers my ankle but I usually just get myself through it. Here's my where my irritation and frustration comes in...I do 6-7 Jazzercise classes a week. I have my calories set at 1400 on MFP with my macros lower carb/higher protein. I try really hard to stay within my 1400 cals during the week and will eat over on the weekend by ~500 but at a 2400-2800 deficit from exercise, I shouldn't be gaining weight. I'm busting my butt exercising and every week, the scale says I've gained or minimally not lost anything. I know the last 15 pounds is the hardest but of course the more frustrated I get, the more i want to toss the towel in and say screw it.
Any Thoughts, comments or kicks in the butt to get me remotivated and headed in the right direction would be appreciated
For those who aren't familiar with jazzercise. Its 60minutes. Roughly 40 min cardio and 20 minutes of strength using 6 pound weights. According to MFP, I burn 412 cals per session
Thanks and feel free to friend me.

Replies

  • Cheeky_and_Geeky
    Cheeky_and_Geeky Posts: 984 Member
    From what I hear, MFP ALWAYS overestimates the real calories burned. Do you have a Heart Rate Monitor? You're body is becoming more efficient burning calories, especially if you're doing the same routines. I change up my workout routines daily. I never do the same 2 in a week.

    Do you weigh your food? If not, you are probably underestimating the amount you are actually eating. I was doing this, for instance the cereal says 3/4 cup servings & 1 cup of milk when I scanned the bar code, well I measured the amounts one day that I typically eat & I was eating 2 cups of cereal & 1 1/2 cups of milk, thats over 200 calories in just one meal! (my smallest meal of the day!).

    BTW: You look fantastic! I had a 4 week semi plateau, then I stopped doing cardio & strength training separately & now to HIIT, Tabata, Jillian Michael's DVDs & started eating a maintenance for a week... then BOOM started losing again. Good luck!
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    Are you using a food scale to weigh all of your food, logging every single thing, entering your own recipes, and choosing the most accurate database entries (without asterisks)?
  • MyFoodGod
    MyFoodGod Posts: 184 Member
    If you are weighing and measuring and tracking it all, could some of the entries be wrong? Double check the figures yourself, especially on the items you eat most frequently.
  • invermont25
    invermont25 Posts: 38 Member
    hi All and Thanks

    I do have a HR monitor. I used to wear it wear it running. I will wear it to class this week and hopefully see if it is overestimating. I don't typically "eat back" by exercise calories so I never really worried about if MFP had them overestimated or not. I do use a food scale but not for everything....I will be now. I keep saying that after 3.5+years of this it should be getting easier..lol.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    hi All and Thanks

    I do have a HR monitor. I used to wear it wear it running. I will wear it to class this week and hopefully see if it is overestimating. I don't typically "eat back" by exercise calories so I never really worried about if MFP had them overestimated or not. I do use a food scale but not for everything....I will be now. I keep saying that after 3.5+years of this it should be getting easier..lol.

    That's a good place to start. Try that for 4 weeks and see where you end up. Don't forget to log weekends too even if you're going over on purpose, so that you can get a good idea of your average intake. Good luck :flowerforyou:
  • rachel4304
    rachel4304 Posts: 115 Member
    It's like your my weight loss twin. Same starting weight, same current weight, same time period. Even plateaued the same. I've recently invested in a digital scale and I'm starting to see some movement. I was vastly overestimating my portion sizes particularly meat.

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