Urgent** Haven't lost in months 215-218lb. About to give up

hamburgerbetty

January of 2013 I started my journey losing weight after being 100lbs over weight. I have gone from 279lbs down to 216lbs give or take. I've plateaued since June 2013. I work out 6 days a week (cardio i.e. treadmill, Boot Camp, Shred. Lift weights etc)

I use myfitness pal to keep track of calories (1980 calories per day). I have now entered a "Biggest Loser" contest at my gym. I weighed in at 226lbs I'm now 219lbs. I'm a 45 year old male with a 37" waist. I'm 5'9". It seems like EVERYONE has an opinion and a solution at the gym which never seems to work. I recently had a friend go on Atkins and easily shed nearly 20lbs and is down to a 33" waist.

I want to give up. I'm killing myself at the gym almost every single day.

Now to boot, my jeans are very tight and my butt no longer fits in my jeans.

What is going on? I'm about to give up!!! I think I look terrible. For a while I was on a role but it seems like my body is fighting me and deliberately getting fat as revenge for wanting to get healthy.

Please help.

diannethegeek

Would you be willing to open your diary for us to get a better understanding of how much you're eating and burning?

Are you logging everything you eat? Including cheat days, condiments, fruits and veggies, etc.?

Are you using a food scale, measuring cups, or eyeballing portion sizes?

Are you eating back any of your earned exercise calories? If so, how are you estimating the calories burned through exercise?

mpjmmp

In other areas of my life (I just started trying to lose weight 2 weeks ago after multiple spinal surgeries) and I struggle with where I am trying to get to, and maybe I lose focus on what I've accomplished. WOW - look at where you started. I look at your beginning weight and am hoping I can accomplish what you've done. So GREAT JOB because you have had phenomenal results. I absolutely understand hitting a wall (referring to the surgeries) and to be honest - my wife in those tough times asked me what options did I have? I could give up - OR NOT. Seems like you are in that spot, and I think the rewards for sticking with it will be well worth the effort. I hope there are people here a lot smarter than I am (I am so not the one to give dietary/exercise advice) that can help you over the hump. But for what it’s worth - I'm impressed with what you've accomplished.

_Zardoz_

If your not losing you're not eating at a deficit. So either the numbers you're working from are wrong (eg exercise calories and TDEE) or you're not logging accurately. Are you weighing and measuring everything accurately? Are you using correct entries from the database (avoid ones with generic in front).

remember all these numbers you work from are estimates so they may need tome adjustment over time. If you ope your diary people may be able to give more specific advice.

Good luck

runner475

I plateaued for the longest time ... and this is what worked for me.

Try this strategy for 4 weeks
1) Log everything and I mean everything that goes into the mouth......
2) Weigh everything IN GRAMS on the scale and then put it into that mouth
3) Towards the end of the day be Calorie Deficit
4) Be conservative with exercise calories if you do not gadgets to help you find the numbers for you. I don't have.
5) Drink water.

It has worked for me.

GL

Lib_B

when I plateau, i go low carb to jump start the loss. i do that for about a week and then slowly bring them back in a week at a time. for example, week 1 - i will eat only lean protein every other day alternated with lean protein and veggies (of the green variety). week 2 - lean protein & veggies every day, fruit every other day. week 3 - lean protein, veggies, fruit daily. start to reintroduce whole grains. It seems to get me over those plateaus. It doesn't have to be long term if you don't want it to be. Sometimes just switching it up helps. Also, intermittent fasting or carb cycling are other ways I've been able to get past a stalled scale. Also, if you are working out like a mother, it could be muscle creation and/or fluid retention in your muscles. pay more attention to how your clothes are fitting. congrats on your successes so far!! you are an inspiration!

devil_in_a_blue_dress

Do you use a food scale?

Pirate_chick

If your not losing you're not eating at a deficit. So either the numbers you're working from are wrong (eg exercise calories and TDEE) or you're not logging accurately. Are you weighing and measuring everything accurately? Are you using correct entries from the database (avoid ones with generic in front).

remember all these numbers you work from are estimates so they may need tome adjustment over time. If you ope your diary people may be able to give more specific advice.

Good luck

Ditto this.

youngdreamer

Do you use a food scale?

angieroo2

I spent a year going up and down the same 5lbs. First of all, don't give up that's not why you are here. Second, think about the food choices you are making and if they are good nutritional choices. That's what finally pushed me out of my slump. When I make bad choices, I don't lose.

jnuchaeli

try staying out of the gym for one week. yes seven days. it will be hard but maybe your body needs a break.
maybe try calorie cycling or zig zag your caloric intake. freedieting.com has a calculator and at the bottom of the same page it has an explanation of zig zag calories.
I just broke a plateau with WW. but then I came back to MFP because I was starving on 1000-1100 calories per day. much happier at 1600. lol

qtgonewild

all i know isyou are like my male twin. i started at 278. got stuck for weeks at 216, then weeks at 213, then weeks at 211. i also work out at the gym 6 days a week. i upped my calories on march 12th and started losing again. now im at 205. good luck. it will happen just keep doing what you're doing.

juellmorning

I started at 220 lbs and am now at 185. I had to learn that although I work out almost every day, what I ate and how much are key roles in losing weight. I chose sugar as my villain and went on a 40 day sugar plan 12g or lower , or I don't eat it. Next I began to focus on my "extra" here and there, by changing my snacks say from a small bag of chips to kind bars, or raw veggies; I have been more successful. You must reduce what you eat , and eat smarter. You can do it !!

SBlizzardRob

First - congratulations on your weight loss success. Question, if it is not your diet - what does your body look like? You are male, could you be building muscle (especially with all of the time you spend in the gym).

dpwellman

I had pretty much similar. Stopped eating grains in the form of bread/rolls, cereal, oatmeal, rice, pasta, pie/pizza crust, crackers, tortillas, etc etc. That got me down 17.6 since February 14. I still get plenty of complex (and simple) carbs otherwise. Basically it was a cheap way to chop a lot of calories.

AceCC86

First of all, congratulations on your huge accomplishment!! Over 50 lbs -- that's incredible.

Could it be possible that you're building muscle and that's why you're not losing?

Minkekj

Your body was on a role because it was in a constant caloric deficit and the exercise/cutting back in food was new to the system. Over these 6+ months, your body has adjusted. Your body has adjusted to all of the cardio/working out you're doing, thus you stop getting results. In order to start getting results again, you'd have to ramp up your cardio/working out even more (which I don't recommend cause it sounds like you're doing a whole lot already).

The biggest mistake people make is they think they have to kill themselves in the gym to lose weight. That's the biggest fallacy ever. You have to eat in a manner that is conducive to your goals (whether cutting or bulking) and do a small amount of cardio.

You're probably going to have to reverse diet/cut back on the working out in order to bring your metabolism up so that you can start getting results again without killing yourself. You'd end up gaing some weight, BUT it will be much better for you in the long run.

I went from 340 lbs to 240 lbs (in roughly a year's time) simply walking on a treadmill and eating 2400+ calories. Unfortunately, what most people don't realize is that the more cardio you do early on, the more you'll HAVE to do down the road in order to get the same results.

felonebeats

As long as you are burning more calories than you are taking in you should lose weight . You're calories look low,i'm 188lbs @14% bf and i'm cutting at 2400 atm,losing about a pound a week. Don't give up just try diff things to kick start your weightloss again

kwwwebb

For two weeks, make it simple---no Dairy, no Gluten. You can do that for two weeks.

You could be overtraining, or your body could be in starvation mode---you could actually be eating too little so your body has slowed your metabolic weight.

Good work so far...what worked before will stop working---adaptation has kicked in---so confuse the system---drop cardio and do resistance, and do the two weeks above with a 50% protein, 30% carb, 20% fat (good fats) and then re-post your results.

Good luck!

CM9178

I had plateaued for months and it was because I wasn't netting enough calories.
If you are working out that much, and you're not eating enough calories to compensate, you are most likely burning off TOO many calories, so your body is holding on to what is left, and you're not losing weight.

Where did you get your calorie goal number from?

JackieRL55

try staying out of the gym for one week. yes seven days. it will be hard but maybe your body needs a break.
maybe try calorie cycling or zig zag your caloric intake. freedieting.com has a calculator and at the bottom of the same page it has an explanation of zig zag calories.
I just broke a plateau with WW. but then I came back to MFP because I was starving on 1000-1100 calories per day. much happier at 1600. lol

THIS. I hit a plateau once for almost 3 weeks so I stopped going to the gym and ate whatever I wanted for 3 or 4 days then I suddenly did some cardio blast workouts like HIIT and dropped my calories. My weigh dropped in a matter of days. Sometimes you just need to jolt your system. If you're really desperate though you can also try a fast or juicing. I'm not a fan but it's a means to an end and I think people just need to find what works for them.

Good luck!