Not losing weight-- what am I doing wrong?

going2heaven87

it does sound like you are actually not eating enough hun. I've lost nearly 2 stones in the last 8 weeks and don't weigh everything in fact I weigh out almost nothing. I spoke to my practice nurse who said your body needs a certain ammount of calories just to function roughly 1000 to 1500 for a woman, dependant on size. You need to burn 3500 calories to lose 1 pound. If you are exercising and not eating enough then your body is reacting and goes into starvation mode for self preservation. I fill in the food diary and exercise diary on here and its is showing that I eat between 1000 to 1500 and any extra calories earned by exercise are what I am burning off. I filled in all my details and it says I can eat about 2500 and still lose, this will change as I lose more weight.That is without what it gives me back for any exercise I do. I also am a member of a slimming club and get great advice from them and my gp practice. As I said I've already lost a lot, roughly 3 lbs per week and I have plans for even more. It will be a long journey and worth every step. Hope this helps quote]

I'm not just walking 2-3 hours. I'm doing that in addition to being at the gym for an hour or 2. In an average day I'm up and moving around 4 hours.

But like everyone seems to be saying, I guess I'm eating too much. I already feel like I'm starving and light-headed all day so Idk how eating even less is supposed to make me healthy... but apparently I need to.

Please don't tell me I'm making "excuses". I'm trying VERY VERY VERY hard. It's all I think about and all I've been focusing energy on. I'm not making excuses. I'm very frustrated, hurt, and confused. No sass is necessary. I'll just see my doctor.

How much of your workout, exercise calories are you eating back? I saw in a previous post that your net calories could be anywhere from -300 to 500 and if that is the case you may not be eating enough if your spending so much time moving and being active. If your not eating enough calories to fuel your workouts your body will start to go into starvation mode and will hold onto everything to protect itself. I personally find that if my net calories fall below consistently fall below 1200, I stop losing weight. I'm also finding that if I work out too hard too many days in a row, I also stop losing no matter how much I eat or don't eat.

As my youngest son recently commented, this whole dieting and eating healthy this is really hard. Especially knowing what you should be eating and how much you should be working out. It's a delicate balance, and there is no formula that works for every single person out there. Hang in there! Even if the scale isn't moving in the direction you want, you're out there exercising and making better food choices and doing good things for yourself. If your health plan allows and your still frustrated, maybe meeting with a nutritionist could help as well, they could look at what you're logging and your work outs and provide insight.

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You should read this:

http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/starvation-mode/

modestbender

All right, so, I'm a heavier woman and this has totally happened to me. You're working out a ton and not eating much and not losing weight. The answer is NOT to eat less! And yes, we can make errors measuring our intake and outtake, but when in doubt listen to your body. If you feel hungry and lightheaded all the time, there's a good chance you're not eating enough.

This happened to me when I started a new workout schedule a couple months ago. Weight loss stalled, but I felt lightheaded and sick. I had to nap everyday because I was worn out. I didn't think I could possibly be eating too little because it's so counterintuitive, but thought I would increase my intake and see what happened. I adjusted to 1/lbs loss a week on MFP, but only eat back calories sometimes...you know, like when I have a rough workout and am especially famished.

Problem solved! I started dropping lbs easily.

I don't know why peoples' default answer to "what am I doing wrong" seems to always be "you don't know what you're doing and you need to be harder on yourself." You said you're weighing your food and you have a HRM. You're exercising a ton. Be easier on yourself! Eat a bit more, make sure you're getting enough protein, listen to your body, and see if that does the trick.

zenmohawk

Congrats on taking the initiative to do what your doing:) Maybe try less of an intense workout routine and spread your 1 day work out over a couple of days. I do 30 minutes of swimming and a lifting routine of upper body 3 days a week and lower body alternating 3 days and one day of rest. I do 1000- 1300 cals per day. I find a nice weight loss when I weigh in. If your dizzy and hungry/starving you may be working your body to hard. Also look for hidden sugars, bad carbs and the like.

yankeedownsouth

I am a firm believer in that I can't out exercise my mouth. So finding a balance between exercise, rest and good food seems to do the trick at least for me.

I really like this.

americansow

I have gone to the gym 4days in a row and gained weight. OMG what the what

americansow

I want to find someone in my age group with the same weight loss goals. I just turned 40. I'm 5'8. 200 pounds. Really want support and want to give support as we journey through this road of health and well being

monrizz90

Thanks for all the great responses. Lots of great info. I've changed my workouts a bit, stopped using my HRM to measure calories during weight training, and began to eat a little more. I've lost around 3 pounds in the past 2 weeks.

Sorry for the spaz attack a few weeks ago!! You've all been very helpful.