where did my metabolism go?

carrollaj34

Boom, age 34ish my metabolism has fallen off the face of the earth. In January I turned 35 and 30 pounds later....here I am. I am an avid exerciser, always have been, exercising at least three times a week, sometimes 6 times. I ran in a 5K yesterday in 34 minutes which made me proud and am training for a 15K in March 2011.

So why the weight gain? I have been on every diet imaginable since high school and feel like I always have to watch what I eat. Within the last six months I've made some good shifts to lose some weight since I started seeing the gain with no major changes to my food and exercise. I don't starve myself, I just try to eat sensible. Why can't I lose any weight? The scale keeps going up.

I am trying to be consistent and stay positive but with nothing going up but my size it is getting very frustrating. I had to get a bigger size in clothing, feel uncomfortable in anything I wear, and in pictures look like I did when I had first gotten pregnant.

So, is there anyone that has some good suggestions? Is it true that your metabolism makes a shift in your 30's and if so, what can I do to jumpstart my metabolism without having to starve or deprive myself.

sweebum

Are you eating enough with all the exercise you get?

How many calories do you eat daily, do you log your food?

NoAdditives

What is your daily calorie goal? Do you meet it, or are you under it every day? Do you eat your exercise calories?

carrollaj34

I do log my daily calories and exercise.....I do try to eat my exercise calories, some days I'm under 1,200 but I'd say overall I'm doing pretty good about 1,200 calories daily.

NoAdditives

I do log my daily calories and exercise.....I do try to eat my exercise calories, some days I'm under 1,200 but I'd say overall I'm doing pretty good about 1,200 calories daily.

You might need to increase your calories. I found that I didn't lose weight when I was at 1200 cals. I found I needed a couple hundred more calories in order to lose 1-1.5 pounds a week.

lesliemk

Honestly even 1200 net seems low for all the working out/running you do. I'd probably increase your daily goal to 1400-1500 and see how that goes. Your body is a machine... it needs fuel to run and burn. 1200 is the bare bones minimum and oftentimes we set our weekly goal to burn 2lbs a week and for many that's just not feasible when we have less to lose. Good luck!

sweebum

Up your calories by 200 a day for a week and see how that goes. With the exercise, I would not go any lower than 1400 a day.

carrollaj34

thanks for the info....I'll give that a shot and see how the week goes! :happy: