Going nowhere in weight loss

DianaSlay

I have been exercising and eating less, but am not losing weight. I lose a pound then gain a pound. I am exercising 30 minutes or more a day and keeping my calories down to 1200 per day with no success. Once this weather ever clears up, I plan to start walking every day also. It has been about 5 weeks now, so I am hoping to start seeing some results soon.

westparktallaght

Hi There,
Maybe your not eating enough. Is 1200 cals right for your height and age etc? Sometimes if your not eating enought your body wont shed the pounds.

Sandra

hpsnickers1

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/23912-links-in-mfp-you-want-to-read-again-and-again

luv2ash

make sure you are eating nutritious foods every 2-3 hours--stay away from processed carbs.

feathergirlie

Make sure that when you exercise, you eat the calories that you burned. I've noticed that during the weeks that I don't lose any weight, it's when I've neglected to eat those extra calories. As counter-intuitive as it seems, you really MUST do this!!! The more you exercise, the more fuel your body needs to function properly. I hope this helps! Good luck!

Manda1987

I've had the same issue. I'm eating my 1400, exercising moderately, but still gaining and losing the same few pounds.

Lately, though, I've started to notice an overall downward trend. It's taken 3 months to lose 5 lbs, but at least it's a loss! I think my metabolism had been really messed up before, and I used to live in a constant state of dehydration, so it's not all that surprising that it's taken a while.

Something that worked for me was rejiggering the amount of water I take in. I had been up 3 lbs from last week Monday and couldn't figure out why: turns out, my 9 cups of water a day wasn't enough. I need to take in something more like 15 cups in order to keep the water from sticking to me.

Mawskittykat

Maybe you need to try doing a different type of exercise. I reached a plateau because I had been doing the same exercise everyday, when I changed it up some I lost 6 pounds in 2 weeks. I know it was from changing the exercise because I kept my calorie intake the same. My mom and I both have thyroid problems and it is hard for us to lose weight. But mine is steadlily on a downhill path. Mamas is like yours, lose one gain one, and I feel sorry for her at times because she is trying so hard like you to lose. Keep trying and maybe it will change soon. Add me as a friend it you would like.

wachter66

Are you keeping track of your heart rate? You will burn more if your heart rate is raised and lowered rather than staying up for the entire workout. My trainer told me to do like 5 minutes on the treadmill where my heart rate is up in my target zone and then lower the speed for a few minutes to bring my heart rate down and then raise the speed to increase my heart rate, etc..
I noticed the first time I did that, that I was sweating within the first 8 minutes.. I felt by the time my work out was done that I had done way more than I had before and it was all for the same time.

mollianna

I was having the same problem at first and I was extremely frustrated because I was staying under 1200 calories and losing nothing!! . Now I drink much more water and I stagger my calories. So I might have 1100 or 1200 and then a big calorie day of 1800 and then continue the cycle. I also added more protein to my diet and I stopped putting sugar in my coffee. That's huge for me because I drink a lot of coffee!! Also, I went to my gyn. and she said I am at the borderline of hypothyroidism. Not enough for medication but I am close. If you haven't already, get a doctor's appointment just so you know if there is something in your diet you need to adjust like the addition of iron or iodine (found in iodinized salt).

And GOOD LUCK. You will work it out, just keep trying new things. It is so worth it!

DaveGlasnost

I am kind of annoyed with this myself right now. I only started watching what I eat for the last few weeks, but I have had some seesawing.

Started on the 18th of January on a 2000ish calories/day limit, which is what someone my size/gender needs, apparently, for a 1lb/week weight loss on a sedentary lifestyle. I proceeded to:
1) Lose about 5lbs in the first week.
2) Seesaw a bit but drop about 2 more pounds the second week.
3) Saturday, near the end of the second week, I start exercising in a quite demanding fashion.
3) The sunday near the end of the 2nd week was my lowest weight since starting, down from 240 to 232.6.
4) Between then and Wednesday morning, I shot back up to 235.6.
5) As of today I am 234.6, having dropped about a lb -- somewhat of a relief, but still....

Being positive, I figure it's either an initial rockiness before hopefully steadier progress. I also figure that it may be because on the day before that low Sunday weigh-in, I started working out ambitiously for about an hour a day and my body is in a state of confusion.

Being a bit negative, I figure because I started on a 2K-cal/day sedentary plan, and now have to readjust to a plan to account for the hundreds of exercise calories I burn a day, that I am eating too little to sustain a solid healthy weight loss.

The reality is I probably need to be eating 2500 or likely even significantly more calories (again, I'm not just shuffling around and using a few weight machines and doing, say, 10 minutes of cardio), and am not even getting close. It's hard to find time to snack and dine enough for that much intake, and I fear my metabolism is gearing itself toward energy conservation =(