PLEASE HELP ME - I'M BECOMEING SO DISCOURAGED

tstover

I'm 35, 5'5" - and I'm having so much trougle losing weight. I began going to the gym on 1/9/11 and have been goin 4-5 times per week. I also entered a "biggest loser" contest that the gym is having. So far I have only lost 5 pounds. It is so frustrating!!!!!!! Any tips or suggestions would be great to help me boost my weight loss and build my confidence that this is actually working.

Stooooo

I'm 35, 5'5" - and I'm having so much trougle losing weight. I began going to the gym on 1/9/11 and have been goin 4-5 times per week. I also entered a "biggest loser" contest that the gym is having. So far I have only lost 5 pounds. It is so frustrating!!!!!!! Any tips or suggestions would be great to help me boost my weight loss and build my confidence that this is actually working.

What kind of exercises are you doing at the gym?

eillamarie

1. Make your Food Diary public so we can help with that.
2. Take measurements-you can get leaner without losing weight as muscle is denser than fat.

sweetsunlover

i the only thing i can think of is you r building up alot of muscles sometimes we need to think beond the weight on the scales and actually measure ourselfs and see if theres a difference tht way. i know it is very frustrating as i constantly look at the scales and and also find it hard to loose but like u i work out alot. and muscles weigh more then fat and are smaller than fat though!! so have to tell myself tht. hope thts helped a bit.

kristibluesky

the exercise is going great good job!!! it must be your food intake. are you keeping a diary?

SarahofTwins

Hang in there! What kinds of foods are you eating? I know that cardio really helps with losing the weight, I usually get on the treadmill and do plenty of jogging.

soccermom004

It's hard to tell without seeing your food diary. Would be happy to look and see if I can help

Shaye85

Take a look at what your eating. even if your at or under your calorie goal...are you eating alot of processed foods? if you are get rid of them, eat healthy natural foods, you will see a diffirence. Are you eating back your "workout" calories burned? dont...this is the only place ive seen it done and i never eat them back.

MB_Positif

Keep your head up! You'll start losing!!!

feliciapeters

all i can suggest is MORE WATER, and ALOT of small meals. Sometimes when your buiding muscle u dont see the weight loss right away, becasue muscle weighs more but thats a GOOD thing since muscle burns fat. You will see the loss eventually.

Also make sure u use the same scale, on the same day, at the same time every time yuo weigh and RESIST the urge to weigh yourself all the time. I so it on monday, 1st thing in the am, and i try not to peek before that.

You might also want to try taking your measurements, you may see INCHES lost before you see pounds. THATS a great motivator. Most of all DONT STRESS!!!

Remember it took along time to put it on, it may take awhile to get it off.

Heres my theory, time wont stop so next week, next month, next year will still come. If I weigh less in 2 months, no matter how little, its still better than weighing more.

Vicky14174

you need to open your diary before anyone can help you. we can't see what your eating and how much and when. you get alot more help if you open it. it takes the guessing game out of it.

lutzsher

It takes some time to figure out the "magical" formula of calories Vs. exercise Vs. exerceise calories that works for you. I was on MFP for about 6 months before I started to lose consistently.

A few things to consider:
drink MORE than 8 glasses of water per day, I try for 10
do not eat after 8pm
have only clean food (no processed, no junk)
try to eat 1/2 of your exercise calories, especially on days where you have really worked out vigorously

It often takes our bodies a bit of time to catch up and figure out what we are doing. Don't be discouraged, the more slowly you lose the better chance that it will stay off!

crazblueyes

First of all, don't do what I always do and stop trying! You will start losing! I recommend that if you are not already, start tracking your caloric intake for the day. It's VERY enlightening to see how the numbers add up at the end of a day. Drink lots of water! And find great support here on MFP.

NanBar

Weight loss is 80% nutrition and 20% exercise. So without knowing what you are eating- no one can really help you.

ObviousIndigo

Remember when it comes to weightloss it is 70% diet, 20% exercise and 10% genetics.

Also, I think 5lbs is pretty good. you are losing 1lb per week. Keep at it and you will see bigger changes:)

Kimlarge

That's great that you've got the gym routine down! But to echo what a lot of people have been saying - what type of exercises are you doing? Jogging / interval run/walking on the treadmill burns a lot of calories as does Spinning or doing the elliptical at a high level.

Also I would suggest a heart rate monitor if its in your budget bc it tells you exactly how many calories you've burned. In my experience the calories the machines tell me I've burned are waaay off, as are the myfitnesspal guesses.

Hope that helps! Don't give up! Going to the gym 4-5 x per week is a HUGE accomplishment even if you aren't seeing it on the scale!

gdotman

I'm 35, 5'5" - and I'm having so much trougle losing weight. I began going to the gym on 1/9/11 and have been goin 4-5 times per week. I also entered a "biggest loser" contest that the gym is having. So far I have only lost 5 pounds. It is so frustrating!!!!!!! Any tips or suggestions would be great to help me boost my weight loss and build my confidence that this is actually working.

I was just curious, but I to have joined the Biggest Loser Contest at my gym. Do you go to The Rush Fitness Center? Didn't know if it was nationwide contest.

crazblueyes

1. Make your Food Diary public so we can help with that.
2. Take measurements-you can get leaner without losing weight as muscle is denser than fat.

Taking measurements is also a great tip. Losing inches is HUGE! And that reminds me...I need to take my own measurements! :-)

Nelly711

I eat 6 times a day. Very small meals. I am at 1200 calories as well. I started paying attention to the "junk" I ate and became alot more aware of eating healthy, natural foods. Don't get me wrong, I still splurge every now and then, but if I don't, I will get discouraged like you.

Make your diary PUBLIC. That has helped me more than anything. I am not going to enter junk on here for all to see what I eat!

All I do is walk/jog on the treadmill and stay within my calorie goal for the day! I am looking at a 3 lb weight loss this week!!

Keep your head up, going to they gym, you are going to bulid muscle as well, so you won't lose weight.

nlewis22

Drink water. It flushes you out, lubricates your GI tract and fills your stomach. Plus, it just makes you feel better.

picturesing

You have alread received some excellent advice and comments. I just want to say - YOU ARE AWESOME!!!!. You lost #5 pounds in a month - that's a sack of potatos - LOL! :flowerforyou: :drinker:
Great job with your time in the GYM - be proud of you - work outs should leave you sweaty and full of endprphins - and make ya smile! Ignore the scale - focus on what's going in your body and making sure your workouts are safe and benificial. Then have a chat with your scale every couple of weeks along with measurements and NEVER give up on you!!! We won't either!

mkskippy24

Take a look at what your eating. even if your at or under your calorie goal...are you eating alot of processed foods? if you are get rid of them, eat healthy natural foods, you will see a diffirence. Are you eating back your "workout" calories burned? dont...this is the only place ive seen it done and i never eat them back.

OR.... just eat some of your calories back. You still should average 1200-1600 calories a day so your body's metabolism doesn't slow down. I just had this discussion on Sat with a friend of mine who took courses on nutrition and the likes.... and is a trainer. While you don't have to eat ALL of your calories back, you really will lose more weight in the long run if you eat some of the calories back. Keeps the metabolism kicking along and a better pace.

Keep your head up. I am 5'5, 36yr, and 181.9lbs.... I started at the gym a month ago at 183lbs. I've lost MAYBE a pound. I really was starting to stress out, but the thing is I also lost 1.5 inches from my waist. So even though the work doesn't look as if it's showing.... it is. And, for every 1lb of muslce gained theres generally 2lbs of fat lost. And if you are like me and are doing a lot of running, walking, aerobics..... you are probably building leg muscle which could effect what you see on the scale.

Bottom line.... don't give up just yet. Hang in there. Ignore the scale for a week or two. Measure yourself. And make sure you are hitting all the goals in your diet, not just the calories. It takes food and exercise changes to lose weight

kittytrix

I went through the same thing the first time I tried to lose weight. I wasn't being totally honest with my food diary just not to see those red numbers. I rationalized that If I walked around the grocery store I should log it in when I would do that normaly even when I was fatter.

It wasn't until I really started to log in honestly that I started to see the needle move.

Also. I realized that my calorie intake was too low. Once I bumped it up I really began to lose.

Jade_Butterfly

Don't be discouraged. I am assuming if you are doing the biggest loser challenge that you have taken body measurements and such. To determine progress it is not always measured in weight, but in inches. After the birth of my daughter. I did that. I was going to the gym 5 or 6 days a week and working out and ended up losing three sizes in my clothes and no weight. What you need to keep in mind is this muscle is denser and weight weighs more than fat so as you are changing the composition of your body, you are going to be losing fat and putting on muscle which in turn will metabolize the fat at a faster rate. It will increase your resting metabolic rate. So don't worry. Keep going, just make sure that you are cross-training. You have a good amount of cardio with weight training as well. As far as diet I would say to limit dairy, make sure that you are eating lean meats and a good amount of fibrous foods, or I include flax meal in my diet or flax oil, and drink a lot of water. Hope this helps.:bigsmile:

FitPhysique

Make sure you are not overestimated the amount of Calories you are burning trhough exercising. I was working out 5-6 days a week running and other exercises and only lost about 3lbs yes I did tone up a great deal. Also over the past couple of weeks, I've noticed that not eating all my exercise calories have helped moved the scale. Eventhoug, It's TOM I lost 1.6lbs when I weighed myself this past saturday, the most for me ever. Actually, If go back to what I weighed on Monday Morning after going out to dinner on Sunday it's actually at total of 3lbs.

Moral of the story, try to use only half of the calories you've burn through exercising. Try that for two weeks and see what happens. Good luck!

P.S MAke sur eyou are drinking a lot of water at least 100Ounces a day about 12 cups sounds like a lot but is very achievable.

hpsnickers1

5 pounds is progress!! Make sure you NET at least 1200 calories. Keep sodium low and water high. You can eat at night as long as it isn't a huge high fat meal. I heard lowfat cottage cheese or something high protein is great for night time. I have a glass of 1% or skim milk and my protein powder about 1 1/2 to 2 hrs before bed. Try to stay away from as much junk as you can. VEGGIES, VEGGIES, VEGGIES. Very important.

Take measurements - sometimes you won't see loss on the scale immediately. You are most likely not building muscle. You need heavy weight lifting and a calorie surplus for that. Diet and cardio will cause fat loss AND muscle mass loss. Getting plenty of protein can help counteract some of that muscle mass loss. Right now my ratios are at 40/40/20 carb/pro/fat.

And be patient. It takes a little while for your body to do what you want it to do.

rileysowner

As stated, unless we see you food diary, we cannot know how to help you. Ultimately weight lose comes down to burning more calories than you eat. Just so you know, it is almost impossible to out exercise bad eating hence the comments above that pretty much all of losing weight is diet. The type of exercises you do make a difference as well, so we would want to know that as well.

If you don't log what you eat here, start doing so, and enter every single thing that enters your mouth. One candy may not seem like much, but some of those candies have almost 100 calories in one candy. That is significant if you are trying to lose weight.

Finally don't get discouraged. For some people it takes a while for the weight to start coming off. Remember shows like the Biggest Loser not only play with the length of a week to get those big weight losses, but they also pick contestants for the best TV, and I am guessing they look at who they think will lose weight well. The other thing they do is encourage the false idea that the last chance workout has anything to do with true weight loss. All it does is dehydrate the contestants so they seem to weigh less. All of that gives many a skewed view of losing weight that is far from reality. There are probably things we can help you tweak to get you losing more consistently, but until we get to see your food diary and know the exercises you are doing, we can't really help.

thatssodiva

I felt the same way. I went to a weight loss doctor and got phenetermine. They also gave me a water pill. Within 2 weeks, my number came down. I was and still am keeping up with food intake on here. Good Luck...

hpsnickers1

Take a look at what your eating. even if your at or under your calorie goal...are you eating alot of processed foods? if you are get rid of them, eat healthy natural foods, you will see a diffirence. Are you eating back your "workout" calories burned? dont...this is the only place ive seen it done and i never eat them back.

The reason there are workout calories here is because MFP has already put the calorie deficit in when it give you your calorie goal. If you are at 1200 and you burn 400 that puts you at a NET of 800 calories. That is not enough. You risk slowing your metabolism down and your weight loss down. And it is very unhealthy nutrition-wise. It is drummed into our heads that restricting calories is the way to lose weight. This is true to a point but too much of a restriction and your body can go into Starvation Mode and stop burning fat, store what you eat and dig into more of your lean muscle mass for fuel. 1200 is a baseline number and a good number to go by. So you don't have to eat back all of your exercise but eat enough to get you to over 1200.

hooghie

5lbs is good! Good job!

I agree that the path to weight loss is mostly diet but here's my experience. I didn't lose a lot in the beginning and became really frustrated. I logged my food for a week and realized I was eating way more than I thought and not eating enough of the right things (protein & fiber). I've slowly changed my habits little by little. Every month or 2, I log my food again for a week to keep myself on track.

Also, with exercise, I wasn't burning as much as I thought. As I kept going to the gym, I got stronger and therefore now burn way more calories that I used to in the same 45 or 60 minutes.

Good luck and don't be too hard on yourself. Make small changes and keep it up.

mkskippy24

Take a look at what your eating. even if your at or under your calorie goal...are you eating alot of processed foods? if you are get rid of them, eat healthy natural foods, you will see a diffirence. Are you eating back your "workout" calories burned? dont...this is the only place ive seen it done and i never eat them back.

The reason there are workout calories here is because MFP has already put the calorie deficit in when it give you your calorie goal. If you are at 1200 and you burn 400 that puts you at a NET of 800 calories. That is not enough. You risk slowing your metabolism down and your weight loss down. And it is very unhealthy nutrition-wise. It is drummed into our heads that restricting calories is the way to lose weight. This is true to a point but too much of a restriction and your body can go into Starvation Mode and stop burning fat, store what you eat and dig into more of your lean muscle mass for fuel. 1200 is a baseline number and a good number to go by. So you don't have to eat back all of your exercise but eat enough to get you to over 1200.

Very well said!