SOOOO FRUSTRATED!!!!

haldeman5

I am having problems losing weight recently. I have been working out 6 days a week (Chalean Extreme Program), eating a 1200 calorie diet (all healthy foods), taking Alli and in the beginning I was losing about 2-3 pounds a week and this week only one pound! I am not sure what I am doing wrong:-( Some people think that I am not eating enough because I am burning so many calories with my workouts and I have to increase my calories, this seems crazy to me and I am afraid to eat more and not lose anything. I have specific goals I want to meet (my 10th anniversary cruise in July) and I feel like I am getting farther away from it. I really need to lose 2 pounds a week to come close to my goal. Anyone know what I am doing wrong???? Or what I can do to speed up my weight loss??? I have lost 17 pounds total since I started working out in January and eating healthy since February. I feel like that number should be higher!!!!


Samantha

SW:188
CW:171
mini goal: 160-on 4/24/11
mini goal cruise: 140-on 7/10/11
GW: 128

qtpiesmom

If your working out a ton and not eating enough YOU WONT LOSE WEIGHT! Not saying you have to eat all the calories your exercising away but if your at 1200 and working out say 500 then your only living on 700 NOT ENOUGH. My Sister in law has done just that, lost 100 but gained back 50 because she wasnt eating enough and working out like crazy.
EAT at LEAST 1200 with exercise. Makes sense

kao708

Healthy weight loss is 1-2 lbs a week. If you lost 1 lb this week, what's the problem? Take your total loss and average it for the weeks you've been losing. I think you'll see 1 week at 1 lb is not that big of a deal. You can't expect to lose 3 lbs every week!

erickirb

1200 calories is not enough when you do a program like Chalean Extreme. You need to eat 1200 plus eat back the calories you burned while workout out in order to meet your weekly weight loss goal.

Garyleeson

I don't agree with the last post....It's all about what you take in versus what you burn off....it's really simple math! If you work out hard, and only take in 1200 cal/day, you will loose weight. The regaining of weight is a entirely seperate issue! You may have hit a plateau, and will start loosing again soon. Also, how's your water intake? As crazy as it sounds, water is really important to weight loss!

ramseyrose

Hi. I wasn't really losing much so I worked out my calories using the Harris benedict formula. With a 500 daily deficit I can have 1800 calories. I upped my calories and I have stared losing again. It's worth a try. You need a daily deficit of 500 to lose a pound and 1000 for 2lb but you must eat most of your exercise calories!

emrogers

I am having problems losing weight recently. I have been working out 6 days a week (Chalean Extreme Program), eating a 1200 calorie diet (all healthy foods), taking Alli and in the beginning I was losing about 2-3 pounds a week and this week only one pound! I am not sure what I am doing wrong:-( Some people think that I am not eating enough because I am burning so many calories with my workouts and I have to increase my calories, this seems crazy to me and I am afraid to eat more and not lose anything. I have specific goals I want to meet (my 10th anniversary cruise in July) and I feel like I am getting farther away from it. I really need to lose 2 pounds a week to come close to my goal. Anyone know what I am doing wrong???? Or what I can do to speed up my weight loss??? I have lost 17 pounds total since I started working out in January and eating healthy since February. I feel like that number should be higher!!!!


Samantha

SW:188
CW:171
mini goal: 160-on 4/24/11
mini goal cruise: 140-on 7/10/11
GW: 128

I am having the same problem. I did however find out that I was in starvation mode, I was doing 1200 cals and yet hungry all the time and have lost 6 lbs since the begining of January!! talk about frustration!
Not sure if you can log on and see my previous post comments on this same exact subject but you need to be consuming anywhere from 1600-1800 cals a day. What happens is that your body is hanging on to the fat because it doesn't know when you'll feed it again. Up the cals and don't freak out if the scale moves a little bit the opposite way. Once your body figures out that its being fed it will start letting go of the fat and consuming it into energy again. Therefore dropping weight.
I hope this makes some sense.

hpsnickers1

I don't agree with the last post....It's all about what you take in versus what you burn off....it's really simple math! If you work out hard, and only take in 1200 cal/day, you will loose weight. The regaining of weight is a entirely seperate issue! You may have hit a plateau, and will start loosing again soon. Also, how's your water intake? As crazy as it sounds, water is really important to weight loss!

The law of unintended consequences

Your body is an amazing feedback system aimed at balance and survival. Humans are at the top of the food chain because they are able to adapt to their environment. Every action produces a reaction. Every change in its environment triggers a survival response. It's important to keep that in mind when you plan your fitness program. If you treat your body as an enemy to be conquered, you'll produce unintended results.

For example, if you severely cut off the supply of food to your body, it will defend itself by slowing down its metabolism to survive starvation. The body will shed muscle mass the same way that you would throw cargo from a plane that was low on fuel, and it will reduce its thyroid activity to conserve energy. The body will also actually defend its fat stores. In anorexia, muscle loss can be so profound that fat as a percentage of body weight actually rises. Extreme carbohydrate restriction also causes muscle loss, dehydration, and slower metabolism, which is why even successful Atkins dieters can have a significant rebound in weight after they stop the diet (don't worry – the advice on this site will prevent that from happening).

As another example, if you put your body under stress through overexertion and lack of sleep, it will respond by slowing down, reducing muscle growth, and increasing your appetite for junk food, carbohydrates and fat. If you feed your body excessive amounts of sugar and quickly digested carbohydrates, and it will shut off its ability to burn fat until those sugars are taken out of the bloodstream.

This website will show you how to work with your body to quickly produce the changes you want. In order to do that, you need to take actions that push your body to adapt – to build strength, burn fat, and increase fitness. You need a training program, not an exercise routine. You need a nutrition plan, not a diet. You need a challenge, not a few good habits you usually try to follow except when you don't.
Setting the right goal

John Dewey once said that a problem well-stated is half-solved. If you want to reach your goal, you have to define it correctly. See, a lot of people say “I want to lose weight.” Well, if losing weight is your goal, go on a no-carb diet. You'll lose a lot of weight – some of it will be fat, a lot of it will be water, and a dangerous amount will be muscle tissue. You'll lose weight quickly, but you'll slow your metabolism and gain fat more quickly once you go off the diet. Trust me on this. I've been there, done that. (out of quote: or on a calorie restricted diet. We also lose muscle mass through cardio exercise).

The problem is that you've set the wrong goal. If you want to look better, have more energy and enjoy better health, the goal is not simply to “lose weight.” The goal is to improve your fitness level and body composition. That means losing fat, improving your aerobic capacity, training your strength and defending your muscle tissue. You can't do that with a no-carb diet (out of quote: Not saying you are on a no-carb diet. This was just part of the article). You will do it using the approach you'll learn on this website. Trust me on this one too. I know what it's like to feel fat, tired and helplessly out of shape. The whole point of this site is to help others avoid that, by sharing lessons that I had to learn the hard way.

http://www.hussmanfitness.org/html/TPAdaptation.html

If you work out hard and only eat 1200 calories a day (and not eat back calories burned) you will lose weight but it will be mostly muscle mass, not fat. Your metabolism will slow, your weight loss will slow, possibly stall and yes you can even gain weight.

hpsnickers1

Re-calculate your goals. If you're set to lose 2lbs drop it to 1lb. This will increase your calorie consumption.

I tried for 2lb per week in the beginning and it was impossible for me. I wasn't heavy enough (upper range of healthy at the time) and my Maintenance calories were not high enough to get a 1000 per day deficit. I couldn't even get a 500 per day deficit. So I went with .5lb per week and I lost, usually in .2-.4lb increments.

I think even Maintenance numbers can run a little on the low side. I purchased a BodyMedia Fit (armband worn 24/7). I actually burn between 1800-2200 during the week depending on exercise. (lower on weekends. I'm lazy). MFP had me at 1580 (now 1470). I even bumped up to Maintenance calories and continued to lose weight.

haldeman5

:happy: Thanks for all the tips, I am going to try a few and see if I can get off this plateau:-)