Very frustrated....

tisha732

Hi, I've been on the site for about two weeks and I am running into the same issues I had when doing Weight Watchers. I have been tracking all my calories and excercises, Eating no more then 1200 cals and buring about 500 - 1500 a day. In addition to my full time job, I am also a zumba instructor. In the last two weeks in order to try and jump start things I have in addition to my regular classes, included several strength training and boxing classes. So I am excercising (combining cardio and strength training 5-6 times a week), eating well (I dont waste my daily calories on junk) and the scale has not budge. Honestly, I don't buy the whole "you are gaining muscle" because you have to burn through the fat first. I don't expect to be losing 5lbs a week, but 1 or 2 would be nice. If anyone could offer some advice, I would gladly try anything.....

Cheeks768

Could it be possible that you aren't eating enough? Just a thought.

annacataldo

so ur eating 1200, but burning as much as 1500?? Thats why.. you need to eat all your calories, plus at least half of your workout calories...

Also, when i was 2-3weeks in i hit plateus and didnt lose for nearly 2weeks, and then ive continued to loose since then.. Ive lost 19lbs in 4weeks and 3days.

sarah44254

Let me clear this up:

You eat 1200 or LESS calories every day
AND
You exercise, burning 500-1500!!! a day?

Please understand that your body is not losing weight because it believes it is in trouble. The way you are feeding your body, it truly thinks that you are living during a famine, drought, or just plain starving.

I would love it if I could convince you to eat more. What we call it here is 'eating exercise calories' as the simplest explanation. If you burn 1500 today, eat 1500+1200. This may feel backwards, and feel like you are eating a heck of a lot, BUT

Your body needs to understand that you will feed it, that you have no problem feeding it, and if it needs fuel to run and digest, and breathe, and do all the wonderful things that our body does, then you will give it fuel.

TLDR version : Eat MORE please!!

LaDiablesse

Are you eating enough to sustain yourself with all of the exercising that you're doing?

vim_n_vigor

Maybe you aren't eating enough. You can also try adding a lot more water and make sure you cut as much sodium as you can from the foods you are eating.

lukybug

What's your water intake/sodium look like? Personally, I don't think you are eating enough calories. Especially if you're eating no more than 1200 calories. I ran into this and as soon as I upped my calories to around 1300 and was drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day, the weight started coming off. Also, try drinking 16 oz of green tea a day. Research has shown that green tea helps with weight loss.

TLC1975

I agree, you probably aren't eating enough, you should be eating back all ur exercise calories to have a min net count of 1200...WW typically causes ppl to eat less than 1200 net as well...could be why u are seeing the same results between the two approaches

SLambertAlaska

I would also think that you may not be eating enough calories to keep your metabolism where it needs to be. It's possible that your body is in "starvation mode." Try eating back your exercise calories for a couple of weeks and see if that gets you off the dime.

quandrie

Yup I would agree. You may not be eating enough or not intaking the right healthy things. Look into body typing. Mercola has a typing test on his website. Maybe its called food typing? Hope that helps.

fteale

I would put it down to time of the month. I always gain weight the week before I am due on, no matter what I am doing, I water retain like you wouldn't believe. That's why weighing yourself weekly is pointless. Do it monthly.

79jiggy

If I'm understanding you correctly you are eating 1200 cal or under each day. Then being what appears to be pretty active and burning an extra 500-1500 calories a day on top of what just living burns. At this rate you are technically eating at most 700 calor. a day and likely being in the negative range. And that doesn't include the amount your body uses if you were just to lay in bed all day. The goal to loose weight is simply to eat a little less then you consume, but not be negative and rarely if ever under 1200 calor. a day. So you need to figure out how many calories your body uses just living, lets say 2000 add your excercise calories (avg of 1000) for a total of 3000 a day burned. Now you simply need to eat under that (for every 1500 calories under you should loose a pound) However, with you being in the negative range your body is in starvation mode and it'll simply store every bit of energy it gets since it doesn't know when it'll be fed again. This starvation mode is very unhealthy and will cause you to not loose and oddly enough even gain weight at times. Hope that makes sense.

eeeekie

You're not eating enough as everyone else has said.

Also, try looking at your sodium and water intake.

seadog1

Unless you are obese I am starting to think perhaps you should not go more then 20 percent under the calories you need for maintance, including for exercise.

isabelk

Two weeks isn't very long. That said, it does sound like you aren't eating enough.

I challenge you to log all of your exercise and eat your minimum 1200/day plus half your exercise calories. Try that for six weeks. Seriously. You might see some increase in weight at the beginning, just go with it. If the scale hasn't gone down by more than five pounds in six weeks, keep going. If it has stayed the same, keep going for another 3 weeks then consider lowering your calories. If it goes up by more than five pounds, lower your calories (but not below 1200). If it goes down by more than five pounds, increase your calories. Give it a really, really good try: six whole weeks. Two weeks won't tell you anything and I can tell you straight up you aren't eating enough. Post back here and tell us how you are doing!

tam120

You're starving yourself! You have to eat 1200 + the calories you're burning in exercise. 1200 + 500 = 1700 at least, 1200 +1500 = 2700 per day.

cloudnovem

Hi, everybody already addressed the not eating enough strategy. Sometimes your body type/shape can determine weight loss depending on your dominate hormone glands. If one hormone is taxed you end up eating the wrong foods that don’t stabilize that hormone gland and can't lose weight or you maintain your current weight, gain weight no matter what you do. Even if you are eating healthy you could consume all the wrong foods for your current body type and you don't lose weight. There is the thyroid, adrenal, gonadal and pituitary body types. There is an older book out on Amazon, I don't recall the author’s name, and you look into that on the internet if interested. Maybe there is some insight there and it will click for you and maybe not. It’s just information.

tam120

Read:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/SpartanHard/view/question-for-my-trainer-should-i-eat-my-exercise-calories-89423

ladyshills

Body believes you are starving it.. Think of those kids in the commercials who are starving & have the big bellys.... You need to eat 1200 calories & eat at least some of your exercise calories. I am also on WW but quit losing when they went to Points Plus. Been here 3 weeks tomorrow & have lost 6.6 since.

Rodneymc4

Hello frustrated (smile). There is one variable in the weight loss formula that we can always control and that is to eat less food. I do 90 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity cardio 4 to 5 times a week, p90X and weight training on large muscle groups. I'm losing 3 to 4 pounds per week since 1 Dec 2010. I work at home and I've just become a certified personnel trainer thru AFAA. There are two main factors in losing weight --more exercise or less food. I had an extreme sedentary lifestyle after two operations and I'm now obsessed with fitness and losing fat. My goal is less than 12% body fat which will change when I actually get my BMI next week. I've lost 51lbs since Dec and when I step on that scale every morning it better not say I gained 1 ounce. Unfortunately Tish, sometimes extreme measures are required in this weight loss game.

tisha732

I appreciate all the responses, I hear loud and clear that everyone thinks I'm under eating. But I thought the basic premise of losing weight is burn more calories the you consume. Everyone's comments would make sense to me only if I was living on crackers and water. If everything you are saying is true...then why work out? if I just need to come in even, then 1200 calories will even out with calories burned in daily activites. I'm not trying to maintain...I am trying to lose. My plateau has lasted way more then 2 weeks.

tam120

You need to exercise because your body requires it to be fit. You need lean muscle and the more muscle you have the more efficient your metabolism, the more calories you burn just being. Although many times we think of exercise as a means to an end (to lose weight) it really is more than that, it's good for you. There are numerous studies that have proven the advantages of exercise.
You need a certain number of calories to exist, (the experts say, for women that number is minimum 1200 without exercise) when you fall below that level your body tries to conserve what you're giving it. True, the idea behind losing weight is calories in/calories out but your system will rebel if you're not giving it adequate fuel to exist. It does seem counter-intuitive to eat more to lose weight but it's a good thing, you can eat more AND lose weight! Give it a try.

missfitp

Wow I have learned something new today. I'm on the same boat and I'm going on my 4th week of no weight loss, but I was doing the same thing you were. I'm going to try eating more, so I trick my body into believing it has to burn more. The way I understand it is if I eat healthy food, my body will think it has to burn calories, but it will burn the fat and not the protein and healthy food I'm actually eating. I'm not sure if I made sense, but what everyone posted on here made sense to me. THANK YOU MFP Community!!!!!