So-o-o hacked off.....

blobby10

...yet another day/week/month with no loss. Not even one measly pound. My legs are aching all the time from the exercise I'm doing, I'm tired from the 5.30am starts to go for a run before work and life gets in the way, fed up with going to bed at 9.30 so I can get enough sleep in. Been really 'good' for weeks now, but the weight just won't shift from 170lbs. Obviously I'm doing something very wrong but I was so hacked off that I stuffed 80g haribo and a choc chip muffin down my throat for the glorious total of 736 calories. Just great. (I don't usually do that by the way!)

Perhaps I've just got to accept that this is the weight I will be until I hit 50 then it'll go up to 182lbs and stick there til I'm 60 then add another 14lbs.

anthony438

Meh, give yourself some time - I've only been working at this since April this attempt, and for about 3 weeks of May the scale just wouldn't move. Then, one day, it started up again.

Plateaus happen, just stick with it. :flowerforyou:

Mixmode

Be sure you are taking in enough calories. As long as you are, your exercise is building heavy muscle so while you may not see it on the scale, try taking measurements. and keep an eye on how your snugger clothes now fit.

SenoraMacias

First thing I notice is that you say your legs are sore. I'm NO expert at all. But I do know that when muscles are sore, they are repairing themselves from your strenuous workouts. When muscles are in repair, they retain more water, which will make the scale go up. I've experienced this many times. When I weigh after several days straight of exercise, I'm always heavier. Try sticking to your diet, but laying off the exercise for a day or two. Do some stretching or light cardio only (if anything. Total rest would be good though). See if the scale moves... Just a suggestion from experience! Hope it helps

erickirb

What is your calorie goal?
What is your projected weight loss/week?
Are you eating most or all of your exercise calories?

I see that you have less than 15lbs to lose. It that is the case your goal should be set at 0.5lb loss/week, any higher and you risk burning muscles instead of fat, not to mention many other negative side effects. When you don't have much to lose your body cannot sustain large caloric deficits.

NeuroticVirgo

First thing I notice is that you say your legs are sore. I'm NO expert at all. But I do know that when muscles are sore, they are repairing themselves from your strenuous workouts. When muscles are in repair, they retain more water, which will make the scale go up. I've experienced this many times. When I weigh after several days straight of exercise, I'm always heavier. Try sticking to your diet, but laying off the exercise for a day or two. Do some stretching or light cardio only (if anything. Total rest would be good though). See if the scale moves... Just a suggestion from experience! Hope it helps

Great advice. I would have said something along the same lines.

As long as your eating what you should be (and not a lot more or a lot less), you might just need a rest day. Rub some pain reliever on those legs and give them a break

psuLemon

So let us see if we can change that for you. How many calories are you eating per day? If you can make your food diary public, then we can help. It seems like the only exercise you are doing is cardio/running? If that is true, you need to add weight training. Do you happen to know your bf%. Calculating your BMR is extremely important. BMR is the amount of calories you burn while sleep (if you did it for 24 hours). To figure out what you need to do for caloric needs, you need to calculate your BMR add in your exercise calories and back off 500 (for weight loss). Also, how tall are you? The more information you can provide the more we can do to change it.

nagaisgich

I don't know much about your situation but there are some general tips that might help you feel better or look at things you may be able to change. A) are you measuring yourself? It sounds like with all that exercise that you may be building muscle while losing weight, and since muscle weighs more than fat, you won't notice it on the scale. Are your clothes fitting differently?

If you get discouraged from watching the scale number, don't weight yourself. Look at yourself in the mirror and watch your measurements and pay attention to how your clothes are fitting.

Even more important...possibly your diet isn't working with you, or doesn't match your activity levels. It might be worthwhile to read up on how and when your body is using the foods you are allowing it. Make sure you have a balance of protein fat and carbs. There is a lot of good information about the way to best use carbs when exercising and losing weight.

daniface

change up your routine, your body is bored with 5:30 am runs

erickirb

So let us see if we can change that for you. How many calories are you eating per day? If you can make your food diary public, then we can help. It seems like the only exercise you are doing is cardio/running? If that is true, you need to add weight training. Do you happen to know your bf%. Calculating your BMR is extremely important. BMR is the amount of calories you burn while sleep (if you did it for 24 hours). To figure out what you need to do for caloric needs, you need to calculate your BMR add in your exercise calories and back off 500 (for weight loss). Also, how tall are you? The more information you can provide the more we can do to change it.

Not quite the right calculation, first of all you have to add in an activity multiplier that takes into account sitting, eating, thinking etc. If you are sedentary your maintenance is BMR *1.2, then from this number you minus 250 calories to lose 0.5lbs/week, and be sure to eat most of your exercise calories back.

blobby10

Blimey!! Wasn't expecting such a response so quickly so a big THANK YOU to all of you for replying and offering words of wisdom!.And apologies for the epistle which follows!

I'm 5ft 9", 42 years old and currently 170lbs. My aim was to be 158-160lbs by August when I started MFP in March. net calories 1200 per day.

I run 4 miles cross country every morning as I have to exercise the dogs. I do this Monday to Friday with weekends as rest days or just walking with them. 3-5 times per week I ride in the evening, about 90 minutes of steady trotting with some cantering. Tuesday evenings I do circuit training - 45-60 minutes of advanced circuit training which leaves me dripping with sweat and hardly able to walk! I don't run the following morning when I do circuits but do walk the 4 mile route. Havve tried weight training in the evenings and running in the mornings but riding got in the way!

Since starting MFP I have made a big effort to change my eating habits, not snacking, cutting down on potatoes, bread, pasta and rice, cutting down on alcohol, limited diet drinks etc. Food intake is generally the same each day:
Breakfast - 50g cereal, small banana, skimmed milk and coffee
Mid morning snack - apple/pear with 2 more cups of coffee throughout.
Lunch - if working til 5/6pm then a sandwich (300 cals) sometimes bag of french fries (100) mullerlight yoghurt (85-97) and apple or jacket potato with creme fraiche and smoked salmon from cafe!
Hometime - arriving home I feel an overwhelming urge to stuff my face - usually limit it to some cherry tomatoes or a max of 2 biscuits, custard cream/bourbon and a cup of tea while main meal is cooking.
Main meal: usually potatoes, protein and salad or veg if sandwich at lunch. Omelette if jacket potato at lunch. Walls Low fat vanilla icecream for pud or yoghurt or something. Cup of tea

Rather than fret about keeping within calories each day I average it out oveer the week so weekends I can have a glass of wine as I've earned it on Thursday if you see what I mean.

I could handle the not losing weight if I hadn't cut down so much on all the rubbish - I used to have at least one chocolate bar per day, crips 3-4 times per week, - and increased my exercise. I used to walk the dogs not run!

Thank you again for all your help.

Love B xx

blobby10

Oh and a p.s. I'm not losing any inches either as my clothes don't feel any better but my flabby stomach has toned up a little!!

erickirb

Blimey!! Wasn't expecting such a response so quickly so a big THANK YOU to all of you for replying and offering words of wisdom!.And apologies for the epistle which follows!

I'm 5ft 9", 42 years old and currently 170lbs. My aim was to be 158-160lbs by August when I started MFP in March. net calories 1200 per day.

I run 4 miles cross country every morning as I have to exercise the dogs. I do this Monday to Friday with weekends as rest days or just walking with them. 3-5 times per week I ride in the evening, about 90 minutes of steady trotting with some cantering. Tuesday evenings I do circuit training - 45-60 minutes of advanced circuit training which leaves me dripping with sweat and hardly able to walk! I don't run the following morning when I do circuits but do walk the 4 mile route. Havve tried weight training in the evenings and running in the mornings but riding got in the way!

Since starting MFP I have made a big effort to change my eating habits, not snacking, cutting down on potatoes, bread, pasta and rice, cutting down on alcohol, limited diet drinks etc. Food intake is generally the same each day:
Breakfast - 50g cereal, small banana, skimmed milk and coffee
Mid morning snack - apple/pear with 2 more cups of coffee throughout.
Lunch - if working til 5/6pm then a sandwich (300 cals) sometimes bag of french fries (100) mullerlight yoghurt (85-97) and apple or jacket potato with creme fraiche and smoked salmon from cafe!
Hometime - arriving home I feel an overwhelming urge to stuff my face - usually limit it to some cherry tomatoes or a max of 2 biscuits, custard cream/bourbon and a cup of tea while main meal is cooking.
Main meal: usually potatoes, protein and salad or veg if sandwich at lunch. Omelette if jacket potato at lunch. Walls Low fat vanilla icecream for pud or yoghurt or something. Cup of tea

Rather than fret about keeping within calories each day I average it out oveer the week so weekends I can have a glass of wine as I've earned it on Thursday if you see what I mean.

I could handle the not losing weight if I hadn't cut down so much on all the rubbish - I used to have at least one chocolate bar per day, crips 3-4 times per week, - and increased my exercise. I used to walk the dogs not run!

Thank you again for all your help.

Love B xx

This definitely sounds like you are not eating nearly enough for that much working out. If your maintenance is 2000 cals/day you should be around 1750, plus eating back exercise calories. If you average it for the week you should eat 1750*7 + all of your exercise calories back, so if you burn 800 calories 5 days/week you burn 4000/week and should be eating a total of 16,250 calories/week for an average of 2300/day, and this would be to lose 0.5lbs/week, which I would highly recommend not trying to lose more since you don't have much to go.

Again this is assuming your maintenance is 2000 cals/day. Go to your goals tab and look at calories burned from normal activity to get your actual maintenance calories.

blobby10

Thanks erick. I will try that. Being in a desk job all my activity tends to be first thing in the morning so maybe I need to walk/run in the evening as well!

B x

psuLemon

So let us see if we can change that for you. How many calories are you eating per day? If you can make your food diary public, then we can help. It seems like the only exercise you are doing is cardio/running? If that is true, you need to add weight training. Do you happen to know your bf%. Calculating your BMR is extremely important. BMR is the amount of calories you burn while sleep (if you did it for 24 hours). To figure out what you need to do for caloric needs, you need to calculate your BMR add in your exercise calories and back off 500 (for weight loss). Also, how tall are you? The more information you can provide the more we can do to change it.

Not quite the right calculation, first of all you have to add in an activity multiplier that takes into account sitting, eating, thinking etc. If you are sedentary your maintenance is BMR *1.2, then from this number you minus 250 calories to lose 0.5lbs/week, and be sure to eat most of your exercise calories back.

My apologies, I actually tired to simplify it. When i do the real analysis then I go into all the calculations. With that much running & circuit training I consider it to be moderate to very active. Even with basic guess work on BF% I have calculated between 2000-2200 calories to lose weight which puts my calculations in the same ballpark as you. The way I have approached it in my life is start at the lower end of the eating and once I see a plateau I increase it by 200 calories until I start seeing weight loss again. Also, I would suggest increasing/starting some weight training. The increase in muscle mass will really help get you over the hump with plateauing. It will also increase toning your body and increasing the calories you burn while being sedentary. It's fairly simple, muscle burns fat. The best way to burn fat is to have more muscle. And don't worry, if you are afraid it will bulk you up, it won't. Muscle is more dense than fat, so it takes up less room which means a smaller waistline and tighter body.