Why is this not working...

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ashleymashley02
ashleymashley02 Posts: 107
in Health and Weight Loss
So eventhough you burn/eat less than 3500 cals a week why am I not losing a lb or anything? You can look at my food journal.. I believe I am making the right choices and sometimes my workouts dont show as much as I do on here because I don't know how to log them.. I need a HRM I know but... geesh!
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  • PeterPan132
    PeterPan132 Posts: 32
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    The only thing I can see on your diary is that your not eating back your exercise calories - perhaps try giving your body more fuel - the Body, in its self-defensive mode, tends to hang onto everything if it doesn't get enough fuel.

    I'm a very active person and trying to survive on 1200 calories a day was the worse thing I could have ever done. After some advice I now eat between 1500 and 2000 depening on my exercise levels and not only am I loosing a little, but i just generally feel better - alot more energy etc, So may be worth giving it a go also!
  • ashleymashley02
    ashleymashley02 Posts: 107
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    I tried that too but I felt fat and not wanting to exercise.. I am already eating more than I used to trying to go between 1300-1500.. idk
  • SmallerBecky
    SmallerBecky Posts: 177
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    ^^^ Oh yeah, hun...I just looked at your food diary too and you are just not eating enough at all. If you have your calories set to 1200 (which I do not recommend to ANYONE), you absolutely HAVE to eat back your exercise calories. But I think you should even be NETTING about 1600 to start out, meaning that if you exercised off 400 one day, you should be eating 2000 that day!

    Plus, the past couple of days, you haven't eaten much of anything with substance. I bet you're STARVING, aren't you?? (I ask people this a lot.) I liked what I saw a few days ago, on Tuesday. You had some eggs and bacon for breakfast and a good lunch. You had some PROTEIN that day! Some real meals. You need to make sure you get protein and MUFAs in. MUFAs are healthy fats that are in things like nuts, seeds, olive oil, olives, avocados, and dark chocolate. Not only do these foods target belly fat, they help you feel good!

    Losing weight should not feel uncomfortable and miserable. It's not about depriving yourself; it's just about replacing the things you eat with better things that help your body be its best. I still eat LOTS of snacks just about every day; I just watch my portions better and I eat lots more protein and MUFAs and lots less bread and packaged food.

    Also, you don't really have to exercise so much. A lot of people think so, but actually, the more you exercise, the more you need to eat and if it's difficult to eat that much protein and healthy fats, then why exercise more? The amount of food you're eating, you shouldn't be exercising at ALL. So lighten up on the workouts and eat MORE. I know it doesn't make sense or go along with everything you hear, but you've taken things to the extreme in the other direction from what got you here in the first place, and really, no extreme is ever good.

    Good luck! :)
  • Just1forMe
    Just1forMe Posts: 624 Member
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    I tried that too but I felt fat and not wanting to exercise.. I am already eating more than I used to trying to go between 1300-1500.. idk

    Try getting the extra calories in with a protein shake made with a quality Whey protein powder. I highly recommend Optimum Nutrition Vanilla Milk Shake...Yum!
  • lambertj
    lambertj Posts: 675 Member
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    Hi Ashley, congrats on losing 32 lbs already! My weight gets stuck too, very frustrating to be good and still not have the scale budge. I've gotten some great information from people on here and am happy to try to pass some ideas onto you. Not sure if you take a Vitamin D supplement but I take 1000 mgs of D3 every day, its been helping with my energy levels and I believe helping me lose weight. In looking at your food log, see if you can take in less carbs each day and perhaps up your protein (I don't agree with the amounts set up by myfitnessplan). I have eggs for breakfast everyday (one full egg and two egg whites) to start the day off with protein and it seems to get me going and keep me full longer than a high carb breakfast.
  • ashleymashley02
    ashleymashley02 Posts: 107
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    Yeah I am not hungry that is for sure.. if anything I am forcing myself to eat lol!
  • BobbyClerici
    BobbyClerici Posts: 813 Member
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    I am 5' 9" and weighed 262 - see my fat pic on my profile...
    I have lost over 60lbs and am still losing with little effort, eating between 2500 and 3000 calories daily.
    Starving yourself shuts down your metabolism. Our physiology has not evolved much in 20,000 years; however, the human race has. Our bodies still function as they did when we were swinging by our tails in the wild, hunting and gathering.

    We are built to hold onto fat during times of famine. The key is tricking your body into burning fat while holding muscle, and that's accomplished by eating the right foods - lean protein, whole grains and raw fruits and veggies.

    You need to try something different. Maybe we can help you and vice versa.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Do you have any disease or metabolic syndrome?
  • ashleymashley02
    ashleymashley02 Posts: 107
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    People keep saying to eat my exercise calories back.. but most of the time I am within like 200 cals.. so really eating another subway sandwich (for example) I don't feel like is going to help.. but I guess I will try that idea.. I will give anyhting a try, but like i said I already have to force myself to eat as many calories as I am eating .. never thought I would say that lol. I am just doing on Monday's I do body combat, tues I do my own thing.. run or elliptical, weds I do an hour with personal trainer, thurs my own thing and fri will start doing an hour with personal trainer soon.. then take sat off and sunday will walk or something.. so its not a lot of exercising I don't think.. I LOVE going to workouts with my personal trainer so..
  • ashleymashley02
    ashleymashley02 Posts: 107
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    I am 5' 9" and weighed 262 - see my fat pic on my profile...
    I have lost over 60lbs and am still losing with little effort, eating between 2500 and 3000 calories daily.
    Starving yourself shuts down your metabolism. Our physiology has not evolved much in 20,000 years; however, the human race has. Our bodies still function as they did when we were swinging by our tails in the wild, hunting and gathering.

    We are built to hold onto fat during times of famine. The key is tricking your body into burning fat while holding muscle, and that's accomplished by eating the right foods - lean protein, whole grains and raw fruits and veggies.

    You need to try something different. Maybe we can help you and vice versa.
    Id love the help! Please! :)
  • ashleymashley02
    ashleymashley02 Posts: 107
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    Do you have any disease or metabolic syndrome?
    Nope been tested I have PCOS (poly systic ovarian syndrome) but I don't think that has anything to do with weight loss
  • katcod1522
    katcod1522 Posts: 448 Member
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    Youre eating 1400-1500 a day..and looks ok....but are you tracking sodium? I track mine...and you have to flush that stuff. Me..I eat 1200 cals a day..and on run days..I eat back half of my earned calories. Everyone is different though. Maybe try zig zagging and watch the sodium.
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
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    People keep saying to eat my exercise calories back.. but most of the time I am within like 200 cals..
    Go back and look at your diary. That is not true. You are more like 400 calories under every day.
  • Hourglass25
    Hourglass25 Posts: 345 Member
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    Yeah I am not hungry that is for sure.. if anything I am forcing myself to eat lol!

    You are not hungry because you metabolism has slowed down, I felt like this while I was eating 1200 or less. Once I upped my calories and worked on eating my exercise calories things have changed. I have lost more weight, now I cant imagine eating 1200 or less . When I started eating more I saw a weight gain of two pounds but quickly dropped.

    I f you eat a apple add some peanut butter
    olive oil
    avocados
    almonds
    sun flower seeds
    salmon
    steak
    whole eggs
    These are all high in calories which should help
  • KimDoberman
    KimDoberman Posts: 14
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    I have been were you are now and I was on a plateau. To break the plateau I had to make a change. Well, my choices were to eat more, eat less, exercise more...or do nothing and wait it out. I ended up getting really angry at a dietician that I spoke to. I told her I was eating healthy foods and taking in about 1200 calories a day, and sometimes less. I was drinking protein shakes which took up about 500 of those calories. Frustrated in about a two week span my weight didn't move. Well, after talking to the dietician I got super mad because she told me that I was ....are you ready for this? EATING TOO MUCH and that I should drop my calories down to 900 a day. I was furious. So furious in fact it made me binge that entire weekend!!! Okay, it was the wrong thing to do (emotional eating) but on Monday I didn't have the guts to weigh in...but by the time Wedn. rolled by I decided to take my punishment and see how much I gained. It ended up being a "Thank You Jesus" moment LOL when I lost 4 pounds!!!! So, I guess that was how I broke the plateau! I am still mad she told me to drop back my food to only 900 a day...OMG!! I have lost almost 40 pounds in 2 months doing it my way at 1200 (which I don't think is very many calories a day anyhow!).
  • Johnnyswife
    Johnnyswife Posts: 1,447 Member
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    Well way to go on losing over 30lbs! Something is working! Maybe its just a plateu?
  • rayannie79
    rayannie79 Posts: 3
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    I too have PCOS. It does make it harder to lose weight. The good news is that after you lose the weight, it helps reduce the symptoms.
  • rayannie79
    rayannie79 Posts: 3
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    I too have PCOS. It does make it harder to lose weight. The good news is that after you lose the weight, it helps reduce the symptoms.
  • HealthyJenn0712
    HealthyJenn0712 Posts: 27
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    Hello There!

    I recently got off a plateau from doing something a trainer at my gym recommended me to do. She told me to continue eating healthy, but cut my workouts down to no more than half the intensity they were for a week. I was terrified becuase I am used to going all out at the gym and I was afraid that I would go back to my old habits, but I was consistent with the moderate exercise for a week and when i started up on my usual schedule the following week, I got through my plateau and lost 5 lbs in that week.

    Don't give up! You should be SOOO proud of yourself for working so hard and the weight loss you have had. It gets much harder after 30 pounds are off (trust me, I've lost 100 this year by diet and exercise), but you are worth the hard work and dedication to a healthy lifestyle. Just be patient.

    -HealthyJenn0712
  • springfan
    springfan Posts: 39 Member
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    I also have PCOS. I had a heart-to-heart with my endocrinologist and she explained how PCOS and Insulin Resistance go hand-in-hand. She suggested that I follow a low glycemic index (GI) diet lifestyle, and not only do I feel better, the weight has been melting off. Congrats on your weight loss thus far. You should be very proud of yourself.

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