New and VERY frustrated

BellydanceBliss

The problem may be that you are nt eating enough. I just looked at yur profile and saw that you only need to lose 20lbs, that in the grand scheme of things is not much and therefore you shuld be aiming at losing at most 1/2 lb a week. I say give that a try for a few weeks and see, going to less calories won't help anything except may your body po'd and hang onoto every bit f food you're giving it in my opinion.

This is absolutely true... My suggestion would be to eat a little more but more importantly EAT MORE OFTEN. Eat 6 + times a day at least and the most important times are 1 hour before your work out and right after your workout... It is a hard one to grasp but you "have to eat to lose weight" .

Eating several small meals a day boosts your metabolism and you will never go into starvation mode. Carbs before your workout and protein after.

The man is right...I have such a hard time doing this lol I keep trying

ButtercupSprad

Mama....it is frustrating....its like War on Drugs...the fight just never seems to end. Just keep doing what you have been doing...it takes time....LOTS OF TIME. If losing weight were easy, we wouldn't have this support group and EVERYONE would be skinny. By the way.....1200 calories a day is LOOOOOOOW for the workout plan you outlined. Get with a nutritionist and ask about that. Seems quite low.

themedalist

I have nothing to add to the wisdom shared by the above posters. Most of us have using MFP for a long time and have had our frustrations and successes losing weight. It's a journey and you need to be in it for the long haul. Please consider the advice given. If you give up you will not reach your goal. Six months from now, wouldn't it be better to be responding to a similarly frustrated MFP newbie with your own success story?

harlanJEN

Let me tell you .... the posters to this topic are, to me, what MFP is all about. Sharing knowledge and support. (Instead of -"Rate the One Above You" (this is a fitness site not a dating site ! GEEZ LOUISE) All of you ROCK !!!!

I especially loved the comparison to the "war on drugs". You got it sister ! That is exactly what it is. LOL

ViSabbi

Weight is not everything. It's been said over and over but it's true...muscles weight more than fat. Instead of watching the scale, try watching the inches coming off of your body. You work out so much that obviously 1200 calories is not enough. As everyone above said, boost that up to 1400 or even 1500.

I cannot see your food diary but cut down on sugar, boost up on proteins. When people say 'drink lots of water', you should be drinking half your body weight in water every day, in ounces. For example, I weight 183, I have to drink 90 ounces so nearly 3L of water every day. It seems like a lot, and it is when you don't spread it through the day but it's done pretty easily once you do. If you are eating lots of fruits, you can cut down on them also. I eat pretty much all day, as much as possible, snacks below 100 calories. It keeps me from being hungry, along with boosting up my metabolism and keeping it working all day long.

Last but not least, sleep well, good hours with consistency. Another friend told me to add green tea to my diet, I've yet to tried that one but the benefits of green tea are important as well so I don't see why it would be a bad move anyway.

tboothgenthe

Okay - yes I did set my weight loss at 2 lbs a week. But I'll change it to 1 pound a week starting tomorrow. I was very mad at my body today (yes I know this is silly) and only ate about 1,000 calories - I know I know. Tomorrow I'll go up to 1300 or 1400 and not eat my work out calories. I don't "over workout" so based on what I read this should be okay. I had been eating every workout calorie I earned.

Thanks everyone for posting. I've tried losing this weight for 5 years now alone and I hope now being on this site I can finally get it off. I'm 5'7" and am sitting at 159. I'm a size 16 and a woman's XL and I'm so tired of it. I just wan to be in a large and a pant size 12.

Maybe working out again is building muscle - who knows but I really don't want to give up.

Thanks again everyone.

shydaisi

Weigh and measure your food.
Use a heart rate monitor to measure your calories burned.
Adjust your goals to 0.5 or 1.0 lbs. per week (I see you have already done this one ).