Not understanding

oatmeal86

I posted a few weeks ago about my lack of weight loss after incradable attempts but I got a great positive feed back so I continued to go about my healthy eating and gym 5 times a week. Well here we are two more weeks in and I'm still the same weight or gained a pound depending on the time of the day!!! I just don't understand why this is I'm eating so healthy and working my but off I
Giving my muscles food with protein and protein rich foods and I'm eating good! Can anyone help me or help me understand I need to loose 20 more pounds and I'm 5'11 and according to my doctor it will help my health! Please help me anyone.

Lesa_Sass

Did you measure yourself? The scale is no way to measure fat loss.

And I would suggest only weighing yourself once per week, in the morning, naked, after your morning "business".

Do you have a pair of pants that were "snug" before you started this? Try them on and see how they fit today.

Good luck, do not give up. I am in the exact same boat but I know for a fact I am dropping inches.

Donnacoach

Sounds like you have plateaued. Try to change something up in your daily routine. Maybe exercise at a different time, eat your snacks and meals at different times. How late are you eating your dinner at night? Are you snacking after that? I try to eat before 6:00 PM nightly. Then I will hop on my elliptical at around 7:30. I also exercise in the early AM most days as well, and follow up with a good steady breakfast. Good luck.

georgina1970

Hi, I'm also not losing any weight but am reassured by the fact I can now fit into some clothes I couldn't 3mths ago. It sounds like your not eating enough. I'm 5'0" and my daily calorie goal is 1220. At 5'11" and exercising 5x/wk, you should be eating more than that! I suggest you visit a dietician.

georgina1970

According to the BMI calculator the healthy weight range for your height is 150-180 pounds.

Laura_Ivy

I wish I had words of advice but I am in the exact same predicament except mine has been going on since the end of October! I've tried upping exercise,lowering exercise, eating more which caused me to gain 2 lbs on top of the weight I have to lose. LOL! It's insane....I went so far as to ask my doctor to refer me to an endocrinologist but she declined my request. But maybe that is an option for you? Go to your doctors and request bloodwork to see if your thyroid is low and to check your blood sugar. I'm sorry you are so frustrated but I completely understand the frustration but I keep at it in hopes that eventually it will all come together and I will lose something. At this point 10 lbs would be amazing! :sad:

sarahbear1981

What do you have your weekly weight loss goal set too? If it is 2lbs a week it is too high. Try adjusting to 1lb.

Generalle

Eat more. Helped me when I had slowed

gsager

Your diary is closed so there's no way to really help you with your diet. Are you eating your exercise calories? I was stuck at the same weight for a while and was only eating a few of my excercise calories since I started eating all of them I have been losing weight more consistently. Best of luck to you. Stick with it.

zerocalz

I wish I had words of advice but I am in the exact same predicament except mine has been going on since the end of October! I've tried upping exercise,lowering exercise, eating more which caused me to gain 2 lbs on top of the weight I have to lose. LOL! It's insane....I went so far as to ask my doctor to refer me to an endocrinologist but she declined my request. But maybe that is an option for you? Go to your doctors and request bloodwork to see if your thyroid is low and to check your blood sugar. I'm sorry you are so frustrated but I completely understand the frustration but I keep at it in hopes that eventually it will all come together and I will lose something. At this point 10 lbs would be amazing! :sad:

You basically just described my situation to a tee. The worst (or good, depending on how you see it) part is, there's nothing wrong with me from an endocrinology perspective. I'm now considering going with a radical diet like Dr. Bernstein or some other ****.

MaximalLife

Make your diary public.

becoming_a_new_me

Have you had your glucose levels checked? People who are insulin resistant (not diabetic) can have difficulty losing weight. You can also have metabolism issues if you have other conditions like PCOS, etc.

Contrarian

As others have said, we can't help if we can't see your diary.

kr3851

How are you calculating your exercise calories? If you don't have a HRM, you could be overestimating your burn. Have you got a food scale? You could be underestimating your food.

My loss slowed completely until recently when I've stopped eating mine back. I have a HRM and a food scale, but was merely exercising enough to eat s***ty food so now that I'm not, it's working. Gotta be honest with yourself!!

beyg

you may have reach a point where you are building muscle, many not show a weight loss but lower body fat. Are you doing weights?

SARBelgians

Hi!

It sounds like you might not be eating enough calories for your activity level.

For example with me, I weighted 252 when I started. Was given around 1700 calorie limit to eat (set up to lose 2#/week) because of my height, weight and age. I'm 5'8". That 1700 has nearly a 1000 calorie deficit built in to it already. So, if I did nothing, and ate 1700, I would lose about 2# a week. If I am active, I log it. I usually burn 400-600 calories a day in my daily activity/exercises. I eat most of those calories back. My goal is to have a NET calorie of 1700 every day.

My first week, I wasn't paying attention to that. I lost 9# the first week (mostly water weight). The second week, my body started to gain again. By the 3rd week, I was up 5#. I had gained back almost everything I had lost initially. Talk about frustrating!

I looked back at my NET calories. I only ate around 900 NET calories for nearly 10 days. I was starving my body and it was in rebellion....saving every ounce of fat it could. I boosted my calories back to around 1700 NET by eating back my exercise calories and I lost 2.5# in 3 days. Energy levels are up, headaches are gone...all thanks keeping to my NET calorie requirement.

Don't be afraid to eat those exercise calories. Remember, MPF already has a deficit built in to the calories it gives you. Only pay attention to net calories...don't be freaked out by seeing your total calories at 2100 or 2400...it is NET that really counts. Try eating your NET for a week. I'll bet you the scale will move down in 7 days.

Jill


Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Nutrition Facts For Foods

mariholm

I wish I had words of advice but I am in the exact same predicament except mine has been going on since the end of October! I've tried upping exercise,lowering exercise, eating more which caused me to gain 2 lbs on top of the weight I have to lose. LOL! It's insane....I went so far as to ask my doctor to refer me to an endocrinologist but she declined my request. But maybe that is an option for you? Go to your doctors and request bloodwork to see if your thyroid is low and to check your blood sugar. I'm sorry you are so frustrated but I completely understand the frustration but I keep at it in hopes that eventually it will all come together and I will lose something. At this point 10 lbs would be amazing! :sad:

You basically just described my situation to a tee. The worst (or good, depending on how you see it) part is, there's nothing wrong with me from an endocrinology perspective. I'm now considering going with a radical diet like Dr. Bernstein or some other ****.

MB_Positif

Hmmm...on someone tall like you, losing 20 pounds is like those elusive last 10 pounds for most people. It's just going to take a lot of work and perseverance and it'll probably happen slowly. I am on my last 9...I want them gone, but I am also just focusing more energy on strength training to create longer and leaner muscles which has already changed the way my clothes fit in the last 5 weeks.

crazybigchick

I actually have a doctors apt on Tuesday to have all my hormone levels checked, because I eat well, exercise often, and can't seem to lose. I have lost a few inches but it is taking honest to goodness a year to drop 3 inches. My doctor thinks (because of a whole list of other issues as well as my weight) that maybe my hormone levels or thyroid is off. A trip to the doctor can't hurt. Just a thought. lol

ohlefty

I've totally been there. I've hit plateaus a couple of times while dieting and exercising (always eating well and responsibly while doing the math with calories in and out), but even beyond that I've found that it takes me at LEAST a month of consistent effort to even BEGIN seeing the scale go down. Others in my family have had the same experience so I think it must be that some people are predisposed to this type of weight "loss" pattern. For all of us, once the weight has started to come off it has come off steadily. It's like our bodies resisted and resisted and resisted, and then suddenly got the message. Unless your doctors find some kind of explanation, I'd encourage you to just keep on trying. It's super frustrating, I know.

mariholm

I understand your frustration but would not advise doing the Berstein diet. I did it 2 yrs ago after pregnancy, lost about 40 lbs in 3 months BUT I also lost a lot of muscle mass (at 500 cal with almost no carbs per day you have no energy to exercise) and also my hair was falling out in chunks and it's horribly expensive. When I went back to a normal diet (healthy for the most part) and despite exercising regularly most of the weight came back. it has worked for some, but most end up being repeat customers. instead of a quick fix, this time I chose the "slow and steady wins the race" approach. I've hit a plateau too but hope to get over this hump soon. Good luck, stick with it!

cassieoshea

I worked as a nursing assistant and a dietary assistant at a hospital last year. The best solution they told people is to make sure you eat at least one and a half of your exercise calories, make sure that when you are working out you are focusing on the body parts that you use the least...if you run or walk a lot try to do more of the upper body movements..and make sure that you are eating a lot of whole grain and fruit. you may even want to look into getting your blood work done to see if there is a vitamin you need more of.

ThePhoenixRose

try upping your calories. it may sound counter-intuitive, but it made all the difference for me. i upped to 1600 calories a day and started to lose. good luck!

zerocalz

Mariholm -

Thanks for the advice, it's truly noted. It's just that when you see ads for "up to 20 lbs" a month, it's pretty tempting when you've been stuck on a plateau for almost 3.

I am going to toy around with carbs (< 100g/day) for one week, and eat my exercise calories for another week. Will see if either of these work!

Thanks again

lisawest

Ok, I'm going to take a shot in the dark here (since I can't find anywhere that says how long you've been doing the exercise routine) that the exercise routine is fairly recent (2 weeks?) Assuming that, here's what I think MIGHT be happening. When you begin a new type of exercise, you reactivate muscles that have been dormant. When this happens, those muscles pull in extra glycogen for fuel. (Glycogen is basically energy for the muscles.) The glycogen has a LITTLE bit of weight to it. There is one little problem with this, glycogen has to have water to be transported in. Water has weight to it. So you may be losing weight from fat, but the extra water is counteracting that loss. Don't worry, this will balance out, but it takes AT LEAST a month on a new exercise plan before your muscles get it all figured out and quit storing so much water. Stick with it for a MINIMUM of a month, drink LOTS of water (it seems to help some), and only step on the scale once a week (in the buff, after using the restroom and before your shower).

If I'm wrong and this isn't a new exercise routine, then I might suggest you take a look at your sodium intake and your potassium intake. (Sodium should be low, and potassium should be close to your daily goal.) Sodium causes water retention (water again), which is NOT good for weight loss. Now, why I say to look at potassium is because potassium combines with sodium (so water won't) and helps flush the sodium from your body. Also, potassium is found in less processed food and sodium is found in more processed foods.

Either way, I would suggest increasing fresh foods and water, and decreasing processed foods (this is coming from the queen of frozen lunches, but I am getting better). Good luck on figuring out the right combination for you. Keep us posted!