Frustrated and Fuming: Help needed, please!

Vino81

For weeks I have been good and the last 2 weeks I have been very good! Most of the time, I eat my set food target, 1200-1300 calories, I have added gym to my dieting, so I burn about 2500 cals in the gym each week - but I just keep gaining weight!! This is depressing and infuriating.

I have never been so heavy in my life as I am today! The weight keep piling on.... I have put on 8 lbs since I started dieting and going to the gym!

Yes, I am very particular with my food intake, I have a scale and everything is accounted for, and NO, I do not sleep walk and raid the fridge at night (or subconsciously)..... pleeeeease help!

:sad:

shiseido_faerie

Ae you eating back your exercise calories? Ae you drinking enough water? If you open your diary we could probably make some better suggestions.

Carfoodel

Are you using a HRM to confirm your calorie burn at the gym or using the machines of MFP guidelines. HRM is the most accurate of the three options so you could be overestimating what you are burning.

Vino81

Yes and yes, I am sure of the burned calories and no, I do not eat all the calories burned back, sometimes, I eat 100 cals of them, sometimes 200, but never all of them. I drink lots and lots of water, I eat lots of veggies and only lean meats.

I am a textbook-dieter, everything is done correctly... but I keep putting on. I am a routined dieter, I usually put on 2-3 lbs when I first start gym, then steady go down 1-2 lbs but I took a long break (few months). Now that I have returned, I just keep piling on...

:sad: :explode:

teresa1121

keep up the good work it takes time sometimes and dont get frustrated I know easier said than done.. stick to the 1300 calories even tfhough you are exersising make sure you are logging everything., if you want more help join a support group where you weigh in once a week and have the visible aspect of being a group of others trying to establish the same goal as you
I bellong to a group it is called Tops ( stands for take off pounds sinsibley) find one in your area research on line Tops.org it could help and stay here on MFP I am new to it and it has really helped with logging my food and being aware .. we are all out for the same results.. good luck and hope that helped.. feel free to friend me for added motivation and support we all need more friends

shirlsatrying

Hi Vino81, Instead of weighing yourself have you taken your measurements, your body is possibly changing shape and not showing the results on the scale. Just as a suggestion have you had a medical to check all is ok?
Best of luck on your continued journey : )

Fit_Canuck

Yes and yes, I am sure of the burned calories and no, I do not eat all the calories burned back, sometimes, I eat 100 cals of them, sometimes 200, but never all of them. I drink lots and lots of water, I eat lots of veggies and only lean meats.

I am a textbook-dieter, everything is done correctly... but I keep putting on. I am a routined dieter, I usually put on 2-3 lbs when I first start gym, then steady go down 1-2 lbs but I took a long break (few months). Now that I have returned, I just keep piling on...

:sad: :explode:

Sounds like your not doing is correctly at all really. You are following the diets that eventually fail for most people. You are mostly likely under-eating and not having enough net calories per day. Can't really say for sure as your diary isn't public.

You said you are eating 1200 cals a day and working out roughly 500 cals a day leaving 700 net. That is very very low! At a minimum you should be at 1200 calories net and depending on your lean body mass possibly much more.

Kimmy0905

Hi Vino. I agree with shirlsatrying, maybe a medical/blood test would be a good idea just to check everything is okay. Are you doing strength-training as well? On MFP and everywhere around me I'm hearing that strength-training is extremely important. Maybe enlist the help of a PT for a session a week and see if that helps?

Good luck with everything! You're here and you want to change it so with those positive thoughts, the body will follow :-)

CheapFungus

It's also possible that your gain is because of your muscles, not of fat. Just go for the measuring tape and see if there's any change

rayleansout

Sometimes wea re tested as to our resolve, dont let this beat you, just tweak some things like eating a little bit more, get rid of as much sodium in your diet as possible, maybe you want to track that, eat plenty of protein and fresh or frozen veggies, get rid of all processed foods, - and never never give up!!

IrateBeth

If this is how it has "always been", there could be something beyond simple dieting and exercise. Have your Dr check your Thyroid. You may have an under-active condition (hyopthyroid). It never hurts to check anyway, and can be part of your routine check up/annual exam.

Also, ditch the diets!
All those programs (WW, JennyC, Atkins) are all fad-diets. And you can do them on your own. NBEric said right, these fail for many people. You need to focus on just the healthy foods.
Using the diary here, you should already know what you should and should not eat. So, ditch the fads.

Keep fighting the fight.

RAFValentina

Burn more calories! You're probably thinking your logging accurately and so basing what you expect to see on the inaccurate figures.

I burn 1500kCal a DAY though. so you may want to consider upping your exercise and making sure that the burn number you are getting is as accurate as possible. Suggest advanced HRM like Polar RS300X.

Also look at NSVs are you getting fitter? Have your measurements not changed or gotten smaller in terms of size? Has your cholesterol of BP gone down or your RHR?

Agree with Pirate. People managed o lose weight before these diets came into place through exercise and eating less, so you don;t need the fad diet to lose weight.

Fit_Canuck

Burn more calories! You're probably thinking your logging accurately and so basing what you expect to see on the inaccurate figures.

I burn 1500kCal a DAY though. so you may want to consider upping your exercise and making sure that the burn number you are getting is as accurate as possible. Suggest advanced HRM like Polar RS300X.

Also look at NSVs are you getting fitter? Have your measurements not changed or gotten smaller in terms of size? Has your cholesterol of BP gone down or your RHR?

Agree with Pirate. People managed o lose weight before these diets came into place through exercise and eating less, so you don;t need the fad diet to lose weight.

Burn more calories???? Are you for real? She's eating 1200 calories a day, she can't afford to burn any more calories.

kimsciolino

Hello! I understand what you are going through. Do you take your measurements? When i first started trying to lose weight I did not lose much but I did lose a lot of inches. You need to try different things nobody is the same, maybe you need to eat ALL of your calories back that you burn??? or maybe there is something in your diet that you should stay away from. And what type of exercise are you doing? maybe you need to change up your routine. You must not get discouraged. Remember that even though you are not losing weight on the scale right now you have made some healthy lifestyle changes so you are doing your body GOOD. Just think Positive tell youself everyday that you will reach your goal and that you are BEAUTIFUL and you will get there before you know it... Good Luck and keep up your hard work..
Take Care,
Kim

Lozze

*edited because I was an idiot

OP if you continue doing what you're doing the weight will start coming off soon. It will be because you are starving yourself. You'll also probably lose hair, teeth and so on.

What the OP has posted (if it's all accurate) is not starvation mode, it's flat out starvation. The body initially holds on to what it can but it will start working soon. It won't be healthy but the weight will be gone.

Fit_Canuck

^^ What he said!


NBEric you've misread what the OP posted. She states she is eating 1200 calories and burning 2500. So by those accounts she is at -1300 NET calories.

OP if you continue doing what you're doing the weight will start coming off soon. It will be because you are starving yourself. You'll also probably lose hair, teeth and so on.

What the OP has posted (if it's all accurate) is not starvation mode, it's flat out starvation. The body initially holds on to what it can but it will start working soon. It won't be healthy but the weight will be gone.

The problem is that she's not going to lose fat weight, she's going to lose muscle mass. Just because weight is going down doesn't mean it's healthy whatsoever.

medic9111

Measurments are more important than the numbers on the scale. I know it can get very frustrating I hear you. But look at the whole picture, how does you clothes fit? Is there more room in them? if you see what a pound of muscle looks like you would be surprised at how small it is. If you see a pound of fat it is 3 times the size of the muscle. It is unbelievable. so measurements mean more if you are working out than the scale.

1200 cal is only to keep your body going, such as making your organs work. But depending on the weight you are at now and the exercises you do you probably are not getting enough calories. You need to replace what you used up, to replace the tear down during exercise so that can't come from your 1200 or your body goes into starvation mode and you will not loose. I am guessing you are not getting enough calories. Here's an example.


An average 25 year old woman, on the other hand, is defined here as standing 5' 5" and weighing 130 lbs. Such a woman would burn 1766 calories each day while sedentary, 2282 with moderate activity, and 2797 with extreme levels of activity. In order to maintain their current weight, the individuals would need to eat as many calories each day as they burned.

So unless you are 130lbs and doing nothing you should only have 1766 cals. this site is a guidline to help you see where you are lacking it is not set in stone for everyone. I love i because I can see where I need less and need more. Wish you luck hang in there.

susanloveszumba

NBEric you've misread what the OP posted. She states she is eating 1200 calories and burning 2500. So by those accounts she is at -1300 NET calories.

she said 2500 calories a week

Lozze

she said 2500 calories a week

Doh! I swear every time I 'correct' someone I do it wrong. So stupid

ALW65

Burn more calories! You're probably thinking your logging accurately and so basing what you expect to see on the inaccurate figures.

I burn 1500kCal a DAY though. so you may want to consider upping your exercise and making sure that the burn number you are getting is as accurate as possible. Suggest advanced HRM like Polar RS300X.

Also look at NSVs are you getting fitter? Have your measurements not changed or gotten smaller in terms of size? Has your cholesterol of BP gone down or your RHR?

Agree with Pirate. People managed o lose weight before these diets came into place through exercise and eating less, so you don;t need the fad diet to lose weight.

Burn more calories???? Are you for real? She's eating 1200 calories a day, she can't afford to burn any more calories.

I agree with NBEric - even if your calorie loss estimates for your workout are twice as high as they should be you're not taking in too many calories. I do think the tape measure and the wieghts vs. all aerobic exercise (not sure what you're doing now) would be helpful for you.

If you try the healthy things people have mentioned and don't lose in the next week or two then a medical check would definitely be in order. It's not possible to do 'all the right things' and not lose weight for that long of a stretch of time.

I'm curious about how you mentioned you've been dieting for a long time and that you attack things by the book. Are you able to stick with it for just shorter periods of time because you're too restrictive? I only ask because I'm one of those people who has a pretty good knowledge base as to how to lose weight and stay healthy, but I try to be 'by the book' and tow the line perfectly - inevitably I can't keep that up realistically and then my weight looks very similar to a roller coaster track.

In any event, I wish you the best of luck. If you keep doing what you've described to us with a little higher intake, regardless of the type of exercise you will eventually see weight loss unless a medical issue gets in the way. I applaud you for working so hard at things and reaching out for help. Give yourself a lot of credit as you're doing more than 99% of the population who are on the couch with Doritos! :flowerforyou:

anberlingasm

NBEric you've misread what the OP posted. She states she is eating 1200 calories and burning 2500. So by those accounts she is at -1300 NET calories.

I think you misread, too; she said she's burning 2,500 in the gym 'each week' - not each day! That really would be a massive net calorie deficit!

I agree with the 'check your measurements' thing. The scale might not say you're changing but you could be building muscle and shedding fat, which will lose you inches and not pounds. You might also want to look at how much water you're drinking, and whether you're actually eating enough to sustain you. To burn fat, you need to feed your muscles. Eating less isn't necessarily best.