Frustrated and Fuming: Help needed, please!

beachbebe

I, too, gain weight when starting a diet/exercise plan as my body will build muscle before shedding fat and I have strong starvation-survival genetics.

You've got great advice here to drink more water, less sodium, check thyroid, healthy guidelines, balance, etc., however, if you are like me, you may just have to do the time.

I joined a weight loss challenge group and registered for a race to keep committed as setting multiple goals helps me. My biggest motivation is MFP community support and motivational slogans.

Perhaps keeping a journal of motivational slogans will help you? Good Luck!

Reptileszz

Hi, if my calculations are correct you are burning about 350 calories per day. I would eat at least 250 of them back in the form of protein like grilled chicken if you can. Some people eat back their "bonus calories" with the wrong things like a starbucks or other sugary/carb stuff.

Good luck

Vino81

Well, yes - clothes are sitting better (a bit more airy around the waist and thighs) but still the scale should eventually reflect this, but it is not happening! Instead I am 8 lbs heavier now.

I do 60 minutes (sometimes up to 80 minutes) on the treadmill, but not running (more like light jogging) and then do a bit of strength (I increase the last one as I progress and my stamina is getting better)

Maybe it is the carbs that ruining things for me, my problem is that I carve carbs a lot and about 45-50% of my calories come from carbs...

Lozze

My intake of carbs is about the same as yours. I also have PCOS which means I'm not meant to eat that much. It hasn't hindered my weight loss in any way, shape or form.

Cardio, as a tool for weight loss is ineffective. You have to work longer and harder to get the same results. With cardio you eventually get to a point where you can't do that anymore. Cardio also stops it's weight loss benefits about an hour or two after you stop exercising. Cardio is GREAT for health, but as a weight loss tool is not the best use of your time.

Lifting heavy weights will help you with the results you want. Not only is it easier to improve on your performance but it's benefits for weight loss continue for almost a full day after you finish weight lifting.

ingfit

Hi there, this might help. Copied from Psulemon's advice and this guy knows his stuff:

Total Daily Energy Expended (TDEE). Your weight loss is actually based on the amount of energy you expend throughout the entire day (TDEE) since you burn calories above and beyond your BMR. BMR is the amount of calories you burn in a coma; your bodies' functioning calories essentially. Even if you work behind a desk, you still burn calories (walking to your desk, bathroom, going to lunch, etc.. ) that would multiply on top of your BMR (see below for criteria).

* Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
* Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
* Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
* Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
* Extr. active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)



With this in mind, you need to take your BMR, add in your TDEE factor and then create a deficit.


TDEE = 1450 * 1.2 = 1740 (this is just and example - use your own BMR to calculate)

In this case, if you work out and burn 500 calories on average it would be

= 1750+500 = 2250


From this number, you create a deficit. The more weight you have to lose, the higher the deficit (see below).


If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.


The reason you need a smaller deficit, is you body fights to preserve fat when it see it depleting as it's the first place for energy. And when you eliminate the energy, your body does whatever it can to hold on to this energy source. So what do you do? You feed your body enough that it doesn't feel like it needs to store. This is also why it's important to eat back exercise calories if you follow MFP's suggestion and dont include it in your TDEE.


Now, when it comes to your BMR, it is really not recommended to eat below it and instead exercise more so you can eat more. Since the metabolism is a intelligent tool, it can and will adapt based on food intake. If you eat below your BMR, it will slow down to work more efficiently. This is also why its important to do weight lifting and eat enough protein; this will allow you to sustain lean muscle mass which is the biggest driver for your metabolism. This is also a reason to aim for a slower lost to prevent the metabolism from slowing and increasing long term success.


So there are many factors involved in fine-tuning what works for you. My TDEE is 2347 so I subtracted 500 from that (a little over 20%) to eat 1800 cals per day, and DO NOT eat exercise cals back as they are already factored in. I workout at high intensity 4 times a week for upto an hour per workout. I include weight training and cardio. My macros are Carbs 40%, Protein 30%, Fat 30%. I lose about 1 lb a week consistantly.

Now when I was only consuming 1300-1500 cals per day my weight stalled or even went up. I was also working out 6 times a week and found this to be too much for me personally. Since upping my cals and working out less, my weight has started going down again. So you need to figure out what works for you and when you try something like upping cals or different workouts, only do one thing at a time for at least 2-4 weeks before tweeking again. Hope this helps.

Fit_Canuck

Hi there, this might help. Copied from Psulemon's advice and this guy knows his stuff:

Total Daily Energy Expended (TDEE). Your weight loss is actually based on the amount of energy you expend throughout the entire day (TDEE) since you burn calories above and beyond your BMR. BMR is the amount of calories you burn in a coma; your bodies' functioning calories essentially. Even if you work behind a desk, you still burn calories (walking to your desk, bathroom, going to lunch, etc.. ) that would multiply on top of your BMR (see below for criteria).

* Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
* Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
* Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
* Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
* Extr. active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)



With this in mind, you need to take your BMR, add in your TDEE factor and then create a deficit.


TDEE = 1450 * 1.2 = 1740 (this is just and example - use your own BMR to calculate)

In this case, if you work out and burn 500 calories on average it would be

= 1750+500 = 2250


From this number, you create a deficit. The more weight you have to lose, the higher the deficit (see below).


If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.


The reason you need a smaller deficit, is you body fights to preserve fat when it see it depleting as it's the first place for energy. And when you eliminate the energy, your body does whatever it can to hold on to this energy source. So what do you do? You feed your body enough that it doesn't feel like it needs to store. This is also why it's important to eat back exercise calories if you follow MFP's suggestion and dont include it in your TDEE.


Now, when it comes to your BMR, it is really not recommended to eat below it and instead exercise more so you can eat more. Since the metabolism is a intelligent tool, it can and will adapt based on food intake. If you eat below your BMR, it will slow down to work more efficiently. This is also why its important to do weight lifting and eat enough protein; this will allow you to sustain lean muscle mass which is the biggest driver for your metabolism. This is also a reason to aim for a slower lost to prevent the metabolism from slowing and increasing long term success.


So there are many factors involved in fine-tuning what works for you. My TDEE is 2347 so I subtracted 500 from that (a little over 20%) to eat 1800 cals per day, and DO NOT eat exercise cals back as they are already factored in. I workout at high intensity 4 times a week for upto an hour per workout. I include weight training and cardio. My macros are Carbs 40%, Protein 30%, Fat 30%. I lose about 1 lb a week consistantly.

Now when I was only consuming 1300-1500 cals per day my weight stalled or even went up. I was also working out 6 times a week and found this to be too much for me personally. Since upping my cals and working out less, my weight has started going down again. So you need to figure out what works for you and when you try something like upping cals or different workouts, only do one thing at a time for at least 2-4 weeks before tweeking again. Hope this helps.

Very true, the only thing I would add is to get your BMR tested professionally. The calculators online can be off by a substantial amount rending the entire calculation off by many calories.

unsuspectingfish

I'm definitely in the "eat more" camp, here, especially if you BMR is 1700. I net about 1900 every day, and I'm still losing about a pound a week.