AAAHHHH! Sooooo frustrated... and sad... help... :(

acrego

I haven't seen what other people have been saying, but here's my advice:

Your body seems to have adjusted to the 1200 calories you've been giving it a day. When dieting, your metabolism usually slows down to accommodate for the decreased intake of calories. A nice big meal will help to counter this. I read an excerpt from a book the other day that talked about this. It recommended taking a break from dieting every 4 to 5 weeks to keep your metabolism from adjusting to your decreased calorie intake.

Another thing I recommend is to add muscle building to your workout.
1. Weight loss doesn't mean anything if you aren't also healthy. If all you're doing is cardio, you are only addressing your heart and lungs, you should also be addressing your strength and flexibility, which is key in preventing injury in the real world. Weight lifting along with yoga or pilates will help you accomplish this.
2. The more muscle mass on your body, the more efficiently you will burn fat. Your cardio exercises will be more effective if you are also doing weigh training.

Last but most importantly: DO. NOT. GIVE. UP. As long as you are willing to try again the next day, you have already succeeded. As soon as you decide not to try again the next day, THAT is when you have truly failed: WEIGHT DOES NOT DEFINE SUCCESS OR FAILURE - YOUR ATTITUDE DOES.

I hear you loud and clear about weight training! I intend to add it to my cardio as soon as I am mobile again (meaning auto problems right now). Can't get to the gym & all I have here is two each 3 lb and 10 lb weights... probably could use those, but I'm more comfortable with weight machines at the gym.
And with so many people telling me to eat more, I have gone & done some calculations and I agree. I will be, I am already starting, although it may be too late for today. I ate as much as I could the 2nd half of the day today! :sick:
And I hear you too about not giving up! That is not an option!!!
Thanks for the encouraging words! :flowerforyou:

acrego

according to your ticker you only have 10 pounds to lose...with that goal you should be aiming for 1/2 pound a week. You are severely undereating and being unnecessarily strict.

you do not have to give up every single food that you love in order to reach your goals.

What is your current heigh/weight. You surely need to be eating at least 1500 calories considering your activity level and possible more. I know it's discouraging and scary to up your calories but it's absolutely necessary for your long term success.

OK, first of all, I guess I need to change my ticker, because after last week plus this week, I now have 15 pounds to lose, not 10! Or maybe I should just put my goal weight?

Plus, I appreciate the advice, and you may be right, but I just don't see how it's possible I am not eating enough. I eat healthy food, I do enjoy the food I eat, and I am NOT suffering from feeling hungry! I spread my food over the day and I actually feel weird eating the whole 1200. It doesn't feel right, and now I'm seeing weight gain.

But, if I were to eat more, what should I increase? Protein? Does it matter? Should I eat even more for breakfast?

Low calorie food is not the same thing as healthy food. Also, the quality of food is irrelevant when it comes to energy needs. 1000 calories of vegetables is the same as 1000 calories of bread as far as your body's energy needs are concerned. Also, hunger is a very poor indicator of whether you are getting enough nutrition or not. Your hunger is controlled by hormones, and chronic under eating reduces the hormones that signal hunger. In other words, the less you eat, the less you feel hungry. Basically, hunger pangs are distracting, and if you're distracted, you might walk by food without seeing it, so your body shuts down the hunger pangs so you don't miss it. It doesn't understand the difference between wanting to lose weight, and starving due to famine conditions, it just knows it isn't getting enough food and adjusts your metabolism and hormonal output down as a survival mechanism to keep you alive as long as possible.

Without being able to see your diary, there is no possible way for anybody to suggest foods for you to eat, as I have no idea what your macros currently look like. However, based on your first post, it sounds like you are seriously under eating.

You can't see my diary? I thought I made it public. I'll check the settings.
I am (was) under eating, I know now after everyone here has jumped on me about it ! :blushing: I did my BMR, TDEE, and all those calculations... now I have a better idea how much to eat. But, I was not THAT far under, at 1200. Now I know my BMR is 1319, and when I initially entered my info into MFP, I put sedentary b/c I was up to that day. But starting that day, I started exercising, so I need to re-calculate my calories, and I just did not understand that until now.

Eats_With_A_Fist_Returns

Way to be willing to put in the time and effort to research for yourself and for being willing to recognize and take sound advice! Good luck on your journey!

firesoforion

Hmmm... something to consider. You bring up something I always wonder about, tho... if you "eat back" all the calories you exercise away, then what's the point? I read about, and hear from trainers, that you must maintain a deficit if you want to lose fat. Does the calculator take that into account?
I also recently started reading a trainer's blog about intermittent fasting. I forget his name, but I'd like to go back and read it again. Sounds like something I could try.
Thanks!

Yes, MFP has the need for a deficit taken into account! Sometimes too severe, as others have stated. Exercise will raise your metabolism, both directly and indirectly, so that's the point.

Robin_Bin

Have you seen...
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing
?

Becky_Boodle

Eat more veggies...
eat less of processed foods...
eat more whole foods...
do more exercise than "raking leaves"
and start lifting weights...

Carrie3B

Good luck--I feel for you and am going through something similar. My calories have always been set at 1200 and I have never had any problems losing--until NOW! The only thing I've changed is that I am going pretty intensely at the gym 6 times a week and oh yeah, I think my metabolism is slowing b/c I'm older (uggghh). With that being said, I am sick of the guesswork and am doing metabolic testing this week. It will tell me exactly how many calories I need to be getting, burning, etc... I have NO DOUBT that it will tell me to get significantly more calories. I also know that I will have a hard time mentally wrapping my head around that--but I promised to follow the "protocol" for 3 months. So we will see! Good luck--I know how frustrating it is to work so hard and not see results--especially when you are doing the same thing that you've always done in the past--when it worked!!

acrego

Good luck--I feel for you and am going through something similar. My calories have always been set at 1200 and I have never had any problems losing--until NOW! The only thing I've changed is that I am going pretty intensely at the gym 6 times a week and oh yeah, I think my metabolism is slowing b/c I'm older (uggghh). With that being said, I am sick of the guesswork and am doing metabolic testing this week. It will tell me exactly how many calories I need to be getting, burning, etc... I have NO DOUBT that it will tell me to get significantly more calories. I also know that I will have a hard time mentally wrapping my head around that--but I promised to follow the "protocol" for 3 months. So we will see! Good luck--I know how frustrating it is to work so hard and not see results--especially when you are doing the same thing that you've always done in the past--when it worked!!

Thanks girl! It sure is nice to know someone out there really understands!

Where do you go to get metabolic testing done? What is involved, and how is that different from calculating your own BMR, TDEE, etc. with the calculators that can be found online? I'm curious now!

My next step is to buy myself a heart rate monitor. I am not giving up either!