In Tears And Beyond Frustrated

carrieanthony

I'm so lost. At this point I just don't know what to do. I've done the HCG diet and it worked but I gained it all back once I went off of it so, in essence, it DIDN'T work. Weight watchers never worked. I went to a diet doctor who gave me shots and Phentermine but I can't afford that. However, the premises that I learned is what I apply to my diet now and this DID work for me in the past but I'm getting nowhere now.

Protein 120g or more a day
Carbs under 30g a day
Water 150+ oz a day
Calories 1200 or less a day
Cardio 5+ hours a week
Circuit weight training 3-4x a week.

Nothing.
Nada.
Lost ZERO in the past three weeks. I am BEYOND irritated and I was actually kind of excited to get on the scale this morning because I had done REALLY well this week .... gym two hours every night, upped my water intake, etc. I got on the scale.
Not a damn thing.

So I spent my morning in tears and frustration and I just don't know what to do anymore. I've come to the conclusion that I'm totally hopeless.

Help.

dad106

First of HCG is a scam.. Your not losing weights because of the drops or anything.. It's because you are restricting to 500 calories a day. When you go off, you gain it back.

Personally, what you are doing is a bit much.. and you are not eating enough to support what you are doing. 5+ hours of cardio and weight training 3-4X a week with only 1200 calories or less? That is def. not enough food.. I'd say instead of trying to lose 2 pounds a week, only try to lose 1 pound a week. Eat all calories plus exercise calories. Drop that 2 hrs a a night at the gym to one hour or less and most importantly don't stress.. Stress only makes weight loss 10X harder.

JenAiMarres

Seems to me with all your gym time you should probably be eating more than 1200 cals.... Start slowly increasing your cals and don't let your net cals consumed drop below 1200..((((hugs)))) don't be upset!!

Also its possible u are gaining muscle and staying the same weight...if u felt good enough to get on the scale it probably means you felt "thin". Maybe u should gauge your successes based on measurements, or body fat percentage...or just by how u feel in your clothes....

neverstray

What does MFP say your calorie level should be?

Are you eating back your exercise calories? It does make a difference.

Natty0506

You're not eating enough and you're working out too hard and too much. Losing weight the right way isn't a race. It's a marathon. You have to take your time and make the right choices. Start with a small goal of losing 1 lb a week. Make healthy food choices, and make sure to eat above 1200 calories (between 1500 and 1700 with how much you're working out, at the very least). You have to fuel your body in order for your body to keep up with the weight loss.

PayneAS

It's possible that you are gaining muscle and losing fat (and muscle weighs more than fat) with the circuit weight training. Do your clothes fit better or even feel loose? Maybe ask a friend who hasn't seen you in a week if you look like you've lost weight? Personally I've lost 10 fat lbs but gained 5 muscle lbs so the scale only shows that I've lost 5 lbs. However my clothes are fitting much looser than before and I even bought a pair of pants today that were a size 12 (a snug fit but I did it!) instead of 14 or 16.

tbetts23

Don't be so hard on yourself! Restricting yourself so much calorie wise is going to be hard on your body! Muscle weighs more than fat! How are your clothes fitting? The weight didn't come on overnight, it's going to take time to lose it too!

rides4sanity

As you found before, if it isn't a lifestyle you can maintain long term, it will not work long term. Slow it down a bit, if you are happy with 2 hours a night at the gym great, keep it, but eat back at least a portion of those exercise calories so you don't feel like crap the next day. If you are making yourself miserable then this isn't working. Reevaluate your food and exercise program and find a balance that works and nets you enough calories to be slightly above your calcualted BMR (MFP can do this for you) and use this as a guideline. Most of all be proud of the fact that you are taking steps to a healthier you. I obviously don't have all the answers, but I'm trying to find balance and contintment with myself and my weight, feel free to add me if you'd like a little support and the occassional kick in the tush. Good luck and hugs, we know its hard but you CAN do it.

par57

Sounds like you are sabotaging your metabolic rate. I did the same thing for months and it was so frustrating. Eat your nutritious 1200 calories, and then eat at least some of your exercise calories. The other change I made was to really focus on avoiding processed foods and cutting back as much as possible on sodium. Also, avoid looking at your scale so much; weigh yourself weekly at most. Try to focus on how you feel, your measurements, how your clothes fit rather than your weight. From your profile pic you look pretty darn good already! No need to starve yourself; slow and steady wins this marathon.

ironanimal

Sounds like you are sabotaging your metabolic rate. I did the same thing for months and it was so frustrating. Eat your nutritious 1200 calories, and then eat at least some of your exercise calories. The other change I made was to really focus on avoiding processed foods and cutting back as much as possible on sodium. Also, avoid looking at your scale so much; weigh yourself weekly at most. Try to focus on how you feel, your measurements, how your clothes fit rather than your weight. From your profile pic you look pretty darn good already! No need to starve yourself; slow and steady wins this marathon.

^ Read this.

Remember, your body needs enough fuel to burn fat as it's easier to burn muscle for energy. Eating so little and working out so much, you're leaving nothing for your body to process the fat with. Calculate your BMR and TDEE, and cut 15% from your TDEE to get a better idea of what you should be eating.

themedalist

You're not eating enough and you're working out too hard and too much. Losing weight the right way isn't a race. It's a marathon. You have to take your time and make the right choices. Start with a small goal of losing 1 lb a week. Make healthy food choices, and make sure to eat above 1200 calories (between 1500 and 1700 with how much you're working out, at the very least). You have to fuel your body in order for your body to keep up with the weight loss.

THIS!

RoughDiamondUK

If you've upped your water intake this past week that could be affecting things, because if you were previously dehydrated and now you're not, you've probably added water weight which is hiding the fat loss -- if you keep to exactly what you've been doing this past week for another couple of weeks I'm sure you'll see some weight loss on the scale!

jfcameron23

I was in the same boat as you sticking to 1200 calories and not seeing the scale move. I did my bmr and it said I should eat 1447. I changed it and the scale started moving. Also take your measurements. With all that cardio and strength training the scale may not move but the inches could be disappearing.

kissesfromkrista

Everytime I lose weight, it always starts off VERY slow for me. VERY VERY slow. (As far as seeing the weight come off.) In fact, most of the time, the scale shows that I've GAINED weight in the beginning days of my weight loss regime!

And then! After a few frustrating weeks, it seems like the pounds just keep falling off like crazy! And it's nice to finally see your efforts show results.

But as we all know, DON'T TRUST THE SCALE! Trust the measurements of your body. Trust how you feel! Trust how your clothes fit!

Don't lose hope!

kdiamond

Any severe or restricted diet will not work long term...period.

There is no quick fix...you need to get that through your mind. Until you do, you will not be successful. I don't want to be harsh, but I can tell by your past behaviors that you think there should be a quick fix, then once you get to the weight you want, you'll start healthy habits to maintain your weight. I could bet you $100 IF you got to your goal weight quickly, you'll gain it all back.

Never mind trying the stupid weight loss drugs, if you are that restrictive and keep overexercising, you will never lose the weight. You need to reevaluate your goals, and do this the healthy way...at least 1200-1500 calories plus your exercise calories, and exercise 30-45 minutes a day tops.

Tourney3p0

It's possible that you are gaining muscle and losing fat (and muscle weighs more than fat) with the circuit weight training.

This is possible, but she would still show a weight change if she is consuming fewer calories than she is burning.

Well, other than potential water retention. But in that case, it would be just as correct to say "It's possible you're retaining water".

chicpeach

Sorry if this seems brutal, just trying to be honest.

It seems like you're looking for a quick, easy fix. Permanent weight loss is neither. Permanent weight loss, that which you can maintain is going to take healthy eating and healthy exercise. You're going to have to eat more calories - good, nutritious calories - no fast food junk, not diet crap - real food. It has to be a lifestyle, routines that you can live with for the rest of your life.

Don't give that multi-billion dollar diet industry another dime. They do not want you to lose weight and keep it off. If you do, that's one less person they can scam into coughing up hard earned money to line their own greedy pockets. Live for yourself, think yourself!

kyt1206

Protein 120g or more a day
Carbs under 30g a day
Water 150+ oz a day
Calories 1200 or less a day
Cardio 5+ hours a week
Circuit weight training 3-4x a week.

From the scientist point of view (I'm a biomed scientist):

1) The recommended normal protein for an adult female is ~46g, the recommended dosage for pregnant women is ~71g, you're taking almost twice that. Physiologically, the excess protein is processed by the liver into urea to be excreted by the kidneys. The excess kidney utilization can only be balanced by increased water intake in order to dilute the urea appropriately. Failure to do this could cause kidney damage. Also, since you are female, I'd like to point out that increased protein intake would cause calcium loss even though medical science has not pinpointed exactly at which point the calcium comes from, but at your age and gender, you really should prevent calcium loss as much as you can. This effect can be counteracted by adding calcium in your diet. Also, the type of protein you consume matters. If you are taking in vegetable protein, then you overall get a better per gram nutritional content out of it than say beef protein. However, the beef contains more calcium. So it's a balance to your individual need.

2) The recommended normal carb intake for an adult is ~130g, you are ~100g under the recommended dosage. I hate the low carb diets because most people don't understand what they are referring to when they say "carb". They understand that it refers to types of "sugar" but don't understand it on a molecular level. A carbohydrate is just a bunch of Carbon atoms with some Water (H2O) molecules attached to it in various combinations. And there's a lot of combinations. So for example, fructose is just 6 carbons attached to 6 water molecules so your body doesn't have a hard time taking it and breaking it down for energy. On the other end of the scale you have dietary fibers that can't be broken down in the body such as cellulose, the basic building block of cellulose has 6 carbons and 5 water molecules, so you'd think, oh well, that's even smaller than fructose but nope! Cellulose comes in chain links of a few hundred to tens of thousands (just think of sausage links in the same way). However, your body cannot cut these links efficiently in order for you to absorb all that "sugar" or "carbs" so it's actually *not* pulling the energy from those molecules. In other words, your belly is full but you're not laying on the sugar high or the fat. That's why a lot of nutritionists recommend vegetables with high fiber. You're getting the nutrient without the excess calories, thus a better "Nutrient/calorie" ratio.

3) I've run several urine labs for patients, done over 500+ hours of first aid response at sports events where I learn to spot dehydration, proper hydration, etc, so my recommendation is this: If your urine is clear to light yellow in color and clear (not opaque), your body is hydrated. If you feel thirst, drink, if you don't want to, don't force it down, it can cause other problems down the metabolic line.

4) I hope you are referring to net intake of calories (which btw, is the minimum intake you should have). By net I mean (Total calories consumed) - (Exercise calories) = Net Calories If you're just taking in 1200 per day and you've maintained this for over weeks, your body has gone into starvation mode. Watch out for symptoms of fatty liver where your liver starts to store fat just to make sure you don't die from what it thinks is a starvation environment. Otherwise, you should be okay.

5) There's no problem with doing cardio as long as you are comfortable, make sure you hit your target heart range and stay there, sometimes I find that people don't get up as high as they need to or too high and they risk not providing enough oxygen/energy to their heart muscle and they're overdoing it.

6) Keep up the strength training, it will help build your endurance and burn more calories while you're at rest.

I hope that helps. Again, I give you the scientist point of view so you would want to 1) do your own research to verify if this applies to you, 2) if necessary, consult a nutritionist or doctor. Good luck!

delilah47

Be sure to log 100% of everything you eat.
Sometimes if a person tries to estimate their food intake, it can be so far off they could actually gain weight.

Another trap I fell into quite a few years ago. If you are eating a sugar free candy which is sweetened with sorbitol, manitol, or any of the "tol" sweeteners, they are safe for diabetics, but are metabolized the same as sugar as far as calories/carbs go. I used to eat sugar free lifesavers and couldn't lose a pound until my doctor explained it to me.

madamepsychosis

It's possible that you are gaining muscle and losing fat (and muscle weighs more than fat) with the circuit weight training. Do your clothes fit better or even feel loose? Maybe ask a friend who hasn't seen you in a week if you look like you've lost weight? Personally I've lost 10 fat lbs but gained 5 muscle lbs so the scale only shows that I've lost 5 lbs. However my clothes are fitting much looser than before and I even bought a pair of pants today that were a size 12 (a snug fit but I did it!) instead of 14 or 16.

A pound of muscle weighs exactly the same as a pound of fat. Muscle is denser than fat, so it takes up less space and is less compact than fat, but it does not 'weigh more' than fat.

ElementalEscapee

Eat more.

wwollenb

It seems the more exercise I do the less I lose. Everyone tells me its because I am gaining muscle. Keep trying! I was told to eat 5 small meals a day with some kind of protein in each. Hope this helps. Dont give up on yourself!!!!

ladyraven68

It's possible that you are gaining muscle and losing fat (and muscle weighs more than fat) with the circuit weight training. Do your clothes fit better or even feel loose? Maybe ask a friend who hasn't seen you in a week if you look like you've lost weight? Personally I've lost 10 fat lbs but gained 5 muscle lbs so the scale only shows that I've lost 5 lbs. However my clothes are fitting much looser than before and I even bought a pair of pants today that were a size 12 (a snug fit but I did it!) instead of 14 or 16.

A pound of muscle weighs exactly the same as a pound of fat. Muscle is denser than fat, so it takes up less space and is less compact than fat, but it does not 'weigh more' than fat.

She never mentioned a lb of anything - she meant by volume. A few cubic inches of muscle do actually weigh more than a few cubic inches of fat.

The semantics are irrelevant anyway, nobody is going to be gaining muscles on 1200 calories and doing so much cardio.

delilah47

It's possible that you are gaining muscle and losing fat (and muscle weighs more than fat) with the circuit weight training. Do your clothes fit better or even feel loose? Maybe ask a friend who hasn't seen you in a week if you look like you've lost weight? Personally I've lost 10 fat lbs but gained 5 muscle lbs so the scale only shows that I've lost 5 lbs. However my clothes are fitting much looser than before and I even bought a pair of pants today that were a size 12 (a snug fit but I did it!) instead of 14 or 16.

A pound of muscle weighs exactly the same as a pound of fat. Muscle is denser than fat, so it takes up less space and is less compact than fat, but it does not 'weigh more' than fat.

It takes a long time to replace the fat one loses with muscle. A few weeks? No.

Lozze

AS others have said you're not eating enough. Are you eating your exercise calories back?

If you've been a Very Low Calorie Diet for years you could have potentially damaged your metabolism. It's fixable but you NEED to eat more.

Is there any reason to be at the gym for two hours? (doing I'm assuming cardio)

To be brutally honest if you're doing the same thing you've done previously why do you think it will work this time? You've clearly got the willpower to do it, but like every other person who tries this weight loss method (low calories, lots of cardio) it doesn't work.

If you open your diary people will be able to give better advice too.

My main bit of advice is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie. Certain calories might make you feel better than others, but there is no perfect combination of calories. As long as you are eating the correct amount of calories for your body you will lose weight. I keep seeing people on here state over and over again that if you eat processed food you won't lose weight. I'm living proof that's not true. I've lost significant weight eating Jenny Craig foods (which are full of sodium. I drink more water to counteract that) Having rules like the ones you're stating aren't going to guarantee weight loss.

castlerobber

No, you aren't hopeless, just not eating enough. 1200 calories is way low with that kind of workout schedule.

The carbs are good, though you might want to add a small carb+protein snack right before a workout. The protein may be a bit high. Add a little fat--olive oil on salads and veggies, for instance, and allow more fat on your meat/fish/poultry.

Try cutting back on the cardio. Change it up by switching a couple of those long,steady sessions to 20- or 30-minute interval training sessions. Take at least one rest day a week if you aren't doing that already.

Remember, the body changes over time, so what worked when we were younger might not work now. Just keep after it.

p0pr0cksnc0ke

Measure. Measure. MEASURE.
Ditch the scale and go by measurements.. go by how your clothes feel, how your body feels.


Oh, and did I say measure? DO IT.

chrishgt4

No extra input really other than to concur that from the look of it you are definitely not eating enough.

All that exercise, you should definitely be on more than 1200.

Don't let your brain trick you into eating less because you aren't losing weight.

Here is a great post to have a look at. It is about plateaus in actuality, but there is some interesting stuff in there I think.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/501511-great-read-on-plateau-ing

Rdahl2

Sorry if this seems brutal, just trying to be honest.

It seems like you're looking for a quick, easy fix. Permanent weight loss is neither. Permanent weight loss, that which you can maintain is going to take healthy eating and healthy exercise. You're going to have to eat more calories - good, nutritious calories - no fast food junk, not diet crap - real food. It has to be a lifestyle, routines that you can live with for the rest of your life.

Don't give that multi-billion dollar diet industry another dime. They do not want you to lose weight and keep it off. If you do, that's one less person they can scam into coughing up hard earned money to line their own greedy pockets. Live for yourself, think yourself!

I so agree! It does seem like your looking for a quick way to loose. Its all about eating clean and eating enough cals. 80% of your weigh loss has to do with the way you eat, then comes the exercise. Dont give up and beat yourself up, it has only been 3 weeks. Like others suggested, it doesnt sound like your eating the right amount of cals.

aliciapenny

plain and simple....eat more. I eat 2000 calories a day

Lane1012

I know others have said it but with the amount of exercise you are doing you are basically starving your body so it is saving up all the nutrients it can. You should have AT LEAST a NET of 1200 calories a day. Meaning if you burn say 500 calories exercising you should be eating at least 1700 calories that day. It's as simple as that. Don't starve your body, it needs the fuel, and you'll start seeing the sustained results you are looking for.