Not even 1 pound in 4 months!

LizKurz

I am a 31 year old woman. I gained a LOT of weight with my pregnancy two years ago. A lot. Over 80 pounds. I quickly lost about 50 of it soon after my daughter was born. But that stubborn remaining 30 will not come off.

I work out 4-5 days a week, sometimes more, NEVER less. I typically burn between 400-500 calories a session. I run (well, jog), do the stationary bike and the nautilus machine. I also have a pretty active daily life, chasing after a toddler and living in a city (lots of walking).

I have been doing this since January 2nd.

I just started on MFP two weeks age, but have kept a food diary since January and KNOW I was burning enough calories to be losing 1-1.5 lbs a week.

I am the EXACT same weight I was when I started! Not any fluctuation either way. I am the exact same weight I was when I dropped those 50 lbs after my daughter was born. Exactly 167 (I'm 5'6 and want to be 137, my pre-pregnancy weight). I actually bought a new scale bc I was convined it was malfunctioning.

I have been to the doctor and had my thyroid tested, and supposedly it is functioning perfectly. Other than that the doctor was no help and couldn't tell me why I wasn't losing weight. I requested a referral to an endocrinologist and she gave it to me, but the appointment is not for another three months.

I am so frustrated. I feel like I have been working so hard and have really made those life changes you are supposed to, and I have nothing to show for it. I am discouraged! Why am I doing this? For a year I didn't exercise or monitor my diet and I stayed 167. Now, I am busting my butt and am still 167. Why??

I know the whole muscle weighs more argument, but I find it very unlikely that I would lose the exact amount of fat that I gained in muscle...

Anyone else had this happen or heard of it happening to anyone? Thanks for listening to my vent!

So I know I'm late to the game, but I had to share this.

I'm in your boat exactly. Except I have a stubborn 45 lbs. I was 140ish before having my last kid 16 months ago. I lost 102 lbs 6 years ago, and have kept it off until now. After the baby, I did what I did with the others. I watched what I ate, (though I wasn't counting cals) and exercised as soon as I was cleared after surgery. I can run four miles again without stopping. I swim a mile three times a week. I train for races around town. Hwever, the weight simply won't budge. Since I've been keeping track on MFP for the last month, I have moved 1.4lbs. And it came off the first week, (betting water weight).

I had all the symptoms of thyroid issues. Cold sensitivities, dry itchy skin, exhaustion and fatigue, depression, anxiety, heavier menstrual bleeding and shorter cycles out of nowhere, thinning hair,....the list goes on. Last may, my TSH was .18. Effectively hyper on the thyroid levels. Four months later, I was at a 2.6 which is normal, but a shift like that isn't normal. And now, ive got one side enlarged, and the other side is enlarged with a lump on it. Took this long for it to show. 14 months is a long time to be at the weight loss game and not lose. But it took me being my own advocate and finding a new md to get to where I'm at. Also, have your md call the endo, you can get seen sooner if you do that usually.

LizKurz

I looked back at my diary for the last few days. You guys are right, bad stuff the last three days. I have been a bit discouraged since I got those thyroid test result back. Also, the weekends are tough bc my husband, who is scrawny no matter what he eats, is home. Excuses, excuses, I know. But, overall, if you check out the full two weeks of logging, I think I do okay with keeping it in check.

No, I am not currently taking any medications that would impact my weight.

The doctor did mention a depleted Vitimin D level.

Did your doctor tell you how to fix your vitamin d level? Mine was low too and I had to take 6,000 i us a day for three months then back it down to 2,000 ius a day for maintenance. Any brand will do, as long as its d3. Correcting that imbalance has really helped my moods and energy levels, helping me stay active and deal with stress and stick to my diet, etc...Along with vitamin b12 which I was also very low in.

I also was low in vitamin d, (levels were at 25) and the md gave me a script for 50,000 iu 1x a week for nine weeks. Now it's normal levels.

Mommyof3texans

1 - Get enough calories
2 - More protein (try for around 25-30% of your calories from protein) - fish, chicken, turkey, eggs, nuts
3 - Be sure you're getting enough fruits/veggies... they have much needed fiber and lots of other nutrients
4 - Don't forget the importance of getting enough sleep
5 - Really try to cut out or cut down on processed (aka high sodium) foods

Good luck! Feel free to peek at my diary, I have my macros set to 40/30/30 - 40% carbs

tlc12078

Ok, I pried into your diary also and yes cheese is more processed than anything. I switched to laughing cow. Your bread also. I know it takes 2 slices to make a sandwich, but can you find something with less cals, like weight watchers is 100 cals for 2 slices and hearth 100% lite whole wheat bread is only 70 cal. Eggbeaters is 1/4 cup which equals 1 egg, it is 30 cals, you can have a half a cup for almost the cals of one regular egg. I am just throwing you some ideas. I was having a hard time too, till I got smart about it, but be careful and watch your sodium intake also, than can cause you to stay at the weight you are cus your retaining water

DawnEH612

I have a few suggestions. Some will feel uncomfortable, mostly in your mind, but WILL work!

One, RELAX!!! It is ok and NORMAL for your body to plateau, loose, gain or do the "one step forward two steps back" routine... Learn how to be OK with our body's normal fluctuations and "adjustment" periods. My last 2 months have been the "one step forward, two steps back"... But I am not getting discouraged. I started my journey not even having a goal date in my head of when I want to loose weight, because it wasn't ultimately about the weight. It was about becoming mentally, emotionally and physically healthier... and that is a lifetime of work, meaning it will never end, goal weight reached, or not.

BEFORE changing ANYTHING, pick one thing, and one thing only to change and give it 4 weeks to see if it works. The thought to change things up before this time will surface if you don't see the results you hope to see, immediately, but hang in there. If after 4 weeks no changes, try something new. If you try too many things at once, you won't know what one thing or combination of things got you over your hurdle.

Two...try High intensity interval training (aka HIIT) with less time but more intensity you will be surprised at how it will get you over a hurdle. Too many people go into a comatose state while doing cardio. They stay at a steady state and the body just relaxes into that state. Look up interval training on the web, they are MANY variations of this and I would rotate a few different types of HIIT into your workout about once/week. The most basic is warming up 3-5 mins then do one minute of either speed (simply go as fast as you can) or resistance-go as hard as you can (hills, resistance on machines such as elliptical or treadmill) and one minute of recovery/easy pace. Try to work up to 30 minutes. If the one minute intensity part is too much, drop it to 20, 30, 45 seconds until you work up to sustaining a full minute of intensity(trust me, its harder than you think!).

Once you have incorporated HIIT, I would also decrease some of your cardio, maybe by as little as 30 minutes/week at first, and replace with lifting weights. Not, just, toning by using "girly" 5 pound weights, but trying to put muscle on. You will never look like Arnold, trust me. I lift HARD and don't even closely have that kind of muscle growth. Muscle increase BMR(resting metabolism) and while it does not burn as many calories, as cardio, while you are doing it, it burns more calories much longer than cardio does.... It is a mind shift that most people who are solely trying to get instant gratification of seeing "calories burned" have a hard time wrapping their brains around, so this IS a mental hurdle. muscle growth declines with age so we have to work hard to keep what we have and then add some! remember, muscle stays with us LONG after the cardio burn has gone.... Thus will continue to burn more calories in a 24 hour period than if you just did cardio. try it....

Three, I know people will say look at your diet, which from a health standpoint makes sense, but not for a simple weight loss equation to work. That equation is simply expend more calories than you ingest. if you are not already doing so, actually measure out your servings. I find that I typically over estimated how much of something I was eating and when I actually put it in a measuring cup i had allotted myself at least 1/4 cup more than I should have.... Those calories do add up especially with higher fat foods like cheese, peanut butter, meats, nuts etc. Keep in mind, 1 oz. of cheese has about 100 calories. One oz is pretty small. It's easy to underestimate how much of it you eat if you don't portion it out properly.

If you are a fan of watching numbers, you can add "strength training" under your cardio segment on MFP. it will give a rough estimate of how many calories you burned while lifting weights. I have been doing this and not logging my actual lifting routine, and I find that it is a pretty good estimator of what my calories should be for the day. With that in mind, if you are eating under a net calorie intake of 1200 calories it's too Low and you will not loose weight. Another mental hurdle, to INCREASE your calories... Play around with it. You will eventually get to know how it responds to certain foods.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

Coyla

To the OP, I don't think you're doing anything wrong. But the weight-training is probably what's making the scale stay the same. However, you're losing inches, I bet. And you're probably looking pretty foxy in the mirror, too.

Frankly, you have so little to lose, so you should be eating close to your maintenance calories. Reset your MFP goal to 0 lbs of weight loss per week, then slowly increase your calorie intake to meet that amount. (100-250 below it if you want.) Then keep focusing on weight-training and cardio. And eat back those exercise calories.

It'll be a slow process, but the results will be mainly in how you look, how your clothes fit, etc. It's not as exciting as a drop on the scale, but it's healthier and LOOKS better. Some of the hottest women on MFP are women who EAT and weight-train.

It's also never a bad idea to eat healthier foods, but you can lose weight even while indulging in the bad stuff. So take SMALL steps toward eating healthy, so you don't burn yourself out. Good luck!

DawnEH612

CARDIO! I was told not to worry about strength training. It's harder to lose fat when your gaining muscle.. much easier to drop the fat first by walking/running/elipticle. When the fat is gone, then focus on strength.

^^ wrong!!!

DawnEH612

CARDIO! I was told not to worry about strength training. It's harder to lose fat when your gaining muscle.. much easier to drop the fat first by walking/running/elipticle. When the fat is gone, then focus on strength.

^^ wrong!!!
the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn, therefore the more fat you lose. You will also lose inches as muscle is more dense than fat.
Doing cardio only will cause you to also lose muscle so you burn LESS fat, and you will end up thin but flabby, which is not the result you want!

Muscle muscle muscle.... Cardio is good, but it doesn't distinguish between fat and muscle, it burns what it needs to sustain energy... Must build muscle!

stephyy4632

up your calories some and protein amount
track your water intake to make sure your really getting enough
use weights strength training is great for women (you will not bulk up that is a total myth)

sounds like you already use a HRM but if you don`t I would get one to make sure your recording the correct cal burn
messure and weigh your food to be sure the amount your thinking that your eatting is really that amount

Chris_acc_can

EAT MORE. It sounds counter intuitive but you are sabotaging your diet. You are consuming 1500ish calories and for some reason you aren't eating back any of the calories burned working out.

There are tons of ppl on here who want to rush weight loss, so what they do is they consume the magic 1200 calories (to avoid "starvation mode"). This 1200 number is the calories your body needs to perform vital functions (calories required at rest). If you are working out, which you are, you will need to add your calories burned to the 1200 to find you minimum calories needed to avoid "starvation mode"

Right now your are only consuming 1500ish calories but burning off 500ish with workouts, meaning your body is only getting 1000 of the 1200 calories it needs to perform basic functions. It's not rocket science to notice that your body is being malnourished and as such has dropped it's BMR and is fighting to keep every ounce of weight on you (our bodies are designed to survive).

Eat back ALL your calories from the gym. Have a protein shake post workout with a granola bar and a bananna etc...

ONCE YOUR BODY REALIZES THAT YOU ARE PROVIDING ENOUGH NUTRITION TO SURVIVE IT WILL EXIT STARVATION MODE.

This sit isn't complicated. Set up your goals, ALWAYS enter your exercise, and eat the number of calories it tells you to (no more, no less).

ChasingSweatandTears

I also agree with getting a food scale! You would be shocked at what a "half cup" portion of ice cream looks like compared to 58g of ice cream :noway: . Bad example but these are the serving sizes listed on the package. I use to measure things using cups, now if its a calorie dense food I measure it using my scale. It makes a difference in accuracy.

CoderGal

One thing that was a red flag to me, is even though you've stayed at calories goal most days, you are over on fat A LOT. and going over on fat, is getting too much fat is getting too much fat. Get where I'm going?

NO, this is flat out wrong. Dietary fat does NOT turn into adipose (body fat)

THANK YOU!

As someone who's 5'7 and 120 pounds who is always over on fat, I'm going to have to agree with these guys.

Nursehendrick

I viewed part of your diary and I noticed that there is quite a bit of sugar and bread. I would cut out these products as much as possible and try to eat more clean. I did Jenny Craig for a while and lost a lot of weight. The one thing that it taught me is that you can eat anything is moderation. However, even they make sure that there is limited amount of sugar in the meals. I found that eating steamed vegetables before dinner and a salad at lunch made a big difference in the amount of calories that I ate. Good luck! You can do it just don't give up.

MoreBean13

I also agree with getting a food scale! You would be shocked at what a "half cup" portion of ice cream looks like compared to 58g of ice cream :noway: . Bad example but these are the serving sizes listed on the package. I use to measure things using cups, now if its a calorie dense food I measure it using my scale. It makes a difference in accuracy.

^^^I third the food scale. I looked at your diary and noticed a lot of volumetric portions- ex 1 cup. I personally think it is much harder to portion things with measuring cups or by eyeballing them than to just get a quick digital scale reading. It doesn't have to be an "investment", I got mine from amazon and it was inexpensive and it takes up about the same amount of space as a small cutting board. Now I weigh everything- even when it's unnecessary. I'm just in to the habit of it. Here's a link for one that's pretty similar to the one I use.

http://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Kitchen-Display-Batteries-Included/dp/B00482VU8M/ref=sr_1_30?ie=UTF8&qid=1335724978&sr=8-30

joyce1129

I took a quick look at your foor diary and as other have written you are eating too much processed food. I love cheese too, but it now a treat rather than a snack or part of my daiky diet.

My percentages are 40% cards, 35% protein and 25% fat. I also track sugar and fiber. You can change your settings by going to settings, goals and custom. Feed in your own percentages.

You mentioned that you aren't a big meat eater and that maybe having a protein shake would be a way to get more protein. I make one most mornings using a "good" protein powder, fresh strawberries or half a medium banana, 1/2 cup of Almond Milk Unsweetened, 1/2 C fat free plain Greek Yogurt and/or 1/4 c quick oats and a handful of ice cubes. Measure all in a blended and you'll have a very good breakfast for between 280 and 340 calories, depending on your fruit and if you add yogurt or not.

A really good breakfast sets the pace for the day.

I try to NOT eat my exercise calories, but if i do go over my allowed 1200 per day by a 100 or so I don't get upset. I had a total of 40 pounds I wanted to lose and I am nearly there.

You will do this!!!

honeysprinkles

I am a 31 year old woman. I gained a LOT of weight with my pregnancy two years ago. A lot. Over 80 pounds. I quickly lost about 50 of it soon after my daughter was born. But that stubborn remaining 30 will not come off.

I work out 4-5 days a week, sometimes more, NEVER less. I typically burn between 400-500 calories a session. I run (well, jog), do the stationary bike and the nautilus machine. I also have a pretty active daily life, chasing after a toddler and living in a city (lots of walking).

I have been doing this since January 2nd.

I just started on MFP two weeks age, but have kept a food diary since January and KNOW I was burning enough calories to be losing 1-1.5 lbs a week.

I am the EXACT same weight I was when I started! Not any fluctuation either way. I am the exact same weight I was when I dropped those 50 lbs after my daughter was born. Exactly 167 (I'm 5'6 and want to be 137, my pre-pregnancy weight). I actually bought a new scale bc I was convined it was malfunctioning.

I have been to the doctor and had my thyroid tested, and supposedly it is functioning perfectly. Other than that the doctor was no help and couldn't tell me why I wasn't losing weight. I requested a referral to an endocrinologist and she gave it to me, but the appointment is not for another three months.

I am so frustrated. I feel like I have been working so hard and have really made those life changes you are supposed to, and I have nothing to show for it. I am discouraged! Why am I doing this? For a year I didn't exercise or monitor my diet and I stayed 167. Now, I am busting my butt and am still 167. Why??

I know the whole muscle weighs more argument, but I find it very unlikely that I would lose the exact amount of fat that I gained in muscle...

Anyone else had this happen or heard of it happening to anyone? Thanks for listening to my vent!

If I were Jillian Michaels, I would say "Losing weight is a simple mathematical equation. If calories going in is less than the calories going out, you WILL lose weight"

You may be measuring quantities wrong, or under estimating the calorie content of some things. I know that when I took a few weeks of, I "guessed" the weight of my cereal, and out of curiosity I decided to see if the cereal I was putting in my bowl was actually 25g. It wasn't. It was 90g, approximately 200 calories more than I thought. Also, if you have set your daily needs as living a lightly active light style (e.g. on your feet all day) when in fact you actually sit down for a large part of the day too, this could affect how much you lose too.

Good luck! I would suggest you start logging, and you WILL lose weight!

I agree with all of this! I still eat the same foods that I used to, the only difference now is that I follow a calorie limit instead of eating as much as I want.

Get a food scale and a heart rate monitor. Measure everything that you eat and wear the HRM to get a more accurate calorie burn. Set a reasonable calorie goal, eat whatever calories you burn off, and make sure that you measure EVERYTHING that you eat. If you still don't see results, I'd definitely bring that up with your endocrinologist! Good luck!

P.s- I'm not saying that you shouldn't try to change your diet if you want to, I'm just saying that it's not the only way to lose weight. If I only tried to eat healthy, unprocessed foods I'd give up. It doesn't work for me. It might work for you, it might not. Just don't get discouraged if it doesn't because it's NOT the only way to lose weight!

ChristaFall

Too much fat, calories, and carbs..try cutting back your calories and see what happens :-)

OP please do not listen to this poster. This person has chosen a calorie level that is against all medical advice and is eating half of that. Think about your child and how you need to be healthy to be with them.

Hmmmm...maybe you should try the same :-)

ChristaFall

Too much fat, calories, and carbs..try cutting back your calories and see what happens :-)

wrong

She is MAINTAINING at those calories..if she wants to drop the weight LESS calories and work out more! I maintained for several years eating that amount..and once I started cutting back and working out more I lost the weight..I'm not telling her to drop down to what I'm eating..I'm 5ft tall...and I don't care what you people say about "starvation mode". It's a complete myth..I'm never hungry, have healthy hair, skin, etc.. by no means am I starving.

greasygriddle_wechnage

Too much fat, calories, and carbs..try cutting back your calories and see what happens :-)

wrong

She is MAINTAINING at those calories..if she wants to drop the weight LESS calories and work out more! I maintained for several years eating that amount..and once I started cutting back and working out more I lost the weight..I'm not telling her to drop down to what I'm eating..I'm 5ft tall...and I don't care what you people say about "starvation mode". It's a complete myth..I'm never hungry, have healthy hair, skin, etc.. by no means am I starving.

Thanks for your wonderful contribution. I looked at your diary, you haven't even broken 900 cals the last thee days. You are not even eating enought to survive. I don't care what your come back is going to be, you are eating dangeriously and I would assume maybe even have an ED. YOU my mfp pal, should not be giving adivse. What you are doing is NOT sustainable, sorry. It's a proven fact.

AFIMM

I appreciate all the advice and the time everyone took to welcome a newcomer! I got some amazing tips and am going to apply them starting TODAY. Thank you!