Frustrated, Not losing weight

elaughlin

I am 33 years old, 5'4" and 207 lbs. I have been trying to lose weight for the past two months. I am eating my 1240 calories every day and have been playing with eating my excercise calories. I first tried not eating them because that just sounded silly to eat what I just burned off. When that wasn't working, I tried eating all of them and started gaining so now I am eating just half. Still the weight is not coming off. I think I am eating pretty healthy foods but do sometimes have a treat now and then(maybe once a week) but always keep it within my calories for the day
I am excercising for 15-30 minutes in the morning (depending how much time we have)with my son playing DDR on the wii on difficult to expert level burning an avg. of 125 cal. Then after lunch I try to do at least 15 minutes of Jillian Michaels No More Trouble Zones. In the evenings, I usually walk for 90 minutes(around 3-4 miles). According to my HRM I am burning between 500-600 calories. Still the scale is not budging.

A little more background on me is that I have had my thyroid checked and also was checked for diabetes. No problems there. I am on Birth control pills for the treatment of endometriosis. I have a ton of food allergies including wheat and peanut, tomato and strawberries (these 4 I try to avoid entirely) . I have others such as egg, oats, potato, soy, corn but was told as long as I don't eat more than one of them at a meal that I should be okay. I eat lots of lean meats (turkey, chicken, pork tenderloin, fish etc.) and vegetables. Oh and I am drinking at least 8 glasses a water a day usually quite a bit more. I drink soda very rarely but do drink unsweetened iced green tea. I tend to retain water very easy. My fingers swell up quite a bit when I walk and I go to bed about an hour after I walk if that has anything to do with it.

Okay if you have read this far, do you have any advice as to why I can't seem to lose the weight? What can I change or do differently? I am getting very frustrated and feel like giving up but I know that I am at least getting healthier so I keep going.

memaw66

I don't have any advice except don't give up. I am in the same boat as you. I have been eating good, drinking water and exercising but I seem to be stuck. I can't get past 24lbs lost. I need to lose like 61 more pounds but they are just not coming off. I am totally frustrated too but I am not giving up!

Good luck and remember, no giving up!


Memaw

beancounter

It sounds like you're doing everything right... keep taking heart in the fact you know you are getting healthier!

The only other thought I had is, are you using a food scale to help make sure your calories are what you think they are?

Keep up the good work...and don't give up!

Shawn

elaughlin

Thanks for the encouragement, I am using a scale and measuring everything! If I could just see some decrease on the scale it would be much easier to keep going but I seem to be losing and gaining the same 2 lbs. one day its gone and the next I am back up. I just need to do something to jumpstart some weight loss!

nursegirl79

Memaw,

Did you reset your net calories?

memaw66

Memaw,

Did you reset your net calories?

After losing the 24lbs? Yes I believe I did but I will double check.

Melroxsox

I would try uping your aerobic activity times to at least 30-40 mins. You should see more results that way. Good luck! Keep us updated!!!

Melroxsox

I would try uping your aerobic activity times to at least 30-40 mins. You should see more results that way. Good luck! Keep us updated!!!

uping it 30-40 mins at one time that is:) If you stay in the right heart rate zone for at least 30 mins it will melt the fat away:happy: :happy: :happy: :happy: :happy: :happy: :happy:

memaw66

I would try uping your aerobic activity times to at least 30-40 mins. You should see more results that way. Good luck! Keep us updated!!!

uping it 30-40 mins at one time that is:) If you stay in the right heart rate zone for at least 30 mins it will melt the fat away:happy: :happy: :happy: :happy: :happy: :happy: :happy:

How do you know what your target heart rate should be and how do you know if you have reached it, without a HRM?

bysept15th

I am doing p90x, and Tony Horton says that the body gets used to your routine, that's when it goes into a plateau effect. He says, shock it again-increase your calories as long as your caloric deficit stays around 1000 for a 2 pound per week weight loss (500 if you want 1 pound). Try it and report back.

reisingmel

I know it's really tough to keep going when you're not seeing the results, but when I was having troubles my trainer gave me a good speech about intensity. He pointed at a middle age woman on the treadmill walking at 3.5 mph and plainly said "she won't lose weight or inches" and then he pointed a another who was running at 6 mph and said "now she's going to see the results!" Now I trust this guy with my body and he hasn't been wrong yet. I Was losing 3+ inches all over my body every week and since upping my cardio intensity, I'm shedding weight as well. So throw in some sprints! Walking will only get you so far and for some people it doesn't work at all (I'm one of them). Best of luck!

Wecandothis

Is your clothing any looser? Are you measuring? Have you begun an exercise routine when you never exercised before?

If so you may be gaining muscle and losing fat - which is fine, and good for you in the long run. Muscle burns more calories, but weighs more. Still that's what you want for a long term goal.

Perhaps this is what you are seeing? In any case, best wishes, may the Lord bless your efforts!

thumper44

You said a treat now and then... What kind of treat?.. How often?.
We tend to think ahhhhh we'll have it once a week, and before you know it, we have it twice a week.

How is your sodium intake?

I started by walking as well. I did 2 miles and then 4 miles. I wasn't ready for jogging.
Then I found out about Wogging as they call it here. You walk, and add spurts of jogging. It doesn't matter if you start off at 10 secs of jogging, start small. It raises your heartbeat and overall burns more calories. This is the basically the same as interval training.
Next was the couch to 5k program. I'm only on week 2 but it's those small steps.

Hope it helps.

elaughlin

Thank you for all the great advice, I will try everything suggested that I am not already doing.
I watch my sodium but I could probably do better. I just realized a week or so ago that I could track that here too so I set it so I could. Its says 2500 mg. That seems like a lot though so how much do I really need?

I did exercise before but only 3 times a week or so and I didn't watch what I ate very well prior to 2 months ago. I mainly did 30 min of DDR or an excercise video. I added walking about a month ago starting with a mile and have added on. I do plan to start picking up the pace and have tried jogging but I don't get far but I will keep trying to add a little to my walking routine.

toots99

I am 33 years old, 5'4" and 207 lbs. I have been trying to lose weight for the past two months. I am eating my 1240 calories every day and have been playing with eating my excercise calories. I first tried not eating them because that just sounded silly to eat what I just burned off. When that wasn't working, I tried eating all of them and started gaining so now I am eating just half. Still the weight is not coming off. I think I am eating pretty healthy foods but do sometimes have a treat now and then(maybe once a week) but always keep it within my calories for the day

That sounds like me...I've been on a plateau for a month or so afer losing about 25 lbs since the New Year...I am switching things up like taking spin classes or step classes instead of using the treadmill, and I'm going to concentrate on watching my sodium intake. Also, I used to be pretty strict during the week and I'd let myself have one weekend cheat day, but that usually turned into two days. Now I try to have one small indulgence a day (instead of a pint of Ben & Jerry's on a Sunday night, I'll have the correct serving size of Ben & Jerry's frozen yogurt if my leftover calories allow it).

Good luck!

ThePoptart

I know it's really tough to keep going when you're not seeing the results, but when I was having troubles my trainer gave me a good speech about intensity. He pointed at a middle age woman on the treadmill walking at 3.5 mph and plainly said "she won't lose weight or inches" and then he pointed a another who was running at 6 mph and said "now she's going to see the results!" Now I trust this guy with my body and he hasn't been wrong yet. I Was losing 3+ inches all over my body every week and since upping my cardio intensity, I'm shedding weight as well. So throw in some sprints! Walking will only get you so far and for some people it doesn't work at all (I'm one of them). Best of luck!

I really have to disagree with your trainer as that was unfair of him to say...you CAN lose weight going 3.5 miles per hour, which is actually pretty intense for some people and may be all they are currently ready for. It also depends on how LONG you exercise, not necessarily how intense it is. I walk two hours a day and I've been losing weight steadily. But to each their own, find out what works for you :flowerforyou:

incircles_lp2

If you have a lot of food allegeries, my best suggestion to you is to visit your nearest natural food store/Coop. They usually have a health expert in these types of establishments that can assist you with some of your allergies related to food. You can take digestive enzymes that will not harm you but can only help you digest some of the foods that your body may have trouble breaking down. Food allergies are probably a big reason why you aren't budging with the weight-they are complicated!

Best of luck and PLEASE don't give up!

datenshi

Hiya,

I agree with a lot of things mentioned here...
#1 Don't give up.
#2 Change your routine up, work out different muscles groups. If you like the Wii maybe try Wii Fit, and alternate with DDR.
#3 Watch the sodium, which you mentioned you are, but try to not add salt to anything.

Something I read on MFP from lots of people that I am trying to stick close to... but not strictly to... stick to foods that either grew from the ground or had a mother. Raw foods have the most nutrients and lean meats have the protein.

I would also recommend watching your caffeine intake which can mess things up, so if you drink coffe/tea/soda try to cut down and see what happens.

Something I learned in Nutrition class at university... your body will nautrally reach plateau's, don't give up, it is your body's way of adjusting to the changes it has gone through and preparing for the next stage of change.

I hope this is helpful and take care!
Tammy