When to see the doctor? Not Loosing!!

CandyBryson

To try to make this story short, always been on the heavy side, I am 5.5 curvy, and feel my ideal weight would be between 160-180 at my heavest after my 2nd child I was at 250 without really trying ( although I got divorced at the same time) I dropped down to 198 then got pregnant again. Now 18 months after my last child was born I am STUCK at 235-240 and can't seem to get below that. I have tried Weight Watchers for the last 3 months, I work out as much as possible, but still seem to go nowhere. the lowest I have been since she was born was 233. my NET calories run about 1400 and I have been trying to excersize in the evenings depending on how many calories I am at. meaning if I eat more calories I work out harder to keep me in range. so being that I am just coming back to fitness pal, I guess I should give a while before I bring it up to the doctor. But how long should I wait?

ChapinaGrande

I'm having a similar issue. I'm interested in seeing the responses

library_fiend

My first suggestion would be to not eat your exercise calories back (or at least no more than 50% of them). Are you drinking a lot of water? That's huge too. What you're eating matters too. Sometimes I have like, 400 extra calories so I have a soda (don't judge, it's an occasional pleasure!) What I really should do is have a glass of milk or even just water and call it a night.
Are you logging regularly? It took me months to lose my first 5 pounds...because I wasn't logging regularly and I was "cheating" too much. Then I started logging in, recording everything I ate, and I finally started losing.
Hope this helps, at least a bit...

Telugammayi87

You may not be eating ENOUGH... that's what happened to me.. Calculate your BMR and TDEE and Net a number of calories between them... you WILL lose weight...

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/680246-tdee-bmr-what-they-are-and-what-to-do-with-them

CandyBryson

Well My BMR is 1894 and my TDEE is 2604 So maybe I am not eating enough? I'm not feeling deprived, but maybe I should try a net number between the two? is that what you mean? Someone else told me to eat more too. I will stick with the 1400 for the rest of the week and see where I am at and then try eating more. I eat pretty decent food although I should drink more water. and maybe try more "real" food vs the diet food ( like the slimfast shakes and, snack bars and such.)

ChappyEight

I'd bump up to between 1900 and 2000. That's well below your TDEE so you'll still lose weight, but healthier and a bit more under control pace wise.

tajmel

I agree with the above posters. I'd like to add that if you're not weighing your food, you should be. I used to wonder why I was fat (I was a vegetable munching whole foods eating vegan and still fat for years), until I realized that my concept of a portion was ridiculously off. Under reporting is very, very common.

ngressman

This is just me, but I have done Weight Watchers and didn't have much success. I have been at a stand stil for months and finally went to the doctor today. Doing all the lab work - checking out the vitamins B and D and also the thyroid. He recommended taking a multi-vitamin. He is also going to recommend a dietician if all the blood work seems fine. It's going to take some of the guessing out of the weight loss equation. Good luck to you.

CandyBryson

Thanks everyone, I do weigh/measure my food when I can. thats the first thing I do before I decide what I want to eat, look at the serving size vs calories and decide if its worth it. I suppose bumping my calories up by 400 is not going to be a huge deal. I have noticed that my jeans are fitting better. I refuse to weigh myself more than once a week. Monday is weigh in day so maybe I will see something. My mom ( who is a nurse) was wondering about my thyroid too. It runs in the family so still something to think about.

cmriverside

Thanks everyone, I do weigh/measure my food when I can. thats the first thing I do before I decide what I want to eat, look at the serving size vs calories and decide if its worth it. I suppose bumping my calories up by 400 is not going to be a huge deal. I have noticed that my jeans are fitting better. I refuse to weigh myself more than once a week. Monday is weigh in day so maybe I will see something. My mom ( who is a nurse) was wondering about my thyroid too. It runs in the family so still something to think about.

Thyroid problems are really common, the test is very inexpensive, and the treatment is one tiny pill a day and only costs a few dollars a month. It's worth getting tested if you have any question about it at all.

CandyBryson

Well I guess it wouldn't hurt to make an appointment. That's what I pay insurance premiums for right? ROFL

awmejia

My personal opinion is that everyone should see a doctor and/or nutritionist before starting a diet/exercise program. Just to rule out any underlying medical conditions.

mangoduck

If you do go see your doctor, bring your logs. I went to see mine and I know it would have been so much more helpful had I brought them with me. As it was, she told me I was probably eating too much and it took 3500 calories to make a pound of fat, etc etc.

QueenGorgo

When I first began to try and lose weight I did three things: went to see my doctor to get a full checkup including testing my cholesterol level, my horomone levels and stuf like that. Second- I went to a nutritionist to get an idea of what they would recommend for my calorie intake, and what kinds of things I should try to avoid for my specific situation- i.e. if I should avoid dairy, or eat more of this or less of that.. and then I found a gym that offered free trainers and they helped me learn how to make realistic goals, how to know when to increase the intesity of my workouts and they showed me workouts other than just lifting weights.

I know it probably seems like a lot of work, time and money but look at it this way..you're going to spend money on food- you might as well find out the right kind of food for you. If you have a slower metabolism it would help to know that going in, 1200 calories isn't for everyone, but then again neither is 2000 so it would be more effective to find out where you are to start off..

The best thing I did was to read about every single food plan out there- I learned about the pros and cons of each major plan (Atkins, the Zone, WW etc.) Then I took what seemed to make the most logical sense from each plan and made up a plan that worked for me, between my trainer and my nutritionist I learned what to do specifically for me..

Don't look at this like you're losing weight, you're making an investment in yourself so you should do everything you can do in advance to make the process go a little easier.. and I would definitely suggest doing a log for at least two weeks so everyone you go to can see what you're eating up front..

meshashesha2012

if you didnt get a complete yearly physical then definitely make an appointment and get your blood tests run.
if those come back OK and you've been eating at a deficit for long time, try a few weeks eating at maintenance and then going back to a moderate deficit.

CoderGal

I have a friend who actually does have a thyroid problem and she was still gaining weight continuously at less then 1200 calories...at the same time though she upped to about 1450 (allot lower then I'd go), gained, and is losing again...so it might be a little bit of both. When on a VLCD you can have problems that mimic thyroid problems. Eat at TDEE for a couple months. You'll gain at first but you should level off over a month or so. If you're logging accurately and you know you're not going over and you're still continuously gaining pounds weekly for months, you likely have a thyroid problem.

Or you could go to a doctor and get a test done. If it comes back fine, try eating more.

Sarauk2sf

if you didnt get a complete yearly physical then definitely make an appointment and get your blood tests run.
if those come back OK and you've been eating at a deficit for long time, try a few weeks eating at maintenance and then going back to a moderate deficit.

This. If you are eating at a deficit, you should be losing, especially at 1400 a day net. To be perfectly honest, the answer is not always necessarily, 'eat more' or 'eat less'. If you have been dieting for a while, your hormones may be out of whack, so a full diet break for a couple of weeks helps reset them. When going back to a deficit, pick 1lb a week weight loss (I am not sure if this is the 1400 calories) and eat between 50% and 75% of your exercise calories back. The reason I suggest only to eat some of them back is to account for over-estimates (as well as to make sure you are not double counting your BMR) and with 1lb a week deficit, you can probably afford to have a little extra deficit if the exercise calories end up not to be over-stated.

But, as suggested, get your thyroid checked as you should have lost some weight at that level unless you are seriously overstating your exercise calories.

slowturtle1

When I first began to try and lose weight I did three things: went to see my doctor to get a full checkup including testing my cholesterol level, my horomone levels and stuf like that. Second- I went to a nutritionist to get an idea of what they would recommend for my calorie intake, and what kinds of things I should try to avoid for my specific situation- i.e. if I should avoid dairy, or eat more of this or less of that.. and then I found a gym that offered free trainers and they helped me learn how to make realistic goals, how to know when to increase the intesity of my workouts and they showed me workouts other than just lifting weights.

I know it probably seems like a lot of work, time and money but look at it this way..you're going to spend money on food- you might as well find out the right kind of food for you. If you have a slower metabolism it would help to know that going in, 1200 calories isn't for everyone, but then again neither is 2000 so it would be more effective to find out where you are to start off..

The best thing I did was to read about every single food plan out there- I learned about the pros and cons of each major plan (Atkins, the Zone, WW etc.) Then I took what seemed to make the most logical sense from each plan and made up a plan that worked for me, between my trainer and my nutritionist I learned what to do specifically for me..

Don't look at this like you're losing weight, you're making an investment in yourself so you should do everything you can do in advance to make the process go a little easier.. and I would definitely suggest doing a log for at least two weeks so everyone you go to can see what you're eating up front..

Best advice I've ever seen on MFP. Could not have said it better.

StudioMaid

I am walking twice a day everyday and weighed myself and haven't lost any weight either but I am losing inches and can feel it. You may not be losing but you could be losing inches. Start measuring yourself every two weeks, if there isn't any change then mention it to you doctor. I'm sure there isn't anything to worry about sometimes our bodies are just being stubborn. Good luch and don't give up.

mmcgille

Go to the doctor and ask to get your thyroid checked. I was having similar problems as you. Turns out my thyroid wasn't working, which was causing me a whole host of problems, including not being able to lose any weight despite doing the right things. My first 2 months after treating my thryoid, I lost 10 lbs doing absolutely nothing different. If you have many of the symptoms of hypothyroidism, that could be the issue - go to the dr and check it out!

needamulligan

Eat real food vs. diet food in addition to the bloodwork. I don't know what's in the bars and drinks you are eating but eating things that look closest to their original state are cheaper, lower in sodium and can keep you from being hungry longer.