This is a hard journey!

Susie_Q12

Hi, I kinda newish to to MFP. I tried it a year ago, lost track of it, then recently (2 or 3 weeks ago) rediscovered it.
My weightloss journey began after a medical physical, where my blood pressure was elevated, and my fasting glucose and lipid panels came back high. I was 175 lbs at 5'7" which put my bmi into the overweight category. My doctor suggested that loosing weight would help decrease these values.
For 6 weeks I followed a very strict eating plan that was outlined for me by the clinics nutritionist and lost 20 lbs. My blood pressure significantly improved, I am however waiting another month to repeat the blood test. In the last few weeks, I have introduced a wider variety of foods into my diet and excersise 4-5 times a week, (burning 700 - 900 Cal/workout). But with all this effort I'm stuck at my current weight. And to make it worst my scale went the wrong way today. I don't understand. I eat less calories, and I burn more, simple physics. Why am I stuck? I still have weekly weight ins with the clinic, I dread having to go now

junemiller

Don't give up now. You're doing great. You just need to keep on keeping on. Don't eat up all those calories you work so hard to burn. The clinic visits are more important when you're stuck than when you're not. You're doing this to improve your health, not to impress the clinic staff. YOU WILL SUCCEED.

ncwall

couple things that may help you. first off muscle weighs more then fat.
second scale is not the only victory to be focusing on its not alwasy right.

and yea this is for your health. we didnt put our weight on over night, not expected to change right away. keep at it keep trying and dont get discouraged, next thing you know it will just start falling off

JanelleG0122

Loosing weight is extremely difficult, there are many weeks where I stay the same or only loose .5 lbs and it's extremely frustrating, but continue to count your calories and your exercise. I never eat my exercise calories, but there are times when I eat too few calories. Try and make sure you are eating at least 1200 calories a day, sometimes when you eat too little your body goes into starvation mode and will store the fat because it wants more. Don't deprive yourself, it is not good for the body, however make sure you are watching your sodium intake vs your water intake, sometimes it is hard as sodium is in lots of food, but sodium will make you store water if you're not drinking enough to flush it out. Also, switch up your exercising a little bit, sometimes you gotta work different muscles to see the results.

Don't give up and keep pushing. You may add me as a friend if you wish for more support.

mfkn_Titanium

Without more information (can't see your diary) it's hard to offer suggestions. Are you logging *everything* that passes your lips? Are you weighing your food to be sure you are accurately logging (I was really sad to see what *my* idea of a serving of peanut butter REALLY worked out to be!)? Are you not eating enough (given your big burns most days of the week)? Lots of things could be at play here.

Susie_Q12

Hi, thanks for the encouraging replies. Yes I log everything I eat. I rarely exceed 1000 caleries a day.

mfkn_Titanium

There's your problem - you're not eating enough. 1000 cals a day?! Dude. EAT MOAR FOOD! You are burning 700-900 cals in a cardio sesh an then only eating 1000 or less for THE DAY!?!? You are netting 100-300 calories. That's super unhealthy. Try upping your caloric intake to 1700-1900 a day and see what happens. I lost most of my weight by eating 1600-1800 cals a day on here (sometimes MORE!). You'd be surprised how much better your body will respond when you are taking care of it with proper nutrition.

MFPBrandy

You rarely exceed 1,000 calories a day, but you regularly burn 700-900 calories a day? Please tell me you mean you rarely exceed 1,000 calories NET -- meaning if you burn 900, you eat a total of 1,900 for a net of 1,000.
Most people here are cautioned against going below 1,200 a day, unless they're on an extreme diet closely monitored by their docs to get down from a dangerously high weight FAST. That's generally because they decide the risks of such a drastic diet outweigh the risks of remaining at a very dangerous weight for the longer time it would take to do it more gradually/healthfully. So if your doc hasn't said "I only want you eating 1,000 calories a day," and is therefore closely monitoring your diet and exercise WITH you, you need to have a conversation with him/her about this.
Search "eat more to weigh less" and see what you think. Personally, I don't think you're eating enough to healthfully lose weight, but that's my personal opinion--I'm not your doc. But you're not so overweight that drastic, rapid measures are called for. It may be time to focus less stringently on such a high calorie deficit, and start making sure you're giving your body the fuel it needs (I.e., calories, good carbs, protein) to build strength and burn calories more effectively/efficiently. My 2 cents.

*ETA: What does MFP say your BMR and TDEE are? What do you have your weight loss goals set at (I.e., 1 lb/week, 1/2 lb /week, etc.)?

CyberEd312

So your barely eating 1000 calories a day and your burning 700-900 calories a day..... Terrible idea... you should be eating no less than 1200 calories a day just to sustain life but with what your burning..... you are barely getting 100-300 calories net a day... You are causing more damage to your body than good.. You have to fuel your body for the workouts that you ask of it to do... My daily calories set by MFP is 2590 calories and that is with a built in deficit to lose 1/2 lb. a week.. because of the amount of exercise I do, I consume 3200-3400 calories a day and am still losing weight after 38 months and already dropping 311 lbs. The whole eat less and burn more will only cause your metabolism to stall out which is where you are at now... Eat more food...... Best of Luck....

Helloitsdan

Yikes!

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thistimeismytime

There's your problem - you're not eating enough. 1000 cals a day?! Dude. EAT MOAR FOOD! You are burning 700-900 cals in a cardio sesh an then only eating 1000 or less for THE DAY!?!? You are netting 100-300 calories. That's super unhealthy. Try upping your caloric intake to 1700-1900 a day and see what happens. I lost most of my weight by eating 1600-1800 cals a day on here (sometimes MORE!). You'd be surprised how much better your body will respond when you are taking care of it with proper nutrition.

^yep!! DING DING DING!! We found your problem, now it's up to you to fix it. Eat more food!! Lots of protein, veggies, fruits, nuts, whole grains--eating is FUN!! Enjoy!

ratchet54

i AGREE! I am working on with a trainer 2 days a week and doing 60 min cardio at least 2 other days a week for about a year. After the initial weight loss of about 10 lbs I started getting muscular with the net results being that my weight has stayed about 181 which is still in the obese range. I do get discouraged but I now do enjoy exercising most days. My back pain is gone, but at 54 my joints hurt every am when I wake up. I am sticking close to 1200 a day and trying to look at the positives of just being more fit, but I am very discouraged at the numbers. Thinking of doing a gluten free plan and see if that helps. :sad:

Susie_Q12

Oh boy, looks like I'm not doing myself any favors. I will definately rework my weightloss/ fitness strategies.
I'm certainly not trying to impress the nutritionist at weigh in time. There is however a sense of accomplishment and
some pride in attaining a goal.
Thank you for all your responses!
Ps. Had a couple of scrambled eggs after my work out. ????