Can anyone help? Nothing seems to be working
laurarose831
Posts: 24 Member
Long story short:
I have been doing everything I can think of for weight loss and nothing is working! I have been trying to lose weight since last September. I've been extra careful about it since January, renewing my effort and using MFP. Overall, I get the formula... more exercise/fewer calories, plus choosing healthy calories... But it's not working for me! My weight has not budged. If anything, it is still going up. Help!
The backstory (longer version):
For many many years, I was at the same healthy and comfortable weight that I considered "normal" for me. I didn't exercise very often, I just didn't have time, but I was a healthy eater, and was fine. Then, last summer, I was living somewhere else, working a boring job, snacking, under a lot of stress... and long story short, I gained 10-15 pounds over the course of the summer, and then another 5 or so after that. It may not seem like a lot, but I really feel it, and it's uncomfortable! (It's all in my stomach and hips). It just doesn't feel like me. Then I returned home to normal circumstances and started eating extra carefully and exercising more, and figured my weight would sort itself out.
It didn't. So I tried exercising A LOT more (I'm unemployed at the moment, so I have time on my hands), counting calories, being very particular, eating very healthy (I've never been one for a lot of the usual suspects—restaurants, fast food, processed store bought goods, soda—I love cooking, and basically eat clean because of how I was raised). I am a small person, and have always been a very small eater. Right now I am at a calorie limit of 1200 (per MFP's calculations), exercising 300-400 calories off most days. (I eat the exercise calories "back" some days, though some days I don't).
My last resort is to go off Yasmin, the birth control pill I've been on for years. I've been thinking (and reading) that it might have something to do with all this... So that's a change I'm making today.
But other than that, I'm hopeless and out of ideas! Can anyone help? Hope this post hasn't been too crazy, but I'm just about going out of my mind with dealing with this for SO long with no results. Any similar or success stories, advice, or any idea of what could shift this would be much appreciated.
I have been doing everything I can think of for weight loss and nothing is working! I have been trying to lose weight since last September. I've been extra careful about it since January, renewing my effort and using MFP. Overall, I get the formula... more exercise/fewer calories, plus choosing healthy calories... But it's not working for me! My weight has not budged. If anything, it is still going up. Help!
The backstory (longer version):
For many many years, I was at the same healthy and comfortable weight that I considered "normal" for me. I didn't exercise very often, I just didn't have time, but I was a healthy eater, and was fine. Then, last summer, I was living somewhere else, working a boring job, snacking, under a lot of stress... and long story short, I gained 10-15 pounds over the course of the summer, and then another 5 or so after that. It may not seem like a lot, but I really feel it, and it's uncomfortable! (It's all in my stomach and hips). It just doesn't feel like me. Then I returned home to normal circumstances and started eating extra carefully and exercising more, and figured my weight would sort itself out.
It didn't. So I tried exercising A LOT more (I'm unemployed at the moment, so I have time on my hands), counting calories, being very particular, eating very healthy (I've never been one for a lot of the usual suspects—restaurants, fast food, processed store bought goods, soda—I love cooking, and basically eat clean because of how I was raised). I am a small person, and have always been a very small eater. Right now I am at a calorie limit of 1200 (per MFP's calculations), exercising 300-400 calories off most days. (I eat the exercise calories "back" some days, though some days I don't).
My last resort is to go off Yasmin, the birth control pill I've been on for years. I've been thinking (and reading) that it might have something to do with all this... So that's a change I'm making today.
But other than that, I'm hopeless and out of ideas! Can anyone help? Hope this post hasn't been too crazy, but I'm just about going out of my mind with dealing with this for SO long with no results. Any similar or success stories, advice, or any idea of what could shift this would be much appreciated.
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Replies
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Did you get your Thyroid checked?0
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Yes, I had blood work done in the winter, when I was just started to get frustrated with all this. I had my thyroid checked and it / everything was normal.0
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Open your diary. and give us your height/weight. That will make it much easier to help.0
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Without being able to see your food diary, it's hard to help/make suggestions.0
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Have you tried the whole eat more thing? At leat eating back all your exercise, all the time?
Are you aiming for a healthy weight or was your ideal below normal for your height?
Have you tried strength training?0 -
I know a lot of people feel that supplements are not helpful, but I had a girlfriend who ate 1200 calories, ran for an hour a day, and she was heavy. Her doctor put her on a couple of supplements, and the next time I saw her, she had lost 20 lbs. One of them was raspberry ketones. The doctor said her metabolism had slowed way down.
I hope you get it figured out.0 -
I see in your profile that you are only 21.... A lot of women (myself included) go through a weight gain of 10-15 lbs during a hormonal "settling" in their early 20s....basically your body at 18 may not be your "adult" body...and from what you described it sounds like you gained the weight in all the baby-making areas us ladies tend to! It doesn't mean that it will be impossible to lose it, but it may be an uphill battle because this weight (particularly if its still within a healthy range) may be what your fully developed body has settled into. Sorry for sounding like a cheesy video about puberty haha, I just really do believe its a pretty common thing to happen around your age.
Maybe really switching things up will help? Calculate your BMR online and eat that much (it will be more than 1200) and then add in a good strength training program to target that fat that loves our lady parts!!0 -
have you tried eating more calories for a few weeks. lots of people have had good luck with that.
are you taking measurements, Are your mesurements and weight staying the same?0 -
My diary only reflects the past few days since I was previously counting calories on another site, but I have made it public. I also wasn't logging exercise for a while, so that isn't reflected, but I've been doing ~30 minutes to 1 hour of moderate/intense cardio every day and weights every other day for two months, plus regular but slightly less intense exercise (4-5 days per week) for 3-4 months before that. I'm 5'4" and currently weigh 128. Goal weight is 110, or at least 115 (though I was 107 for years).
I have tried eating more, yes, and each time, even if it's a slight amount more, I start gaining again! I seem to be able to eat to maintain (I've been constant at 124 for a while, and now I'm steady at 127), so I don't think that's it. Maybe, but then I don't know where to set my calorie limit... 1300? 1400? That intuitively seems like too much food to me, based on how much I used to eat.
I'm really aiming for what feels right... I feel like I'm carrying extra weight in a way that is not comfortable. I don't think it's just changes with age or an unhealthy body image. Hope that makes sense, but it really just seems like "wrong" weight to me!0 -
See a nutrtionist. They will give you golden information & a magic # for your calories count designed just for you to lose weight.0
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Are you eye-balling your food, or using a digital food scale and mesuring cups and spoons for volume to measure everything, including oils?0
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My daughter-in-law was on that. She gained weight like mad. Went off it and the weight just fell back off.0
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So, you don't even have your weight loss ticker set to lose weight here. (?)
You most likely don't have an accurate idea of how much to eat, and you're not calculating exercise, and you're not keeping the best records. For results, you need to be accurately tracking all these things.0 -
My diary only reflects the past few days since I was previously counting calories on another site, but I have made it public.
I also wasn't logging exercise for a while, so that isn't reflected, but I've been doing ~30 minutes to 1 hour of moderate/intense cardio every day and weights every other day for two months, plus regular but slightly less intense exercise (4-5 days per week) for 3-4 months before that.
I'm 5'4" and currently weigh 128. Goal weight is 110, or at least 115 (though I was 107 for years).
Your BMR is probably around 1400. Sedentary TDEE is about 1680. 80% of that is 1300 calories.
You should be getting about 1300 calories per day before exercise. You're netting like 500-800 most days.
In other words: eat more. Set your calorie goal at 1300, log your exercise, and meet your calorie goal every day.0 -
wildchild, I've read that around the internet a few places, although when I saw an OBGYN, she said it was "preposterous" and that she had never heard of b.c. being linked to weight gain in the way I thought mine was. But I'm going off regardless to see if that's it. That's my last resort, so it's good to hear it worked for someone you know. Fingers crossed!0
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I just took a peek at your diary. Sweetie, you are not eating enough! Most days you're hitting around 1000 calories. Your sugar intake is also really high. The combination of the two could be slowing your progress. Try cutting back on the sugar and be sure to eat back your exercise calories. 1200 calories/day includes a calorie deficit. My suggestion, get rid of the granola and try unsweetened whole grain cereals, oatmeal etc.0
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Have you tried the whole eat more thing? At leat eating back all your exercise, all the time?
Can someone please explain that to me? If there's no such thing as "starvation mode" then why do I always see "eat more" as a helpful suggestion (and one that seems to work)??? Seriously please tell me why eating more would work for stalled people.0 -
Try low/no carb. Get yourself in ketosis by eating 30 gm of carbs of less a day. I bet in two weeks you'll lose those extra pounds. Our body can not store fat without insulin. Your body only secretes insulin in the presents of glucose (all carbs become glucose as it is the only form of energy our cells can use). In the absense of carbohydrates, you're body has no choice but to use fat as energy. Generally eat good proteins and leafy greens. Peanut butter is great when your jonesing for carbs. Give it a shot.
And.................tell yourself constantly that you are losing weight, not that you can't, your body listens to what your brain tells it to do. Also, going off birth control is never a bad idea. Hormones are tricking your body into thinking it's pregnant which is why you don't ovulate. I always gained weight when I took birth control pills.0 -
My diary only reflects the past few days since I was previously counting calories on another site, but I have made it public.
I also wasn't logging exercise for a while, so that isn't reflected, but I've been doing ~30 minutes to 1 hour of moderate/intense cardio every day and weights every other day for two months, plus regular but slightly less intense exercise (4-5 days per week) for 3-4 months before that.
I'm 5'4" and currently weigh 128. Goal weight is 110, or at least 115 (though I was 107 for years).
Your BMR is probably around 1400. Sedentary TDEE is about 1680. 80% of that is 1300 calories.
You should be getting about 1300 calories per day before exercise. You're netting like 500-800 most days.
In other words: eat more. Set your calorie goal at 1300, log your exercise, and meet your calorie goal every day.
Yes! Eat more food.0 -
Have you tried the whole eat more thing? At leat eating back all your exercise, all the time?
Can someone please explain that to me? If there's no such thing as "starvation mode" then why do I always see "eat more" as a helpful suggestion (and one that seems to work)??? Seriously please tell me why eating more would work for stalled people.
Watch this Video from Layne Norton to see why.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHHzie6XRGk 0 -
Try low/no carb. Get yourself in ketosis by eating 30 gm of carbs of less a day. I bet in two weeks you'll lose those extra pounds. Our body can not store fat without insulin. Your body only secretes insulin in the presents of glucose (all carbs become glucose as it is the only form of energy our cells can use). In the absense of carbohydrates, you're body has no choice but to use fat as energy. Generally eat good proteins and leafy greens. Peanut butter is great when your jonesing for carbs. Give it a shot.
And.................tell yourself constantly that you are losing weight, not that you can't, your body listens to what your brain tells it to do. Also, going off birth control is never a bad idea. Hormones are tricking your body into thinking it's pregnant which is why you don't ovulate. I always gained weight when I took birth control pills.
Pretty much everything in this post is madness, including the absolutely factually wrong nonsense about insulin.0 -
I see in your profile that you are only 21.... A lot of women (myself included) go through a weight gain of 10-15 lbs during a hormonal "settling" in their early 20s....basically your body at 18 may not be your "adult" body...and from what you described it sounds like you gained the weight in all the baby-making areas us ladies tend to! It doesn't mean that it will be impossible to lose it, but it may be an uphill battle because this weight (particularly if its still within a healthy range) may be what your fully developed body has settled into. Sorry for sounding like a cheesy video about puberty haha, I just really do believe its a pretty common thing to happen around your age.
Maybe really switching things up will help? Calculate your BMR online and eat that much (it will be more than 1200) and then add in a good strength training program to target that fat that loves our lady parts!!
This^^^^^^^^^0 -
jonnythan and Marilyn, okay, this is very helpful and specific advice. I can certainly try increasing calories, either my overall goal to 1300, or doing a better job of at least accounting for "earned back" exercise calories... I've been noticing the sugar trend too, so I can work on that, any other suggestions? Specifically, other areas I can work on to eat "better" if I"m going to be eating more?
But I do feel like I've tried eating more... My diary reflects my most recent attempt to really cut back, but for a while, I'm guessing I was eating 1300-1400 calories, and I gained so easily. I definitely did not lose.
This is helpful, just to talk about this!0 -
Watch this Video from Layne Norton to see why.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHHzie6XRGk
I have better things to do than watch some guy say "um" for 26 minutes, but thanks for the effort.0 -
This might not be the kind of help you're looking for right now (and it might make me a little unpopular around these parts), but have you considered that this is just how your body is designed? I definitely concur with the suggestions to eat more, but if you're eating healthfully and exercising and your body is performing well, then it's possible that you're just genetically predisposed to carry a little bit extra around your belly and hips.
Again, I understand that this is a site for weight loss and that's why you're here. However, I hope this little bit of extra weight doesn't stress you out too much. Healthy > skinny, and you're already beautiful!0 -
It's not neccessary eat more it's when you eat and how frequently. Always eat within a half hour of getting up in the morning. Starvation mode is your bodys way of protecting itself. When you don't eat, your body conserves energy. It learns how to burn less calories so it doesn't starve to death, which slows your metabolism down so..................calories in/energy out is not always an adequate formula. For your body to work as it should, it needs to know youre gonna fed it again. Then, it won't panic and hold onto every calories you eat. Many obese people get that way by not eating at all until dinner.0
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I know a lot of people feel that supplements are not helpful, but I had a girlfriend who ate 1200 calories, ran for an hour a day, and she was heavy. Her doctor put her on a couple of supplements, and the next time I saw her, she had lost 20 lbs. One of them was raspberry ketones. The doctor said her metabolism had slowed way down.
I hope you get it figured out.
Revisiting this, no idea what raspberry ketones are... but I have been considering reevaluating supplements/vitamins.
Can you get your metabolism tested?0 -
It's not neccessary eat more it's when you eat and how frequently. Always eat within a half hour of getting up in the morning. Starvation mode is your bodys way of protecting itself. When you don't eat, your body conserves energy. It learns how to burn less calories so it doesn't starve to death, which slows your metabolism down so..................calories in/energy out is not always an adequate formula. For your body to work as it should, it needs to know youre gonna fed it again. Then, it won't panic and hold onto every calories you eat. Many obese people get that way by not eating at all until dinner.
All of that has been scientifically tested and proven to be bunk.0 -
jonnythan and Marilyn, okay, this is very helpful and specific advice. I can certainly try increasing calories, either my overall goal to 1300, or doing a better job of at least accounting for "earned back" exercise calories... I've been noticing the sugar trend too, so I can work on that, any other suggestions? Specifically, other areas I can work on to eat "better" if I"m going to be eating more?
But I do feel like I've tried eating more... My diary reflects my most recent attempt to really cut back, but for a while, I'm guessing I was eating 1300-1400 calories, and I gained so easily. I definitely did not lose.
This is helpful, just to talk about this!
Nutritionally, I'd suggest you up the protein goal at the expense of some of the carbs. I find protein more filling. And yeah definitely get the sugar a little more under control. All that granola is *loaded* with sugar.
It looks like you do some sort of strength training. I dunno what that is, but honestly my suggestion is to drop some of the cardio you're doing and start a real lifting program, with free weights. I know that's easier said than done but tons of people on MFP have done it, and they've been pretty much universally blown away by the results.0 -
I know a lot of people feel that supplements are not helpful, but I had a girlfriend who ate 1200 calories, ran for an hour a day, and she was heavy. Her doctor put her on a couple of supplements, and the next time I saw her, she had lost 20 lbs. One of them was raspberry ketones. The doctor said her metabolism had slowed way down.
I hope you get it figured out.
Revisiting this, no idea what raspberry ketones are... but I have been considering reevaluating supplements/vitamins.
Can you get your metabolism tested?
You can, yeah. Turns out you can do it pretty directly too. There's a direct relationship between the oxygen consumed by the body and how many calories it burns. So they can put a mask on you, measure how much oxygen you're using at rest, and calculate a BMR. Which is kind of neat.
But I think it's unnecessary for you. I understand you're frustrated, but there are some obvious changes you should make before going down that route IMO.0
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