Justabout to give up

ndnlou

I just do not understand what is going on. I watch what I eat, I weigh my food, I am under my caloric goal, most of the time, I exercise every day and I have been doing this since March 2 and I am not seeing my weight go down. I even increased my protien intake and dropped down a couple of pounds then put right back on back up to 171. For some reason my body will not let go of any of the weight. I have had all of my blood levels looked at, I am going to extremes here and nothing. I am just about to give up on this. Before I started all of this March 2, I weighed 171 pounds and ate what ever I wanted in the amount that I wanted. I started watching what I eat and exercising and my weight went up to 173 pounds and now this is where I am at. Someone please help me. And do not give me that **** that muscle weighs more, after 2 1/2 months my weight should have changed.

kwardklinck

I would suggest dropping your exercise down to 3 times per week, watch your sodium intake, and drink all of your water.

AndriaLL

Are you taking any measurements of your waist or hips? My weight has gone up also, but my pants were nearly falling off yesterday and I found out my waist and hips are actually smaller....my calves and biceps are growing.

I hope you don't give up. It's still good to eat healthier and exercise even if we are unfortunate in not being able to make the f&(*^%! scale move.

Aid_B

I'm with you on that, haven't lost a thing !

Infact i've gone up a couple of lb's

What i have noticed is my clothes fit better, i also don't buy into that "muscle weighs more than fat" arguement.

Hang in there i've read sometimes it takes a couple of months for the body to adapt to the new lifestyle

kellycrow

Don't give up. By eating healthy and exercising more, you have made a healthy lifestyle change. Don't give up on that.

I am NO expert, but I quickly looked at your diary for the last week or so and I see that your fat and sodium levels are high. Try working on that. Too much sodium will make you retain water which could be part of your problem. On my better days, my sodium levels hover no higher than 1200... some days even lower. I also see you drink a lot of whole raw milk... that is a lot of added fat. (I'm vegan but I won't tell you not to drink milk... just maybe less of it! ) )

What are you doing for exercise? Maybe you need to mix it up a bit. When I just did cardio, I lost less than when I added strength training. That was a surprise to me. I am sure there is a reason for it, but like I said, I am no expert! I just know what works for me.
That said, I am being forced to not exercise until next week due to an ankle injury so I am REALLY frustrated! I do crunches but really really hate those! haha! I am also doing some upperbody weights - but I miss my treadmill and my zumba classes!!
(Try zumba if you can - sooooo much fun!!!!)

Also, I have a very good friend about your age who recently had a total hysterectomy and she claims the medication she is on now makes it harder to lose weight. Don't discount that part of it. Just remember that you are working hard to be healthy --- don't worry so much about the numbers...

Good luck to you and DON'T GIVE UP!!! )

kwardklinck

I know muscle weighs more than fat but doubt you've built up 2 pounds of muscle in 2 months. A more likely reason is that your muscles are holding water for protection. I had the some trouble when I was going crazy on the exercise. I dropped down from 7 days a week to 3 days a week and the weight just started falling off of me. I slowly added days back and am now exercising 6 days a week. When I was exercising so much after not doing any at all, it threw my body into a panic and it really held on to those pounds.

Sandra9551

Hi - just read your post. I battled like you for many years and it wasn't until I moved to another part of the country and changes doctors that I finally discovered what the problem was. Excess weight was something I just couldn't afford to have as I have a heart condition. I went through all the usual checks with my new doctor who eventually had another test done and discovered I had hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) - there was a bit more to it than that - but the upshot was that I didn't stand a hope in hells chance of losing any weight cos my body wouldn't let me. I've now lost 53lbs with the right treatment. Ask your doctor if he/she has tested for thyroid problems.

jerren

I know this may sound stupid, but does your scale work?

erickirb

Are you eating your most of the extra calories burned through exercise? If not I would suggest eating at least 50% of them as your body needs fuel (food) to run at its best and to get your metabolism going.

AndriaLL

Great point on the underactive thyroid. Mine is also underactive and that will make it extremely difficult to lose weight until you are up to the correct dosage of Synthroid. I didn't think to mention that issue, as I assumed it was what you meant by bloodwork...but that can be alot of different tests. Definitely think about having that checked if you haven't already and good luck.

judithsimons

Stick with it! You will get through it. Give your body time to make changes. Find the instant gratification in knowing that you just "ran a mile in x amount of time" or "making the healthier choice of food". You got to start patting yourself on the back because you are living healthy.

nikmaack

You don't want to hear it, but you must -- muscle weighs more than fat. Are your clothes looser?

Looking at your diary, you don't look like you're doing a lot of exercise. When you set your goals, did you say you were moderately active, when you're in fact not that active day to day? Consider going back, reviewing those goals, and maybe changing your activity level.

If your weight is staying the same, and you're clothes are just as tight as they've always been, then you might want to lower your calories a little more, and do some more exercise.

This is just my uninformed opinion. :-)

kwardklinck

Hmm. It looks like it's giving you a lot of calories. You might reset your goals, look at your activity level, and make sure you're on weight loss instead of maintenance. Your calorie count looks like mine and I'm on maintenance.

KatWood

I'm sorry you are getting frustrated and not seeing the results you want. I've looked at your diary and your diet does seem well balanced and I see that you do eat back some of your exercise calories. What type of exercise do you do? I've noticed that the amount of extra calories it is giving you is quite low. Maybe you should try something a bit more intense? Have you seen your doctor recently to discuss your concerns?

The only other thing I can tell you is to try to focus on the other benefits of your lifestyle change besides losing weight. Do you find that you are feeling better? More energy, less stress? Do you find you are sleeping better and have been getting sick less often? Have other health problems gone away or been reduced (for instance my asthma has almost dissappeared).

MattySparky

well regardless of weather or not you dont "buy into" muscle weighs more than fat, its a fact and it might be affecting you. Otherwise keep working at it, no one said it was going to be easy and we're all different. What a total waste of two months it would be if you did give up??!!

pendergraft

thank God somebody else knows how I am feeling...I am having the exact same problem! Thanks for bringing it to a discussion.

MattySparky

thank God somebody else knows how I am feeling...I am having the exact same problem! Thanks for bringing it to a discussion.

honestly, look in the forums, this is a daily "new" topic.

erickirb

Are you estimating your calories burned correctly, you may be over eating. Are you using a Heat Rate Monitor? and are you backing out the calories you would have burned at rest that are taken into account via your daily activity level.

What I mean by the last part is if you burn 1.5 cals per minute at rest and are burning 200 cals in half an hour you would have burned 45 of those anyway (30 Mins x 1.5 cals/min). So what you should enter in MFP would be 155 (200-45) not the full 200.

TropicalKitty

I wonder if some it might be some of the food options. For what I flipped through in your diary, I didn't see a lot of fresh veggies. There were a lot of processed carbs, though, like the farina and instant oatmeal. I don't have anything against grains, but go whole grain, like steel cut oats so you at least get the nutrition that the grain holds.

Also, your fiber is really low. Try upping that, which will naturally happen if you add more veggies and whole grains.

Another thing, nuts are great, but too many (including nut butters) can also impede weight loss.

Aside from the food stuff, your profile said you had a hysterectomy "recently," I wonder if the hormone changes from that could be impacting you.

For workouts, I've always done best when I add a great weight routine in. Muscle is what keeps your body burning more through the day. And of course, like others have said, double check your settings.

dragonfly__

What type of exercise are you doing? I would drop back the number of days that you do it or alternate what you are doing. Are you doing any stregnth training? Lean muscle is a great boost to calorie burn. Don't give up! Everyone is different and it may just take your body longer to get jump started in the right direction. Also with exercise make sure you are getting enough calories in each day, you are staying under.. how far under? Not consuming enough will cause your body to hold to what it has.

hamiltonba

Hello, I looked at your food diary as well and even though you are within your caloric intake, I didn't see any "healthy" foods. Your milk contains a lot of fat! No fruit? I was eating w/in my caloric goals at one time without eating whole foods, fruit, etc. and I gained and didn't lose either. I then decided 1% milk only, add a fruit to EVERY meal. NO foods with additives and was shocked to see how much weight I lost.

rmchan

OMG- You so have to read some of my posts! Exactly the same and I was about to scream also if one more person told me I was building muscle and muscle weighs more than fat- a pd of fat weighs a pd a pd of muscle weighs a pd! LOL! And I did quit all together. I was training for a 1/2 marathon, I had done 90 days of P90X, I was eating within my calorie allowance....I would lose 1/2 pd if any and I was lucky if I didn't lose/gain the same 1/2 pd that I loss the week before!...Towards the end of my training I was exercising 6 days a week and running about 20 miles a week...all for 1/2 pd...What!!!! Ok so here's what I changed!! Still not having big losses but eventually your body will start giving that weight up and it's good that it won't do it so quickly!...I changed my caloric intake to 1500 calories instead of 1200..I try not to go over that number on my rest days...on my workout days I try to eat 1800 calories...and I try to burn atleast 400 calories on my workout days..if I burn more than that then I increase my caloric intake a little..At the end of the week, I normally have some calories that are banked but I also have atleast a day that I went over..didn't make such good choices..but that's ok...it all balances out with the ones I have banked...I try to only eat 3 times a day and one snack..I try to eat balanced meals...if I had a higher carb lunch...then dinner I eat lean protein, veggies..I watch my carbs..I try to only eat whole grains, lean proteins, lower sugar fruits, veggies and I drink a lot of water...Oh and this is something I have cut out...I do not eat anything 3 hours before my bedtime...before I would have my snack after dinner....I cut that out and I'm seeing better results...I was looking back and even though it has been a slow process...I've lost 17.5 pds since Jan 9th! Slow and steady is the key to success...I can tell you when I weighed 193...I could not get pass that number...for months...I would pass it and come back to it...each week...don't know what the deal was but I was about to scream...now I'm 12.5 pds from that number and I will never see it again! Never!!! I also was like you and felt there was something medically wrong...I've never had a weight problem- my entire life...until after the birth of my son....he's 7 will be 8 in Dec...but I'm also 41 yrs old will be 42 and losing weight isn't easy with this old metabolism...but it will move if you keep active!..I went to a specialist and she did a cortisol test...came back neg...I did a glucose tolerance test....no problems there...all my bloodwork looks good....It seems this past month...I'm over the hump and heading down...so you may be close to your hump...don't give up!! Mix up your workouts...do some strength training, go for a bike ride (fat burning) run/walk..whatever you are doing...change it up..shock your body a little!

Samantharose8akaDebbie

Same as the other post.........cut down on your exercise. Your body needs time to rest. I was 185 when I started this in February. I do very little exercise. I am now at 159 and am on 1200 calories per day. There are even days when I have gone over 100-200. Only thing that I can say is if you want to lose it, stick with it.....you will eventually have a breakthrough. Good luck to you.

ndnlou

Well thanks for all the responses, first of all let me say that I did have all my blood levels checked and I was completely normal, 2 hour glucose tolerance test, thyroid, T3, T4, serum insulin testosterone etc... The exercise that i do is Jillian Michaels 30 day shred right now and I am on week 2 of this. So not exercising every day is not an option right now, I want to complete the 30 day shred. I have lost a little tiny bit of the muffin top, and I now have a slight curve to my sides at my natural waist that has always been srtaight, but the scales should move. I am active, I do a lot of walking every day, I walk about one to 2 miles in the coarse of the work day. I adjusted my life style activity now to be sedintary and that drops my calorie goal to 1380. I have a HHR on order and I am waiting on it to arrive. I find that the MFP gives me way high counts for my exercise so I calculate the calories burned on another web site then input results to MFP. Now that i have adjusted my activity level it looks like I have been a little pig, and ate way over what I was allotted.

KatWood

It looked like most days your exercise was only adding 200 calories. This seems low for doing Jillian's 30 day shred program. You may need to try increasing your calories a bit.