Anyone else frustrated by "All I did was..." posts?

pyt4c

It actually sounds like you may need to eat MORE. Good luck.

enitsirhck

I won't lie...you guys are not the first to tell me I wasn't eating enough but yeah, I was stubborn and refused to believe it.

And someone said, I must be run down trying to exercise on 1200 calories and..yeah, I very often am (it doesn't help that I'm only getting maybe about 6hrs sleep a night) - which is why even though I *want* to strength train at least 4 days a week, I tend to only get there 2-3 days.

I am gonna trust you guys, increase my daily and MAKE SURE I get AT LEAST 1300 NET a day and keep my nutrition balanced - I am just going to trust my body to use these calories to give me the energy I need to get to the gym at 4:45am, to build those muscles and get me where I need to be.

And yeah, I know my BMI is in the healthy range, my goal is lower my BF% which I naturally translated into "a cut" which translated into being below maintenance but - you guys are all right - I've BEEN doing that and it HASN'T WORKED. So I will trust, and give my body more fuel.

Thanks for all the advice and replies guys!! MFP is definitely one of the friendliest, most helpful places to get advice and encouragement!

cordianet

I'll also vote for not eating enough. Drastically undereating like you are is a recipe for disaster and just does not work.. I recommend researching "Adaptive Thermogenesis" if you're the sort of person that needs to better understand why this is so problematic.

One other thing: get your RMR tested and base your calculations off that. Anything else is just a guess and can have a significant effect on overall success. Since you're pretty close to the normal range BF% wise, you should probably be doing TDEE-10% It will be slow, but it will work, as long as you actually know your RMR.

claritarejoice

Hi there, sorry for your frustration. It's been said before, but I will just share from my experience:
1) you aren't eating enough calories. Like you I am in the healthy weight range, very close to maintenance. I am eating 1700 calories.
2) unfortunately at 26% body fat as a woman you just can't lose weight that fast. A 2-month "stall" at least from what you can see is not uncommon, and you may not be doing anything wrong at all. Weight loss gets slow close to your goal and you shouldn't have your goals set to lose more than 1/2 pound a week. If you eat more and work on building muscle, the extra muscle will increase your metabolism and perhaps help you lose more.
3) focus on the positive - you are healthy, you have accomplished so much, and you look fantastic. Congrats! I hope this helps.

tangee22

I have not read all the previous posts, but I was thinking about this whole "All I did was..." issue this morning. I have cut out pop for a whole year and lost 6 whole pounds, while my husband lost 30-40 pounds by doing the same. I tried Weight Watchers and stayed under my daily points at least 6 days each week and rarely used my cheat points and again, lost near nothing.

I am so d@mn tired of these people who start exercising, eating healthier and then pushing their weight loss and suggestions in my face. For goodness sakes, leave me alone. My body is so different from yours and the second you eat a ho-ho you are going to gain 2 pounds, but eating 2 ho-hos won't do a darn thing for me.

Besides, I am not a sweets eater. I do like pop and sweet tea and have cut both down to approximately 1-2 servings of sweet beverages a day and once again, no weight loss. I am staying withing a 1500-1800 calorie diet and no weight lost. Yes, it could be medical and when I get checked out, I am healthy, very healthy!!!!

I am sort of have a mind set of "This is who I am and if I love me, then everyone else can suck it."

Okay, that feels better...I needed to get that off my chest.

Capt_Apollo

those people aren't you. you aren't them. stop comparing yourself and start working on getting your own results.

elainecroft

As someone who also has trouble losing, even with exercise/measuring/all of those things that people assume that you are not doing...I sympathize. Sometimes it is just hard. And it is even harder for people who have had positive experiences to not think that you are doing something wrong because you aren't doing what worked for them. All I can say is good luck, and kudos to you for your positive lifestyle!

MaryJane_8810002

TeachTheGirl

In regards to the 'All I did was cut out X food', look at it this way:

Those people gained weight because of those foods. If you had been consuming them regularly and then stopped, it's likely you would have lost the weight you'd gained from them too. You're just a step ahead of them.

djeffreys10

Don't be suprised if you gain a little bit the first week or two that you up your calories. Give it 3-4 weeks to let your body adjust and see what happens.

RoseTears143

Not sure if you have a lot or a little left to lsoe but you might want to look into food intolerances believe it or not. Even a mild food allergy can cause issues with weight. It doesn't mean you break out in full blown hives or run to the bathroom when you eat the food your body is rejecting. Water weight and having a really hard time losing weight could mean you are eating something that offends your body.

melindasuefritz

no

AshleyPaleo

You said you eat very little red meat? Why?

danasings

OP, I also think you should increase your calories....but I would recommend that you do it slowly, like 100 more a day the first week, then 100 more a day the second. Going straight from netting @1000/day to netting @1400/day will more than likely show up as weight gain, and you seem like that would freak you out. When I was netting very low and stuck at a "plateau" of sorts, I slowly increased my intake and started losing again. PM me if you have any questions, best of luck.

_DaniD_

You're already within a healthy weight range, what is it you're trying to accomplish? At this point, I would suggest throwing your scale out.

ArroganceInStep

Here and on many other sites I always see posts like "I just stopped drinking soda and I lost 15 lbs!" or "All I did was switch from full fat to skim and I lost 5lbs!" and it's getting really frustrating to me.

I only drink water (at least 2Q a day) or plain unsweetened loose tea (maybe 2 cups of coffee a week, if that). I only use unsweetened almond milk in cooking. I eat mostly clean, I hardly ever eat red meat, I take my vitamins, I count my calories, my only vice is going over on sugar sometimes and even then, it's still usually under 35-40g a day. I calculated my exact protein/fat/carb needs and most days I hit them as close as possible, I almost never eat my exercise back, I NEVER get even CLOSE to maintenance calories, I work out 4-5 days a week and while I know I'm getting stronger, neither my measurements nor my weight has changed at all in over 2 months.

I keep telling myself the only thing missing from the equation is patience, but I've been eating mostly-clean for years and I don't know how much else I can cut without driving myself insane - I'm already close to that point when I get mad at myself for eating HALF A HANDFUL OF RAISINS as a CHEAT.

Anyone else in the same boat? Any advice or suggestions? One condition, anyone who mentions Keto diet is going to get smacked.

That's not true if you haven't been losing weight, sorry.

MireyGal76

You've gotten some great advice for the most part.

Check out this link (sorry if someone has already posted it):
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/963088-level-obstacles-lose-weight-target-fat-easy

It is imperative that you fuel you body. It's no different than a vehicle - you aren't going to get very far if you are running on fumes... and if you have no gas in the tank, you can really mess up your system.

I know you said that you don't feel hungry, but that doesn't mean that you are well nourished. A parallel example: I am chronically dehydrated. I never drink water. I am never thirsty. But when I force myself to drink two glasses of water, all of a sudden it's like my body realizes... HEY I LIKE THAT STUFF!!

I would recommend easing into a higher net calorie goal. It is my opinion (emphasis on MY OPINION) that you exercise a lot, and you don't eat enough to sustain the demand on your body - and therefore you are stalling.

I know I am much taller than you (6'1") but I am netting around 2000 cals PLUS exercise cals and my body fat is quite low. I only work out once or twice a week, and have a desk job.

I am quite certain that your body needs more fuel to function properly.

You seem pretty strict when it comes to your diet, so I don't think you need any help there.

Rilke

I won't lie...you guys are not the first to tell me I wasn't eating enough but yeah, I was stubborn and refused to believe it.

And someone said, I must be run down trying to exercise on 1200 calories and..yeah, I very often am (it doesn't help that I'm only getting maybe about 6hrs sleep a night) - which is why even though I *want* to strength train at least 4 days a week, I tend to only get there 2-3 days.

I am gonna trust you guys, increase my daily and MAKE SURE I get AT LEAST 1300 NET a day and keep my nutrition balanced - I am just going to trust my body to use these calories to give me the energy I need to get to the gym at 4:45am, to build those muscles and get me where I need to be.

And yeah, I know my BMI is in the healthy range, my goal is lower my BF% which I naturally translated into "a cut" which translated into being below maintenance but - you guys are all right - I've BEEN doing that and it HASN'T WORKED. So I will trust, and give my body more fuel.

Thanks for all the advice and replies guys!! MFP is definitely one of the friendliest, most helpful places to get advice and encouragement!

Good for you for being willing to change things, and best of luck.

geekyjock76

You set your activity level incorrectly with the Katch-McKardle formula - you are moderately active by exercising four to five days a week. That kicks up your TDEE to 2035 calories which gives you 1785 to eat and lose half a lb per week. Thus, for someone at 26% bodyfat, and very active, eating 1200 calories was way under what you should be eating. In addition to the lack of sleep, you were adding extra stress to your endocrine system by eating so little.

savithny

And someone said, I must be run down trying to exercise on 1200 calories and..yeah, I very often am (it doesn't help that I'm only getting maybe about 6hrs sleep a night) - which is why even though I *want* to strength train at least 4 days a week, I tend to only get there 2-3 days.

I've been doing a bunch of reading on sleep deprivation and its effects, and this could be a much bigger deal than most people think. Much bigger deal. Chronic sleep deprivation causes major disruptions in metabolic hormones, they're finding. One researcher reported anecdotally that as a side effect of an experiment that required subjects to get a full 8.25 hours of sleep every night? The subjects lost an average of a pound a week without otherwise dieting.