I can't lose unless I starve?

Ok, someone check my maths on this.

Taking info from your profile, your BMR is 1786. If I set your activity level to Lightly Active, your TDEE is 1917. I'm not sure how much you're exercising though, just guessing from what your profile says.

Eat at least your BMR - 1786 cals per day. Stay with that for a few weeks/a month and see if that drops any weight. I can't help much more than that as I see you have a lot of health issues that make losing weight difficult.

"I've found that it's exercise that keeps me from falling into starvation mode. If I had to stick to my goal of 1220 calories per day I'd be pretty miserable. But because I exercise a lot, often burning 800 to 1800 calories extra per day, I can add extra food without going over my net calorie goal."

This guy gets it.

May I suggest renaming your meals? It may help if you have them split up throughout the day so we can see if you are craving at any certain time of the day. I have mine listed as bkf, am snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, eve snack. I did it that way so I could see if there was a pattern. I learned I want to snack in that 4-5:30pm time after work, but before husband gets home for dinner. For a bit log everything... every drink, condiment, etc.

Also, consider changing your formulas in the settings.

And though you may not want to hear it, consider changing what diet you are following. Maybe low-carbing isn't for you. Maybe balanced all the way around will work better for you. personally any diet that tells me eating an apple isn't permitted just isn't the route for me.

As for your medical issues, not only am I a Nurse but one that is 37, had a recent hysterectomy (Feb), taking hormone replacement and an antidepressant (paxil) for hormone stabilizing but also have hypothyroidism and take meds for it. 3 issues and meds known for not only causing weight gain but also hindering weight loss. Throw in only eating 1 carb a day and I may go off the deep end

I'm 5'9" tall.

The trouble with exercise is that I can start right after my period, but about mid-cycle (2 weeks in) I get tired and by 3 weeks in I am absolutely exhausted and I can barely do the minimum to take care of my family. My muscles hurt and ache all over (and not DOMS) and I just feel weak and tired.
I guess it's pretty clearly my health issues at fault here. I am just so frustrated and sad and angry and I think it's other life issues that have brought my tolerance level down.

Anyone else recovered from similar health issues?

Have you been checked for any health issues you might have with this pain?

I would suggest not going low carb. Carbs are great for fueling exercise and daily activities. I imagine if you are eating more food consistently, more carbs, including more whole, nutrient-dense foods (fruit, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins), then your energy levels, pain (if you have no other health issues causing it), and mood would improve significantly.

My suggestion is that you speak to a nutritionist. You are barely eatting enough to keep your body going, much less improve your health to the point your body is willing to let go of the excess weight. I am glad to see that you goal weight is acutally based on how you wiil feel, look.


Good luck.

^^^ this.... and an ob/gyn!

You are not being consistent with sticking to a calorie goal for long enough to see if it works. You need to have commitment, consistency, and patience.

This is a good calculator to figure out the calories you should eat to lose weight: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator

I am willing to bet you should be eating at least 1600-1700 calories to lose weight. Unless you exercise (I didn't see much in your diary), then it would be more. Stick to it for a couple of months, try not to go over your calories too often (and by so much), and see if it works.

It's all in your choices. Eat more bulky greens and less pasta and cheese. More lean protein and less hamburger.

I eat a pile of sauteed greens or steamed broccoli bigger than my head most days. Eat mashed squash instead of potatoes or rice.

Who told me to shut up? Please PM me.

I agree with that (I've never quoted anyone before, so hopefully you can see what I'm quoting!). I'm with you as far as the scale not budging, or even gaining. I lost 29 pounds a year ago and have gained over half of it back. I think that our bodies actually crave consistency, and I don't think that it's because I usually eat over 1600 calories every day and probably up to 2200 a lot, but giving up and binging in cycles are what have helped me gain, looking back. Also, I wouldn't suggest low or no carb to anyone, because that is the source of fuel for our cells (it all gets broken down into sugar), and if you're body think it's starving, you might lose short-term but in the long-run, it's going to go into starvation mode. Meaning anything you eat will be stored much more easily than used because your body is preparing for possibility of famine again. I also look back on what I did to lose, and I noticed I was much more consistent with exercise. Even walking 45 minutes several days a week was really beneficial. I myself am trying very hard to be consistent but also patient. It's easy to give up when we don't see instant results. But if we give it a chance, it sounds crazy, but our bodies know what they're doing.

Been there, done that. The low carb, that is. Once I lost about 50 pounds but as soon as I went back to normal eating, I gained the 50 plus another 30 or so. It worked for me to lose, but not to stay healthy. That was years ago. This trip -- and it will be my last -- I lost about 40 lbs doing the very low carb thing. As soon as I hit a plateau, I used that as my excuse to get on a healthy and long-term eating plan that I can actually stick with. It took about two weeks after I changed my eating for the weight to start going down again. And while it isn't going down as fast, it is somethnig I can deal with for the long term.

I'm sending you a friend request so you'll be able to check out my food diary. Message me if you have any questions.