I'm not losing weight :'[

csuhar: The thing is 1200 is a huge amount of food for me. I struggle to eat more than about 1500 to be honest. Whenever i hit 2000 or more calories i get very anxious and upset but thats just due to eating issues im trying to overcome. I eat when im hungry rather than just filling myself with calories. Sometimes it does go over 2000 if its a **** day [no one gets to my weight eating 1200 calories of veggies afterall!] but im eating less at the moment and ive found im actually eating more in my portions to make it to 1200.

If I may ask (again, feel free to not answer): What kind of "struggle" is it for you? Is it a personal / emotional one (you mention becoming anxious) or a practical one?

When I first saw the calculators saying I should be eating 3000 calories a day to maintain, I didn't believe it at first. It was a leap of faith for me to break away from the fact that, here in the USA, they're always talking about a 2000 calorie diet, which forms the basis for all our "nutritional information" on packaging and the general guidelines we teach our children. But, after making the leap and accepting that guideline, I've actually LOST a few pounds. It takes a lot of faith to go from what we've been brought up regarding as common knowledge or the "appropriate" way of doing things when these calculators tell us something different.

In the military, we see new recruits who sometimes have to make that leap. They don't believe us when we tell them they should be eating a lot when they go through training. They go from a civilian culture where we've often oversimplified things to say "if you want to keep a healthy weight, avoid eating" to one where their instructors are prompting them to eat more to maintain their health, a complete 180-degree turn from the path they originally followed. Even I was surprised when I went through training, loading my plate full and sometimes piling it high (something I never do on my own) for 3 meals a day for 4 weeks and I STILL lost 15 pounds.

But I've also come across a practical challenge. My schedule is one that makes it harder to prepare enough food. Most of the cookbooks I use that include the nutritional information usually keep each item to 300-500 calories, meaning I would need to make between 6 and 10 different items. This challenge will be an ongoing one, but the way I've been able to deal with it is to try to balance what I make from scratch with what I can buy in the store (I know we're ideally supposed to avoid procesed foods, but I'm still limited to 24 hours in a day).


Either way, I really hope you'll be able to dig deep and find whatever inspiration and motivation will keep you going. You may take a while to find what really works for you, but CAN do it. Remember, you've only been on this path for a few months. These things will take time, but it will be worth it in the end.

Well until you can stop relating food to emotional ties and until you get past that anxiety, we can not really help. Your asking to help you solve a problem but won't tell us the problem. But here are my thoughts based on experiences of working with people with ED's. First, you need to follow ninerbuff's advice by sticking to a program for several months. In fact, since you had an ED, you probably destroyed your lean body mass, so it could take longer to rehabilitate everything. If you are active and you workout 4-6 days a week, you probably need to eat 1800-2100 calories a day. Second, you need to weight train, it needs to be heavy and it needs to be around 3 days a week to help preserve what is left of your muscle. Also, constantly breaking down the muscles so your body is forced to repair will cause your metabolism to increase and eventually stabilize again. Essentially, you want to reset your RMR to where it should be as opposed to it's suppressed state. Also, you should have a diet high in protein. This will allow your body to recover and repair the muscles. Generally, I suggest 35% carbs, 40% protein and 25% fats for macro's. It has worked for me as well as many others here and it lets you hit the rule of 1g of protein and .35g of fat per lb of lean body mass (pending you eat enough calories).


Outside of that, you need some help for the mental instability. And eliminate the scale. Start to take pictures and body measurements. If you eliminate the enabler of distress (the scale), you can just concentrate on getting stronger and more fit and you will see greater results. Weight is really meaningless. Weighing less doesn't mean you are skinnier either as demonstrated by the two below threads. If you work on being fit, then the rest will come.


http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/392784-skinny-fat-vs-fit-photo?hl=skinny+fat

I understand what your feeling, I have been dieting for 2 months and did so much homework on what is the right foods and wrong. I added exercise, and like you I ate my calorie count both ways before and after exercise. and ate less then allowed after exercise. I lost 10 pounds but the last week not one pound gone. It is very discouraging but I am determined to lose this extra weight. I read the ingredients before anything goes in my mouth. what the heck can I do to get past this platue. I even changed up my exercise because i read your bady can get used to the exercise. the only thing I haven't tried is starving myself. I know that is not what i need to do can anyone help

Well weight loss isn't linear, so adjusting your expectations will help. Also, try not to eat under your goals. Also, keep in mind a calorie deficit is stress on your body, and when you don't eat enough, it will add more stress. And as many studies show, stress prevents weight loss (due to cortisol). But keep at it, give it time and if you can't figure it out, then post a thread. Most women I know eat 1700-2000 calories (if they are active). So there might be some thought if you are eating enough.

I'm sure some will poo-poo this suggestion but I'd like to see you break up your meals and try to eat something every couple hours. You say you don't snack but snacking can actually be really good, not the evil wrong that so many think of when dieting. I'm not talking cookies, chocolate, etc but something healthy, filling and nutritious. It doesn't have to be much, just a handful of nuts or a fruit with some peanut butter or a couple hard boiled eggs... And I know this is seen as a myth to many people but for those whose metabolism has nearly shut down due to eating issues it can help. A friend of mine did this and it really helped with her weight loss. Worth a try anyway...

This.

I started keeping nuts in my desk drawer at work, as I was snacking on chocolate bars etc during the day. Now I just have a couple of small handfuls of nuts instead, and I'm less hungry, and feel better for it. Plus the protein makes up for days when my meat intake is low.

Honestly it sounds to me like you're having eating disorder issues and that you should seek medical attention to get you on the right road.

Yeah, if you aren't going to open your diary, we can't really help with more specifics. Just give you general information.