Discouraged.

kabel4892
kabel4892 Posts: 167 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have been at this for a month. I have a desk job but I work out about 4 times a week and have added a lot of fruits and veggies to my diet. Ive tried to keep at my goal of 1800 calories (sometimes I only go over by less than 200) but nothing seems to shed the weight. I havent lost anything. Ive actually gained... I was 150 and now im 155. Im not expecting miracles. And I know that since I only want to lose about 15 lbs, its going to happen slower. But not even a pound? Really?

Replies

  • ArianaLuvsMe101
    ArianaLuvsMe101 Posts: 138
    Hmmmm...... It may be that you need to start eating 1,600 instead of 1,800 calories..... What you can do is cut down bread and sugars (like cakes, cookies, and other fattening stuff) and see what happens.
    Have you been trying the gym? If you try that, and nothing works, then that means that your body loses very slowly. I wish you the best of luck!

    Love,
    Ariana
  • joniannbrooks
    joniannbrooks Posts: 14 Member
    Maybe your not eating enough. An 1800 cal a day plan sounds low to me. When I was 155 I was on 1240 a day. 5 fruits and veggies a day, to meals; one for lunch and one for dinner. and a breakfast. I had snacks of fruit 3x a day. I've gained a few back and am now doing 1200 with 4 days a week exercise for an hour. I just went to a dietician and she suggested I bump up my exercise routine.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    Your diary shows that you are consistently going over, not occasionally.

    Are you measuring your portions? If you are over serving yourself in addition to these slight overages, you might be eating quite a bit more than you think.

    How are you figuring your calories for your workouts? How are you working out?
  • username_misso
    username_misso Posts: 50 Member
    first of all, this -
    http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRuuy54JbCJNmzlXF44vjaCrMl7LIybRia_eqTmPB1tRLnl9btB6969HS1w

    if you are losing fat and replacing it with muscle, the number on the scales may be going up but your clothes may also be feeling looser and fitting better.

    what is your exercise routine like?
  • laurasg33
    laurasg33 Posts: 1 Member
    Don't Give Up. MEASURE EVERYTHING YOU EAT. You may have to cut back on your calories. Don't know how tall you are, but why not go to 1500 cal and that will allow for the 200 you are going over. Exercise sometimes makes me hungrier. Lay off of it for just a little time until you get your food situated.
    Fruit is good and unlimited in Weight watchers, but still has calories. Increase your veggies and decrease your fruit intake.
  • kabel4892
    kabel4892 Posts: 167 Member
    I usually ride the bike for 20 minutes. Use the eliptical for 25 minutes. And then back to the bike for 10. Then I use this one weight machine on my arms for 5 minutes. So usually I spend an hour at the gym about 4 days a week.
  • kabel4892
    kabel4892 Posts: 167 Member
    Don't Give Up. MEASURE EVERYTHING YOU EAT. You may have to cut back on your calories. Don't know how tall you are, but why not go to 1500 cal and that will allow for the 200 you are going over. Exercise sometimes makes me hungrier. Lay off of it for just a little time until you get your food situated.
    Fruit is good and unlimited in Weight watchers, but still has calories. Increase your veggies and decrease your fruit intake.

    I'm 5'7". And ive tried 1500 calories but I'm always hungry.
  • GuybrushThreepw00d
    GuybrushThreepw00d Posts: 784 Member
    1. drink more water. hit your 8 cups a day.
    2. eat less sodium. try keeping it at about 1500
    3. eat a lot less sugar. i mean a lot less, a couple of your diary entries are WAAY high.

    Stick to your 1800 calories for 2-3 weeks. Report back.

    What's your exercise routine like..?
  • marycmeadows
    marycmeadows Posts: 1,691 Member
    your diet is full of processed stuff and empty carbs. cut that crap out. eat way more protein, you're not eating nearly enough. just because you're supposedly under your 'calorie' goal doesn't mean you're eating right. and stop doing just cardio. do strength training. someone mentioned putting on muscle while losing fat. that is NOT what's happening here. you did not put on 5lbs of muscle in a few weeks. not possible, especially while eating so LITTLE protein.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    You are showing burns of 150-250 for an hour? That seems low, in intensity if not in math. I burn more than that walking.

    More importantly it is yet another thing that makes me wonder if you are being honest with yourself when you log.
  • lckneggs
    lckneggs Posts: 8
    Hey, don't get discouraged. Your body is thinking it needs to hold on to or add fat to keep up with what you are doing. Keep your carbs low, eat breakfast. Increase the tension on both the bike and the eliptical for 10 minutes, then go back to your original.

    I was the same way when I started bootcamp in October. Gained a few pounds, WHAT!
    BUT, my clothes felt different, better.

    Don't live by the scale. Up your intensity, join a class (Zumba or Yoga). You also won't get bored with what you are doing. If you can stand to do a hot yoga class, one hour will burn nearly 700 calories! Do that for one of your gym days. hang in there.
  • Daisy80
    Daisy80 Posts: 755 Member
    Have you been on low calorie diets for long times before? If so you should maybe consider a metabolic reset...
    Check out this group for load of help on how many calories to eat and also on metabolic reset...

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/3817-eat-more-to-weigh-less
  • supergirljen
    supergirljen Posts: 98
    I would bet if you cut out all or almost all of the processed, sugar, junk kinds of food and replaced them with lean protein and vegetables and fiber you would find that you werent constantly hungry on a lower calorie count.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    First of all, going over your goal by a couple hundred calories routinely can absolutely hinder your weight loss considering a 250 calorie deficit or surplus from maintenance TDEE per day equals 1 pound either way, lost or gained. I'm assuming you're trying to do 1 Lb per week loss...so I would assume that your maintenance level TDEE is right around 2,000-2,100 calories per day...if you're routinely going over you're simply not going to see the results.

    Another issue could be that your calorie estimates are off in RE to what you are consuming and what you are actually burning in your workouts...people tend to burn far fewer calories than cardio machines and other calculators say they are burning.

    My guess is that you are actually netting above your maintenance TDEE over the course of the week...a little over here, and a little over there...not logging some days, not weighing or measuring your food, etc. It's pretty easy to do and a pretty common error. I was having similar issues at one point and found out that weighing and measuring my food solved a lot of my problems...I was doing too much eyeballing and my portions were significantly more than I thought they were...I was logging 1 when I really had closer to 1.5 or 2 servings, etc. Things also improved when I got myself a HRM and started recording actual burns and not grossly over or underestimated burns.

    I've found that filling my diet with nutritionally dense foods and plenty of healthy fats and proteins really helps stave off the hunger when you're eating at a deficit. If you're diet is high in carbs...especially highly processed carbs, you're going to be hungry at a deficit and probably at maintenance as well.

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