Justabout to give up

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ndnlou
ndnlou Posts: 29
in Motivation and Support
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.
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Replies

  • kwardklinck
    kwardklinck Posts: 1,601
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    I would suggest dropping your exercise down to 3 times per week, watch your sodium intake, and drink all of your water.
  • AndriaLL
    AndriaLL Posts: 162
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    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
    Aid_B Posts: 427
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    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
    kellycrow Posts: 140
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    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! :o) )

    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!!! :o)
  • kwardklinck
    kwardklinck Posts: 1,601
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    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
    Sandra9551 Posts: 4
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    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
    jerren Posts: 196
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    I know this may sound stupid, but does your scale work?
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    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
    AndriaLL Posts: 162
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    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
    judithsimons Posts: 19
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    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
    nikmaack Posts: 28 Member
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    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
    kwardklinck Posts: 1,601
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    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
    KatWood Posts: 1,135 Member
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    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
    MattySparky Posts: 771
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    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
    pendergraft Posts: 1
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    thank God somebody else knows how I am feeling...I am having the exact same problem! Thanks for bringing it to a discussion.
  • MattySparky
    MattySparky Posts: 771
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    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
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    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
    TropicalKitty Posts: 2,298 Member
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    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__
    dragonfly__ Posts: 172 Member
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    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
    hamiltonba Posts: 474 Member
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    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.

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