Losing Hope!

marfhutch
marfhutch Posts: 50 Member
in Motivation and Support
Hiya,

I've always been hovering on the 'overweight' boundary (5ft 7, 11st), but it never really bothered me so I ate what I wanted and did little exercise. However, when I put on a stone last year, I decided to make some changes.

I started off by joining a gym and doing 45min cardio 3/4 nights a week and after a few months lost half a stone. When the weightless stopped, I then started using MFP, 1200 a day incl. my exercise....and nothing happened!

So now, I have increased my exercise to about 1 1/2 hours 4 nights a week, with a mixture of circuit training, cardio and weight training. I have started again on 1200 with MFP, but am now measuring all my food (bad with portion control) and not putting in my exercise (always overestimated on machines etc) to ensure I'm not lying to myself. And now I weigh 12st again, with barely any noticeable difference in body composition!

I do have cheat days at weekends sometimes, but I can't understand how this much exercise + reduced cals is making me gain weight :(

Any pointers are much appreciated!

Replies

  • wwhickok
    wwhickok Posts: 29
    I can't help much in the way of what you might need to do differently or anything like that (which I know is what you're looking for) but I can provide this;

    My wife recently had similar struggles emotionally, she'd try to lose weight while exercising and dieting and measuring out food, etc, and nothing seemed to work. I can tell you first hand and really this is probably common knowledge, it's 10x harder to lose weight than it is to gain weight. The WORST thing you can do to yourself is lose hope. Don't do that trust me. For my wife things, through hard work and changes in her routine, finally started to achieve her goals. It's tough and not being in that situation, I know all of this is easy for me to say. But I've been very close to someone who's gone through the same thing, no matter what it takes, don't stop being positive, it's hard, I can only imagine, but that positive attitude is going to make it easier for you to achieve the goals you have in the end.

    Good luck :)
  • bonitacash08
    bonitacash08 Posts: 378 Member
    Don't lose hope! I'm sure others will say the same, but you really should (and can) eat more. With the amount of exercise you're doing, in addition to you being a tall, living, breathing human being, you'll need more than 1200 calories to fuel your body each day. You're depriving your body of the energy it needs to function on a basic level, let alone to perform all that exercise.

    I know it's a scary concept. Trust me I did the 1200 calories thing for 2 months and was PETRIFIED to eat more calories. I won't lie to you. You'll "gain" a few pounds at first (I put quotations because it's not fat, it's water weight) but it will eventually drop and the weight will start moving in the direction you want it to.

    I will also suggest weight lifting. Compound lifts using free weights will help you lose fat while retaining lean muscle to give you a sexy, lean body while you're losing weight. Simply dieting and tons of cardio will leave you with flabby skin and no muscle definition.

    Change your goals to losing 0.5-1.0 lbs a week. Eat all of those calories, plus any you burn in exercise. I promise things will regulate themselves in your body with a little time. Be patient. And honestly, you can do this now and save a lot of frustration and possible health risks, or you can do it later and have to rebuild what you lost in terms of muscle and lean body mass.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    1200 calories is not enough for someone who is 5'7"

    1200 is a "popular" number because it's the lowest number MFP gives anyone. When you plug in an agressive weight loss goal ....MFP gives you 1200. That doesn't mean 1200 is the "healthiest" way to go.

    Check these numbers .... you might want to increase your calories

    BMR - basal metabolic rate ..... calories needed if you were in a coma

    http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/bmr-calculator.html

    TDEE - total daily expenditure .... calories you use based on activity level (including) exercise

    http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html
  • wwhickok
    wwhickok Posts: 29
    I know I mentioned I'm not of much use on what changes to make, but I do have to chime in here and say that the posters who told you to increase your calories are right. This is one of the changes my wife made when she was struggling and it really improved things for her. The weight really started coming off. It's slowed down a bit for her, but I think that's partly because she's so close to her goal that it's harder to lose that extra weight now.
  • RawCarrots
    RawCarrots Posts: 204 Member
    I can't really advise you but thought I'd comment since I'm the same height and similar weight - I'm 5' 7.5 and currently 12st 5 lb, exercising on average 5 times a week for 30 minutes (fast walk) and eating 1550-1600 (+100-200 more when I excercice) and I'm still losing 1-2lb a week on average. I was on 1200 calories at the start but just couldn't survive long term on so little food, so increased to 1550, and will increase again in few weeks as I'd rather lose slower but eat more:blushing:

    You are doing way more exercise than me and eating much less, not sure how do you survive. I was terrified I'd start gaining when I increased the calories but happy to report had a BIG jump downwards instead:smile:
  • BeckyWakefield
    BeckyWakefield Posts: 1
    I would be getting in to see a doctor to have all thyroid, hormone, and blood count levels checked asap! You are really working hard so it could be something hidden.... plus 1200 calories seems way too low for all that exercise, you could put your body into starvation mode in which it hordes calories
  • Akimajuktuq
    Akimajuktuq Posts: 3,037 Member
    Too much cardio, not enough food.
  • framingsammie
    framingsammie Posts: 144 Member
    Definitely re-evaluate your calorie targets. 1,200 calories isn't enough especially when exercising. Also, you say you sometimes have cheat weekends, do you log these? Of course it's perfectly okay to treat yourself but maybe because you're eating so little over the week you 'make up for it' within the space of the weekend which then leads you to 'gain weight' (water weight when you next weigh in, maybe?) I'm not sure if this was even helpful but I wish you the best of luck with your weight loss! :)
  • Berkeleyist
    Berkeleyist Posts: 1
    I had given up on trying to lose weight, too. Then, one day, I found a free app that I put on my iPhone and forgot about. I was looking through my apps to get rid of useless apps, and I saw the app I had downloaded about a month prior. It was You Can Run a 5K by Red Rock Apps! Trust me, when I say I am not a runner... I couldn't run a minute without stopping! (I think I still breath heavily in my runs, judging by the looks I get from people I pass by... but I also get thumbs up from bunches of people I see along my runs... very energizing!) So, anyway, I thought I would try the app, since it was so convincing that anyone could do it. This was on April fools day, of all days! Anyway, I was amazed that I was able to do the running the app suggested (I did walk instead of run at times). It was the first time that I actually saw weight changes on the scale! I just finished the You Can Run a 5K, when I saw that You Can Run a 10K was on sale for $0.99. Ah, fate! I bought the new run program, and I am again amazed that I can do the running suggested, and I am still seeing weight come off the scale! I am worried that I will plateau again, like I had in the beginning of my weight loss journey, but, knock on wood, it hasn't happened for any sustained time period, since I began the running app. I don't know if this will work for you, like it did for me, but what it did tell me is to not give up trying to find something that works. This might not be your solution, but you might want to change up your routine and see if something you never would have thought to try works for you. I never would have believed I would like to run as much as I now run!
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,228 Member
    Too much cardio, not enough food.

    This. And needs lifting!
  • nwg74
    nwg74 Posts: 360 Member
    11st at 5' 7" is a healthy weight. It is 154 pounds for those in the US.

    1200 calories is too low.
  • mamosh81
    mamosh81 Posts: 409 Member
    so all the ppl screaming eat more did not consider the cheat days you are having.... how much do you eat on this days? because if you eat 5000 or more cals then yeah you will gain weight because you destroy your weeks work. I am 5`6 and i eat between 1500 and 1800 cals a day id also say increase your calorie intake to stop the cheat days (hunger frenzy) days you are having.

    Recalculate
  • morkiemama
    morkiemama Posts: 894 Member
    Too much cardio, not enough food.

    This. And needs lifting!

    This!

    Read this article for a further understanding of why too much cardio + not enough calories is counterproductive:

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html
  • Bizzarrini
    Bizzarrini Posts: 69 Member
    Hi there, I am exactly the same weight and height as you! Down from 13st 5lbs a couple of months ago. I am aiming initially to get down to 11st. I have been surprised by how unevenly the weight falls off even though I read about it on here. Some weeks I stay the same and then some I lose 5 lbs. So I just used the weekly login and am pleased I am not gaining. My calories are set to 1200 but I use that as a kind of guidance. I rarely eat under that and only rarely go up to 1800 or so. My diary is open so take a peak. Giving my body the things my mind loves has helped to create a happy balance between the two. So wine and crisps and chocolate are all allowed. Just in moderation (unlike before!).
    I feel really positive on this journey and am sure you will start to lose again, just don't go back to old habits and log EVERYTHING!!

    Add me as a friend if you like and we can drop from 12 st together.

    Stay strong x
  • Hoosier96
    Hoosier96 Posts: 118 Member
    Eat over your BMR. Eat back exercise if you are hungry. Weight train. I don't think you are eating enough at all. You can mess your metabolism up. Love your body and it will love you back. Make sure your calories are nutrient dense and not empty.
  • nicola1141
    nicola1141 Posts: 613 Member
    Eat more on weekdays, log your "cheat" weekends.
  • marfhutch
    marfhutch Posts: 50 Member
    Thanks for all the replies! Won't reply to all the tips, but thanks for the encouragement :)
    Some good advice on upping the cals, but I'm just so scared that ill
    Pile on more pounds...it's all balanced at the moment (40/40/20) and rarely feeling hungry so is it really worth retraining my body to want more food?
    On the cheat days...your definitely right! I don't normally log fully, but am relatively good at keeping track and know its quite high! Starting this week I'm trying to limit it, but hard when family/boyfriend judge me for not 'enjoying snacks like I used to'!
    Too much cardio, not enough food.

    This. And needs lifting!

    This!

    Also to this, as I said in the op, I -used- to do stupid cardio, but now do mostly weight based classes incl a barbell conditioning classes! Trying to get into free weights but don't have a spotter often enough to do it
    Properly!
  • marfhutch
    marfhutch Posts: 50 Member
    **** UPDATE *****

    I've upped my net calorie goal from 1200 to 1500 based on the above advice.

    However, now I've got used to it, I still find it easy to stick to only eating 1200 gross during the week. This also means that when I have a cheat weekend, I can still be under my new gross -weekly- goal (10,500).

    My question is, is it OK to work like this, or is it more important to be meeting my 1500 goal everyday without cheats?
  • daltem
    daltem Posts: 138 Member
    I still have a hard time with this concept but I'm going to try to cut back on exercise and eat more of my calories. I'm on 1200 calories- prescribed by a physician. I'd lost 31 lbs bu today had a gain of 1.4. I did binge one day this week ( consuming over 3000 calories ( I can't believe I just admitted this!) ). I'd stayed way under every other day. Up until this week, I'd lost every week since starting the first week of April.

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