SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!!!! :'(

123looloola
123looloola Posts: 8
in Health and Weight Loss
im 32yrs old and 168lbs I have been doing MFP for almost 3 months now and have only lost 2.5lbs. Im beyond frustrated because i feel that im at the worst plateau of life.

i used to take every diet pill out there and decided to do it the healthy way so i started about 6 months ago (letting go of the pills) and almost 3 months now on MFP eating between 1300-1500 calories (all healthy organic raw food and meats.. only water and teas and i exercise twice a week.. (due to an injury i had i cant really do too much at the gym) regardless of working out or not eating the way that i am, i should loose weight .. and im not :sad:

has anyone had this? how do i break this horrible weight plateau???!? please help!! i am so ready to give up.. no pills worked... and now doing it the healthy way isnt working either..

PS the 2.5lbs i lost were the 1st month... now im stuck! :explode:

Replies

  • KimINfortheWin
    KimINfortheWin Posts: 251 Member
    Open up your diary and let us get a peek at it. That helps tremendously.
  • cathomer
    cathomer Posts: 88
    You might not be eating enough - you don't weigh all that much really, so if you don't eat enough your body will hang on to what it's got - Try alternating, one day have more calories, the next day have less, it helps by keeping your body at a fat burning level, and not going in to starvation mode.
  • freemystery
    freemystery Posts: 184 Member
    I share your frustrations!

    Open up your diary? Maybe the answer is in there?

    Also have you had your blood work done- is your thyroid working ok etc?
  • poedunk65
    poedunk65 Posts: 1,336 Member
    Be realistic. Are you eating right? are ytou exercising correctly.

    without any of that info every is conjecture.
  • mojohowitz
    mojohowitz Posts: 900 Member
    Exercise more. I weigh 220. I eat 1500-200 calories a day. I run 20-30 miles a week. I may lose 1/2 lb a week if I am lucky. If I "eat my exercise calories" I gain weight.

    The human body is finicky and difficult to measure.
  • micheleld73
    micheleld73 Posts: 914 Member
    How tall are you?
  • PepperWorm
    PepperWorm Posts: 1,206
    Find an exercise regimen that will be friendly to your injury. Bump up the exercise.
  • Alwayssohungry
    Alwayssohungry Posts: 369 Member
    Your body is going to take some time to recover from years of diet pills. Open up your diary and we can offer some more educated information
  • 123looloola
    123looloola Posts: 8
    I share your frustrations!

    Open up your diary? Maybe the answer is in there?

    Also have you had your blood work done- is your thyroid working ok etc?

    Yes i got checked for everything and everything came back fine..
  • 123looloola
    123looloola Posts: 8
    How tall are you?

    5'5
  • billsica
    billsica Posts: 4,741 Member
    You ARE losing weight You lost 2.5 pounds the right way. Congrats on that.

    Its not a lot, but I can't see what your goals are. If you only need to lose a little, don't expect 2 lbs a week. I only will set mine at 1lbs and now I cycle that from 1lbs per week to .5lbs per week.

    Mine happens to match up more or less with 10% less than TDEE and that works for me.
  • laddyboy
    laddyboy Posts: 1,565 Member
    2 things you can do.

    1. Make your food log public so we can see how much and what you are eating.

    2. Zig Zag your calories. Google zig zag diet.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    hey!! i grew up in flushing!!

    oh, you probably need to eat more... and i disagree with the zig-zagging calories part. consistency is key.
  • trinitylyons01
    trinitylyons01 Posts: 126 Member
    Hi there!

    You may need to exercise more times in a week - at least five days - to have a good calorie deficit. I know you have an injury but what type (not trying to get personal)? If it's lower body there are still chair and upper body exercises that can give you quite a workout and burn calories. If its a back exercise maybe there's something you can do with back support that still burns calories. I would ask your doctor and maybe even a certified trainer (preferably one with a kinesiology background) to look at your injury and design a workout you can do more regularly.

    If that is not a possibility look at your eating habits. You may need a registered dietician to do an evaluation to see how many calories you burn on your own. (They did this for my husband). It was a huge eye opener to find out he didn't burn as many calories as he thought he did). If trying to fix exercise and eating habits is not the key you very well may need to get your blood work done as you could have a thyroid problem or something else hindering your weight loss.

    I know this is frustrating but there is something going on that can be fixed. If you work it out you'll be happy that you didn't quit. If you quit you'll never reach your goals. Hang in there!
  • lisaabenjamin
    lisaabenjamin Posts: 665 Member
    Unless there is some genuine medical condition that is affecting your ability to lose weight, weight loss is a simple case of burning more calories than you put in through your diet. Without being able to see your diary, it's hard to give any advice on your diet, but are you sure you're logging everything accurately? Do you estimate your food portions, or weigh them out? Do the latter as it is surprising how far out you can be when you try to guess yourself! And exercise more, if not in terms of the time you spend exercising, then in terms of intensity. Regardless of injury there is bound to be an exercise that will help - perhaps talk to a doctor or someone at a gym who can advise you.

    Oh, and drink lots and lots of water!
  • 123looloola
    123looloola Posts: 8
    i was locked out of MFP about two weeks ago so i started using another program to log the calories in.. i just felt that this app can be a little difficult when your on a rush..

    here is an example of what one of my meals look like

    BF:

    Green jui (kale, spinach, pineapple, flax seed and chia seeds

    Lunch:
    usually mixed green salad with veggies and grilled chicken
    or i bring lunch from home (vegies and some form of protein usually chicken)

    Dinner:
    some kind of veggies and protein.. chicken, fish or a lean steak (thats a treat)

    Snack:
    ill have mixed nuts (plain)
    fruit

    i dont drink sodas or juices.. i only drink coffee (black) and a lot of tea (green tea)

    i swear this is my diet... so you can understand why im so frustrated!!!!! :sad: i wouldn't waist my time or yours asking what im doing wrong is that wasn't the case..
  • ArroganceInStep
    ArroganceInStep Posts: 6,239 Member
    im 32yrs old and 168lbs I have been doing MFP for almost 3 months now and have only lost 2.5lbs. Im beyond frustrated because i feel that im at the worst plateau of life.

    i used to take every diet pill out there and decided to do it the healthy way so i started about 6 months ago (letting go of the pills) and almost 3 months now on MFP eating between 1300-1500 calories (all healthy organic raw food and meats.. only water and teas and i exercise twice a week.. (due to an injury i had i cant really do too much at the gym) regardless of working out or not eating the way that i am, i should loose weight .. and im not :sad:

    has anyone had this? how do i break this horrible weight plateau???!? please help!! i am so ready to give up.. no pills worked... and now doing it the healthy way isnt working either..

    PS the 2.5lbs i lost were the 1st month... now im stuck! :explode:

    What exercise can you do with your injury?
  • TravisBikes
    TravisBikes Posts: 674 Member
    Weigh your food so you know how much you are actually eating.

    Find your TDEE, take 20% from it. Live happy.
  • trinitylyons01
    trinitylyons01 Posts: 126 Member
    I share your frustrations!

    Open up your diary? Maybe the answer is in there?

    Also have you had your blood work done- is your thyroid working ok etc?

    Yes i got checked for everything and everything came back fine..

    For the record, my general practitioner checked my thyroid and my blood results came back fine. However, I was exhausted all the time. I told my Ob Gyn and he did a comprehensive thyroid check that looked into many different elements and realized I did indeed have hypothyroidism. I am not sure everything my second doctor checked but I'm so thankful he did. I'm not saying your results were flawed but its worth checking out if changing diet and exercise habits don't work. However, I think burning more calories in a week and making sure you're eating the appropriate calories for you might help.

    Good luck!
  • mschwark
    mschwark Posts: 20
    It's not 100% about calories or exercise. Everyone is different. Look at your sodium intake, fat intake, etc. Try different things.
  • 123looloola
    123looloola Posts: 8
    I share your frustrations!

    Open up your diary? Maybe the answer is in there?

    Also have you had your blood work done- is your thyroid working ok etc?

    Yes i got checked for everything and everything came back fine..

    For the record, my general practitioner checked my thyroid and my blood results came back fine. However, I was exhausted all the time. I told my Ob Gyn and he did a comprehensive thyroid check that looked into many different elements and realized I did indeed have hypothyroidism. I am not sure everything my second doctor checked but I'm so thankful he did. I'm not saying your results were flawed but its worth checking out if changing diet and exercise habits don't work. However, I think burning more calories in a week and making sure you're eating the appropriate calories for you might help.

    Good luck!

    I will definitely have my OB look into this... because i do feel that something has to be wrong!
  • LydiaShackelford
    LydiaShackelford Posts: 93 Member
    You need to exercise more. If you are saying this is your diet and are sticking to it without cheating, then you should be losing. But your metabolism is likely slow due to the years of pill torture. So, you need to rev it up! Move more! Exercise. Get that body moving! What exercises can you do with your injury? You need to do them more than 2x per week. Aim for 4x and go from there. I really started losing when I started exercising and lifting weights six days on with only one rest day. Then I was able to back down to five days on with two rest days. That's where I am now.
  • lizjoan3
    lizjoan3 Posts: 41 Member
    when I reached my 30s my metabolism changed.. since you have the food under control maybe you can do things to speed up your metabolism...example..eating more protein especially in morning(it takes more calories to digest and keeps you fuller longer), drinking more water, instead of exercising all at once-break it up..each time you exercise your metabolism is reved up for a few hours after so why not do 20 min of walking in the morning(and then 20 min lator on in the day that way your metabolism is reved up through out the day not just once, just google ways to speed up your metabolism there is all kinds of things..just an idea
  • jenjones2011
    jenjones2011 Posts: 3 Member
    I don't think you can rely solely on MFP unfortunately. I'm also 5'5" and I was at 173lbs about 2 months ago and could not lose. Then I bought the FitBit and I've lost 9 lbs and am at 164.

    For example, I also use FitBit - you can get this at target or best buy for about $100. And then pair the two apps. I have found that even though MFP tells me I can have XXX calories, FitBit tells me I can't. FitBits main purpose is to track every single move you make through the day - steps climbed, miles walked, # steps, activity level, etc. And if I haven't "moved" enough on a normal day w/o exercise, FitBit will tell me that I can't eat all of those calories because I didn't do enough basic movement. Another thing to consider is calories in vs out. Even though you are eating in your calorie goal, your body requires you to burn enough calories each day too in order to lose weight. Fit Bit also does the calculation of calories in vs out and tells you when you've hit the goal zone of the two.

    You should really try to work out 5 times a week. If you struggle with finding the time each day, Try the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred - its challenging but you do the best you can each time, even if you can't keep up. Also, its only 20 min long and it shows results. I have seen more Inches loss than weight but still am feeling much better.

    Good luck!!
  • freemystery
    freemystery Posts: 184 Member
    i was locked out of MFP about two weeks ago so i started using another program to log the calories in.. i just felt that this app can be a little difficult when your on a rush..

    here is an example of what one of my meals look like

    BF:

    Green jui (kale, spinach, pineapple, flax seed and chia seeds

    Lunch:
    usually mixed green salad with veggies and grilled chicken
    or i bring lunch from home (vegies and some form of protein usually chicken)

    Dinner:
    some kind of veggies and protein.. chicken, fish or a lean steak (thats a treat)

    Snack:
    ill have mixed nuts (plain)
    fruit

    i dont drink sodas or juices.. i only drink coffee (black) and a lot of tea (green tea)

    i swear this is my diet... so you can understand why im so frustrated!!!!! :sad: i wouldn't waist my time or yours asking what im doing wrong is that wasn't the case..

    This sounds like a great diet and is similar to mine... I don't speak with any authority but just offering what has helped me just in case it has any value for you as well.

    When I was "one chicken breast with veggies, maybe a little sauce on the side" I lost very little
    When I realised the chicken breast had skin, was cooked with a few tbsp oil and was up to 300g, my veggies were carrots, corn or garbanzo beans and the little sauce was actually loaded with oil, cheese, salt etc it all started making sense. I was living portion distortion (and I admit a little reality-distortion too!)

    So my advice would be get as specific as you can, commit to logging everything. My supposedly healthy 300-400 cal meal easly packed in double that. And please don't think I'm patronizing you at all, this is from experience and is a well intentioned guess.

    Now I'm going to contradict myself and say make sure you're getting enough. A history of using diet pills etc might mean that your body doesn't know what's going on and your metabolism is shot. Your breakfast juice sounds delicious (in fact I am going to give it a try!) but is that really enough for your body to run on in the morning? If it is, that's great and you are far luckier than I am. I have found spreading calories evenly through the day does wonders for my motivation and energy levels... and an egg white omelette with turkey to go with that glass of juice... just saying this is going to be my breakfast tomorrow now! Up your activity levels gently if you're worried about the extra cals, give your body a gentle reminder about what food is for!

    Hope you get some answers. Every body is different. My sister is moving in with me next month and she can eat and drink whatever she pleases. All day. Every day. She is the same height as I am and about 30-40 pounds lighter without any effort. Frustration doesn't even come close...

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