AT A LOSS RIGHT NOW

TerynG
TerynG Posts: 4
in Health and Weight Loss
I am 5' 3" and 226 lbs, I do have Hypothyroid but I have been on meds for four years now and it is controlled. My doctor advised me to eat a 1200 calorie diet. One year ago I started dieting and lost 20 lbs by simply eating 1200 calories a day. I recently just gained 10 lbs back and re-started my 1200 calorie diet but also added exercise which is something I have never done in my life. For five weeks I have stuck with the 1200 calorie diet with an occasional day or two on the weekend where I have just a few more calories, and the exercising 3-4 days a week for at least an hour burning around 600 calories each work out. I do take into account my calories burned and try to eat most of those back to make sure I am eating at least 1200 calories a day. Today has marked five full weeks of exercise/diet and I have lost no weight and only 1 inch on my thighs! I need opinions and advice bc at this point I feel like giving up!

Replies

  • dangerousdumpling
    dangerousdumpling Posts: 1,109 Member
    I understand your frustration. We want results for our hard work! I think it's great that you are taking measurements, too. The scale is often times not our friend.
    A few questions: 1) are you logging those few extra calories on the weekend? Sometimes a few extra can turn into a few hundred extra for me and it's important for you to know if you're sabotaging your weekday efforts on the weekend.
    2) Are you netting 1200 calories or eating 1200 period? I wasn't clear on that after reading your post.
    3) How are you figuring out how many calories you're burning? A HRM? Exercise machine? MFP? Some of those methods don't give an accurate number.

    1200 calories doesn't work for everyone. You are burning a lot of calories and your body is probably telling you that you need more fuel. You could add a couple hundred more calories per day and see if that helps you.
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
    First, congratulations on your lost inch. That's a great accomplishment. Second, have you figured your BMR to make sure you're not eating too far beneath it? Or your TDEE? 1200 calories may be the right goal for you if you're eating your exercise calories back, but you maybe able to lose by eating more. Check out In Place of a Road Map or one of the calculator sites like Scoobys to get some different numbers and talk to your doctor about it.
  • JamieM8168
    JamieM8168 Posts: 248 Member
    Has your doctor instructed you on eating 1200 calories again? Maybe you should consult him/her again and tell him it's not working?

    I had hypothroidism and lost about 85 lbs now and got off of my thyroid medicine all together by dieting and exercising! Good luck!
  • TerynG
    TerynG Posts: 4
    Thank you for ALL of the replies!!

    @ cheveuxnoirs - although I do not seem to be eating a lot on the weekends I prob. should be counting my calories on the weekends as well. That may be a huge factor. Also I am new to this NET calories thing so I am not really sure how that works but what I can tell you is on average I burn 600 calories on the days I work out and I usually eat half if not all of the calories back to make sure my body is getting at least 1200 calories. So I am eating between 1200-1600 calories on the days I am working out. Should I be eating less of the calories I burned off??? This is prob the biggest confusion for me. Also to answer your last question I bought a Polar HRM and I always work out in my "target fat burning zone."

    @ herblackwings - thank you I am excited about that 1 inch off each thigh it is the only reason why I haven't given up yet LOL. Okay so like I explained above I am quite new to this but I did calculate my BMR and that was 1800 my maintenance level would be 2790 calories. With burning 600 a day at 1200 calories allowed per day I usually am eating around 1600. I am confused however, should I set my calorie goal to 1800 and eat what I burn off? Or keep my goal to 1200 calories a day and eat ALL of the 600 calories I burned?

    Obviously I am so confused, please help!! :)

    And Jamie I was not aware that our condition could be solved by losing wegiht, I was never told that. That is very good news and makes me want to continue to work hard. I also have PCOS and I knew that could be solved by diet and exercise, I am not currently on meds for that and I wonder if that keeps me from losing the weight as well. If it does my doctor never mention it to be an issue.
  • DesdemonaRose
    DesdemonaRose Posts: 190
    If you have never worked out but your doing a workout that will build some muscle (which most things do in some small amouts) you might be gaining muscle to replace fat. Though doing that for 5 weeks might be stretching it. Make sure you are counting all calories, little cheat bites can add up fast depending on what they are. I use to eat a lot of trail mix as a snack before I realized one small handfull is 150 calories. I still eat it, I just make sure I am only eating one small handfull (obviously that's a bit of a rough estimate).

    Make sure you really know what your burning, Look up your calories from multiple sources and average it out. If your getting your pulse up then you will be burning more calories than if your doing something where you don't feel it so much.

    You can find a lot of sites that claim the, "target fat burning zone," is pretty much crap. The harder you work the more calories you burn. The more calories you burn the more weight you lose. Limiting yourself into that zone isn't going to help you burn more calories in the long run. I haven't looked a lot into it, so I'm not saying I know 100% that's how it is.. but it might be worth some research.
  • TerynG
    TerynG Posts: 4
    Yes I did lots of research. I am still working out very hard and because I am watching my heart rate I am able to increase my workout. I went from 30 mins of cardio to now 60 mins of cardio plus 20 mins of strength training which of course increased my calories burned.

    Also this isnt my first time to count my calories so I am very hard on myself maybe too hard at times bc I count everything and possible over count just to be safe which I know isnt ideal.

    Thanks for your opinions and thoughts though. I am open to any suggestions! :)
  • Phrick
    Phrick Posts: 2,765 Member
    You can find a lot of sites that claim the, "target fat burning zone," is pretty much crap. The harder you work the more calories you burn. The more calories you burn the more weight you lose. Limiting yourself into that zone isn't going to help you burn more calories in the long run. I haven't looked a lot into it, so I'm not saying I know 100% that's how it is.. but it might be worth some research.

    Hogwash. If you're not in a caloric deficit you can exercise till you pass out for all your metabolism cares, but you won't lose weight.
  • socajam
    socajam Posts: 2,530 Member
    I am 5' 3" and 226 lbs, I do have Hypothyroid but I have been on meds for four years now and it is controlled. My doctor advised me to eat a 1200 calorie diet. One year ago I started dieting and lost 20 lbs by simply eating 1200 calories a day. I recently just gained 10 lbs back and re-started my 1200 calorie diet but also added exercise which is something I have never done in my life. For five weeks I have stuck with the 1200 calorie diet with an occasional day or two on the weekend where I have just a few more calories, and the exercising 3-4 days a week for at least an hour burning around 600 calories each work out. I do take into account my calories burned and try to eat most of those back to make sure I am eating at least 1200 calories a day. Today has marked five full weeks of exercise/diet and I have lost no weight and only 1 inch on my thighs! I need opinions and advice bc at this point I feel like giving up!

    As someone who have thyroid problems, it would be interesting to see your dairy (which is closed).
  • Graelwyn75
    Graelwyn75 Posts: 4,404 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974889-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet

    I think you need to be eating more if your BMR is 1800. I would suggest upping by 100 a week until you hit 1600, and trying that for a while.
  • dangerousdumpling
    dangerousdumpling Posts: 1,109 Member
    Is your mfp goal to lose 2 lbs per week? If so, try 1.5 lbs or 1 pound. That'll give you more calories to eat. I think 5 weeks is long enough to give what you've been doing a try. Believe me, I understand the frustration of working hard and not getting the results you expect and then needing to tweak your plan. I'm still tweaking and I've been at this since January.
  • TerynG
    TerynG Posts: 4
    I just got home from speaking to one of the trainers at my gym. Real nice guy willing to answer my questions for free. Apparently I am over doing the cardio and not eating enough!! Thinking about hiring him to train me to show me how to do the correct workouts and within my "target burning zone" (his words, bc apparently that is important). I will continue to update you all on my progress so that we can all understand better what I am as a newbie doing wrong lol.

    Thanks for everyones help, still open for suggestions if you all have any to share. Really appreciate your help! :)
  • zcheeze
    zcheeze Posts: 25
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974889-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet

    I think you need to be eating more if your BMR is 1800. I would suggest upping by 100 a week until you hit 1600, and trying that for a while.

    Def agree.. the more you weigh (for now) requires more fuel, especially with exercise. As you gradually go down in weight and measurements, your total caloric intake will need to drop. It almost sounds as if your body is being sabotaged into the "starvation mode" game.
  • linsey0689
    linsey0689 Posts: 753 Member
    The scale is not your friend because you are no longer dieting you are living healthy. Try to remember that even though it's far. A little bit about me is my weight when started MFP was 285 top weight before that was 295 now I am around 250-252 somewhere in there. Well anyway my clothes fit so much differently I put on the pants that I still wore at my largest that were the tightest because I thought they would still fit boy was I wrong. Just don't focus on the number but more how you feel.
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974889-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet

    I think you need to be eating more if your BMR is 1800. I would suggest upping by 100 a week until you hit 1600, and trying that for a while.

    Agree.

    But I would go a step further to say take your BMR of 1800 and add all your exercise calories and eat all of it every day.
  • kayleeblue
    kayleeblue Posts: 273
    I also am on thyroid meds.. I was stalled at a 30 pound loss, busted my *kitten* in the gym, and the scale didn't move. The inches came off but nothing on the scale.. I was told by two trainers..eat more (of the right foods) So I purchased The Metabolic Effect Diet, (book) I upped my protein, lowered my carbs and snacked between meals.. guess what?! The scale moves again and the inches are coming off. Are you lifting heavy and doing metabolic workouts? Just because it works for someone else doesn't mean it will work for you..It took me 2.5 years to get this far (-41 pounds and 112 inches)..but I'm getting better as I go. Good luck!! Never Give UP!!

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