19, gained freshman 15 now can't lose it.

musicofmysoul5
musicofmysoul5 Posts: 11
in Health and Weight Loss
I used to be 120 lbs, now i'm 140. I'm a 19 yr old female and I can't lose the weight. I've been going spinning virtually 4-5x a week. I've changed my diet and I have not been seeing results. I've had my thyroid checked, blood, everything is normal. I just finished my first yr of college and i've gained that freshman 15 and now I can't take it off. Any advice? Would drinking more water help? I've also been going to saunas and to detox and take out some water weight but nothing is helping. I weigh less in the morning but the next day, I'm back to 140. I've cut out all of my favorite foods including all dairy but I'm not seeing results. WHY? I'm young!!

Replies

  • chandanista
    chandanista Posts: 986 Member
    How tall are you? How long have you been exercise/dieting?
  • musicofmysoul5
    musicofmysoul5 Posts: 11
    I'm 5'5, I've been doing this for over a month.
  • emnoelleoc
    emnoelleoc Posts: 1
    I'm literally in the same exact situation as you. It's so frustrating! I'll let you know if I figure out something that works!
  • 9jenn9
    9jenn9 Posts: 309 Member
    How carefully are you logging your food? Are you measuring your portions? College was a long time ago for me, but I remember lots of late night snacking and liquid calories (that's right, carrot sticks and fruit punch ;-) It's really easy to rack up lots of extra calories if you're not preparing your own food and not logging all of it.
  • musicofmysoul5
    musicofmysoul5 Posts: 11
    Yes, i've been at home for over 2 months and I haven't gone to any fast foods. I've quit eating burgers (except once) and I don't have any ice-cream. I've really been making healthy choices and i'm not seeing results. A couple of yrs ago, I could have burned this all off in a matter of weeks, now nothing is working. what am I doing wrong?
  • konerusp
    konerusp Posts: 247 Member
    How many calories are you eating now?How many calories were you eating before?What are you eating?
  • musicofmysoul5
    musicofmysoul5 Posts: 11
    I hope you guys can see my food journal. I've kept it to under 1200 calories a day which includes spinning....not seeing results.
  • SteelySunshine
    SteelySunshine Posts: 1,092 Member
    Take a deep breath. This isn't the worst thing in the world, but if you panic and start going into dieting/binging cycles it could end up being a lot worse.

    Track everything for a week or two. Two is better because there will likely be at least one day that you track and don't eat self consciously and change things up just because you are recording your food. Average your daily calories. Then average you calories for your exercise. This will give you your TDEE take 250 calories off of that. Maybe exercise a bit more and you will lose a half pound to a pound a week. Slower is much better since you have so little to lose. This might take longer, but you won't end up being terribly hungry, you won't go into a diet/binge cycle. And while you are losing if you are also lifting and doing cardio you will start looking the way you want long before you hit your goal weight.
  • Briargrey
    Briargrey Posts: 498 Member
    You're in the right place! Here are my thoughts:

    1. Don't obsess over it. No matter what, you're awesome. You're YOU. That is beautiful.
    2. Log everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, that you eat or drink onto mfp's diary.
    3. Weigh yourself on a scale that gives you the same reading 3 times in a row (so you can be assured that it's, if not accurate, at least consistently inaccurate so you get accurate weight loss results)
    4. Measure yourself and log it (I do neck, upper arm, chest, waist, largest part of hips, thigh, calf)
    5. Don't change anything for a few weeks -- keep exercising and eating as you normally do now.

    The less you have to lose, the harder it seems to lose, and each pound is a greater percentage of your total body weight. So I may lose 10 pounds in a month easily because I started at 291 (well, not easily, but you know what I mean!), whereas 10 pounds for you would be a lot harder -- it's a significant percentage of your total weight, whereas for me, it's a drop in the frickin' bucket!

    You may find that you're toning up and losing inches, but not weight. Hence the measuring! I weigh myself once a week under identical circumstances (every Sunday a.m. when I get up, naked, after I have utilized the facilities and before I've eaten), so I'm always doing apples to apples. I measure myself once a month.

    If you are not finding inch or weight loss, then really evaluate the amount you are eating -- you are taking in too many calories (you must eat at a deficit). It's one of those "simple" formulas that winds up being more complex because every body is different, but at its heart -- you must take in fewer calories than your body burns in a day. MFP will calculate this for you and tell you what you your calorie goal is to eat at the deficit to reach your goals. I would suggest you want about 1 pound per week. And don't expect to always get that pound! It may be very slow going, but you will get there if you're eating at a deficit.

    Definitely be HONEST and account for everything. If you're not sure what went into it, try your hardest to break it down and account for all the components in your food. I tend to overestimate just in case. Example -- I log raw asparagus when I cook roasted asparagus, because I want the actual asparagus calories, nothing else. Then, because I know what I put on it, I add in the walnut oil I cooked it in. I know it is lightly coated, but no clue how much actually 'soaks in' and counts for calories, so I just assume a lot more than probably does, and log that.

    The good news -- you're young, and it comes off easier than when you're older. So I beg of you, don't do what I did! I hit college at age 17 weight 120 pounds and thinking I was ginormous because at 5'1" it wasn't remotely the 'ideal' the industry in the 80s promoted. I rocked. I had a 22" waist. I swam, played racquetball, unwillingly ran with friends, did aerobics -- then I hit college and I partied, slept in, and tried to pass my classes. I gained the freshman 15 and sadly, never lost it. I've struggled ever since.

    So here's the trick -- don't obsess, but don't ignore! Don't diet -- change your eating habits. Don't deprive yourself, but use the tools here to keep you on track and within your calorie goals. Get some friends, either here or IRL, and keep motivated together.
  • shammxo
    shammxo Posts: 1,432 Member
    Welcome to MFP!!! This website and the people on it changed my life.

    I was in the same exact boat! I didn't want to hear any of what I'm going to tell you, and what others will tell you. But it worked when I finally decided to try what worked for others. Search the forums for people having the same problem and you'll be surprised.

    First and foremost, focus on being healthy. Obsessing about the scale, how many calories you're eating, and how much you're working out is a vicious cycle a lot of the time and you could end up doing more harm than good. Pick something that you can stick with because you might be able to (I couldn't) do cardio 4-5 days a week eating only 1200 calories for a little while, but eventually you might burn out. 1200 calories a day is NOT the magic number. You're allowed to eat and lose weight. (that's how you keep it off, too). For some people 1200 is fine, but at 5'5 and 140 lbs I'd say that 1200 isn't enough and probably not sustainable. I'm 5'4, 130 pounds and was able to eat around 1600 and lose weight (without feeling tired or worn out).

    I gained the freshmen 35 and I was able to get it off with a hormone imbalance, eating dairy, gluten, and pretty much whatever else (in moderation). It's only been a month. It took you time to put on weight, it will take time to take it off. You don't have to cut out your favorite foods... Anything in moderation. You can clean up your diet, sure. But completely cutting out your favorite foods could lead you to binge. It might feel like you're doing everything right but you might be overdoing it. Be careful with all of the cardio. It's good for you, but you have to be careful not to overdo it because it won't help you lose weight... Contrary to popular belief. What worked for me was taking my measurements to start and then I quit getting on the scale because it was so discouraging and watched my measurements changing instead. I wouldn't recommend getting on the scale more than once a week. I ate more clean foods (lean meats, veggies, fruits, etc.) and tried not to stuff myself. After a lot of research, I started weight training and that changed my body more than anything.

    Just try not to obsess, do a little research, and focus on taking care of your body.
  • Briargrey
    Briargrey Posts: 498 Member
    Also http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12 is a great way to set calories based of TDEE. You can put all your data into MFP and it will tell you, based off that and how many pounds per week you say you want to lose, how many calories you should eat. The MFP calculation is intended for you to eat back any exercise calories you have burned, so if your goal is 1400 per day, that is NET. So you burn 300 exercising, then you should eat 1700 calories that day to net 1400. TDEE calculations are different -- they have the exercise calories averaged in, so you don't eat back exercise calories, but your daily intake is usually higher. You calculate (using that post's instructions above) your TDEE and then take about 20% off that, and voila, there's what you should be eating.

    There are whole schools of rampaging thoughts on whether or not there is such a thing as 'starvation mode' and whether or not eating under 1200 will 'kick it in' and keep you from losing weight. I'm skeptical of that, but I do feel that your body needs good nutrition and that can be harder to come by on lower calories. Pick good fuel for your body! The goal here is to be healthy and find a sustainable lifestyle, not diet yourself away and then gain it all back in the world's least fun yo-yo game.
  • musicofmysoul5
    musicofmysoul5 Posts: 11
    Thank you all for your advice and thoughts. I've been weighing myself everyday and I'm just basically maintaining the weight. When I first started vigorously exercising, I went down to 136 and now I'm back to 139-140........I know it's going to take a while to take the weight off but because I am young, I feel like my metabolism should be a bit quicker. When I was younger, I could eat anything I wanted....now it's the complete opposite!
  • musicofmysoul5
    musicofmysoul5 Posts: 11
    Just looked up my BMR and apparently I should be eating 1645 calories a day. If i'm eating less than 1200 why am I not losing weight? You'd think that I'd lose weight by eating less!!!!
  • konerusp
    konerusp Posts: 247 Member
    Your body does not let go off the fat if you eat too little calories,instead it looks for other sources like muscle and tissue for deficient calories.Eat you BMR calories everyday.Include protein and lots of vegetables into your diet.Lesser sugars.You will find results come to you.At that age your metabolism will be on fire if you supply it the energy to do so.Dont hesitate to eat,just change your options from junk food to healthy food.

Categories