Very diligent, but....:(

autumnsquirrel
autumnsquirrel Posts: 258 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I work out every day, burn between 400 and 600 calories a day----it used to be more, but for some reason, my bod doesn't want to do 800-1000 calories a day like I used to. One rest day, but I take a power walk just to get a little cardio in, and I track my foods on here. I lowered my calories to 1200 because I hit a plateau. Took me 2.5 years to lose 75 pounds. I need to lose about 30 more and I must say that I am very discouraged. I am hypothyroid and taking medication to regulate that; my bloodwork was fine with it and all the dr. could say to me was that I am 'fit', kudos for good eating and exercise and she is not concerned about my weight. A couple years back, I was diagnosed as obese. It feels great not to be ill and heavier, but....I work my but off every day trying to lose. My husband does not exercise, he eats whatever he wants and he lost 4 pounds this week just riding his bike twice.:/ I take spin, Zumba, another cardio class with weights, and Body pump---3 times a week. Spin is 3 times a week and I fit in the others; 2 hours a day of exercise. It feels great and I always want more. I tweaked my diet because I figure, maybe if I change this or that, I will lose. I have maintained. I am beyond frustrated. I went down a couple of sizes, but the scale has not budged. The doctor gave me the ol' "well, generally women over 40 with kids have a more difficult time losing weight, and you are hypothyroid...", etc. I want to break through this and get to my goal. I feel like giving up if this is as good as it gets:/ Would love your input. Many thanks for your time:)

Replies

  • Momjogger
    Momjogger Posts: 750 Member
    Sounds like you are doing everything right. I would dump the body pump and take a couple of strength classes or lift free weights and do the machines. Get the gym to put you on a program, or add running. Changing up your workout routine can help. I wish you the best of luck. I feel your pain. As I get closer to my goal, it is getting harder to lose (23 pounds to go).
  • xxnellie146xx
    xxnellie146xx Posts: 996 Member
    It might help if you up your calorie intake a bit for a week or two. Still continue you your exercise or try new exercises as your body tends to adapt when you continue with the same routine.

    I have done this in the past and it has worked well for me.
  • dynamitegalxo
    dynamitegalxo Posts: 299 Member
    if you're only eating 1200 calories and burning 4-600, you're leaving yourself 6-800 to live on. you're not eating enough. either eat more to compensate for the exercise, or back off. you're burning yourself out and with a thyroid problem, you can't push too hard.

    it's fine to be active, but take breaks. or if you feel you must do as much exercise as you have been, you simply need to eat more.

    good luck!
  • Crochetluvr
    Crochetluvr Posts: 3,332 Member
    My weight loss slowed to a crawl so I upped my calories to 1400....a little more if I exercise. I haven't gained.... hoping I start to lose again. But, in any event, it's not a diet so I don't have a time limit. I'll get there.... you will too. :)
  • FatAttorney
    FatAttorney Posts: 17
    Calories in, Calories out. Your body obeys the laws of physics. Therefore, you must either increase the workout (which sounds difficult because you are already working out a lot), change the work out, or decrease calories. I think that the strength training sounds like a good idea because it will result in the burning of extra calories.

    Another issue, how did you choose your goal weight? Perhaps you have reached your healthy weight.
  • IsaacHudson
    IsaacHudson Posts: 33 Member
    Your body reduces its metabolism to compensate for low calories. I would do as suggested by others and increase your calories for several weeks. Maintain your weight for a little while then try to lose again.

    Also you say you have lost several dress sizes - well done!
  • lambchristie
    lambchristie Posts: 552 Member
    I work out every day, burn between 400 and 600 calories a day----it used to be more, but for some reason, my bod doesn't want to do 800-1000 calories a day like I used to. One rest day, but I take a power walk just to get a little cardio in, and I track my foods on here. I lowered my calories to 1200 because I hit a plateau. Took me 2.5 years to lose 75 pounds. I need to lose about 30 more and I must say that I am very discouraged. I am hypothyroid and taking medication to regulate that; my bloodwork was fine with it and all the dr. could say to me was that I am 'fit', kudos for good eating and exercise and she is not concerned about my weight. A couple years back, I was diagnosed as obese. It feels great not to be ill and heavier, but....I work my but off every day trying to lose. My husband does not exercise, he eats whatever he wants and he lost 4 pounds this week just riding his bike twice.:/ I take spin, Zumba, another cardio class with weights, and Body pump---3 times a week. Spin is 3 times a week and I fit in the others; 2 hours a day of exercise. It feels great and I always want more. I tweaked my diet because I figure, maybe if I change this or that, I will lose. I have maintained. I am beyond frustrated. I went down a couple of sizes, but the scale has not budged. The doctor gave me the ol' "well, generally women over 40 with kids have a more difficult time losing weight, and you are hypothyroid...", etc. I want to break through this and get to my goal. I feel like giving up if this is as good as it gets:/ Would love your input. Many thanks for your time:)

    Your story is my story; although I do not have the thyroid issue. I exercise 5 days a week; 2xs a day: I do Jillian's 30 day shred M-F in the morning before work and 4 nights at the gym in the evening and then one day (Saturday) I've been walking or hiking. I upped my calories to 1600 this past week and nothing. I am beyond frustrated and want to throw in the towel. I've taken my measurements and my clothes are fitting looser ... and it gets to a point where that is not enough.

    So I am interested in what people have to say too.
  • PepperWorm
    PepperWorm Posts: 1,206
    You need to eat more.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013
  • autumnsquirrel
    autumnsquirrel Posts: 258 Member
    I want to thank you all for your input and suggestings; the 1200 calorie thing, I only started a couple of days ago; I end up eating back some of the calories I burned. Will definitely try your suggestions; I lowered my calorie goal so I could see if I really can lose 2 pounds a week. I had it so I could lose 1 pound a week and that wasn't working. I would go weeks without losing and and all of a sudden, a pound down. Big woo. I am seeing people burn over a thousand calories just from swimming (are HRMs waterproof?) and wish I could do that, but I have no pool and can't swim, LOL!! I tried other classes to change things up, but don't burn much in them and felt I was wasting my time. I will be at this for the rest of my life, but wouldn't it be nice to see some more progress; I don't want to be doing this all for naught:/
  • grimendale
    grimendale Posts: 2,153 Member
    As you get closer to your goal, it becomes more difficult to burn fat, and the amount of calories you burn in a given exercise tends to decrease since there is less of you that needs to be moved as part of the exercise. When you burn calories, your body pulls the energy from both fat and muscle cells. If you have a small deficit and a lot of fat, most of the calories are going to be pulled from fat since it is the most readily available and there is no reason to hold on to the fat (particularly if you are using your muscles so that your body sees them as necessary). As you get closer to your goal weight, your body has a stronger tendency to pull from muscle cells since fat is less readily available and muscles provide more energy. This is aggravated by having a larger deficit. When your deficit is too larger, your body will pull a higher percentage of calories from muscle cells since muscles require more calories to maintain than fat. Plus, if you aren't getting enough calories, your body will attempt to preserve a long-term source of easily sustainable energy in fat reserves in case the food shortage continues, so the ratio shifts farther towards burning lean body tissue. 2 lbs a week is not feasible at 30 lbs from your goal, even though it was at 100 lbs from your goal. The closer you get, the slower you need to go. Drop your expected loss to 1 lbs a week, or even 0.5 lbs a week, and make sure you eat back you exercise calories so that your deficit isn't too large. It takes time and patience, which can be very frustrating when weight loss seemed so easy in the beginning. Don't entirely trust the scale. As you get closer to goal, weight become a more meaningless number. Body fat percentage and body measurements are more useful close to goal weight, since it is entirely possible to burn fat, but replace it with muscle tissue or glycogen storage, offsetting any scale losses. They will still show up with a tape measure, so don't give up. Good luck. I hope this helps.
  • lmelangley
    lmelangley Posts: 1,039 Member
    Everyone's different, but I'm hypothyroid too and if I eat less than 1325 - and that's on a day with no exercise - I plateau for weeks on end.

    There's a hypothyroid group here on MFP. I recommend you join it if you haven't already. I've learned a ton about thyroid disease from the other folks in the group. And, if you put your issue out there, I'm guessing someone who's done more research than me may respond with some good info for you.

    Good luck!
  • Tiffa0909
    Tiffa0909 Posts: 191 Member
    Your body is not burning as much calories because you have lost a lot of weight and your body is probably use to you working out. Maybe try the TDEE method and see if that works , is worth giving it a shot.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    By your ticker, it looks like you don't have a lot more to lose - maybe 24 lbs? So losing 2lbs a week is to aggressive - sadly, the closer we get to goal, the slower things get, but slow loss is good loss, and totally worth it.

    You should be aiming for .5 to 1 lb a week at the very most at this point. I lost my last 10-15lbs eating at a very small deficit, and burning 300-400 cals a day, 5-6 days a week. No huge calorie burns, no long hours at the gym, just eating well, regular exercise, plenty of water and good rest.

    I follow that link that pepperworm posted - read that, read it again if necessary (its a lot of info), but the best move I ever made was reading & understanding the info there and following it! You mentioned wanting this to be for the rest of your life - for me, that link was it - changes I've made are things I can do for life, and I love it.
  • autumnsquirrel
    autumnsquirrel Posts: 258 Member
    Thanks so much:) What's TDEE?
  • autumnsquirrel
    autumnsquirrel Posts: 258 Member
    Everyone's different, but I'm hypothyroid too and if I eat less than 1325 - and that's on a day with no exercise - I plateau for weeks on end.

    There's a hypothyroid group here on MFP. I recommend you join it if you haven't already. I've learned a ton about thyroid disease from the other folks in the group. And, if you put your issue out there, I'm guessing someone who's done more research than me may respond with some good info for you.

    Good luck!
    Thanks so very much!! Where might I find this group? Would love to check that out.

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