Exercising, counting calories NOT loosing weight

Also probably not reevant to you, but I had a similar problem. I suddenly began gaining weight about 5 years ago, and couldn't lose even a pound. Last September I tried again, but this time managed to keep going until I solved the problem. I went from not watching what I ate at all and doing zero exercise, to eating 900-1,500 cal/day, and exercising about 80-120 min/day, every day. For two months, not only didn't I lose weight...

...I gained weight.

Then, i found my way to discussions of PCOS-related insulin resistance, and it all started to make sense. I was diagnosed with PCOS decades ago, but didn't have any significant symptoms. I'd all but forgotten about it until I saw how my sudden weight gain and inability to lose weight were common among other PCOS women, and that PCOS is linked to insulin resistance. Once I started treating the insulin resistance, the weight started to fall off. I've been steadily losing 2-2.5 lbs/week for the past 2.5 months.

I have PCOS as well...I've never done anything to treat the insulin resistance & it has never been advised. I lost over 100lbs. about 3 yrs ago on my own w/just diet & TONS of exercise. I've gained 20 lbs since then & now I'm trying to get that off & it's going NOWHERE!!! If you don't mine my asking, what are you doing to treat the insulin resistance? Thanks.

1) Open up your diary. People can't give you a fully informed answer without seeing what and how much you eat.

2) You may not be eating enough. You do not burn every calorie you take in (which, by your words, it sort of sounds like... but I can't check because I can't see your diary). You still have to NET your goal calories. Eating too low for too long is unhealthy and unsustainable.

3) If you are netting enough calories and you are still not seeing any loss, then go see a doctor.

Like everyone else said, switch up your exercise. There are some great idea's out there and very cheap exercise DVD's. Also, eat 1400 calories a day see if that helps! Good luck!

and WATER WATER WATER!!! :drinker:

First, there is absolutly no credible research to show that not eating enough can cause you to stop losing weight. Most of the information that was gathered on this was based on faulty data. The research that everyone bases this on is a study that was done on women who were eating low calories and could not lose weight and then they were told to eat 400 calories more and they started to lose weight again. So, everyone took this to mean that they were eating too little. The problem in the research was that the women were told to eat 800-1000 calories a day. Their food was not monitored. When the researches upped their calories they gave them specific meal plans to follow. Later in the study they had the women write down what they thought was 800 calories worth of food (the food they were eating at the beginning of the study). When calculated they were eating over 2000 calories. So you can see why they did not lose weight, but started to when they were given a meal plan to follow that was 1200 calories.

Now another thing that can happen when a person goes low calories for a long time, they can start retaining water. When a spike in calories is introduced for a day or week, then the body will shed the water. It is called the WHOOSH effect. It has nothing to do with eating more calories to lose weight, but more to do with shedding water.

Another thing people do not consider is that the more you do an exercise the more you get conditioned to do the exercise. You start burning less calories doing the exercise. That is why the whole idea of eating back calories is faulty. If you are eating 1200 calories a day and you start adding exercise calories so that you can eat more, then you may be destroying your deficit. Lets say that the machine tells you that you burned 500 calories from your cardio session and you add 500 calories to your daily total and eat 1700 calories, but because of your conditioning you are only burning 150 you can see how those extra calories, 350 in this case, can cut in to your deficit and slow your progress. It is best to not even consider exercise calories. Just eat the calories recommended for a sedentary person and consider any extra calories as extra fat loss or icing on the cake if you will.

A few people on here have touched on something. You need to do some resistance training. The ONLY way to maintain Lean Body Mass in a defecit is to tell the body not to get rid of it and that is done by resistance training. You need to have a whole body routine in place. Research has shown that if you are dieting without resistance training, then you could lose upwards of 50% of your weight lost in muscle. That means for every pound off weight you lose only .5lbs of that is actual fat. This is not good.

Another interesting thing they found about cardio is as this: It is not an effective way to lose fat. Let me explain what they found. They found that when a person does cardio they may burn some calories during the session, but they become less active throughout the day so those calories become a wash. Also cardio can cause hunger to go out of control, so people will often find themselves eating more calories than they should.

Use your diet to lose the fat, and your resistance training to maintain the muscle.

I would still recommend going to a doctor and getting a full workup done. They can check your thyroid and other issues. If everything checks out good, then you just need to reavaluate your exercise routine and your diet. Record everything to make sure you are eating at a defecit. Check your measurements. The scale is a poor judge of fat loss. If your waist is getting smaller then you are losing fat.

you dont eat enough to lose weight.

+1

There are treatments available for PCOS and insulin resistance that may aid with weight loss for some PCOS sufferers... For those like me, Metformin and the like not only didn't work but gave me all the wrong symptoms, such a nausea and diarrhea (sorry, TMI).

I'm down 23kg in 12 months and have only had success by significantly cutting my calories under the guidance of an obesity doctor and dietitian, and by doing HIIT 4-5 times per week. My insulin levels are still something like 34, when they are supposed to be less than 10 to be considered "normal'.

For anyone who is truly trying and still not seeing results, I recommend upping the ante. Don't just "guesstimate" with your calories and exercise. Buy a heart rate monitor, get some kitchen scales. Count EVERYTHING. If you are truly hand on heart only eating 1200 cals and burning a decent amount of cals you should see your doctor. PCOS isn't the only condition that can cause weight gain. There are other organs in the endocrine system that can cause havoc on the body if they aren't functioning normally.

Hey! Maybe you're just not eating enough of a variety of foods for you body to get the nutrients it needs. Try some of my recipes: https://www.facebook.com/AleysVirtualGym

First, there is absolutly no credible research to show that not eating enough can cause you to stop losing weight. Most of the information that was gathered on this was based on faulty data. The research that everyone bases this on is a study that was done on women who were eating low calories and could not lose weight and then they were told to eat 400 calories more and they started to lose weight again. So, everyone took this to mean that they were eating too little. The problem in the research was that the women were told to eat 800-1000 calories a day. Their food was not monitored. When the researches upped their calories they gave them specific meal plans to follow. Later in the study they had the women write down what they thought was 800 calories worth of food (the food they were eating at the beginning of the study). When calculated they were eating over 2000 calories. So you can see why they did not lose weight, but started to when they were given a meal plan to follow that was 1200 calories.

Now another thing that can happen when a person goes low calories for a long time, they can start retaining water. When a spike in calories is introduced for a day or week, then the body will shed the water. It is called the WHOOSH effect. It has nothing to do with eating more calories to lose weight, but more to do with shedding water.

Another thing people do not consider is that the more you do an exercise the more you get conditioned to do the exercise. You start burning less calories doing the exercise. That is why the whole idea of eating back calories is faulty. If you are eating 1200 calories a day and you start adding exercise calories so that you can eat more, then you may be destroying your deficit. Lets say that the machine tells you that you burned 500 calories from your cardio session and you add 500 calories to your daily total and eat 1700 calories, but because of your conditioning you are only burning 150 you can see how those extra calories, 350 in this case, can cut in to your deficit and slow your progress. It is best to not even consider exercise calories. Just eat the calories recommended for a sedentary person and consider any extra calories as extra fat loss or icing on the cake if you will.

A few people on here have touched on something. You need to do some resistance training. The ONLY way to maintain Lean Body Mass in a defecit is to tell the body not to get rid of it and that is done by resistance training. You need to have a whole body routine in place. Research has shown that if you are dieting without resistance training, then you could lose upwards of 50% of your weight lost in muscle. That means for every pound off weight you lose only .5lbs of that is actual fat. This is not good.

Another interesting thing they found about cardio is as this: It is not an effective way to lose fat. Let me explain what they found. They found that when a person does cardio they may burn some calories during the session, but they become less active throughout the day so those calories become a wash. Also cardio can cause hunger to go out of control, so people will often find themselves eating more calories than they should.

Use your diet to lose the fat, and your resistance training to maintain the muscle.

I would still recommend going to a doctor and getting a full workup done. They can check your thyroid and other issues. If everything checks out good, then you just need to reavaluate your exercise routine and your diet. Record everything to make sure you are eating at a defecit. Check your measurements. The scale is a poor judge of fat loss. If your waist is getting smaller then you are losing fat.

this one post is like bro science central.


If your sure the counting calories correctly if have a quick visit to your Doctor to check everything is ok.