Why Wont this weight go away.

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Replies

  • alpine1994
    alpine1994 Posts: 1,915 Member
    So you started Couch to 5K a few weeks back and you lost 3 lbs? And you're upset about this?! I think the problem is that you are expecting too much too fast. Weight loss takes a long time, especially if you don't have much left to lose. I lost an average of 3.5lbs in 10 months, and have been maintaining my goal weight for over 6 months. It was many weeks of up and down, up and down, but the trend was downward. I almost gave up so many times because of the crazy fluctuations and plateaus but what kept me going is the fact that my overall health kept improving with each pound lost. I had insomnia when I was overweight and that's gone now. I don't feel sluggish all the time. Eating healthy food makes me feel great, not gross. I get excited about exercising (most of the time haha). Monitor your results over the long term too, not just the short term. Take measurements once a month and keep them in an excel file or something. Looking at the downward trend month after month was really motivating, and it made me so proud of myself.

    Also, use and abuse MFP! Brag to us about your workouts and healthy eating days! Any extra support helps. Feel free to add me as I'm still here every day and love giving and receiving support.

    You can do this!
  • Code7526
    Code7526 Posts: 52
    Avicini You don't have a weight problem. You don't need to loose any weight.
  • abenudiz
    abenudiz Posts: 5 Member
    Good morning,

    i understand your frustration. Sometimes your body gets used to your scheduled routine and it may be as simple as changing it up and adding some circuit training. Build your muscles decreases fat. Stop looking so much at the number on the scale and look at the size in your clothing and how you feel in them.I can definitely tell you that you do not eat enough. You need to fuel your body just like you would fuel your car. it cant run on empty. 1200 calories is boarder line starving your self. The biggest meals you should have is in the morning. limit your fruits, try and eliminate the sugars, increase your vegetables. Decrease your refined grains and carbs and switch to quinoa, brown rice and seeds, nuts. Hopefully this will help. Dont give up, remember this is a lifestyle not a diet. it took me many years of trying and changing my habits to realize this. Ive lost over 116lbs and 10 dress sizes and I did it with eating and exercise!! now i am a trainer and lifestyle coach.... good luck!

    Andrea
    Life Style Coach
    Personal trainer
  • franticfoxx
    franticfoxx Posts: 50 Member
    Do you have your goals set to lose 2 pounds a week? If so, that is probably where the 1200 calories came from. Even with a sedentary job, someone of your size should be eating more. And because you only need to lose about 15 more pounds, it is going to take much longer than someone like me that needs to lose a lot more. I would advise setting your goals to 1 pound a week. That should change up your macros a little. Try it out for a week or two and see how you feel. This is a learning game, sometimes you have to play with the settings to see what works best for you. I would also advise taking measurements. As someone said before you might be gaining muscle so the scale won't go down, but you will see that you are actually "shrinking". LOL

    You are def. right. thank you so much for your time and help!!!!
  • Idka81
    Idka81 Posts: 42
    So you started Couch to 5K a few weeks back and you lost 3 lbs? And you're upset about this?! I think the problem is that you are expecting too much too fast. Weight loss takes a long time, especially if you don't have much left to lose. I lost an average of 3.5lbs in 10 months, and have been maintaining my goal weight for over 6 months. It was many weeks of up and down, up and down, but the trend was downward. I almost gave up so many times because of the crazy fluctuations and plateaus but what kept me going is the fact that my overall health kept improving with each pound lost. I had insomnia when I was overweight and that's gone now. I don't feel sluggish all the time. Eating healthy food makes me feel great, not gross. I get excited about exercising (most of the time haha). Monitor your results over the long term too, not just the short term. Take measurements once a month and keep them in an excel file or something. Looking at the downward trend month after month was really motivating, and it made me so proud of myself.

    Also, use and abuse MFP! Brag to us about your workouts and healthy eating days! Any extra support helps. Feel free to add me as I'm still here every day and love giving and receiving support.

    You can do this!

    Yes, I totally agree. Expectations have to be realistic. Measurements are more efficient than a scale. Determine your goal, make a plan to go with it, and stick to it. You have to think long-term both in terms of results and lifestyle. What will you do once you reach that goal?
  • franticfoxx
    franticfoxx Posts: 50 Member
    Good morning,

    i understand your frustration. Sometimes your body gets used to your scheduled routine and it may be as simple as changing it up and adding some circuit training. Build your muscles decreases fat. Stop looking so much at the number on the scale and look at the size in your clothing and how you feel in them.I can definitely tell you that you do not eat enough. You need to fuel your body just like you would fuel your car. it cant run on empty. 1200 calories is boarder line starving your self. The biggest meals you should have is in the morning. limit your fruits, try and eliminate the sugars, increase your vegetables. Decrease your refined grains and carbs and switch to quinoa, brown rice and seeds, nuts. Hopefully this will help. Dont give up, remember this is a lifestyle not a diet. it took me many years of trying and changing my habits to realize this. Ive lost over 116lbs and 10 dress sizes and I did it with eating and exercise!! now i am a trainer and lifestyle coach.... good luck!

    Andrea
    Life Style Coach
    Personal trainer

    Thank you!!! I really appreciate your responsee!
  • franticfoxx
    franticfoxx Posts: 50 Member
    Thank you very much, I will look into that. Adding some calories would be nice lol. 1200 seems so low.

    No problem. If you notice that you're hungry/craving things all the time. It's totally because you don't eat enough. I was the same way. Eat a banana- gain a pound. Nothing changed, and kept upping the cardio thinking I wasn't doing enough. I stayed at the same weight, yes, but it would fluctuate up and down a couple of pounds. It would go down when I would reduce calories (arbitrary number) and then as soon as I ate extra it would go right back up and sometimes more. Proper nutrition takes a bit of time and effort to figure out, but there are tons of resources/calculators online to get you started. Don't be afraid to eat more. And definitely don't be afraid of weights-you will see amazing results and wonder why you didn't do this sooner. I can attest to that :D

    Once you started to add more calories did you notice a change in weight? How did it turn out for you?
    Your very helpful lol.

    Yes! Once I upped my calories, and spread it into even meals. I dropped 2 lbs in just a few days. I want to lose slowly, because I'm not focused on my weight since size is not an issue for me. I'm focused on getting rid of fat and building muscle. And this was the best part. 1/2 inch of my belly (by biggest part because of pregnancy) in 1 month. I damn nearly fainted in surprise! I couldn't believe that after stuffing myself with food every day. I make sure to spread my meals into 4-5 meals per day. I pre-cook all the grains like brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat, steelcut oatmeal, etc. I pre-cook lean meats and legumes. I try to steam veggies for each meal, but I have that luxury because I work from home, you can precook them daily if you want, or eat raw. Measure out your amounts based on your carb/protein/fat ratio, and stick to it. These meals will make you feel very full, too full at times, and you will feel like you're overeating, but believe me - you will not be reaching into your cupboard for that afternoon carb craving like a junkie. I also stopped crashing in the afternoon or post workouts. I stopped treating weekends like a free for all - you know, the "I work out so I can eat whatever I want mentality." But, I do make sure to indulge a little here and there. I drink, but I limit the number of drinks to a couple, and try to keep it to one day a week. Remember that your body is a very efficient and highly adaptable machine and if it does the same thing over and over again, it gets used to it. Change things up, eat different meal combinations, try new foods. Change up your exercise routine regularly. And you will see results.

    Thank you !!! I def have some changing to do hahah
  • chandanista
    chandanista Posts: 986 Member
    I've noticed my muscles retain water the day after a good workout/run. I would suggest weighing yourself after a rest day or two, if you only weigh after a hard run that could be screwing up your numbers.
  • gymgirl3590
    gymgirl3590 Posts: 46
    A few things... The thing with beer is that it will dehydrate you. And it sounds like you're dehydrated already. When you're dehydrated your body will hold on to all the water you give it. I don't care if you don't like water, find a way that you can drink it. Its no different than other healthy changes in your diet. I agree your calorie intake is too low. I know 115 isn't low, but there is one thing I want to say about it. Where did you get that number? Is it what you weighed in high school? It may be a healthy bmi for your height but depending on how much muscle you have it may be on the low side. From 18 to 21 your body is still changing shape and you may need to watch how you look at the weights to make sure you still look healthy. People like you (I did this too) have goal weights at the bottom end of their bmi to lose to when they don't have much to lose, but it doesn't mean it's healthy for them. If I tried to weigh what I did in high school (120 5'7), I would actually be under weight when I consider how much muscle I have. So my goal for now is 135, when I reach that I'm going to reevaluate and see if I should continue to lose a little more. Having a goal weight is great, but don't let the number blind you and be willing to always reevaluate. I haven't looked at your pictures so it may be fine, just keep it in mind. Try changing the kind or cardio you do, your body may be too accustomed to running, try the elliptical for 30-45 minutes instead. Its also good to set goals besides weight, like inches. One of my goals is to be able to do a rope climb without using my feet, run a mile in 9 minutes, get a muscle up, etc. The more goals you have the more you'll be able to see improvement and say, "hey, I couldn't do that before!" It always ties in to not getting wrapped up in a number.
  • mayflowermn
    mayflowermn Posts: 52 Member
    Avicini,

    FYI....sent you a PM :)
  • Mischievous_Rascal
    Mischievous_Rascal Posts: 1,791 Member
    You have to eat according to your needs. How did you come up with 1200 calories? That's way too little for an active young woman. If all you do is cardio, and starve yourself (not intake enough calories to keep your body functioning efficiently) - you will not loose weight. Look at it as the equivalent of being a hamster in a wheel. I was stuck in this cycle for almost two years, before I realized that I was going nowhere. You need to set a goal, calculate what your BMR is with your activity level and what you need to maintain your current weight. Then reduce that 5-15% and eat well balanced meals of carbs/proteins/fats. Start lifting weights to make your body more efficient. Straight cardio will keep you at the same weight, but your body fat % is either going to stay the same, or you'll slowly gain more, especially if you're eating some arbitrary number of calories with no rhyme or reason.

    I have a desk job, would adding calories still apply if my activity level during the day is just sitting at the computer?
    i understand fully what your telling me, I 'm just scared to be honest. I wold like to add calories, just wasn't sure that was right. I got 1200 from wanting to lose weight, and having a low activity level during the day. according to MFP.,.,

    Don't reduce from your BMR - that's what you need just to breathe, etc!!! You need to reduce from your TDEE. (My BMR is 1275/day, but my TDEE is close to 2300 and I eat between 2100 and 2300.) I was scared to eat more, too, but I was more frustrated with the plateaus to NOT try. This calculator has been the most accurate for me: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    You can set it up with your activity level as "desk job" and then eat your exercise calories back, or you can set it up with your exercise level and then don't bother tracking your burns. (I do this - I like eating the same amount everyday, and worrying about one less number is a good thing! lol) If you have a little to lose, choose 5%. The closer you are to your goal, the closer to maintainence you should be eating.

    And lift heavy things - it'll change your life. :)

    Best of luck!
  • Idka81
    Idka81 Posts: 42
    You have to eat according to your needs. How did you come up with 1200 calories? That's way too little for an active young woman. If all you do is cardio, and starve yourself (not intake enough calories to keep your body functioning efficiently) - you will not loose weight. Look at it as the equivalent of being a hamster in a wheel. I was stuck in this cycle for almost two years, before I realized that I was going nowhere. You need to set a goal, calculate what your BMR is with your activity level and what you need to maintain your current weight. Then reduce that 5-15% and eat well balanced meals of carbs/proteins/fats. Start lifting weights to make your body more efficient. Straight cardio will keep you at the same weight, but your body fat % is either going to stay the same, or you'll slowly gain more, especially if you're eating some arbitrary number of calories with no rhyme or reason.

    I have a desk job, would adding calories still apply if my activity level during the day is just sitting at the computer?
    i understand fully what your telling me, I 'm just scared to be honest. I wold like to add calories, just wasn't sure that was right. I got 1200 from wanting to lose weight, and having a low activity level during the day. according to MFP.,.,

    Don't reduce from your BMR - that's what you need just to breathe, etc!!! You need to reduce from your TDEE. (My BMR is 1275/day, but my TDEE is close to 2300 and I eat between 2100 and 2300.) I was scared to eat more, too, but I was more frustrated with the plateaus to NOT try. This calculator has been the most accurate for me: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    You can set it up with your activity level as "desk job" and then eat your exercise calories back, or you can set it up with your exercise level and then don't bother tracking your burns. (I do this - I like eating the same amount everyday, and worrying about one less number is a good thing! lol) If you have a little to lose, choose 5%. The closer you are to your goal, the closer to maintainence you should be eating.

    And lift heavy things - it'll change your life. :)

    Best of luck!

    I love Scooby! He brought me to my senses. I will never look back. :D
  • Phoenix_Warrior
    Phoenix_Warrior Posts: 1,633 Member
    bump
  • IanBee93
    IanBee93 Posts: 237 Member
    Maybe you're eating more than you think.
  • GInterrupted
    GInterrupted Posts: 4 Member
    It occurs to me that you've reached your set weight. Everyone has a rough number that their body naturally likes, I guess our bodies like to have a fat reserve in case the going gets tough and we need to fight our way out of something/ may be stranded without food. I know from example (and from my many eating disordered friends) when you push your body below it's set weight it usually won't budge until you do something drastic. As your BMR has lowered with your overall weightloss your body has reached a happy equilibrium of calories burned and calories consumed, and the lack of weightloss is an indication that you are where your meant to be. Why do you want to lose those last couple lbs? You're at a healthy weight and you eat a healthy diet, maybe you should be happy with that and not try to go lower?

    Some people find their natural weight at a BMI of 21, some at a BMI of 18, listen to your body. If those last few lbs aren't budging, there's a reason and you don't have to force your body into losing them.

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