Why do I even TRY?

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mindiv
mindiv Posts: 49 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
For a year now - A YEAR - I've been trying to lose the last of my baby weight by calorie counting and working out. The same way I lost more than 80 pounds originally. It has now actually been more than a year since I lost any weight. I've tried varying my calories for several weeks or a couple months at a time, from as high as 1,850 a day to as low as 1,200 a day and have settled on 1,550 per day (what I used to lose last time). Nothing. I've eaten back my workout calories and NOT eaten them back. Nothing.I even joined a different gym and varied my workout with some running and new strength routines. NOTHING. In fact I'm only slowly gaining weight for no reason. The week after Christmas I missed a birth control pill, stayed almost perfectly on plan and GAINED 8 pounds. I thought that had gone away (water weight, sodium, etc) but nope, as of this morning it's back.

I'm sitting here getting ready to go to the gym and asking myself why I bother doing all this - eating right and working out 5 days a week (cardio and strength training) - when NOTHING is doing any good at all. I just want to cry.

Now, off to waste time at the gym.
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Replies

  • IdsFknTaken
    IdsFknTaken Posts: 20
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    Do you track absolutely everything you eat? Do you weigh your food with digital scales?
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    if you weigh and measure EVERYTHING and work out regularly and have been eating at a deficit for a year without losing any weight or inches (you dont mention how your clothes fit or any measurements) i would go to the doctors and get yourself checked out as thats pretty much impossible unless you have a medical problem.
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    How tall are you and what do you weigh? Perhaps your body is happy where it is! If that photo on the right of your profile pic is what you look like now, it doesn't look like you have anything to lose.
  • Wilhellmina
    Wilhellmina Posts: 757 Member
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    if you weigh and measure EVERYTHING and work out regularly and have been eating at a deficit for a year without losing any weight or inches (you dont mention how your clothes fit or any measurements) i would go to the doctors and get yourself checked out as thats pretty much impossible unless you have a medical problem.

    I agree with this! I have the same problem and I am planning to have my hormones checked, like thyroid.
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
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    Why do you try? Because of this from your own profile:

    -Living a long, healthy life
    -Being a healthy mom
    -Being a good role model for our child

    You accomplish all of this already I presume by simply doing what you are already doing: living a healthy and active lifestyle. You might want to look a little different then you are now but understand you are already succeeding in numerous ways.

    Keep calm and carry on.
  • mhasita
    mhasita Posts: 93 Member
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    maybe you gained muscle mass? (you said you are strenght training) I would compare my meassurements and before/after pics. The scale is an enemy sometimes.

    if still there's no change I would go to the doctor...
  • castadiva
    castadiva Posts: 2,016 Member
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    Sounds to me like it's time to visit a doctor and get hormone levels, thyroid etc checked out. The body goes through a series of massive hormonal and biochemical changes in pregnancy, and may not have fully adjusted back to pre-pregnancy levels. Also, are you taking a different BCP than previously? Some types of pill have a significant effect on some women - I could not lose weight, no matter what I tried, on one particular pill, stopped taking it, and dropped 14lbs in a month... That may not be the issue, but something to consider.

    Also, I notice you mention that you have started strength training. How are your measurements, as opposed to your scale weight? How do your clothes fit? It's possible, especially if ST's something you haven't done much of before, that your body composition is changing, and that increased lean mass is showing up on your scale and 'cancelling out' a decreased fat percentage in the numbers you're seeing. That may not be the case - we don't have enough information to say how likely it is, even - but it's another possibility to consider.
  • BlackPup
    BlackPup Posts: 242 Member
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    My sisters thyroid went wacko after her baby. I think it was more at the 6 month mark.
    Also it's hard to lose the weight with a bub. The lack of sleep and business complicate life and weight loss.
    I would definitely see a doctor and get your thyroid checked. Get as much sleep as you can. Be accurate with your logging. Keep up the exercise. Measure as well as weigh.
  • lightinfl
    lightinfl Posts: 229 Member
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    and here's a diffrent take on the mattter...can you imagine where you'd be if you QUIT? If you efforts are resulting in maintence you are still better than your alternative of gaining. Keep working out, keep logging your food and weigh it when you measure. Get the sleep you need and try not to be so hard on yourself. That stress only adds to the problem. See your doctor to make sure all is well and then, keep plodding along. You are seeing a small phase of the entire journey, not the whole finished picture.
  • BlackPup
    BlackPup Posts: 242 Member
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    and here's a diffrent take on the mattter...can you imagine where you'd be if you QUIT? If you efforts are resulting in maintence you are still better than your alternative of gaining. Keep working out, keep logging your food and weigh it when you measure. Get the sleep you need and try not to be so hard on yourself. That stress only adds to the problem. See your doctor to make sure all is well and then, keep plodding along. You are seeing a small phase of the entire journey, not the whole finished picture.

    Great perspective. A friend said something similar when I was lamenting my yoyo weight loss, she said all those times I've lost weight have stopped me from being much heavier.
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
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    For a year now - A YEAR - I've been trying to lose the last of my baby weight by calorie counting and working out. The same way I lost more than 80 pounds originally. It has now actually been more than a year since I lost any weight. I've tried varying my calories for several weeks or a couple months at a time, from as high as 1,850 a day to as low as 1,200 a day and have settled on 1,550 per day (what I used to lose last time). Nothing. I've eaten back my workout calories and NOT eaten them back. Nothing.I even joined a different gym and varied my workout with some running and new strength routines. NOTHING. In fact I'm only slowly gaining weight for no reason. The week after Christmas I missed a birth control pill, stayed almost perfectly on plan and GAINED 8 pounds. I thought that had gone away (water weight, sodium, etc) but nope, as of this morning it's back.

    I'm sitting here getting ready to go to the gym and asking myself why I bother doing all this - eating right and working out 5 days a week (cardio and strength training) - when NOTHING is doing any good at all. I just want to cry.

    Now, off to waste time at the gym.

    You are probably wasting your time at the gym by sneaking in a cheeky chocolate bar to make up for it, arent you now?

    In all seriousness, the difference between losing weight and just maintaining is always the fine lines - the calories in the snack, the amount of mayo on your salad, the extra 5 minutes of exercise, etc.
  • mindiv
    mindiv Posts: 49 Member
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    I'm 5 ft 8.5 inches tall and as of this morning weigh 163. I WANT to get back to where I was pre-baby after weight loss, which was around 140, and which I maintained without any trouble at 1,800 calories a day with workouts.

    I do track everything. But I must admit that the longer this has gone on I've developed more of an "oh well it's not working anyway" attitude. Maybe a couple of days I've had a mini chocolate bar or two. I haven't had a real chocolate bar or dessert in years. I'll crack down again.

    I do weigh everything. And I've been strength training since 2007, but only recently changed up the overall routine a bit. But that's been a couple of months back.

    I'm really wondering if I'm not having a hormonal imbalance. I've actually had my thyroid checked recently and it was just fine. But I may make an appointment to check the hormones, considering I gained 10 pounds initially getting OFF birth control a couple of years ago, and recently switched to a new kind now that I think about it.

    One of you commented that my efforts are resulting in maintenance. But they're NOT. I'm gaining weight. Sleep isn't an option...between two dogs that need out multiple times a night and a toddler who dreams really, really loudly, I'm up at least three times a night. Usually more. So maybe I'm just stuck.

    Thanks for listening, y'all. If I tell anyone here this they look at me like I'm insane. lol
  • bobbijodmb
    bobbijodmb Posts: 463 Member
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    You said that you are doing the same thing you did before but unfortunately as we lose weight, we need to do more to lose more weight. I would increase your cardio a bit and decrease your calories a bit. You said that you have tried everything, but maybe trying one thing and sticking to it for a bit.

    It can get frustrating, but keep on doing it. If anything, you are making yourself more active and healthy until the scale moves =)
  • happysherri
    happysherri Posts: 1,360 Member
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    You do it for your health. Try switching your workouts up. I lost my last 10 by crazy high calorie burns.
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
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    If you've been lifting for a year, do you look better than you did 12 months ago?

    I've actually gained back all the weight I lost from when I first joined MFP. :laugh:
  • Mia_RagazzaTosta
    Mia_RagazzaTosta Posts: 4,885 Member
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    If you're gaining, you're in calorie surplus. End of story.
  • Emmidoodah
    Emmidoodah Posts: 21 Member
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    Hey! Stop being so damn hard on yourself! You have done so well and you have achieved so much more than many of us will. I have heard of this weight plateau thing before and it's something that most people go through. How about getting some advice from the staff at the gym? You may have put on a bit of muscle at the gym also, and muscle weighs more than fat so you could still be physically smaller even if you weigh more. Being smaller and more toned is what it's all about right? Go girl!:happy:
  • abuck_13
    abuck_13 Posts: 382 Member
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    Check your workouts to start with. If you are easily completing what you struggled with a year ago, you are not working as hard, so you are burning less.

    If everything else seems to be in check, I'd head to the doctor as your metabolism might be out of whack from a medical condition.
  • babydiego87
    babydiego87 Posts: 905 Member
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    This might sound silly.....but do you wake up in the night? My mother is a habitual nocturnal eater. She doesn't even realise she's doing it until the next morning.
  • vlfreestone
    vlfreestone Posts: 5 Member
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    Hi,

    Ive just read your post and feel that you need a little motivation. Have you tried talking to your Dr? It is not right that you are not losing weight over a period of a year. Maybe a nutritionist could help or have a word with one of the trainers at your gym?

    Please dont stop trying, at the end of the day you feel healthier and better about yourself once you have done your workout.

    A Fellow dieter! X

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