Eating healthy, working out, but not seeing results?

It baffles me how you could do 3.5-4 hours of cardio a day, eat between 900-1,000 calories a day and still manage to function. You are putting yourself into starvation mode. You need to log everything with accuracy. Do you own a food scale? If not I highly recommend one. They truly are a must have in the dieting world. I weigh and log everything that goes into my body, food and beverages Sorry for your hardships, I hope you figure it out.

I'm able to function, because it's what I've been doing for years.
I've never been able to eat much food, for as long as I can remember. Even as a kid, I never ate very much... I just ate the wrong kind of food, which is what eventually caused me to gain weight.

After switching to healthier foods, I just find it extremely difficult to make it to the 1200 mark.
I feel like I'd have to be eating all day long, which is just impossible. I just can't do it.
I absolutely love green beans, and I can usually eat an entire can at a time for a snack... which only has 60 calories in it AT MOST. 20 calories/serving.
I feel like I'm going to vomit after eating that. It's a lot of food... so how am I supposed to get to the 1200 mark?

agree with the others that it does not sound like a great plan & you should be eating more.

As for feeling too full and not being able to eat 1200 cals, start eating some higher calorie foods. It's not hard to get a couple hundred cals in with a couple spoonfuls of peanut butter or a few handfuls of nuts or seeds. Avocado is another good option. make guacamole or try adding a few slices to sandwiches or salads.

That's just the thing... I have a very sensitive stomach, so I'm limited to what I'm even able to eat to begin with.

Can't eat eggs, bacon, certain types of bread, cheese (especially powdered), beef, crackers, ice cream, pop corn, and a lot of other foods.
I just end up in the bathroom for hours on end, after I eat it.

you did not mention any of the foods that i suggested, but i guess you are trying to tell me that they bother you as well. If so then find something (like the mac n cheese i see you mentioned in a later post on this thread) and eat that instead of a can of string beans. The idea is to eat foods with higher calories.

Everything you have written here is extremely worrying. If you feel like vomiting after eating 60 calories of green beans then you require immediate medical and psychological help. Seriously. Your comments are genuinely very worrying. You cannot fix this on your own. Please value your life and seek help. Go well xx

I feel like throwing up, because I'm full... too full.
Not because of a mental issue, with being scared to gain weight.

Every can of green beans has 3 servings in it... which means, it's "supposed to" be enough green beans for 3 people.
That means I'm eating 3 peoples' worth of green beans, when I eat that can.
That's A LOT of green beans.
It fills up a bowl to the top... actually, it almost over fills a bowl.

It's not the calories that fill you up, it's the physical amount that does it.

It doesn't matter whether it's an entire bowl of green beans (60 calories), or an entire bowl of Mac N' Cheese (550 calories), I still get full after the same amount, which is 1 bowl.

The same could be said about pizza (which is REALLY high in calories), if you could find a way to make it fit into a bowl without squishing the crap out of it.

I wasn't implying you are bulimic, but if your stomach can't hold a tin of green beans without vomiting then that is cause for concern. For medical and psychological reasons. In any event, three portions of green beans is certainly not "a lot" of food at all. In fact it's usually a side-dish I would have with a main meal. The human stomach can hold 2-4 litres of food. One tin of green beans will fill a small percentage of that capacity, which is why the problem may be psychological or medical. Just to reiterate: everything you have written in this thread is alarming, and you seem to have an extremely unhealthy relationship with food and exercise. The kindest thing you can do for your body and mind is to seek proper medical assistance as soon as possible.

ETA: You should eat that bowl of mac and cheese. The "downside" of it being all carbs is not actually a downside at all. Especially since you somehow need to fuel the ridiculous amount of cardio exercise you're doing. I suggest you eat until you are one spoonful away from feeling sick. If you do that at least three times a day you will have no problem consuming a much healthier number of calories. But please also follow the advice about professional help

5-6 hours of sleep? Try to get more, its important,

First off, calorie dense foods. Nuts, avocados, creamy sauces, pate, coconut milk, dried fruit, etc-small amounts can bulk out your calories. Secondly, have you thought about switching out your cardio for something like yoga? You can get your me time without stressing your body while it's getting so little fuel.

I've actually thought about doing yoga, yes... but there aren't any places where I live that teach it... so I'd have to figure out how to do it myself, and ultimately end up probably severely hurting myself, and getting stuck in some weird position. lol

If you're looking to get started, http://www.doyouyoga.com/challenge.

The videos are short, but they're a great intro into yoga, and there are a ton more on youtube. I've never been to a proper class, I just use videos

I meant the average human stomach not just mine. If your stomach can only hold 200-400mls then you have a problem and need to seek advice from a specialist doctor (unless you have had surgery to make it smaller, of course).

I nearly forgot because the past few years it has not been bothering me, but about 10 years ago i started feeling sick after large meals & would not get hungry again for a very long time. I went to see a gastroenterologist & he diagnosed me with GERD/reflux. He also ordered an upper endoscopy and they found a hiatal hernia which was causing slow stomach emptying & digestion. I took medicine he prescribed for the GERD and avoided foods that are likely to aggravate the reflux. I also started eating several smaller meals & snacks throughout the day because of the hernia, and this seems to help a great deal. i'm glad that i went to the doc because after i was diagnosed i found ways to help manage my condition & alleviate some of my discomfort.

Now, I am not trying to suggest that this is your problem or diagnose you in any way. You could have a similar issue or it could be something entirely different. There is no way for us to know. The point is that it definitely seems as though something might be wrong and you need to find out for certain. So please see a Medical professional to get a proper diagnosis.

Agreed with everyone. Eat more, exercise a little less, add more protein and essential fats to your diet. Don't focus on quantity. A table spoon of olive oil to your food can add a calorie boost. Peanut butter. Hummus. Cheese. All calorie sense things that don't require a lot to give you a little extra in calories.

There's a difference between a nutritionist and a dietician. I have serious doubts a nutritionist put you on the amount of calories you eat.

I average between 700-800 calories/day.
I was told by my nutritionist to stay below 1200 calories, but above 650... so I'm exactly where I need to be.

She was "very concerned" with my weight being where it was, at my age... so she told me to stay in that range, and do as much cardio as possible.

Also, to stick with vegetables, fruits, and protein... and to only drink water, or 100% fruit juice.

And I take multivitamins every morning to keep my vitamin levels where they need to be.

Bear in mind that nutritionists don't have to be licensed the way physicians or registered dieticians do... I don't know your nutritionist's background, but it sounds to me like she doesn't really have one. Anyone on a VLCD (less than 1200) should be closely monitored by a well-certified healthcare professional, and VLCDs are generally reserved for people who have BMIs that are very high. Like sufficiently high to disqualify them for bariatric surgery.

From your profile, I've no idea what your weight is, so I don't know if your nutritionist's concern is warranted, but judging from your picture I would say it isn't.

There's a lot of other advice on logging that I'm sure others will be happy to give you, but this is my input.

ETA: If you want to find a different nutrition professional (I highly recommend it!), find a registered dietician. Or someone who studied nutrition and human health sciences at a reputable institution.

Dietitian. That's what I meant.
Not nutritionist, but I couldn't think of if.

My starting weight was 238 at 5'4.
My lowest weight was 160.
After gaining some weight back, my current weight is 201.
Which gives me a BMI of 34.78, which is considered Obese.

I'm definitely going to look into finding someone else, because it doesn't seem like she knows what she's doing... either that, or she doesn't care... and she just wants me to do whatever I have to do to lose the weight, regardless if it's healthy or not.

You definitely need to get rid of her! That a registered dietician would give such damaging advice is dispicable. For starters, such a low calorie diet should NOT be taken lightly and needs close monitoring by a doctor. Secondly, if you're eating that many calories you should not be doing all that working out as it has shown to do FAR more harm than good and your body compensates for all the extra calories burned by slowing your metabolic rate. So while you think you might be burning a ton of extra calories from all that exercise, you're most likely not and also putting a lot of stress on your body. You cannot be building muscle on such a low amounts of calories and you will certainly be eating that muscle AWAY with all that exercise, especially if you're not eating sufficient protein.

Carbs CAN be a problem for some people and people who are very overweight or sedentary. With all that exercise you'd NEED carbs though. I'd always put preferences on good carbs such as potatoes and sweet potatoes, fruits and veg though and you gotta make sure you're getting all the essentials too (right amount of protein, omega 3s, nutrients). A mutlivitamin is always a good idea on any diet, but very low cal diets are also deficient in important electrolytes that you don't find in a mutlivitamin. If you're not taking enough of these in and also sweating them out through exercise you're going to cause your body and your heart some serious damage if you carry on like that.

I'm more than happy to offer you some advice if you want it. Send me a PM and I'll do my best to help Good luck!

You will probably benefit from having your rmr tested. After years of low food intake your metabolism is probably very low. You may need to do some intense eating for a few weeks to get it back up so you can lose again. (Look this concept up on the forums to understand).

I think it would be helpful to know exactly what you're eating. Can you post a typical days food intake? We may have some good suggestions for increasing your intake without feeling overfull, which may also boost your metabolism.

Also I totally understand loving veggies and lean protein. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but I like eating that way too. I just try to increase my healthy fat intake, by adding peanut butter or cream cheese to something or getting protein from salmon or chicken with skin.