I clearly can't lose weight. Should I still exercise?

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Replies

  • VickiMitkins
    VickiMitkins Posts: 249 Member
    Short answer is to continue exercise at least 30 minutes 5 days a week. It does not have to be over the top. A long walk will work. Everyone can lose weight if they commit to making the changes necessary. I thought I could not lose either. I am 47 years old and have diagnosed underactive thyroid since age of 30. In 12 weeks I have lost 11 pounds. Does not seem like much, but people are noticing. A couple of tips I have that are working for me. Count every calorie you eat and measure your food so you know for sure the calorie count is correct. Keep your calories in a defecit no matter what. It does not have to be a big deficet, even 150 -200 calories less than needed (every day) will keep you losing over the long term. Be honest when you do the profile about your activity level so that you will have a better idea how many calories you can eat. Don't be discouraged if you don't lose something every week. Slow is easier and better for you. As dearariana said, weight fluctuates naturally so some weeks you may not notice much change, but over a month you will.
  • Jennplus2
    Jennplus2 Posts: 984 Member
    When you are eating healthy how many calories are you eating per day? When I was eating 1200 my weight loss was the same as yours. Not there. But once I started eating 1500 calories per day plus exercise calories I do much better at losing weight. Still exercise because you might be gaining muscle and losing fat. Which would make you leaner but not lighter. Give your body time to work this out, the fat will come off. For now step away from the scale and measure yourself instead. After a month get back on the scale and you will be so happy that you waited to weigh. :flowerforyou:
    That is my 2 cents anyway...
  • UpToAnyCool
    UpToAnyCool Posts: 1,673
    Sometimes people plateau when they are not eating enough. Not sure if that is your issue, but it could be.

    You are young and exercising will definitely provide other health benefits, even if the scale is stuck. For instance, when you reach middle age, you can lose up to 1/2# muscle a year. This will cause your metabolism to slow down. If you are fit and building muscle now it will certainly help you later in life. In my opinion, it's not a waste of time.

    No one is trying to be harsh here, but these mfPeeps are HARDCORE. When they comment on your posting for 3 wks (not sure, but maybe you've been doing this for a long time, but only the past 3 wks shows up), it is because some of them have been logging here daily for over a year, etc.

    I think that unless you have some unusual health condition, YOU CAN FOR SURE LOSE WEIGHT, but it might take some tinkering. Take heart, hang in there - this is your health we're talking about and you are worth it!!

    Good luck! :flowerforyou:

    Edited to add: i just noticed your screen name. I offer you some 'Earl grey, Hot.'
  • Katz85340
    Katz85340 Posts: 206 Member
    I am so upset. If you look at the chart below and the list of how my weight has progressed below, you'll see that losing weight is impossible for me and I'm going to continue to get fatter no matter what I do.

    I was eating a lot of fast food and pizza and such before I started working out again, then I started being really good about eating and even counting calories. I admit the weekend of Christmas was bad, but no worse than all the fast food I'd had before. I was actually pretty much maintaining my weight before I started exercising, actually. I didn't eat too poorly on New Year's. I had a decent amount of drinks, but like I said it was hardly worse than the fast food I'd been having, and I ate well except for those drinks.

    So since I'm incapable of losing weight, I'm wondering if I should even continue to exercise at all. It would still be good for me, right? I don't know, it's just so depressing to see that it doesn't have any effect on my weight.

    chart010411.jpg

    12/23/10 148.5
    12/30/10 150.5
    01/04/11 151.8

    If I was simply maintaining my weight, I might think that Christmas and New Year's had kept me from losing. But I'm actually gaining very quickly even though I'm eating well every day but Christmas weekend and New Year's Eve.

    Definitely continue to exercise! Do not give up! Log everything you eat; even if it's bad, so that you can see on your log where you need to make changes. Get back on the program because you 'can' lose weight!
  • trekkiebeth
    trekkiebeth Posts: 172
    Thank you for all the replies! A lot of different things were said, so I'll just say a couple things.

    Of course I'm not expecting instant results. That would mean I expect to drop several pounds in 2 weeks. What I was expecting was to not gain so much.

    I eat the amount of calories MFP recommends for me (1,260), plus most or all of the exercise calories.

    A lot of the food I buy is organic, and I stay under my sodium limit. I drink plenty of water.

    I guess I just need to keep trying and try my best to not get depressed.
  • Bigpelly8
    Bigpelly8 Posts: 504 Member
    Beth, If this was easy, we wouldn;t be here cause we would all be on the beach showing off our rock hard abs!! It takes time, butpush through it cause your body will figure out what your doing, and it will change!!! Keep your head up, keep excercising and eating right, and it will happen!! Simple, burn more calories than you take in, and it is impossible to not lose. Also...keep in mind, that the calories from drinking, or empty, worthless calories. I used to drink a lot, and I mean a lot of beer. The two times last month I drank, derailed my progress for a week!! It makes me think twice before I put anything in my mouth!! Good luck, and please stick with it!
  • lfondots
    lfondots Posts: 216 Member
    First? I'm glad you posted! It can get frustrating but don't give up. Take what everyone said and see what works for you. Exercise is wonderful and you shouldn't stop. Take your measurements and see if you are losing that way. In the long run this is a lifestyle change. Good luck!
  • jboysdontcryp
    jboysdontcryp Posts: 6
    It will be alright, I have had trouble my whole life losing weight and it is ok, everyone is different and you need to find what works for you :). The most important thing is to stay to it, you're doing yourself injustice otherwise. Remember you are doing this for you, and this about you. Whenever I need extra motivation I look at success stories, and I have also found the book " Naturally Thin" by Bethenny Frankel-Hoppy to be very helpful. She provides tips that are easy to retrain yourself. Just stay to it, and I know its hard, I always have a problem myself - in the past I gave up because I didn't see results, but you will see them, just be patient. And remember life is about being healthy not about the number on the scale!
  • ginnyroxx
    ginnyroxx Posts: 763
    Thank you for all the replies! A lot of different things were said, so I'll just say a couple things.

    Of course I'm not expecting instant results. That would mean I expect to drop several pounds in 2 weeks. What I was expecting was to not gain so much.

    I eat the amount of calories MFP recommends for me (1,260), plus most or all of the exercise calories.

    A lot of the food I buy is organic, and I stay under my sodium limit. I drink plenty of water.

    I guess I just need to keep trying and try my best to not get depressed.

    how are you getting your calorie burn numbers? do you have a heart rate monitor?
  • edorice
    edorice Posts: 4,519 Member
    This is just...January 4th right? You said you were eating fast food, went off plan at Christmas and was drinking for New Years'. Give yourself a week before you through in the towel. Do some cardio exercise and sweat.
  • Lyndzo
    Lyndzo Posts: 142
    Don't give up on exercise, it's always a good thing - especially for your overall health.

    Also, you're already pretty small and don't have that much to lose so it will probably be harder to see immediate results.
  • NatalieWinning
    NatalieWinning Posts: 999 Member
    Only one month, and I gain with time of month fluctuations anyway, while you also had a holiday off eating. So what really happened, most likely, is you put in half the effort for only a small amount of time, and expected max. results. Keep trying more consistantly and in 3 months time if you haven't lost any, then be sure to get a medical evaluation to rule out reasons why you are eating a weight loss amount of calories and exercising regularly but still not loosing weight. There are medical reasons why some people won't let go of weight despite trying.

    If you log it all very carefully this website has excelent reports you can print for the doctor or nutritionist to see exactly what your efforts have been for exercise and detailed nutritional reports! So this is no loss; consider it homework for some other help if this website doesn't give you results.

    Personally, I know that before logging consistantly and honestly I was not really eating like I thought. And one month is not long enough for your body to respond because of normal things that might have got in the way of this particular 3 weeks or so.
  • Clew
    Clew Posts: 910 Member


    Edited to add: i just noticed your screen name. I offer you some 'Earl grey, Hot.'


    Tee hee! :laugh:
  • anovasjo
    anovasjo Posts: 382 Member
    Beth, If this was easy, we wouldn;t be here cause we would all be on the beach showing off our rock hard abs!! It takes time, butpush through it cause your body will figure out what your doing, and it will change!!! Keep your head up, keep excercising and eating right, and it will happen!! Simple, burn more calories than you take in, and it is impossible to not lose.

    Exactly what he said. :glasses:
  • trekkiebeth
    trekkiebeth Posts: 172
    A lot of my attitude right now is because I'm so emotional. A year and a half ago I weighed 134. It's been awful to feel so out of control as I got heavier and heavier. I've worked out on and off that whole time, but it's been difficult to be consistent with it. Plus I've always had severe self esteem issues connected with my body.
  • Mindful_Trent
    Mindful_Trent Posts: 3,954 Member
    "So since I'm incapable of losing weight" :huh:

    Unless you have some kind of medical reason that would prevent you from losing weight, I'd say this is nonsense. Review what you are eating & drinking, watch those calories (not too much, not too few) and no doubt you will start to lose again. And by all means, as the other posters have said, keep exercising. It will help tone you up, is good for your heart, and will help you rebuild your confidence. Onward with POSTIVE self talk! :bigsmile: :flowerforyou:

    You said exactly what I was thinking...
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