Join my mission to beat frustration?

_jayciemarie_
_jayciemarie_ Posts: 574 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am frustrated. I have lost 60lbs--which is awesome. The first 45 lbs came in only 5 months. The 6th month I lost 10lbs. The 7th month I lost about 5lbs. Month 8, 9, and now 10---I keep hovering in the same spot and if I drop down a pound the next day I will be up 2. I am stuck between 170-175lbs. It doesn't matter if I work my butt off at the gym (which I use a HRM and I wear a fitbit), or if my eating and macros are spot on. I don't lose weight. I went to an Endocrinologist because a long time ago I was diagnosed with PCOS. Even though I have lost weight, maybe PCOS is holding me up and I'm just spinning my wheels.

Anyway, is there anyone out there in the same situation? I need support from people that have been there or are there now. I'm not giving up. I just don't know what to change. Help? I ate bad this weekend, but my weekly amounts are far under. Please don't bash me. Help me. Please.

Replies

  • Sunitagt
    Sunitagt Posts: 486 Member
    I've been hovering too, but I know that I've been over-eating so that's what's been hindering me. Maybe the same for you? Take another look and make sure you're weighing everything you're eating and logging it all.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Have you asked the wonderful ladies on the PCOS group for advice too? They may not see this, but DO have some great words of wisdom! There are several groups here, both are active.

    Good luck!
  • CynthiasChoice
    CynthiasChoice Posts: 1,047 Member
    I'm so sorry! I'm not going through this now, but I have in the past. Two months of doing well and the scale wouldn't budge. I fell off my plan at that point -- don't you do that!!! What I discovered later is that I was not measuring my food accurately enough, and I was believing some nutrition labels that seemed too good to be true. It might have amounted to 200 or 300 calories per day more than I thought. Weighing food in grams is a lot more accurate. It's time consuming, but maybe worth the effort if you haven't really examined your calculations lately.

    This is just one thing to think about, and there may be other reasons, like gaining muscle mass or PCOS. Just don't give up! Good luck.
  • JennyKCarty
    JennyKCarty Posts: 457 Member
    What's your deficit set to? Maybe it's time to change that up to 1 lb per week or 0.5 lb per week.
    I went back to May 1st on your diary and it looks like you were leaving a lot of calories left at the end of the day. For example your calorie goal was 2000, but you were eating 1300. You gotta fuel your body for all the working out that you do.
    I also noticed that your sodium is often high. I know I don't lose when I am over in sodium.
    Good luck, you've been working hard!
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    And open diary, wow

    Yeah I would chat with the PCOS people

    That aside, I feel like I see evidence of weighing food, but are you really weighing your intake? Some quantities appear to be spot on like 1/2 cup or the exact serving size, but then I see a 97.5g banana. If you're not weighing everything, you should

    Going back several days I saw a quick added calories entry. You don't use this much at all but I just wanted to make sure you're logging all your splurges, etc? To lose weight, the average over time needs to be less than you burn, so any intake must be acknowledged and accounted for. I eat "bad" every once in a while too, but with everything recorded I can see the details of the average over, say, a week and know that I'm in a deficit or surplus. Could be somebody else cooked the food or you went to a restaurant. You must use any information available like website, etc or use your best guess to record the food

    Finally my comment on the stir fry chicken, it looks like a recipe. Are you calculating the total calories using the MFP recipe function or some other method? Weighing or properly portioning each serving you eat?

    Sorry if my questions seem elementary. I imagine they would seem that way since you've successfully lost 60 lbs already! I wish you the best
  • _jayciemarie_
    _jayciemarie_ Posts: 574 Member
    I do weigh all my food. I do use the recipe function and add all my ingredients. I keep reading different opinions about exercise calories. It appears I lose weight when I eat around 1300---even though that could mean I net only 600. I feel I'm using all the tools (fitbit, food scale, and hrm) to be as accurate as possible. Absolutely frustrating eating at a deficit and nothing happens.

    (Also...I weigh myself daily but only enter it on mfp after I hit a new low).
  • MaggieLoo79
    MaggieLoo79 Posts: 288 Member
    I don't have PCOS, but I do have some hormonal issues that have effected my weight. I'd make a check in with your doctor and see what he/she says and go from there. :smile:
  • Angylisis78
    Angylisis78 Posts: 32
    I am frustrated. I have lost 60lbs--which is awesome. The first 45 lbs came in only 5 months. The 6th month I lost 10lbs. The 7th month I lost about 5lbs. Month 8, 9, and now 10---I keep hovering in the same spot and if I drop down a pound the next day I will be up 2. I am stuck between 170-175lbs. It doesn't matter if I work my butt off at the gym (which I use a HRM and I wear a fitbit), or if my eating and macros are spot on. I don't lose weight. I went to an Endocrinologist because a long time ago I was diagnosed with PCOS. Even though I have lost weight, maybe PCOS is holding me up and I'm just spinning my wheels.

    Anyway, is there anyone out there in the same situation? I need support from people that have been there or are there now. I'm not giving up. I just don't know what to change. Help? I ate bad this weekend, but my weekly amounts are far under. Please don't bash me. Help me. Please.

    Ok, bear with me everyone, this might get a bit on the graphic side and I'm sorry for that.

    Jayclemaire, PCOS you have very heavy periods right? I had very very heavy periods, they were going to diagnose me with PCOS (I had a few other symptoms), but they ended up doing a test and finding out that I had low ferritin. Which is your iron stores. I saw an oncologist/hematologist, had several iron treatments and am a-ok now. I also had an ablation to take my period down from 6-7 days of super tampon use and getting up in the middle of the night to 2 days and extremely light.

    My point in all this is it *could* be PCOS, but it could be low ferritin too. The MD that treated mine (I actually have a rare genetic clotting disorder) said that 1 in four women have low ferritin it's estimated (based on 1 in 3 have heavy periods or meningorrhea) and its usually just seen as "being tired all the time" or diagnosed as CFS (chronic fatigue).

    So how is your energy level? When you work out are you wiped? Do you bruise easily?
  • _jayciemarie_
    _jayciemarie_ Posts: 574 Member
    I actually just saw an Endocrinologist last Tuesday. They sent me for all kinds of labs to rule things out and/or pinpoint the cause. I do bruise easily. As for my cycle---my problem is that I will go without one for several months and then when I have one it will be super heavy with blood clot jello like substance that comes out the size of quarters. Last week I didn't take any vitamins, but usually I take all kinds of vitamins. (So much that one of my diary sections is "Supplements"). Hopefully my labs come back today or tomorrow.
  • Angylisis78
    Angylisis78 Posts: 32
    Ok, they'll probably check iron then to make sure you're not anemic too. Ferritin is something they don't usually check for, you might have to ask for it. Normal levels are between 12 and 150. Mine is 133 right now after the ablation and 8 iron IV infusions. If you're having symptoms, make sure to have them run it. My MD didn't want my levels below 70 and honestly I didn't really feel well again until they were over 100. FWIW, mine was an 8 when I found out I had an issue, so get it checked!

    Not only does it make you exhausted but I gained weight. Also, I couldn't exercise like at all anymore, though my case was extreme. I would run a quarter mile (before the baby I was running 6miles no issues and gained no real weight with him) and my legs would feel like jello and I just literally couldn't go anymore, so do let it get to that point if it is ferritin. :)

    Here's hoping for good (relatively speaking) lab results :)

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