Help/Advice frustrated that I'm not losing weight.

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II am frustrated, and need some guidance, so I'm turning to the awesome mfp'ers. I have been trying to lose weight for the last 10 years, on and off, and have ended up with nothing but frustration. I started out at 130 in high school where I was quite active - eating about 1200 calories, and went up to 150 lbs after graduating and increased up to 190. Now I'm at 200 pounds. Even during the time I was gaining weight, I've ran a couple of 1/2 marathons, ran a dozen 5k's, and I've been on almost every type of diet, and never have lost weight on any of them.

Help! My exercise currently is 3 days of cardio for 30-60 minutes (boxing, eliptical, running, or spinning), and 2 days of plyometric training with a personal trainer. My journal is open. I've set up my goal as 1400 calories. Admittedly, I suck at drinking water some days. I'll work on that.

I love mfp and reading everyone's progress, but I'm frustrated that the pounds on my ticker are 0, and I want it to move... HELP!

Replies

  • emiann1985
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    I wish I could help, but I'm going through the same situation. Would love to know what others say tho!
  • mistyb47711
    mistyb47711 Posts: 861 Member
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    How many calories are you burning a day??? Id take down the calories a little and drink more water......Oh and on the days you have slimfast for a meal dont eat a meal with the shake, that is suppose to be your meal...maybe your burning all your calories and your body thinks its starving......I wish I had the answers for you, but go to your Dr and take you food and exercise diary and see what he/she says about it. Or maybe talk with a nutritionlist.
  • ddao
    ddao Posts: 17
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    that's interesting that you're exercising and eating a low cal everyday and you're having trouble losing. Have you consulted your physician to see if there isn't anything else that might be attributing to this?
  • knittnponder
    knittnponder Posts: 1,954 Member
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    All I can tell you is what I have noticed for myself and hopefully others with some good advice will chime in. I have learned that when I eat higher protein/lower carb (note: not LOW carb but LOWER) I lose weight. This is also in conjunction with cutting out sugar and processed foods and replacing them with whole foods as much as possible. I began doing this and lost 10 pounds without ever counting a calorie. Now I'm being a little more focused with it and will hopefully lose more. My husband started eating the same way and has lost 20 pounds without ever counting a calorie. Plus we like the food better. It actually satisfies. :)

    Good luck to you and I hope you find what works for you soon. Don't be afraid to change up your diet a little bit but give it a few weeks before you decide something isn't working. Make sure you're eating enough calories and keep your salt intake in a good range.
  • cerulian
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    I have requested several thyroid tests over the past years, which measured my TSH at somewhere around 2.8 (which falls between the normal range of 0.34 - 5.60). My former docs have not given me much advice other than 'keep at it, and keep trying.'

    My bodybugg says that I am burning an avg of 2490 calories a day including my exercise (so measuring all day long).
  • cerulian
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    I can try the higher protein, lower carbs (and certainly less processed).
    I'll also keep working on my water intake.

    I need to find that good balance that works for me!
  • hopeybennett
    hopeybennett Posts: 3 Member
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    Let me know what you find out. I am eating 1200 calories a day, and drinking the water, and excercising but no luck. As with you, they have tested my thyroid numerous times. The only time I remember losing weight was doing Tae Bo 3 -4 days a week the whole tape. Maybe I need to go back to that...
  • ladyhawk00
    ladyhawk00 Posts: 2,457 Member
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    I'm certainly no expert, but there are a few things I would say you need to work on. First, the water. :tongue: And the sodium. You're often quite high. Carbs are fairly high, and especially on exercise days you're pretty low on protein. You seem to be getting a decent amount of processed food - which will contribute a lot to the sodium and carb issues. As they say, you really can't out-exercise a bad diet.

    You're also skipping meals or not logging them - and skipping logging whole days fairly often. For this to work, it needs to be consistent. Commitment and focus are important, as are honesty and accuracy. It won't work if you half-*kitten* it.

    Hope you can get it figured out. Good luck!

    Edit: removed thyroid testing after seeing your pp lol
  • mistyb47711
    mistyb47711 Posts: 861 Member
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    I have requested several thyroid tests over the past years, which measured my TSH at somewhere around 2.8 (which falls between the normal range of 0.34 - 5.60). My former docs have not given me much advice other than 'keep at it, and keep trying.'

    My bodybugg says that I am burning an avg of 2490 calories a day including my exercise (so measuring all day long).



    Thats the problem I think...your burning 2490 calories a day and only taking in 1400....so your actually -1090 in calories...
  • ladyhawk00
    ladyhawk00 Posts: 2,457 Member
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    I have requested several thyroid tests over the past years, which measured my TSH at somewhere around 2.8 (which falls between the normal range of 0.34 - 5.60). My former docs have not given me much advice other than 'keep at it, and keep trying.'

    My bodybugg says that I am burning an avg of 2490 calories a day including my exercise (so measuring all day long).



    Thats the problem I think...your burning 2490 calories a day and only taking in 1400....so your actually -1090 in calories...

    Not necessarily. That would be a 1000 cal deficit, for 2 lbs per week. Which, it sounds like you probably have room to do at your weight. However, you may want to try lowering loss per week goal for a few weeks and see what happens. It could help jumpstart something.
  • mistyb47711
    mistyb47711 Posts: 861 Member
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    I have requested several thyroid tests over the past years, which measured my TSH at somewhere around 2.8 (which falls between the normal range of 0.34 - 5.60). My former docs have not given me much advice other than 'keep at it, and keep trying.'

    My bodybugg says that I am burning an avg of 2490 calories a day including my exercise (so measuring all day long).



    Thats the problem I think...your burning 2490 calories a day and only taking in 1400....so your actually -1090 in calories...

    Not necessarily. That would be a 1000 cal deficit, for 2 lbs per week. Which, it sounds like you probably have room to do at your weight. However, you may want to try lowering loss per week goal for a few weeks and see what happens. It could help jumpstart something.


    yes thats a 1000 cal deficit per day she is burning up 2490 per day...if she is exercising all her calories away her body is going to hold on to what is there so she dont starve....or so her body may think it is..
  • jadedjade24
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    ok, took a look at your diary for food and exorcise, and this is what I have noticed.

    1) I'm going to assume that the days that are not filled out, you forgot to log your food for that day. If you didnt eat anything for that entire day, then this is a problem since I think it was 3 times this week you didnt fill it out, if I am remembering correctly.

    2) Nuts are really good for protein, but bad for the calories and the salt. You dont eat a lot, but you dont drink enouh water either. So all the salt stays with you and doesnt get flushed out of the body, so you hold onto it and you get water weight. The more watr you drink, the easier it is for you to lose weight.

    3) When I looked into your exorcise log, I believe I only saw one day this week that you got any exorcise in for 60 minutes. I know that a lot of people are busy, but even if you run in place for 5 minutes, its something. You need to make your body understand that it has to work. And the more you work it out, the higher your metabolisim is going to get. Remember; the Surgeon General says you need to work out at least 30 minutes a day to maintain your weight.

    4) I see a lot of salads in your food log. Salad is great, I love it too. However, it carries no nutricinal (sp) value. Sure, it gives your body enzymes to help break up your food, but all green veggies give you that. But salad gives no vitamines or minerals that your body needs. Try adding some celery, broccile, carrots...things like that when you make them at home. That way, you are still eating healthy but also giving your body vitamins and minerals.

    5) Jamba juice might be great (idk, never tried it) but it is an aweful lot of calories for a drink. you could be useing those calories for more food for the body. I'm bad atthis too hen its my 'time' of the month, I get cravings for soda. But I try and avoid it. But, not perfect lol.

    6) WATER! I know you said that you dont like it, but there are ways to get around that. I cant drink the water that comes from my sink, its horrible. But I boil it in a small pot and then drop some tea bags in it. The tea has no calories in it and I get flavored ones to make the tea taste better. When you work out, there is gatorade. Or, my personal favorite, flavored water. God's gift to people that dont like their water to be boring lol.

    and one more thing, remember that the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. So be sure to get most if not all of your protein in daily. Oh, and try not to eat under 1200 calories in a day (noticed you do that sometimes). I sometimes dont pay attention to mine and end up short. I try to NET at least 1200 for the day because sometimes I burn 800+ calories in a single workout.

    Anyway, I know this is long, and I know that I am not an expert on any of this. Bt I hope you find some of this helpful.
  • KanCrav
    KanCrav Posts: 439 Member
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    Water is a BIG deal!~!~! Chemically your fat molecules NEED water molecules to break down. If there is not enough water in your obdy to help out with the extra load of breaking down fat, then your body is just going to hold on to it. I have been on this site for a while and have learned ALOT from others. I learned that eating ENOUGH is a huge deal. Your body needs to have enough calories so it doesnt go into "starvation" mode and hold onto all your extra fat. I have a problem with eating back my exercise calories but I am realizing that it is a big deal. Are you eating the calories you burn?

    Most importantly... stay consistant!~! you cant expect to looose if you only diet for a week then take off for a few days. I had a problem with that before I joined MFP. So logging in EVERYDAY and putting in my food really helped. Then I could go back and see the days I slipped up, either eating too little or too much. Keep logging in so you can look back and evaluate any problems you may have.

    Good luck on thos journey, its going to take time.... its a long ride, so hop on, get comfortable and keep on truckin!~!
  • ladyhawk00
    ladyhawk00 Posts: 2,457 Member
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    I have requested several thyroid tests over the past years, which measured my TSH at somewhere around 2.8 (which falls between the normal range of 0.34 - 5.60). My former docs have not given me much advice other than 'keep at it, and keep trying.'

    My bodybugg says that I am burning an avg of 2490 calories a day including my exercise (so measuring all day long).



    Thats the problem I think...your burning 2490 calories a day and only taking in 1400....so your actually -1090 in calories...

    Not necessarily. That would be a 1000 cal deficit, for 2 lbs per week. Which, it sounds like you probably have room to do at your weight. However, you may want to try lowering loss per week goal for a few weeks and see what happens. It could help jumpstart something.


    yes thats a 1000 cal deficit per day she is burning up 2490 per day...if she is exercising all her calories away her body is going to hold on to what is there so she dont starve....or so her body may think it is..

    I understand what you're saying, and trust me, I'm the last person to advocate underfeeding. But with 72 lbs to lose, she should be within an acceptable range to handle a 1000 cal/day deficit. Not guaranteed, of course, but unlikely to have no loss at that level on that many cals per day.

    I would say consistency and quality of food is much more likely the culprit, in this case.
  • cerulian
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    I will work on upping the protein and water and less processed foods as well as using better quality carbs. I think the protein is going to be the challenge, but one I'll tackle head on. I haven't been consistent with logging on MVP as I track my foods also on the bodybugg site, but since Mfp is easier, I'll move here permanently and use bodybugg's site for getting my exercise calories.
  • Jade_Butterfly
    Jade_Butterfly Posts: 2,963 Member
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    Well. Anything under 1500 you should be losing weight. You could think about dropping the calories, depending on your activity level. As for the water that is a key to losing weight. It helps you to cleanse your body. I will look at your journal to see what you are eating and then try to help. Increasing fiber helps too. I personally am taking flax oil right now, to help cleanse. Dandelion root helps to cleanse to. By detoxing your body, you process things better. You might try going to a health food store and getting a detox kit. As far as the slim fast stay away from that. It is full of sugar and corn syrup, which will actually cause you to feel unsatisfied and sugar metabolizes into fat. Try a protein shake instead, if you like shakes. Just a few suggestions. I don't want to sound pushy. Hugs. Hope this helps.:flowerforyou:
  • Jade_Butterfly
    Jade_Butterfly Posts: 2,963 Member
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    One more thing to remember. If you are running and working out really hard. Muscle weighs more than fat and is denser so. Sometimes you change the composition of your body, before losing weight. I personally would recommend measuring your inches as well. This may help to encourage you. After having my daughter I lost 3 sizes in my clothes and had lost no weight, but I was going to the gym 6 days a week. It was later when I was doing other activities, and made additional changes in my diet that I lost the weight.