I just want to throw in the towel :( *long post*

shannonshock13
shannonshock13 Posts: 355 Member
edited September 24 in Health and Weight Loss
So I was pretty active for a better part of 2010, in a desperate attempt to lose weight i started taking Phentermine in December and used it through January of 2011, In those 2 months I lost 15 pounds. I was eating healthy and working out, my calories were about the same as they are now (1200) I wasnt doing any fad diet so no low carb or anything. Just trying to eat mostly "clean" and eating 30-40 grams of only good fats per day.

I stopped taking Phentermine at the end on January but i have continued to eat healthy, watch my portion sizes, drink my water and exercise 5-6 days a week with 3-4 days of strength training. Lately my workouts have been 30 day shred/last chance workout, riding my bike at 11mph for 60 min. When i am home my workouts are usually stationary bike 11-12mph 30 min, jogging 5.5 mph/walking 3mph on a 8incline for 30 min and strength straining.

I joined MFP at the end of January and i have gotten so confused about total cals and net cals and i have read EVERYTHING that is posted here and other places about that subject.

I don't usually eat all of my exercise cals back (some days i don't eat any of them back)
I was down to 167 but now i am back up to 170-171, am i just not eating enough? I have been to so many different websites that provide calculators to see how many cals *roughly* you should eat a day. The last one i just went to was on free dieting.com or something like that and it gives you a 7 day "zig zag" cycle:

Monday 1403
Tuesday 1360
Wednesday 1683
Thursday 1403
Friday 1360
Saturday 1543
Sunday 1403

Most of those days are a few hundred calories more than what i currently eat... am i eating too little now.... too much? Are those numbers too high? Are those numbers NET or total?

I am so freakin confused.

Thanks in advance

Replies

  • pigskin1974
    pigskin1974 Posts: 9
    Very possible you are not eating enough, you should be eating most of the calories you are burning during your workouts. How often do you eat every day? You probably have heard, but you should be eating at least 5 times a day, small snacks between your regular meals. I'd be surprised if you are not feeling hungry, if you are, you may need more protien.
  • babalee
    babalee Posts: 20 Member
    At first glance, I suggest you stick with MFP and not worry about all the math. Try to get the calories you are supposed to get. The exercise is great. You need to make sure that the engine has fuel. I think your metabolism goes into starvation mode if you burn too many calories; your cells need fuel and food is fuel.

    Make good fuel choices and stay hydrated. I try not to obsess too much about the calories; as long as I am near my goal most days, life is good. I have found I can be +/- 200 or so calories and still lose or maintain.

    Consistency. Key.
  • drog2323
    drog2323 Posts: 1,343 Member
    Don't throw in the towel - you can do this! I read your profile and says you are on a "serious mission" - it won't be easy but it will be worth it. Keep going and it will happen.

    i would suggest opening your food diary and maybe some of the pro's on here can take a peak and offer some advice.

    chin up/.....you will do this!
  • loseit4ever
    loseit4ever Posts: 187 Member
    I will tell you from experience that the calories you are eating matter. I was sticking to only 1200 cals a day and exercising a lot. I went for two weeks with no loss. As soon as I increased my cals to around 1400-1500 a day, I started losing again. I don't always eat all of mine back, but I make sure to eat at least that many a day now. I lost 4.6lbs the week I did that and 1.6 this week.
  • givprayz
    givprayz Posts: 328
    Your body needs to adjust to not having the medication in your system. Keep up what you are doing, and make a conscious effort to eat back enough exercise calories to keep your net (calories eaten minus calories burned) above 1200 most days. If you are set to just 1200 daily, you have no wiggle room. I would suggest increasing your daily goal to 1400 and then be really proud of the days you come in closer to 1200. It's a psychological thing, but it works really well for me. I've been losing better at 1400 calories than I was at 1200.
  • shannonshock13
    shannonshock13 Posts: 355 Member
    Thanks everyone.

    I really want to stick with this it's just hard when you're not seeing results or you start seeing the scale go up when you know you're trying really hard and only eating 1200-1400 cals!

    I opened my food diary back up to the public. I had a VERY bad beginning of the week in terms of what i ate (stressful week) but i still was under my calorie goal for the most part.

    I usually fill out my food log for the whole day in the morning so i can kind of use it as a menu.

    I would say i eat about 4-5 times a day to try and keep my metabolism up.

    I think i will try eating back my exercise calories consistently for a couple weeks and see if that helps and if the problem was that i just wasn't eating enough. It just is hard for me to incorporate more cals back in my diet cos i've gotten so used to eating low low cal and i'm never hungry during the day, only at night about 1 1/2 hours after dinner but its usually satisfied with a small snack and some water.

    If people could take a look at my food diary and make some suggestions as to how to add in more calories or if you notice things i should change (aside from all the junk i ate at the start of the week) that would be great.

    Thank you :)
  • emchamberlain
    emchamberlain Posts: 133 Member
    Your cals look a little low to me, so eating more couldn't hurt!
  • myofibril
    myofibril Posts: 4,500 Member
    The last one i just went to was on free dieting.com or something like that and it gives you a 7 day "zig zag" cycle:

    Monday 1403
    Tuesday 1360
    Wednesday 1683
    Thursday 1403
    Friday 1360
    Saturday 1543
    Sunday 1403

    Most of those days are a few hundred calories more than what i currently eat... am i eating too little now.... too much? Are those numbers too high? Are those numbers NET or total?

    I am so freakin confused.

    Thanks in advance

    If you used the freedieting calorie calculator then those figures account for exercise presuming you choose the correct activity level when submitting your details. If you are going by those numbers then you wouldn't need to worry about eating back your exercise calories as they have already been included.

    You sound like a classic case of dieting ADHD which is really common. Lots of people bounce around from programme to programme after only a couple of weeks without ever sticking to one long enough to see any appreciable benefit. In reality most "diets" , unless they are patently idiotic (crsh diets in the main) will result in fat loss if you stick to them and give them enough time...
  • DPruneda17
    DPruneda17 Posts: 124 Member
    I agree with the above posts. Eat more calories (healthy/clean calories of course). A couple years ago I did Nutrisystem. I did it on my own (buying grocery foods instead of alot of Nutrisystem foods), and was on a 1400 calorie a day diet. I lost consistently every single week. I went from 168 to 131 in 3 months. I gained about 11 lbs back over the last couple of years, so decided to try MFP to lose another 15 lbs. MFP has me on 1200 calories a day. So I eat back my excercise calories, to make it close to the 1400 calories a day that works for me. I think it's just finding what works for your body. Try upping your calories to 1400, and see how that works. Good Luck!!
  • katcena
    katcena Posts: 326 Member
    This is just a guess...but if you are NOT hungry throughout the day only taking in 1200 calories including exercise, my first thought is that your metabolism is not functioning at it's peak. Sounds like it's in a bit of survival mode...which explains the lack of weight loss. Try eating every 2 hours....throw in a 100 calorie snack as much as possible. I bet if you do that, you will start to notice a difference. I have heard that you WANT to feel hungry every 1-2 hours, that's how you know your metabolism is functioning at it's peak.
  • zeman11
    zeman11 Posts: 7 Member
    Don't throw in the towel just yet. I am in a weight loss competition right now and they started me off eating only 1300 calories a day. I lost weight my first two weeks, and then over the next three weeks gained 1/2 and lost that 1/2 again. Then, I decided to up my calories to an average of 1600 a day...some days a little more, some days a little less....and miracously as soon as I did that I lost weight again. I lost 1.4 pounds the first week and this is my second weeks since eating a little more and I have already lost a pound this week (my weigh-ins are on Mondays).

    I almost threw in the towel as well during my three week plateau...but I am glad I didn't....I have lost 7.9 pounds in 6 weeks!!!
  • toasterhez
    toasterhez Posts: 5
    I go through the same thing, when I have a week of exercising* and sticking to 1200 - 1500 calories a day, I don't seem to lose any weight at all. (*like 400-500 calories burned from brisk walking/light jogging daily) I've been doing Fitness Pal for over 3 months and only manage to kind of keep 6 lbs off. I'm at a healthy weight right now, just trying to lose some inches off of butt and waist, and maybe that jiggly stuff under my arms.

    When I exercise much less (maybe only 3 or 4 times a week) and eat 1500-1800 calories, I can lose a pound or two. It does make me suspect that whole "starvation mode" theory, where the body is slowing metabolism, converting any calories it can into fat to survive.

    I also suspect the time of day that I eat maybe be slowing me down... I tend to snack on 200-300 calories right before bedtime those weeks that I exercise more. I really should stop eating after 7PM or so and give the whole system time to digest the day's intake maybe.

    I'm also thinking that I need to focus more on muscle building/weight training to tone up trouble spots. I hear the muscle helps metabolism work better to, so maybe the weight would come off easier with more resistance training and less cardio?

    Now, to put my theories to the test, and get out my strength and toning exercise DVDs.
  • toasterhez
    toasterhez Posts: 5
    Oh, and good luck by the way. Hang in there!
  • shannonshock13
    shannonshock13 Posts: 355 Member
    Thank you everyone!

    I'm not gonna quit, i just have to realize that i might not get to my ultimate GW by the time my husband gets home from deployment. He gets home in about 4 months and i would LOVE to be at 125-130 but i will still take being at 135-140 Since i havent been that weight since high school.

    I am going to try a whole month of eating all of my exercise calories and also really trying to get in 80-100oz of water each day. So hopefully this will work and i'll find out that these past couple months i have just been eating just enough to survive so my body has been storing everything........

    Thanks for the words of encouragement everybody :)

    Hope everyone gets to their goal!
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