Need help - about ready to throw the towel in

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traceytoo
traceytoo Posts: 163
in Health and Weight Loss
I need your help people - I've been gaining / losing the same four pounds for the last six weeks - Im pretty sure I am doing everything right, Im watching my carbs, my sodium, my sat fats, Im drinkig loads 70 oz a day, Im not retaining water, Im exercising every day, eating my exercise cals back bar a couple of hundred I need for wiggle room in case ive miscalculated somewhere - Im not even losing inches. Im passing up all the chocolates that comes my way, not eating any of the food the chef prepares at work, denying myself everything in favour of healhy, foods, which are not processed - what am I doing wrong ???

I've got a barrier at 11 stone which not only won't let me through into the tens, but as soonas I hit 11 stone ((154 pounds) it bounces me right back to 11.2/3 .... this has been going on for 6 weeks. If I take a day or two to go really strict, ie don't eat my exercise cals adn stay within 1200 cals I'll get to the 11 stone, as soon as I start eating my exercise cals back I go up a bit ... but Im realistic and in real life I cannot live on so few calories - it feels like Im maintaining but I don't want to maintain, I don't want the world, I just want to get to around 10 4/5 (144 / 145 pound), so only another 10 pounds, even then I won't be skinny but that's where I want to be.

Im getting married in August and I have my hen weekend in June .. at this rate I won't be anywhere near my goal for either of those events.

Can anybody help, look at my diary .. do I eat more, which Im trying to do, do I eat less .. do I just lay down and give up the fight lol :cry:

I am tired, I look drained, I'm sleeping like the dead, I'm going throug the motions .. when I lost a lot of weight before I was on top of the world, I can't even be thankful for the 20 pound I've lost so far... Im not depressed or anything like that but when you are workng sooo hard for something and not seeing the results it's demoralising .. what really pisses me off is that I know if I went today and ate all the crap I usually ate, I could easily put on half a stone over a couple of days ....why is it sooo hard to take off and soo easy to put on ...

sorry all . .. this has turned into a bit of a rant / moan / feeloing sorry for myself post - but any help / advice from all you worldly wise people would be much appreciated ...

Replies

  • loriefolk
    loriefolk Posts: 352
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    Losing weight is simple :) Lower your calories and drink extra water! You got this, and good luck!
  • lilwashee
    lilwashee Posts: 222 Member
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    i hope your not just looking at the scale because muscle weighs more then fat....do not give up hun ,maybe u should up your whole grains?are u watching your sodium?
  • mistyb47711
    mistyb47711 Posts: 861 Member
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    Try not eating your exercise calories back.....just eat your minimum...your on a plateau.....switch your exercise routine up...if you have been doing the elliptical go to the bike or treadmill...your body is stuck in a routine and wants to stay where its at.

    Eat your target cals but don't eat your exercise cals. Studies have shown that you don't need to eat any differently unless you are engaging in intense cardio sessions in excess of an hour.

    If you haven't done so, recalculate your calorie intake. Your target will go down by roughly 10 calories for every pound you lose.

    And remember that a little patience goes a long way....looking at a marathon (keeping the weight off for the rest of your life) vs. a sprint.
  • xraychick77
    xraychick77 Posts: 1,775 Member
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    here's why...

    "i'm eating back". Stop! You dont have to eat back. Everyone on here says you do, but you dont. Other wise why bother working out? Working out is to BURN calories to lose weight.
  • capricorn1960
    capricorn1960 Posts: 7
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    Hiya _ I intend to start my diet on Thursday - maybe your not eating enough and you should not be hungry - if you like veg yourr on a winner as you can eat as much as you want really - with what ever meat you decide to eat - eat small but alot througout the day so your not hungy - I ususally fill my self up with tinned fuit and low fat yougurts when i feel hungry.

    when I start my diet - I'm constantly eating allday and still find i thard to use all my calories.

    Hey dont give up keep at it I'm sure you will fantastic on your hen night and wedding day :)
  • rlayman
    rlayman Posts: 3 Member
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    The part about being so tired and not losing made me wonder if you have a thyroid problem. You might want to tell your dr all this and have them do a simple blood test to check. Good luck and don't give up. Make sure breakfast is proteins and not carbs or your body will not start burning up fat for the day...
  • rlayman
    rlayman Posts: 3 Member
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    The part about being so tired and not losing made me wonder if you have a thyroid problem. You might want to tell your dr all this and have them do a simple blood test to check. Good luck and don't give up. Make sure breakfast is proteins and not carbs or your body will not start burning up fat for the day...
    PS...never heard the term "stone" I assume it means pounds-cute
  • BunnybeeJG
    BunnybeeJG Posts: 344 Member
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    here's why...

    "i'm eating back". Stop! You dont have to eat back. Everyone on here says you do, but you dont. Other wise why bother working out? Working out is to BURN calories to lose weight.

    I AGREE!!! if you eat them back its cancelling out your workouts!!! its basically going to keep you at a 'maintaining' level. and if you want to LOSE the weight... try not to eat back more than a very small portion of those calories back... if any. then when you get to the point you wanna be at you eat the calories you burn. so that you can stay stationary instead of gaining
  • sconns21
    sconns21 Posts: 92 Member
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    I have to say I agree with others that you shouldn't be eating back your exercise calories unless you're really hungry. I find that exercise suppresses my appetite slightly (unless I'm doing intense cardio). If anything I would only eat about 100 calories more if I had been exercising. I would also keep these calories to healthy filling foods and not sugary or processed foods.

    Healthy food doesn't have to feel like denying yourself, look up www.bbcgoodfood.com and they have a filter where you can choose recipes that are 200-400 calories. They are really, really tasty. If you start to feel like you are denying yourself you will end up binging one day.

    I noticed in your diary some of your meals are about 800 calories. I wouldn't eat more than 500 calories in a single sitting, I would consider that high calorie food.

    Are you doing atkins again? Maybe that is why you feel tired? I've never tried Atkins, I've heard people rave about the pounds they loose but then they plateau. Also it can make you very tired and I think eating all that protein and low carbs is not a healthy diet. Stick to calorie goals rather than fad diets.
  • sconns21
    sconns21 Posts: 92 Member
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    PS...never heard the term "stone" I assume it means pounds-cute

    1 stone is 14 pounds
  • Luckymam
    Luckymam Posts: 300
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    Stop looking at the scales!!!! We all get bogged down with numbers. Stop it!

    I'll give you a good reason not to throw in the towel - your health. My 31 year old sister had a heart attack last week. Even if you never lost another pound, surely it would be better to be your current weight and healthy (and thinner) than your previous weight and less healthy?

    I also think when we're constantly looking at the scales, we tend to get disheartened and cheat a bit. Measure youself instead. If you must weigh, then do it once a month. Unless there is something medically wrong with you, there will be an overall down hill trend.

    Weight by itself is not always a good indicator of health. What would you rather be? 11 stone of health, fitness and firm muscle or 10 stone of tiredness and flab? 11 stone of fitness will look MUCH better than 10 stone of flab - honestly!
  • jellyfishjen
    jellyfishjen Posts: 1,787 Member
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    Look at the foods you are eating and when. Try eating like a diabetic every 2 hours or so. Small snacks but healthy and not too processed. Add fibre to your diary and see if you are getting enough. Good Luck
  • pamp1emousse
    pamp1emousse Posts: 282 Member
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    I completely disagree with people are saying here, sorry! You're only 11 stone so I imagine you're losing "vanity pounds"? They're much harder to lose :grumble:
    I was in the same situation as you - my body wouldn't budge below a certain weight and so I just reduced calories and exercised more... and I wasted something like 5 weeks doing that! Please try eating back all your exercise calories... check out your BMR on the BMR calculator and make that your NET goal. I'd be really surprised if that doesn't work. I know it sounds scary when you're not losing to eat more, but it really does work. That is, unless you're making mistakes with your logging... do you weigh your food to check you're putting the right portion sizes? If you do and you're completely honest with what you enter then it's all about upping the calories!
  • Luckymam
    Luckymam Posts: 300
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    I completely disagree with people are saying here, sorry! You're only 11 stone so I imagine you're losing "vanity pounds"? They're much harder to lose :grumble:
    I was in the same situation as you - my body wouldn't budge below a certain weight and so I just reduced calories and exercised more... and I wasted something like 5 weeks doing that! Please try eating back all your exercise calories... check out your BMR on the BMR calculator and make that your NET goal. I'd be really surprised if that doesn't work. I know it sounds scary when you're not losing to eat more, but it really does work. That is, unless you're making mistakes with your logging... do you weigh your food to check you're putting the right portion sizes? If you do and you're completely honest with what you enter then it's all about upping the calories!

    Have to say I agree. I'm eating 1700-2100 cals per day (burning 350-600 cals through exercise) and the weight is coming off slowly and steadily - 11lbs since new year.
  • feathers1981
    feathers1981 Posts: 69 Member
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    Hi Hun,

    Was just reading your thread. Sorry to hear that you are fed up.

    I had a look at your diary, can I ask - do you eat any vegetables? You hardly have any logged? So either you aren't logging them and you need to as they have calories or you need to eat more!!!

    You can eat so much more if you eat vegetables to bulk a meal out. Your meals do seem high in calories whereas if say you ate half the cous cous and have lots of veggies then you would have cut the calories by quite a lot and would feel just (if not more full).

    I find salad fairly dull but at the start of the week I roast some aurgergine, carrots, butter nut squash, courgette, pepper and onions with fry light and add them to my salad which makes it really tasty. Another thing I do is make coleslaw with hellmans extra light mayo. Both really low in calories and bulk lunch out to make it more tasty and filling.

    I agree that it's too hard to eat 1200 every day. Maybe try eating half your exercise calories, mixing your exercise up and make sure you track everything you eat and track your exercise correctly.

    Good luck!

    xxx
  • Louise12
    Louise12 Posts: 389 Member
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    hey girl... i had the same problem for a while getting into the tens..... and its very frustrating ... im in the tens now going from 10 st 8 - 10 st 12 for the past few months so at the moment im trying to eat more and make sure i get my net cals in ! il keep you updated!!! all i can say it stick with it ....... its hard i know but you will loose it...it took me from July 2010 to now to get from 11st 8 into the 10st's'! .... you can do this ... stick at it ...eat well and work out well!
  • StaceG1986
    StaceG1986 Posts: 350
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    I agree with a couple of the others. I find it so hard to stick to 1200, especially with exercise, I just cannot live on that, it's way too low for me! And when I first started I just wasn't losing, or losing very little. That's what MFP gives me, but I use my BMR calories, and try to net that, or just over every day, so it means eating at least some of my exercise calories back. Now I lose steadily every week (usually, I didn't lose much when doing the Shred but I think that was muscle as it's started coming off again now). I also agree with changing your exercise up too, doing the same thing all the time, your body will get used to it.

    Seems people do have very mixed views on eating exercise calories back!

    You just have to find what works for you, even if that means mixing it up every few days, that's what I had to do.
  • Debtappe
    Debtappe Posts: 164 Member
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    I suggest checking with your doctor just to be on the safe side. I didn't get a chance to look at your diary but I wonder are you eating enough protein? My nutritionist changed my mfp diet to include more protein. Are you getting outside every day? If you are in an office job drink enough water to get up every hour or so to go to the rest room. I think you should be eating your exercise calories and try eating more in the morning and less in the evening if you aren't doing that already. Good luck - you can do this. Just another month and it will be warm and sunny outside. Hang in there.

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