Strugling and frustrated

how does your sodium look? are you keeping accurate track of what you are consuming? i ask this because for a few weeks i was drinking what i thought to be a cup of milk, and when i finally measured it it turned out to be 2 cups. make sure you measure everything.

also, you could try to increase the intensity of your workout if you find that your calories consumed is accurate.

I am in the exact same boat.... been at this for over 5 weeks now, at 141lbs and havent lost a pound despite all the same things and I run 3-4 x a weeks for over an hour. I too want to be 125... and I cant understand why I havent lost even 1 pound. its very frustrating.

If you make your diary public, it'll be easier to help you out!

I have been using MyFitnessPal for about two months now. I am at or just under my calories 90% of the time, I am consistent with my exercise - 45 minutes on the treadmill at 3.5 incline/3.5 speed - average 3-4 days a week. I drink a cup of coffee in the morning, and water the rest of the day. I eat lean meats, and as much fruits & veggies as I can. Each day MyFitnessPal tells me "If every day were like today you would weigh 136 in five weeks". I haven't lost a pound. I am so frustrated. Why keep trying if it's not working? I am 144.9 as if this morning. My goal weight is 125. I started Metformin 1-1/2 weeks ago for PCOS, but it doesn't seem to have made much of a difference so far.

Do you eat those exercise calories back? What is your NET goal? If it's 1200 and you are not eating back your exercise calories then your body could be protecting your fat rather than burning it (starvation mode). Keep your NET at or above 1200 (even better - eat at least your BMR - under Tools here. This is what your body requires just for organs and systems to function) Do this on days you don't exercise and eat that and your exercise calories on days you do. And don't be too consistent with exercise. You need a variety for your body to get the full benefits and you need to switch it up about every 4 weeks. (Below is a great site and full on info)

You PCOS and meds might make it harder to lose weight but it can still be done.

Working With Your Body - The Basic Strategy
By John P. Hussman, Ph.D.
All rights reserved and actively enforced.


The goal of this site is to help you to transform your physique by walking you step-by-step through everything you need to know about exercise physiology and nutrition. I know that a lot of you have “tried everything,” and because there are so many approaches that have failed you, there's a real risk that you'll quit again and again if you don't see results immediately, or if you don't fully understand why your fitness program should work. Worse, there may be some missing pieces in your program, which could lead to slow progress even though you're hard at work. My hope is that this information will help you to stay on track - to turn effort into results - and to reach your goal.

Want to change your physique? Start by realizing that whatever shape you're in right now is your body's way of adapting to the lifestyle you're living. It's your body's attempt to survive. So the strategy is simple. We're going to give your body a very specific “environment” – a particular mix of activities, nutrition, and recovery – and your body is going to adapt by becoming leaner, stronger, and healthier.

Every change you throw at your body triggers a response. The problem with many diet and exercise programs is that they can accidentally encourage your body to defend fat, shed muscle, increase appetite and even lower its metabolism. The key to fast results is to know exactly which actions will cause your body to adapt by becoming fitter.

Maybe you've tried before to get in shape. But for some reason, you didn't get the results you wanted. If you're like I used to be, you've repeated that cycle year after year to no avail. Maybe you've failed so many times that you think of yourself as a “special case.” You've started to believe your entire metabolism consists of a little turtle on a treadmill. You wonder whether you've got the fat gene. You're convinced that no matter how hard you diet, your cells can still be seen eating Twinkies when viewed under a microscope.

Look. You're not a special case. Even if you had the fat gene (common among Pima Indians but rare otherwise), you'd only be burning 50-60 calories a day less than anybody else. Even if you've been diagnosed with a metabolic difficulty such as diabetes or hypothyroidism, you can still be successful with proper medical support. Most probably, other approaches failed you either because they were missing important pieces, focused on the wrong things, or produced results so slowly that you just gave up. What you need most is good information. You're in the right place.
The law of unintended consequences

Your body is an amazing feedback system aimed at balance and survival. Humans are at the top of the food chain because they are able to adapt to their environment. Every action produces a reaction. Every change in its environment triggers a survival response. It's important to keep that in mind when you plan your fitness program. If you treat your body as an enemy to be conquered, you'll produce unintended results.

For example, if you severely cut off the supply of food to your body, it will defend itself by slowing down its metabolism to survive starvation. The body will shed muscle mass the same way that you would throw cargo from a plane that was low on fuel, and it will reduce its thyroid activity to conserve energy. The body will also actually defend its fat stores. In anorexia, muscle loss can be so profound that fat as a percentage of body weight actually rises. Extreme carbohydrate restriction also causes muscle loss, dehydration, and slower metabolism, which is why even successful Atkins dieters can have a significant rebound in weight after they stop the diet (don't worry – the advice on this site will prevent that from happening).

As another example, if you put your body under stress through overexertion and lack of sleep, it will respond by slowing down, reducing muscle growth, and increasing your appetite for junk food, carbohydrates and fat. If you feed your body excessive amounts of sugar and quickly digested carbohydrates, and it will shut off its ability to burn fat until those sugars are taken out of the bloodstream.

This website will show you how to work with your body to quickly produce the changes you want. In order to do that, you need to take actions that push your body to adapt – to build strength, burn fat, and increase fitness. You need a training program, not an exercise routine. You need a nutrition plan, not a diet. You need a challenge, not a few good habits you usually try to follow except when you don't.
Setting the right goal

John Dewey once said that a problem well-stated is half-solved. If you want to reach your goal, you have to define it correctly. See, a lot of people say “I want to lose weight.” Well, if losing weight is your goal, go on a no-carb diet. You'll lose a lot of weight – some of it will be fat, a lot of it will be water, and a dangerous amount will be muscle tissue. You'll lose weight quickly, but you'll slow your metabolism and gain fat more quickly once you go off the diet. Trust me on this. I've been there, done that.

The problem is that you've set the wrong goal. If you want to look better, have more energy and enjoy better health, the goal is not simply to “lose weight.” The goal is to improve your fitness level and body composition. That means losing fat, improving your aerobic capacity, training your strength and defending your muscle tissue. You can't do that with a no-carb diet. You will do it using the approach you'll learn on this website. Trust me on this one too. I know what it's like to feel fat, tired and helplessly out of shape. The whole point of this site is to help others avoid that, by sharing lessons that I had to learn the hard way.
Ready to change?

Right this minute, your body is the way it is because it has adapted to the lifestyle you've thrown at it, in an attempt to survive. Ever seen the directory at the mall with the little red arrow that says “you are here”? Well, fitness is the same way. You are here. You can't start anywhere else. So be kind to yourself. Don't beat yourself up. Don't worry about how much there is to do. Change your self-talk from “My body is my enemy” to “My body is my partner.” Accept where you are right now as the starting point, and start moving.

Changing your body requires more than just “going on a diet” for a few weeks. If you want to change your body, you have to make some changes to your lifestyle (which requires some discipline, but isn't as hard as it sounds). If you create the right environment, your body will adapt to it by becoming leaner, stronger, and more energetic. You can do this.

http://www.hussmanfitness.org/html/TPAdaptation.html

Its very difficult with PCOS you have to double everything that a normal person would do for weight loss and i was told i had to do a min. of 5 hours work out a week and basically follow a south beach diet. No processed foods and lite carbs. Metformin has a way of helping you lose weight also just take it regularly and you will see results after a month to three months or so i read. I have a lot more to go than you unfortunately I found out after gaining all the weight that i had PCOS. But i believe you can beat it, i have friends who have lost weight with the south beach diet and also have PCOS and been put on metformin.

Its very difficult with PCOS you have to double everything that a normal person would do for weight loss and i was told i had to do a min. of 5 hours work out a week and basically follow a south beach diet. No processed foods and lite carbs. Metformin has a way of helping you lose weight also just take it regularly and you will see results after a month to three months or so i read. I have a lot more to go than you unfortunately I found out after gaining all the weight that i had PCOS. But i believe you can beat it, i have friends who have lost weight with the south beach diet and also have PCOS and been put on metformin.

I have PCOS and was diagnosed when I was 16, watch the processed food, "bad" carbs, and sugars. You can do it, just don't expect it to happen overnight...or even over a month....Just stick to it. You can beat it

Make sure you are weighing, measuring and logging everything that goes into your mouth. A slip here and a miscalculation there can obliterate your perceived deficit.

You can help your insulin issues by being very careful with your carbs. Eat complex carbs, and keep them to a minimum (no need to eliminate them). When you do eat them, make them as unprocessed as possible. Check out Stevia instead of sugar or artificial sweeteners. Don't snack on processed carbs, instead use yogurt, veggies, berries.

Eat only a part of your exercise calories back, leave a cushion in the event of overestimation and because you would have burned calories anyway, doing nothing.

And finally, be patient. Very, very patient. I go for weeks without any change, then suddenly...BAM, i drop a couple pounds. It's just the way our bodies work, sometimes. Hang in there! :flowerforyou: