Need Help Please!!!!! I'm so frustrated!!!!
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dangie2002
Posts: 71 Member
Ok, here is my story. I am 37, PCOS, Extremely obese. Last year I dropped 60# through positive diet changes. Took a 6 month break (mental health) and maintained weight. In June I decided to begin low/no carb cycling and exercising. I started off with calisthenics Three times a week and walking 20-30 minutes 2-3 times a week on alternate days. Then I changed jobs and have access to a gym. (Insert Hallelujah Chorus) I've been trying to educate myself on better nutrition and exercise. I've read about HIIT and am currently training on elliptical M-W-F since August. I love it because I have bad shins and knees and can push harder without the pain. 4 weeks ago I added in a 12 week beginners lifting program. (I'm loving it, I forgot how good it feels to lift) My routine is M-W-F 6AM Lift and then HIIT and then on Tuesdays and Thursdays I do core exercises, planks, crunches, push-ups, squats, etc....or walk or yoga 20-30 minutes. I'm working hard at limiting my time sitting. I have a job where I sit 30% and am on my feet 70% of the day.
As far as diet is concerned, I measure and weigh everything!!! I try to take in 170 gms Protein a day. I keep my carbs around 100-130 (all from veggie and an apple a day) Tues, Thurs, Sun. Then on M-W-Sa I add up to 70 grams of carb, trying to keep it low. Then one day a week, I allow a high carb (not crazy) on Friday. My calorie intake was averaging 1600-2000/day depending on what I'm doing. According to My Fitness Pal, my "maintenance" calorie intake is 3120 a day. I consume no pop, sugar, processed foods. I am eating clean. Drink 100 ounces of water a day. Apple is the only fruit I consume (its around 2pm) I try to make my caloric intake even over three meals and 2 snacks. I'm never hungry. For the last 2 weeks, I increased my intake to try to meet the 3120 a day. I'm failing at it miserably because I'm trying to avoid processed junk and sugar.
Since June, I've only lost 12 pounds. Nothing lost since September. I'm so frustrated. I need to drop another 100#. What can I do?
Goals:
1. Fat Loss
2. Build/Preserve muscle
3. Be healthy happy.
This is the first time I've ever exercised and really enjoy it.
What can I do to help break Plateau? And is it ok to HIIT and Lift on same days or better to do opposite days? I don't want to be counter-productive in my time spent in the gym
Sorry its so long.
Thanks
Angie
As far as diet is concerned, I measure and weigh everything!!! I try to take in 170 gms Protein a day. I keep my carbs around 100-130 (all from veggie and an apple a day) Tues, Thurs, Sun. Then on M-W-Sa I add up to 70 grams of carb, trying to keep it low. Then one day a week, I allow a high carb (not crazy) on Friday. My calorie intake was averaging 1600-2000/day depending on what I'm doing. According to My Fitness Pal, my "maintenance" calorie intake is 3120 a day. I consume no pop, sugar, processed foods. I am eating clean. Drink 100 ounces of water a day. Apple is the only fruit I consume (its around 2pm) I try to make my caloric intake even over three meals and 2 snacks. I'm never hungry. For the last 2 weeks, I increased my intake to try to meet the 3120 a day. I'm failing at it miserably because I'm trying to avoid processed junk and sugar.
Since June, I've only lost 12 pounds. Nothing lost since September. I'm so frustrated. I need to drop another 100#. What can I do?
Goals:
1. Fat Loss
2. Build/Preserve muscle
3. Be healthy happy.
This is the first time I've ever exercised and really enjoy it.
What can I do to help break Plateau? And is it ok to HIIT and Lift on same days or better to do opposite days? I don't want to be counter-productive in my time spent in the gym
Sorry its so long.
Thanks
Angie
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Replies
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When you 'measure and weigh everything' what does that mean? Are you using measuring cups for solid food, or does all solid food go on a scale? Do you enter your own recipes into the database, or use recipes created by other people for 'similar' sounding foods?
Are you careful to use raw weights for raw entries, cooked weights for cooked entries? I've made that mistake before! Such as bag of X says serving = 85g/110 calories and I've weighed it after cooking. But after cooking weight tends to be lighter, due to change in moisture. (So 85g cooked is more than 85g uncooked.)
I'm not sure why you'd increase your calories in to 3120, if that is your estimated maintenance range. Eating at maintenance will not make you lose weight. So going back over what you've said, you didn't lose weight for 2-4 weeks (since sometime in September and I'm not counting the last 2 weeks of October = eating at maintenance). Sometimes that happens, unfortunately. If you are truly weighing everything solid, accounting honestly for all calories in, not over-estimating calories burned: give it more time.0 -
"... According to My Fitness Pal, my "maintenance" calorie intake is 3120 a day ..."
How tall are you? Is that a typo?
I have never seen that amount allotted to anyone ... not even for someone well over 6' tall! ... unless they're a pro athlete ... maybe0 -
RaspberryTickleChicken wrote: »"... According to My Fitness Pal, my "maintenance" calorie intake is 3120 a day ..."
How tall are you? Is that a typo?
I have never seen that amount allotted to anyone ... not even for someone well over 6' tall! ... unless they're a pro athlete ... maybe
This ^^^^^
3120? That's an awful lot of calories for one day. I think you're eating too much.
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I didn't think of that... 3120 does seem very high maintenance for a female. I looked up a 5'5" 37 year old woman, at 250 pounds: 1874 BMR. Lightly active plus some exercise would be 2500-2800/day. And I'm not an expert, but believe PCOS lowers the BMR/metabolic rate?0
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Be patient. PCOS does make it more difficult to lose weight. It's not impossible but slows it down a bit. It sounds to me like you are on the right track. You didnt gain all of the weight overnight, you wont lose it that quickly either. Maybe talk to a nutritionist that can help you tweak your diet a bit. Having PCOS you may need to make some adjustments that others wouldnt need.
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My advice is to stop with all the insane numbers and start eating healthier. If you eat healthy food, it is almost impossible to overeat. You'd have to work very hard!
Focus on eating right and exercising. Log the food, but don't go crazy with all those numbers.
It can be as easy or as difficult as you want to make it. Try easy for a while. See how it suits you.0 -
I'm 72", 315#. I use a scale for meat and some veggies that I can't easily place in a measured container. Otherwise, I use measuring cups and spoons. I measure raw, before I cook, steam, boil, etc... I have my recipes posted to try and not guesstimate.
I increased my calories to what it said my maintenance calories should be. When I had it at loosing 2 pounds a week, it was around 23xx cal. I was exercising and cutting calories in addition to that, hence the 1600-2000 cal a day. (This last weekend, I was at a conference, and ate food that was there, but this is not my norm.) I'm pretty controlled about the whole thing. Although I haven't lost weight for the last several weeks, I have lost inches around my waist and hips. I'm afraid that I'm going to be stuck here, at this weight and not see results.0 -
I'm confused. Why are you eating at maintenance if you're trying to lose weight?0
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You're 6 foot tall? That's pretty tall for a woman, so I'm sure the numbers do look high to us. IIFYM calculator does say your TDEE is around 3065 if you work out 3 times a week, so that's pretty close to the number you came up with. Still, PCOS does lower your metabolism a bit, and these calculators are estimates, so that may not be accurate for you.
The fact that you continue to lose inches tells you that you're doing something right. If you have changed anything regarding your diet or exercise patterns in the past few weeks, then chances are that you are losing fat, replacing it with muscle (hence losing the inches) and retaining water. Water retention happens for lots of reasons, including muscle repair after increasing or changing workouts, changes in sodium consumption, and normal hormonal fluctuations.
The good news is that you can only retain so much water, so eventually you will reach an event horizon at which the weight of water will not equal the weight you're losing, and the scale will start to move again.
As long as you continue to see progress, whether it be on the scale, with tape measure, the fit of your clothes, or progress photos, then you shouldn't worry. You're doing it right.0 -
I'm not sure I can really add anything, except maybe to ditch the measuring cups for a week (except for thin liquids like oil and milk), and weigh everything using the scales, just to double-check that what you're entering is right. You can always try cutting down the calories a bit (maybe 200 per day?) and then waiting for 3-4 weeks to see if that makes a difference. The estimators are more like a starting point IMO based on some hypothetical "average" person, multiplied by some number based on a guess at an activity level, and nothing beats having a go and seeing what happens to your body, which is a unique creation.
Losing 60 lbs is significant. I know that right now you're frustrated that you haven't lost the rest, but that 60 lbs gone and all the exercise and activity you do has already made your body tons healthier than it was, probably much healthier than you give it credit for. Don't forget to celebrate that!0 -
Because I read somewhere that it can help your metabolism return to baseline. I was cutting so much and not losing that I thought I may have slowed my metabolism down too much. So i was trying to give my body a break.I'm confused. Why are you eating at maintenance if you're trying to lose weight?
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I will try to have more patience. I never thought I would struggle as much as I have when I have lost less than 100#. I thought it would be the next step.0
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I've always seen low-carb as a diet for very inactive people. A few things to try (probably not all together, so if any of them help you'll know which it is):
1. Check your sodium, keep it under recommended or know that when you go over rec, weight loss will stall out for a few days.
2. Can you describe your HIIT? Are you tracking your heart rate? If you aren't maxing out your HR you might be actually burning fewer calories than if you just did some straight cardio the whole time.
3. Do split the lifting and HIIT to different days, to make sure you're able to give your best to both workouts.
4. Keep your calories in that 1600-2000 range, it seems like it should work for you
5. Don't freak out, you're doing GREAT stuff for yourself and it's paying off even when the scale doesn't move, so keep it up
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ok, it sounds like you have your diet in check. The key is consistency. You should definitely eat more dark green veggies such as turnip greens, spinach, green beans, etc. Try to avoid starchy carbs such as carrots, brown rice, and sweet peas. Also, your protein sources should come from extra lean meats such as skinless boneless chicken breasts, 99% lean ground turkey, skim milk, non fat greek yogurt and cottage cheese, venison, buffalo, some steak and pork, etc. Also, you should drink at least a gallon of water a day to ensure your body is functioning at an optimum level. One diet strategy that really helps with burning body fat for me is intermittent fasting (leangains.com). When fasting, you don't eat for 14 hours and then you have an eight hour window to consume your daily calories. Trust me, it's easier than it sounds. Avoid processed foods and be patient.0
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I've always seen low-carb as a diet for very inactive people. A few things to try (probably not all together, so if any of them help you'll know which it is):
2. Can you describe your HIIT? Are you tracking your heart rate? If you aren't maxing out your HR you might be actually burning fewer calories than if you just did some straight cardio the whole time.
3. Do split the lifting and HIIT to different days, to make sure you're able to give your best to both workouts.
My HIIT intensity heart rate is around 85-90% at my max. I like it better than straight cardio, I feel the "runner's high" I've always heard everyone talk about, but never experienced. I use elliptical for 21-23 minutes. 3 min warm up, and then HIIT for 30 seconds on the odd numbers (every 2 minutes) with 90 second recovery, and then cool down 3 minutes. My goal is 8 cycles, but sometimes, I'm too worn out to get the 8th cycle in, so I will push through to finish my time.
I Lift and then HIIT in the mornings on MWF. On 2 days a week (usually Tues and Thurs) I do calisthenics at home, and then choose a low-intensity like walking or yoga for another 20-30 minutes. I try to move at some level every day, even days off, so I'm not being a couch potato.
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As long as you aren't hungry, there's no reason you can't eat less calories so you can lose pounds a bit faster. With a lot of weight to lose, and as much exercise as you are getting, I wouldn't worry about eating close to maintenance to boost your metabolism; the exercise should be helping it along.
Your diet sounds just fine, I think you just need to eat a bit less to see more loss.
Please don't drown yourself in water, unless you're sweating gallons during your workouts. We need 64 ounces a day, including the water in our food, plus whatever is lost in exercise. Drinking more than that isn't going to make you lose weight, it's just going to increase your trips to the bathroom.0 -
mcraburn123 wrote: »ok, it sounds like you have your diet in check. The key is consistency. You should definitely eat more dark green veggies such as turnip greens, spinach, green beans, etc. Try to avoid starchy carbs such as carrots, brown rice, and sweet peas. Also, your protein sources should come from extra lean meats such as skinless boneless chicken breasts, 99% lean ground turkey, skim milk, non fat greek yogurt and cottage cheese, venison, buffalo, some steak and pork, etc. Also, you should drink at least a gallon of water a day to ensure your body is functioning at an optimum level. One diet strategy that really helps with burning body fat for me is intermittent fasting (leangains.com). When fasting, you don't eat for 14 hours and then you have an eight hour window to consume your daily calories. Trust me, it's easier than it sounds. Avoid processed foods and be patient.
I will look into the intermittent fasting. Thank you for the suggestions.0 -
dangie2002 wrote: »I've always seen low-carb as a diet for very inactive people. A few things to try (probably not all together, so if any of them help you'll know which it is):
2. Can you describe your HIIT? Are you tracking your heart rate? If you aren't maxing out your HR you might be actually burning fewer calories than if you just did some straight cardio the whole time.
3. Do split the lifting and HIIT to different days, to make sure you're able to give your best to both workouts.
My HIIT intensity heart rate is around 85-90% at my max. I like it better than straight cardio, I feel the "runner's high" I've always heard everyone talk about, but never experienced. I use elliptical for 21-23 minutes. 3 min warm up, and then HIIT for 30 seconds on the odd numbers (every 2 minutes) with 90 second recovery, and then cool down 3 minutes. My goal is 8 cycles, but sometimes, I'm too worn out to get the 8th cycle in, so I will push through to finish my time.
I Lift and then HIIT in the mornings on MWF. On 2 days a week (usually Tues and Thurs) I do calisthenics at home, and then choose a low-intensity like walking or yoga for another 20-30 minutes. I try to move at some level every day, even days off, so I'm not being a couch potato.
I just started HIIT last week and I also love it I'm doing a DVD at home though, so I don't have to think about anything lol. I think you might want to try splitting the lifting days from the HIIT days - I'm no expert but there was just a thread here last week about that and the consensus was not to do them together, although people did seem to think it would be ok if you did one in the AM and the other later in the day. I'm definitely a one-workout-per-day kind of gal though, my sweatiness dictates that.
Maybe go see if you can find that thread, it was a thoughtful discussion, I'm sure it was on the Fitness and Exercise board.0 -
Don't believe everything you read.dangie2002 wrote: »
Because I read somewhere that it can help your metabolism return to baseline. I was cutting so much and not losing that I thought I may have slowed my metabolism down too much. So i was trying to give my body a break.I'm confused. Why are you eating at maintenance if you're trying to lose weight?
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Reset your goals w/ MFP to lose 2 pounds a week. Trust the calorie range it gives you, and on a day by day basis decide if you need to eat additional based on your workout calories earned. (There is no right answer. Which is why I say consider your energy level, hunger feelings, etc.) If you're aiming for a 1000/day deficit, then even if you are off in your logging (measuring cups for solids = inaccurate) you will still have a deficit.
BUT some weeks you won't lose. If you can handle it - try weighing each day in a consistent method. I know most encourage less frequent weighing. Weighing daily is fine as long as you can manage to not let it drive you crazy. Keep a chart - and the goal is to weigh less today than you did a month ago. Which means try not to stress over the #s until after you have 1-2 months of history. When it feels like you're not making progress, look back to see where you were 30 and 60 days ago. If you're eating at a deficit, improving your fitness level: you will lose weight month to month. And its easier to see the change this way, rather than thinking of it weighin to weighin.0
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