Possibly posted in the wrong place! Need help!

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Sld1108
Sld1108 Posts: 12 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So. I have always been Around 118 lbs never more maybe a little less. My issue was when my doctor took me off my birth control (used for medical purposes and hormone control) and I blew up 40+ lbs. never been SO depressed in my life. Anyways I begged and made them put me back because I hated how I looked and it was mainly because I was severely depressed and sick from no longer being on medication. I exercised and are clean only for two years only to gain weight. So once I got back on my depo I felt better and continued my eat clean exercise and lift daily (protein etc) I kept gaining weight not muscle. I honestly gave up. No exercise and been eating badly for the past six months and I've lost 14 lbs. (12 in two weeks!!) I look better which is nice but how is this possible? I'd rather continue exercising and eating healthy but my unhealthy lifestyle is making me skinnier which is not a complaint and by the day so I'm trying to get back to my 118 lbs! I'm attributing it probably to my hormones finally being stable again and probably why I'm dropping the weight fast becUse my body has never been above the 120s. However my doctor said another thing. Whenever I take meds that make you sleep I'm wide awake and when I take stimulate meds I fall asleep. Can my reverse reactions to every thing be a possible cause for why I am losing weight by not exercising and not eating well ? Also just cause depo usually causes weight gain and I'm the only one my doctors have seen lose weight and be thin by being on it. Any advice is greatly appreciated and maybe I just have a weird reverse system. Regardless how can I build muscle?ive tried every class and program and I can't build any anymore. Frustrating cause skinny is awesome but i would like to be toned! I am 148 and want to be back down to 118 or even 128 would be ok. Yes I've been to about 5 hormone and endo specialists. That can't find what's wrong besides I had adverse side effects to being taken off depo (I'm estrogen dominant). Thank you!! :)

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  • pander101
    pander101 Posts: 677 Member
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    You are probably eating less. Weight loss is caused by a deficit, so unless you defy the laws of nature that's what's happening. Doesn't matter what kind of food you eat. It is also near impossible to gain muscle on a deficit and would need to be eating a calorie surplus to gain muscle, can't do both. But you can try to preserve what lean body mass you have by continuing strength training. Weight gain is just a possible side effect with any birth control, it can happen or it cannot. I have lost weight with different birth control as have many others. Weigh all your food solids on a food scale, measuring cups don't cut it, they only really work for liquids. Log consistently and accurately. If you are using MFP for calorie burns only eat back about 50%-75% back because the site overestimates.
  • Sld1108
    Sld1108 Posts: 12 Member
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    Thank you for your response ! I have one question though: I was eating clean so only raw veggies and salad maybe 800 calories a day.. Now I probably eat fast food and whatnot At least 1500 calories or more. I really feel like a freak of nature here ! i want to go back to exercising but the more I do the more I gain weight (and not your muscle toned good looking weight) I actually gain In a bad way. For example I quit drinking alcohol and people asked why I looked different. I started drinking alcohol again, lost it and people started saying how thin and good I looked. Now i used to be a twig and all I did was eat mcdonalds and drink. I'm wondering if my body noticed a pattern? Because if I do that (which I can't at 26 how immature) I seem to just getting smaller and smaller. When I want to be healthy my body goes on a rampage and makes me massive. I feel like I'm on a roller coaster at this point and I'm not bragging here: eating mcdonalds daily And sitting on your butt to lose weight seems like a luxury. It's not, it's probably killing my arteries and everything else that makes me physically Ill and not one doctor can explain this. I couldn't afford to see another doctor (seen 10 including specialists) so I figured screw it I'm going to be healthy and I hope I have your guys' support ! Weight gain or lose I'm not eating like this and sitting around anymore!
  • pander101
    pander101 Posts: 677 Member
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    How long the period that you do this (exercise or drink) ? Weeks? Months? It could take time for your body to adjust to it.
  • Sld1108
    Sld1108 Posts: 12 Member
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    I'll be honest I was always physically athletic my whole life still am (5 miles a day- runner and a competitive cheerleader) at the same time a very heavy drinker (every day almost) from 15-23 years old. I quit drinking heavily, was ripped off my birth control at about 24 and in 6 months gained over 40 lbs (no changes to diet or exercise). When that happened, I spent two years no drinking no birth control and horrible side effects from not being on BC (it was used for a medical condition not actual birth control). Finally after two years of working hard and getting nowhere but 12 more lbs. I got back on BC hormones were finally regulated besides my hashimotos i was diagnosed with recently. and recently I started drinking (not heavily but once or twice a week) in hopes to be small again. Pathetic I know, but I figured after two years of trying so hard with no results, go back to the old which I lost 14 lbs. I came on this site in hopes of a drink free healthy lifestyle but it's almost like my body wants to go against me. No doctor can explain it, every person says calories but I guess my weird story is so different I don't expect Anyone to know any answer. But I sure hope to goodness I could make some friends who could support me in losing it. Thanks for responding- I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.
  • pander101
    pander101 Posts: 677 Member
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    No problem, could just be how your body is reacting to the change of everything.
  • VastBreak
    VastBreak Posts: 322 Member
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    Could this be related to your fat intake? I know fat is a necessary part of the diet especially for hormone regulation. Could you have cut almost all health fats with your clean eating? Maybe now your body is able to regulate a bit now that it is getting fats, granted the wrong type?
  • peachyfuzzle
    peachyfuzzle Posts: 1,122 Member
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    Not to be "that guy," but the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics applies here. You would literally be breaking the laws of physics to not drop weight if you're eating under your maintenance level. It has nothing to do with fat intake.

    Count your calories better by weighing your food, and be as accurate/honest as possible. I know you're not certain of your caloric intake because you're using words like "probably." Also, don't expect to lose weight quickly at your current weight. It is probably, and it really should be for health reasons, going to be very slow going.
  • raysputin
    raysputin Posts: 142 Member
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    If you are eating a calorie deficit there is no way you can fail to lose weight - thousands of years of mathematics are not wrong. There are some factors which will influence the efficiency with which your body processes food but the basic algebra remains the same - out > in = loss.

    Weigh and record everything. If you are not losing, reduce by 100 calories per day for a week - repeat until you start to lose. Follow these simple steps and weight loss success is guaranteed!

    I have a body which takes every opportunity to pack fat away - traitor! Exercise has minimal affect but calorie control (especially calories from carbs) is my success story.
  • lmarshel
    lmarshel Posts: 674 Member
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    Sld1108 wrote: »
    I'll be honest I was always physically athletic my whole life still am (5 miles a day- runner and a competitive cheerleader) at the same time a very heavy drinker (every day almost) from 15-23 years old. I quit drinking heavily, was ripped off my birth control at about 24 and in 6 months gained over 40 lbs (no changes to diet or exercise). When that happened, I spent two years no drinking no birth control and horrible side effects from not being on BC (it was used for a medical condition not actual birth control). Finally after two years of working hard and getting nowhere but 12 more lbs. I got back on BC hormones were finally regulated besides my hashimotos i was diagnosed with recently. and recently I started drinking (not heavily but once or twice a week) in hopes to be small again.

    If you were recently diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and treated for it, that would explain the sudden drop in your weight. Hashimoto's causes hypothyroidism, underactive thyroid, which can cause weight gain. If you were given hormone therapy to replace the thyroid hormone, that would probably cause you weight to start to stabilize. Sounds like your doctors might have already figured it out?

  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    edited November 2014
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    peachyfuzzle wrote: »
    Not to be "that guy," but the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics applies here. You would literally be breaking the laws of physics to not drop weight if you're eating under your maintenance level. It has nothing to do with fat intake.

    Count your calories better by weighing your food, and be as accurate/honest as possible. I know you're not certain of your caloric intake because you're using words like "probably." Also, don't expect to lose weight quickly at your current weight. It is probably, and it really should be for health reasons, going to be very slow going.

    Well, this is true...but what you have going on with an underactive thyroid is that your body is on constant, say, "sedentary" mode...even if you're trying to move around (which, depending upon how badly you're doing, may not be happening on certain days). So yes, you have to eat under that level...but it does translate to having to "eat less" if you're a Hashi's patient who isn't properly medicated yet, than you may be seeing with friends, co-workers, etc. who are a similar age and weight. And that's the trap hypo-T people fall into initially: all of a sudden, you have to eat less than you used to, and yes, there can be a lag time (particularly if you haven't been diagnosed yet and have no clue what's going on), and yes, it's an adjustment.

    No, hypo-T does not magically make people not lose weight even if they're undereating for the current status of their own thyroid (and metabolism).

    The fact is that the metabolism does slow with a hypo condition. The thyroid is part of the "machine" that regulates metabolism.

    I agree that it has nothing to do with fat intake per se. Too many calories are too many calories no matter what your metabolism is doing. If it's too many for your current health status - then it's too much and that's that, unfortunately.

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