obese, but cannot lose weight with diet and exercise

hip2b2
hip2b2 Posts: 5
edited November 11 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all. I have loss and gained weight so many times in my life. I have been at a very happy weight just to go back up. i just turned 35 and I am at the heaviest I have ever been. I have a BMI of 38.2 and need to lose 100 lbs to get into the healthy range.

I have been exercising and staying under my calorie goal for 3 weeks now and have not lost AN OUNCE. not one. i am doing everything right. I don't know if it's my age or something else? But I am way too big not to be dropping some weight. Does anyone have a suggestion on how to jumpstart my weight loss? It's very hard to want to stick with it when I don't see any benefits. (not even nicer skin, which is normally the first thing I see). And I don't even really feel better.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.
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Replies

  • girlviernes
    girlviernes Posts: 2,402 Member
    I'd recommend you make your diary public so we can look at it and give you some words of advice.

    If you don't have one, buy and use a food scale.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    If you've been staying under your goal and you aren't losing, your goal is too high.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    If you aren't losing, you're eating too much. I'm two years younger than you, started at a BMI of 40 and am now eight pounds from the overweight classification. But without logging everything accurately and weighing my foods, it wouldn't have happened.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    You're either eating more than you think OR you are retaining water if your exercise routine is brand new.
  • Geekymonkey99
    Geekymonkey99 Posts: 63 Member
    Eating more than you think (food scale helps) and burning less than you think (heart rate monitor helps) are both huge culprits.
  • MikeLAdams
    MikeLAdams Posts: 40
    malibu927 wrote: »
    If you aren't losing, you're eating too much. I'm two years younger than you, started at a BMI of 40 and am now eight pounds from the overweight classification. But without logging everything accurately and weighing my foods, it wouldn't have happened.

    Exactly. Accurate logging.

  • Dnarules
    Dnarules Posts: 2,081 Member
    All of the above I'm afraid. Good luck!
  • Sydking
    Sydking Posts: 317 Member
    weigh and log food correctly, And give it 3 months not 3 weeks

  • fearlessleader104
    fearlessleader104 Posts: 723 Member
    Eat less
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    If you're not losing anything, you are eating too much. My guess is you are unintentionally underestimating calories in and overestimating calories burned (if you exercise and eat your calories back). This can kill any deficit.

    Do you weigh your food? Do you log everything you eat? Do you eat exercise calories back and, if so, where do you get your calorie burns from?

    Please open your diary for more detailed help.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    No one here will be able to help you until you open your diary.
    What are your stats, height, tdee?
  • hip2b2
    hip2b2 Posts: 5
    i do weigh my food. i am staying under 1000 calories today. no estimations. i am 5 foot 11 and 274 lbs. i am walking 10000 steps and do 30 of cardio. i eat mostly raw or whole foods
  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    You're not eating anywhere near enough in that case. Under 1000 calories is low for anyone, but crazy low for someone of your height and weight.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    edited January 2015
    hip2b2 wrote: »
    i do weigh my food. i am staying under 1000 calories today. no estimations. i am 5 foot 11 and 274 lbs. i am walking 10000 steps and do 30 of cardio. i eat mostly raw or whole foods

    I advise you get to your doctor quickly because if you are truly eating 1000 or less and not losing weight, you have a serious medical issue. Calories in/calories out applies to everyone.

    Seriously, you need to open your diary.
  • hip2b2
    hip2b2 Posts: 5
    i was actually thinking that i need to see my dr because i really do think something is wrong. how do i open my diary?
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    You should have a doctor overseeing this 100 pound weight loss. Make sure nothing is physically wrong (and "I feel fine!" is not proof), get a calorie goal, find out what foods you should and shouldn't be eating, get cleared for exercise and ask for a referral to a dietitian to assist you with your plan.

    Get those answers. Get them from people qualified to give them and get them tailored to you, specifically.

    It's the smart way to start!
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Work out your tdee here. This will be your starting point. Tdee -20% . Obviously when you get the all clear from your doctor.

    Sorry this is the only tdee link I have on hand. http://thefastdiet.co.uk/how-many-calories-on-a-non-fast-day/
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited January 2015
    Get a doctor workup because otherwise the only possible answer from us can be you aren't tracking accurately and eating more calories than you think whilst burning less than you estimate
  • hip2b2
    hip2b2 Posts: 5
    i am terrified i have a resting metabolic rate of 600! (only slightly joking)
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    You may have a medical condition that will make it harder

    9 times out of 10 people just aren't doing it right ...but sometimes there are hormone / thyroid issues that make it more difficult ...not impossible, just difficult

    Have you set your diary to public yet?
  • hip2b2
    hip2b2 Posts: 5
    how do i do that? the diary?
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited January 2015
    Settings
    Diary settings
    Diary sharing
    Public

    At your stats you should be losing 2lb at around 1400 calories
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  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    It is most likely that that 1000 calories is incorrect. Either there are thing not being logged or things are being logged with the wrong calorie amounts. Even if a person has a medical condition that causes them to burn fewer calories, that means they do less and move slower, not that they can do what everyone else can do but more efficiently.
  • dunnodunno
    dunnodunno Posts: 2,290 Member
    hip2b2 wrote: »
    i do weigh my food. i am staying under 1000 calories today. no estimations. i am 5 foot 11 and 274 lbs. i am walking 10000 steps and do 30 of cardio. i eat mostly raw or whole foods

    I would suggest getting a digital food scale & measure all solids in grams & ounces. Rice/pasta measure in their dry form, meats raw if you can, ice cream, cereals, etc. Like others have said make sure you're picking the right entries in the database. Some members may accidentally enter the wrong calorie amount or other nutritional data & other countries have different calorie counts for the same products.

    Why do you have the mindset that you have to eat so little? Since you have at least 100 pounds to lose or more depending on your goal you should be eating a little more than 1,000. Were you eating mostly raw or whole foods before you started this process? If not then you can still eat your favorite foods & still lose weight. You need to stick with a plan that will be sustainable for life.
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
    More than likely, you are retaining water. This happens for lots of reasons including hormonal fluctuations, increase or change in activity level, or increase in sodium or carb consumption. It's nothing to worry about, although it can be frustrating since it can mask actual fat loss.

    Calories in - calories out works. If you're not losing, then something is wrong with either your calories in (not weighing food, etc) or calories out (medical issue, overestimated burns) or else you are losing, but you're gaining water weight at the same time. We can easily retain around 10 lbs or more of water. This is why it's recommended that you try not to worry for a few months (after being cleared by a doctor).
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  • holliehatesyou
    holliehatesyou Posts: 85 Member
    See a doctor.

    I had the same experience. I won't go into everything I was doing, but I was exercising my butt off and definitely NOT eating too many calories.

    I saw a doctor and (I'm being intentionally vague here) was diagnosed and given medication to correct the disorder. Since I started taking it, doing the exact same thing I was doing before, I've been able to finally start losing.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    PlaydohPants wrote: »
    hip2b2 wrote: »
    Hi all. I have loss and gained weight so many times in my life. I have been at a very happy weight just to go back up. i just turned 35 and I am at the heaviest I have ever been. I have a BMI of 38.2 and need to lose 100 lbs to get into the healthy range.

    I have been exercising and staying under my calorie goal for 3 weeks now and have not lost AN OUNCE. not one. i am doing everything right. I don't know if it's my age or something else? But I am way too big not to be dropping some weight. Does anyone have a suggestion on how to jumpstart my weight loss? It's very hard to want to stick with it when I don't see any benefits. (not even nicer skin, which is normally the first thing I see). And I don't even really feel better.

    Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

    Thank you.

    You could be a "whoosher" like me. I had a BMI of 35 and 80 lbs to lose so I thought, at this size, it should be easy at first right? WRONG!

    I didn't lose anything the first month. Despite doing everything "right". But I kept at it because it was making me feel better. Suddenly, after that 4th week or so I lost the 3-4 lbs I was expecting that month and even had a little muscle tone showing.

    It seemed to happen overnight. I know it's hard to keep going when you don't see the results you expect, but you definitely won't see results if you stop. Give it a little longer for your body to adjust.

    That "whoosh" is caused by the loss of glycogen. This is can be caused by a reduction in carbs or from an increase in exercise.
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