Doing a great job of maintaining...BUT I want to be losing!

grymrgn
grymrgn Posts: 3
edited September 27 in Health and Weight Loss
I have been on MFP since March 22nd. Last year I lost 40 pounds using the starvation approach but stopped losing after 4 months, regardless of what I tried. So I attempted to add muscle to eventually help me lose fat to get to my goal (I was 17 lbs away). In order to gain muscle, I ate more and lifted heavy. The problem is I didn't have a plan and lost control with the food. I gained back 23 pounds (mostly fat - I couldn't wear my new "small" clothes anymore). This time around I did not want to go the starvation route to lose weight (it's unhealthy!)

I have been exercising since August 2008 when, at that time, I was 260 lbs. My weight went up and down until in May of last year I decided to get serious again and that's when I lost the 40 lbs.

On March 22nd I joined MPF with the hopes of following a plan that would finally get me to my goal of 170 lbs. I've made my dairy public so please if you have constructive advise, please reply.

Since joining, I've dropped 4 lbs, gained 2, lost 3, gained 2, etc. Like the topic subject says, I'm doing a great job of maintaining. So why aren't I losing? I wear a HRM and have a naturally high exercise heart rate (190+ not unusual). Because of a high exercise heart rate, my HRM shows I burn a bunch of calories (daily goal of 1000, sometimes several hundred more). I workout hard. I think I eat right. I drink over a gallon of water every day and an occasional coffee. I was entering what my HRM said my calories burned were and with my BMR of 1270, some days I was supposed to eat as much as 2500 calories (including my exercise calories). Very seldom was I able to eat that much.

Am I not losing because my HRM is inaccurate and is tricking me into eating too much? So, I stopped using that number and started going by what MFP said my exercise calories were. Still, no weight came off.

Without going into ALL the details, that's where I am today, seven weeks into this program, and the same weight as when I started. It's frustrating.

Please, if you are enlightened, tell me what I'm doing wrong. Am I eating too much, too little, exercising too much, too little? I just don't know where to go from here.

Replies

  • SparkleLisa
    SparkleLisa Posts: 42 Member
    I have been doing some research on the "zig zag method" for weight loss... it's supposed to keep your body guessing so it won't adjust to your eating habits. if you google it, a lot of interesting web sites come up, might be worth a try?
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
    I just looked at your food diary (a quick glance) and I don't think you're eating enough. I really don't. For most men, 1200 calories is just too low. Have you checked to see what your BMR is? I would start there. I know everything I've read has said minimum calories for women is 1200 and men is 1500.

    Okay, I went back and looked through more days -- I still wonder if you're eating enough.
  • staciekins
    staciekins Posts: 453 Member
    Keep your deficit at 1500 to prevent starvation mode and try the zig-zag method previous poster suggested. Maybe increase protein and fiber. And is your sodium in check? Are you drinking enough water?
  • swopeswick
    swopeswick Posts: 43 Member
    Looks like you are eating very healthily... however, seems like the calorie totals are WAY low. 1200 calories are an absolute minimum, even for a 100lb woman. At 220lbs, you should probably be closer to 1800+ (after factoring in the deficit for your weight loss goal). For instance I weight 205 and have a weight loss goal of 1lb per week and have a sedentary job and my baseline calorie intake is 1850 or so BEFORE exercise. I would definitely up your calorie goal. Good luck!
  • grymrgn
    grymrgn Posts: 3
    My BMR is around 2300 and with wanting to lose 2 lb/week, MPF has my minimum as 1270. I know many days I net less than that. I just have a hard time eating that much especially with keeping the sodium, sugar, and fat numbers in check.
  • TekkyGeek
    TekkyGeek Posts: 3 Member
    I have suffered from the same thing with very similar profile to yourself. My MHR is nearly 200 and I am 45 yrs old. What I have found that helps me a lot is to vary the mix of carbs and proteins to get rid of those last few lbs.

    I am around 15lbs from my ultimate goal, and have been losing (very slowly from the fast initial water weight drop) by cutting out processed refined foods, upping my fiber, staying away from sodas, and limiting bread/pasta/potatoes. I don't have the desire to go Atkins (which I did once and the loss was dramatic, but the lifestyle was unsustainable for me), but I did learn that there are some basics that ring true: limiting certain carbs will kick start the weight loss again.

    The other thing you might look at is to mix up your training. I started doing that this year an have never felt stronger. I found that while I would get a good workout doing say spinning every other day, I lost more by mixing things up and doing spin 2 times a week and then a mix of running/swimming/boot camp/P90X/Yoga etc to keep things fun. Your muscles become accustomed to the same exercise so changing things up on a monthly basis will help to get past those plateaus. The basis for P90X and Insanity workouts is muscle confusion and I am an advocate of that train of thought. I am friends with a few personal trainers and they all concur on the approach.

    Good luck
  • ANewLucia
    ANewLucia Posts: 2,081 Member
    I wear a HRM and think sometimes the calorie count is elevated. My goal is I eat back half my exercise calories. I will tell you that what really works for me is eating a carb only with protein and I eat the protein first. I go with higher protein. I don't stick to the no fat fad because that isn't healthy. Your body need fat, but good fats...avocado, olive oil, coconut oil (one of the best oils out there), sunflower oil, nuts, dark chocolate...etc. Lots of veggies and less white starchy carbs. Another thing is processed foods are just not healthy, when I cut out everything with trans fats (ingredients such as hydrogenated oils, partially hydrogenated oils, mono diglycerides) I dropped 10 lbs. Another killer is msg and fructose and corn syrups. Reducing white sugar helps...stevia an excellent sub...not the chemical derived artificial sweetners they actually trigger overeating (sucralose is not a sugar derivative either). Last but not least no diet pops and sodas etc. I don't know what your diary looks like, but if there is anything mentioned above that you could use to altar what you are doing today, I believe you will start to see the scale move again.
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
    My BMR is around 2300 and with wanting to lose 2 lb/week, MPF has my minimum as 1270. I know many days I net less than that. I just have a hard time eating that much especially with keeping the sodium, sugar, and fat numbers in check.

    Your BMR is 2300? Then I feel that 1200 calories is just too low! I mean, your body needs 2300 calories just to function - digest food, breathe, organ function, etc. I think that is just too big of deficit. I would up your calories for awhile and see what happens.
  • ANewLucia
    ANewLucia Posts: 2,081 Member
    Yes, totally agree with upping calories. The body will hold on to everything and store as fat if we don't give it the fuel we need. It took me a longggg time to learn that one. It just doens't seem to make sense to NEED to eat more to LOSE weight. But that is very true!
  • ANewLucia
    ANewLucia Posts: 2,081 Member
    Be careful on the fat deprivation as well...the body needs good fats!!!!
  • grymrgn
    grymrgn Posts: 3
    My BMR is around 2300 and with wanting to lose 2 lb/week, MPF has my minimum as 1270. I know many days I net less than that. I just have a hard time eating that much especially with keeping the sodium, sugar, and fat numbers in check.

    Your BMR is 2300? Then I feel that 1200 calories is just too low! I mean, your body needs 2300 calories just to function - digest food, breathe, organ function, etc. I think that is just too big of deficit. I would up your calories for awhile and see what happens.

    I've been thinking I'm not eating enough too. So, yesterday I changed my profile from a 2 lb/week loss to a 1 lb/week loss to increase my calorie intake. It's hard for me to eat the quantity of food to get up to the number MFP says I should eat. I'm going to research the Diet and Nutrition section to find out how other people do it. I mean, yesterday I was eating ALL day long and went over on all my numbers except for calories. I have to learn how to eat calorie dense food while keeping the sodium, fat, carbs, and sugar numbers in check...all while not feeling stuffed when it's time to eat again.

    Any food ideas?
This discussion has been closed.

Categories