Total Meltdown! I want to give up!!

Take a deep breath. How do your clothes fit you? Your calorie intake amount might be off. When was the last time you input all your data in to check on how many calories a day you should be eating? Have you looked at the macros goals (nutrition info to see how much protein/sugar etc) you are meeting?

"The last month I have incorporated a weight program from bodybuilding.com Mon-Fri." Any time you start a new exercise program, especially weight intensive, you will gain a few pounds in the first few weeks - its water. And worth it.

Tighten up logging and make sure you are eating exactly what you think (weigh, not measure etc) check your calculations, etc. But if all looks correct, try one more month and see what happens. If its water weight from your new regime, it will go away with consistency and take some fat with it!

And dont be too aggressive. You have less than 40 pounds to lose, put in 1 pound a week, not 2... and eat back about half your exercise calories - or use TDEE -20% instead. You can eat more than 1200 in most cases and still lose weight regularly and consistently - and since its more "doable" you will be more likely to stick with it and not experience days like this one.

It is possible that you are not eating enough if you are eating around 1200 and burning 400. Also you could be hanging on to water weight.

Try adding 200 calories per day earlier in the day, since it seems you are eating most calories at night and not when your body likely needs them for energy (unless you workout at night after eating). Also, take a rest day from exercise.

Check in with us in 10 days.

Best!

did you weigh yourself in the morning?
also calculate your total daily expenditure here: http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

You don't have much to loose so the weight won't fall off quickly. Plus with weight training that builds muscle which is heavier than fat. Have you noticed anything like clothes fitting better? Do you measure yourself? I see progress more with measuring because I am working with weights too and I see the progress in inches coming off as opposed to the number on the scale.

I can't emphasize enough what others have said about weighing your food! Best is to use a scale with ability to weigh in grams. Even prepackaged things that give calories amounts, if you actually weigh the packaged thing you will often find it is heavier than the weight the package used for the calorie calculation. Measurements like tablespoons and half cups and such have the exact same problem. When you weigh the tablespoon and then weigh the actual grams of the food on it, if you fill the tablespoon you will usually see that it weighs more than the grams they used for the calorie calc. So weighing food rather than measuring even when prepackaged foods is definitely important! I found I was eating quite a bit more than I thought when I actually put the work into weighing the food. I took packages for granted thinking it would be very close to what was listed when really it could be quite a bit more. Good luck!!

I agree with tightening up on logging. I thought I was logging accurately at one time and found out I underestimated food intake (from inaccurate measurements/weighing or inaccurate food database entries) and overestimated exercise calories burned. Fixing those two things has helped a lot. I'm still not perfect with the logging, but at least I know it's me being lazy and not "I have no idea why I'm not losing weight"...I know why.

Also, I always thought that when a person started eating less and moving more the weight would come off so easy in the beginning and then slow down. For me, that didn't happen. The weight didn't fall off so easily in the beginning. It took me about 4 months before I started seeing the weight come off more consistently.

Be patient and loving with yourself. You lost something - even though it's not what you wanted, it's something. Get in the right frame of mind - don't beat yourself over what's not happening - focus on what is happening. Does exercising make you feel better? Mind, body, and spirit? Focus on those things more than the number on the scale.

courtneyk0721 wrote: »

Well, you can either give up and definitely not get results.. or you can keep going and probably get results and possibly not get them as fast as you want to.

^^^ The best advice on here to date.

It sounds like you are doing all the right things - but sometimes it takes a while for the scale to catch up... it's important to remember that this process is NOT linear. Your body can be holding on to water weight that will mask fat-loss for several weeks...

I recently broke out of a stall that lasted 4 weeks... but once I did, I lost 3 lb in 4 days.

Last food for thought (don't worry... it has 0 calories): If you want this weight to stay off forever. Make this is a lifestyle change.. There is no expiration, no time limit - this is just a new way to live, and the side effect is that over time, you will lose the weight.

Don't give up and never give in... seriously!!! I had to Google TDEE so I can't give you tech talk, but I can share what I know for certain. #1 you're tracking your foods - bing #2 you're exercising - bing bing #3 you're adding variety, changing it up by including weights - bing x3. You probably didn't weigh yourself, because you were probably feeling pretty good... so why would you want to give up? Yeah, there may be some adjustments you could make, you'll make them and it will come, or I should say it will go - just don't give up!

If most of your calories come from fat, you may be eating more than you think. Most fats have a lot of calories for a small amount, so being off a little on the serving could mean a big difference in the calorie count.

As mentioned already, it could have to do with monthly bloating. I know I go up and down 2 to 3 pounds every month for a couple days. (sometimes more). Overall you are losing, I would take the 2lb loss and keep on going, next 22 days you'll be down 4lb if things stay even. Eventually it will add up. And some pounds seem to be more stubborn.

I get stuck for weeks sometimes before things start moving again.

mistydm76 wrote: »

If I ever needed motivation now is the time!! I have been logging in MFP for over 50 days now.
Food
I keep track of everything I eat. Mon-Friday Breakfast Nature Valley Protein Bar- 190 cal Lunch Salad with low fat dressing- 139 cal Dinner 500 to 700 cal. Weekends usually protein bar for breakfast Lunch and Dinner is always within my 1200cal range.
I am at 1200 calories either a little lower or a little higher.
Exercise
Everyday I do a fast walk on my treadmill between 2.5 to 3 hours a day.
The last month I have incorporated a weight program from bodybuilding.com Mon-Fri.

Okay here is my problem...I haven't weighed myself if 22 days, therefore I went just now to do it and I ONLY LOST 2 POUNDS!!!! My measurements are pretty much the same from 22 days ago too!

What am I doing?? All this work for WHAT? I want to cry...

Is there anything you see me doing wrong?

Thank you

The digital scale is your Best Friend! I plan on using it everyday Forever! Just like I brush my teeth everyday! Make the pledge

Hope I am not too late to the party. What I have to say is likely repeated in different ways above. It's easy to make the mistake that if less is good that even less is better. Or that exercise is good so even more exercise should give us spectacular results. But our bodies need more time to adjust to such a radical change. Your life is not a sixty second commercial.

You are going to see continued losses on the scale, and you are going to see an increase in endurance and energy from all that brisk walking. But the changes won't be linear. If you were stricter with the calories or burned that treadmill three hours a day, you would likely only see marginally better results.

So adjust your lifestyle to something you could maintain for a hundred days and still feel good about it. No more weeping over a two pound loss. Laugh that you can dance with a child in the kitchen without losing your breath.