<sigh> bad metabolism?

Hi,
I've been there. I've been overweight since my gall bladder was removed and I was in a bad car accident. Anyway, its been 10 years and i've never been able to lose. What worked for me was NOT dieting. I just started tracking what I ate and walking. I lose about 1 pound every week and 1/2 or so but it has been steady. I'm seeing it as changing my eating habits and a new lifestyle rather than working extra hard to watch what I eat and exercise like crazy.

It took many years to put it on. It will take a long time to take it off. There will be bumps in the road. You'll gain a little and lose a lot more. Just take it one day at a time and you will mke progress. It gets better. Start slow and do what you are comfortable with. You'll do it!

Have your thyroid checked.

Then MAKE sure you are measuring not just guessing at you food amounts. Most people way underestimate serving sizes and THINK they are eating way less caloriewise than they actually are.

Get rid of any calorie drinks, soda, juice, etc. Somethings sneak in that you don't even think about.

Drink lots of water.

Have you ever had your thyroid checked out?? I experienced a big weight gain last year along with some other things like fatigue and talked to my doctor about it and she recommended we check out my thyroid. After taking a blood test, she told me that I'm slightly hypothyroid which causes your metabolism to be really slow and results in weight gain. Maybe you should get yours checked out, if you haven't already.

I was beginning to feel like you for awhile. I had lost a little then hit a plateau and lost nothing for several months no matter what I did. I have changed my diet drastically from what it used to be and have gone from sedentary to exercising daily. I finally went to the doctor and had things checked out and other than low vitamin D and iron, everything else looked good. Well, even though my thyroid function tests said ok.... I decided to add some herbal thyroid support drops to my daily intake as well as continued on my exercise regimen and just changed some of what I was doing for exercise as well as continued to eat right. FINALLY, my metabolism must have kicked in because I began losing... SLOWLY, but still losing. I have now lost 20 lbs.! It is still only coming off about 1-2 lbs. a week, but SOMETHING is better than nothing.

I'm curious to know how many calories you are burning during these workouts, because 1500 to 1700 maybe to much are you creating a large enough deficit?

There is 1 reasons, why people gain fat. Besides issues with things such as the thyroid. The issue is insulin, 2 things that increase insulin, high caloric intake per meal, and carbs. If you're meeting your caloric requirments for weightloss, and are exercising. The only thing I can foress the issue being is access carbs. If you are eating a lot of carbs. Cut back on them. I am not saying they're bad, they are good for us, but in moderation.

I agree 100% with this. Also since starting MFP, I've been trying to watch my carb intake. I'm not "low carbing" but Im not having carbs at every meal anymore either and when I do have them, I try hard to choose whole wheat and grain options. It really makes a difference in how I feel and my weight loss efforts! I have PCOS too though so definitely I'm more sensitive to carbs than other people might be.

Edited to add that I"m not having my nightly glass of wine anymore either, more like a weekly glass of wine. I don't miss it honestly. Instead of drinking that wine after dinner, I do my resistance training workout instead, which also really helps to curb late night cravings

A person can't measure there food for life and they shouldn't have to. The normal plate size 20-30 years ago was 9 inches and now adays its 13 inches in diameter. Look at all the amount of fat people now compared to that time frame. You can measure with your eyes when filling your plate. Eat a single serving of everything on your plate be it meat, fruit, veggie.. A 16 ounce T-bone steaks is 4 servings of meat not one. You'd have to eat a bushel of fresh veggies to even come close to a calorie goal . Fruits are about twice as caloric as veggies do to natural sugars which are not bad for you but do count. Water retention can affect what you see on a scale. Don't forget to have plenty of (HEALTHY) fat in your diet. Your physical conditiong/muscle mass plays a huge role in calorie burning. Good Luck.

I've been told you can't create a calorie deficit with exercise alone.

Try tracking what your eating using this site and see what you intake is.

I've been told you can't create a calorie deficit with exercise alone.

Try tracking what your eating using this site and see what you intake is.

untrue, you sure can. Strictly speaking exercise is just an extension of your TDEE, and thus you are able to expand it at desire and/or need.

Hroush,

I totally agree with your post. I'm certain that I am paying the price now, and I'm willing to do that. I really am. I just expected it to happen a little faster. I mean, I could lose 5 pounds a week for the first two weeks then I would start gaining on 500 calories a day. You can imagine what happens when I'm eating 1500 calories a day.

I guess I just need reassurance that this will eventually work.

oh, and I guess I need to say something different than "core" it is a large muscle workout to build the muscles that are large enough to burn calories. My trainers words were, "you're never going to build your biceps enough to require a lot of calories" So yes, it is a lot of squats, lunges, rows, curls, retractions, and planks.

not sure what a retraction is, but you described both core (planks) and a lot of lower body work. Which is fine. But I disagree with Hroush on one point. Muscle size does not elicit more fat burn. You burn fat by creating a deficit.

now, labeam, you asked before if I thought that the extreme dieting could have been the cause for your lack of progress. My answer is Yes and no. It's hard to make that assessment without knowing a lot more about you, but the possibility does exist. Believe it or not, with that kind of long term issue, it's more about your micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) than your macronutrients. it's difficult to cause a healthy liver, kidneys and digestive system to be permanently damaged from low calories alone, but you can do all sorts of damage to the more fragile organs such as the gall bladder, bladder, duodenum, small intestines this way. What I would suggest is this:

And understand, this will take a good month to six weeks to do, so don't expect magic results right off the bat, and you may gain a couple of pounds at the start, that's ok, those will come off rather quickly once you get going.

First step is to reset your body's RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate), you do this by eating what you should be eating, I.E. by eating your maintenance. Do this for a month or so, get your body used to eating this many calories, make the calories SUPER clean (this part sucks), take some time, a few hours at least, and sit down and plan out a perfectly healthy diet. I.E. exactly right on macronutrients (carbs, fat, protein) and make sure the carbs and fats and proteins are all healthy versions. Then do the same with micronutrients, taking care to add at least 6 veggie servings a day, 2 green leafy, 2 yellow or red, and 2 dark or hard green. Don't forget your healthy fats (omega 3 and omega 6 rich foods).

Doing this is NOT easy, it gets boring so make sure you design 3 to 4 different meals for each meal of the day, and also remember to add snacks.

Things to avoid like the plague,
restaurant foods (in general, I know this is impossible sometimes, but do the best you can)
fast foods, never ever, sorry, it's a no no during this period.
candy
pastries (yep that includes everything, donuts, cake, pies, muffins...etc.)
White flour foods
white sugar (limited fruit sugar is fine, but stay away from juice)
lots of saturated fats (lean red meats like filet minion are ok on rare occasion but not things like prime rib)
...etc. you get the picture.

keep in mind this is only for a month, four weeks. That's all.

Is this tough? Yep, but it's doable. I did it. My wife did it, I know tons of people that hold to this every day of their lives.

NOW,
once that's done you can be slightly more lenient on stuff, but here's the thing, now you can start your deficit, but don't make it huge, make it just large enough to do what you need to do. This is a long term thing, you don't get fast results this way, but you get permanent results this way.
I'm proof. 4 years later, same weight I was when I stopped losing (actually I'm 10 lbs heavier, but that's by design, I've actually lost 4% body fat since then and gained 12 lbs of lean tissue).
And trust me, I don't eat super super clean, I have the occasional brownie or ice cream here and there. But you know what, I can because the rest of my life is healthy eating.

As to whoever it was who said you can't measure for the rest of your life, I disagree, I do, every day I weigh or measure food. there are days when I can't, but in general, I do, I don't see why that's so difficult to do.

I mostly agree with SHBoss's suggestion. I will add that during this maintenance period, it is still important to be eating adequate protein (1g/lb is a good rule of thumb), and also be sure to get plenty of carbs (this will help upregulate some of the hormones that have been depleted due to prolonged dieting). Get plenty of high fiber veggies and water as well. Obviously it should go without saying that you should be eating at your maintenance caloric level (hopefully you know what that is).

Yes, except, 1 gram of protein per pound is excessive, 1.2 gram per kilogram is about the average that both the American Dietetic Association and the ACSM recommend, as well as the US Olympic Weight Lifting association, maybe slightly more for someone actively trying to build muscle mass, but slightly means maybe 1.5 or 1.6 grams per kilo.