HELP please with not burning enough calories

LisaJayne71
LisaJayne71 Posts: 197 Member
edited November 20 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone,
This is quite a long one so bear with me!!! :smile:
I'm a 43 yr old woman with PCOS. I've had all the symptoms since I was about 14 yrs old but was never taken seriously by doctors until I was 30 and finally was tested.
I work as a nanny and so my job is often so stressful and full on with the kinds of VIP families I work for that I don't have time for myself.
However when I can take the time I have trained on and off over the years with PT's and at the gym alone.
I did a boot camp in LA about 3 summers ago and the trainers there were flummoxed with my lack of calories I seemed to burn. This place cost me a fortune and all I lost was 14 pounds in a MONTH!!
We had to wear a HRM for 12 hours a day and we did classes from 6am - 6pm with breaks in between and then had to give our calorie burn to the trainer each morning from the day before. They set a goal for us to reach each day and no matter how much I tried to reach that goal I was always at least 1500 calories below every day.
As the trainers said, they could see how hard I was working in the classes and my PT sessions and they didn't understand why I was not burning a lot more based on my weight and height and the effort I was putting in.
It was suggested I have my thyroid tested but when I came back to the UK the private doctor I saw refused to take it seriously and made some comment along the lines of "oh everyone seems to blame the thyroid"
I mentioned the struggle I have had with my weight all my life and my PCOS but he still wouldn't take me seriously.

I've been taking the last few months off work to focus on losing weight and getting fitter but again I am having the same issues with my HR... I work out consistently between 70- 95% of my heart rate but I rarely can get above 300 calories burnt in 60 minutes which bearing in mind I am at least 27 kilos (60 pounds) overweight and sweating a lot I would expect to be burning a lot more... I know you don't burn as many calories the closer you to get to your ideal weight but I am so far from that!!!
Also, my heart rate drops incredibly quickly the minute I stop exercising... I know that is a sign of a healthy heart but for someone as overweight as I am, I would expect it to stay elevated and to be able to burn more fat...

My questions are -

Has anyone else ever had this problem or any medical experts here who have dealt with this? Anyone with PCOS? What blood tests and what kind of doctor should I be pushing to see and what tests should I be pushing to have done?!!
I want to do the best for myself I can and it's so soul destroying to be putting in so much effort and not seeing good results.

Thanks and apologies for the long message!!!!!

Replies

  • tedioustrainingap
    tedioustrainingap Posts: 78 Member
    14 lb in a month actually sounds like quite a lot, given the recommendation for healthy weight loss is 1 - 2 lb per week and more usually, 1 lb.

    How are you measuring your calorie burn? Regarding tests, just put your foot down. If you feel there is something wrong, it is reasonable to request that concern be investigated, particularly if there are indicative factors.

  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    You don't think losing 14lb in a month is a good result? That is too quick and not a healthy was to sustain it.

    It sounds like you need to stop complicating things. You don't even need to exercise to lose weight. You just need to eat less than you burn off.
  • juleszephyr
    juleszephyr Posts: 442 Member
    Exercise alone will not make you lose weight. You lose weight by creating a calorie deficit, you should plug your figures into MFP aiming for a weekly loss goal of 1-2lbs. Then log all your food using a digital scale and record it. Exercise is for health and looks. Yes you can earn a few extra calories by burning a few but ultimately you need a consistent deficit to shift the lbs. I agree with previous poster that you should insist on medical tests but ultimately if you want to lose weight address the calories you are eating too... FYI 14lbs in a month is awesome!!
  • leahcollett1
    leahcollett1 Posts: 807 Member
    i monitor my cals burned through my heart rate monitor, what are you using?
  • Elegra2006
    Elegra2006 Posts: 144 Member
    PCOS is not going to directly affect your heart rate. If you're fit and healthy then about 300 cals in 60 mins for average levels of exercise sounds about right.

    Plus HR monitors are always just indicative, don't take it as gospel.

    How much are you eating? What's your TDEE? Think you perhaps need to focus elsewhere than exercise calorie burns.
  • leahcollett1
    leahcollett1 Posts: 807 Member
    hr monitors are better than trusting the mfp exercise database values or the machines in the gym
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    juleszephyr wrote: »
    Exercise alone will not make you lose weight. You lose weight by creating a calorie deficit, you should plug your figures into MFP aiming for a weekly loss goal of 1-2lbs. Then log all your food using a digital scale and record it. Exercise is for health and looks. Yes you can earn a few extra calories by burning a few but ultimately you need a consistent deficit to shift the lbs. I agree with previous poster that you should insist on medical tests but ultimately if you want to lose weight address the calories you are eating too... FYI 14lbs in a month is awesome!!

    It will as long as you don't combine it with eating more.

    But what is wrong with 14 pounds in a month? Generally, weight loss has more to do with what you don't eat than how much you burn.
  • OldAssDude
    OldAssDude Posts: 1,436 Member
    you need to slow way way down.

    if you want to lose weight and keep it off, you should lose a pound a week (2 max).
  • rugratz2015
    rugratz2015 Posts: 593 Member
    Presuming that you are eating and exercising properly and still no weight loss I would suggest food intolerance testing, this may also help with the PCOS as problems with losing weight is a side effect of PCOS, as is unusual weight gain. The tests may determine if you're eating something that doesn't agree with your digestive system.
  • isulo_kura
    isulo_kura Posts: 818 Member
    LisaJayne71 wrote: »
    We had to wear a HRM for 12 hours a day and we did classes from 6am - 6pm with breaks in between and then had to give our calorie burn to the trainer each morning from the day before. They set a goal for us to reach each day and no matter how much I tried to reach that goal I was always at least 1500 calories below every day.!!
    Considering HRMs are not designed to record calories from every day activity or to be worn all day any figures they got would have been nonsense anyway. As others have said slow down don't over complicate it. get your diet sorted and depending on your exercise 300kcal an hour sounds fine
  • leahcollett1
    leahcollett1 Posts: 807 Member
    heart rate momitors are designed to show calorie burn during activity, i dont think there designed to be used all day hun
  • misskarne
    misskarne Posts: 1,765 Member
    Oh, ONLY 14 pounds in a month!

    You do realise that weight loss starts in the kitchen, right?
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    edited June 2015
    only 14lbs in one month and you are complaining..wow just wow...

    ETA: exercise is for health and fitness if you aren't losing weight look at your intake.
  • evileen99
    evileen99 Posts: 1,564 Member
    Many people with PCOS do better on a low carb diet. I think there's a PCOS group on here somewhere....
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,943 Member
    Others have already commented on your expectations. I'll add a question: how did you determine your maximum heart rate? If you used the equation 220-age, then you might be way off there. Seriously! Quite a while ago I joined spinning classes with heart rates projected on a wall, and 2 of the women were way below that equation, two were kind of spot on, 6 were above. I'm one of the above ones. According to that equation my HRmax should be around 179, but it's actually around 205.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    LisaJayne71 wrote: »
    Hi everyone,
    This is quite a long one so bear with me!!! :smile:
    I'm a 43 yr old woman with PCOS. I've had all the symptoms since I was about 14 yrs old but was never taken seriously by doctors until I was 30 and finally was tested.
    I work as a nanny and so my job is often so stressful and full on with the kinds of VIP families I work for that I don't have time for myself.
    However when I can take the time I have trained on and off over the years with PT's and at the gym alone.

    I did a boot camp in LA about 3 summers ago and the trainers there were flummoxed with my lack of calories I seemed to burn. This place cost me a fortune and all I lost was 14 pounds in a MONTH!!

    but 14lbs a month is a huge amount of weight and unless you are morbidly obese probably a little too fast

    We had to wear a HRM for 12 hours a day and we did classes from 6am - 6pm with breaks in between and then had to give our calorie burn to the trainer each morning from the day before.

    your trainer did not understand that an HRM doesn't measure calorie burn unless you are measuring steady-state cardio - so the data he received was less than pointeless

    They set a goal for us to reach each day and no matter how much I tried to reach that goal I was always at least 1500 calories below every day.

    As the trainers said, they could see how hard I was working in the classes and my PT sessions and they didn't understand why I was not burning a lot more based on my weight and height and the effort I was putting in.

    It was suggested I have my thyroid tested but when I came back to the UK the private doctor I saw refused to take it seriously and made some comment along the lines of "oh everyone seems to blame the thyroid"

    I mentioned the struggle I have had with my weight all my life and my PCOS but he still wouldn't take me seriously.

    I've been taking the last few months off work to focus on losing weight and getting fitter but again I am having the same issues with my HR... I work out consistently between 70- 95% of my heart rate but I rarely can get above 300 calories burnt in 60 minutes which bearing in mind I am at least 27 kilos (60 pounds) overweight and sweating a lot I would expect to be burning a lot more... I know you don't burn as many calories the closer you to get to your ideal weight but I am so far from that!!!

    I get around 300 calories in 45 minutes of intense gym work ... I weigh 160lbs .. that does not seem that out to me ... sweating has nothing to do with calorie burn .. and are you just measuring steady-state cardio .. see above

    Also, my heart rate drops incredibly quickly the minute I stop exercising... I know that is a sign of a healthy heart but for someone as overweight as I am, I would expect it to stay elevated and to be able to burn more fat...

    that's a good sign

    My questions are -

    Has anyone else ever had this problem or any medical experts here who have dealt with this? Anyone with PCOS? What blood tests and what kind of doctor should I be pushing to see and what tests should I be pushing to have done?!!
    I want to do the best for myself I can and it's so soul destroying to be putting in so much effort and not seeing good results.

    Thanks and apologies for the long message!!!!!


    answers in red - haven't read thread - just OP
  • NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner
    NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner Posts: 1,018 Member
    Ok... Are you using a food scale? Are you logging every little bit of food that goes in your mouth? Exercise isn't essential to lose weight. It is there to improve health and to help preserve lean body mass.

    14lbs in one month is oceans of weight. That's not something to be disappointed in! You should be looking to lose 1-2lb a week in a healthy and sustainable way. Great stuff on the exercise. I have PCOS and hate exercise but have still managed to lose 34lbs since January.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    Also havent read thread, just what rabbits posted. (sorry am just abut off to gym).

    Observations.
    1. 14 is massive, really good would be 8, being at the top end of 1-2lbs a week.
    2. Lol at the HRM data, steady state only for hrm, so what rabbit said about the value of the data.
    3. I think 300 an hour for a 160lb person at your level of intensity sounds low, but to keep up 70-95% for a full hour youd have to be pretty fit imo.
    4. Join one of the pcos groups for support.
    5. Go and see your GP if you reallt think you have a medical issue.
    6. Focus on your consumption more. Exercise is good, but it all starts with consumption.
    7. Dont stress.
    http://youngwomenshealth.org/2013/12/12/pcos-nutrition/

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