Not burning calories even though working out at 80% of max heart rate!!! HELP!!!
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I actually didn't mention the calories as that part I'm ok with.. I'm more bothered with the not burning many calories for the effort put in...I'm sorry if I missed it but I don't think you've mentioned how much you are eating. As in, how many calories are you eating?
I have PCOS. I have lost around 55 pounds. Women with PCOS, whether or not they are insulin resistant, have lower BMRs than women without PCOS. In general, exercise is not mandatory in order to lose weight since you can create a caloric deficit by reducing what you eat. However, with a lower BMR, weight loss is easier/more sustainable when you add in exercise. This is because you get to eat a bit more when you exercise (the MFP method calls for eating exercise calories), which means that you are going to be more comfortable through the process. For me, HIIT increases my appetite to an extent to where the extra calories it earns me are too few to make up for it. So I focus on walking and easy running as far as cardio goes. Right now I lift weights 4x/wk and then do cardio 3x/wk.
But I stick to 1000 calories a day. I've tried 1200 a day with exercise in the past and I've gained so I find 1000 works for me. I was told years ago by a well respected endocrinologist in London that as a woman with PCOS I may find I have to eat as little as 500 cals a day to lose weight without exercise so if I want to eat more I'd have to exercise!! She told me that about 15 years ago and it depressed me even then!!
That's interesting what you say about HIIT for you, I have just started doing HIIT because I read it was particularly beneficial for women with PCOS!!!!! So much different info around it's hard to know where to start!!
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I guess I am not seeing a need for thyroid tests or blood panels. OP lost 14 pounds in a month. That is nothing to sneeze at. I don't see any indication of a medical problem causing her weight loss to be more difficult than anybody else's.
People really make things more difficult than they are. You don't have to futz around with your heart rate or wearing an HRM 12 hours a day. Weigh/measure/accurately estimate your food. Log it accurately. Add in exercise if you'd like. Create a caloric deficit. Lose weight.
I don't see an overwhelming need either, but OP said she really thought she had another underlying medical issue and one sure way to find out is to ask and be done with it.0 -
If you are truly eating 1000 calories a day you would be dropping weight. More then likely you are eating more then you think. You need to invest in food scale weigh all solid foods and measure liquids only.LisaJayne71 wrote: »
I actually didn't mention the calories as that part I'm ok with.. I'm more bothered with the not burning many calories for the effort put in...I'm sorry if I missed it but I don't think you've mentioned how much you are eating. As in, how many calories are you eating?
I have PCOS. I have lost around 55 pounds. Women with PCOS, whether or not they are insulin resistant, have lower BMRs than women without PCOS. In general, exercise is not mandatory in order to lose weight since you can create a caloric deficit by reducing what you eat. However, with a lower BMR, weight loss is easier/more sustainable when you add in exercise. This is because you get to eat a bit more when you exercise (the MFP method calls for eating exercise calories), which means that you are going to be more comfortable through the process. For me, HIIT increases my appetite to an extent to where the extra calories it earns me are too few to make up for it. So I focus on walking and easy running as far as cardio goes. Right now I lift weights 4x/wk and then do cardio 3x/wk.
But I stick to 1000 calories a day. I've tried 1200 a day with exercise in the past and I've gained so I find 1000 works for me. I was told years ago by a well respected endocrinologist in London that as a woman with PCOS I may find I have to eat as little as 500 cals a day to lose weight without exercise so if I want to eat more I'd have to exercise!! She told me that about 15 years ago and it depressed me even then!!
That's interesting what you say about HIIT for you, I have just started doing HIIT because I read it was particularly beneficial for women with PCOS!!!!! So much different info around it's hard to know where to start!!
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So how many times are you going to the gym and what is it you are doing and for how long and at what intensity?
Is the 300 you are geting an estimation by your hrm on how much you are burning doing hiit becayse if so you have your answer there. HRMs are unsuitable for measuring hiit because hiit in general is too individual and too difficult to measure accurately. You didnt tell us that this morning.0 -
LisaJayne71 wrote: »
I actually didn't mention the calories as that part I'm ok with.. I'm more bothered with the not burning many calories for the effort put in...I'm sorry if I missed it but I don't think you've mentioned how much you are eating. As in, how many calories are you eating?
I have PCOS. I have lost around 55 pounds. Women with PCOS, whether or not they are insulin resistant, have lower BMRs than women without PCOS. In general, exercise is not mandatory in order to lose weight since you can create a caloric deficit by reducing what you eat. However, with a lower BMR, weight loss is easier/more sustainable when you add in exercise. This is because you get to eat a bit more when you exercise (the MFP method calls for eating exercise calories), which means that you are going to be more comfortable through the process. For me, HIIT increases my appetite to an extent to where the extra calories it earns me are too few to make up for it. So I focus on walking and easy running as far as cardio goes. Right now I lift weights 4x/wk and then do cardio 3x/wk.
But I stick to 1000 calories a day. I've tried 1200 a day with exercise in the past and I've gained so I find 1000 works for me. I was told years ago by a well respected endocrinologist in London that as a woman with PCOS I may find I have to eat as little as 500 cals a day to lose weight without exercise so if I want to eat more I'd have to exercise!! She told me that about 15 years ago and it depressed me even then!!
That's interesting what you say about HIIT for you, I have just started doing HIIT because I read it was particularly beneficial for women with PCOS!!!!! So much different info around it's hard to know where to start!!
There's no reason why you need to eat only 1000 calories per day unless you are very small. What are your height, weight, age, and activity level.0 -
I weigh everything I eat down to the last gram and I track everything.. and I measure liquids too... I'm pedantic about it
If you are truly eating 1000 calories a day you would be dropping weight. More then likely you are eating more then you think. You need to invest in food scale weigh all solid foods and measure liquids only.LisaJayne71 wrote: »
I actually didn't mention the calories as that part I'm ok with.. I'm more bothered with the not burning many calories for the effort put in...I'm sorry if I missed it but I don't think you've mentioned how much you are eating. As in, how many calories are you eating?
I have PCOS. I have lost around 55 pounds. Women with PCOS, whether or not they are insulin resistant, have lower BMRs than women without PCOS. In general, exercise is not mandatory in order to lose weight since you can create a caloric deficit by reducing what you eat. However, with a lower BMR, weight loss is easier/more sustainable when you add in exercise. This is because you get to eat a bit more when you exercise (the MFP method calls for eating exercise calories), which means that you are going to be more comfortable through the process. For me, HIIT increases my appetite to an extent to where the extra calories it earns me are too few to make up for it. So I focus on walking and easy running as far as cardio goes. Right now I lift weights 4x/wk and then do cardio 3x/wk.
But I stick to 1000 calories a day. I've tried 1200 a day with exercise in the past and I've gained so I find 1000 works for me. I was told years ago by a well respected endocrinologist in London that as a woman with PCOS I may find I have to eat as little as 500 cals a day to lose weight without exercise so if I want to eat more I'd have to exercise!! She told me that about 15 years ago and it depressed me even then!!
That's interesting what you say about HIIT for you, I have just started doing HIIT because I read it was particularly beneficial for women with PCOS!!!!! So much different info around it's hard to know where to start!!0 -
HIIT I have only just started about a week ago when I read an article saying that women with PCOS should do HIIT.So how many times are you going to the gym and what is it you are doing and for how long and at what intensity?
Is the 300 you are geting an estimation by your hrm on how much you are burning doing hiit becayse if so you have your answer there. HRMs are unsuitable for measuring hiit because hiit in general is too individual and too difficult to measure accurately. You didnt tell us that this morning.
Up until then I had been doing walking on a high incline for 30 minutes, 30 minutes on the arc trainer and 5 days a week and 4- 5 days a week strength training for 30 minutes at Curves.
I have also had 10 hours of PT sessions over the last 5 weeks where he has been doing resistance training with me and Cardio. So basically I have been doing a min of an hour 6 days a week for the last 9 weeks.
I didn't know the HRM is unsuitable for HIIT training.
My max heart rate was worked out for me by the PT I am currently using.0 -
There is no way on earth that you are going to gain weight on 1200 calories per day unless you are very small. What are your height, weight, age, and activity level?0
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OP, I know you said you do HIIT running. But how many miles total are you covering in 30 minutes? Figuring out your average speed (or pace) is a good way to figure out why you aren't burning major calories. If your walking intervals are slowing down your overall speed to say 4-5 miles an hour, you're not going to burn crazy calories whereas running 5.5 miles an hour will burn more.
I used to focus on speed intervals (very fast running-for me-alternating with walking). But I found that 1) I couldn't sustain this workout for very long and 2) I couldn't cover many miles because of the slow intervals. So I started slowing down my run and keep it mostly steady with a slight bump up or down in speed. This allows me to go longer and cover more miles, which ultimately burns more calories.
I know, I know, there are tons of articles about HIIT being more effective--but I think true HIIT is perhaps way more intense than you or I could ever do.
Regardless, 14 lbs in a month is outstanding. Clearly you've done something right! I wouldn't worry about how many calories you burn as long as you are burning SOMETHING and eating at a deficit.
I try to burn an additional 200ish calories a day. That's it. Because that's all I need to bump up my eating calories to a comfortable level while still in a deficit.0 -
I'm 5ft 2 and 43 yrs old and currently about 60 pounds heavier than I want to be. Exercising 6 days a week and have been doing that for the last 9 weeks without fail. I've taken time off to focus on my health and get fitter and lose weight.LisaJayne71 wrote: »
I actually didn't mention the calories as that part I'm ok with.. I'm more bothered with the not burning many calories for the effort put in...I'm sorry if I missed it but I don't think you've mentioned how much you are eating. As in, how many calories are you eating?
I have PCOS. I have lost around 55 pounds. Women with PCOS, whether or not they are insulin resistant, have lower BMRs than women without PCOS. In general, exercise is not mandatory in order to lose weight since you can create a caloric deficit by reducing what you eat. However, with a lower BMR, weight loss is easier/more sustainable when you add in exercise. This is because you get to eat a bit more when you exercise (the MFP method calls for eating exercise calories), which means that you are going to be more comfortable through the process. For me, HIIT increases my appetite to an extent to where the extra calories it earns me are too few to make up for it. So I focus on walking and easy running as far as cardio goes. Right now I lift weights 4x/wk and then do cardio 3x/wk.
But I stick to 1000 calories a day. I've tried 1200 a day with exercise in the past and I've gained so I find 1000 works for me. I was told years ago by a well respected endocrinologist in London that as a woman with PCOS I may find I have to eat as little as 500 cals a day to lose weight without exercise so if I want to eat more I'd have to exercise!! She told me that about 15 years ago and it depressed me even then!!
That's interesting what you say about HIIT for you, I have just started doing HIIT because I read it was particularly beneficial for women with PCOS!!!!! So much different info around it's hard to know where to start!!
There's no reason why you need to eat only 1000 calories per day unless you are very small. What are your height, weight, age, and activity level.
I was told by an endocrinologist to stick to low calories0 -
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OP, have you considered maybe trying therapy? You seem to have unrealistic expectations related to weight loss and an obsession with the idea that you have PCOS and need to commit to radical things to overcome it. You lost 14 pounds in one month, though. That's a lot, even for someone who is 60lbs overweight. That's about a quarter of what you have to lose, which is kind of insane.
You're making yourself crazy.
Did you really spend so much money on a weight loss program? 0 -
LisaJayne71 wrote: »The weight loss camp I was at had us wear them for 12 hours a day as we were exercising all day apart from lunch break (1 hour) and two 30 min drink and rest breaks in between.
That sounds like over-training. Ok for a short period (a few days) not ok for weeks and months.
PS: You are probably burning more than your device has been reporting.
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LisaJayne71 wrote: »
How much did you gain over what time frame?0 -
How much weight do u need to loose the more u have the faster it comes of when ur staying on track maybe u dont have a lot to loose thats why u feel like its taking long also 14 lbs is good it took me like 6 months to loose 50lbs and now i have to start all over cause i fell of track be patient keep doing what ur doing and u will het there maybe try change up ur routine a bit somtimes it helps0
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OP - what HRM are you using ? Something doesn't seem right here at all. ^ The problem with HIIT and HR is that the HRM expects each heartbeat to be associated with a certain amount of effort. With HIIT a lot of the heartbeats are associated with you sitting still (I'm not knocking HIIT, it is truly fantastic just pointing out the problem with HRM). I'm guessing something is screwy with your estimates somewhere along the line. If you are having 1000 a day and this includes your exercise then I'm guessing the way you are estimating calorie intake is wrong - if you are constantly doing 80%+ heart rate for an hour you will ne burning more than 300 calories no matter what the HRM says. If you are doing this and not dropping weight over a prolonged period of time (weeks not days) then something is going wrong with your calcs somewhere :-) Can I look at your food diary ? PS what is your maximum HR ?0
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I'm not good on miles etc!OP, I know you said you do HIIT running. But how many miles total are you covering in 30 minutes? Figuring out your average speed (or pace) is a good way to figure out why you aren't burning major calories. If your walking intervals are slowing down your overall speed to say 4-5 miles an hour, you're not going to burn crazy calories whereas running 5.5 miles an hour will burn more.
I used to focus on speed intervals (very fast running-for me-alternating with walking). But I found that 1) I couldn't sustain this workout for very long and 2) I couldn't cover many miles because of the slow intervals. So I started slowing down my run and keep it mostly steady with a slight bump up or down in speed. This allows me to go longer and cover more miles, which ultimately burns more calories.
I know, I know, there are tons of articles about HIIT being more effective--but I think true HIIT is perhaps way more intense than you or I could ever do.
Regardless, 14 lbs in a month is outstanding. Clearly you've done something right! I wouldn't worry about how many calories you burn as long as you are burning SOMETHING and eating at a deficit.
I try to burn an additional 200ish calories a day. That's it. Because that's all I need to bump up my eating calories to a comfortable level while still in a deficit.
I run at 10 kph (6.2mph) for 30 seconds, then I straddle for 30 seconds, then back on again for 30 seconds.. I do this for 30 minutes but sometimes I burn out at 25 minutes.
Maybe you're right about HIIT needing to be faster than my body can handle!!!
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daydreams_of_pretty wrote: »OP, have you considered maybe trying therapy? You seem to have unrealistic expectations related to weight loss and an obsession with the idea that you have PCOS and need to commit to radical things to overcome it. You lost 14 pounds in one month, though. That's a lot, even for someone who is 60lbs overweight. That's about a quarter of what you have to lose, which is kind of insane.
You're making yourself crazy. Did you really spend so much money on a weight loss program?
I completely agree with this advice.0 -
daydreams_of_pretty wrote: »OP, have you considered maybe trying therapy? You seem to have unrealistic expectations related to weight loss and an obsession with the idea that you have PCOS and need to commit to radical things to overcome it. You lost 14 pounds in one month, though. That's a lot, even for someone who is 60lbs overweight. That's about a quarter of what you have to lose, which is kind of insane.
You're making yourself crazy. Did you really spend so much money on a weight loss program?
I completely agree with this advice.
I have to agree also.0 -
LisaJayne71 wrote: »I weigh everything I eat down to the last gram and I track everything.. and I measure liquids too... I'm pedantic about it
Open your diary.
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daydreams_of_pretty wrote: »OP, have you considered maybe trying therapy? You seem to have unrealistic expectations related to weight loss and an obsession with the idea that you have PCOS and need to commit to radical things to overcome it. You lost 14 pounds in one month, though. That's a lot, even for someone who is 60lbs overweight. That's about a quarter of what you have to lose, which is kind of insane.
You're making yourself crazy. Did you really spend so much money on a weight loss program?
I completely agree with this advice.
It's not an idea that I have PCOS, I do have it. I've seen the scan with the cysts on the ovaries and I've had the blood work done with my testosterone levels being too high and I have all the symptoms of it so please don't say it's all in my head. I don't need therapy. I hadn't looked at the fact that 14 pounds was a quarter of my goal so that does help a little putting it into perspective for me and I know I am being hard on myself but I need to keep pushing myself. But to be told it's all in my head and no way will I gain weight on 1200 calories a day is insulting when it has happened to me.0 -
LisaJayne71 wrote: »daydreams_of_pretty wrote: »OP, have you considered maybe trying therapy? You seem to have unrealistic expectations related to weight loss and an obsession with the idea that you have PCOS and need to commit to radical things to overcome it. You lost 14 pounds in one month, though. That's a lot, even for someone who is 60lbs overweight. That's about a quarter of what you have to lose, which is kind of insane.
You're making yourself crazy. Did you really spend so much money on a weight loss program?
I completely agree with this advice.
It's not an idea that I have PCOS, I do have it. I've seen the scan with the cysts on the ovaries and I've had the blood work done with my testosterone levels being too high and I have all the symptoms of it so please don't say it's all in my head. I don't need therapy. I hadn't looked at the fact that 14 pounds was a quarter of my goal so that does help a little putting it into perspective for me and I know I am being hard on myself but I need to keep pushing myself. But to be told it's all in my head and no way will I gain weight on 1200 calories a day is insulting when it has happened to me.
You don't often answer a straight question though!0 -
I did it for 2 weeks with exercising 5 days a week and I gained 6 pounds. Dropped it down to 1000 and lost 4 pounds over 2 weeks with the same level of exercise.TavistockToad wrote: »LisaJayne71 wrote: »
How much did you gain over what time frame?0 -
LisaJayne71 wrote: »I'm 5ft 2 and 43 yrs old and currently about 60 pounds
Assuming you weigh 170 lbs, Your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate: the number of calories you'd burn if you stayed in bed all day) is estimated to be 1484. You will not gain weight if you only eat 1200 calories consistently every day.0 -
LisaJayne71 wrote: »
I did it for 2 weeks with exercising 5 days a week and I gained 6 pounds. Dropped it down to 1000 and lost 4 pounds over 2 weeks with the same level of exercise.TavistockToad wrote: »LisaJayne71 wrote: »
How much did you gain over what time frame?
You do know that none of that gain or loss was possibly fat.....?0 -
LisaJayne71 wrote: »
Well, that's part of it, then. If that's what you're doing, then you're only running about 1.55 miles (assuming you make it the whole 30 minutes). Depending on weight and speed and incline, running a mile typically burns 75-110 calories, which means that you would be burning approximately 135 calories per 1/2 hour (assuming the average of those two numbers)--less than your estimate of 300/hour!0 -
just a word of warning OP. Scales measure total body weight and not just fat. If you drop 14 lb in a month then I'm guessing this will be 4 lb water, 5 lb fat and 5 lb lean body weight (muscle etc) . If you drop too fast you lose muscle which makes you weaker and less fit :-( do a search for MFP Sexypants in google and you will bump into a brilliant thread by sidesteel and sara which explains a lot of stuff :-)0
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to be honest try weight training on days you dont do cardio, I would alternate every other day. maybe you are doing to much exercise? I know when I was working out twice a day,I got to the point that I stopped losing anything. once I toned it down to once a day for 30-60 min,I started losing again.low calories doesnt mean below 1200 or at least it shouldnt. my daughter sees an endo for a few different issues and they told her 1200 calories although now some days she eats more,she is losing weight,but shes losing inches quicker than the weight, I know everyone is different and different things work for them.I would take a rest day or two as well. any dr that tells you to eat only 500 calories to me is a nutjob. your body cannot survive long on that,you will waste away.0
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So you have 60 pounds to lose, lose 14 pounds a month --- and are unsatisfied??
You need help with gaining a healthy perspective.0 -
HIIT is more difficult to measure because of the stop start nature and the guess work that goes along with the afterburn epoc effect, which can be very individual. HRM are for steady state which is what rabbit first said this morning. Perhaps the 300 you are looking at just reflects the calories you have burned during the time exercising and no epoc. In that sense it would increase over time as epoc takes effect, but difficult to say by how much.
Not disputing your maxhr, no idea about your pt, there are many formulas for calculating it and 220-hr is the least accurate, but often used.
I have just looked up PCOS and HIIT and see it is recommended. I think its more for the claimed benefits on insulin resistance as opposed to extra calorie burn.
http://www.nature.com/ijo/journal/v32/n4/full/0803781a.html
http://www.clinicalendocrinologynews.com/index.php?id=12128&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=310705&cHash=0a02844dd1f632526de8624b080ef696
Id add the following:
1. Dont worry too much about calorie burn, even at an hour a day continuous exercise of 500 a day thats 3000 or under under 1lb a week. You have to do a lot of exercise.
2. People have pointed you towards logging and accurtaely controlling your food intake becayse its more influential and easier to manage. You should get accurate in that area first.
3. Start managing your expectations, as it will just be slower with pcos, but not impossible. Friend some other pcos members as they will be able to adbise on how they coped. Jemh is always sensible, but am sure there are some active groups.
4. Be patient, but determined. You cna do it and the pcos is just soemthing you have to imo.
Good luck and try not to beat yourself up or stress.
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