About to give up...and i hate giving up.

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nopmobiel
nopmobiel Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Two years ago i lost about 10 kgs in six months. I started running and biking at moderate speeds. I didn't adjust my eating habits. Just by sporting with my heart rate sensor and sports watch, i ran and cycled about 600 kcals every day, with one day rest.
Last summer i quit running and i gained 7kgs. Last september i started running again, even more intense. I run and cycle about 600 kcal/day. My life style is sedentary (office job) and my goal is to lose 0.8kgs. But i didn't lose a gram... Weight and belly are the same. Only the muscles in my legs are a bit bigger. Does anyone have a clue? Thanks so much.
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  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    What we eat tends to have much more importance than our physical activity in determining our weight. Have you considered trying logging your calories?
  • nh5nh5
    nh5nh5 Posts: 21 Member
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    Don't give up! You've done really well, you have probably just hit a plateau. Have you measured yourself you've probably lost cms. Sometimes the scales don't show progress but a combination of measuring and the scales you may find that helps keep you motivated. I've found that logging my food every day helps keep me on track, and now we have the mobile app I never miss a meal. I hope this helps.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
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    Exercise by itself rarely leads to sustained weight loss, because it also makes you hungry, and unless you count calories, you're likely to eat more than if you were sedentary. The way to lose weight is to ensure that you burn more calories than you ingest, and the easiest way to do that is to count them.
  • momar23
    momar23 Posts: 292 Member
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    bwogilvie wrote: »
    Exercise by itself rarely leads to sustained weight loss, because it also makes you hungry, and unless you count calories, you're likely to eat more than if you were sedentary. The way to lose weight is to ensure that you burn more calories than you ingest, and the easiest way to do that is to count them.

    ^^^ this!
  • ew_david
    ew_david Posts: 3,473 Member
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    nopmobiel wrote: »
    Two years ago i lost about 10 kgs in six months. I started running and biking at moderate speeds. I didn't adjust my eating habits. Just by sporting with my heart rate sensor and sports watch, i ran and cycled about 600 kcals every day, with one day rest.
    Last summer i quit running and i gained 7kgs. Last september i started running again, even more intense. I run and cycle about 600 kcal/day. My life style is sedentary (office job) and my goal is to lose 0.8kgs. But i didn't lose a gram... Weight and belly are the same. Only the muscles in my legs are a bit bigger. Does anyone have a clue? Thanks so much.

    The bold part...that's most likely the issue.
  • Bshmerlie
    Bshmerlie Posts: 1,026 Member
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    If your goal is to lose weight and keep it off then my suggestion would be to stop with the running and biking. The only reason I say this is because it doens't sound like something you plan on doing forever. So my suggestion is don't make it part of the reason that you lose weight. Before it sounds like you lost weight because you took up a pretty active lifestyle but then during the summer went back to your sedentary ways. So if you want to lose weight then do it just by your diet alone. That way its easier to maintain when you finnally get to your goal.
  • PinkPixiexox
    PinkPixiexox Posts: 4,142 Member
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    Don't give up. You've been given some solid advice here.
    Don't give up. The end result is too 'worth it' to give up based on temporary set-backs.
  • Lucille4444
    Lucille4444 Posts: 284 Member
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    Bshmerlie wrote: »
    If your goal is to lose weight and keep it off then my suggestion would be to stop with the running and biking. The only reason I say this is because it doens't sound like something you plan on doing forever. So my suggestion is don't make it part of the reason that you lose weight. Before it sounds like you lost weight because you took up a pretty active lifestyle but then during the summer went back to your sedentary ways. So if you want to lose weight then do it just by your diet alone. That way its easier to maintain when you finnally get to your goal.

    I would never encourage anyone to be sedentary. If you've done running and biking, find a way to keep on doing them.
    Apart from that, examine your eating habits, and make and stick to a plan.

  • wizzybeth
    wizzybeth Posts: 3,573 Member
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    Establish a daily calorie goal appropriate for your height, age, gender, and activity level. Count calories. Weigh your food with a food scale. Watch the weight fall away. If it doesn't fall - adjust the calories lower till you start losing.
  • Soopatt
    Soopatt Posts: 563 Member
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    You have not said how you feel about it, but if you are worried that counting calories takes too much time and effort - it really doesn't. I put myself off counting calories for years because I was convinced I would not lead a normal life if I did.

    I was wrong. It is easy, it is quick (and gets quicker as you build up your personal data base) and it works.

    Such peace of mind, rather than exercising and exercising and hoping that you are doing enough. Let the exercise just be a bonus - let it be for health, not because you are trying to undo your eating of the day.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    Decrease your foods. You can do that.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Keep running and biking, especially if you like it. MFP can help with the calorie counting.
  • nopmobiel
    nopmobiel Posts: 4 Member
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    Thanks everyone.
    I really like being active. I cycle to work 4 days/week (22kms/day) and i try to run two days a week. Sometimes (especially in winter) that's a little bit hard to maintain.
    I always count the calories, and have been analyzing the last two months. I ate more than my target (0.8kg/wk). An average of 200 or 300kcals/a day too much. My problem is snacking in the evening. Now i try to substitute with tea and water. That works.
    I think i will lower the target to 0.5kg/wk and try to find alternatives for my eating habits at night. maybe i was expecting to much..
    Thanks again for all your support. I will not give up :)
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    Can you open your diary?
  • ultrahoon
    ultrahoon Posts: 467 Member
    edited December 2015
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    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    Can you open your diary?

    This will get you a lot more specific advice, if that's what you're after OP.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,897 Member
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    HappyCampr1 wrote: »
    nopmobiel wrote: »
    Thanks everyone.
    I really like being active. I cycle to work 4 days/week (22kms/day) and i try to run two days a week. Sometimes (especially in winter) that's a little bit hard to maintain.
    I always count the calories, and have been analyzing the last two months. I ate more than my target (0.8kg/wk). An average of 200 or 300kcals/a day too much. My problem is snacking in the evening. Now i try to substitute with tea and water. That works.
    I think i will lower the target to 0.5kg/wk and try to find alternatives for my eating habits at night. maybe i was expecting to much..
    Thanks again for all your support. I will not give up :)

    If evening snacking is an issue, you can pre-log a snack for the evening. That way you'll know you've saved enough calories for it.

    Ya, I budget 200-300 calories for a pre-bed snack.
  • nopmobiel
    nopmobiel Posts: 4 Member
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    The snack budget i / pre-log is a good one! Our evening dinner is early (5 pm), so i always get hungry in the evening.
    @all, i've opened up my dairy. Thanks again
  • boombalatty123
    boombalatty123 Posts: 116 Member
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    I'd work on portion control. Make your meals a bit smaller. Same stuff, just a little less.
  • wideturn
    wideturn Posts: 108 Member
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    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXsQAXx_ao0

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