Auggghhhhhhh!!!!! So frustrated!!!!!
drockncrisso
Posts: 49 Member
Week after week on the last 10 lbs! Trying and failing miserably to adjust so I can lose ONE F$&)ing pound!!! This last week of failure = ran 25 miles, did 30 mins of weight training 4 days of the week and ate 1350 cals a day. The result - GAINED A FREAKING POUND. this is MADDENING!! I want to give up!! If I wanted to gain weight, I would sit on my *kitten* and eat scones all day like I actually WANT to do- not spend over an hour a day at the freaking gym and starving myself! Efffffffffff
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Replies
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The last few pounds are the slowest of all. How accurate is your calorie counting? Do you use a food scale to weigh everything?2
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If you exercise hard your muscles retain extra water which results in weight gain. That doesn't mean you aren't losing fat which is what should actually matter to you. Calm down, it will take time just relax and exercise if you enjoy it not to beat yourself into submission.17
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The last 10 boils down to precision.
They will be the slowest and then add in more exercise (volume and intensity), more stress (like being stressed out about losing), day to day fluctuations and hense your post screams stress and frustration..
Take a step back.. take a look back at your food and exercise diary, make sure everything is on point, if you eat back exercise calories, reevaluate how you estimate calorie burns and how many you are eating back, and also make sure you keep your day to day activity up, as slowing that down can negate your exercise calories you burn each day..
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I don't eat back exercise calories. I eat 1350 solid. I count EVERYTHING, obsessively. If my 2 year old feeds me 4 goldfish crackers, I log it. I burn nearly 100 cals a mile when I run -
Sunday - ran 10 miles =1000 exercise
Monday - Jillian Michaels 30 day shred (level 3)
Tuesday - ran 6 miles and did JM level 3
Wednesday rested
Thursday - ran 6 miles and did JM level 3
Friday - ran 3 miles and did JM level 3
Saturday - resting so I can run 12 miles tomorrow.
I've lost 29 lbs before hitting this insane slow down. It was a steady 1lb a week before... Now it's 1lb a month for the past 4 mos and it's making me feel crazy. I want to give up the dieting side and just eat to maintain. I'm sick of working this hard to "earn" a number on the scale.
I feel so frustrated when I am with people - and they're eating food, and I'm eating like a rabbit. If I work out like I do, I wonder if I should just give up the restricted calories for a while and just eat back my exercise cals. I'd LOVE to eat 2000 on a day I run 10+ miles.2 -
Why wouldn't you eat back calories from exercise? You very much should...eating "like a rabbit" and running for miles and miles is not at all good for you. You are taking your frustrations out on your own body like you want to punish yourself or something. You need to work out whatever psychological issues are causing that so you can relax and eat normally while doing moderate exercise.
You don't need to starve and punish your body to lose weight geez. Maybe you should seek some counseling if this is a pattern for you.22 -
Something is not adding up because of your not eating your exercise calories back. 1350 a day and all your exercising, weird! Have you had a check up with PCP lately? Do you use a food scale to weigh everything? Do you pick the right foods from database?5
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Sometimes you need to just have a day and eat, so that your metabolism kicks back in, and burns the calories. It sounds like your body is going into "starvation mode" Change it up a little - just my opinion.4
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Aaron_K123 wrote: »If you exercise hard your muscles retain extra water which results in weight gain. That doesn't mean you aren't losing fat which is what should actually matter to you. Calm down, it will take time just relax and exercise if you enjoy it not to beat yourself into submission.
Exactly this! It sounds like you are working hard and trying to eat right. Although I have to say that 1350 calories seems low for all the exercise you are doing. Your body might be trying to hold on to everything it can get because it thinks it's starving. Relax (easier said than done I know) and give it time. Good luck.2 -
drockncrisso wrote: »Week after week on the last 10 lbs! Trying and failing miserably to adjust so I can lose ONE F$&)ing pound!!! This last week of failure = ran 25 miles, did 30 mins of weight training 4 days of the week and ate 1350 cals a day. The result - GAINED A FREAKING POUND. this is MADDENING!! I want to give up!! If I wanted to gain weight, I would sit on my *kitten* and eat scones all day like I actually WANT to do- not spend over an hour a day at the freaking gym and starving myself! Efffffffffff
Try something different. Try LCHF for one week and see what happens.0 -
25 miles and you're not eating anything to fuel that. Plus all that other stuff!? You're probably retaining water due to the activity AND super stressing your body throwing out your cortisol levels further causing water retention.
Chill out. Get precise with your intake, eat a little more, stop focusing so hard on the number on the scale.5 -
Try minimalism.1
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Also, how long have you been in a deficit, when did you last see a loss and have you taken a diet break at all?0
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If it were me, I would take a diet break. Eat your maintenance calories for 3-4 weeks, this will hopefully recharge your body and mind. Either that or start eating your exercise calories back. Eating only 1340 calories and doing all of that exercise... I honestly don't know where you're finding the energy!!
Having said this, if you are indeed accurately logging all of your food, plus exercise, I don't understand how you could not be losing a little more quickly that one lb a month.8 -
I also suggest that you take lots of photos and measurements so that you have other progress metrices that weight. If you're losing inches but not pounds, you might be less frustrated.4
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OP, what is your age, sex, height, current weight, and how many pounds did you set up mfp to lose per week?
How long have you been trying to lose weight?
How are you working out your food calories (weigh, measure, eyeballing it)? How are you working out your exercise calories? Do you eat any back?
Can you open your food diary?Sometimes you need to just have a day and eat, so that your metabolism kicks back in, and burns the calories. It sounds like your body is going into "starvation mode" Change it up a little - just my opinion.
No, starvation mode is a myth. And the metabolism works 24/76 -
It really sounds like you could use a diet break. Lyle MacDonald has a great article on it. I'm in the same boat and recently ate at maintenance for 2 weeks (2000) -- still ate clean, ran and lifted. I gained 3 pounds, but when I dropped back to 1700, I lost the 3 within a week, and got back to .5 loss per week in the weeks thereafter. Definitely took the edge off.8
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LittleMiss_Kriss wrote: »i literally gave up.. =/ i felt like i was killing myself.
ikr /: ...there comes a point where losing more feels like absolute HELL... and SO unfortunate that gaining ANY amount and getting gross again is like a walk in the park (at least 4 me)0 -
VintageFeline wrote: »25 miles and you're not eating anything to fuel that. Plus all that other stuff!? You're probably retaining water due to the activity AND super stressing your body throwing out your cortisol levels further causing water retention.
Chill out. Get precise with your intake, eat a little more, stop focusing so hard on the number on the scale.
dude i wish...weighing in on my digital every morn literally dictates whether the rest of my day will be all right or downright lousy2 -
Silly question, perhaps, but do you actually need to lose those last 10 pounds? Or would a "recomp" (maintain weight but reduce fat while gaining muscle) make more sense for you? (Depends on how aggressive your final weight goal is.)0
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Hi, OP. I agree with other commenters about taking a diet break, checking accuracy, et al.
I would also suggest monitoring body weight differently. In a week you gained a pound. How often are you weighing? When is TOM? Did you have a high sodium meal the night before you weighed? For me, body weight is the least accurate part of the equasion simply because of normal healthy water weight fluctuation. Try tracking 10-day minimum or 7-day average instead. The fluctuation will freak you out less.
I personally lose at 1/2lb/wk, so it takes me a couple weeks to know if I'm trending the right way. Ifl I flipped out at each weigh in, the whole process would be a lot more frustrating. A broader perspective really helps in this situation4 -
CALS0CCERBEAR87 wrote: »VintageFeline wrote: »25 miles and you're not eating anything to fuel that. Plus all that other stuff!? You're probably retaining water due to the activity AND super stressing your body throwing out your cortisol levels further causing water retention.
Chill out. Get precise with your intake, eat a little more, stop focusing so hard on the number on the scale.
dude i wish...weighing in on my digital every morn literally dictates whether the rest of my day will be all right or downright lousy
Dude, don't you think that this indicates a bit of a problem?
Look into using a trending weight app.
Might help you enjoy more days!
People's weight fluctuates daily.
It doesn't mean that they gain and lose that amount of fat every day.
Weight fluctuations often have NOTHING to do with fat.6 -
Now that I know that eating back you exercise calories are not part of the equation, I also second the opinions on taking a diet break.
Think of it this way.. what you are doing is not working, so trying something else.. Maybe consider the diet break or start eating more in terms of changing your rate of loss / eat back your exercise calories,
I might scale back on the exercise some, give my body a break from that too, or perhaps change my exercise regime up to something different for a short while..3 -
SusanMFindlay wrote: »Silly question, perhaps, but do you actually need to lose those last 10 pounds? Or would a "recomp" (maintain weight but reduce fat while gaining muscle) make more sense for you? (Depends on how aggressive your final weight goal is.)
It's hard to say - I'm 5'3" - at my peak 6 years ago, I weighed 117 (doing half marathons and p90x) - my current goal is just 125, I've had two kids and work full time.. So I don't REALLY need to/intend to get back below 125.. But I'm at 128 now. Sooooo close, yet so far. Once I hit 132 is when the scale all but stopped moving.
I think I'll take your advice- I'll get a weight trend app so I can see the bigger picture. I'll take a diet break while I keep training for my next big run and keep doing the weight training. I don't want to lose the health I'm gaining from all this working out.
Then, maybe after a couple weeks of diet break, I can re focus and try some diet adjustments for a couple weeks.
You're right, I gotta stop stressing. A number isn't worth it.. And the few of you who say I need psych help are NOT wrong (I am seeing a therapist- it's hard for me not to obsess about control issues like this- I'm working on it)6 -
drockncrisso wrote: »Week after week on the last 10 lbs! Trying and failing miserably to adjust so I can lose ONE F$&)ing pound!!! This last week of failure = ran 25 miles, did 30 mins of weight training 4 days of the week and ate 1350 cals a day. The result - GAINED A FREAKING POUND. this is MADDENING!! I want to give up!! If I wanted to gain weight, I would sit on my *kitten* and eat scones all day like I actually WANT to do- not spend over an hour a day at the freaking gym and starving myself! Efffffffffff
I got down to the last 10 pounds and plateaued. It was very frustrating because I was eating very little and felt like I was doing all of the right things. I had gotten to the point where you are and would freak out over gaining a pound. When you work so hard to lose a pound and it pops back on it is soooo frustrating. Plus working so hard to lose a pound is grueling. I do get it.
What I ended up doing is recomp. I figured, heck, I'm already plateauing. I'd better do something positive during that time. I decided to deliberately enter maintenance and gradually reverse dieted to try to get to the approproate TDEE I found online.
Do you know what happened? My body shape changed! I can eat more food and have not gained an ounce. I feel strong and walk taller.
So now that my maintenance calories are established I'm going to drop 250 calories off of my maintenance calories to try to lose 1/2 pound a week. I'm hoping with a smaller deficit my body won't battle me as strongly. I had dropped down too low originally. When you are so close to goal it can be a very slow process. Celebrate that you are only 10 pounds away. Even if it takes 10 months, who cares? You will get there!6 -
An interesting article to consider (don't click on any offers): https://www.muscleforlife.com/reverse-diet/
<or look up other info on reverse dieting and diet breaks, particularly stuff written by Lyle McDonald>
An ancillary interesting perspective is that the cautious approach advocated during reverse dieting is not necessary, and people can start approximating their maintenance Calorie numbers by eating a number of Calories equal to their body weight in lbs x 14.
Note that traditionally, average maintenance Calories for average people who move and exercise an average amount of time, in an average fashion, daily, corresponds to a multiplier of between 14 and 16 x weight in lbs... on average.
(And yes Christine, if you're reading this, your 20000 steps a day is well above an average amount of movement!)
So 14 is at the low end of that, and leaves room for further more cautious increases once any initial weight gains due to carb re-feeding and additional waste food in the body stabilize. Also people who extensively engaged in very low calorie diets may experience excess water retention as their body works to repair itself
re: trending weight apps. While I personally like trendweight.com and connect it to my free fitbit.com account (no device necessary) www.weightgrapher.com can superimpose a previously selectable time period (defaults to 28 days) so that users can see a picture of their weight change relative to their cycle.
This is useful to the many women who experience a water weight variation of 3-5lbs, some more, throughout their monthly cycle which makes it extremely hard for them to detect a small weight level change due to successful fat loss.
Note that when setting up weightgrapher I suggest that you tell it that you plan to maintain. This avoids unnecessary advice as to whether you're hitting your goals or not.2 -
I didn't even read the other responses...but welcome to my life.0
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LittleMiss_Kriss wrote: »i literally gave up.. =/ i felt like i was killing myself.
LittleMiss, you might be able to figure out what happened and jump back in and change things up. You're still here, so you haven't completely given up! Hang in there.2 -
When you get down to the last 10 pounds, it's a whole different ball game.0
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Eat more. I aim for NET 1200 calories. I definitely eat to fuel my activity.
Also deload. Do active resting for a week, then do something completely different when you come back.0
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