Unreasonably difficult to lose weight.

Hi everybody.
I am an athlete, and have been incredibly active (4-8hrs of exercise per day is not uncommon for me) for the majority of my adult life (I am 24).
Weight loss seems pretty simple... burn more calories than you consume... but for some reason it has not been that easy for me.
I am wondering if anyone has any ideas.

For the record, I feel fantastic. I can workout, literally fighting people (my fellow martial artists) for four hours and still (semi jokingly, you know, in a friendly way...) bully them into staying an extra round to fight me.
Fruits, vegetables, protein... almost never do I have fried/fast/junk foods. Sometimes I have coffee, but I try to stick to tea.

So I do not feel like I am unhealthy in any way... I just pack on some extra pounds.
There are days when I am 600-900 calories below my goal by the time I go to bed.
I will tell you though, my rest days, the days where I don't work out as much, are the days that are the hardest for me to count my calories. I am hungry and irritable.
However, I did not lose ANY WEIGHT AT ALL without counting my calories and "starving" just a little bit.

So... how on Earth do I manage to burn 2,000 calories in a day, consume maybe 1,300 (this is not the norm for me right now, so don't worry, but I had a problem where I had lost my appetite for a while), and not lose weight? ...Really I don't even understand how I remained standing on those days. O.o

Could there be something wrong with my health?
I certainly don't FEEL like there is, but it is sad that I have struggled to lose weight...

Replies

kq1981

fatblatta wrote: »

kq1981 wrote: »

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2014/09/02/4077371.htm

This. Calories in/calories out
The diet doctor is NOT a qualified dietician. It's a mass money producing site which offers a "quick fix" rather than sustainable, life-long habits and realistic expectations.

This is useless. The site is free unless you choose to join. Everything you need is free. It's not a quick fix. It's a lifelong change. Which restricting your calories is not. The young people on here advocating weighing your food and counting your calories, which I did many times, let's chat again in 30 years when you're old and fat. ha ha

https://www.dietdoctor.com/authors/dr-andreas-eenfeldt

OP - I hope you find something that works and is enjoyable. Good Luck!

I'm old enough and fat enough to no what works for me and that googling how to lose weight and coming up with diet doctor, isn't the answer FOR ME. hence why I educated myself on scholarly peer reviewed articles regarding calorie reduction. Because after years of yoyo dieting nothing has been sustainable thus far and I needed something. I've tried it all. We, as a society, eat to much! Too many calories! Proven scientific factual evidence.
If the diet dr is working for u why are u even here?
Restricting calories so I'm not binging is A LIFELONG change.

pinksparklefairy

OP you do seem a little vague about how much you are actually eating. You need a deficit every day for weeks on end to see some real changes on the scales.

If you are not overweight, weight loss can be quite slow. But you will get there in the end as long as you are very careful that you are not eating more calories as you are burning off. In fact, you need quite a large deficit every day.

It really is as simple as that.

My weight loss has been slow over the past month. I started getting frustrated and blaming my hypothyroidism for it ... but to be honest, I have been cheating a bit with little snacks here and there - it all adds up. For instance, I was not logging my sugar-free lollipos. A couple a day? No big deal right? Actually, that was an extra 50 calories I had been regularly eating!

amusedmonkey

Off with the derail and back to the topic: If you are sure your intake and expenditure numbers are reasonably accurate, how long have you been trying to lose weight? It doesn't look like you have much to lose, slow loss paired with being an athlete with the cortisol fluctuations and muscle recovery, it could easily be masked by water retention. You may simply need to wait it out for a bit longer.

pennys_plagiarized_passions

CafeRacer808 wrote: »

A couple of questions that will help us provide you with some answers and/or clarity:

1. What are your stats?
2. How much weight are you trying to lose?
3. How long have you been eating at a deficit?
3. How many lbs/week did you tell MFP you wanted to lose when you went through the app's guided setup?
4. How are you measuring your food intake? Food scale? Measuring cups? Estimating?
5. What's the daily calorie goal MFP provided for you?

150lbs at 5'7"
Trying to get down to 125lbs
I only started counting my calories a few weeks ago, but I was eating at a deficit on and off before that.
I'm aiming to lose 1lb a week. So far it seems to find of be working. I measure some of it with cups, but more than anything I eyeball it (which I am pretty accurate with, from baking). I round up when in doubt.
MFP is set to 1,550 calories per day, but I will often burn over 1,000 calories so it does go up quite a bit.

pennys_plagiarized_passions

CattOfTheGarage wrote: »

Can you open your diary? That will allow people to give you more specific advice.

I just set it to public. I didn't know that I could do that, so thank you.

pennys_plagiarized_passions

animatorswearbras wrote: »

Also how are you measuring your burns do you have a HRM?

"I will tell you though, my rest days, the days where I don't work out as much, are the days that are the hardest for me to count my calories. I am hungry and irritable."

I'd start trying to accurately measure your cal intake here you may be eating your deficit back. Once you log your cals accurately every day with scales you can start looking at more obscure culprits like medical conditions with your doctor but I'd try to log accurately for a few weeks first to rule out CICO being an issue.

Thank you, but I am often 800+ calories underneath what was recommended so I am relatively certain that that is not the problem.
I may need to talk to a doctor.

pennys_plagiarized_passions

TimothyFish wrote: »

It isn't possible to burn 2000 and consume 1300 for several days and not lose weight. But it is possible to eat more than you realize and burn less than you think.

That is what I would have thought too, but it really has happened multiple times.
I had no appetite and wouldn't even be able to finish an apple or a bowl of cheerios, but I would run four miles and do over 3hrs of martial arts.

pennys_plagiarized_passions

fatblatta wrote: »

Ignore the people that tell you to do what you're doing and not having success. Don't weigh your food and count your calories. Eat until you are full and satisfied.

https://www.dietdoctor.com/how-to-lose-weight

Good Luck!

Thank you. I agree with most of the tips there but not eating fruit sounds a little odd. O.o fruit provides so much energy and healing for my muscle. I would call someone crazy for telling me to cut it out of my diet!
I need my smoothies lol.

pennys_plagiarized_passions

3rdof7sisters wrote: »

rainbowbow wrote: »

AnvilHead wrote: »

CafeRacer808 wrote: »

4. How are you measuring your food intake? Food scale? Measuring cups? Estimating?

^ Most important question of all right there.

I would argue that while this is super important i'm getting a feeling that OP is severely overestimating her calories burned through activity.

Would that really matter that much? She is burning more than she is eating just by being alive with no activity.She is only eating 1300 calories, she should definitely be losing weight.
I think it is more like eating more than she thinks. Not weighing and or measuring her food accurately.

I'm going to be very hard headed here and say that you are both wrong.
And to clarify, the 1,300 calorie a day thing is not recent... I had lost my appetite and was struggling to eat for a while.
I just felt this was the most dramatic example of my problem.

No, I do not understand how I did not lose any weight during that time. If you run four miles and weigh 160lbs (which back then I did) then you will burn a lot of calories... it is inevitable.
Also, try telling the people I spent my days fighting that I wasn't actually fighting them... try saying that that wasn't my sweat creating pools on the floor...

I understand that this is weird and abnormal, which is why I made a post here.
I did not drink any liquids other than water (granted, I would drink over a gallon a day.. and yes I did measure it, drank straight from the 99cent gallons I got at heb and walmart).
I could not finish a bowl of cereal, a cup of yogurt, a banana, anything... once I had time to sit down and eat, I was only able to finish a few bites.
I don't know how I remained standing.

pennys_plagiarized_passions

mir1104 wrote: »

From an athlete to another. Do you "taper" in your sport before a competition? Have you ever noticed how you'd actually lose some weight during a taper? That assuming you do tapers, us in triathlon do.
It's cortisol usually anyway, the long hours training raise it, then leptin goes down and you know the effect is that...you're eating nothing but still you aren't losing. The only fix I have found was reducing the training load, to be honest it was the best deal ever even if I wasn't convinced about it at all but my coach pushed it and I tought to give him the benefit of doubt.
Reducing hours of training (essentially we made a harder single daily session rather than two hald hearted ones) has had me shed 7kg (which coupled up with a 3kg lighter bike makes for way better climbs!) and I have had time to devore to stretching and foam rolling. As for performance, it went up esponentially so I would definitely recommend it but then it depends on what you can and cannot do in your sport/what your coach would do/etc...

Yes I was actually considering doing this!
I have been accused of overt raining multiple times.

JessicaMcB

I feel like this is a combo of imprecise food measurement (since you admit you are not weighing food, are eyeballing, etc.) and overestimating your burns big time.

How does 3 hours of martial arts equal 2000 calories burned? What are you measuring that burn by? What % of exercise calories are you eating? With a HRM I can run 3 hours on trail at 5'10" and not get to a 2000 calorie burn and that level of cardio is sustained whereas I imagine (correct me if I am wrong! I admittedly don't know a ton about your sport and am all for learning) you would be less consistent in your burn due to stationary periods between bouts, etc.

I would tighten up food logging first because that is the easiest thing to rectify and then if nothing improves it would be time to revisit how you are logging activity. Sounds like you are really enjoying your training regimen right now, happy for you OP!

kaizaku

The more leaner you are the harder to lose weight. Change your training routine, once your body adapts to a routine you reach a plateue and a cheat meal would be good. Drink black coffee without sugar before you train and wear a sweat suit. Taking few days off from training would be good too.

pennys_plagiarized_passions

zachbonner_ wrote: »

We should wait for her to answer

Lol!
Smart answer. xD
I find it odd that anyone would argue about this... my personal weight loss problem. O.o
And I probably should just talk to a doctor about this.

mmmpork

Why aren't you losing weight? Well...

1. You might be overestimating how many calories you're burning from exercising. The most we can realistically burn from exercise alone is about 200-300 calories per day. Your body has a sort of threshold of how many calories it can handle burning per day. When you cross your body's calorie threshold, it starts dialing down other functions to keep you from burning more. These can include immune system function, cellular repair, and for women, reproductive cycle activity like ovulation.

See a discussion here: http://www.vox.com/2016/6/29/12051520/exercise-weight-loss-myth-burn-calories-video

When calculating your TDEE, always use sedentary.

2. The other thing is you might be eating more than 1300 calories per day. If you look at weight loss studies, the majority indicate people tended to underreport their food intake and overreport their exercise. When determining calorie goals, keep that in mind and undershoot. Make sure you log everything, measure everything, weight everything, read all the labels, etc.

3. Finally, if you are doing all that and it's not working, you might have a metabolic problem like a thyroid condition or a rare genetic disorder that impacts your ability to lose weight by not allowing you to properly metabolize certain types of food. You could have an immune system disorder that results in swollen lymph nodes or improper drainage, like Lipedema.

Given that these conditions are pretty rare and I know nothing about you, it's more likely to be some combination of one and two.

pennys_plagiarized_passions

JessicaMcB wrote: »

I feel like this is a combo of imprecise food measurement (since you admit you are not weighing food, are eyeballing, etc.) and overestimating your burns big time.

How does 3 hours of martial arts equal 2000 calories burned? What are you measuring that burn by? What % of exercise calories are you eating? With a HRM I can run 3 hours on trail at 5'10" and not get to a 2000 calorie burn and that level of cardio is sustained whereas I imagine (correct me if I am wrong! I admittedly don't know a ton about your sport and am all for learning) you would be less consistent in your burn due to stationary periods between bouts, etc.

I would tighten up food logging first because that is the easiest thing to rectify and then if nothing improves it would be time to revisit how you are logging activity. Sounds like you are really enjoying your training regimen right now, happy for you OP!

This is a good point, but I actually only include the sparring and the mitt work when I calculate my calories. I do not include warm ups, drills, practicing techniques, or any of that.
I usually have 50seconds off after every 3-4 minute round of sparring. I think that is already taken into account though (my fitness pal will say that 45 minutes of sparring burns under 500calories).

Also I have an app to measure my distance, time, and calories burned when I run. So that was almost uncountable accurate.

kq1981

Your profile is still private so we can't advise u on ur calorie counting

CafeRacer808

JessicaMcB wrote: »

I feel like this is a combo of imprecise food measurement (since you admit you are not weighing food, are eyeballing, etc.) and overestimating your burns big time.

How does 3 hours of martial arts equal 2000 calories burned? What are you measuring that burn by? What % of exercise calories are you eating? With a HRM I can run 3 hours on trail at 5'10" and not get to a 2000 calorie burn and that level of cardio is sustained whereas I imagine (correct me if I am wrong! I admittedly don't know a ton about your sport and am all for learning) you would be less consistent in your burn due to stationary periods between bouts, etc.

I would tighten up food logging first because that is the easiest thing to rectify and then if nothing improves it would be time to revisit how you are logging activity. Sounds like you are really enjoying your training regimen right now, happy for you OP!

The bolded parts are where you should start, OP. Start weighing and logging accurately and reassess your progress in about 3-4 weeks. I suspect you'll see the numbers on the scale start to move in the right direction.

pennys_plagiarized_passions

I will try to adjust my profile again.
I just want to say that I made this post thinking someone might say, "That happened to me too and this is what it was." And I understand that a lot of people had issues with counting their calories burned and consumed.
I do think that this is probably a medical problem... right now I have at least had an appetite, so I am not going through the crisis where I would run 4 miles and then spend all day fighting people and only eat half a banana, half a bowl of cereal, three bites of yogurt, a handful of pistachios, and a piece of turkey sausage which would take me all day to finish.
This is a strong indicator that I probably do have a metabolic/hormonal problem (which I had been diagnosed with in the past, but other doctors raised an eyebrow and said that it wasn't so).
Right now it is not THAT extreme (I have been eating more than 1,300 calories) and I actually do seem to lose more weight when I workout a bit less and eat a bit more.

So I will talk to a doctor when I get a chance.

amusedmonkey

pennys_plagiarized_passions wrote: »

I will try to adjust my profile again.
I just want to say that I made this post thinking someone might say, "That happened to me too and this is what it was." And I understand that a lot of people had issues with counting their calories burned and consumed.
I do think that this is probably a medical problem... right now I have at least had an appetite, so I am not going through the crisis where I would run 4 miles and then spend all day fighting people and only eat half a banana, half a bowl of cereal, three bites of yogurt, a handful of pistachios, and a piece of turkey sausage which would take me all day to finish.
This is a strong indicator that I probably do have a metabolic/hormonal problem (which I had been diagnosed with in the past, but other doctors raised an eyebrow and said that it wasn't so).
Right now it is not THAT extreme (I have been eating more than 1,300 calories) and I actually do seem to lose more weight when I workout a bit less and eat a bit more.

So I will talk to a doctor when I get a chance.

This screams overtraining and cortisol.

mmmpork

So, out of curiosity I was able to see your diary. I didn't see 1300 calories, I saw like 2000+ on most days with a few days here and there with like 1500-1800. Another thing I noticed is you eat a lot of processed sugary foods. Just because something contains "all natural ingredients" doesn't mean it's not junk food. I mean, you can lose weight on a diet of that stuff no problem as long as you can maintain a calorie deficit. So if you're feeling crappy and cranky, try more nutrient dense sources of food. My favorite protein shake after I do Reformer Pilates or swim laps is homemade ovaltine mix (no sugar), 8 oz whole milk, and a big scoop of NOW whey protein blended with ice. I personally don't count exercise calories against my daily target but I know I'll get cranky if I don't get enough protein and fat after working out.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/homemade-ovaltine-malted-milk-powder-chocolate-and-plain/

CafeRacer808

Here's the thing. You're actually the second baker who has joined MFP since the New Year (that I'm aware of) who made a post about not losing weight. She, like you, said she only used measuring cups because she was a professional and knew how to accurately estimate quantities of foods and ingredients. After much debate, she finally agreed to start using a food scale. And you know what happened? She started losing weight again.

The fact of the matter is, using volumetric measurements for solid food is not accurate. Neither is relying on food labels for things like slices of bread, bacon, cookies, crackers, etc. I can't tell you how many times I've weighed a slice of bread, a bagel, or whatever, only to find that it was heavier than what the food label indicated.

If you're not weighing your food, you really have no idea how many calories you're actually consuming. So weigh your food (in grams whenever possible), tighten up your logging, and see what happens in a month. And yes, if you think you might have a medical condition, definitely speak to your doctor. If you are diagnosed with a hormonal problem, logging accurately will likely become even more important. So you might as well start building that habit now.

VintageFeline

Just to chime in about calorie burns. I'm currently 160lbs and I have to go hard at it with cardio to get 4-500 calories in an hour (I use a chest strap HRM). Harder than running. I question that you burn 400 calories sparring. It may feel like a lot of effort but i don't think it will be reflected in the calorie burn. MFP burns can be really wacky for non-traditional sports/exercise. I don't think I'd burn a ton of calories running 4 miles either. Some, sure, a lot? no. I haven't been for a run in a while so i don;t have hard comparable data for that as I was heavier when i last ran.

So that, combined with your not fully committing to tracking consistently and/or accurately (I bake too, I'm mostly good at eyeballing, sometimes I am downright terrible). Overtraining and cortisol could be further masking what the scale says. You are also relatively don't have a lot to lose so your losses can easily be invisible to the scale for weeks on end.

Finally, even if there was something medical going on, with your assertion you are often in an 800 calorie surplus for the day would result in losses. For it not to you'd basically have to have zero calorie needs for bodily functions etc, in other words, dead. Event those with metabolic disorders lose weight, they just have lower calorie needs. It's far fetched to think you can only eat 1300 calories, exercise as much as as you do and that be your maintenance.

dianak_sea

I highly recommend you at least read a book or two on the ketogenic 'diet.' Most people who dismiss it haven't read enough about it from a large variety of sources. Evaluate any opinions for what duration of time they have tried it. Anything less than a month should not be relied upon as reliable for making a choice. I recommend The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living or Keto Clarity for some solid information. It's good to get both sides of the story. Good luck!

cerise_noir

fatblatta wrote: »

Annie_01 wrote: »

omfgitsray wrote: »

Do the Ketogenic Diet! Trust me you'll lose the weight quick!:)

You're welcome

fatblatta wrote: »

Ignore the people that tell you to do what you're doing and not having success. Don't weigh your food and count your calories. Eat until you are full and satisfied.

https://www.dietdoctor.com/how-to-lose-weight

Good Luck!

Not everything has to be about a Ketogenic Diet guys. The OP can choose whatever diet works to her advantage...that might even be just eating the same foods that she always has but just eating less of them.

For me personally...I do eat fewer carbs than I used to...it works for me for various reasons...some of them health related. I don't however think that it is the answer for everyone...nor do I believe that everyone has to eat the same way that I do.

Let's give it a break...have a discussion that doesn't center around the "CARB".

Yea, let's give stuff that doesn't work for everyone a break too. "Ignore this?" Really. I'm not getting into it with people on the Internet. The first response on here is to eat less and weigh your food. Give me a break. This is old and tired. If you are someone who has lost weight and gained it back many times, eat less and weigh your food is torture and horribly slow.

I offered the diet doctor page to provide something many people are not familiar with. I wasn't.

Keto was torture for me. Lol.

Gallowmere1984

dianak_sea wrote: »

I highly recommend you at least read a book or two on the ketogenic 'diet.' Most people who dismiss it haven't read enough about it from a large variety of sources. Evaluate any opinions for what duration of time they have tried it. Anything less than a month should not be relied upon as reliable for making a choice. I recommend The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living or Keto Clarity for some solid information. It's good to get both sides of the story. Good luck!

Or s/he could save themselves the trouble of sifting out woo, and just read The Ketogenic Diet by Lyle McDonald. It's a dry read, but it's still the most heavily sourced, science based, complete information source on the subject, to this day.

Timberla82

pennys_plagiarized_passions wrote: »

mir1104 wrote: »

From an athlete to another. Do you "taper" in your sport before a competition? Have you ever noticed how you'd actually lose some weight during a taper? That assuming you do tapers, us in triathlon do.
It's cortisol usually anyway, the long hours training raise it, then leptin goes down and you know the effect is that...you're eating nothing but still you aren't losing. The only fix I have found was reducing the training load, to be honest it was the best deal ever even if I wasn't convinced about it at all but my coach pushed it and I tought to give him the benefit of doubt.
Reducing hours of training (essentially we made a harder single daily session rather than two hald hearted ones) has had me shed 7kg (which coupled up with a 3kg lighter bike makes for way better climbs!) and I have had time to devore to stretching and foam rolling. As for performance, it went up esponentially so I would definitely recommend it but then it depends on what you can and cannot do in your sport/what your coach would do/etc...

Yes I was actually considering doing this!
I have been accused of overt raining multiple times.

I'm nowhere near being an athlete but I do a lot of exercise to manage stress and feel healthy (eg today has been a 4km swim and a 40min game of futsal, tomorrow will be weights) but if I overtrain or don't get enough rest, I lose my appetite and don't lose any weight even if I'm under/on my calorie goal. Frustrating as all whatsit but a week or so with less heavy exercise, more sleep and doing some stretching/yoga/relaxing normally sorts me out. It could be completely different for you but stress and overtraining gets me big time. Good luck!

SLLRunner

omfgitsray wrote: »

Do the Ketogenic Diet! Trust me you'll lose the weight quick!:)

You're welcome

Nope.

Diet work only when you eat less calories than you burn.

BusyRaeNOTBusty

I'd guess a combination of over estimating calorie burns, under estimating intake and over training which can lead to messed up hormones and water retention masking any fat loss that might be occurring.

cwolfman13

pennys_plagiarized_passions wrote: »

I will try to adjust my profile again.
I just want to say that I made this post thinking someone might say, "That happened to me too and this is what it was." And I understand that a lot of people had issues with counting their calories burned and consumed.
I do think that this is probably a medical problem... right now I have at least had an appetite, so I am not going through the crisis where I would run 4 miles and then spend all day fighting people and only eat half a banana, half a bowl of cereal, three bites of yogurt, a handful of pistachios, and a piece of turkey sausage which would take me all day to finish.
This is a strong indicator that I probably do have a metabolic/hormonal problem (which I had been diagnosed with in the past, but other doctors raised an eyebrow and said that it wasn't so).
Right now it is not THAT extreme (I have been eating more than 1,300 calories) and I actually do seem to lose more weight when I workout a bit less and eat a bit more.

So I will talk to a doctor when I get a chance.

Yeah, I'm thinking there's possibly an overtrain/underfeed issue going on here and it's stressing your body...cortisol is probably through the roof and other hormones get jacked up too...these things can definitely make weight loss more difficult.

fitmom4lifemfp

pennys_plagiarized_passions wrote: »

Hi everybody.
I am an athlete, and have been incredibly active (4-8hrs of exercise per day is not uncommon for me) for the majority of my adult life (I am 24).
Weight loss seems pretty simple... burn more calories than you consume... but for some reason it has not been that easy for me.
I am wondering if anyone has any ideas.

For the record, I feel fantastic. I can workout, literally fighting people (my fellow martial artists) for four hours and still (semi jokingly, you know, in a friendly way...) bully them into staying an extra round to fight me.
Fruits, vegetables, protein... almost never do I have fried/fast/junk foods. Sometimes I have coffee, but I try to stick to tea.

So I do not feel like I am unhealthy in any way... I just pack on some extra pounds.
There are days when I am 600-900 calories below my goal by the time I go to bed.
I will tell you though, my rest days, the days where I don't work out as much, are the days that are the hardest for me to count my calories. I am hungry and irritable.
However, I did not lose ANY WEIGHT AT ALL without counting my calories and "starving" just a little bit.

So... how on Earth do I manage to burn 2,000 calories in a day, consume maybe 1,300 (this is not the norm for me right now, so don't worry, but I had a problem where I had lost my appetite for a while), and not lose weight? ...Really I don't even understand how I remained standing on those days. O.o

Could there be something wrong with my health?
I certainly don't FEEL like there is, but it is sad that I have struggled to lose weight...

I only looked back 2 weeks, but I don't see the 1300 calorie days.