Frustrated after my doctor visit

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courtneyjoella
courtneyjoella Posts: 3
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey, I'm a 35 year-old female and I have struggled with pudge my whole life. I am 5'4 and weigh 178lbs. The weird part is that at that weight I wear a size 10 and can fit into clothes my 135 lbs mother can wear (and not with a shoehorn either you non-believers). I have weight on my arms and carry the usual junk in my ta-runk.

I had begged my doc to please check my thyroid as I had put on 15 lbs in the last year that I could not get off, among other things like sleeplessness, aversion to cold, foggy brain, etc. all things consistent with thyroid. She got 9 vials of blood and checked every possible thing she could check and only came up with my blood glucose was elevated (106), my A1C was elevated (6.1 and should be lower than 5) and my cholestorol was high (223). I am vitamin D deficient but that is because I am overweight. The only thing she didn't check was my cortizol levels because she said they are tricky to evaluate. She said she wants me to at least lose 15 lbs. Duh. So do I.

I follow the MyFitnessPal formula and only eat below 1200 calories and only drink water. I have a diet soda maybe twice a week if that. I drink a cup of coffee a day and never finish it. I drink gobs of water and find that I retain it and my feet get puffy from time to time. The only thing- and I mean only thing is that I do not exercise regularly. I know that is key. But it really ticked me off when I looked at her - and she is a nice lady - and saw that she was looking at me like I was a fat fatty. It is very frustrating considering that I eat very healthy (no processed foods, only whole wheat pastas and breads, no box foods, barely any dairy, no sugars, no potato chips or french fries). Lots of chicken and fish. Little red meat. Turkey burgers and pork occaisionally. I'm dumbfounded and really annoyed.

I'm going to try an experiment of getting up at 6 and doing KenpoX three times a week and see what happens. I used to Zumba three times a week (my teacher quit) and walk the rest of the week and STILL never dropped the weight. Seriously. This is ridiculous.

I AM FRUSTRATED!!!!! GRRRRRRR!!!!
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Replies

  • i_love_vinegar
    i_love_vinegar Posts: 2,092 Member
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    That's very odd! It sounds like you are doing all the right things. Maybe you are eating too few or too many calories though? :smile:
  • KatyRing
    KatyRing Posts: 84 Member
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    weird question... but are your cycles normal? Your elevated blood sugar and weight gain made me think of PCOS which is a women disorder where insulin effects your cycle but can also cause unexplained weight gain.. just a though.
  • marquesajen
    marquesajen Posts: 641
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    Hm, strange. How's your sodium intake?
    That's good that you're changing up your routine though, that might help. Do you eat alot of vegetables and fruits?
  • poedunk65
    poedunk65 Posts: 1,336 Member
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    1200 is way to few. I nfact when you work out you need more calories to keep your metab from shutting down.
  • rtmama
    rtmama Posts: 403 Member
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    I was going to say that too. maybe you need to eat more calories.
    No one here can give exact advice about food unless they can see your diary. It's up to you if you want to share, but it does help. Maybe we'll see something that you won't.
  • talysshade
    talysshade Posts: 273 Member
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    Eat less than 1200 calories a day? That's not a lot at all! Are you sure you're getting all the nutritients you need.. and there's a big chance your body is afraid to let go of weight if you're eating that little.. try bumping it up to 1300-1400 calories a day. I know it might be counter intuitive, but i think it might help, since this is seemingly not working at all.
  • TheGoktor
    TheGoktor Posts: 1,138 Member
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    I follow the MyFitnessPal formula and only eat below 1200 calories

    I suspect this may be your answer. 1200 is the minimum your body needs, so you should eat at least that amount. Why not try increasing your cals for a few weeks and see what happens?
  • kerriknox
    kerriknox Posts: 276 Member
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    Have you thought about totally changing things up for a bit? A MFP friend sent me a link to a 30 day challenge that I am planning on starting August 4th if you are interested.

    http://whole9life.com/
  • juliapurpletoes
    juliapurpletoes Posts: 951 Member
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    My first thought is that 1200 is too low for you, it creates too much of a deficit and your body is resisting. Your metabolism may be so off at this point that it needs to be stabalized with a good healthy diet and regular exercise before it will start to lose.

    Best of Luck !
  • GreatSetOfBrains
    GreatSetOfBrains Posts: 675 Member
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    I feel for you. Putting yourself under stress is gonna make your blood glucose spike too. You're doing the right things. I would talk to a nutritionist if you can. Maybe you need to eat more calories, or more often in the day.
  • GreatSetOfBrains
    GreatSetOfBrains Posts: 675 Member
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    Have you thought about totally changing things up for a bit? A MFP friend sent me a link to a 30 day challenge that I am planning on starting August 4th if you are interested.

    http://whole9life.com/

    What kind of challenge?
  • slazo
    slazo Posts: 5
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    Did your Dr. Check your B-12 Levels? Low B-12 can have all the same symptoms as Thyroid.
  • SpectacuLaura
    SpectacuLaura Posts: 144 Member
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    That is insanely frustrating! I don't know much about thyroid issues or blood work, but I do know that what may work for 90% of people still leaves that 10%. I've been on weight loss plans in the past and have done everything right and still not seen much success. Several years ago I followed a very strict diet plan and ran a minimum of 2 miles, 5 times a week and only lost 6 pounds in 4 months! My Mom followed the same plan with much less exercise and lost almost 30 pounds. What this tells me is that whatever genetic makeup my body has, it just doesn't want to let go of weight.

    That's not to say it can't be done though! I lost 20 pounds between May and October last year and the one big difference? I exercised my butt off (all different kinds- not just running!) So when I start to get sad and upset that my food intake is awesome and I don't see any results, I have to take a moment to remind myself that I'm not everyone else and I know that I don't exercise enough. It's not fair and it's not fun, but that's life.

    So you may just require a different set of foods and/or exercise plan to get the results that other people get by just giving up soda for a month (I have to fight to not roll my eyes at those lucky people haha). Even though it sucks to have to work harder than others, I always try to remember that it's not a competition and whatever means necessary I have to take and do to get to where I want to be, is alright for me.

    Just read up on anything and everything you can, try out lots of different fitness and nutrition options, and keep your chin up! :) You can do it! Best of luck with the new workout plan!
  • swordsmith
    swordsmith Posts: 599 Member
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    To few calories by far- MFP is a great general guide but everyone is different.

    I have a friend who is also on MFP and ate the recommended cals to include eating back exercise cals and she was losing like .2 pounds per week if any. And she was ravenous all the time. Her trainer told her she had most likely lowered her metabolism as the body was a) keeping on all the weight it could and b) wanted more hence the hunger all the time.

    She increased her cal intake by 300 and she is now lo longer hungry. Also her weight loss is about 1.5 pounds per week now.
  • zonah
    zonah Posts: 216 Member
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    If I were you I'd eat more cals but eat 4-5 mini meals a day to speed up my metabalism.
  • ilookthetype
    ilookthetype Posts: 3,021 Member
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    Hey, I'm a 35 year-old female and I have struggled with pudge my whole life. I am 5'4 and weigh 178lbs. The weird part is that at that weight I wear a size 10 and can fit into clothes my 135 lbs mother can wear (and not with a shoehorn either you non-believers). I have weight on my arms and carry the usual junk in my ta-runk.

    I had begged my doc to please check my thyroid as I had put on 15 lbs in the last year that I could not get off, among other things like sleeplessness, aversion to cold, foggy brain, etc. all things consistent with thyroid...I am vitamin D deficient but that is because I am overweight.

    It is very frustrating considering that I eat very healthy (no processed foods, only whole wheat pastas and breads, no box foods, barely any dairy, no sugars, no potato chips or french fries). Lots of chicken and fish. Little red meat. Turkey burgers and pork occaisionally. I'm dumbfounded and really annoyed.

    I AM FRUSTRATED!!!!! GRRRRRRR!!!!

    Any chance you have stomach/gastro issues? You sound a lot like me a year ago. I see you eat whole wheat (which is great, unless you've got a wheat allergy. Try cutting gluten/wheat out of your diet for 1 week. See if you sleep better, if the brain fog is again and if you have more energy. You seriously sound JUST like I did a year ago.

    Friend/message me if you have questions. 1 week without gluten and you'll know if your gluten intolerant or not, if you aren't, WIN and thanks your genetics, if you are, a lot of these issues will probably clear up. It would also explain vitamin mal absorbtion.
  • manorexicmarshmallow
    manorexicmarshmallow Posts: 80 Member
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    I have to disagree with people saying 1200 is too few calories for a 5'4" 178 pound woman. I think 1000 or 1100 might be too few, but 1200 seems like its within the range of reasonableness. It sounds like its a medical or genetic issue of some sort, I think you are right to have your doc check you out.
  • Monica_has_a_goal
    Monica_has_a_goal Posts: 694 Member
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    1200 is way to few. I nfact when you work out you need more calories to keep your metab from shutting down.

    I feel your frustration. I began this journey in June 2011 and I ate about 1600 cal a day and lost 21 pounds in a month. Now that I adjusted my cal intake to 1200 and am exercising practically everyday for an hour, I was in Starvation mode and my body gained instead of lost..
    Now as of today i'm back on the right track.. I lost 1.8 pounds in a week .. exercising less.. .30 min a day 5 days a week and eating more.. 1400-1500 calories a day. If you eat less.. and exercise like crazy.. you only STOP your metabolism.. pretty weird since I have a lot to lose but it's working.. and thats what counts :wink:
  • ak_in_ak
    ak_in_ak Posts: 657 Member
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    I would look into PCOS. My doctor gave me Metformin and it has done wonders. try cutting carbs and eating back excersice calories. Do you measure your food? Using a food scale made me realize how much more I was eating and didn't know it.
  • lauram1153
    lauram1153 Posts: 145 Member
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    i'm with the group think you might be eating to few cals. but its worth asking about pcos i suffer from this and i hold my weight round my middle and its alot harder to loose x

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