Beyond Frustrated

LeahV93 · November 2017

I started off in July at 120, for my height my ideal weight is 105-110. In general I am not a big eater, I am not a junker, not a drinker, don't eat fried food, no soda, no juices... you get the idea.
I cut my calorie intake to about 1000 a day. I skipped the breakfast bars and went for egg whites instead. For lunches I skipped the lean cuisine and other TV meals for home cooked meals in an effort to minimize processed food but kept the portion the same size. I usually have a small snack in the afternoon and I am good for the day. I drink tons of water throughout the day. Three months later I still wasn't able to lose any weight. So I joined a boxing gym and I go 4 times a week and according to my trainer - on the conservative side-I burn 500 calories a workout, while keeping my intake at 1000. This is November now, I am still at 120.
Then I read I may not be eating enough, so I added about 120- to 150 calories in the evening.
I started taking Omega-3 because I read it helps boost metabolism.
I started adding hot sauce to my food because I read it kicks metabolism.
I understand I may have added some muscle weight, but you know how when you look at your mid-section and you can just tell you haven't made any progress, well that's me.
I had some blood work, and everything according to my doctor is fine.
I am truly at a loss. I have made so many lifestyle changes and this is taking so much out of me, and not to see any weight loss is really discouraging to say the least. There are times when I get on the scale and I cry, all the hard work and nothing.
Any thoughts.

Thank you.

janejellyroll · November 2017

Why did you choose such a low calorie goal?

How are you measuring your intake? (Measuring cups, scale, something else?)

collectingblues · November 2017

That seems like a pretty narrow weight range. How tall are you?

Is that what *you* see as an ideal weight, or is BMI truly that narrow for your height? (I know for a fact that BMI doesn't span only five pounds per height, so...)

kgirlhart · November 2017

"For lunches I skipped the lean cuisine and other TV meals for home cooked meals in an effort to minimize processed food but kept the portion the same size."

If you kept your portion sizes the same, then you are not eating at a deficit. For weight loss it doesn't matter what you eat as much as it matters how many calories you eat. 1000 calories is way too low, but you are probably not eating that few calories. Are you using a food scale to weigh your food? You are already at a healthy weight. You will need to be spot on with your logging and it will take a while. You shouldn't be trying to lose more than .5 pound per week.

Unknown · November 2017

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iamthemotherofdogs · November 2017

TavistockToad · November 2017

You've net 500 cals since July and not lost weight?

Not possible.

iamthemotherofdogs · November 2017

What made you choose 1000 as your cap?

Dinger2017 · November 2017

I honestly think you probably need to eat MORE to lose weight. With that much working out (500 calorie workouts 4-5x a week), your body might be holding on tightly to what you DO eat...

have you ever heard of "starvation mode"? I'm not saying that's what's happening, but it happened to me years ago when I put myself on a 1200 calorie per day maximum (i'm 5'9") and then would burn 600-800 calories at the gym everyday. So I decided to up my calories and see if it would make a difference. Over the course of a month I brought up my calories to 1700-1800 and BAM, the next month I lost 10lbs! It was crazy! (I was 20 lbs away from my goal at the time)

My suggestion would be adding 200-300 calories back into your diet at least for a few weeks and seeing what happens? Keep your meals healthy as you have and keep drinking your water...Or possibly have a "High Calorie Day" each week to jump start your metabolism?

And don't be so hard on yourself. The last 5-15lbs is hard on EVERYONE!!!

Redordeadhead · November 2017

How are you counting the calories you eat? Are you measuring solid food on a food scale and entering it into MFP using accurate database enties?

To lose weight, all you need is to consume fewer calories than you burn. It doesn't matter what, when or how often you eat to achieve that, just ensure a calorie deficit.

kgirlhart · November 2017

Starvation mode is another myth just like hot sauce revving up your metabolism. You should eat more than 1000 calories per day. But if you are not weighing your food you don't really know how much you are eating. If you think you are eating 1000 calories per day and working out and burning 500 calories and you are not losing weight it is because your numbers are wrong.

always_smilin_D · November 2017

for my height my ideal weight is 105-110 <--- that scares me!!! Who's ideal? Are you following some type of weightlifting regimen which makes you believe you are gaining muscle?

You mention in your post a lot of short cuts - not enough substantial information -- how tall are you? how did you determine 1000 calories were enough.

When I went down to a size 3 in pants weighing at 147 lbs -- according to the ideal weight chart, I was overweight

# on the scale to the most means nothing - measure, measure, measure - if you are following an exercise regimen, measurements are your friend!!!

quiksylver296 · November 2017

My best guess is going to be "buy a food scale. Use it religiously to weigh every item that passes your lips, no cheating, skipping or forgetting." You have 10-15 pounds to lose (maybe). Your logging is going to have to be on point.

Lesscookies1 · November 2017

You're not eating 1,000 calories if you were you would've lost weight. I would recommend tracking your food intake on MyFitnessPal buy a food scale if you don't have it, and changing your goal to lose 0.5 pounds a week if you want.

You're at a normal weight you don't even have to lose weight. If you're worried and trying to get more toned add a progressive weight training program to your workout, and eat at maintenance.

Good luck!

aeloine · November 2017

Lesscookies1 wrote: »

You're not eating 1,000 calories if you were you would've lost weight. I would recommend tracking your food intake on MyFitnessPal buy a food scale if you don't have it, and changing your goal to lose 0.5 pounds a week if you want......Good luck!

Ditto on this. You talk about making healthy food swaps, but not measuring calories. Eating "healthy" foods doesn't mean you're not eating the same number (or more!) in calories. Get a food scale, weigh your food, tighten up your logging. You don't have a LOT to lose, so you're going to have virtually no room for error.

rileysowner · November 2017

Based on what you are telling us you are eating far more than you think you are, or you have a major metabolic issue that needs medical attention right now. I am guessing it is the first.

MelanieCN77 · November 2017

That calorie burn estimate is incorrect. If you're petite and not very overweight, you're probably looking at 250-350 for an hour depending on how hard you go.

LeahV93 · November 2017

I am using fitness pal to enter even the gum I chew if I chew a gum. I do use measuring cup and tbsp. to measure everything I eat. What I meant by keeping the same food portions, I meant as the lean cuisine portions.
No I have not netted 500 since July, in July I started with 1000 calories a day. Beginning of September is when I started boxing 4 times a week and burning more calories. I am 5'2 and "my" ideal weight is 105-110 not what's in a book somewhere, this is the weight I feel good at.

TavistockToad · November 2017

leahvallee wrote: »

I am using fitness pal to enter even the gum I chew if I chew a gum. I do use measuring cup and tbsp. to measure everything I eat. What I meant by keeping the same food portions, I meant as the lean cuisine portions.
No I have not netted 500 since July, in July I started with 1000 calories a day. Beginning of September is when I started boxing 4 times a week and burning more calories. I am 5'2 and "my" ideal weight is 105-110 not what's in a book somewhere, this is the weight I feel good at.

Cups and spoons are not accurate. You're eating more than you think.

quiksylver296 · November 2017

Watch this video, @leahvallee. It emphasizes why a food scale is more helpful than measuring cups.

https://youtu.be/XpHykP6e_Uk

kgirlhart · November 2017

I'm 5'3.5" and my ideal weight is 121. The lowest weight before under weight is 106. I doubt your numbers are much different. The ideal weight isn't always the lowest and 120 is a perfectly good weight for you. If you do wan to go lower though that is up to you. But you will have to be very accurate with your logging. Cups and spoons won't cut it. In September did you start eating back the 500 calories you are burning? If not then you are netting lower than 1000. But if you are not losing weight then you are eating more than you think. If you really want to lose down to the lowest possible healthy weight for your height, then you are going to need to get a food scale and accurately log what you are eating.

mitch16 · November 2017

leahvallee wrote: »

I am using fitness pal to enter even the gum I chew if I chew a gum. I do use measuring cup and tbsp. to measure everything I eat. What I meant by keeping the same food portions, I meant as the lean cuisine portions.
No I have not netted 500 since July, in July I started with 1000 calories a day. Beginning of September is when I started boxing 4 times a week and burning more calories. I am 5'2 and "my" ideal weight is 105-110 not what's in a book somewhere, this is the weight I feel good at.

As someone else said, cups and spoons are not accurate. You're short, and you're already at a healthy weight--you have to be fastidious with your tracking to lose weight.

Also--"keeping the same food portions as the Lean Cuisine"--if you are not using the exact same ingredients in the exact same proportions as the Lean Cuisine, then your rendition, even if the same size, is going to have different calories.

fiddletime · November 2017

That video is great. It got me to start using the food scale in grams, that I had and wasnt using. I’m also 5’2”. You can lose this weight. I’m on my last 5 pounds, only because I keep going over. If not, at 1200 Cal, I’d be at GW (125#) for me. Tough time of year.

Ready2Rock206 · November 2017

Sounds like a logging issue. You're not using a scale - so we know your amounts are off. Are you using the recipe builder for those home cooked meals or just using the Lean Cuisine calories? I'm guessing those amounts are likely off too.

If you truly were netting only 500 calories as you claim - first of all you'd probably be barely able to do the boxing due to the lack of nutrients and second the weight would be dropping off like crazy.

LeahV93 · November 2017

Yesterday I had 450 calories remaining from the 1200 goal that mfp set for me - although I try to stay at about 1000. The day before that I had 521 calories remaining of the 1200. The day before that I had 362 remaining. Of course on days I don't exercise the deficit is closer to 100-200 calories. Even if I am not 100% accurate with my measurements I am still creating a huge deficit not to see any weight loss.

aprilzabeth · November 2017

I'm 5'3 and feel like 105 - 110 is best for me, too. Right now I'm 112 and just staying here for a while by choice. Like you, I had trouble losing the last 10-15 pounds. I ate much less and exercised so much. But nothing worked. It turns out you can't fight your body. I began eating MORE and the weight just came off.

1,000 is soooo low. Espeically if you are exercising and not eating the calories back. That's just way too dangerously low. I've found that 1350 with 30 minutes of casual walking is ideal for me to lose weight. I can still lose weight eating more than that though. I've eaten 1600 - 1750 before and weighed myself expecting to have gained weight and found I lost weight.

If you are hungry and cranky then you are not eating enough. I had a horrible time eating so little and doing so much aerobic exercise numerous times a day. Turns out just relaxing walks and eating better works better.

I use cups and measuring spoons to measure though people in this thread say they are not accurate. It works for me. So I'm not sure if you are eating more than you think or not eating enough. It sounds like you're not eating enough. I know it sounds crazy to eat more, but it's what worked for me. I'm short and small boned I thought I'd need to use witchcraft or something to begin losing weight again until I found the right amount of exercise / food.

When I was eating little and exercising a lot I ended up losing my period for 4 months. I had to eat more and relax. Now everything is fine again.

Good luck.

Ready2Rock206 · November 2017

leahvallee wrote: »

Yesterday I had 450 calories remaining from the 1200 goal that mfp set for me - although I try to stay at about 1000. The day before that I had 521 calories remaining of the 1200. The day before that I had 362 remaining. Of course on days I don't exercise the deficit is closer to 100-200 calories. Even if I am not 100% accurate with my measurements I am still creating a huge deficit not to see any weight loss.

If you really are eating that little you're heading deep into eating disorder territory. This doesn't sound safe or healthy at all. You're not going to see daily weight loss - so if you're expecting that you should adjust your expectations. I really hope you get control of this before it is too late and you do permanent damage. Good luck to you.

NewMeSM75 · November 2017

I see you're wanting to lose weight. If you truly are netting less than 1,000 a day, it will not be long before your hair starts falling out along with other problems. At least it happened to me. Just word of warning.

ahoy_m8 · November 2017

Ditto food scale.

ashliedelgado · November 2017

You're not though. You're either over estimating calories out, or underestimating calories in. I'm guessing both. If you aren't losing, you're eating at maintenance.

You can argue it all you want, and keep doing what you're doing, and keep not seeing results.

Or, you can buy a $15 food scale, weigh your food for a week, and see what happens. If at the end of the week you find you're right and you were eating like you thought, return it, and see a doctor because perhaps some blood work is in order.

If, like pretty much everyone else here, you weigh your normal portions and find that you are eating way more than you thought, keep weighing your food that way for 6 weeks, look at your results, and adjust accordingly.

The time is going to pass either way. It's up to you how you do it.

Adjust your goals to realistic loss, also. 1/2lb a week is about all you're going to manage.

janejellyroll · November 2017

leahvallee wrote: »

Yesterday I had 450 calories remaining from the 1200 goal that mfp set for me - although I try to stay at about 1000. The day before that I had 521 calories remaining of the 1200. The day before that I had 362 remaining. Of course on days I don't exercise the deficit is closer to 100-200 calories. Even if I am not 100% accurate with my measurements I am still creating a huge deficit not to see any weight loss.

If you were consistently creating a deficit you'd be seeing a weight loss. That you aren't seeing that loss indicates that something is off in your estimates.

Beyond Frustrated

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