Am I just crazy? Having a hard time losing weight

_Ben
_Ben Posts: 1,608 Member
edited October 1 in Health and Weight Loss
For the past 9 days, Ive been really commiting to my dieting and exercising. Ive been having some issues, and I really can't figure out whats going on. Here is some information about me:
Sex: Male
Age: 20
Height: 5'8
Ethnicity: Scottish/Irish
Current Weight: 177.5lbs
Goal Weight: 145lbs
Goal Weekly Loss: 1.5lbs
Estimated Daily Calorie Goal: 1680 calories
Reason for Weight Loss: I want to be in a better shape, not happy with how I look, and more importantly I want to be healthier

Work: I work in a pharmacy, for about 30-40 hours a week. I am on my feet the entire time, the only time I sit is when I go to the bathroom. I move around the pharmacy, counting pills, filling perscriptions, and typing. Not the most active job in the world, but my legs are sore when Im done for the day. Right now its summer, so I am working more, but come fall Ill be working less because of school.

School: I am a pharmacy major, so school does take a lot of time. I used to be in a bad habit of studying very very late at night, and while doing that, I would eat to help keep myself awake. Im trying to break that habit now, or substitute it with something else like celery or sugar free chewing gum.

Exercise: I try to work out a few times a week, for at least 20 min or so (if not more). I normally have hockey practice 1-2 times a week (just started with this) for about an hour at a time. When I can, I will also do a quick 10 or 20 min cardio workout video off of ondemand, such as the 30 day shred.

Diet: In all honesty, I pretty much am going to eat what I want, I just try to manage my calories. I am not able to totally give up everything, but Im totally willing to make things healthier. Also I never use any dressings, butter, added salt, etc. But if I have a burger, I will put ketchup on it or w/e, but I always ensure i am within my limits. Ive been staying within my limits (except for one day when I was out with friends, ended up eating 2400 calories). Most days I am under my total of 1680 because of working out aswell.

Problem: I feel over the last week I have lost 0 weight. I didnt wiegh myself at the exact same time last week as I did this week, but I feel at the most, there has been a .25 lb difference. I really am trying to work hard on losing weight, but its simply not working. Can someone please give me advice? I dont understand how I am not losing weight. If it doesnt post automatically, I will add in my food diary later today. Please help if you can

Replies

  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    at 5'8" 145 is quite small. I am 5'6" 143. The ideal weight for a guy your height would be 154 (106 lbs at 5' and add 6 lbs per inch so 106+8*6 = 154) Maybe set your goal for 155 then re-evaluate at that point as you may not want to lose more but rather stay the same but decrease BF%.

    Also with the amount you have to lose I would set my goal for 1 lb/week, anymore and you may not fuel your body properly.
  • lgwmab
    lgwmab Posts: 274 Member
    Holy Crap! You have a lot going on, I'm going to tell you something I was told, you need "me" time. Also, since you are doing Hockey practice, one of my favorite sports, you may be gaining muscle, remeber muscle weighs more then fat, look at measurments, not just the scale, you can loose inches, and gain pounds!

    I know what you mean when you say late nights studying, and working. At one time I was a full time waitress/cook, plus full time student. Not to long ago, I was ful time office job, part time waitress, and full time student! Talk about a kick in the butt.

    As a side note, since you are familier with pharmasuticals, spelling?, what about Birth control and weight loss?

    And you are doing great, it will show in the long run, do not get frustrated, just keep up the hard work.
  • eamestwin123
    eamestwin123 Posts: 5 Member
    You have to realize that you can't eat whatever you want right now. No burgers period. If you actually want to lose close to 2 lbs a week (which is hard to do consistantly) you have to SWEAT. Get atleast 30 mins of cardio in 4-5 days a week. with situps/push ups every day (as many as you can possibly do). Weight training 3 days a week. You must build muscle to help your metabolism burn that fat!
    More importantly, since you'll be using up more calories you may feel the need to consume more calories-and all those workout fluids/bars/shakes will hurt you and even make you gain weight!
    As far as your diet goes, try to stay away from anything prepackaged and go for anything that is fresh or that you can cook. Cut out butter, soda, fruit juice (eat fresh fruit instead), SUGAR, carbs like potato chips and think sauces/salad dressings.
    In my experience with weight loss, we all actually know what we're supposed to be doing/eating, it's just hard to actually follow through.
    Men generally need more protein in their diets (no burgers are not going to count). You also need to have some sort of fish once a week (good healthy omega). oh and needless to say -no more alcohol, until you can reach your goal weight.
    Weightloss is really really hard, but you can do it! heck, I've lost 25 lbs in the last 2 1/2 months following these rules and I"m still losing!

    Good luck!
  • janiepumphrey
    janiepumphrey Posts: 59
    Maybe MFP's calorie recommendation is too low for you. I'm a 5'4" female with a desk job and I was going into starvation mode on 1600 net calories per day ... I can't even fathom trying to eat that low if I were taller and on my feet all day burning more calories. My measurements didn't budge and I was completely exhausted and hungry all the time on 1600 net calories. Then I moved it up to 1800 net calories per day and started losing inches.
  • _Ben
    _Ben Posts: 1,608 Member
    Holy Crap! You have a lot going on, I'm going to tell you something I was told, you need "me" time. Also, since you are doing Hockey practice, one of my favorite sports, you may be gaining muscle, remeber muscle weighs more then fat, look at measurments, not just the scale, you can loose inches, and gain pounds!

    I know what you mean when you say late nights studying, and working. At one time I was a full time waitress/cook, plus full time student. Not to long ago, I was ful time office job, part time waitress, and full time student! Talk about a kick in the butt.

    As a side note, since you are familier with pharmasuticals, spelling?, what about Birth control and weight loss?

    And you are doing great, it will show in the long run, do not get frustrated, just keep up the hard work.

    Yes I know a lot about medications, so if you have questions, just ask. If your implying me being on birth control, I'm a make, so not on the pill lol. On my phone sorry for short response
  • mydeloo78
    mydeloo78 Posts: 328 Member
    How you look is 80% what you eat, so you have to clean up your diet. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, high quality proteins and good fats. Its not all just about calorie counts. Also, you have to give your body a chance to catch up. Not all weight loss is instant, and if it is, chances are its just water. Give it some time. Persistance and consistency over time will get you to your goal.
  • Autumn15
    Autumn15 Posts: 213
    Sounds like it may be partly what your eating and with all your doing that you may not be getting enough calories and setting your body into startvation mode. And sometimes it just takes switching things up to find what will work for your body. I know for me I can't exercise less than 7 days a week or nothing happens but once I switched from 5 to 7 days I have been steadily losing 1 to 2 pounds per week and I keep my calories right around what it says for me but try not to use up all I earn for my exercise. Hope you find what works for you.
  • _Ben
    _Ben Posts: 1,608 Member
    Two things I want to add. I east burgers/beef a maximin of once a week, and also after working out, I'm actually the exact opposite of what your all saying. I'm incredibly not hungry, I don't want to eat anything. Maybe its because I'm feeling like im losing weight or w.e but the last thing I want to do its eat
  • _Ben
    _Ben Posts: 1,608 Member
    Forgot to mention, I teach karate aswell
  • lgwmab
    lgwmab Posts: 274 Member
    See you are busy, part of it may be stress, even if you do not realize it. Just keep pushing yourself, and it will come off.

    OK, the birth control question, I keep asking anyone who knows about this stuff, my sister and I had a debate, I went from one form of Birth control, a reguler use, to extended use Orto-Cyclen, blew up to my high of 173, in a matter of months, so I only know of blow up as a word to use. Besides my fiancees frined loving to eat out, adn since we are his only friends we ended up eating out with him. Well anyways, she claims that Birth Control will not cause you to gain weight. Which is true, can Birth control cause a women to gain weight?
  • adhillman01
    adhillman01 Posts: 206
    I am also a pharmacy student and I took a look in our pharmacy resources at whether birth control pills can cause weight gain. It listed "weight changes" under the category "considered to be drug related". Sounds like the association was weak, but there. We learned that the birth control patch and the depo-provera shot are really bad with weight gain, so stay away from those.
  • cjw6
    cjw6 Posts: 94 Member
    You've not been at it long, give it a bit more time. And try and weigh (and measure) at a regular time each week. Other than that, its got to be the diet- unless you are measuring/weighing everything you eat, I'd bet your 'eating what I want' diet is packing in more calories than you realise. Its very easy to underestimate calories in drinks and dressings etc.
  • _Ben
    _Ben Posts: 1,608 Member
    See you are busy, part of it may be stress, even if you do not realize it. Just keep pushing yourself, and it will come off.

    OK, the birth control question, I keep asking anyone who knows about this stuff, my sister and I had a debate, I went from one form of Birth control, a reguler use, to extended use Orto-Cyclen, blew up to my high of 173, in a matter of months, so I only know of blow up as a word to use. Besides my fiancees frined loving to eat out, adn since we are his only friends we ended up eating out with him. Well anyways, she claims that Birth Control will not cause you to gain weight. Which is true, can Birth control cause a women to gain weight?

    I'm at work right now and just confirmed with the pharmacology, and yes, ortho ceugen, the generic its trisotonic, can cause weight gain. Any influx of hormones can cause weight gain or loss. Different pills have different effects. Some may even cause weight loss.
  • _Ben
    _Ben Posts: 1,608 Member
    You've not been at it long, give it a bit more time. And try and weigh (and measure) at a regular time each week. Other than that, its got to be the diet- unless you are measuring/weighing everything you eat, I'd bet your 'eating what I want' diet is packing in more calories than you realise. Its very easy to underestimate calories in drinks and dressings etc.

    I only drink water and if anything else, diet pop. Also never use dressings, and I actually have a surprisingly small appetite when I want to. I do agree it probably is to early, and I'm just being antsy
  • _Ben
    _Ben Posts: 1,608 Member
    Quick update for everyone. I guess I was just a bit antzy. My weigh in today was 170! So down about 8lbs from where I started. So only about 25lbs from my goal of 145.
  • rainbowblind
    rainbowblind Posts: 1
    WATER! Lots of water!!!! I can't stress this enough
  • Twasney
    Twasney Posts: 186 Member
    Two things I want to add. I east burgers/beef a maximin of once a week, and also after working out, I'm actually the exact opposite of what your all saying. I'm incredibly not hungry, I don't want to eat anything. Maybe its because I'm feeling like im losing weight or w.e but the last thing I want to do its eat

    Make sure your settings are set for active or highly active (or whatever the label is) and reduce the amount you want to lose per week. Start doing your measurements once a month - twice if your being obsessive. I had a huge issue when I first started and I had to work out a bit more, eat more carbs (i know wierd huh but thats what the nutritionist said) and not be so concerned about the scale since I lost a dress size and a half!!

    Sounds like you need to tone up not drop a ton of weight and you need to feed those muscles! and BTW....the girl who said no burgers is cracked! If you were eating them every day with cheese, bacon and mayo and a pound of fries, well then thats another story! I also have to agree with the water statement!

    Make sure you eat enough food for your body to fuel all that activity and drink a reasonable amount of water! If your super stressed about it, might be time to book an appointment or two with a nutritionist - it REALLY helps!

    Good luck!

    T
  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
    You have to realize that you can't eat whatever you want right now. No burgers period.

    You do realize he is a busy college kid correct? Fast food is the norm in college.. I know I lived off fast food.
    When I started my diet I ate whatever I wanted as long as it was within reason, and I still lost 25 pounds in 8 months.

    To OP:
    Not much advice for you except what everyone else said. Also if 1.5 pounds a week isn't feasible, try for a pound a week.. sometimes you wind up losing more when you try to lose less.
  • _Ben
    _Ben Posts: 1,608 Member
    Thanks for the advice everyone. I am starting to work strength training with upper body, but I have to go slow, 2 main reasons:
    1. With my school and work, which involves working as a technician, so constantly counting, lifting, carrying, running around, holding positions for extended amounts of time, any soreness causes a TON of problems. Im trying to go slowly with this because I know soreness means Im building muscles, but with my current schedule, if I dont time it right, I will not be able to function

    2. I know with building muscles, you gain weight. Right now, the fact that when I check the scale, I weigh slightly less than I did before, is the number one reason why I have been sticking with it for the past 3 weeks. I know its dumb, but this early on, when I still have about 25 pounds to go, any weight gain is going to deter me from getting there. I know its silly, but its really the only way I can succeed
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