Getting pretty discouraged

evafury
evafury Posts: 15 Member
edited October 2 in Health and Weight Loss
I've been trying to lose weight for a few weeks now. I count calories, even things like a glass of wine or snack, I'm trying to work out 4-5 times a week (some dance, some running even though I'm awful at running, elliptical, stationary bike), and I'm a teacher on my feet ALL day. This week has been tough to get to the gym because of how late I've been staying at work since it's the first week of classes but I made it to my two dance classes...

That said, last Friday I weighed 158. Today, I weighed 158. I tried a different scale and was 157.5 (which, though barely different, still seemed a bit better, but I daren't believe it since I don't usually weigh on that scale). I've been stuck at 158 for almost two weeks. When I first started I dropped 4 pounds in a few days, but now I'm getting absolutely nothing. My clothes feel a smidge better and I did my measurements and they seem a bit better, but I want the scale to move!!

I've never really had this happen before where I am, day in and day out, the same weight. It's weird. I've dieted before and been able to at least see some fluctuations on the scale, but this is almost eerie.

I'm not sure how to kick start this again, but I'm getting SICK of being a stupid 158 every day! It makes me feel like my efforts aren't doing a d*** thing. :(

Replies

  • yanicka
    yanicka Posts: 1,004 Member
    You are not eating nearly enought!!!!! Eat all your calories (and frankly 1200 is very low) eat 75% of your exercice calories and you will see weight loss

    You only have 15 pounds to lose. Put your weight loss at 0.5 pound a week. With the last few pounds, you really have to keep a very small deficit. Perso, in order to lose my last few pounds, I had to put my calories at maintenance, eat 75% of my calories. Reduce cardio and add 3 x a week strenght training. Only then did the weight started to go down after 4 months of pretty much nothing.
  • tmiqueen
    tmiqueen Posts: 254 Member
    Remember, muscle is less dense than fat, so if you're not losing weight, but losing inches, you're still on the right track!
  • sjtreely
    sjtreely Posts: 1,014 Member
    Good God, girl ... I only went back 3 days and see that you're starving yourself. Eat some food. Eat a minimum of 1200 calories a day.
  • sknopps
    sknopps Posts: 166
    yes, please eat more.
  • maritza327
    maritza327 Posts: 100 Member
    I completely agree with Yanicka, you are definitely not eating enough. You are basically putting your body into starvation mode. You should be eating all of your calories and just a bit of your exercise calories. I also agree that you should add some strength training into your routine. If you haven't done it in the past, start small and build up.
  • MuffinMan25
    MuffinMan25 Posts: 110
    I completely agree with Yanicka, you are definitely not eating enough. You are basically putting your body into starvation mode. You should be eating all of your calories and just a bit of your exercise calories. I also agree that you should add some strength training into your routine. If you haven't done it in the past, start small and build up.

    Agreed!
  • Page2777
    Page2777 Posts: 91
    Yikes i just checked out your diary and to be honest i was shocked no way are you eating enough under 1200 and you go into starvation mode your body is storing all the fat that you eat in order to make it thro because your not giving yourself enough particularly someone like you with a job where you are on your feet all day if i were you i would look at your BMR will give you a better idea of what your body burns each day so you know to give it more food otherwise you are just undoing all your hard work and quite frankly living very unhealthily good luck
  • AshieFan
    AshieFan Posts: 3
    I second yanicka. You are definitely not eating enough. 1200 calories is the minimum any adult should be eating and you are not even managing a 1000 calories on most days. Your body is in starvation mode and will not shift any more weight until it gets more calories.

    And try to eat regularly throughout the day - they don't have to be massive amounts - rather than just twice a day, which you seem to be doing on some days.

    Try this BMR: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/
  • stephyy4632
    stephyy4632 Posts: 947 Member
    You are not eating nearly enought!!!!! Eat all your calories (and frankly 1200 is very low) eat 75% of your exercice calories and you will see weight loss

    You only have 15 pounds to lose. Put your weight loss at 0.5 pound a week. With the last few pounds, you really have to keep a very small deficit. Perso, in order to lose my last few pounds, I had to put my calories at maintenance, eat 75% of my calories. Reduce cardio and add 3 x a week strenght training. Only then did the weight started to go down after 4 months of pretty much nothing.

    exactly this ^^^^^
  • lmsharris
    lmsharris Posts: 13
    But what about if you have always naturally eaten around 1,800 calories per day...I dropped my target to 1,000 calories per day (on the border of starvation mode) because I have suddenly put on a lot of weight - but nothing. If I go back up to 1,800/day I'm just going to carry on putting weight on.

    I've been going to the gym 3 times a week (only just started to log that in so that I can keep closer track).

    Is it true that sometimes your body has a natural weight and it is impossible to get below this? I'm upset that I've put on nearly a stone in 9 months, but it just won't move.
  • mleoni092708
    mleoni092708 Posts: 629 Member
    Good work on your new changes! I've lost 20 lbs in the last 8 weeks, and what I've found surprising is, you don't have to starve! I know it seems like you're eating a lot if you are using your exercise calories, but I've been eating mine back and losing about 2-2.5 lbs a week on average. If you feel hungry, listen to your body and feed it a little more. I know i lost 5 lbs right away and then stuck there for 2 weeks and got discouraged too. The beginning is so hard! But then it started to drop off again, and became more steady. So keep up the good work and don't let the scale keep you from continuing. It is working, it just takes a little longer sometimes to show up on the scale.
  • asyouseefit
    asyouseefit Posts: 1,265 Member
    Are you sure you weren't eating more than 1800 cals a day? When not logging, it's really easy to underestimate your intake. Before joining MFP, I hadn't the impression I was eating that much and yet, I was gaining weight. I was probably eating way more than I realised!

    You can set your target to 1300-1400 (halfway) and see that helps you. If your body has a "natural weight", my guess is that it is in the healthy range anyway.

    (This is in response to lmsharris, not the OP)
  • lmsharris
    lmsharris Posts: 13
    I think that is very true - I've only recently started getting back into exercies, and it goes take some time for your metabolism to kick in I suppose.

    I think I'm just being unrealistic - will just give it time and try to increase the calories a bit. I think a sign you're in starvation mode is when you just stop feeling hungry full stop.
  • nkziv
    nkziv Posts: 161 Member
    Remember, muscle is less dense than fat, so if you're not losing weight, but losing inches, you're still on the right track!

    Well, muscle is really more dense than fat. That is why it weighs more per unit of volume, and why you can still lose fat while maintaining the same weight. Another reason may be that you are gaining muscle mass, but I can't be sure.
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
    You are not eating nearly enought!!!!! Eat all your calories (and frankly 1200 is very low) eat 75% of your exercice calories and you will see weight loss

    You only have 15 pounds to lose. Put your weight loss at 0.5 pound a week. With the last few pounds, you really have to keep a very small deficit. Perso, in order to lose my last few pounds, I had to put my calories at maintenance, eat 75% of my calories. Reduce cardio and add 3 x a week strenght training. Only then did the weight started to go down after 4 months of pretty much nothing.

    I agree. I wasn't eating enough and plateaued for 2 months. As soon as I started eating more (setting MFP to 0.5 pound/week loss) the weight started coming off again. Looking at your diary, I am not sure how you even have the energy to be active! Fuel your body properly and the weight will come off. Starve it, and it will hold on to every last pound as a survival mechanism.
  • lmsharris
    lmsharris Posts: 13
    "asyouseefit" you're probably right, the odd extra meal out over the summer was probably doing a lot more damage to the weight than I realised.

    And I stopped horse riding, which I didn't think was a big calories burner/metabolism raiser - but it probably was, hence the new gym regime!
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