Soooo frustrated!!

Jenny2680 · September 2011

So I decided for the last month to completely dedicate to eating healthy (all food groups) staying around 1200-1300 calories and exercising 6 days a week doing both cardio and strength (for 1-2hrs daily). With that I only drink water and green tea, I cut out all diet pop, crystal light and alcohol (and thats cutting out alot daily).
I thought for sure in no time I would see a difference and was excited to see results after a month, unfortionatly thats not the case!! Nothing not a pound or inche!!! I thought I was doing everything right but something obviously isn't working for me.
In the past I found cutting out carbs, atkins diet, would work wonders for me but didn't want to result in a "crash diet" again. I really wanted to do it the healthy way but wondering if carbs do play a huge part for me??!! I really don't want to resort in cutting them almost completely out b/c I always end up gaining the weight back when I do eat them but feel like I may have to in order to lose the weight.

If anyone has any advice, experience or suggestions for me it would be appreciated!!! Trying not to lose my motivation!!!

erickirb · September 2011

1200-1300 is not enough calories if you are working out 1-2 hours/day. You should be getting 1200-1300 plus eating back what you burn. So if you burn 600 cals at the gym you should be eating 1800-1900 on those days.

taraleola05 · September 2011

Maybe you aren't eating ENOUGH calories? Sometimes when you don't eat enough your body goes into starvation mode and stores that fat because it thinks it's not getting enough and there is a shortage! If you are exercising, make sure you eat more protein, especially after a workout. That's just some of the things I've learned over my journey, because I was stuck like that for a while too and wasn't eating enough calories for my body! Good luck on your journey!!!

Tara Leola*~

gsager · September 2011

He's right, if you are going to work out like that you have to fuel your body?? What were you thinking?

SheehyCFC · September 2011

1200-1300 is not enough calories if you are working out 1-2 hours/day. You should be getting 1200-1300 plus eating back what you burn. So if you burn 600 cals at the gym you should be eating 1800-1900 on those days.

Agreed - if you are already getting a well-balanced diet (as you say) and drinking plenty of water, just increase portion size depending on workout burn and you'll be good to go.

auticus · September 2011

Erick has the right of it. You are eating too little, which is causing your body to lower the metabolism. You can work out all day long and not lose weight if you aren't burning the fuel in your body.

Second, cutting out carbs is also not a good idea, especially if you are working out.

Monitoring your carbs, eating the right carbs, and moderating them is the key.

Up your calories, maintain your fitness, and monitor your carb intake (but do not eliminate it) and you will find your body will react accordingly.

Diet foods and sodas I typically reccomend to eliminate, as I feel they are toxins (that's for another discussion)

Crash diets don't work because people eventually get off of them, thus causing the poundage to come back on and your inner-jabba to rejoice. That's why it has to be a lifestyle change.

Good luck

megarooni · September 2011

Depending on your activity level your net should be between 1300 and 1400 calories a day, not just what you eat. That was where I struggled in the beginning. I basically was starving myself because I was eating about 1350 a day, but working out between 1 and 2 hours a day. My metabolism slowed and was holding on to everything I could. When I realized that I was looking at what I was eating for calories, not net I changed my eating habits. Since I made the adjustment I have started to lose both inches and lbs.

beth40n2 · September 2011

My doctor said to never go under 1200 calories, but you should eating that plus what ever exercise calories you are burning. If you burn 500 calories, you should eat 1700. Sounds weird, but it works.

Yo Yo your calories and exercise so that you are not doing the same thing everyday. Keep your body guessing. Your metabolism will set it self to match what you are doing, if you do the same thing consistantly.

baernie · September 2011

I totally understand your frustration! I am (sort of) in the same boat. I have not been working out as much as you per week lately (I can usually just fit in about 3 or 4 workouts a week). I mentioned my frustration to a trainer at my gym and he told me that it sometimes takes womens' bodies a couple of months to rev up your metabolism before you will start to see results.
I have been trying to loose weight for almost two months and am just now starting to feel/see results. It is frustrating how slow going it is but I think if I keep going I'll keep seeing small results! Hang in there!

Jenny2680 · September 2011

Thanks for the advice everyone. I've never done the counting calories before and had a personal trainer I hired a little while ago telling me that if I want to lose I have to burn more calories than I eat so that's what I was trying to do!! I'll enjoy eating more so thats not going to be a problem

Jenny2680 · September 2011

thanks again for the support!

H_Factor · September 2011

Thanks for the advice everyone. I've never done the counting calories before and had a personal trainer I hired a little while ago telling me that if I want to lose I have to burn more calories than I eat so that's what I was trying to do!! I'll enjoy eating more so thats not going to be a problem

just correcting the trainer's advice...to burn fat, you have to create a caloric deficit, but not put your body in starvation mode. You can create a deficit through diet, exercise or a combination of both....but however you do it, you want your net caloric intake to be at least 1,200 calories/day on average. Keep in mind that your body burns a certain number of calories each day from performing a variety of functions even if you do no exercise. You can lose weight by doing no exercise (I did for the first few months). Sadly, if for the past month you ate 1200-1300 calories/day and did NO exercise, you probably would have lost weight.

sekeitheswingdreamer · September 2011

Don't get discouraged. Like all good things, losing weight takes time. It's important to stay consistent, but it is also important to not push yourself too hard. If you push yourself to the point of starvation and exhaustion, then you will eventually become weary and you might even consider giving up. Just keep it up and I agree with previous posters. If you are going to be partaking in such extensive workouts, you should probably be eating more calories. In any case, as you are now you are a very beautiful woman and I'm sure your husband is very grateful to have you as his wife.

Soooo frustrated!!

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