Don't sure what to do anymore

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graysmom2005
graysmom2005 Posts: 1,882 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have fiddled and messed with my MFP goals etc for weeks and weeks now, and I'm getting no where. After moving my goal to 1/2 a pound a week I didn't see much difference. When I started eating LESS, like 1700 a day I briefly went back down to 150 or so, but then with all my exercise that is having me not net much. So if we are supposed to net at least 1200, and eat back most if not all of our exercise calories then I'm stumped.

I moved to maintenance this past week (maintenance for a goal weight of mine 145) which is 1700 calories. I workout for a living. I workout a LOT. I'm set to sedentary since I'm a stay at home mom when I'm not teaching, but for instance yesterday I burned over 1000 calories. Today I teach two spin classes so I'll burn over 1000 today too. I'm eating what feels like a LOT and yet I'm still not meeting my calories.....and then I hop on the scale to find I've gained four pounds. I did a new workout yesterday and I'm sore so I'm not sure if that can bump me up THAT much. I also ate a TON this past weekend, but 3 big meals over a weekend I wouldn't think would cause that much weight gain if I went back to normal eating and worked out as much as I do. I drink lots of water, use a HRM, and I weight my food. I'm just beyond confused. Eating back my calories seems to have me gain weight....but if I eat less then I'm waaaaay under my net. Either way the scale isn't budging. I've mixed up my foods a bit. I'm adding extra exercise so confuse the body...and yet I stay the same or gain. Seriously, body. I'm crying, "UNCLE!"

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  • asyouseefit
    asyouseefit Posts: 1,265 Member
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    Have you tried changing your activity level?
  • kykykenna
    kykykenna Posts: 656 Member
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    Awwww.......I wish I could help. You seem to have tried EVERYTHING. (I know....that doesnt help your frustration).....What about ditching the scale for a month, think less about it and listen to your body. Eat right, eat when you are hungry, and leave it at that? PS. You're beautiful. :flowerforyou:
  • GemmieNoWobbles
    GemmieNoWobbles Posts: 398 Member
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    I so know how you feel. My personal trainer has recommended running, run run run... she said running will shift the fat and weight... so I'm giving it a go! Long moderate paced runs intersperced with interval runs... other than that I have nothing... nothing seems to work for me either :sad:
  • Newfiedan
    Newfiedan Posts: 1,517 Member
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    Without a bodymedia fit or a good bodyfat analysis it is hard to say what to do to get the scale moving, you may be burning way more per day than you think, according to mfp I should burn around 2500/day but in reality I burn closer to 3200-3500 a day so my advice when you are not seeing the scale move is to add in an additional 250 cals a day for a week to see if the scale moves. The main focus should be on body comp and not the scale as the scale really tells you little to nothing of what is really occurring within the body. Burn the fat feed the muscle should be the main goal and being as active as you are it may be hard to get the formula right for you to shed the fat effectively.
  • meversusfatty
    meversusfatty Posts: 8
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    I think it's all of the working out that may have your stalled in one of two ways.

    1. Your body doesn't have an off day to catch up and shed the water harbored in your muscles during the workouts, and you've plateaued.

    2. Your body has gotten used to your fitness and nutrition routine.
  • graysmom2005
    graysmom2005 Posts: 1,882 Member
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    My job is my gift and my CURSE. It gets me to the gym almost every day at LEAST once a day....but unless I add even MORE exercise on top of that, I'm doing the same thing over and over. So I can't switch it up, unless I add extra exercise....which I actually HAVE been doing which feels a little nutty...but if I was going to get over this hump would have been worth it. But if I teach twice a day, walk the dog briskly for an hour, and then add something else to switch it up? OMG! LOL! I feel like I'm eating like a maniac...and Dan you may be right....some days I'm all over the place and I have a lot of muscle..so I may be burning even MORE...but when I start eating more...yet not enough to even net properly...I gain! I didn't weight myself for a little over a week...and a four pound gain is what happened. *sigh* Would one see a dietitcian or a nutritionist for this?
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
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    I am so sorry, I know you've been battling this for what seems like forever. Is your activity level in MFP set for whatever the highest level is? Also, I know you teach spin class and others ones too, but are they all cardio? I have no idea if it is true but I always see people on MFP saying that you need to strength train to burn off that last bit of weight and convert it to muscle.
    I think it's all of the working out that may have your stalled in one of two ways.

    1. Your body doesn't have an off day to catch up and shed the water harbored in your muscles during the workouts, and you've plateaued.

    2. Your body has gotten used to your fitness and nutrition routine.

    I also agree with this. Do you have any rest days where you just take it easy and lay off the exercise? If not, you should!
  • asyouseefit
    asyouseefit Posts: 1,265 Member
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    My job is my gift and my CURSE. It gets me to the gym almost every day at LEAST once a day....but unless I add even MORE exercise on top of that, I'm doing the same thing over and over. So I can't switch it up, unless I add extra exercise....which I actually HAVE been doing which feels a little nutty...but if I was going to get over this hump would have been worth it. But if I teach twice a day, walk the dog briskly for an hour, and then add something else to switch it up? OMG! LOL! I feel like I'm eating like a maniac...and Dan you may be right....some days I'm all over the place and I have a lot of muscle..so I may be burning even MORE...but when I start eating more...yet not enough to even net properly...I gain! I didn't weight myself for a little over a week...and a four pound gain is what happened. *sigh* Would one see a dietitcian or a nutritionist for this?

    Repeating myself but maybe you should try changing your activity level to active or very active (since workout is part of your lifestyle).
  • njoithomp
    njoithomp Posts: 61
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    Someone suggested ditching the scale and I agree. Get a tape measure and take your measurements instead for a period of time and see what is actually going on with your size. That way you will know if you are actually gaining muscle and getting tighter, smaller, even though you may be putting on pounds. Also, sometimes if you cut your carbs or do one of those carb cycling diets, you can break through a plateau. Good luck!
  • dlaplume2
    dlaplume2 Posts: 1,658 Member
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    What you need to do is change you settings. If you teach aerobic or spin classes then you need to change you activity to very active and not sedentary. Then do not add back the calories you burn while working. The thing you need to keep in mind is if you do that all the time then your body gets used to it. It is not going to have the same inpact on you as would if I started attending all those classes. Your body is used to it, so it reacts differently. A person who burns 1000's of calories at a time usually doesn't eat them all back.

    If you eat your calories according to that, you should see results.
  • Grokette
    Grokette Posts: 3,330 Member
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    Hi. It sounds like you could be suffering from Adrenal Gland Fatigue due to high cortisol levels (chronic cardio will cause this).

    As long as cortisol is high, it will be very difficult to lose any weight at all.
  • graysmom2005
    graysmom2005 Posts: 1,882 Member
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    And how does one remedy that? OL!
  • graysmom2005
    graysmom2005 Posts: 1,882 Member
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    What you need to do is change you settings. If you teach aerobic or spin classes then you need to change you activity to very active and not sedentary. Then do not add back the calories you burn while working. The thing you need to keep in mind is if you do that all the time then your body gets used to it. It is not going to have the same inpact on you as would if I started attending all those classes. Your body is used to it, so it reacts differently. A person who burns 1000's of calories at a time usually doesn't eat them all back.

    If you eat your calories according to that, you should see results.
    Yeah, I was told not to put active since doing that plus logging calories would have me counting them twice. So skip the HRM and just go by the calories given to me as highly active?
  • Newfiedan
    Newfiedan Posts: 1,517 Member
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    Well you need to change something and going that route for a week will certainly not hurt you in the long term, whenever I encounter a very active person who is not losing the first thing I say is this:
    1) eat back exercise cals
    2) raise caloric intake.

    You would be surprised the difference I have seen that make for many ppl. The key is to learn the hormonal triggers and then manipulate them to aid in fat loss. One thing you can also try is putting an ice pack on your upper trapezium muscles for 15 mins a day post workout see if that helps as it triggers BAT or brown adipose tissue response it may aid in your quest.
  • graysmom2005
    graysmom2005 Posts: 1,882 Member
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    Well I have NEVER HEARD of that, but I will give it a shot. Eating back my cals has made me gain. Last weekend was nutty, but how do my cals look in my diary?
  • Lift_hard_eat_big
    Lift_hard_eat_big Posts: 2,278 Member
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    Try increasing your protein and fat intake and lowering your carb intake a bit. See if that gives you any positive results.

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