I am getting FED UP!!!

Just1forMe
Just1forMe Posts: 624 Member
edited October 3 in Health and Weight Loss
Here's my story...I lost 70 lbs on WW about 3 years ago, lost about .5 lbs per week and got down to exactly the weight I am at now (178) . Then I got stuck on a 6 MONTH plateau while doing exactly the same thing I'd been doing while losing the weight. Finally, after working my booty off for 6 mos, I threw in the towel and just stopped logging. Not eating more quantity-wise, just not keeping track & lowering my food quality standards. I promptly gained 40 lbs in less than 4 mos.

Several months later, I got back on the wagon, found MFP and over the last year and a half or so, I have re-lost the 40 lbs. Now I am back down to my low weight of 178 again and for the past 14 weeks, I have been stuck there. I go up 1-3 lbs depending on the time of month, etc, but I can NOT get below 178 no matter what I do. I still have 35-45 lbs to lose.

I wear a Body Media Fit armband which logs my 24 hour calorie burn (90% accurate). I exercise 1-3 hours 6-7 days per week. I eat back my exercise calories, but I've tried not eating them back and neither has worked. Since I know my exercise burns & my daily calorie burns and have calculated my personal BMR & my calories burned from "normal" daily activity (exclusive of intentional exercise) by using the long term data from my BM Fit band, I feel like I have a pretty good handle on how my body works and my true deficits. I log my exercise calories after subtracting the calories I would have burned during normal activity from them (which makes sense for me since I am working with 24 hour burn numbers) and usually take off a few extra to account for the 90% accuracy thing.

I rarely eat out and I've eaten fast food maybe 3 times in the last year, including once this week (Taco Bell Fresco steak taco & pinto beans). I log every single thing I eat, weigh and measure EVERYTHING even though I could guesstimate accurately since I've been doing this for years, make mostly healthy choices, but allow myself a treat or 2 daily. I have my Carb level manually set a little lower than MFP suggests and my protein a bit higher. My sodium is a little over a few days a week, but usually not by much. I feel like I spend 70-80% of my waking hours literally focused on weight loss and exercise in one way or another and I'm still not losing! I've tried upping my exercise, lowering my exercise, upping my calories, lowering my calories, zig zagging my calories (which I am doing now with high days Wed & Sunday if you happen to check my logs)...nothing helps. These last 2 weeks I went all out on exercise (3.5 hours on Wed) and as of today, I am 2.5 lbs up from my low weight with this weeks calorie deficit at over 7000 (not normal for me, just trying something different). I have measured myself and have not lost ANY inches since July either.

I am SO afraid I will get to 6 mos of this and give up again!!! I do NOT want that to happen, but this is beyond frustrating.

I also have untreated Hashimoto's Disease (hypo/hyper thyroid) which I am working toward getting taken care of (long story :) which I know makes my journey 10x more difficult. I don't know that I have an actual question....I guess I just need some encouragement from someone who has been where I am...? Sorry this is so long...

:cry:

Replies

  • shakybabe
    shakybabe Posts: 1,578 Member
    I have Congenital Hypothyroidism (from birth). I've struggled with weight as I've got older and less active and have mobility problems which complicate things.

    It took me 4 months to lose the first 9lb and then I tried removing wheat completely and lost 5lb in 5 days. Tried adding potato in yesterday and put extra pound back on so staying wheat free/low carb. I'm ok with oats and have Rice Krispies but no wheat based cereal or bread. I have Gluten free bread once a week as its expensive and higher calorie than normal bread. No Pasta and so far had no rice either.

    I'm planning to stick to it up to xmas day and see how much I can lose from it before I decide whether it will be a permanent change for life but I'll probably throw in the odd treat day, as my weight gets lower.
  • deninevi
    deninevi Posts: 934 Member
    I think you should give yourself a break from logging, counting cals, working out for a week. Don't go all out on eating, but moderate. Take walks and your normal activity. Give your body a break and see how that goes. I hope you see the lbs go down soon as it seems you are very stressed about it.
  • girlofgod
    girlofgod Posts: 12 Member
    Out of curiosity....are you sure you're not already right were your body should be? I would LOVE to get down to 130-140, but the fact is, I have 115 lbs of lean mass. So, I'm going to have to settle for getting down to about 160 as my lowest weight. Have you ever went to get a bod-pod? It is probably the most accurate way to measure your lean mass versus your body fat. With all the working out you do, you probably have a pretty good lean mass number. How tall are you? All I'm saying is, at 178 lbs...if you are (lets say) 5'7 and have 120 lbs of lean mass, you're only at 32.5% body fat. Unless you're going to be competing, you only need to get down to about 25% to be really healthy. You should Google "bod pod" to see if there's one in your area. Here, it's only $25 and takes about 15 minutes. It will give you a much better picture of your overall weight/health than that silly scale! Sounds like you are doing all the right things, keep it up! Also, are you doing strength training in your work-outs, or just cardio? Can't stress enough the importance of building that muscle! And you might also want to check and see if you have a facility that would offer a VO2 assessment in your area. You may be running your heart-rate WAY to high - blowing right past YOUR fat-burning zone! I found that out the hard way!!! Good luck to you, Just1forMe!!!
  • Just1forMe
    Just1forMe Posts: 624 Member
    Out of curiosity....are you sure you're not already right were your body should be? I would LOVE to get down to 130-140, but the fact is, I have 115 lbs of lean mass. So, I'm going to have to settle for getting down to about 160 as my lowest weight. Have you ever went to get a bod-pod? It is probably the most accurate way to measure your lean mass versus your body fat. With all the working out you do, you probably have a pretty good lean mass number. How tall are you?

    Unfortunately, I am only 5'3, so 35-45 more lbs would still put me at the high end of the ideal weight range for me :(


    Also, are you doing strength training in your work-outs, or just cardio? Can't stress enough the importance of building that muscle! And you might also want to check and see if you have a facility that would offer a VO2 assessment in your area. You may be running your heart-rate WAY to high - blowing right past YOUR fat-burning zone! I found that out the hard way!!! Good luck to you, Just1forMe!!!

    Good suggestions...I do some strength training, but mostly cardio. I have lower back problems & bad knees with some arthritis & bursitis thrown in for good measure and the weights seem to aggravate them more than cardio, so I do what I can and am working on increasing it slowly. Never heard of a VO2 assessment...I will check around.
  • RMinVA
    RMinVA Posts: 1,085 Member
    I am right there with you!! Unfortunately, I have come to the conclusion that there are some things that must be limited in my diet due to my "ahem" age. The hard part is actually doing it.

    I have my last big race for awhile on Sunday. As of next week, I'm going to do a bit more interval training and get back on the weight training band wagon...which I fell off of awhile ago due to some bone spur and tendinitis issues. I'm also going to shake up my diet a bit - AGAIN - and see if that helps.
  • mjf0461
    mjf0461 Posts: 470 Member
    Have you tried getting off the program for a couple of weeks to shock your metabolism and see if that wont jump start you into losing again Lisa. I feel your pain, you've rode this wagon with me for the last 4 months. It's quite frustrating and really makes me mad personally. I am to the point I am fixing to try something really different for 2 weeks to get my metabolism going. Just because I don't want to get so frustrated that I give up completely and gain the weight back.
    Good Luck Girl
  • thegoodner
    thegoodner Posts: 113 Member
    Out of curiosity....are you sure you're not already right were your body should be? I would LOVE to get down to 130-140, but the fact is, I have 115 lbs of lean mass. So, I'm going to have to settle for getting down to about 160 as my lowest weight. Have you ever went to get a bod-pod? It is probably the most accurate way to measure your lean mass versus your body fat. With all the working out you do, you probably have a pretty good lean mass number. How tall are you?

    Unfortunately, I am only 5'3, so 35-45 more lbs would still put me at the high end of the ideal weight range for me :(


    Your height doesn't matter when it comes to body fat%. I'm 5'3 but carry 145 POUNDS of lean body weight. My ideal weight that I am actually shooting for is 175. You should really have a body fat analysis done and see where your body fat % is. We all have a sort of set genetic point for body fat. Once we hit that ideal number, our bodies become hugely resistant to lose more. Throw out the ideal weight chart. It could be sabotaging you...
  • weightofyourskin
    weightofyourskin Posts: 173
    I don't have any advice beyond what you've already gotten but I just wanted to say I sympathize. It feels like I'm working my *kitten* off for very little payoff. I should be losing 1-1.5 pounds a week but the most I've ever achieved is 0.5... so I'll drop two pounds in a month, and then when my period rolls around I gain back even more. Knowing it's just water weight and it'll go away doesn't help - it's SO frustrating seeing my progress disappear every month.
  • SaraSatin
    SaraSatin Posts: 48 Member
    You should be treating your Hashimoto's, that may be part of the problem. I would go have your levels checked and see if you are stuck at hypo and that's why you can't lose right now.
  • 4theking
    4theking Posts: 1,196 Member
    I don't have a lot of knowledge on your condition but I do know some of what it does to your body and metabolism. I can set up a plan for you that may help you achieve your goals if you would like.

    Best of luck to you.
  • cristi1956
    cristi1956 Posts: 9 Member
    Lisa, i read your post. I'm not familiar with the Hasimoto's - could that possibly be part of the problem? I started watching my carbs/sugar this week, i'm curious to see if it might help. I didn't realize how much sugar i was putting in my body (it seems to be in everything). I'm not sure maybe you have already done this. You have come a very long way with all the weight you have lost. I know it is very difficult not to see results but PLEASE stick with it and it will have to start coming off again.

    Cristi
  • klfazio
    klfazio Posts: 48 Member
    Good suggestions...I do some strength training, but mostly cardio. I have lower back problems & bad knees with some arthritis & bursitis thrown in for good measure and the weights seem to aggravate them more than cardio, so I do what I can and am working on increasing it slowly. Never heard of a VO2 assessment...I will check around.

    Lisa, me again (see my post on the home page). I have exactly the same thing. Diagnosed arthritis in the sacroilliac joints (lower back) and both knees (wearing heels to work for 18 straight years).....but gentle weight training at first will actually help. It will build the muscle that holds up all the ligaments and tendons, and cause your whole core to be stronger which reduces imflammation. Maybe try Advil a half hour before weight workouts also. The more muscle you build the more calories you burn plus it will really confuse your metabolism which is so use to hard core sweaty cardio. I actually know lots of people who NEVER do cardio....just weight programs of all kinds and have ripped bodies and only 20% body fat.
    Hopefully soon you can see a doc about the thyroid too....I'm sure that's all playing a part too.
    Don't you give up though.....although a week off to regroup and get your thoughts together may not be a bad idea.
    Keeping you in prayer as always : )
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