Discouraged

mjj79 · October 2007

First I hav e been very encouraged and motivated by all of you. YOur honesty, support to one another and good ideas have been really great. (I never did "introduce" myself. I m 28, three kids in the past 4 years, ALWAYS been overweight to some degree.) I have not been able to lose ANYTHING for about 4 months now. Tried nutrisystem, low carb, low calorie etc.. I usually lose for a few days, then stop. Anyway, it seems to be happening again. I lost a pound last week, then gained it back. After reading recent posts, I increased my calories to the recommended amount and I usually do the eliptical 3 times a week. (I am 5'9.5 " and I weigh 226

Anhy advice would definately be appreciated. THANKS!

mjj79 · October 2007

First I hav e been very encouraged and motivated by all of you. YOur honesty, support to one another and good ideas have been really great. (I never did "introduce" myself. I m 28, three kids in the past 4 years, ALWAYS been overweight to some degree.) I have not been able to lose ANYTHING for about 4 months now. Tried nutrisystem, low carb, low calorie etc.. I usually lose for a few days, then stop. Anyway, it seems to be happening again. I lost a pound last week, then gained it back. After reading recent posts, I increased my calories to the recommended amount and I usually do the eliptical 3 times a week. (I am 5'9.5 " and I weigh 226

Anhy advice would definately be appreciated. THANKS!

banks1850 · October 2007

Hello Marie,

to better help you understand your numbers I'll ask a question: Have you been tracking your eating and exercise on the site? If you have been what is are your calorie numbers?

It takes longer for some people then for others Marie. Genetics, metabolism, bone structure, and stress levels, and muscle mass all play roles in weight gain/loss (along with the more obvious ones like eating and exercise).

I know this is repeated over and over on this forum, but it is true that weight loss is a long term thing. I would think more in terms of years then of weeks or months. If you are excercising regularly and eating healthy, then maybe your body is building up muscle, which in the short term can cause weight gain or leveling off. While this is discouraging to some, it is a GREAT sign if it is the case, because muscle burns fat, the more tone you have, the faster your body will burn fat later, and the healthier you will be.

mjj79 · October 2007

Thanks for the input. I have been eating beteen 1000 and 1500 calories, depending on whether or not i exercise. I also restrivt my carb inake, eatng between 60 and 100 grams a day. I'm trying to keep the the focus of healthy changes for life, but i would love to see some progress. Thanks for the encouragement

rdecember6 · October 2007

Hey there! I know the idea of eating a few more hundred calories probably sounds terrifying, but 1000-1500 calories per day for someone at your height and weight sounds like a HUGE step! I admire your willpower for keeping it up for 4 whole months! I am at about 1500 cals per day (very slow/moderate loss) with about 12 pounds to lose. I totally accept that this is going to take a long time. I just have to be honest about what I can maintain in the long run. So to imagine going to 1000 cals PLUS excersize just makes me cringe!

My suggestion? Give your bod a break! I'm assuming you want to hold on the the fabulous new you forever, right? Forever is a long time! Can you maintain 1000 cals forever? What if you plateau and have to go lower? AKKK! Wouldn't you rather see even just .5 pounds of loss per week and actually feel fantastic and excited about continuing forward? I would throw in a couple of Ryecrisp crackers with cream cheese or Hummus, or maybe a piece of Sprouted grain toast with jam (total respect to the no sugar added!). mmmmm. I know carbs are scary (I went throught the entire Atkins program and never went over 50 grams of carbs. I only lost 5 pounds in 5 months), but these types of foods will be so comforting, fuel-injected and super healthy.

I have no doubt that you can make some adjustments and keep moving forward!! YOU WILL SEE BENEFITS!!! You've already proven your willpower!! Don't give up:)

banks1850 · October 2007

Hi Marie,

OK after checking your height/weight against what you should be eating every day.

1000 to 1500 seems pretty low, my guess is your body is in starvation mode and hoarding calories.
I would target around 1500 to 1700 calories, that is
without any exercise. With exercise say 3 to 5 times a week, you should be able to add
100 calories a day or so to that estimate. I'm not a medical professional or expert,
but at that rate you would average about 1 lb/week. I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but it
is a healthy way to loose weight, it allows your body to adjust to your new weight and
keeps your skin tighter because it can shrink with your body. This is what I would
do. And remember, you won't see results every week, because your body can retain water and weight can fluctuate daily. I don't even weigh myself more then 2 or 3 times a month (well, except this month because I am testing a theory out). I hope this helps.
Just remember, 1 lb /week X 1 year = 52 LBS!!!! that's a lot of weight!

Eve23 · October 2007

Marie I know it is rough but you can do it. Sometimes if you take a day and refocus and plan your goals and meals out it makes a world of good. I did respond to you where you had asked what I was doing and you can take a look there.

I think I got most of what I do in there but I am open to any emails also jltwedell@msn.com.

Everyone is different so don't forget to listen to what your body is saying to you. Experiment with different things sometimes adding or taking something out is a good thing. Hope it helps.

Eve

alice · October 2007

From my own experience, I have had the same problem in the past and it was explained to me that your body goes into a plateau - which means it stops losing weight because it feels starved. This may sound crazy, but after a week if you don't lose (and you have followed this program faithfully) I would be very surprised.

I think 1000 cals is was too low for someone who is 5'9". I'm 5'3" and I'm eating 1200 cals. I know that this may sound crazy, but eating less and skipping meals does not amount to weight loss and is also very unhealthy for your body. A healthy weight loss is anywhere between 1-2 pounds per week. Anything more is actually bad for you.

Hope this helps, keep the faith
alice

mjj79 · October 2007

thanks Alice (and everyone else). I upped my cals to 1300 2day and made sure that i added more for exercise. Its a little scary, but I've decided to stick with the increased cals for at least a week to see what happens. Thanks again everyone!

Discouraged

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