Stuck & Frustrated!

Road2Hotness
Road2Hotness Posts: 75
edited September 19 in Motivation and Support
Hello Everyone. I can't seem to get over the 20 lbs lost. This is really pissing me off. My next mini goal is to lose another 15- 20 lbs by June 5th. It's my husband's annual company banquet and I'm tired of wearing pants and a nice dress shirt. I want to wear a nice dress!!!!!!!!!!!!

I warm up on the eliptical for 15 min, I then walk on the treadmill for 30 mins, then I weight train for 30 mins. I'm doing this 3-4 times a week. On the weekend I break and do some sit-ups. I watch my calories during the week and on the weekend I splurge a little. Not a lot, basically instead of eating Lean Cuisine dinners I go over to my mom's house and eat her delicious Puertorican food.

I can't take it any longer though! :sad: I need to get over this jump! :mad: What do I need to do do more of? Cardio, weights, less eating? (I eat during the week 1200-1300 calories) on the weekend I eat about 1400-1500. Help!!!!!!!!!! Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I can take the criticism, just give me some suggestions what ever they may be.

Replies

  • Road2Hotness
    Road2Hotness Posts: 75
    Hello Everyone. I can't seem to get over the 20 lbs lost. This is really pissing me off. My next mini goal is to lose another 15- 20 lbs by June 5th. It's my husband's annual company banquet and I'm tired of wearing pants and a nice dress shirt. I want to wear a nice dress!!!!!!!!!!!!

    I warm up on the eliptical for 15 min, I then walk on the treadmill for 30 mins, then I weight train for 30 mins. I'm doing this 3-4 times a week. On the weekend I break and do some sit-ups. I watch my calories during the week and on the weekend I splurge a little. Not a lot, basically instead of eating Lean Cuisine dinners I go over to my mom's house and eat her delicious Puertorican food.

    I can't take it any longer though! :sad: I need to get over this jump! :mad: What do I need to do do more of? Cardio, weights, less eating? (I eat during the week 1200-1300 calories) on the weekend I eat about 1400-1500. Help!!!!!!!!!! Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I can take the criticism, just give me some suggestions what ever they may be.
  • MBH3
    MBH3 Posts: 30
    How long have you been at your plateau? I ask b/c I seem to plateau every 5 lbs lost for about 2 weeks. Usually, I push my cardio a little bit and get back to basics (i.e. weighing food, measuring portions.) After doing this for a little while, I get lazy with the scale and estimate my portions. I am usually surprised when I go back to weighing the food and find that I am eating more than a single portion. I know plateau's are frustrating but stay the course...you'll get there.

    Marcy
  • psilva78227
    psilva78227 Posts: 40 Member
    Cardio, Cardio, Cardio! That is what I was told would burn the lbs. My trainer has told me to add 30 mins of cardio daily... on top of everything else I am already doing so that I can drop 12 lbs in a month. I do 2 days with a trainer, 2 days cardio kickbox, and 1 day swim or racquetball. I also walk the dog 1.5 miles 4-5 times a week.

    Good luck! You can do it.
  • tkrull
    tkrull Posts: 15
    I just can't get over this 1200 cal a week diet, I just don't see how this can be healthy and a lot of the ppl who have trouble losing weight are the ppl who say they eat 1200 cal a day. I know that me being male and being 260lbs has something to do with it but i eat 2800cal a day and over the last 6 weeks i have lost 30lbs, but i don't cheat at the gym and bring it full throttle and leave it all on the floor. I think you need to look at the caloric intake and really see if that is going to work for you on a long term basis. We are trying to change our way of life not just hit goals.
  • Lisa46
    Lisa46 Posts: 5
    I completely understand how you feel. I am the same. I just signed up for this but basically I have lost 21 pounds since last year, and it yoyo's up and down by 2-3 pounds. I cant seem to get past that and it seems the more I exercise the less weight comes off. I wish I had an answer for you as well as myself. Its very hard to stick to it when there is no progress in the pounds not coming off. However on a good note with your exercising maybe you have lost inches and your clothes may fit you better and you feel like you are firming up. I have been told that loosing inches is good and that I should not beat myself up with the numbers. As long as you are feeling better about yourself and you are doing something about it should make you feel proud. When you find an answer let me know as I am in the same boat trying not to let it get me down. Dont Give UP !!!
  • psilva78227
    psilva78227 Posts: 40 Member
    On exercise days (I actually take Wednesday and one weekend day off) I eat about 1500 cals. On non-exercise days, I limit it to about 1200 to 1300 cals. I have dropped a total of about 30 lbs doing it this way, over about 1 year. It certainly is not a quick way, but slow and steady is the healthy way.
  • MBH3
    MBH3 Posts: 30
    tkrull-

    How many calories does MFP recommend you eat? This site recommends I eat 1200 net cal/per day and says that eating that, I will lose approximately 1lb per week. I don't have trouble staying w/in caloric guidelines but several of my friends/family have questioned if this is enough to eat. FYI: I weigh 149 lbs. and exercise 3-4 days per week (45 min cardio, 30 min strength training.)

    Just curious.

    marcy
  • fishernd
    fishernd Posts: 140 Member
    If you are living on Lean Cuisine, I can tell you right now you're probably taking in too much sodium. Pre-packaged meals contain TONS of sodium, which in turn will make you retain water. I would avoid anything in the freezer section that isn't fresh frozen vegetables or berries.

    Also, I would pump up your workouts. Try intervals at higher speeds and/or higher elevations.

    Good luck!
  • Cindysunshine
    Cindysunshine Posts: 1,188 Member
    I'm sorry you're having a hard time. My suggestion is to add more cardio. I realy think you should be doing at least an hour of some kind of cardio every day. I do not think you need to eat less. Are you drinking enough water? Eating healthy foods? Try adding some calories every day to trick your body. I'm curious to see what others will say. Good Luck! Cindy :heart:
  • pixiestick
    pixiestick Posts: 839 Member
    Cardio! Cardio! Ca-a-ar-di-ooooo! (and weight training)...

    Water! Water! Water! Wa-a-a-ter! (and no fake sugar)...

    The key with Cardio is not always quantity, but quality. Not everyone has an hour for cardio on top of a weight routine... I certainly don't. I think you should explore upping the intensity or trying something new: have you looking into spin-class or kick-boxing. I was doing so great for the longest time on the stair-machine at the gym... burning 700 calories in 45minutes and stuff like that. Then my body just decided that it knew that routine and I couldn't burn 500 in an hour... working harder than I had before!

    Are you eating your exercise calories? At least half of those suckers MUST be eaten back. Another thing, do you have a heart rate monitor (HRM). It will keep you honest about just how much effort you are really giving to your workout. You might be surprised. If I didn't have the HRM, I never would have known that my body didn't struggle on the stair-machine anymore.

    Try a week of brutal honesty. Track every crumb you eat, every drop you drink, every minute you exercise. Sometimes that's enough of a reality check and is sufficient to kick the body back into gear (it's amazing how much fudging we can do when we are not tracking stuff diligently)

    No kidding, death to white flour and sugar.

    You can do this! You know you can:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:
  • MTGirl
    MTGirl Posts: 1,490 Member
    I would also say that you are probably not eating enough. There are quite a few success stories here where people were eating that little, lost weight for awhile, then completely stalled out. Then increased their calorie and *bam* started losing weight again - maybe after a week or two, but most of the time pretty quickly. If you have over 100 lbs to lose, I don't think that 1200 - 1300 calories is enough quality fuel for your body. My goals just readjusted - I'm 5'8" and have 39 lbs left to lose and I get 1570 calories daily, before exercise, set to lose 1 lb per week. Maybe rethink your settings a little? You may have slowed down your metabolism enough that you are not losing. Adding calories - high quality, may help as well as additional cardio work. Good luck on your journey!!
  • GIBride01
    GIBride01 Posts: 328 Member
    Here is another vote for upping the cardio. Try maybe reducing your time on the treadmill and doing more on the elliptical, one of the interval or fat burning programs that is constantly changing the intensity. That and maybe throw in a different workout of two, a step aerobics class or kickboxing ...something that will really kick your butt! Hope that helps..Good Luck!
  • Road2Hotness
    Road2Hotness Posts: 75
    Thanks for all of your suggestions. It just gets so frustrating. I've got mini goals set up that I want to be able to acomplish through out the year until I get to my ultimate goal. With what I've seen so far it looks like I need to crank up the cardio & maybe increase my calories a bit on those work out days.

    MFP says to lose 1 lb / wk I need to be at 1,200 calories per day. It also says that my BMR is 1740 calories.
  • likes2bwet
    likes2bwet Posts: 275 Member
    I started mixing up my cardio instead of doing the same old routine. That helped a TON in my case. I think our bodies just get used to the same ol so it just stays in "maintain" mode. When I changed up my cardio my body was like oh, I guess I should be shedding a little more and getting a little stronger and then POOF!! Here I am. Went from an 18 to a 6 and am just AMAZED! Give that a try :flowerforyou:
  • pixiestick
    pixiestick Posts: 839 Member
    Just don't give up, because you're in this for the rest of your life! In the long run, it won't matter if it took you twice as long to reach each of your mini goals, it will just matter that you reached them.
    :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:
  • jeanettevallance
    jeanettevallance Posts: 16
    I too would say more cardio, but not just walking. We can fool ourselves with time instead of intensity. Ramp it up....Are you sweating when you finish your workout? You should be if you want to bust past a plateau. Be sure you are eating enough but also the right foods. Every 2-3 hrs is good to eat and important to drink enough water. Vary your workouts too. Muscle confusion does a lot to help you get the body you want. It works like a charm!!:wink:
    Hope that helps
  • smcopley
    smcopley Posts: 34
    I would do more cardio & less weight training. Also, if you really want to drop the pounds, don't have any days that you skip your diet. Stay on track everyday & don't have those cheat days. That alone will help you reach your goal much more quickly!!! Good luck. You can do it!
  • MBH3
    MBH3 Posts: 30
    That is exactly what MFP says for me too! BMR and recc calories AND I plateau every 5 lbs or so. Interesting, huh? Maybe 1200 cals IS to little?!?!

    Food for thought, I guess.

    Marcy
  • erlehmkuhle
    erlehmkuhle Posts: 58
    Try not to give up. Have you considered supplements. There are a lot to pic from out there but be careful to stay away from carbonated and caffine fat burners. Some products out there will actually eat muscle mass along with fat. I would stick to herbals. Also, I like to keep improving my cardio at all cost. This prevents your muscle memory from getting in a routine so they always have to work hard. I would increase speeds at small amounts every week. This will help you burn unwanted calories and carbs. You sound like a disciplined person, keep it up and just step it up a notch. Good Luck!!!
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