Weight isn't coming off- doing everything right??? Anyone el

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  • Alice_H
    Alice_H Posts: 58 Member
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    I don't think that's enough food. There are plenty of threads around here that discuss why 1200 calories, especially when you're exercising, isn't enough.

    Re your thyroid, there are two things to consider.

    1. Five years is plenty of time to have your thyroid go out of whack.
    2. In 2002, the AACE changed their recommendations for what's considered a normal TSH range. Hypothyroid is now considered a TSH above a 3.0. (TSH, thyroid stimulating hormone, works inversely; the higher the number the less your thyroid is doing.) There are STILL doctors going by the old recommendations of 5.5 TSH being the breakpoint for treating hypothyroidism.

    If you really feel like your thyroid might be out of whack, get it checked again, get your actual TSH and free T4 numbers checked, and compare them to the numbers in this article: https://www.aace.com/sites/default/files/hypo_hyper.pdf. Many people who do find they have hypothyroidism don't start losing weight once it's treated, though - medication relieves the other symptoms but it's still very hard to lose weight.
  • savlyon
    savlyon Posts: 474 Member
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    I am going to echo the eating sentiments. Dump the lean cuisine!! For dinner do a grilled chicken breast or fish, rice or sweet potato and a green veggie like green beans, asparagus, spinach, etc.

    I would also suggest upping your cardio by 10-15%. Instead of 2 miles, do 2.25 or increase the speed or incline.
    Of course weight strengthening is super important as well!!

    Good luck to you!
  • hoytcindy
    hoytcindy Posts: 5
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    My trainer at the gym calls it muscle confusion. Your body gets used to using the same muscles and adjusts to it. You need to confuse your body and use muscles you are not used to using. You need to exercise different muscles. Here is how I am being trained. first day do strength exercises on the legs with squats, ball squats , lunges, calf and leg strengthening, follow with 20 minutes of cardio keeping your heart rate to its max for 20 minutes, second day do back and core strengthening,again follow with cardio, third day do arm and chest strengthening, again follow with cardio.Rotate this in the same order day 1, day2, day 3 then day1 day2 day3 where ever you leave off you start with the next day. If you did day 2 on saturday and took sunday off from exercising then monday you start with day 3 and so on. giving your muscles 2 days to heal before using them again. Use weights or go to the gym for the strengthening exercises. He says doing the weights and strengthening exercises burns the sugar in your body first. When you do the cardio after it immediately burns fat. I lost 5 pounds the first week and I am 57 years old. And the more muscle you build the more calories your body burns naturally. I eat no less than 1200 calories a day but try to stay in myfitnesspal guidelines.
  • mary1014
    mary1014 Posts: 2
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    I purchased a "Fitbit" and absolutely LOVE it! It costs $99.00 and then you have free access to their website.I use Myfitnesspal to log my foods and it syncs with their website.You can log food on the fitbit site but there are more options on fitnesspal.The Fitbit is tiny and you don't even know you're wearing it.It measures steps,cal's burned,ect and at night you wear it in a soft wrist sleeve and it measures your "sleep effiency".I knew with my "fibro" I was waking several times a night but didn't know it was 10 to 18 times! I know not getting enough good sleep can interfere with weight loss to.I find that logging all the food i'm eating and then seeing calories burned is helping me understand that even with a 1000 calorie a day difference in calories burned i'll only be losing 2# a week. Hope this helps and remember......we're all in a weight loss Marathon for the long tern not a Sprint.So losing slowly is better in the long run.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    Private diary. Probably undereating.
  • jan5555
    jan5555 Posts: 35 Member
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    I was having the same problem. I was confining myself to eating 1200 cal/day or less. At first, weight really flew off, then I completely stalled. I dropped the calories I ate even more, and exercised more, but nothing budged. And I was really tired all the time. Read on this site that I should be eating at least my BMR a day, which is 1360. It's counter-intuitive, but after I upped my calories to 1400-1500/day things got a lot better. In the first few days, my weight went up about a lb, but has been slowly creeping down since then, and now I am 2 lbs under my plateau and still falling slowly but surely. And I feel so much better, energy-wise! You might want to search "Olivia method" on this site for more info. It sure helped for me.
  • bodyjammin85
    bodyjammin85 Posts: 34 Member
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    I'm assuming Lean Cuisine is a ready meal, right? They are not the way to go. Too high in salt (as someone said already) and they are just not a clean way of eating. If it's a shortage of time, i'd make large amounts of the same thing and freeze in individual portions ready to heat up when needed. Also, look at foods that are already quick. I love frozen fish portions, no breadcrumbs or batter, just fresh fish frozen and take less than 10 mins in the oven or less than 5 mins in the microwave. Eggs are your best friend in an omlette, scrambled, poached, boiled etc!!

    drink plenty water, keep a bottle with you at all times. Eat about 5-6 times a day and try to spread you cals out evenly. Use supplements to get enough protein, vitamins etc.
  • KristyJoy123
    KristyJoy123 Posts: 84 Member
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    You're eating too few calories. I know it's hard to wrap your head around this idea, I have trouble with it too, but it really is true. It's ok to NET 1200 calories a day, but if you're only taking in 1200 calories on top of working out every day, you're body is really going to hold on to as much fat as it can.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    I'm 5"7"..170 lbs. 40 yrs old. I have had struggles losing before, but never like this. I need to know what else I can do?? It once took me 7 months to lose 12 lbs and that was when i was 37 and running 2 miles 5 days a week. Some say I don't eat enough,,,but I have a hard time believing i could be overweight by not eating enough. I eat very healthy- hardly ever splurge. 1200 cal a day. I used to work at J Craig so I understand the basics of weight loss. Any advice is appreciated. I don't think i have a thyroid issue bc i had it checked about 5 or so years back....

    Sure you understand the basics of weight loss?

    Know what BMR is?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basal_metabolic_rate

    energy in this state is sufficient only for the functioning of the vital organs, the heart, lungs, nervous system, kidneys, liver, intestine, sex organs, muscles, and skin.

    So what do you think happens if you eat below your BMR?

    Right, the body will just slow the metabolism down to compensate, and lower the BMR. You are now no longer netting under your BMR.
    Only 2 directions to go, guess which way ultimately won't work?

    Deficit calories to make your goal should only come out of daily maintenance calories, not basic human life calories.

    And just in case other's comments aren't entirely clear, when you exercise, you are using extra energy NOT available to be used for BMR, so you might as well be eating under again.

    Your healthy BMR level is probably burning more calories than your exercise calories - are you sure you want it running slower?
  • Debbe2
    Debbe2 Posts: 2,071 Member
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    It's really hard to offer help when a food diary is closed however many possibilities; too few calories, not enough exercise or activity, little tastes and nibbles not making their caloric way into the food diary. Check it out and think about showing the diary because the feedback may be helpful. Good luck!
  • annavt09
    annavt09 Posts: 16 Member
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    YOUR PROBLEM IS SIMPLE TO IDENTIFY: TWO LEAN CUISINE MEALS PER DAY!!!! THEY ARE PURE SODIUM!!!! I WOULD SWAP THOSE FOR SOME WHOLE WHEAT PASTA AND FRESH STIR FRY AND YOU WILL SEE HUUUUUGE CHANGES!!!!
  • pjpj21
    pjpj21 Posts: 1
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    DRINK WATER!! and Lots of it!
  • KelliHarrison
    KelliHarrison Posts: 9
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    It sounds like in theory you are doing a lot of things right - but I agree with what some are saying.

    Some of those "healthy" meals have the right amount of calories - but their carb count and sodium counts are through the roof!
    I've been told that your carbs shouldn't exceed more than 10% of your calorie intake for the day - so if you are eating 1200 calories, make sure you aren't eating more than 120 carbs (on a high day). As well you need to make sure you are eating the right combination of protein -- anyone can chime in and make sure I'm not giving inaccurate advise.

    I also think you need to drink LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of water - it seems crazy - but from personal experience - if you aren't drinking enough water you aren't losing total weight. You may be losing fat, but you are probably retaining what water you are drinking.

    Hope this helps! It sounds like you are doing lots of things right -maybe just need to tweek it a bit.
  • bodyjammin85
    bodyjammin85 Posts: 34 Member
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    It sounds like in theory you are doing a lot of things right - but I agree with what some are saying.

    Some of those "healthy" meals have the right amount of calories - but their carb count and sodium counts are through the roof!
    I've been told that your carbs shouldn't exceed more than 10% of your calorie intake for the day - so if you are eating 1200 calories, make sure you aren't eating more than 120 carbs (on a high day). As well you need to make sure you are eating the right combination of protein -- anyone can chime in and make sure I'm not giving inaccurate advise.

    10% carbs isn't enough unless you're doing atkins. Carbs are essential for your body and especially if you're working out, you need the energy to get through it. If the exercise is hardcore and you are really eating clean you can do a 40/40/20 ratio which is 40% carbs, 40% protein, 20% fat. You can set these ratios in mfp settings. I use a 50/30/20 as 40% of cals coming from protein is very high for the amount of exercise i do. Your body can only process 25g of protein at a time so you must eat very regularly in small amounts to make that work. Protein shakes will help you get enough clean protein and help to increase your calorie intake if you are finding it hard to eat enough.

    I am 5ft 3in and 167lbs and i'm losing steadily with this and i'm eating most if not all my exercise cals. I'll set my diary to public so you can see mine if you like. I don't like veggies so i have to supplement with vitamins etc.
  • dovesgate
    dovesgate Posts: 894 Member
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    I saw some of my favorite links in this thread. <3

    OP, you're just not eating enough. Your current BMI is barely in the overweight category and your goal is on the lower side of normal. Try bumping your weight loss goal to .5 and stick to it for a month or two.

    Also, try replacing the Lean Cuisine for dinner in favor of something less sodium rich.

    Kelli, carbs aren't bad especially for runners.
  • shirleyisblessed
    shirleyisblessed Posts: 21 Member
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    I wish I had the answer for you. It's hard for me to lose weight too! I worked 5 days a week last year 1 to 1 1/2 hours a day and only lost 10 pounds. I need an answer to that one myself.
  • aliciar876
    aliciar876 Posts: 32
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    I'm having the same problem. I'm not losing weight. Any advice. I'm eating b/t 1200 to 1300 cals a day and burning anywhere from 900 to 2200 a day depending on the day. What am i doing wrong?
  • JenS0301
    JenS0301 Posts: 37 Member
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    You can gain weight by not eating enough throughout the day. Think of it as putting wood in a fireplace, the less wood you have the less heat you have. Your heat is your metabolism and the more "wood" you put in the higher your metabolism gets thus making you burn more calories and loose more weight. If you are not reaching your calorie intake daily could also cause you to gain weight weather it be water gain or gas in the bowels. Some foods to try nuts, yogurt, cottage cheese 1%, silk milk, special k bars, special k cereals with high fiber. My fav meal/snack is the steamables veggies. I just recently learned this as well and the pounds are coming right off. Also make sure you are drinking COLD water, at least 8 cups a day. Good Luck!
  • nicolemariedwyer
    nicolemariedwyer Posts: 46 Member
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    increase your protein and fiber, reduce complex carbs and sodium
  • thelowcarbrecipes
    thelowcarbrecipes Posts: 89 Member
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    Try low carb / keto

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