Need advice before I loose the will to live :(

I've been there and done that, learning the hard way that eating next to nothing is not always the way. Not only are you not losing weight, you're also feeling down about it. I can understand your thinking, "theres no way I can't lose weight" am I right? Sadly our bodies aren't designed that way.. they need fuel to work and to burn off the calories.

You've got two options:

- If you know you earn 3000+ calories a week, you could set mfp to maintain, and do not eatback calories, so your exercise would provide the deficit for weightloss

-Make it a bit more exact and set mfp to -1 a week, then eat back your calories. You MUST eat back your calories if you do a lot of exercise.

Super mega kudos to you for working as hard as you are, but take it a little easier on yourself m'dear.

You need to eat way more than you are eating first of all!!! If you are exercising that much you need to provide your body with the fuel it needs. I am sure you are very tired, eat back you exercise calories!!! It will make a huge difference I promise!! You dont have to eat them all back just some, also start some strength training into your routine, that makes a huge difference as well!! Good Luck!

Bottom line- You've slowed you metabolism to a crawl. 1200 Calories is the minimum for a person that is resting all day and not doing much. I often see people in these forums say "I only eat 1200 calories per day". Hey, if I did that, I'd lose the will to live too, and I'd be grumpy as all get out to boot!

You are excercising like crazy. Not knowing how much exercise you are doing in all of these categories, but it sounds like you could be burning close to 1500 calories per day. That being the case, assuming your calories are 1200 per day allowance when resting, you would now need to consume 2700 calories to lose weight. Counterintuitive- not really. You need these calories to run your metabolism properly. What you are doing is unhealthy.

It is difficult to step on the scale and see that you are not losing weight, in fact you could be gaining weight! There is plenty of people telling you you are not eating enough and I would agree with them. The min amount anyone should eat is posted at 1300 calories a day. That is for someone who is not doing any workout or fitness program. Bump up your Calories to 1500, then 1700, and finally 2000. Add weights to your workout. You do not need to be the "I pick things up and put them down" person. Low weights high reps. Also, do not beat yourself up about losing weight too much. Yea, get ticked off but in a good way. If it were easy we wouldn't need to work out.

my guess you are eating enough

are you eating your exercise calories? are you drinking enough water?


Generally someone with a BMI over 32 can do a 1000 calorie a day (2 lbs a week) deficit
With a BMI of 30 to 32 a deficit of 750 calories is generally correct (about 1.5 lbs a week)
With a BMI of 28 to 30 a deficit of 500 calories is about right (about 1 lb a week)
With a BMI of 26 to 28 a deficit of about 300 calories is perfect (about 1/2 lb a week)
and below 26... well this is where we get fuzzy. See now you're no longer talking about being overweight, so while it's still ok to have a small deficit, you really should shift your focus more towards muscle building, and reducing fat. This means it is EXTRA important to eat your exercise calories as your body needs to KNOW it's ok to burn fat stores, and the only way it will know is if you keep giving it the calories it needs to not enter the famine response (starvation mode).

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

Sorry that should have said NOT eating enough

I'm no expert but if you are doing all that exercise you should be eating more than 1200 calories a day.

Keep your head up! I'm sure you will find something that will work for you and have the scales moving in the right direction.

I agree. You are not eating enough and your body has gone into starvation mode and holding on to whatever it can to survive. You need to eat more but eat clean whole foods. No junk and no processed.

I try to NET 1200 calories a day. Sometimes I eat back all my exercise calories sometimes I only eat back a few to get me up to 1200.
Also, you need to give your body a rest day. There is such a thing as TOO much exercise. And have a spike day with your calories.

I have been going to the gym Mon-Fri for the past 4 weeks working on treadmill, cross trainer and bike. Also swimming afterwards, working on my cross trainer at home at the weekends and doing my horses twice a day 7 days a week, eating less than 1200 calories a day and have not lost a single pound... What am I doing wrong?

Any advice would be great as I seem to loosing the will to live

1 - 'loosing the will to live' is a disturbing statement....seek professional help if you really feel is way
2 - eating less than 1200 is not healthy and is counterproductive with all the working out you have been doing
3 - Bottom line - seek profession help if you are that depressed, EAT MORE healthy nutritious foods, take a rest day once in awhile

Any advice would be great as I seem to loosing the will to live

Were you exaggerating? Because if not, a mental health professional might be more of a priority than a medical doctor right now. If you are feeling depressed (not just a bout of the "blues" or expressing momentary frustration), you may want to talk to someone who can help you work through those feelings.

National Mental Health Assn. Provides free information on specific disorders, referral directory to mental health providers, national directory of local mental health associations 1-800-969-6642 (M-F, 9-5 EST)

Its funny how everyone's advice is to eat more. She is probably eating too much if she is working out 7 days a week for four weeks and hasn't lost a single pound.

Not necessarily. If you exercise a lot your body needs more than just 1200 calories. 1200 calories is great if you're sedentary,

Also, OP, if you're truly losing the will to live you need to seek help. If you're not, then stop being a drama queen because exaggerating isn't funny.

Don't give up, but do get better information. You need to talk to an expert that knows or at least read some information that isn't misinformation. There is a lot garbage out on the web.

One or two posters already indicated you may be eating too few calories in fact. You may be putting your metabolism into starvation mode.

In my case I determined my BMR, so I knew how many calories I was burning just being alive. I used that as my starting point and went for a 400-500 calorie reduction from there. I then made sure to track "everything" I ate and all my true exercise activities. On days I exercise, I have to eat more. In fact, there is a phrase you come across over again on many reputable sites about "fueling your workout" this seemed to work well for me.

Keep in mind that the closer you get to your ideal weight, the slower the pounds come off. Don't expect the same rate of loss the whole way through, and don't expect consistency day to day. Don't weigh yourself more than once a week and do so at the same time of day.

I'm in no way associated with this site, but I recommend checking out webefit.com. It's run by a group of personal trainers in Key West, Florida I had the pleasure of getting to know on a recent business trip. They are very good about helping you cut through the weight loss misinformation, debunking myths and provide a lot of really good advice on exercise.

Best of luck!
Scott

This is an awful headline "Need advice before I loose the will to live". Seriously? If this is true than you need to check yourself into a psych ward. Or at least tell someone that you are at this point and then they can help you.

As for the weight....it's water weight. Give your body a break from the exercise for a couple of days (2-3) and allow it to get rid of the water in your sore muscles. Then weigh yourself. You'll be surprised at the change in the number on the scale.

same thing here... its frustrating... but my PT told me i need to incorporate strength training into my cardio... building muscle mass burns more calories...

give it more time.. this doesnt happen overnight. good luck!

Good advice that is exactly what I train to. I alternate my cardio training with my strength I attend the gym 4 times a week for 1 hour a time and I aim to eat 800 of my 1200 calories - working for me so the advice I was given was great for me. Cardio training burns calories but strength training will continue to burn calories when you get home as the muscle has to repair itself,. Also the less you have to lose the slower it will come off those with a greater goal to reach lose weight faster at the start watching ITV Biggest loser proves this. Best of luck

BUT you need to eat MORE to gain muscle! PLUS, why do you only eat 800 of your calories? Are you aiming to be skinny or healthy? :L

Who said anything about gaining muscle??? have you heard of toning! and strength training helps to burn calories faster. As for skinny or healthy I have always been 8.5 stone until I had cancer treatment and my weight rose to 9.5 stone as I was unable to train so I am following the advise given to me by the hospital nutritionalist, everyone is different - that is why there are plans out there! Believe my healthy and skinny doesn't compete with being alive!!

EAT!!!

Its funny how everyone's advice is to eat more. She is probably eating too much if she is working out 7 days a week for four weeks and hasn't lost a single pound.

She is definitely not eating enough. Your body will go into starvation mode if you are not taking in enough calories a day even to live. Each person needs to find what their BRM is and go from there. It should never be less that 1200 calories per day before exercise...and has to be more if you are exercising.