Where am I going wrong?

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CatherineAllen86
CatherineAllen86 Posts: 7
in Health and Weight Loss
I started losing weight about 18 months ago and lost around 35 pounds. About 6 months ago I stopped losing weight but still continued to diet (around 1300 calories per day) and exercise (walk 3.5 miles per day and gym 3 times a week). I understand that this happens when you've been dieting for some time and, at 145 pounds (I'm 5' 5") I wasn't too concerned about it as I was a healthy weight. In the last 4 months I've started to gain weight and quite a lot of it! I've put on around 9 pounds and it just won't come off again.

I'm still continuing to log everything I eat but none of the weight will budge. I don't think I'm eating too much and am fairly active so just don't understand where this extra weight is coming from.

I went to the doctors last year to get my thyroid etc checked and everything came back negative.

Any ideas what I can try?
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Replies

  • Charlottejogs
    Charlottejogs Posts: 351 Member
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    Adding protein powder worked for me- I have a healthy diet and am pretty active. I also had lost some but then stopped loosing- that worked for me. Good luck!
  • debweinbel
    debweinbel Posts: 1
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    Are you sure you are being honest with yourself about your eating and drinking? I am terrible about justifying and lying to myself about portion size. Tracking my food through MFP has been ruly eye opening. Also what are your calories made of? Carbs are the devil for me and make me gain weight. I can eat the same amount in lean beef or chicken vs. bread and the bread will make me gain. The other element I didn't see in your exercise is weights. Change up your work out. Increase your water intake. Good luck. I know its frustrating.
  • CatherineAllen86
    CatherineAllen86 Posts: 7
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    I don't really know anything about protein powder but would this not increase my calorie intake and make me put on even more weight? I'm really nervous about doing anything that would make this even worse.
  • tanigrrrrr
    tanigrrrrr Posts: 137 Member
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    I would suggest a juice fast? it takes some dedication and is pretty extreme, but itll flush your system, it should mix up your your routine and boost your weight loss! its also great for yoru digestive system and allows your body to repair itself.
    Do some research and see if it is for you - hopefully it will help
  • mandyschalk
    mandyschalk Posts: 93 Member
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    It sounds crazy I know. Based on my own experiences I'd say your likely not eating enough. Your body will shut down and store fat(causing a gain) if it feels as it isn't been feed enough.
    I suggest slowing adding cals you may see a slight gain at first so maybe ignore the scale for 2 weeks but then it will come off again.
  • CatherineAllen86
    CatherineAllen86 Posts: 7
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    Are you sure you are being honest with yourself about your eating and drinking? I am terrible about justifying and lying to myself about portion size. Tracking my food through MFP has been ruly eye opening. Also what are your calories made of? Carbs are the devil for me and make me gain weight. I can eat the same amount in lean beef or chicken vs. bread and the bread will make me gain. The other element I didn't see in your exercise is weights. Change up your work out. Increase your water intake. Good luck. I know its frustrating.

    I weigh everything I eat so am completely sure of everything that I'm putting in my body. It's become a bit of an obsession!
  • morganadk2_deleted
    morganadk2_deleted Posts: 1,696 Member
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    As you only have a little left to lose i would eat more, 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
  • CatherineAllen86
    CatherineAllen86 Posts: 7
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    It sounds crazy I know. Based on my own experiences I'd say your likely not eating enough. Your body will shut down and store fat(causing a gain) if it feels as it isn't been feed enough.
    I suggest slowing adding cals you may see a slight gain at first so maybe ignore the scale for 2 weeks but then it will come off again.

    I have heard this before but am just so terrified of putting on more weight. I worked so hard to get the weight off and now I'm putting it back on again.
  • dennydifferent
    dennydifferent Posts: 135 Member
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    Cut down on refined carbohydrate- flour and sugar. Try to get your carbs from mainly vegetables and some fruit, not bread and pasta.
  • demhareis
    demhareis Posts: 35
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    Yeah. What they said.

    Change your diet. It's not about the calories at this point, but the quality of the food. I'll bet you're eating the same things over and over and over.

    Humans were meant to eat seasonal variety. Go hit the specialty markets and select some food you don't normally eat. Go for some different veggies--there's more to life than peas, corn and carrots. Try a tropical fruit you don't normally eat. Seek out the uncommon meats like goat or kangaroo, if you can get it. Lay your hands on some quinoa or rye.

    I'm not saying change your diet forever, but give yourself a kick-start for a couple of weeks--just long enough for your body to respond. And allow yourself to go over your caloric intake on one or two days.

    Indulge, enjoy and be happy. Your body will respond.
  • docsallen
    docsallen Posts: 159 Member
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    Have you changed your exercise routine? If not, maybe your body has adjusted to your regimen and you are not burning as many calories as you think you are.
  • shalinimunjal
    shalinimunjal Posts: 192 Member
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    Do you know your TDEE? This is the measure of how much energy you are spending in a day.
    http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

    Once you know your TDEE, to lose a lb a week, you'll subtract 500 and arrive at the figure which is the amount of calories you should be eating per day.
  • CatherineAllen86
    CatherineAllen86 Posts: 7
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    Yeah. What they said.

    Change your diet. It's not about the calories at this point, but the quality of the food. I'll bet you're eating the same things over and over and over.

    Humans were meant to eat seasonal variety. Go hit the specialty markets and select some food you don't normally eat. Go for some different veggies--there's more to life than peas, corn and carrots. Try a tropical fruit you don't normally eat. Seek out the uncommon meats like goat or kangaroo, if you can get it. Lay your hands on some quinoa or rye.

    I'm not saying change your diet forever, but give yourself a kick-start for a couple of weeks--just long enough for your body to respond. And allow yourself to go over your caloric intake on one or two days.

    Indulge, enjoy and be happy. Your body will respond.

    Yes, this is true. I eat the same thing for breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday (except on weekends where I might change my meals slightly). Breakfast is always shredded wheat or all bran, lunch is a wholemeal pitta bread and some shapers salted popcorn and dinner is homemade soup and a slice of dry brown toast. My snacks are a banana and an apple, and sometimes a yoghurt.

    Maybe I'll try some different evening meals next week.

    I have also just bought some acai berry supplements on the internet. Maybe this will help?
  • shalinimunjal
    shalinimunjal Posts: 192 Member
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    Yes, this is true. I eat the same thing for breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday (except on weekends where I might change my meals slightly). Breakfast is always shredded wheat or all bran, lunch is a wholemeal pitta bread and some shapers salted popcorn and dinner is homemade soup and a slice of dry brown toast. My snacks are a banana and an apple, and sometimes a yoghurt.

    Maybe I'll try some different evening meals next week.

    I have also just bought some acai berry supplements on the internet. Maybe this will help?

    Honestly, my toddler eats double than the amount you eat! It's not healthy for an adult to be eating this little. There is literally NO fat in the menu you described and very little protein. You really need to start eating to kick your metabolism into high gear.
  • jchrisman717
    jchrisman717 Posts: 780 Member
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    I don't really know anything about protein powder but would this not increase my calorie intake and make me put on even more weight? I'm really nervous about doing anything that would make this even worse.

    No - actually adding the protein will help you lose weight. Just make sure to get a protein powder with no additives and less sugar. I use Whey for EAS or Jay Robb is a good one. It will help to curb your cravings and fuel your body. I do a protein shake in the morning with fruit and I do one after working out with just pure protein and water.
  • mmarcy11
    mmarcy11 Posts: 38 Member
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    If you are only eating 1300 calories but burning a lot at the gym, your body isn't getting enough fuel and that is what can mess up your metabolism. Try eating the "calories remaining" that your summary tells you, your "net" calories should not go below 1200. This site calculates everything for you and so it makes it easy.

    This guy explains the "extra" calories so well:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/173853-an-objective-look-at-eating-exercise-calories
  • CatherineAllen86
    CatherineAllen86 Posts: 7
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    Thank you to everyone for your comments and help!
  • jennywren1971
    jennywren1971 Posts: 31 Member
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    I agree with the others - eat more! Don't you get bored stupid eating the same tHing every day. Food is fuel for your body but it is also meant to be an enjoyable part of life. There are so many wonderful foods out there for you to eat. So many tastey yet healthy options.
  • Kristinemomof3
    Kristinemomof3 Posts: 636 Member
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    I agree, eat more!
  • Charlottejogs
    Charlottejogs Posts: 351 Member
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    Adding protein powder worked for me- I have a healthy diet and am pretty active. I also had lost some but then stopped loosing- that worked for me. Good luck!

    I can understand being nervous about adding calories. I can only speak to what has worked for me- I use about half the serving size of protein powder which adds about 55 calories to my day and have lost more in the last two weeks and in the last 6 months. It seems that protein must have been something my body was really needing to function better; who knows if you are the same. To that effect maybe it would be useful to look at your intake and see if there is something valuable you are missing. And back to the calories...55 that bring benefit are easy to make up somewhere else in my opinion. Good luck!

    One more thing- this may also be just me...once I stopped measuring my food at each meal and thinking about the healthiest low cal thing I could eat for each meal and snack ahead of time... I also had more success. For me it seemed that being so fixated on it perhaps had me eating more than I needed and actually wanted because I was thinking about it ALL the time and not listening to my body. Just my experience.

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