Been stuck at the same weight for 3 years, help!

wordpainter09
wordpainter09 Posts: 472 Member
edited November 12 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm new to this forum and I could use some advice. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I read a lot about nutrition and have an extremely healthy lifestyle.I'd like to lose about 10 pounds and I can't do it no matter what. I workout 5 to 6 days a week for 50 minutes running and elliptical training every other day. I have done this for about 10 years and used to competitively run X country and track. I eat about 1600 calories a day and recently dropped it to 1300 to try to lose weight. Nothing has budged.
I've read the articles about "eating your exercise calories" and according to this, I should be eating about 1800-2000 calories per day with my exercise routine. I've eaten this way for years and never lost weight, and can't lose any now that I dropped below that caloric intake.
Has anyone else experienced this?
I've tried interval training, calorie cycling that weight trainers do and everything!! Tried eating more like people have suggested. Nothing has worked for me. I eat every 3-4 hours to keep my metabolism up and eat about 80 grams of protien per day and drink at least 80 oz of water.
What am I missing?
I weigh about 135 and am 5'5", pants size 2. I'd like to weigh 125.

Replies

  • rjt1000
    rjt1000 Posts: 700 Member
    what are you actually eating and are you really getting an accurate count of your calories? Your one day of food diary is just quick added calories rounded to the 100 so it doesnt look like you're really tracking your calories. A lot of people grossly underestimate the calories they're taking in. How are you measuring your exercise calories burned? Same thing, people often overestimate burns. It's physics, if you really burn more calories than you eat, you'll lose weight. As you aren't losing weight, you're not really burning as many calories as you think OR you're eating more calories than you think.
  • Lozze
    Lozze Posts: 1,917 Member
    Can I ask why you want to lose weight? Your in the healthy weight range for your height.
  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
    Eat more, lift heavy, ditch the cardio. Buy and read "New Rules of Lifting for Women." Thank me later ;)
  • mes1119
    mes1119 Posts: 1,082 Member
    Strength Training.
  • iRun4wine
    iRun4wine Posts: 5,126
    I have no advice for you, but just wanted to let you know that I'm in a similar predicament- actually, my weight is UP from 3 years ago (when I first joined here).
  • eedossa
    eedossa Posts: 54 Member
    Add more strength training. I finally added weights to my workout routine on Feb 1, and I have dropped 8lbs after being stuck at a the same weight for 4 months. "New rules of lifting for women" is one the best books I have read so far.
  • lgladybug
    lgladybug Posts: 68 Member
    I hear a lot of people say if you burn more cals then you eat then you will lose but this isn't always true. You could be burning more then you need thus resulting in a storage mode. If you exercise you may want to look at your overall net cals. Several people start to store and or plateau because they arent eating enough. I do agree that if your estimating your cals in/out this too could be a factor. I purchased a Polar heart rate monitor and I love it. It takes away the guess work of what I'm burning when I exercise. However I've started to net close to 900 cals daily which caused me to store and not lose weight. Once I bumped up my cals the weight started to fall off again.
  • lgladybug
    lgladybug Posts: 68 Member
    I've heard great things about this book. I sooo need to get it.
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
    Agreed with the others, get the book. :wink:

    Doing an hour of cardio 5-6 times a week is obviously not giving you the results you desire, so it is time to change it up. My body really changed for the better when I got into weight training. I love it now!

    Also, you definitely need to track your calories meticulously (at least for the first few months or so) so you can really see how/what you're eating, and how many calories you're eating. Losing weight is 80% diet!
  • mom2mozart
    mom2mozart Posts: 307 Member
    Have you measured your body fat? Have you met with a personal trainer or talked to a doctor
    about your desire to lose 10 pounds? You may be able to lose weight, but you may lose
    muscle - which wouldn't be a great thing... How much sodium do you consume? Many people
    who think they eat healthy, eat low calorie foods that are not necessarily low sodium... You could
    have some excess water weight.
  • wordpainter09
    wordpainter09 Posts: 472 Member
    I hear a lot of people say if you burn more cals then you eat then you will lose but this isn't always true. You could be burning more then you need thus resulting in a storage mode. If you exercise you may want to look at your overall net cals. Several people start to store and or plateau because they arent eating enough. I do agree that if your estimating your cals in/out this too could be a factor. I purchased a Polar heart rate monitor and I love it. It takes away the guess work of what I'm burning when I exercise. However I've started to net close to 900 cals daily which caused me to store and not lose weight. Once I bumped up my cals the weight started to fall off again.

    Just read some posts over in the +1800 cals forum... I think you might be right. Can I ask how much you bumped up your calories to?
  • wordpainter09
    wordpainter09 Posts: 472 Member
    Can I ask why you want to lose weight? Your in the healthy weight range for your height.

    Thanks! I'm a distance runner and I just think as hard as I workout and I should weigh a little less. It's discouraging to put in so much effort and see what I feel is a high number on the scale for my height. I know it's not a really unhealthy number but it bothers me :(
  • wordpainter09
    wordpainter09 Posts: 472 Member
    what are you actually eating and are you really getting an accurate count of your calories? Your one day of food diary is just quick added calories rounded to the 100 so it doesnt look like you're really tracking your calories. A lot of people grossly underestimate the calories they're taking in. How are you measuring your exercise calories burned? Same thing, people often overestimate burns. It's physics, if you really burn more calories than you eat, you'll lose weight. As you aren't losing weight, you're not really burning as many calories as you think OR you're eating more calories than you think.

    I did do kind of a rush job on the food diary, but I'm a calorie counter and have been for several years. I read labels carefully and eat the same foods pretty much every day, so I know what the calories are in all my food. Sad, huh? :P It might be a little off but I'm guessing it isn't too much.
    Still, good point. I should use the "food" tool instead of the "quick add" tool for a better count maybe.
  • wordpainter09
    wordpainter09 Posts: 472 Member
    Thank you all for your advice, especially on the calories and strength training! I appreciate the encouragement from fellow fitness nuts:smile:
  • sandydavies17
    sandydavies17 Posts: 6
    If you are size 2 then your body probably doesn't want to lose any weight.
  • wordpainter09
    wordpainter09 Posts: 472 Member
    Have you measured your body fat? Have you met with a personal trainer or talked to a doctor
    about your desire to lose 10 pounds? You may be able to lose weight, but you may lose
    muscle - which wouldn't be a great thing... How much sodium do you consume? Many people
    who think they eat healthy, eat low calorie foods that are not necessarily low sodium... You could
    have some excess water weight.
    No I haven't...I'm not sure where to go for this. If my insurance covers this I would definitely do it.
  • Lozze
    Lozze Posts: 1,917 Member
    Thanks! I'm a distance runner and I just think as hard as I workout and I should weigh a little less. It's discouraging to put in so much effort and see what I feel is a high number on the scale for my height. I know it's not a really unhealthy number but it bothers me :(

    You ARE getting results for your hard work. You run, you're healthy and you feel good about yourself. Don't stress over a number. It's irrelevant.
This discussion has been closed.

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