very, very discouraged

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2

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  • mgs68pony
    mgs68pony Posts: 306 Member
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    I was told yesterday.....

    it takes 4 weeks for you to notice a difference
    it takes 8 weeks for your family to notice a difference
    and it takes 12 weeks for everyone else to notice.

    I thought this was great advice.
  • LordBezoar
    LordBezoar Posts: 625 Member
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    First of all, I'm a 67 year old female. I have been dieting since Feb. 15, which is six weeks ago. I am using my fitness pal to track my calories. In the past I have found that I have to really cut my food intake in order to lose weight. I am keeping my calories to 900 a day AND using my elliptical almost daily for about 420 calories. I have lost only five pounds in all that time. I am getting very discouraged and wondering if this is due to my age or what the problem is. My diet consists of grapefruit, broiled fish, salads with very little dressing, 1 or 2 pieces of multigrain bread a day, 1 or 2 ounces of chicken, and one 6 oz. glass of white wine a day. My wight loss partner is losing four or five pounds a week - but seeing her fast progress and my slow progress is not helping. I want to lose 20-25 lbs and have 15-20 to go. Any suggestions?

    Look at it this way: if you are eating 900 Calories a day and burning 420 of them through your elliptical that means you are only netting 480 Calories a day, there is no way your body can run correctly on so few Calories and it will hold onto everything that it can. You need to help your body realize that it will get fed properly so it can release the extra weight. As (nearly) everyone has said, Eat more and you will lose. Many of us have done the low-calorie thing and hit the same wall that you are. Trust us.
  • NancyNiles
    NancyNiles Posts: 145 Member
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    When you net 500 calories a day, your body starts to "slow down". Some call it starvation mode, but in truth your body isn't really holding onto anything. It's using it as fast as you can take it in. Nothing is being stored. What is happening is your body knows its not going to get anymore, so its slowing down your metabolism to keep pace with your intake. If you keep it up, brain function will slow down, too.

    When you first increase your calories (after such a drastic restriction in calories) you WILL gain weight. Your body isn't used to the increased calories yet. Your body is still functioning at a level for 500 net calories. So when you take in more calories than your body needs, it will store it as fat and you will gain. This is the reason crash and fad diets don't work. Once you stop eating at such a deficit, the weight comes right back.

    But this is TEMPORARY!! Stick with the increased calories (1,200 net minimum for women after exercise) and your body will adjust to having more fuel. Then your body will increase your metabolism because it knows you are going to provide the fuel for it. Once your metabolism increases, you will start to lose weight again.

    It sounds contradictory, I know. But as you can see from the responses, its true. We're not all under some mass delusion, here. I promise :)

    Good luck to you!! :flowerforyou:
  • slimmergalpal
    slimmergalpal Posts: 235 Member
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    Try looking at the sugar in your foods. Its there, believe me. Sugar in wheat bread, Sugar in wine, sugar in Carbs found in fruits and veggies. Honestly, look at all the sugars and then take it from there. You are going to get some, just do your homework and see all the hidden in what you eat. Try it for 2 weeks, then see where you are at. ~ Just a thought. Good luck !
  • poncho33
    poncho33 Posts: 1,511
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    starving yourself isn't working and you don't seem to believe eating more will help, I suggest you see a doctor and see what they have to say.
  • jabba11
    jabba11 Posts: 44 Member
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    From your picture it appears you are not obese or extremely overweight. When you start working out you may gain weight as your muscles repair themselves etc. Additionally as a woman you weight may fluctuate with your "cycle"..Its been addressed a thousand times on here about min calories. 1200 is a MINIUMUM for women. If you are excercising you need to eat you execercise calories BACK. You didnt gain the wieght in a week, it will take time to slim down and adding some strength training will help tone you. it WONT neccessairly make you lose weight. Give it some time watch to see if your clothes fit better etc. its not about being a number on the scale its about being healthy. A healthy body is attained through proper diet and excercise. If your goal is to lose 20 pounds then you stop excercsiing and eating right you will gain that weight back plus some i assure you. Being fit is a lifetime dedication not a part time or temporary thing. I see it all the time on here and this is the second post like this today I have made. Dont mean to preach but what I am saying is true, people dont want to beleive tht the only way is the hard and long way. Soemday they might find a way to geneticlaly alter people to be a certain body fat percentage somehow until that day its diet and execercise, not starvation, pills, surgeries etc.
  • crystalbusybee
    crystalbusybee Posts: 2
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    I agree with everyone's statements about needing to eat more calories, You'll need the energy! :) Also, I'm not sure your detailed exercise routine but adding some resistance or weight training, even with just dumbbells in your home will help add muscle, for many ppl just doing cardio will not lead to the results they need and also if you are not eating enough your body will take from the highest source of energy from your own body which includes your muscle, not your fat as you might believe.
    Sounds like you're eating the right things though and everyone loses weight at different rates and honestly those that lose it the slowest seem to be more likely to keep it off for life rather than a temporary fix.
  • heggleston921
    heggleston921 Posts: 41 Member
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    and while you're eating those extra calories, eat them every 3 hours or so! i think that'll help your metabolism more than all that exercise. good luck - hope to hear a more positive message from you soon!
  • Pandoragirl
    Pandoragirl Posts: 19
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    Thanks to everyone for your input. I really appreciate it. It's difficult to not compare myself to my weight-loss partner because we are a team in our employer's "Biggest Loser" contest and she really wants to win this thing. So I feel like I'm not helping her much with my very slow, one pound a week, loss, but I agree, we each lose at our own pace. I really don't know how she can be losing so fast but good for her. We are at the half-way point and she's lost about 24 and I've lost six. She wants to lose 60 total and I'd be happy losing 20 total.

    So right now I am six pounds lighter than I was six weeks ago and that's a good thing!
  • Coco_Puff
    Coco_Puff Posts: 823 Member
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    I know it's hard to believe, but you must eat more to lose weight. We need fuel to burn fat, and you're lacking the fuel to do so. At this point your body is in starvation mode.
  • kyt1206
    kyt1206 Posts: 101
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    Don't give up. You can always try different things to get it right. I've done a lot of trying but I think I finally hit the nail on the head for myself. Here's what I do:

    Water:

    To get the best results for myself, I drink lots of water and eat a lot of calories *before* I exercise. So I will not feel winded or tired when I do exercise. Also, I limit myself to water breaks every hour and only if I'm really thirsty or sweating a lot, I'll increase that to every 30 minutes. But I try *not* to drink during exercise because it 1) gives me an excuse to slow down and 2) is not necessary for health, I will survive 30 mins without water fine and allows me to focus better on the task at hand. If I don't eat enough or drink enough when I'm running, I'm constantly thinking I should quit just so I can eat something or drink something. That's my BAD goal, the GOOD goal is to make sure I don't feel either of those things and complete my exercise goal.

    Food:

    My net intake per day is around 1200 calories. I eat my minimum BMR - around 1600 calories-1700 calories. My goal is to burn off all the excess until I only net 1200. Why? So my body doesn't feel deprived of food. Ever. With cardio exercise, I not only increase my cardiovascular health, I can improve my overall tone as well without building lots of muscle - which I tend to do when strength training. But I make sure I burn off all the excess calories that way I'm still burning off more than I am taking in but my body doesn't feel deprived of anything.

    Results so far:

    -I feel more energetic
    -I lost 2 inches on waist and hips
    -Lost 7 lbs in a week
  • dovesgate
    dovesgate Posts: 894 Member
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    Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I am exercising for more than an hour a day and burning 420-490 calories each day on the elliptical to prevent my metabolism from slowing down. If I ate 1200 calories a day, I would not lose, I would gain weight. In fact, about two weeks ago I did eat more calories for about three days in a row and gained 3.5 lbs, which came off as soon as I returned to the exercise and reduced calorie plan. But since then, I have not lost a single ounce.

    You gained because you've freaked your body out to where it thinks you're starving and it will hold on to every calorie you put in it when you start eating again. You have to gain in order to straighten out your body in order to lose. 500 net calories per day isn't a good idea because elliptical or not, you're screwing up your metabolism.

    This will teach you how to fix the problem:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing
  • erineddy81
    erineddy81 Posts: 43 Member
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    I agree with everyone else, you have to fuel your body!!! Also it sounds as though your losing buddy has more to lose than you do. With significantly overweight people, I believe they lose faster because they have more to lose. I know my body has slowed in weight loss now that i am 10 pounds shy of my goal, than when I was 50 pounds shy of it.
  • autumnk921
    autumnk921 Posts: 1,376 Member
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    Check these out....This might help you out...

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/541082-up-your-calories-and-see-results?page=1#posts-7580701

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/524791-women-who-eat-more-than-1800-calories-a-day
  • Getting2KnowMe
    Getting2KnowMe Posts: 28 Member
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    It can be hard to accept that eating more will mean you end up weighing less, but I agree that you sound like you are way under where you should be. :)

    ^^^^^ This is so true. I think it's the first thing we have to come to terms with. Eating more and keeping what you eat healthy is really the key.
  • jake1967
    jake1967 Posts: 20 Member
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    Most nutritionists and personal trainers say that 1200 is the bare minimum you need.Anything less is not healthy.From the research i have done anyway.Not that I am an expert either.
  • korsicash
    korsicash Posts: 770 Member
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    there is a site called fat2fit put in all your measurements and such and it will give you your correct calorie count. 1200 is minimum for life function. I stopped loosing for a while upped to 1400 to 1500 calories (honestly scared to go higher though everything says I should) gained at first but stuck with it as it was just water retention and started loosing slowly again.
  • skinnieminniemouse
    skinnieminniemouse Posts: 118
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    If you dont eat enough calories then your body stores the fat from the food you do eat so it can use that as it is in starvation mode. You would be better off upping your calories to about 1200, and eating a bit extra to compensate for the amount you burnt off. This should help your body burn the fat quicker and give you long lasting results. You do not sound to be eating anywhere near as much as your body should need.
  • rachel264
    rachel264 Posts: 33
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    Your not eating enough.
  • jjelizalde
    jjelizalde Posts: 377 Member
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    You need to eat more calories! It seems weird to eat more to lose more but it works. You need to have enough fuel for your body to sustain the workouts you're doing. Your calories are really, really low.

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