very, very discouraged

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Replies

  • kyt1206
    kyt1206 Posts: 101
    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
    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
    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: 1,374 Member
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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: 32 Member
    Your not eating enough.
  • jjelizalde
    jjelizalde Posts: 377 Member
    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.
  • nnylee
    nnylee Posts: 811 Member
    You have to eat more. Your body is storing the food for later, which is why you're not losing. You need to raise your intake. I plateaued for 4 months and I couldn't figure out way. Turns out I wasn't eating any exercise calories back and not eating enough. So I upped my intake and I've started to lose again, which is super awesome.
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
    You've been severely restricting your calories for awhile. Your body has adjusted to the lower amount of calories and your metabolism has slowed down to accommodate it. In order to lose weight, you're going to have to eat more. Your body is trying to function on as little as 450-500 calories a day. That isn't enough for anyone to live on for the long term. I'm surprised you aren't experiencing some of the not so favorable side effects of so little calorie intake - such as hair loss, always wanting to sleep, etc.

    The first thing you need to do is find out your BMR and your TDEE. These will give you an idea of where you should start as far as calorie intake goes. You should also attempt to eat back at least 1/2 of the calories you are burning through exercise. As you can see, a huge calorie deficit is not beneficial to weight loss. Yes, we need to create a deficit to lose - but one as large as you've created is actually counter productive.

    I will tell you this - you WILL likely see a gain on the scale when you start eating more. Your body will start hoarding what you're giving it for fear you'll stop feeding it again. DO NOT LOWER YOUR CALORIES - continue eating at the new level and eventually your body will adjust and realize you are going to continue feeding it. Once this happens (and it can take a month to 6 weeks for it to realize it), you'll begin losing weight again.

    Don't compare yourself to anyone else. Our bodies are all a little bit different, so comparing yourself is setting yourself up for failure. Don't worry about what she's doing - do what works for YOU (and severely restricting yourself isn't working).
  • Looby47
    Looby47 Posts: 43 Member
    Hi, I think there's already been plenty of replies already but my first thoughts as soon as i saw your posting was too few calories being eaten with the exercise as well, its DEFNIITELY too few. In effect you're burning off nearly half of what you've eaten so if you're eating 900 and burning off 420, you're only giving your body 480 cals a day!!! You wont lose weight. You need to eat the cals you burn off, or at least make it that when you deduct what you burn off, you've still taken in 1200 cals. Eg if you burn off 500 cals in exercise, you need to eat 1700 cals that day. Trust me it works, maybe not immediately as your body will still be panicking about the lack of food but it will work.

    Let us know how you go on in a few weeks.
  • Pandoragirl
    Pandoragirl Posts: 19
    I am taking your advice to eat more calories, but how many?

    I went to fitness frog yesterday and figured out these numbers:
    RMR- 1240 ( because of my age 67 and height 5'3")
    BMR- 1256
    Kilocalories burned per day -1,724 when I exercise 60' six times week.

    How many calories a day should I eat if I am burning about 430 cal per day via exercise?

    BTW, in the past week I gained 1.5 pounds. In the 60 days I've been dieting, I have lost only six pounds. It's hard to stay motivated when there is no progress and there is weight gain.
  • jreed1920
    jreed1920 Posts: 123
    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!

    You are comparing apples to oranges. You feel like she is losing so much faster than you when in reality you have both lost about 1/3 of the total that you would like to lose.

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