Help, i'm so desperate to lose weight.
TanKiwi2394
Posts: 21
Hello, I'm 5'7 Female, 180 pounds and 18 years old.
I'm Moderately active (work out 5 times a week), I do 20 mins of hard cardio (keep heart rate at 160-170 for the whole 20 mins), and strength train either upper body and abs for the day, or lower body and abs for the day, or circuit training for all over body workout. This is a typical workout for me monday - friday.
I've tried to lose weight for 3 years now. 3 years ago I weighed 150 and lost 20 pounds from eating a net worth of 1000 calories.
I gained it all back and more, so I went up to 160. Then the year after i would try eat 1200 calories and work out every so often, i ended up losing 10 or so pounds but gained it back and hit 170. Then this year, since december (for 6 months now) i've been working out 5 days every week, weight training and cardio, and now im at my highest 180 pounds.
Let me break down this year for you because it was the most i've tried to lose weight. I went from working out 5 days a week, trying to get a net worth of 1200 calories. Then i raised it to getting around 1400 calories--- i lost weight for a short time, then before i knew it, i was back up to 180. Then i went to my doctor and she told me to eat 1800-2000 calories with exercise which gave me a net worth of about 1300-1500 calories or so and I haven't lost anything and kept my weight.
I figured out recently (ever since i joined this website/app) that i need to have a net worth of 1800 calories to lose weight. I've tried this for the past week, and had my first period in a long time. I just finished my period today and I decided to weigh myself today and I had gained a pound (i fluctuate between 178-180) And now i'm 181. It could be water weight, but how much longer do i have to wait to lose weight? Will i even ever lose weight?
This is the highest amount of calories i've had in 3 years.
I'm very active from 4:30 am in the morning to 12:00--- i work out at 5:30 am - 7am, shower get ready, go to school and walk all over campus from 9:00am - 12:00pm. I basically do nothing after that except homework and sleep at 7:00 pm. I occasionally (twice a week or so) walk my dog around my neighborhood for about an hour and we stop by the park to do sprints across the soccer field.
Am I not active enough? I just want a solution, please help, you don't know how desperate I am.
By the way, i've cut out all sugars and eat healthy fats, lean protein, and healthy carbs. I eat every 3 hours (about 5-6 meals a day) and i don't over do the carbs. I try to eat more protein and i rarely have cheat meals. I drink a cup of coffee every morning, and it has half a packet of sweet and low, but besides that, i don't eat any fake/real sugars throughout the day.
I'm Moderately active (work out 5 times a week), I do 20 mins of hard cardio (keep heart rate at 160-170 for the whole 20 mins), and strength train either upper body and abs for the day, or lower body and abs for the day, or circuit training for all over body workout. This is a typical workout for me monday - friday.
I've tried to lose weight for 3 years now. 3 years ago I weighed 150 and lost 20 pounds from eating a net worth of 1000 calories.
I gained it all back and more, so I went up to 160. Then the year after i would try eat 1200 calories and work out every so often, i ended up losing 10 or so pounds but gained it back and hit 170. Then this year, since december (for 6 months now) i've been working out 5 days every week, weight training and cardio, and now im at my highest 180 pounds.
Let me break down this year for you because it was the most i've tried to lose weight. I went from working out 5 days a week, trying to get a net worth of 1200 calories. Then i raised it to getting around 1400 calories--- i lost weight for a short time, then before i knew it, i was back up to 180. Then i went to my doctor and she told me to eat 1800-2000 calories with exercise which gave me a net worth of about 1300-1500 calories or so and I haven't lost anything and kept my weight.
I figured out recently (ever since i joined this website/app) that i need to have a net worth of 1800 calories to lose weight. I've tried this for the past week, and had my first period in a long time. I just finished my period today and I decided to weigh myself today and I had gained a pound (i fluctuate between 178-180) And now i'm 181. It could be water weight, but how much longer do i have to wait to lose weight? Will i even ever lose weight?
This is the highest amount of calories i've had in 3 years.
I'm very active from 4:30 am in the morning to 12:00--- i work out at 5:30 am - 7am, shower get ready, go to school and walk all over campus from 9:00am - 12:00pm. I basically do nothing after that except homework and sleep at 7:00 pm. I occasionally (twice a week or so) walk my dog around my neighborhood for about an hour and we stop by the park to do sprints across the soccer field.
Am I not active enough? I just want a solution, please help, you don't know how desperate I am.
By the way, i've cut out all sugars and eat healthy fats, lean protein, and healthy carbs. I eat every 3 hours (about 5-6 meals a day) and i don't over do the carbs. I try to eat more protein and i rarely have cheat meals. I drink a cup of coffee every morning, and it has half a packet of sweet and low, but besides that, i don't eat any fake/real sugars throughout the day.
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Replies
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Do you take measurements regularly? Sounds like you're doing a lot of strength work, but not a huge amount of cardio comparatively?
Maybe try cutting back some strength work - not all, strength is also important for lean muscle mass - and up your cardio to include a couple of longer sessions a week (40min or so)? For me 20 min of running at that heart rate would burn about 250ish cal0 -
How closely do you track your intake? How long did you follow your doctor's recommendation? I'd be tempted to stick to that plan.
You're not that big. 1800 plus your exercise is a pretty high intake, to me. 1800 total sounds more like it, like your doctor said. Plus then you don't have to fuss with calcing your exercise. And if your 'net worth' values are intake plus exercise, you could be not losing due to overestimating your exercise. This would take that out of the equation.0 -
I wouldn't worry so much about measurements for now since you have a quite a bit to lose. How is your diet? I know you mentioned keeping within your calories but are you choosing healthy calories and weighing your food too?0
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good advice above, but if all else fails get your thyroid checked, sometimes its just helpful to rule thyroid problems out
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How many grams of "healthy carbs" do you eat a day? The reason I ask is that I didn't lose weight when I ate a "normal" amount of healthy carbs. It took me 3 months to lose 7 pounds on a calorie restrictive diet. 5 weeks ago I decided that I needed to restrict carbs, even the healthy ones, to under 100g per day. I loosely follow Atkins guidelines, so I take total carbs and subtract fiber carbs from it to get "net carbs". Since I have been restricting carbs, I have lost almost 11 pounds. In the last 10 days alone I have lost 2 pounds. Tonight I had 600 calories left to eat ( it was a busy day) so at 9pm I was eating a Fiber One brownie with 2T of peanut butter on it. I fully expect to have lost more weight tomorrow when I hop on the scale....
oh yeah, I ate 2000 calories today!0 -
How many grams of "healthy carbs" do you eat a day? The reason I ask is that I didn't lose weight when I ate a "normal" amount of healthy carbs. It took me 3 months to lose 7 pounds on a calorie restrictive diet. 5 weeks ago I decided that I needed to restrict carbs, even the healthy ones, to under 100g per day. I loosely follow Atkins guidelines, so I take total carbs and subtract fiber carbs from it to get "net carbs". Since I have been restricting carbs, I have lost almost 11 pounds. In the last 10 days alone I have lost 2 pounds. Tonight I had 600 calories left to eat ( it was a busy day) so at 9pm I was eating a Fiber One brownie with 2T of peanut butter on it. I fully expect to have lost more weight tomorrow when I hop on the scale....
oh yeah, I ate 2000 calories today!
I also do the same as Sarah and struggle with so many health issues that make it hard to lose weight. Are you sure your not PCOS it is where your body does not burn carbs for fuel but instead stores them as fat? I just recently learned about this. Check out search engine on MFP much info on it. I have to keep my carbs close to 50 as possible always under 100. Sarah is proof the low carb eating works.0 -
So im about the same as you in terms of weight, im currently 179 so far, but im definitely not as active as you in terms of strength training, I'm more into cardio, and that might just be what it is. I would also say up your cardio since thats where you will drop the cals. Hopefully you figure things out!0
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Honestly, what works for me is to increase fruits and veggies. Our body needs micronutrients that we only get from raw fresh foods, and when we don't have those, our body will hold onto everything just to try to salvage nutrients! When you increase the raw fresh stuff, you get the digestive enzymes that you need to break down your food and that helps you lose as well. I tried EVERYTHING until I went mostly vegetarian and started with whole grains (not wheat - steel cut oats, brown rice, gluten free grains), beans, fruits and veggies. I started drinking green smoothies as well and that made a huge huge difference. I hope this helps! Feel free to friend me if you want to see some of the things I eat. 0
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Short answer: Drop cardio for a month or so, weight train 3x/week (every other day), either a full-body routine or 2-3 "big lifts" (squats, deadlift, bench press, +dips, chins, barbell row... can get more specific if you need). Eat 2200 calories on weight days, ~150g protein, ~40g fat, rest carbs/more protein. Rest days 1600 calories (or BMR if that is higher, and you are paranoid about eating below BMR), 150g protein, 60-80g carbs, rest fat+more protein. Fast for 14-16 hours per day (8-10 hour eating window). Do that, and you will lose something like 0.5-1% body fat/week.
After a month, you can start reintroducing cardio on your rest days. I recommend 30 mins-1 hour of low to low-moderate intensity cardio before you break your fast.
Don't go too crazy on your cardio when at a caloric deficit... women tend to have relatively fragile thyroid function, and for people predisposed to such issues lots of cardio + caloric deficit = low thyroid hormone levels.0 -
Bump0
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Okay, I'll try increasing my cardio, and lowering my carbs.
I've followed my doctors recommendation for about 1-2 months now and haven't lost anything, eating a total of only 1800 calories even with my workouts and I got no results. I've checked multiple calculators and they have all said to eat 1800-1900 as a net worth. Even this website tells me that i should eat 1800 as a net.
To victoria, i eat clean. I try to eat all natural and fresh things.
I'll stay at my net calories of 1800, but i'll try out the low carb thing. And if all else fails, ill try wackyfunsters idea.
Thank you guys.0 -
There are so many different ways to lose weight, it's not even funny. I've learned, however, that in order for any of them to be successful I 1) have to eat, 2) need to eat well, and 3) stick to a strict calorie limit. Calorie limits are not set in stone, however. As you start to lose (and you need to be patient, one week is not enough to see results), you may have to bump up your calories 100-200 or take them down 100-200. It really depends on your activity level though. You may be doing a lot in your workouts, but keeping busy for 1.5 hours is not the same as concentrated training. Think quality over quantity. It never hurts to get in touch with a personal trainer. I found a very nice girl who was a nutrition major and worked as PT at my campus gym. She showed me A LOT about how to lift properly, how to design a workout, the benefits of cardio, etc. Sometimes we need the advice of someone who (and she clearly knew! she competed in figure contests) has tried and found what works to meet your personal weight/fitness goals.
Above all, though, try your best to not get discouraged when you don't see results right away. The best and truly healthiest weight loss is going to be an agonizingly slow process, but it will be worth the work (and the wait!). 5'7" and 180 is really not as bad as you may think. Try being 5'2" and 185
You can do it, but get in touch with someone who can help you get on a diet and exercise plan that will work for you and your schedule (and budget, too). 0 -
I'm close to your weight and height (though WAY older - I'm 5'7" and 174 lbs) and I switched from weight watchers (low calorie) to MFP and immediately dropped 8.5 lbs in 5 weeks eating 2100 calories/day.
I work out 6 days a week - 4 runs and 2 Insanity workouts (no weights)...
My suggestion is you need to eat more. When I was your age I had 130 lbs of lean mass on me... that meant I needed to eat even more than I do now (120 lbs lean).
Click on "Groups" above^^ and search "Eat More to Weigh Less"... then read the stickies about Metabolism Reset. I think you need to understand that information and what you've been doing with low calorie diets.
EDITED TO ADD: Right now I'm maintaining on NET 2000/day... which means some days I eat over 3000.0 -
I have used this to lose weight and it works!!......If you stop eating processed foods...pre-made foods, and fast food...The weight will come off. They are so full of sodium, sugar & fat!! I stopped eating sugar (I Only eat sugar in fruits), only good fats ( nuts, avocado & healthy oils), and no starchy veggies I eat lean meats.
Good luck0 -
What percent of your daily intake is low carb fruits and vegetables? This sounds trivial but I NEVER lose if I'm not eating lots of greens, or what my family calls "rabbit food".0
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Get yourself a personal trainer who knows about nutrition. Get them to set you your new life meal plan. Stick to it.
You need to get yourself a heart rate monitor which measures calories burnt so you can accurately track input/output.
You need to weigh and measure everything you eat so you're not underestimating quantities.0 -
That sounds similar to the Mediterranean diet I have been trying. It has worked well for me. I have been losing for 3 months now, I also drink more water than I use to. 0
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May want to increase the cardio. Also as some have noted... You may lose inches and gain pounds. With weight training properly done that can happen. Also, make sure your portions are not larger than you think they are. Sometimes we consume more than we think.0
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i also just wanted to encourage you... meet my friend Emily. She's rocking the 200+ lbs of solid:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/580019-the-scale-is-a-lying-torture-device-i-m-proof
... so it's not always about the scale. Just sayin'0 -
BUMP0
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