eating less doing excerise struggle to lose even 1lb a week

The depo might have a little to do with it, but shouldn't be all of it. What types of food are you eating? I know that when I eat anything with sugar, it doesn't matter how little I eat, I don't lose. I also know that for some people, wheat and gluten products can do the same thing...good luck! it sounds like you have the exercise going!

If you open your diary we can have a look.... I'm stuck at the moment too and asked for some advice today at the gym... this is what I was told

"up your water intake"
"Two meals a day is not enough with the amount of cardio you do girl you should be on 5 small meals - how im gonna do that I don't know!"
"eat more, you don't eat enough"
"try some weights training"

Oh I use depo too btw....

do you think it might be your metabolism? mine is pretty slow. i eat pretty healthy, cook lots of veggies and protein. but it takes me forever to loose a pound. I excersize a lot which makes me gain muscle

Depo caused me to gain weight initially and although I have not gained any more weight it has made it very hard for me to loose even with a better diet and regular excercise. Most doctors will tell you this is one of the side effects. :-(

The way I see it is the only option would be to come off of Depo to see the weight drop but for me that is not a realistic option right now.

Good Luck to you!

Did you measure your waist? hips? etc?
Maybe you are losing inches and not weight? (losing fat and gaining muscle) that may be it?

It's hard to really help when we can't see your diary.

Yes it would help!

If you want to be successful at your goals, you may need to question your assumptions about why you are where you are and what it takes to get where you want to be.

The ideas I believed when I joined this site and the ones that actually worked bear little resemblance to each other. See ticker.

Make sure your intake of calories or nutrients are NOT below your BEE. (This is the minimum calories needed to sustain normal body function. ) The BEE is determined by using the Harris Benedict Equation. Once you have that as a base, you should NEVER drop below those calories unless under the advise of a physician. Adding your activity will give you additional calories based on how active and how frequently active you are. This is referred to as total calories. Any caloric intake that falls between the BEE and the total calories is safe for weight loss and will still allow for muscle gain provided your protein intake is adequate and contains all of your Essential amino acids.

Here is a link to determine your BEE and total calories.
http://healthylivingwithdestiny.com/harris-benedict-equation/

Also eat 3 meals and 3 snacks a day. Weight loss is as much about consistent sugar/insulin levels as calories. Drink lots of water to add volume in your stomach to help avoid that empty feeling.
Somebody on a 1500 calorie diet for example should eat 3 meals of 300 kcals each and 3 snacks of 100 kcals. each

Sorry, but this isn't right. Your body does NOT need a constant flow of calories, nor do you have to eat eat meal with the equivalent calories. So whether you eat 2 meals or 6 meals, your body will metabolize the calories the same and you will lose just as much weight (noted below in NIH study)


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19943985


OP, we need some basic information to determine your caloric needs (CN). What is your height, weight, age, daily active (job -desk job, nurse, stay at home mom) and your exercise routine. Also, do you only have 10kg to lose or that is what you need to meet a goal.

It could be the shot or it could be what you are eating. MFP tells me that I can only lose a max of 1.4 pounds a week. Honestly, it is probably 1 lb a week and when I'm not being very careful it has historically been 0.5 pounds a week.

The hormones in the shot are tricking your body into thinking it is pregnant, so you are going to retain water and have difficulty losing weight. It is also labeled a Class I carcinogen by the World Health Organization and can cause strokes, etc.

I don't know how tall you are or what your lowest calorie count that you can safely eat. MFP tells me that mine is 1200. So I aim for that and at least an hour of exercise a day. At least really, but I've got one of those stubborn famine survival body types that just wants to hold on to weight for dear life.

Don't get me wrong, the pill (shot) may cause water retention, but it SHOULD stabilize. Also, MFP isn't tell you how many calories to eat, you actually tell it how many calories to eat based on your goals. So if your estimate BMR is 1400 calories and you put it at sedentary, then your estimated total daily energy expended (TDEE) is 1680. And lets say you want to lose 1 lb a week, it would put you at 1280, any more than that, it will default to that. Also, in this case, MFP assumes that you are NOT exercising. If you exercise, it will add calories back. It does this because your body has greater calorie requirements if it is working out. This is because, calories are fuel, and fuel burns the fire. What MFP doesn't tell you is acceptable rates of loss as noted below. So if you have 20 lbs to lose, then your body won't accept a 1000 calorie deficit.

Also, for those who think you can outsmart the math, well it's not going to happen. Your body is adaptive. So when you under-feed it, your body will release cortisol to convert any calories to fat automatically as fat stores are the quickest and easiest source of energy. Additionally, if it requires more energy, it will catabolize your lean body mass to create energy. Essentially, converting the amino acids from your muscles to create energy. This is how people lose lean body mass (LBM). Losing LBM will cause your metabolism to slow down and your body to hold onto energy causing your body to plateau.


If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

Depo caused me to gain weight initially and although I have not gained any more weight it has made it very hard for me to loose even with a better diet and regular excercise. Most doctors will tell you this is one of the side effects. :-(

The way I see it is the only option would be to come off of Depo to see the weight drop but for me that is not a realistic option right now.

Good Luck to you!

I was on the Depo shot for 3 months, never gained a lb from it, and when I came off it (I felt nauseous almost the entire time I was on it) I never lost anything. So I think I ended up getting lucky!

made diary public

Just had a look, here's my take for what it's worth.

1. Your balance of fats, carbs, and proteins is very good. Nice job! That was a HUGE struggle for me at first.
2. You are leaving WAY too many calories uneaten on a daily basis. Maintain your excellent job of keeping your fat, carbs, and proteins in balance, and eat more of what you are already eating. Maybe with a bias toward more protein.

MFP's stance is that you should be eating back those exercise calories, because your calorie deficit (which is already figured into your goals) will lose you the weight. And with as little as you have to lose, you may have too aggressive a goal set.

Just make sure the "lifestyle" you selected accurately reflects your actual lifestyle (not including exercise). For a mom on her feet most of the time, there's a "lightly active" (salesperson, nurse) one that would probably be appropriate. I work a desk job, so mine is "sedentary".

So the net result is:
1. Your goal may be too aggressive (eat more)
2. Your lifestyle may not be set accurately (eat more)
3. You aren't eating what you should be even with that aggressive goal (eat more)