Afraid I really screwed up.

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graysmom2005
graysmom2005 Posts: 1,882 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I was hoping I would be one of the people eating more would work for...it wasn't. I know I've seen many success stories, so I know it can work, but now I'm afraid I'm stuck with 10lbs that won't budge.

I have a Bodymedia FIT. I did an average for my month and my TDEE is 2900.(For those that think that is high, I'm a fitness instructor and teach 8-9 classes a week) I ate at around 2500 for 7 weeks and gained 11lbs. I was only seeing inches go up and clothes weren't fitting so I dropped back down to 1800-2000 for two weeks. Nothing.

Last week I went to Ohio. I took a week OFF. No workouts. Just 2 times a day walk the dog. I ate at around 1700 every day except for one. Drove home yesterday and even on the road kept under my cals. I really wanted to see the 150's again. I had been in the 150's for a couple of years until I gained during my experiment and now I"m 162. I was STILL at 162 after eating 800 calories less a day, every day. :frown:

I feel like if I haven't lost a pound at THIS point...that these pounds are glued to me. They aren't coming off and I have paid the price for trying to eat more with my body. I don't know what to do to get them off. I need to fit back into my clothes. My goal all week was to stay OFF the scale and then hopefully get the reward today at home seeing the 150's again.

I'm so, so disappointed. :sad:

Replies

  • Anna800
    Anna800 Posts: 637 Member
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    I have my mfp profile set to active and it tells me if I don't exercise to only eat 1200 calories a day. That is the same thing a nutritionist told me once, either don't exercise and eat 1200 or exercise and eat 1500. So on the weekends I will try to walk outside to make it a little higher than 1200. Maybe you could try watching your sugar. I noticed you have a lot of treats in one day, I would try to limit it to one treat a day.
  • kaydensmom12
    kaydensmom12 Posts: 338
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    I don't have any advice but I am right there with you:) I have been the same weight/inches since March. I have tried everything. I am 5'1" with a fairly sedentary lifestyle, so I started upping my calories to 1500, after 2 months I had put on over 5lbs as well as 3 inches around my stomach. I started eating 1300, which is my BMR, but I still did not lose weight. Now I am at 1480 again trying. I have tried to use different workouts, I have tried to increase my cardio, because I usually do a lot of strength but nothing is working. It is frustrating:)

    I hope that you get some good answers.
  • graysmom2005
    graysmom2005 Posts: 1,882 Member
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    I have my mfp profile set to active and it tells me if I don't exercise to only eat 1200 calories a day. That is the same thing a nutritionist told me once, either don't exercise and eat 1200 or exercise and eat 1500. So on the weekends I will try to walk outside to make it a little higher than 1200. Maybe you could try watching your sugar. I noticed you have a lot of treats in one day, I would try to limit it to one treat a day.
    I was on vacation...so I usually don't do that many treats. :-)
  • chris1816
    chris1816 Posts: 715 Member
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    Eff you for making me do math.

    So you went from 151 to 162.

    You've only been eating at an 800 calorie deficit for a week and expected to see legitimate progress. I hope you realize you can fluctuate anywhere from 5-10lbs in water weight in a day let alone a week, especially if carb intake has changed.

    So either something isn't adding up, being logged etc (which I doubt, you seem pretty consistent in zee diary), or you just need to chill the *kitten* out.

    Probably just need to chill the *kitten* out.

    In all seriousness, you changed up caloric intake, so this plays around with hormone production as well. You seem like a reasonably smart person despite your "OH GOD THE SKY IS FALLING" moment here so I assume you know that if you have excess body fat and are eating at a deficit the pounds will come off. So the recommendations I would make are patience, and maybe a change to your routine a bit. Try eating different foods, or changing your eating pattern. Hell try intermittant fasting, you might like it. Do you weight lift? I assume a spin class is full of cardiobunnies every day; I would f*cking blow my brains out.

    Take up Starting Strength, let Rippetoe show you the light.

    Basically this all amounts to: Stop being dissapointed in yourself, not like you're a hambeast or something. You relaxed for a week, big deal. Get back on the wagon, try something new and most importantly INTERESTING. Take your mind off focusing so hard on it and you'll lose.

    Also have a drink, please.
  • teez52
    teez52 Posts: 104 Member
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    You didn't gain the weight overnight, so don't expect it to fall off overnight. You've been on a rollercoaster as far as what you've been eating. Give your body time to adjust to the 1500-1700 calories that you're eating before you get depressed. If you do that much exercise per week, do the math to figure out your TDEE instead of trusting some gadget to tell you. That should give you the proper number for your BMR and TDEE and you can go from there.

    Stick with a plan and it will work as long as your numbers are right and you're actually counting your calories properly. Weigh your food and measure all the condiments because those calories add up fast.
  • graysmom2005
    graysmom2005 Posts: 1,882 Member
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    Eff you for making me do math.

    So you went from 151 to 162.

    You've only been eating at an 800 calorie deficit for a week and expected to see legitimate progress. I hope you realize you can fluctuate anywhere from 5-10lbs in water weight in a day let alone a week, especially if carb intake has changed.

    So either something isn't adding up, being logged etc (which I doubt, you seem pretty consistent in zee diary), or you just need to chill the *kitten* out.
    :drinker: There is the drink! :laugh: I cut calories 3 weeks ago. I teach different formats including Pump and spin (cardio bunnies!! LOL!) I added in heavy lifting before I left, but decided to give my body a break last week since I workout so much for my job.
    Probably just need to chill the *kitten* out.

    In all seriousness, you changed up caloric intake, so this plays around with hormone production as well. You seem like a reasonably smart person despite your "OH GOD THE SKY IS FALLING" moment here so I assume you know that if you have excess body fat and are eating at a deficit the pounds will come off. So the recommendations I would make are patience, and maybe a change to your routine a bit. Try eating different foods, or changing your eating pattern. Hell try intermittant fasting, you might like it. Do you weight lift? I assume a spin class is full of cardiobunnies every day; I would f*cking blow my brains out.

    Take up Starting Strength, let Rippetoe show you the light.

    Basically this all amounts to: Stop being dissapointed in yourself, not like you're a hambeast or something. You relaxed for a week, big deal. Get back on the wagon, try something new and most importantly INTERESTING. Take your mind off focusing so hard on it and you'll lose.

    Also have a drink, please.
  • Smuterella
    Smuterella Posts: 1,623 Member
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    OK - lets get back to basics. If you ate under your TDEE and gained then you have your TDEE incorrect.

    For me, my TDEE by all calculators is 2000-2100 BUT if I eat at that level I gain. Bya process of carefully trying different calorie levels I found that mine is more like 1800. Sigh.

    Anyway - I think this may be down to my birth control and / or my complete lack of muscle (working on both pieces here).

    So - consider whether your TDEE might be wrong and if you have anything that might be suppressing it.
  • Krys_140
    Krys_140 Posts: 648 Member
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    Did you bump up your calories "overnight" and jump back down "overnight"? That's a HUGE change for your body to take on, and it needs time to adjust. Most people who successfully make that kind of switch do so over a period of time (slowly increasing calories or slowly decreasing calories). Since you've already made the switch back down, give your body time to get used to the new level, and the weight will come off. Chin up!!

    Edited to add: Also, you reduced your calories AND your fitness level at the same time, so you changed two big things at the same time. If you keep your calories at 1700 and go back to teaching fitness classes, I'm sure you'll drop the weight!! :happy:
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    I'm having deja vu.
  • gjriddle
    gjriddle Posts: 46 Member
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    I can totally understand your frustration, I'm so sorry you're having such a tough time!! I'm definitely not an expert or anything resembling one, but for what it's worth I'd say maybe stop focusing so hard on eating a certain number and just listen to your body for a while. Eat if you're hungry, don't if you're not. With all the different things you've been trying it's definitely possible that your body is just really confused and hanging onto extra weight because it doesn't know what's going to happen. If it were me, I'd just eat to be satisfied for a few weeks -- focusing still on getting plenty of protein and good carbs, especially since you're SO active - and see what happens. Maybe then you can pick a daily goal and start with that again then, but I think your body probably just wants a break.

    Good luck!!
  • chris1816
    chris1816 Posts: 715 Member
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    OK - lets get back to basics. If you ate under your TDEE and gained then you have your TDEE incorrect.

    For me, my TDEE by all calculators is 2000-2100 BUT if I eat at that level I gain. Bya process of carefully trying different calorie levels I found that mine is more like 1800. Sigh.

    Anyway - I think this may be down to my birth control and / or my complete lack of muscle (working on both pieces here).

    So - consider whether your TDEE might be wrong and if you have anything that might be suppressing it.

    Good point there, granted I tend to avoid TDEE for a variety of reasons.

    Primarily, most methods for calculating TDEE are wildly innacurate and can vary excessively, even with some calculators. Nike Fuel is my favorite because I can burn a decent amount of calories getting drunk off my *kitten* according to that. Maybe try just going more so by BMR based on your activity level and eat at a comfortable deficit from there.
  • AquaFitQueen
    AquaFitQueen Posts: 218 Member
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    I would say you might have overestimated TDEE...I know you are super active, but our bodies get used to that.

    Having said that, eating more didn't work for me either. I have too many fat genes, lol. You know the whole loaded gun thing, and eating more was pulling the trigger.

    Funny thing about weight loss is that everyone is different. Some lose by eating more, some lose by eating less, some lose by running, some lose by lifting. There is no perfect solution for everyone and sadly it is all trial and error. At least you know now that eating more doesn't work for you.

    Hang in there and it will come off, albeit painfully slow.
  • LindaCWy
    LindaCWy Posts: 463 Member
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    I would say you might have overestimated TDEE...I know you are super active, but our bodies get used to that.

    This is a good and fair point. Thia ia qhy no matter what I consider myself sedentary and eat back as many exercise cals as my macros can allow.
  • ladyace2078
    ladyace2078 Posts: 460 Member
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    I think you need to stop obsessing about the scale. Find other ways to track success - your relationship with food, the tape measure, BF%, strength, endurance, resting HR, clothes fitting, etc. I think when you start seeing progress and success in these other areas what the scale says may not be as big of a deal. And start thinking in terms of your life, rather than the short term, i.e. the last 10 weeks. Plateaus can last a long time if you are thinking about things in a short time frame, but what is a year out of your whole life?

    Also intermittant fasting might be another option. I think you pick 8 hours of the day to eat your food (whatever works for you) and then fast the remaining 16 hours. A lot of people have success with it. I think you have to find the sweet spot for your body and that may not match a calculator or bodyfit media device.

    (Based on some of your posts I know your mom was always obsessed with the scale and your weight. Be aware that you may have an obsession because of that learned behavior. A book that helped me learn how to eat when I was hungry and be more aware of my body without obsessing about food or emotionally eating was How to Eat What You Love and Love What You Eat.)
  • freckledrats
    freckledrats Posts: 251 Member
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    Things that could be wrong:

    #1: Overestimating your TDEE. Websites are using pretty general numbers and adding to it by activity level is a pretty big estimate
    #2: Underestimating caloric intake. Log all the things. Know all the calories. If you don't, you're nickle and diming yourself out of a deficit
    #3: Overestimating calorie burn in a workout.

    Scrutinize the above very carefully, see if there is room there for more accuracy. If all else fails, wear an HRM and go by your sedentary TDEE and eat back your work out calories. After wearing an HRM for a few weeks you'll have a really good feel for how many calories you're *actually* burning during your fitness training and can better estimate what you usually expend in a day, calorie-wise.

    It's all about math. Your body has to shed energy stores if it's in a deficit just to keep you going. So if it's not, you're taking in more than it needs.
  • fittraier
    fittraier Posts: 138
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    I agree with over estimating calories burned, and I know you wear a HRM, but again it is math, and range, and not 100% accurate. I too am a fitness instructor, and only days I burn 2900 is on my teaching 3 classes a day. normally more like 2000-2300 on my 2 class days. I teach much of the same stuff you do.

    2nd, you are very muscular, you will weigh more. Get your body fat tested which you did recently...it was fine, you are not high, or super low. Not sure why you are stuck on that the SCALE MUST READ 150! I am 5 ft. 6 in have large bones (can't get my fingers around wrist to touch) and I can get to 150, but can't maintain it. 160 is more reasonable. My body builder friend has 10% fat, and weighst 145 lbs and is 5 ft 2 inches.

    3rd--OVERTRAINING...research it. you will find that your issues may be a result of it. I have taught fitness classes for many years (18 years), and 8-9 a week of same things (I know you have some variety), is too many--you will 1)regret it later in you fitness career or end your fitness career 2)you don't get to get your own workout in becuase you are too tired.

    I would LOVE to hop on here and see you be positive for a change.
  • gaerielsky
    gaerielsky Posts: 20
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    I was told by trainers and my WW coach that i needed to eat more and that's why I wasn't losing (I was eating about 1200 daily and burning 500 daily according to the machines, which are always wrong). SO I ate more.... and gained. I wore a bodybugg and it said I should be losing weight, but I wasn't.

    I had my metabolism tested by a breathing machine that measures how much CO2 you're expelling during respiration, that should show how much O2 you're burning doing nothing. My test came back at 1600... which was WAY OFF the 2100 cals the trainers told me I was burning for my height/weight. So, I need to eat 1100 calories a day to lose a pound a week. If I work out, they told me only eat 1300 cals. I have a slower metabolism than most. But I also had a doctor tell me most women only need 1200 a day to stay the same.

    I wish I had my BF's metabolism. He can eat bags of chips, ribs, ice cream, and a whole pie. If he gains, rarely he does, then he has soup for dinner and it's gone by the next morning. AGGHHHHH
  • clouddancer7
    clouddancer7 Posts: 7 Member
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    Change up your exercise routine. Do different things. If you do.alot of cardios, mix in some weight training or vise versa.

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