Can't lose weight and trying hard

[doutri2]

I had Zumba class Thursday, Hula Hooping class Friday, rode my bike on Saturday, climbed stairs for 30 minutes on Sunday, counted calories all week and still can't lose weight.  

I'm so frustrated.  

[Odyssey13]

Don't be so hard on yourself. Losing weight is not always easy. You're making changes in your life and you're committed to making a difference.

Read this thread and see if any suggestions might help you.

[chambej1]

Agree with Odessy13.

How long has it been that you have been increase your activity/working out? There could be a few things going on in your body...replacing fat w muscle...body sometimes can take several days to break down fat and release water etc associated with the weight loss. 

How many calories are you eating a day? What do you mostly eat?

Hang in there! You will do it!

[abb123]

Are you just on your first week? When I started exercising and cut my calorie intake, I didn't start noticing real weight loss until a few weeks in and then it started coming off really fast. 

All of the commercials where you see people claiming to have lost 5 pounds in the first week of a diet sometimes create unrealistic expectations.  

1 pound is 3500 calories, so someone would have to have a negative 17,500 calories week to drop 5 pounds and that is not very realistic without a TON of activity.  Usually, the weight they are actually losing is just water weight and they are weighing in the morning or after a workout when the body has become a little dehydrated.   Most people are going to lose between 2 and 3 pounds each night in sweat, exhaling mositure into the air and morning urination.  

I would make sure to weigh yourself at the exact same time every day (maybe in the morning after you've used the restroom) and don't expect to lose more than 1 or 2 pounds a week at the most.   If you take in 1,500 calories per day and expend 2,500 you will lose 2 pounds per week.  If you are weighing yourself after chugging a bunch of water, you aren't going to see that change though, as 1 bottle of water weighs 1 pound.

[meangela010]

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@abb123 wrote:

Are you just on your first week? When I started exercising and cut my calorie intake, I didn't start noticing real weight loss until a few weeks in and then it started coming off really fast. 

All of the commercials where you see people claiming to have lost 5 pounds in the first week of a diet sometimes create unrealistic expectations.  

1 pound is 3500 calories, so someone would have to have a negative 17,500 calories week to drop 5 pounds and that is not very realistic without a TON of activity.  Usually, the weight they are actually losing is just water weight and they are weighing in the morning or after a workout when the body has become a little dehydrated.   Most people are going to lose between 2 and 3 pounds each night in sweat, exhaling mositure into the air and morning urination.  

I would make sure to weigh yourself at the exact same time every day (maybe in the morning after you've used the restroom) and don't expect to lose more than 1 or 2 pounds a week at the most.   If you take in 1,500 calories per day and expend 2,500 you will lose 2 pounds per week.  If you are weighing yourself after chugging a bunch of water, you aren't going to see that change though, as 1 bottle of water weighs 1 pound.

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I was beginning to feel discouraged myself by my lack of results. Thank you for this post, its a wonderful perspective. 

[meangela010]

Hang in there, I feel your pain and suffer from the same frustration. Remember that it is about long term weight loss not short term results that don't last. Believe in yourself that you can stick with it and you will. There are some great responses on this thread, I am glad to see we have such a positive community to lean on. 

[fsandy]

I had this same problem for decades :-(... Costco has these diet cookies from a source called smart for life. There are different amounts you can purchase. I thought at first they seemed exspensive until I compared the cost of the food they would replace.

 I bought them,  I tried them...what did I have to lose?  ( weight) My girl friend and I spent our sundays making soup and prepareing our weekly meals and it was so time consuming and a lot of work..I really hated it...Plus it made a MESS in my kitchen 😞

 Well now I only make one meal a day ( my dinner) and the lunch and snacks I take to work require about two minutes to prepareand to take along.

Its been 6 weeks and I have lost 18 lbs and my blood sugar went from over 200 to mostly around 97.

Finnaly somthing that works for me... Its not even that hard..I cheat somtimes and I still lose weight.

 Please go to the Costco website and look up the product and read the reviews.. Go online and google reviews.

I hope this will soulve the weight problem for you !!

[KJScarp]

One of my favorite sayings is "Weight loss happens in the kitchen; fitness happens in the gym" or "You can't out-exercise a bad diet".  You need to refocus and take a look at what, and how much, you are eating.  You are focusing too much on exercise.

Are you logging every bite of food that goes into your mouth?  Are you weighing and meausring all of your food?  If not, then I would suggest starting with accurate logging,  If you *are* weighing, measuring and logging all your foods, then I would look at your calorie budget.  Is it too aggressive (i.e. you only have 20 pounds to lose and your budget is set to lose 2 lbs. per week)?  The general rule of thumb is that you can really only SAFELY lose 2 lbs. per week if you have 80+ pounds to lose.  I say "safely" because a lot of new dieters decide they want to lose it all right away, and they cut their caloric intake so drastically that they end up UNDEReating.

There are websites out there that calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR).  This is the number of calories that you would need to ingest if you were in a coma, simply to fuel bodily functions such as respiration, temperature control, digestion, pumping blood, etc.  This does not account for anything that you would do except for laying in bed all day.  Next, figure out the number of calories that you would need to ingest to maintain your current weight.  Then aim for a daily caloric budget for somewhere between those two numbers.

So, your BMR would be the floor, and your maintenance calories would be the ceiling.  Eat between those two numbers and you will lose weight.   You didn't gain all your weight in one week, and it won't all come off in one week.  Don't look at weight loss as a race, because there is no finish line.  Once you lose the weight, then you will have to work to maintain that weight for the rest of your life.  Losing weight and maintaining weight loss is a time-consuming process, and it takes work.  There are no shortcuts that lead to successful weight loss/maintenance.  I've spent the majority of my adult life eating special weight loss foods and supplements.  I've gained and lost hundreds of pounds.  I only became successful when I realized and accepted that it would take work for the rest of my life.  That work includes making the manority of my meals from scratch, rather than opening a package and throwing something in the microwave.  The time spent and the messy kitchen is worth it.

Which brings me to the next point.  Don't fall for the shakes, bars and other quick-loss scams.  Sure you can lose weight using those methods, but you would have to eat/drink that way for the rest of your life, which is simply not sustainable.  Eat real food, in the correct amounts, to properly fuel your body.

Oh, and don't fall for the "The scale isn't moving because I'm gaining muscle and losing fat."  No.  It is incredibly difficult to gain muscle mass in a caloric deficit.   People who are serious about putting on more muscle follow a very strict regimen of macronutrients in order to be able to do so.

[Direwind]

if you really want to lose weight, try my diet.

breakfast
Diet protein shake in the morning. with vitamin sup

Dinner

Brown rice, with Fish or chicken/turkey breast and vegetable.

a no fat yougurt.

some fruit.

late night meal, protein shake.

2 days of a week eat normal, but dont go over the top.

i have been doing this for 1 year  and have lost 132 lbs, I also no longer have Diabetes or its in such a state of remission that i no longer need to medicate.

[abb123]

Direwind, you eat the same meal every day?

I would never recommend a diet like that to someone trying to lose weight and create a sustainable, healthy eating lifestyle. While you may be successful for the last year, that type of diet is synonymous with burn out, particularly when holidays roll around or in people who don't have a motivating factor other than losing a little bit of weight (such as diabeties or other diet/weight related illnesses)

Could be a very good short term diet though, for people who need to see early results to be motivated to continue a diet.   

[fsandy · Accepted solution]

It was the cookies that got me through the holidays. For once I lost weight durning the holidays.
I was getting burned out on being fat.
Sent from my iPhone

[Direwind]

it is hard im not gonna lie, but i started out 420lbs now around 280 lbs.

but I have always had a cast-iron willpower, i have never really been a picky eater either.

but the way i have been going about this diet is this.

I keep my cal intake to a safe low, making sure i take in as little fat as possible, while i balance my protein intake so i dont lose muscle mass, I eat foods that keep me full alot longer.

I mix up my cardio so  my body never knows what to expect and i make sure i walk 6 to 10 mils per day and perform two sets of 40 min high cardio a day.

I also mix 2 normal eating days into the week, i found that this actually speeds up my weight loss and prevents plateau, i'm no expert but i assume this is due to keeping my body out of panic starvation mode which keeps my metabolism running at full speed or maybe it stops my body getting used to the diet and slowing down my metabolism.

i have 132 lbs to go, then once i hit my goal i will need to come up with a new diet to maintain the weight

[KJScarp]

Direwind, are you under the care of a doctor?  I would not recommend your diet for someone not under a doctor's care because it seems very low in calories. and much too low in fat.  The body needs dietary fat to properly absorb vitamins, especially A, E, D and K.   It just seems like if you are not being monitored by a physician then this is quite extreme.

http://authoritynutrition.com/top-9-biggest-lies-about-dietary-fat-and-cholesterol/

[Direwind]

i'm not being seen by a diet doctor, but i did get a check up before xmas.

I was aware of the minimum diet needs of fat and salt intake.

I do make sure i meet the minimum required amount for all vits, salts and fats.

I have lasted a year, i have no health issues, and i no longer have diabetes, i have no energy or sleeping disorders, or vision anomalies no mental or memory issues, and no heart issues. when i started the diet my resting heart rate was 98 bpm and my work out bpm 190, now it is resting 60 workout 120 to 130 and my blood pressure is way down now, i no longer get headaches or feel dizzy when i stand.

[doutri2]

I have always been into fitness, so this is nothing new for me.  I have also been a member of MFP since 2010 and my consistency of recording food has been up and down.  With the Fitbit, I definitely record more.  

I don't have too much to lose, just those nagging last 5-7 pounds that have been with me for 8 years (since baby #2).  I don't weigh/ measure every bite of food (no time for that), plus I was a Foods teacher and am pretty good at eyeballing my portion sizes.  In fact, my young kids get more on their plates.  

It's just frustrating to see the scale always go up 2-3 lbs and then go back down to my previous weight.  I would love to see the scale go down 2-3 lbs and then maybe from time to time go back to previous weight.  

Thanks for all of the feedback.  

doutri2

[KJScarp]

The problem as you get close to your goal weight is that the spread between your BMR and your maintenance budget is so small.  Usually by a margin of about 100-200 calories.  Have you adjusted your goals downward as your weight has dropped?  I would suggest shooting for about .25 to .50 per week loss.  Even then it could take you as long as 6 months to hit your goal weight.

Another thought:  you may want to see that lower number on the scale, but maybe your body is telling you that this is the healthy weight you need to be at.

[doutri2]

Yes, but my pants are telling me a different story.  I know I was much slimmer in the pants just 2 years ago.  So, I know it's not just a matter of what the scale says.  And, I see it in pictures.  I probably should stop beating myself up about it.  

Thanks for everyone's input thus far.  I hope to do the same for others someday. 

doutri2

[abb123]

Its possible you are just carrying the weight on your body in a way that fills your pants more.  Some people can get down to their previous weights and have slightly larger waist.  It may be a healthier weight too.  If you are putting on a lot more lean muscle than you had before, your weight is going to stay up slightly higher than you may have seen when you were younger but not exercising as much.  Body types can change when you introduce activities into your life that you didn't previous have experience with...

If you started swimming, for example, your shoulders would probably broaden a little bit over a long period of time.  The same is probably true if you are working out your midsection and waist.  Even though the fat isn't there, your body adjust to accomodate new muscle.

[KJScarp · Accepted solution]

Your body composition will change as you get older.  It's natural for women to start storing fat in their waist, hips and thighs, whereas earlier in life the fat storage would be distributed differently throughout the body.

It has to do with hormonal changes, usually associated with menopause.  But those hormonal changes start in your 30s, so the body fat composition can change well before actual menopause sets in.

[doutri2]

Okay, now you are telling me "truths" that I was not ready to face/ hear at this point in my life.  Yes, I'm over 39 and I usually do notice that my thighs "bulk up" with the more bike riding that I do indoors.  My hips also do carry a little "extra padding" in Illinois winters.  etc, etc. 

Of course, I gotta remember that this doesn't necessarily give me permission me to have an extra cookie over the serving size.  Maybe this is why I taught my kids to ALWAYS read labels and follow serving sizes?  So, to help keep me accountable too???  

So, again, the truth of matter is I should be happy that I am healthy and can be a little easier on myself (and my scale )