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Old 05-26-2011, 09:14 AM   #1  
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Default Help, opinions needed.

I am pretty frustrated lately, ladies. I need your help and/or opinions on what I'm doing that's NOT working.

For the past month I have been counting calories (weighing, measuring and logging) and hitting the gym 5x/week. I have averaged 1,820 calories in (which is under my BMR) and exercised for 1,795 minutes so far this month. I generally do 35-60 minutes of some form of cardio (elliptical, stair stepper, racquetball) every day and around 30 minutes of strength training every other day. I also play (non-competitive but still a workout) volleyball 2 times/week.

I have not lost even one. freaking. pound. this month. Not a single one. I know that a month isn't a long term experiment, and I'm not going to give up, but I am really discouraged. At my weight and activity level (in addition to the gym, I'm also SAHM to a 2 year old and a 9 month old) I should be losing weight.

Thoughts?

ETA: For the past couple of days I've kept my calories to 1500-1600 in hopes that it would help and I am going to bed really, really hungry. I can maybe do it on the days I don't work out but 1500 in particular leaves me starving at the end of the day.

Last edited by Gale02; 05-26-2011 at 09:16 AM.
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Old 05-26-2011, 09:21 AM   #2  
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If you are going to bed hungry, you aren't going to stick to it. Put your calories back where you had them.

You've lost 35 lbs, so you know how to do this and what works. There may be other factors involved. How much sleep are you getting? How much water are you drinking? Is anything different (outside of food & exercise) this month?
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Old 05-26-2011, 09:23 AM   #3  
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To start a little "Awesome job on the exercise and keeping track of your food!" and a "Keep at it!"

The first thing that came to mind was "What are you eating with those calories?"

Are you eating the same thing every day? Enough protein/carb/fat ratio for your body? And if you are eating the same thing every day, have you thought of mixing up the kinds of foods you're eating for a week and stepping out of the comfort zone so that your body has to get used to different types of foods? Our bodies are efficiency machines that can get very familiar to the same routines, so switching even a few things up can force our bodies to have to work harder.

Just a beginning thought.
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Old 05-26-2011, 09:27 AM   #4  
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Gale02

With all the exercise you're logging, you may need to add in a couple hundred cals a day. Yes, I said add them. At your weight, with all your activity, you will still lose weight if you're eating 2000 cals a day and working out. Your body may just be holding on to everything you're eating bc you're not feeding it enough.

With your strength training, you may want to go to circuits, if you're not already doing them.
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Old 05-26-2011, 09:33 AM   #5  
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Sandi - I have lost 35 lbs and I'm pleased with that. BUT, and I should have mentioned this in my OP, I haven't lost anything since January. I wasn't being terribly faithful with my counting and exercise up until the last month, though.

Sleep may be a factor. I have kids that get up at 5:30 and a body that doesn't like to go to sleep before 11 or 11:30. I also have one kid that wakes up at 3am or so to eat (he goes to bed at 6 and is just a little dude - 9 hours is his max.) But, it's been like that for months, believe it or not this is an improvement. Does the body eventually adapt to lack of sleep? Stress has also most definitely been a factor. DH is changing jobs next week and all that goes along with it has been a little stressful. There're other things, too. I try hard not to worry, but sometimes it gets the better of me.

Lovely - My carb/fat/protein ratio sticks around 45/30/25%. Do you mean by switching it up that I go low carb for a while or something like that? I eat pretty healthily. Lots of whole foods, not much junk. I'm sure I could stand to add in more fruits and veggies, especially for snacks, and eliminate the granola bars.

Thanks ladies!
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Old 05-26-2011, 09:36 AM   #6  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sniperhil View Post
Gale02

With all the exercise you're logging, you may need to add in a couple hundred cals a day. Yes, I said add them. At your weight, with all your activity, you will still lose weight if you're eating 2000 cals a day and working out. Your body may just be holding on to everything you're eating bc you're not feeding it enough.

With your strength training, you may want to go to circuits, if you're not already doing them.
I thought about adding calories, but man oh man is that easier said than done! It makes me really nervous. 1800 seems like a lot of calories as it is.

I am doing circuits on weights (sorry, should have said that in the OP.) I'm not confident enough in my form to use free weights and so use the machines on a circuit.
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Old 05-26-2011, 09:42 AM   #7  
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I was thinking adding calories too.
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Old 05-26-2011, 09:45 AM   #8  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gale02 View Post

Lovely - My carb/fat/protein ratio sticks around 45/30/25%. Do you mean by switching it up that I go low carb for a while or something like that? I eat pretty healthily. Lots of whole foods, not much junk. I'm sure I could stand to add in more fruits and veggies, especially for snacks, and eliminate the granola bars.
I didn't specifically mean low carb or something (though that's always an option for a week to see how your body deals or if it's a plan you can work with), rather I meant in general trying different food. A different kind of protein. If you're used to chicken, try pork or steak. If you're used to pasta, use rice. If your usual vegetable of choice is broccoli try buying some asparagus. Mixing up the actual types of foods.

I should also point out that adding in a hundred calories for a week or two is likely a good experiment separately.

I know it seems scary to add in a few hundred calories a week for two weeks, but you should try it to rule it out if nothing else. And hey, you might end up finding that you can still lose with more calories. It could be the "mix up" you need to get your body to drop the weight.

As mentioned, I would not go lower at the moment if you find you're ravenous.
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Old 05-26-2011, 09:48 AM   #9  
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Gale02

I understand, adding cals is hard. I had a problem with eating too few (1200), and it ruined my metabolism for 3 wks! I lost 5lbs initially and then gained 1lb! I was heartbroken! The scale didn't move until this wk, when I lost 2lbs. But I just had to fix my metabolism by adding more calories into my diet and continuing with my exercise. It's hard trying to figure what works for yourself and can be mind boggling!

If you don't like free weights and want something fun to try, you should go for a kettle bell workout. You feel like you're playing when you're actually exercising! And you burn mad cals!
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Old 05-26-2011, 09:57 AM   #10  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lovely View Post
I didn't specifically mean low carb or something (though that's always an option for a week to see how your body deals or if it's a plan you can work with), rather I meant in general trying different food. A different kind of protein. If you're used to chicken, try pork or steak. If you're used to pasta, use rice. If your usual vegetable of choice is broccoli try buying some asparagus. Mixing up the actual types of foods.

I should also point out that adding in a hundred calories for a week or two is likely a good experiment separately.

I know it seems scary to add in a few hundred calories a week for two weeks, but you should try it to rule it out if nothing else. And hey, you might end up finding that you can still lose with more calories. It could be the "mix up" you need to get your body to drop the weight.

As mentioned, I would not go lower at the moment if you find you're ravenous.
I do eat a whole lot of chicken (which I love!) We eat some beef, too (1-2x/week). My DH hates pork with a passion (he raised pigs as a kid, ick) so I don't generally make it cause I'm not a big enough fan to eat that much by myself. And, I have a soy intolerance so haven't tried tofu. I do like beans a whole lot, and have been cooking with them more.

I could definitely shake up the types of other foods I eat. I've stopped eating much bread since it tends to be a trigger food for me, but could try rice or quinoa or couscous, etc. More variety with my fruit/veggies could never hurt!

Quote:
Originally Posted by sniperhill
If you don't like free weights and want something fun to try, you should go for a kettle bell workout. You feel like you're playing when you're actually exercising! And you burn mad cals!
My gym offers a kettlebell class, but I've questioned my strength/ability to do it. It's a $40 class so I wanted to make sure I was able before I shelled out the money for it. How exactly does it work? I've seen the weights, but never seen them used.
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Old 05-26-2011, 09:59 AM   #11  
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How about just trying to eat healthy and forget the calorie counting for a few days?

Earlier in the year I was counting and weighing everything that went in my mouth and everything stopped. I gave up and just started eating well and smaller portions and its working for me.

As for your little one, have you tried giving a dreamfeed?
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Old 05-26-2011, 10:08 AM   #12  
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How about just trying to eat healthy and forget the calorie counting for a few days?

Earlier in the year I was counting and weighing everything that went in my mouth and everything stopped. I gave up and just started eating well and smaller portions and its working for me.

As for your little one, have you tried giving a dreamfeed?
I am very afraid to not count. In the past when I've tried it I went gung-ho and gained weight. I think my intuitive eating button is busted... it doesn't seem to work right.

I've tried a dreamfeed but that kid will. not. eat. when he's not hungry. I decided it's not a bad thing and so let him eat when he's hungry. I don't want to foster eating on a clock. We're still getting a 9 hour stretch out of him, so I can't really complain.
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Old 05-26-2011, 10:34 AM   #13  
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Hi Gale.

You drive yourself real hard! First of all, congratulate yourself for all that you're doing for yourself to help you get back that slim sexy body. And then just relax for a moment - because I can guarantee you that the results will show up.

Keep eating less calories than you're burning - the result has to be that you're getting closer to that slim sexy figure even if you're not already there yet.

Listen, weight is affected by so many things. You already know this I'm sure! Gaining muscle as you're becoming more toned and fitter - this impacts it, because muscle weighs more than fat.

Relax, keep working your plan, tweaking it in only the places that you notice something really doesn't feel right. Like you feeling hungry or starving at points. There something could do with a tweak. I think someone pointed out above that if you're mind/body thinks it's going to be starved, it's going to hold on to the fat! I know, it's ironic, but it's also a good indicator for us to do what is healthy and sustainable in the long run.

So ask yourself this, what can you give yourself to satisfy those hunger pangs, and still keep your calories within budget?

90% of successful weight loss is psychology, so allow yourself to relax and enjoy tweaking the journey where it needs to be tweaked, as you keep moving towards becoming slim and sexy again.....
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Old 05-26-2011, 10:37 AM   #14  
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Just this month I was stuck and I cut calories--it didn't work. I excercised more. Nothing. THEN i upped my calories--I lost over 3 lbs this week!
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Old 05-26-2011, 10:39 AM   #15  
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PS Sleep! Did you know that your body is 30% less efficient at burning calories when it hasn't had enough sleep?

Someone else mentioned sleep above too I think.

So ask yourself, how can I give my body the rest it really wants and needs (so I can move even more easily towards being slim and light in my ideal way again)....?
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