I asked this upthread but you might have missed it... have you been taking your measurements at all? It's possible you're experiencing something similar to me and losing fat/gaining muscle but not losing weight. Also, since you have all those wonderful helpers around, why don't you have them check your body fat with calipers? You really don't look overweight in your pictures and I'm surprised that the doctors are making a big issue about your weight.
runningfromfat- I had a bocy composition test done by my current trainer about two weeks ago. 31%. I am BARELY in the normal range according to some charts. I would like to be 25ish%. We do take measurments, and though I have only lost roughly 20lbs (give or take-depends on the day lol) I have lost over 30 inches. But once again-I want to be a healthy flippin weight! It shouldnt be this dang hard!!!!
Carbs under 150 Net- I try and make sure that the starchy carbs are under 50- I eat tons of Veggies at each meal..
Protien-my goal is 30g but I am allowed to have more protein in place of carbs, if I am hungry!
WOW! Your protein is so low. The minimum I've seen listed for a woman in the age group of 18-30 has been 56 grams. Your trainer has you bottomed out to on protein to keep it in proportion to your low calorie plan. Your metabolism is likely suffering b/c you aren't eating enough protein. Training won't do that much for you if you can't build the muscle you need to keep that metabolism revved. I'm afraid, more of the same will get you more of the same. Please be careful b/c if your metabolism starts to sputter out, you might start to gain weight on the level you're already at. If you really don't want to increase your cals, that protein issue is gonna have to get adjusted IMO.
runningfromfat- I had a bocy composition test done by my current trainer about two weeks ago. 31%. I am BARELY in the normal range according to some charts. I would like to be 25ish%. We do take measurments, and though I have only lost roughly 20lbs (give or take-depends on the day lol) I have lost over 30 inches. But once again-I want to be a healthy flippin weight! It shouldnt be this dang hard!!!!
Ok, but it IS really telling, if you're in the normal range than that explains a lot about what's going on with you. Your weight loss is just going to be that much slower. I'm sorry it really does suck. What's much more important than a healthy weight is a healthy body composition and you already have that! Sure, it's on the border but that doesn't matter, you're already there! If you're having infertility problems (and I've BTDT, we'd like #2, yeah...), then that is NOT affected by you having a high muscle mass. You sould be going to the doctors with your body composition in hand and explaining that you already are at a healthy body fat percentage (plus, if the doctors are focusing on that for you being just 15lbs in the overweight BMI category, you might very well be going to the wrong type of doctors in the first place!).
I have been on a 1200 calorie diet for nearly a year now. I just dont get it! I am scared to up my calories, as the last time, I gained!! ugh. I just dont know what to do.
This is a shot in the dark--maybe since you've had a similar routine for a while, you should mix it up...
Like, maybe changing your diet drastically for a week--like eating only raw vegetables, fish and beans. This isn't a very scientific idea, but maybe your body just adapted to the routine and you could persuade it to get out of the rut by eating different food or working different muscles.
Many people who responded have given better advice--this is just my two cents.
The last pounds are always the hardest--but you'll pull through. You're doing a good job.
If you're not willing to sacrifice your workouts, what about changing them? Choosing a less intense regimine or at least a different one, such as water exercise (does your gym have a pool)?
I also agree with the suggestion to have your thyroid levels checked, and perhaps your medications adjusted. Losing weight on low-thyroid is notoriously difficult. My grandmother was on thyroid medications and steroids for emphysema, and even though she was about 50 lbs or more overweight and even on semi-starvation diets had trouble losing weight. Her doctor didn't believe her until she was hospitalized for pneumonia for several weeks. No one brought food to her and she was on an 800 calorie diet, and I don't remember what she lost, but it was little enough that her doctor finally understood that she hadn't been lying about how difficult it was for her to lose weight.
I wonder whether your expectations may be getting in your way. .2 lbs per week may be more realistic than 2.
If you average my weight loss over the time it's taken to lose it, I've only lost an average .3 lbs per week. By most people's weight loss opinion, that's failure. I'll accept that definition, but answer that I have "failed off" 90 lbs.
Physically I could lose faster, but even so I can't lose as fast as I did at this weight in the past. My full-speed weight loss potential is less than half what it used to be. I avoid full-speed weight loss because it tends to backfire on me (I tend towards deprivation-triggered binges).
I think unmet expectations bite us in the butt in so many ways.
Stress hormones (because we're not seeing the results we want) slow metabolism.
This may not apply to you, but many of us will get so frustrated that we have periodic "it's no use, I'll never be thin, so what does it matter if I go off plan" binges (infrequently enough that we don't immediately see their impact). We say "I don't know why I'm not losing I only eat x calories per day (but I'm not counting the once a month binge of 10,000 calories)."
I also think our bodies can work against us. I do believe there's something to the theory of set point. Many of the body's processes function work to maintain the status quo, I don't see that weight necesarrily would be different than those other processes. Finding ways to reset normal can be a challenge. For me low-carb dieting has - I have an unusually low body temperature, but I discovered that my body temperature is higher, much closer to normal on low-carb dieting. I suspect that's an indication that low-carb literally is turning up the furnace - increasing my metabolism (or that high carb is slowing my metabolism). To lost the same amount of weight, I can eat a few hundred more calories of low-carb than high-carb (that doesn't break the calories in/calories out math. It just means that what you eat can affect the math, in this case I suspect raising my metabolism). I'm also less hungry on low-carb, so it's a win-win.
I would suggest trying low-carb. Not necessarily Atkins induction low. If the ideal of low-carb isn't appealing to you, instead of starting at a lowest level (as most low-carb and reduced-carb plans have you do), you could gradually reduce your carb levels until you do start losing, but you still may not see rapid weight loss. You may never get 2 lbs per week. You may never get 1 lb per week.
Wow, your protein is super low! 70+ grams per day as an active, young mom is my minimum, and I feel better on more than that! Switch it up with more lean protein and different exercises, maybe that will give the shakeup you need?
Your suggestion that someone who has been dieting at 1,200 calories for a year and exercising quite a bit lower calories further is absurd.
Absurd, eh?
Okay, just to be clear - for the record - I DID NOT SUGGEST that she lower her calories further. I said THAT IS THE ONLY THING THAT WORKED FOR ME. In the past 6 years (yes, that's correct - SIX years!) I have tried several different things to get the weight off. Different levels of caloric intake, 1800, 1600, 1400, 1200... different forms of exercise, etc. and I have managed to get from 192 to 170 - and that was thru MediFast, which was about 800 calories per day. I was only on that diet for 3 months, and I lost the bulk of that weight during the first 4-5 weeks. After I had to quit MediFast, I gained 12 lbs of that back over the course of a year, but was able to get that off from January til present day.
And here I am. Still 170. Fluctuates between 170-174. Today, I weighed in at 172.8
And, no offense John, as you have done a great job with your own weight loss efforts, and I applaud you!! -but I have to say, a woman's body is so very different from a man's. And going thru menopause ain't no picnic, and my hormones are seriously whack. It makes losing weight 10x harder than what it was in my 20's. Yet, I still try.
It looks like only 10% of your calories (30g X4 =120) are coming from protein. That's really low, especially if you are weight training. From what you posted (net 150g carbs), you are getting approx 600 cals from Carbs which leaves 480 cals from fat. That equals 40% calories from fat. That's pretty high, even if they are "good fats".
If you don't want to increase your cals (which I understand), try increasing the protein and decreasing the fat.
Since you have access to a dietician, I'd pick her brain. I'd listen to her over the trainer. Trainers don't necessarily have any nutrition background or a very limited one. My trainer tried to talk to me about my eating habits and I cut her off because I have a BS in Nutrition and she took one class! I love her for my work outs, but I can "tweek" my diet if I need to.
I wish you the best of luck. I don't know enough about the medication but I suspect that is a part of the problem.
I'd certainly suggest you up your protein intake, if you don't want to make any other changes at this time. 30g is way below what most experts reccomend including the RDA (which I think is low). At minimum you should be getting 60g of protein a day but personally I would reccomend 80g or more.
Ooops! I meant to type 60g of protien a day. Not 30.. I usually actually consume between 60-100g of protien! total TYPO, my bad!
Kaplods- I started with a NEW trainer to switch things up and this is only my second FULL week of working with him, so we are going to see how things go! So far, the things he has me doing, my body is NOT used to doing. He is teaching me how to lift and more strnegth training. Plus, I started running on my own each night. Sometimes 1 mile, sometimes 5, but more commonly, I run 3 miles a night. I totally agree with what you are saying about having a more realistic goal and rate of loss, I just get so dang upset when I dont lose ANYTHING!! I need to accept my body for what it is, I am better off today, than I was yesterday, and that is what really matters. But ya know, being in my 20's and wanting to have that perfect summer body, is something I cant shake.
I was talking with my co-worker over lunch (yes, we are having a pot-luck.. hence my pic of my lunch. ) and I think I just had an epiphany.. seriously..
I was taking better care of myself, and exercising/eating right starting in July because my weight really was an issue not only for me personally, but in concieving a child. My husband and I have been trying to conceive for over 2.5 years now. My first child is from my first marriage. I was 140lbs and got preganant the month after ending BC. Anyway.. In January, we found out that hubby is actually the cause of infertility and that we have very slim chances concieving naturally. This is devestating for hubby and I.. I think I started to obsess over this stupid numbers game because it took my mind off the fact that I might not be able to have more children, or that my husband may not ever know what its like to biologically father a child. This is my substitute. I remember when we found out, I was so depressed, so upset and ANGRY. I felt like I had no control over something that I should, I was mad at the world, and especially mad at God. I am starting to heal, but then, I think I felt like I needed to control something, and TTC was something that consumed me for over 2 years.. now that I knew our efforts were pointless, I felt I needed something to fill the void. And that is why I am so upset about the numbers. I am a perfectionist in all aspects of my life.. and I want my body to be perfect as well. That was a little off topic, but it is helping me see why this is such a big deal.
In reality, I have lost 20ish pounds, and OVER 30" of me.. 30" is a lot!! And I should be happy! I have had many NSV's that show my progress (i.e. 2 pants sizes down, buying a size SMALL shirt, seeing my abs, running 5 miles in 32:33 minutes!) I mean, I am so much better now than I was then.. so why obsess over a number?!?!
Hey, someone who chats with me often, do me a favor.. next time I cry and whine about these things, quote this post for me and tell me to put my big girl pants on! lol
ARE YOU HAPPY NOW...?
My lunch today! Who knows how many calories?
I LOVE you guys!
Disclaimer: I am a bit of a smart A$$ somtimes, and I am pretty sassy.. So I hope this makes you laugh and not mad..no foul play intended..
Well I got a chuckle out of it but seriously, check that protein. It should be at least double where you're at now, even if you have to cut out some of the carbs or fat to get that protein. Protein is 4 cals a gram so there should be room for you to get at least 60g (240 calories)in your diet without wrecking your calorie allotment.
Protein: 30g X 4 calories per gm=120 calories (10% of caloric intake)
Carbs:150X4=600 (HALF of your caloric intake)
Fat: 53X9=480 rounded up, what's left for calories from fat (40% of caloric intake)
Carbs=50%
Protein=10%
Fat=40%
We know that for heart health the recommendation is a diet of 30% or less calories from fat. Seriously, I think your fat is too high and your protein way too low. I think your carbs are a little high too. Seriously, I can't even find a plan with similar percentages, I think your calorie composition is all outta whack.
Check out this calculator and you'll see diet plan percentages and compare them to the percentages you're working on now. There's not even one with less than 25% of cals from protein. This stuff really matters when fueling your body to run efficiently and you have to find the one that works best with your body.
What's much more important than a healthy weight is a healthy body composition and you already have that! Sure, it's on the border but that doesn't matter, you're already there! If you're having infertility problems (and I've BTDT, we'd like #2, yeah...), then that is NOT affected by you having a high muscle mass. You sould be going to the doctors with your body composition in hand and explaining that you already are at a healthy body fat percentage (plus, if the doctors are focusing on that for you being just 15lbs in the overweight BMI category, you might very well be going to the wrong type of doctors in the first place!).
