[Snoofie]

Be prepared. This is more a rant than anything else, and I know that no one can give me a definitive answer to what in the **** is going on with me...but I am so frustrated it's not even funny and I need to just vent to people who will (hopefully) "get it."

I lost 63.4 pounds between January 2011 and May of 2012, with Weight Watchers. I started at a weight of 203.4 and WW gave me a goal weight of 125, which they got from (I'm assuming) the BMI charts. 125 would put me at the high end of the healthy weight range for me.

I got to 140 and, on the recommendation of my doctor, decided to stay at that weight. Yes, I know that's still overweight for my height (5'), but she did some measurements and measured my body fat and decided, based on my own personal circumstances, that 125 would be too low for me. (Actually, when I went to see her, she didn't believe I weighed 140 until she actually weighed me herself.)

So, that was fine. WW changed my goal weight, and (I thought) I was good to go. I maintained for six weeks and that was that....lifetime status! Yay!

....Except that over the ensuing two years, I've regained 20 pounds and am having the devil's time trying to lose it. And I don't mean, "Oh, my weight is slowly creeping up and soon I'll be back where I started." I mean, I'm at 160 and have been there, literally, for a year and a half. I don't lose, I don't gain. I stay in a range between 159 and 163 (and 163 is usually the result of a higher-than-usual sodium intake on a particular day, or what have you.)

I have tried everything. I've tried going back to WW -- didn't budge (and WW can get expensive after a while). Calorie counting -- I've tried I don't know how many experiments, calorie wise, and none of them worked. Tried eating 1200 net calories a day -- no budge. Tried 1500 -- nope. Tried 1700 -- nope. I am being completely serious when I say that my weight is simply *not* budging. Tried cutting out all junk food -- nothing. Tried cutting carbs -- nothing. Cutting sugar -- nothing.

Now, I am *pretty* active -- I work out at the gym at least three days a week for an hour, plus I don't drive, so if I have to go somewhere, I have no choice but to walk. i don't eat back *all* of my exercise calories, but I do eat back some -- I wear a HRM when I work out, and I know they're not always 100% accurate, so I don't eat everything back.

I'm starting to wonder if this isn't my body's way of telling me that, hey, this is where I'm supposed to be. But the thing is, I'm not happy where I am. And I have no earthly idea of how much I should be eating per day, because no matter how much (or how little) I eat, it doesn't make a damn bit of difference.

I am wondering, though, if experimenting with my workouts the way I've experimented with my caloric intake would work. Admittedly -- I don't do much strength training.

....All right, okay, I don't do any. Satisfied? *L*

And I've started thinking: okay, maybe instead of trying to tear myself to pieces doing cardio, driving myself completely INSANE trying to figure out the "right" amount of calories I should be eating...maybe I should stop trying to drop those 20 pounds. Maybe I should just stay where I am, weight-wise, and work on making these 160 pounds look as good as I can. I already know that people can look smaller than what the scale says -- I've been there. I'd like to be there again.

I think I might be totally slavish to what the scale says, and I know that's not good, but I fear I fell completely into the WW mindset. I'm not saying that WW doesn't work, because obviously it does, but I mean, when you go to get weighed in, well, the number on the scale is IT, isn't it? You base your "success" or "failure" on that one number, regardless of anything else. And maybe I need to climb out of that trap.

It's just so difficult...and so frustrating.

[novangel]

Originally Posted by Snoofie

I have tried everything. I've tried going back to WW -- didn't budge (and WW can get expensive after a while). Calorie counting -- I've tried I don't know how many experiments, calorie wise, and none of them worked. Tried eating 1200 net calories a day -- no budge. Tried 1500 -- nope. Tried 1700 -- nope. I am being completely serious when I say that my weight is simply *not* budging.

This is why I don't do weight loss programs because once you start you have to be able to sustain them for life...and I don't think being on a weight loss program that costs money is ideal in the long run. I don't know many (if any) people that have stayed on WW or JC forever. This is just my opinion.

Calorie counting is the best way to go. If you were on a 1,200 cal diet every single day for more than a week and didn't lose an ounce then I would say have some tests run for thyroid or PCOS. If you've already done that then I can only come to the conclusion that you're eating more calories than you think, or are overestimating calories burned. There's really no two ways about it. Again, assuming there's nothing wrong with you physically.

Also, ramp up your exercise if possible. I know this is a very frustrating process. Good luck.

[novangel]

Also try to look on the bright side, it could've been way worse than 20p regained.

[Snoofie]

Originally Posted by novangel

If you were on a 1,200 cal diet every single day for more than a week and didn't lose an ounce then I would say have some tests run for thyroid or PCOS.thing wrong with you physically.

OH SWEET JESUS. I *do* have PCOS; I was diagnosed in 2007. Would you believe that I actually *forgot* about it?! I don't know *how*, mind you, other than the fact that once I lost about fifty pounds, my symptoms abated in a *major* way and I just...didn't think about it anymore. I guess once the symptoms abated (the ones I can *see*, anyway) it just became a "back of th mind" thing. It's still there, though -- I mean, it's not like PCOS ever goes away.

I haven't had my thyroid function checked, and that's something else I need to have looked at. I have a couple other symptoms that can be indicative of an underactive thyroid, so it won't hurt to have an answer one way or the other. It'd be just my luck to have PCOS *and* hypothyroidism. Bah.

Holy crap. Thank you for mentioning that in your reply! If you hadn't, I doubt I would have even considered it as a possible reason for my difficulties.

As for calories...I think what I'm going to do, for the next couple weeks, is write down *every single thing* that goes in my mouth. Not publicly, on a site like MyFitnessPal or anything, but just in an actual paper journal, so I can see what I am *actually* consuming in the run of a day. I do keep track of what I eat on MFP, but maybe the actual, physical act of putting pen to paper will make the difference.

[Snoofie]

Originally Posted by novangel

Also try to look on the bright side, it could've been way worse than 20p regained.

I try to tell myself that all the time. I know so many people who have lost weight, only to gain back the amount they lost and more besides. In the grand scheme of things, I'm actually pretty lucky.

[novangel]

Glad to help. Definitely get your thyroid checked just to make sure.

There's a 'Dieting with Obstacles' forum where you can get advice from other ladies with PCOS. I'm sure they can help. Good luck!

[JohnP]

Actually you're wrong. I can give you a definitive answer of what is going on with your weight. If you want to lose fat you will need to eat fewer calories than you're eating. The end.

Of course you already knew this. What is the alternative? Your body is producing energy from the sun like a plant? Regardless of what your thyroid is or isn't doing, you're not losing or gaining weight because you're in energy balance.

I wouldn't be surprised if you needed to go below 1200 calories for quite some time because ... you're 5' tall.

A suggestion since you're good at maintaining. Perhaps you should consider a short stint with a PSMF to kick things off. At the very least after a month you would forget this idea that you're incapable of losing weight.