Beyond frustrated....
 

I am so flippin frustrated I don't know what to do or try.
For months I've been trying different things, bouncing my calories around 200 up or down, changing up my exercise, trying to figure out how to lose weight. The scale, for the most part, doesn't move. Up or down 1-2 pounds but that's about it.

Advice anyone?

I'm 5'5, 250 pounds.
Track my calories daily and average 1600 (30 Fat, 30 Carb, 40 Protein).
The vast majority of my carbs come from veg.
I eat hardly any processed food.
Do not add salt.
I strength train (hard) for 30 minutes, 3 times a week.
I cardio train at least 5 30 minute sessions per week.
I do yoga/pilates 4-5 times a week.

I've been doing these things for well over a month consistently, some of them for 3-4 months.

I just feel like I'm working so hard and I'm getting absolutely no where. I just want to cry and say F@#_(*#@)(* it all.

Yes, I FEEL better, but for crying in my soup, I want to look better too!
HELP!

:hug: for you, Kris.

It sounds like a perfectly good plan...(almost exactly like mine except for the yoga and I do 40/30/30 C/P/F :D). From your profile you've lost 22 pounds? Was that before this plateau?

The 40% Protein is that because of all the weight training?

So you've already tried 1400 calories...I doubt if you really want to go lower than that with all the workouts...how long have you tried 1400 for? And you log everything you eat consistantly (as in weighing and/or measuring)? I don't want to insult you - you totally sound like you know what you are doing.

Hi Kris,

I'm not an expert because I've only been doing this a couple of months, but I will try to help you. First though, I want to congratulate you on all the hard work you have done so far! When I put your stats in the calorie calculator I have it tells me you should be having 2300 calories a day. If you're only eating arounf 1600 calories today and with all the exercise you are doing perhaps you are actually eating too few calories. I know that when I restrict myself too much I stop losing weight, but if I increase my calorie intake I will start losing weight. Try increasing your calorie intake to 1800 and keep working out. Even though you aren't losing weight are you losing inches?

Good luck. I know you can do this!

Dee

Kris, how certain are you about the 1600? Are you a diligent measurer and weigher? Do you log every single nibble?

With your exercise and calorie intake, you really should be losing so the first place to look is how precise you're being with your calorie intake.

How long has this plateau been going on? Have you been bobbing up and down with the same few pounds for a few months or just a few weeks?

Zigzagging your calories might be another idea to try, if you haven't already.

Ok...I checked out your blog...20 pounds in 5 months isn't bad...that's a pound a week. You should be extremely proud of yourself! You are prolly building tons of muscle with all the HIIT sessions...I'd venture a guess you are losing more inches than pounds. The good news is muscle takes up less space than fat and also revs your metabolism. My advice is patience. Giving up is not an option. Would you rather lose slowly and build permanent habits to maintain your losses or lose fast and quit and gain it all back?

Give yourself a big pat on the back and keep up the good work!

:bravo:

Thanks for the quick replys - this place and all of you are the best.

I measured about 2 weeks ago and had a few small changes in digits there. 1/2 inch off bust, 1 & 1/2 of hips. Think those were the only two changes.

1600 is the lowest I've dropped so far. I was at 1800 for about a month prior to dropping to 1600 two weeks ago. yeah, I upped my protein (lean meat, chicken, fish, cottage cheese primarily) and decreased my carbs about 2 weeks ago. I read to eat .8 to 1 gm per pound up to 150 to maintain muscle mass, etc. I suppose I could try dropping to 1400, but everyone keeps warning about dropping too low. And, based upon the amount of exercise, I have been very hesitant. Not ruling it out though - just don't want to make things worse. Then again, if after months of relatively no change, is there really any harm in trying it for a week or two?

My plateau has lasted for months. I went up about 3kg/6 pounds on a holiday during November and did drop that when I got home, but other than that, the scale really hasn't moved in 4-5 months. (Other than the bouncing of 1-2 pounds.)

I log everything in fitday. I weigh or measure....well, I was going to say everything but I don't measure vegetables/fruit so that wouldn't be 100% true. I would say that I weigh or measure 90% of what I eat or that I have in the past (Like my morning cappo, I know it has 3/4 of a cup of milk in it so I don't actually measure it.)

yesterday's menu (just under 1600 cal, 26gm fiber):
6am - 3 ounces lamb, apple
8am - cappo
10:30 - 3 ounces chicken, 1/2 cup roast pumpkin, skinny cappo
1:00 - 1 cup chick pea and pepper salad (no oil, balsamic vinegar marinade), peach
5:00 - 3 ounces chicken, 2 small carrots, 1/2 cup sweet potato
7:00 - 4 ounces steak, zucchini in fresh tomato sauce, salad of lettace, tomato, carrot and sprouts with oil/vinegar dressing, 1/2 glass red wine

The 20 pounds is good and I hate to whine and complain - but I really would like to drop more. 250 is still not a good weight. Yes, it's better than the 300 pounds I used to be (7 years ago or more). I feel like I'm in this twilight zone....where I'm working so hard and so consistently and I'm just spinning my wheels. Sometimes I think I should lighten my focus a bit but I know what will happen then....I'll lose focus totally and start working my way back up to 300 pounds.

I guess I should just take a chill pill and keep moving forward and hopefully, eventually, I'll drop a few more pounds but man is it frustrating right now!

Thank you so much for listening.

From the chick who has been stuck between 160 and 175 for 3 years....I TOTALLY hear ya. While I'm really proud of myself that I've maintained a 100 pound loss...I still want that last 20 pounds gone.

Maybe try 1500 for a month? 1400 might indeed be too low.

Oh, and whining and complaining is quite alright. We all learn from each other. I find your blog quite inspirational. :carrot:

This really is a bit mysterious. You should be losing. Would you mind telling us how old you are? Age can often make a difference.

I think that for starters, you should stick with 1600 for another couple of weeks. Give it a full month before you decide it isn't working. Sometimes the body can be annoyingly slow to adapt.

If after another 2 or 3 weeks you still haven't lost, it is time to re-evaluate. I see two primary options and you could try either one (for at least a month!) and see how you go.

Since you've not been able to lose at the higher calorie range, it might be necessary to shift downwards a bit. You really shouldn't have to drop your calories below 1600 at your current weight, but sometimes bodies have their own ideas about things. You could try a month at 1400-1500 and see if it makes a difference.

Alternatively, you could try calorie cycling. Stick with the 1600 calories a day, but average them over the course of the week. So Monday: 1400, Tuesday: 1800, Wednesday: 1600, Thursday: 2000, Friday:1400 and so on so that you wind up eating 11,200 cals a week. Cycling calories can be a good way of giving your metabolism a shake-up without actually changing the number of calories your body gets per week. I'm inclined to think that it would be worth trying this (for at least a month) before dropping your calories any further, because, as I've said, I don't think there's any reason that an active 250lb woman shouldn't be able to lose weight on 1600 calories a day.

Actually, there might be a reason: have you had your thyroid checked recently?

Just a quick reply as I'm heading out the door - will be back later to reply to all.

I think you may be right, Baffled. My personal trainer is confused also. Thinks I should be losing based upon my program - even with muscle gain and all.

I've done a bit of calorie cycling - will be more diligent the next 2 weeks. Will also stay to the 1600 calories for 2 more weeks. I have a doctor appointment in 2 weeks, and although I don't put a lot of confidence in what physicians know about weight loss (I don't think they get much training in that area) I will discuss it with him. I'm pretty sure he did a thyroid test on me about 4 months ago but I'll follow up on that and if he didn't, I'll get one done. Also may ask for a referral to a dietician if there has been no change.

Will be even MORE diligent this week with tracking every morsel that crosses my lips....just in case I'm not being as accurate as I should be.

Ok, off to get my legs waxed. OUCH!

Thanks again everyone.....I'm feeling better just still perplexed. I'm not giving up.

Maybe you should change your percentages a little. Everyone is different so maybe you need more carbs and less protein, or some more good fat (nuts, EV olive oil,...). I personally eat 60% carbs, 20% protein, 20% fat. That is what my nutrition coach at my gym put me on to have a stable blood sugar throughout the day. I have been losing steadly and haven't hit any plateaus yet, other then the holidays when I wasn't watching my food much.

Dee is absolutly correct and I am really surprised your trainer has not suggested the same thing! Your body is starving!! Your BMR is ~1900 which is how many calories your body burns at REST. Your body is in the famine phase of feast or famine and is storing every last calorie and pound for energy to just function. You have to give your body more than the minimum to get out of your famine.

I know mentally it doesn't make sense to eat more to lose weight, but it is science!

You are eating 1600 calories
Your body needs 1900 calories
30 min of weight training burns ~195 calories
30 min of cardio ~345
1 hour of pilates burns ~585

If you did nothing all day long you would lose weight:
1600-1900=300 calorie deficit which is 1 lb lost BUT you are not laying around all day you are working out quite hard...

so on the days that you weight train and do cardio your total calories are
1600-1900-195-345= -840
on the days you do pilates your total calories are
1600-1900-585= -885

the above does not include any other activies besides your daily functioning (laying around breathing) and your workout

YES your body is starving, you want to keep your calorie deficit around 300/day to lose 1 lb a week and since it is considered safe to lose 2 lbs a week a deficit of 600 is ok but that is after you have feed your body it esential calories.

So if you increase your intake to at least 2000
2000-1900-195-345= -440 a much safer daily deficit for weight loss
2000-1900-585= =485

Again this does not include all the other calories you burn in a day just living.

Okay you may not care to see all that, bottom line is eat more, obviously make your choices good ones, but by adding more calories will help you loose the weight!

What kind of cardio are you doing? I found that I really liked the elliptical and stuck with it, but that after time I seemed to be getting fewer and fewer results even though I was getting my heart rate up. As soon as I switched cardio types I started dropping again without too many other changes.

I believe smurf is right. Man, I wish women would eat more and stop depending so much on cardio when they need a little muscle to burn more calories all day long.

Although I know you are doing weight training. I think you should at least try what others have suggested and eat more. Just give it a try for a couple of weeks you can always go back to eating less if it doesn't work for you.

Very good advice here.....what to do, what to do.....smurf, my gut tells me that you are probably right and may need more calories. It seems like no matter which site I go to in order to figure out calories, I just get more and more confused. Funny thing is, I've gotten myself to the point where I sometimes have a hard time even getting the 1600 calories in! Especially since i'm primarily eating lean protein and fruit/veg.

Let me answer a few more questions....

I'm 48, post surgical menopause (about 10 years ago). Never really went through typical menopause-like symptoms. (I know....I am SO lucky!)

Cardio: I try to mix it up between bike, treadmill and elliptical. Have started throwing in a little rowing machine and boxing lately. I was doing about 60 minutes of slow burn cardio but about 4-5 weeks ago I switched to HIIT where I go a minimum of 20 minutes, max of 40 and during each 20 minute session, I start with 3 minutes warm up, 10-15 of alternating every 30 seconds between high intensity and recovery, and then a 3-5 minute cool down.

I had sorta decided to stick to the 1600 calories for 2 more weeks - but I'm open to adding in more calories and seeing what happens. I feel bad for my Biggest Loser teammates if I keep gaining! :) What to do....what to do.... Still thinking, not ruling anything out.

Thanks again everyone!

I actually calculated your BMR as though you were 30 so at 48 your body burns ~1825 calories at rest. You can adjust my above calculations :) but you still need more calories.

It really wouldn't be too hard to add in a couple more callories. We are only talking ~400
by doing 2 of these you will increase your calorie intake ~300-400 calories

*increase your meat to 6 oz (do you really eat lamb for breakfast?)
*add 1/2 PBJ to your cappo in the morning
*increase your veggie servings to 1 cup
*make sure you are using at least 1 TBS (more than you might think) of heart healthy oil daily (Olive Oil) it is proven to help maintain healthy skin, hair, nails and makes you *glow*

*a protein bar has about 300 calories (depending on the brand)

You really do need to stick with the increased calories for 1-2 weeks before you might start to see results your body will still think it is in famine mode you have to retrain your body to burn the calories like it is supposed to.

Stick to it and the results will come! Good luck and keep us posted!

PS) My mom is about your age and just lost about 100 lbs and she will tell you I am right, although it took some convincing at first! ;)

Working hard and not losing weight is frustrating to say the least. It could be a lot of things. Have you ever had your thyroid checked? Have you talked to your doctor? Being 48 and post-menopausal many women find it harder to lose weight. If that's the case, adding more calories won't really help...

Patience and diligence may be your best friends...

plateau for me too, but living each day healthier is my reward for now
 

I agree with (and will benefit from) the suggestions you've inspired here. I'm also so completely impressed by your dedication and thoroughness.

The only thing I've been able to figure out when encountering the same sort of plateau for months at a time, is that my system is re-establishing a baseline comfort zone and "hunkering down" for the winter. I've also noticed that two weeks of the month I can really see progress (just after my cycle) and the other two weeks are just plain plateau, so I count my blessings when they come... and they WILL come again. :)

Also, for me I find that stress (work, home, or thinking about my health/weight) and too little sleep both play a surprisingly insidious role in my efforts to get to my healthiest weight. And as many folks have said here, keep focusing on the positive changes you've made that will guide you for the rest of your life.

Smurf - RMR and BMR calculators you find on the internet are truly just estimates of what an average person your size/weight/height/age might burn. No one's body is a machine...even if a calculator says you should be eating 1800 calories a day, your body might disagree!

If I run a typical BMR calculation for myself, it says I burn 1571 calories at rest. That may be an accurate AVERAGE...it is NOT accurate for my body. If I eat that many calories a day without exercising, I gain. It takes 1400 calories a day at rest, or about 1600-1700 calories a day with my typical amount of exercise, to maintain my weight.

The formulas may be accurate for some, but they cannot be used to definitively state whether you need more or fewer calories. Only good old-fashioned trial and error will help you figure out what YOUR unique body needs.

Remember - no human body is a machine, and we're all different, so if a formula seems like it isn't working for you, trust your body, not the math.

Kris - sometimes, our bodies just don't cooperate. Keep mixing things up, trying different calorie levels, varying your exercise routines...most importantly, stay ON PLAN and keep going. The scale will eventually catch up.

Just to echo Mandalinn's advice, don't believe everything you read about calculators and how many calories are burned by a particular exercise. Those are averages, and no one person is average. If I calculate my BMR (1215) and add calories for all the exercise I do, I should be able to maintain on about 1900 calories. :rofl: Uh, nope! That would be wonderful, but in the real world my body maintains on about 1450 and I have to go to about 1300 to start to lose. 53 and post-menopausal here. Theoretically, I'm in minus calories and should have disappeared years ago, but I can assure you, there is plenty of me here.

Just keep working hard :lifter: and :tread:. Those inches lost are not insignificant! How long have you been lifting? If it's only a few months, you may still be in that golden period where muscle growth is equal to fat loss. That's a good thing!

But above all, make sure that you really know what you are eating. Eyeballing or estimating portions is usually dangerous and teaspoons tend to grow in my experience if you aren't being really careful.

One more caution- I'd suggest ignoring the calories burned by exercise part of fitday. The estimates tend to be really high. Unless you are running at a fairly good pace, 1/2 and hour of cardio doesn't burn 345 calories and an hour of pilates most likely doesn't burn 585.

I really don't think you are starving. At your current weight, age and hormonal status, I would have suggested you start at about 1700 calories, but you aren't just starting. I think you could probably eat a little more, but 1500-1600 is certainly not starving. There are plenty of us here about your age who successfully lost at that level or a little lower. Remember, it's all about YOU, not an average.

Keep on pluggin :hug:

Mel

Thanks again everyone.
Smurf-how exciting for you and your mother! Prior to dropping to 1600 calories, I was at 1800 and 2000 respectively and still wasn't losing so that is why I dropped to 1600. I was at each level for about 4 weeks each time. Yesterday I upped my calories and did find out how relatively easy it is to bump up. And yes, I really do eat lamb for breakfast! Typically, I'm up at about 5am and about 6am I have 2-3 ounces of whatever protein we ate for dinner the night before which carries me through until I have a proper breakfast. Rather weird of me, eh? :)

Heather - I'm pretty sure my doc did a thyroid check about 4 months ago but when I go in for my checkup in 2 weeks, I'll follow-up on it. I don't have any typical thyroid symptoms, but if he didn't do a test, I'll have one done.

Bethafina - thank you for your kind words!

Mandalinn82- I know what you mean. For every calculator, there is a different number. You're right....we each need to find what works for us...it's just been so bloody frustrating trying to figure that out!

Mel-I've been lifting since early October. Swimming and doing cardio 3-5 times a week since mid-2007. Yeah, I know what you mean about the calories for exercise.....that's another spot where there is so much room for interpretation on how many calories are burned. I try not to get into the specifics....I figure time and intensity are better benchmarks for me than how many calories burned.

So, I've taken all you have said under advisement AND I'm printing this thread out to refer back to. What I've decided to do is stick with my original calorie plan of 1600 average but do the calorie cycling from 1200 to 2000. I'm going to do this for 2 more weeks. I'm going to diligently weigh and measure just to make sure I'm being honest with myself. I'm going to keep with my 1.5 to 2L of h2o each day. Stick to my exercise program of 3 ST, 5 HIIT cardio and 4-5 yoga/pilates per week.

In two weeks I'll re-measure, take new pictures and weigh and see where I'm at. I just have to believe what you all are saying and the weight will start to drop off at some point! I believe, I believe, I believe!

Kris -- Sounds like a plan!!!! Paying attention to things like measurement and how your clothes fit is important, especially when you're lifting. When I started lifting seriously I went through a period of several months where I didn't lose any weight, but went down a clothing size. Essentially I lost X fat and gained X muscle. Overall my WEIGHT stayed the same, but I lost fat and gained muscle. Muscle takes up less space than fat, so I was smaller! Point is, the scale is not our best tool!

Let us know how it goes!

Oh Honey: How frustrating! Someone recently posted an inspirational video here that you can find on YouTube done by this guy named Adam Waters. He completely changed his body. I loved that video so much that I went to his blog. I read through it and it looks like he alternated his eating plan every few weeks between low fat, low carb and balanced eating to keep his body kind of fooled. Dang. It sure worked for him. I'm such a moron I could not keep on top of that but you might want to take a look at the video and read his blog if you end up feeling like you just need to try something (as opposed to throwin' in the towel).