I've been eating clean for some time, counting calories and exercising, and ever so slowly, the weight has been coming off. It's coming off so, so, SO slowly now, like one or two pounds a month. I've had to re-examine everything that I'm doing, and sometimes, I just get so fed up...

I've had my body-fat percentage measured recently. For my size, I should be losing 1 lb. a week at 1300 calories a day, even if I'm sedentary. But my activity level is moderate, and I usually eat under 1800 calories a day, and every ounce I lose is hard won. And I get so hungry when I'm dipping under 1600 calories, but that's when my weight starts to drop a little faster. I just can't handle being so hungry all the time! Stupid hypoglycemia!

My life is in a huge state of flux right now, so I can't really make a big effort to focus on regular mealtimes, exercise and sleep. Hopefully later this month things will start settling into some sort of routine. But if anyone out there knows some great ways to battle hunger and hypoglycemia, I'd love to hear it!

Georgia

being 300 lbs you should be getting 1900 calories a day. your body is starving!! the best way to manage your hypoglycemia is to eat 5-6 small (300-400 cal meals) a day, or at least have a 100-200 cal snack between meals.

Well, I know what the calculators online tell me about how much I should be eating and losing weight at, but it just hasn't been my experience. I start gaining at 1900 calories. That's why I got my body fat percentage tested.

I've been trying to increase my muscle mass in order to increase my metabolism, but I'm just getting hungrier. I've been told by body builders that you can't significantly increase muscle when you're not eating enough calories. So I try to keep my calories around 1800, and when I lose some serious inches but not weight, then I can start cutting back on the weights and increase the cardio again to burn more fat.

I've tried the multiple smaller meals, but it just isn't working for me. I end up thinking about food all the time and don't get much else done. I can eat a larger meal three times a day and have a smaller evening snack when I feel the need. But when I'm concentrating on the weightlifting, I feel like eating all the time, and I usually go with that. I've increased the proteins and I do make sure to have high fiber carbs and healthy fats with that too.

The constant vigilance is getting to me. I really want to have a life outside of dieting, exercising, caring for my parents and kids, and school. I need to have some fun!

Georgia

also dont get married to the scale.do measurements too because when youre building muscle it retains water to help it heal.

its all in how you look at it. dont diet. change your life

where in CA are you?

What's your carb intake like?

You gotta snack all day long! Healthy snacks of course.That will curb your hunger.You'll get there!

Princess, I live by my measurements. It's the only heartening thing, when I feel my pants bagging in the seat and upper arms. I get a total charge out of it and want to go pump more! I've been weight training for over a year now and even through the fat, I can see definition in my shoulders and definitely don't feel like such a weenie in my upper body. But I know I'll never get to 300 lbs. of muscle, so the scale and I are partnered up to keep me honest with my general caloric and specific fat intake.

By the way, I just moved to Lodi, which is just south of Sacramento.

DC, I keep my nutrition at 40% protein/30% carbs/30% fat. I get too hungry if I drop protein any more.

I wish I could just eat small healthy appetizers all day long. Wouldn't that be a great product for me to develop? Healthy appetizers to keep in the freezer, in a broad range, so that all I have to do is pull out one of anything I really want, make a salad, and boom, I've got a meal!

Georgia

Have you had a check-up recently? You may have a thyroid or blood sugar issue, or other health issues that have lowered your metabolism.

I'm having similar issues, and even I have a hard time believing that my metabolism is as slow as it's become. I even considered the possibility of eating while sleepwalking - except for the fact that I've only ever sleepwalked once in my life (and I was 5 and had a fever) - and no food is missing in the morning (so I'd have had to sleep drive to the all-night drive-through).

I do have borderline low thyroid (it's a smidgen over the level at which my doctor considers prescribing medications), and insulin resistance.

I do best when I do have small mini-meals, so I do have a lot of options in the pantry and in the freezer. Since I'm very carb-sensitive (carb-addicted, more like it), they're mostly high protein foods. I thought I'd never be able to do without at least one meal-sized meal, but I read an article about "imitation weight loss surgery," shrinking your stomach by never eating more than a cup of food at a "meal". It has worked remarkably well - I do get filled on much less food than before I tried the experiment (but stomach's stretch easily, so it's a habit I have to maintain for it to work).

Kaplods, I'm like you too with the thyroid and insulin resistance. I have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes that I've been managing with diet and exercise only. I've gotten my A1c down from 6.9 to 6.1 this last year, and I'm due for another check-up soon.

Most of the weight I lost earlier was due to strictly monitoring and decreasing carbs. But when I got too low, I really felt bad. I'm not really a carb addict, more of a fat addict I think. After losing a good bit, I though I'd bring in the good carbs again. That's when I stopped losing weight, so I cut back again, but not so drastically. Since then, the weight loss has been very slow, but it's happening, nonetheless.

I briefly considered WLS, but surgery freaked me out, so I too thought I could do the really small meals instead. I was successful at it, sporadicly, but my life has been in a state of flux over the last few months, so I have a hard time managing that. Once I've moved my household permanently, I can resume doing that again.

Once I spent a day cooking a variety of meals and putting them into small portions in the freezer to take out as needed. I think if I can get back to that, I'll be good.

Georgia

Stress and sleep deprivation can both lower your metabolism too. It may seem like a weird question, but is your body temperature significantly below 98.6? Mine is rarely over 97.4 and can go even lower than that (oddly consistently eating low carb seems to raise my body temp a smidgen towards normal - I don't know if that's significant, but I find it interesting).

I definitely AM a carb-addict. Not so much a fan of sugary as starchy foods like potato and bread.

My weight loss is super slow too, unless I drastically cut carbs; and if I drastically cut carbs I feel light headed and yucky. I'm stil trying to find the perfect balance where I'm eating just enough carbs to lose weight reliably and consistently without feeling blechy.

It's like a tightrope walk.

Yep, me too! My basal temp has always been well lower than normal. Had a hard time conceiving because of that too.

Sleep and stress...started taking melatonin and L-tyrosine again to manage that. Just started back on it this week, so I'm hoping, once my life settles back to a good routine, things will improve in general.

Geo

Wow, I didn't know that. My basal temp runs high ~ 99.1 - 100.1 is my norm ~ my hair/nails grow super fast ~ but I STILL have trouble losing weight over the long haul.