I have been googling and researching like crazy and i really need to know, is birth control why i can't lose weight??

I have always struggled with weight but when i set my mind to it i am able to lose ALOT (like i have lost and regained 60 -100 pounds more than 6 times in my life, bad to yo yo i know but this is not my point) I usually can do this quickly ( like 6 months) with diet and exercise.

I have currently been PERFECT with dieting and exercise for the past 3 weeks and i'm finding the scale is barely moving and i'm not seeing a difference in my clothing either, i am doing the same thing i always did to lose and i know how to lose and what works for me

The only thing that is different is i am on BC since May Loestrin FE 24 and i have read how it only causes a 5 to 10 lb water weight gain and ive been on it 7 months now and i will admit i was eating loads of garbage and not working out up until 3 weeks ago so i know the pill alone isn't what caused me to gain like 60 lbs.... i binged like crazy all summer

But now that i am serious about trying to lose i feel like in my head omg what if i cant because the pill is making my body think im prego and is holding on to all my calories/fat etc...

Should i go off of it? I am not currently having sex but i like being on it for clear skin and a light period but if its why i can;t lose weight then i will go off it and go back to an occasional breakout. Or is this all in my head and have i not given it enough time (3 weeks?)

HELP PLEASE!!! Opinions?? Thanks sooooo much!!!!!!!!!!

It could be that the hormones are contributing to your wanting to binge - I know that happened to me with a different pill.

Basically, it could be, it might not be. Those figures on weight gain from trials/studies are based on averages - which means that some people gained nothing on the pill, while others gained quite a lot, and same gained right around what the average was.

I would give it more time and maybe discuss changing pills with your doctor?

In my experience, I've only had a slight gain on birth control, but it absolutely DID NOT make it impossible for me to lose weight.

How are you monitoring your calories? What are you calories per day goal? How often are you working out, and what are you doing?

I use fitday.com, as well as measuring out everything I eat and/or sticking to serving suggestions to monitor my calories. I avoid sugary and high-carb stuff. I cut out soda (again). I find that when I drink soda, even the diet kind, I have a more difficult time losing weight. I try to work out at least 3 times a week, but average about 4-5 times per week.

As long as you are maintaining a calorie deficient, that is, you are burning more calories than you are eating, you *should* be losing. However, I know that my sister gained quite a bit of weight on depo, so... I'm not much help on that.

You say you have frequently yo-yo'd 60-100lbs 6 times in your life. I know you say that isn't the point, but perhaps it is. That can really whack up your system, and in combination with hormone birth control, be the cause of your problems. It sounds like you may not be doing healthy sustainable weight losses (I don't know, you didn't say your calorie/exercise levels), and that sort of behaviour cannot be sustained and will eventually backfire.

For some, 3 weeks is not enough time to see results, depending on where you start. At 5'4/250lbs, it's very likely to see a drop. At 5'4 and 140lbs, it can take longer than 6 weeks to see a shift.

^^This is something you can absolutely let go of in your head. That's just not the case; that's not how it goes.

When you say that you have been PERFECT with your diet/exercise for 3 weeks - what exactly does that mean?

How many calories are you consuming? What kinds of calories are you consuming? Are you absolutely CERTAIN that your measurements are accurate? Have you had any off days or meals, like Thanksgiving?

What does your exercise look like?

You also said the scale isn't moving much - but it has moved then somewhat?

Maybe a little more info and we can try to give some better suggestions...

Thanks for all the responses keep them coming!!

All the research i have done says the pill causes your body to think it's prego by not ovulating, and that when you really are pregnant you body obviously gains weight, so since the pill tricks your body into thinking your pregnant it makes you gain and not lose even when u r trying My pill is a combo of estrogen and progestrin and i read if the levels of one of these hormones is too high u cannot lose weight no matter what. Like should i go get my blood tested?

I want to believe this is all in my head because i know millions of people take BC all around the world and they have lost weigh i'm sure.

I am certain, I have burned more calories than taken in, i do at least an hr of cardio, usually HIIT on the treadmill of fast walking at an incline of 15 and speed between 4.4 for 2 minutes then 5.7 for 1 for 30 min then i do 30 on something else, i also do nautilus with cardio spurts in between ( jumping jacks, jump rope, stairs, etc) I used to go to a trainer and this is what we did and it worked like magic.

Food when i say perfect i mean perfect i am an all or nothing person... i measure and count everything with no cheating at all, i stick to low carb and protein and it is always between 1300 - 1500 i dont drink soda i ate a lean cuisine on thanksgiving, not 1 bite of anything bad..

To the poster who commented how i have lost/gained all those pounds over and over i know i worry too that my years of yo yo ing back and forth has screwed my metabolism but i'm only 29 so i thought i was still ok

My weight right now is 210..... the scale about a month ago was like 220 then i got it to 210 then back up to 220 cause i ate bad again then 215 and now it seems stuck at 210 even after 3 weeks of perfect diet and exercise... and i know in the past i used to be able to lose like 7 or 8 pounds the first week when i weighed that much and yes i know some was water but i feel like i am killing myself here and no results and the only different variable is the pill, now grantede i have a cheap scale but i feel like i am just treading water here and staying around the same losing the same 10 back and forth

and no, the pill isnt making me binge, that has been going on since i was 13 its just that seeing no results makes me want to give it all up and quit, i have willpower when i want to and when i know it's working.. but my nervousness right now is making me binge again

my weight over the years (since 1999 when i graduated high school has been) 194, 215, 138, 175, 200, 150, 185, 244, 165, 194, 140, 175, 150, 180, 140, now back up in the 200's.... and i don't know why i cant seem to have it going down like it always has, i worry i have permanently screwed my metabolism up from years of this but then i read online that is a myth too

am i just expecting too much too soon??? i know it takes a long time and patience but i need to know what i am doing is slowly starting to work and if its the pill that is interfering i need to stop

i'm just so confused and frustrated

You CAN screw up your metabolism. "Starvation mode" is something you may have read online about being a myth, but that's not the same as a damaged metabolism. For example, a long-term anorexic (talking severe case, hospitalization, small female) may require 3000-4000 calories to gain weight. Metabolisms can be very damaged. The opposite can happen for an overweight person.

It sounds like you are very "all or nothing" (I am too - I'm working on it). I would suggest speaking with a doctor and possibly a specialist referral. I think you've done some damage. Not necessarily from your lack of weight loss - but just from your dieting history. You will also want to get a grip on this yo-yoing, because you're going to end up right back where you started if you don't. You have to say that there will NOT be a "7th time". This is for life.

I agree with Sacha.

I'm also *almost* 29, and had issues with binging from the time I was 9 or so. Then I went the opposite direction and starved myself. I yo-yo'd like that until I was around 22, then "got serious" about weight loss, didn't lose as much as I wanted to because I couldn't tell myself no. I got pregnant at 22, ate all I wanted during the pregnancy because I was "eating for 2" and gained WAAY too much weight. Yo-yo'd again from 23-24, got pregnant again, gained slightly less weight that time around (still too much) then went into starvation-drive again. Then binged, then starved, then binged... blah blah blah.

Basically, by the time I turned 28 I had wrecked my metabolism. I was STARVING myself, like, eating 500-800 calories per day and losing about a pound a week. I felt awful physically. Then I went back to saying SCREW IT and I ate whatever I wanted. THEN I started working out and eating responsibly. It took me over a MONTH to lose anything. 3 months into it I had only lost 3lbs. I was determined and then got into a car accident. I couldn't work out like I had been and gained 15lbs back. I was ready to just give up for good.

Then I found this wonderful place.

So yep, I'm only 28, I'll be 29 in March, and for the better part of my adult life, my metabolism was wrecked. I have days that I mess up, but I don't say ALL OR NOTHING anymore. I realize that I'll have good days and bad, and that neither should determine what I do long-term. Stick with your plan and eventually it WILL start working!

End

That is what i am hoping... that eventually it will have to work

so basically most think the birth control pills are not why i am having a problem?thanks

i know this is an extremely unique position, but i have never been fond of the pill. When i tried it once in college, it made me feel crappy, so i stopped it 3 months later. Later on, after the birth of a child, i went back on. 9 months later i was in the hospital, the pill almost killed me. i was 24 years old and never smoked. Other than a few extra pounds i was healthy and muscular and had a healthy baby.

There is a book i read following this called "the doctors case against the pill." This book is talking about the "original" pill of our mothers generation, but i still found it interesting.

i was on ortho tri cycline.

Now i am infertile, so i don't have to worry about it, i guess that is one bright side lol.

the reason i convey this is because it doesn't matter how many millions of people take it, if it doesn't work for you, then it doesn't work for you. i learned that the pill can have alot of side effects-maybe weight gain for you is one of them-or maybe this just isn't the right pill for you.

-fm

When was the last time you lost a large amount of weight? I ask because...age is a factor. I know for myself and so many others, the whole game just changes when you start getting closer to thirty. I remember having a convo with a friend when I was maybe 28 and saying how easy it had been to lose weight and keep my weight steady when I was 18, 19, 20 and how much harder it was at 28. As another friend said, "when I was 21, I could cut out beer for a week and lose ten pounds, now I could cut out FOOD for a week and not lose ten pounds!"

From what I can tell, the whole idea of "wrecking your metabolism" with yo yo dieting is largely a myth and one reason people think they've "screwed up" their metabolism is because they're getting older and it's just not as easy to lose as it used to be. I'm not going to get into dueling links, but you can google and find all KINDS of reputable links that says wrecking your metabolism through yo yo dieting is outdated thinking. Here's the first one that popped up:
http://www.time.com/time/specials/pa...896356,00.html