i cant do it anymore
 

OK - Im not sure what the heck is wrong with me. I have been on a diet/excercise plan for more than 6 months now. I have been at it hardcore - really focused and on plan with very few meals that were off plan.

If it went in my mouth, it was weighed, measured or counted - no exceptions.
I excercise 5 or 6 days a week - any where from 1 to 2 1/2 hours per excercie session. Im telling you I am dedicated to my weight loss!
I have not lost anything - nothing - 0 pounds!

In fact - i gained a few. I had to buy another size up in pants this ast weekend so that I could go out and celebrate my birthday (my boyfriend planned an entire weekends worth of events) If I was going to be comfortable and enjoy myself i had to go buy a new pair - because all my pants were too tight or I had ripped the belt loops trying to get them on!!!
Its funny cause - I had set a goal 2 months before my birthday to go down 1 pants size, and I was so focused on this goal that i excercised and ate perfectly.

This has brought me to a new emotional low. I can't even tell you all the thoughts that have gone though my head.

Just a note - i know by looking at my pic - i dont look terribly overweight, but i carry my weight mostly in my thighs, so to give you an idea I am 4'10" tall and my thighs measure 40 inches around - so imagine the trouble I have shopping for clothes. I can't go on like this. I spent like 3 hours crying today. I dont even want to leave my house anymore.

Have you been converting fat to muscle in your thighs? Also, if you dont get enough food and you exercise too much, the food you do take in can be converted directly into fat. There are online calculators that will show you how much calories you need to take in to maintain for your height/weight.

I hope you dont give up!

Hi there. I think you look kinda fabulous in both pics.

Why not tell us what kind of food plan you are following this way we can help you better? Maybe it's the TYPES of foods that you are eating that is stalling your weightloss. Get back to us. We're here to help you.

I agree with robin, maybe it's what you are eating because from what you are saying so far, I don't understand why you haven't lost anything.

Yes, give us more information. How many calories do you eat in a day? Are you sure you're counting everything, including alcoholic beverages? Do you use a tracker like FitDay?

Jay

I hope you figure out what is wrong!

You might not be eating enough for all that exercise. Why so much? Also a diet is setting yourself up for failure. You need to be making permanent changes in the way you eat for life. By now you should know what a portion looks like and only have to weigh or measure occasionally. I heartly support a food diary. I've kept one since 1971 and maintained a 200 pound weight loss since 1975. Also, what kinds of food are you eating? What you eat is very important. Staying within a calorie count can be accomplished but we can still have poor nutrition that doesn't support our efforts. It would be helpful if you would give us a day's menu so we could see what you are eating.

Yes please share more about your calorie and fat intake. Then maybe some of our more experienced people here can help you. Don't cry!!!!!!

dont give in, youl regret it...listen to peoples advice

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y27...ie/winners.jpg

Originally Posted by QuilterInVA:
You might not be eating enough for all that exercise. Why so much? Also a diet is setting yourself up for failure. You need to be making permanent changes in the way you eat for life. By now you should know what a portion looks like and only have to weigh or measure occasionally. I heartly support a food diary. I've kept one since 1971 and maintained a 200 pound weight loss since 1975. Also, what kinds of food are you eating? What you eat is very important. Staying within a calorie count can be accomplished but we can still have poor nutrition that doesn't support our efforts. It would be helpful if you would give us a day's menu so we could see what you are eating.

I think I have said it before, but I will say it again. That is awesome!!! :carrot:

Hi there. I can't really give you any advice since I can't seem to get it down myself, the only thing I can say is to keep coming back here, I think these ladies and gentlemen know a lot about weightloss and can give you excellent advice. I also wanted to say that your committment to weightloss is fabulous. You haven't given up so far, why do it now? Hang in there, I know it is tough, but you have a goal. Give the things that are recommended here a try. I hope you can get over this hump! BTW, you are incredibly beautiful, in both pics. :)

I agree that you should share what types of foods you're eating/how many calories you're taking in. If you're exercising for 1-2.5 hours 6 days out of the week, you need to be EATING for that. Eating 1200 calories or less and exercising that way is going to cause your body to freak out! It thinks that you're not only under a lot of physical duress, but you're also starving!

According to some calculators I peeked at online, to maintain your current weight, being completely sedentary, you need to consume 1700 calories a day. Most people subtract 500 from the daily total to lose a pound a week (leaving you at 1200 calories). However, if you're exercising as intensely as you are, I'd suggest trying to eat more than 1200 calories--more like 1400-1500. Your body needs nourishment when it's working so hard!

But, I'll wait to see what you're actually doing calorie/food wise before saying anymore :)

X

what size pants do you wear? i can't imagine 40 inch thighs on a petite person unless you were counting both thighs. what type of food are you eating, do you take vitamins? have you seen your doctor to talk about this? what type of exercising are you doing for those 1-2 hours? we need the pieces to the puzzle to help ya!

Hey everyone, sorry I did not respont to Q's - I have been a little depressed.
Thank you all for asking so that you can maybe give me a little insight as to what I might be doing wrong.

First let me respond to a couple things.

ELMUYLOCO5 - First of all - no worries, you did not come off rude. My 2 pictures were taken less than 2 years apart - I compare those 2 pics becuase I can really see how thin my face and arms are - and being that I even gained weight in the face and arm is alot - becuase those are the last places I tend to gain it along with my midsection. I tend to gain it in my hips, rear eand and especially my thinghs. One thing I do know is that we all carry our weight in defferent places

As for how I measure my thighs, yeah that is a measurement of both at the widest part. I did that because it is devastationg to me that they are the widest part of my body - even a little bit wider than my shoulders. I just remeasured - the actual meausement around is 42, and 1 thigh measures 26.5 inchs! You guys also have to remember that I am ony 4'10" tall - Im very very short.

I have worked with trainers and learned everything I know about excercise, and fitness from them - I even taught aerobics and different fitness classes for a bit. (when I was fit!) I understand how cardio and weight training work together for weightloss and toning and all those things we strive for. I do both - I know im not trading muscle for fat, because in the past when I have done this, the scale does not move down but the inches do! This is not happening either. This leads me to believe it is more of an issue of what I am eating.

My daily calorie intake should not be an issue - I never take in less than 1200.
My calorie intake ranges from 1200 - 1400, usually around 1250 calories per day, and more towards 1400 if I excercised intensly that day. (usually a cardio and strength training day)

Here is a typical menu for me:

Breakfast: 1 serving of Special K cereal w/ a 1/2 c. of 2%milk
Coffee with 1 seving of creamer and a packet of splenda
2 wedges of cantalope (1/4 of a small one)

Snack: handful of grapes

Lunch: Healthy Choice frozen meal

Snack: 1/2 c. cottage cheese with fruit (i like pineapple in it)

Dinner: 4 oz of Salmon/Chicken (boneless skinless)
1.5 cups of broccoli
1/5 c brown rice

Snack: Nectarine

There what I typically eat in a day. I keep things simple because I want to be dead on with my calories as much as possible. Noting goes into my mouth inless it has been weighed, measured or counted. I keep a food, and activity diary and enter it all into Fitday.

Just one thing to add - I got this heavy once before, when my mom died, i just stopped doing everything, sat on my butt for a year and was depressed - when I snapped out of it about a year later - this is excatly what I did to lose, and I lost all the weight. That is why i dont understand. I gained the weight this time cause I went back to school and was sitting in a chair all day between school/work, but i ate the same. Im at a loss for what to do.
If anyone can see what the problem is with what i have posted please please let me know - cause i have always thought i knew how to do this, now im not so sure.

Oh my gosh, sorry sooo long!

i have struggled with diets over the years and got no or little results - and it was all eventually gained back cos the diets were just not sustainable for me.
now i'm doing 'fast-5' and that seems to be working so far - and is remarkably easy after the adjustment stage. if you are interested just google it and download the free e-book.

Thanks nougat, I will look it up. Im willing to look at anything at this point.

I just wanted to tell everyone thanks for the support and concern. Im amazed at how many people asked 4 more details to see wht i may be doing incorrectly, to see if they could help.

I was initially on WW and the boards there are terrible - i was called a Pamela Anderson wanna be, told not to be so whiny cause i looked fine to them and was probably anorexic (i just dont have as much to lose as some) and also told i l was probably "Rode hard and put away wet" because of the classes I taught - they assumed I was a stripper!

Ouch! Hang out with us. We're much nicer :)

I know - i can see that everyone is really great here! I love it. I left right after that all happened. I teared up when I read the thread and about 8 different people were attacking me based on what i looked like - but then I realized that these were mean hurtful people that i did not even know, who did not know me - so why did i care. (I am an emotional wreck since this weight gain)

Hey again, Blueyedblond,

Well... I've thought and thought... and the only thing I can see is that you may not be getting enough protein. Try to eat protein with every meal and snack. Perhaps a boiled egg with breakfast, a few almonds (say, 12) with your grapes, and so on. It may raise your calories a bit, but don't worry about that--you have some room to spare, given your sample meal. An egg and some almonds would only add around 150-160 cals to your day, and they are good cals.

Being depressed does tend to make the body sluggish--perhaps you'd like to drop in on the Dieting with Obstacles area of the forum--where I believe there's a Depression thread. You might find some ideas there.

Hang in there! Don't give up! :cheer2: :cheer2:

And I'm so sorry the folks on that "other site" were so rude. We don't tolerate that here. If anyone sends you a really disrespectful PM or posts a rude reply, contact a mod or an admin.

Jay

What about seeing a nutritionist? I thought I knew a lot, but I'm currently seeing a doctor/nutritionist who is fabulous and I lost 10 lbs the first month I went on her plan without being hungry at all. Anyway, a doctor may be able to order tests, etc and see what exactly is going on with your body.
Good luck and feel better - We are not a number on a scale, nor a number on a measuring tape!
Kim

First, I would like to say that you cannot convert fat into muscle. Fat and muscle is two different things. So one cannot convert into the other. You burn fat and build muscle, simple. Anyway a lot of the advice was good however, I wanted to comment about the people who were attacking you based on the way you look on the other thread. You look fine to pretty much everyone here. Does that answer to you why they maybe attacking you. Sometimes when you look a certain way and someone else DOES NOT, of course they are going to attack you. Especially if they do not see anything wrong with you and you see something wrong with yourself. Trust, I go through this a lot too. In person though. Immaturity is everywhere. But I never heard of such an attitude problem on a weightloss site.

I have problems with my thighs too :D. I have been working out and eating properly too and have not gotten results. I feel the same way you feel.

Good Luck with everything
:hug:

Hey all!

Sepia, I understand that i cant turn muscle to fat and vise versa, i didn't mean it ti sound that way when I said i wasn't trading fat for muscle, hmmmm, i think to word it better would simply be than I know Im not building muscle at the moment ( i do know that to do so - burns more fat though)
As for the people at the "other site" Im over that! I dont really care, the truth is that they attacked almost every new person that came along (newb as the called them)

Jayell - you know, after I posted and I took a look at my menu, and went back to take a look at my Fitday percentages I thought the same thing about the protein - that maybe Im a little short on that. Im not so sure it would play into a complete lack of weightloss??? As for being depressed, I do suffer from depression, i have been diagnosed with it years ago, and I know that I feel worse becuase of my weight, i also suffer from insomnia (part of the depression) I will go check that forum out, thank you.

Ottoette - I would love to get with a nutritionist, however, at the moment I am unemployed, and dont have any $$ to spare. I don't even have med insurance, or I would definatly see the doc to have my thyroid checked, or try a more medical approach to my weight loss at this point.

Are you taking any new medications? Such as, birth control, or anti-depressant? These can make you gain weight.. or make it hard to lose it.. I hope all works out..

aymee - nope no meds :( I would have looked to that first definetly, but the only meds I take is an occasional one for migraines, but not even on a regular basis.

There is just no easy answer for my issue I think :)

However, i just read an article today that says, get this : Insomnia can CAUSE WEIGHT GAIN! OMG!!! Im sooo afraid of sleeping pills too. I dont get it though, should it still not be simple calories in vs. calories out??? How is my sleep going to completely cancell this out?

Oh my gosh - but everyone is sooooo great for trying to think of what it may me. I think after posting this and seeing that my thoughts are the same as others and realize that none of these things really should be a problem, I may just have to come to terms that it may not be possible for me to lose weight until I see a doctor and get some things under control.

Hey Blueyed, it sounds like you've gotten a lot of ideas, so try the ones that sound possible to you. I do think that you probably are your own worst critic. ;) So, try to "lighten up" :lol: and enjoy yourself! We really are more than our numbers.

Hang in there!
Jay

Is there anyway that you can have your thyroid levels checked? It really sounds like you are doing everything right (tho I'd add more protein, too, as Jayell suggested) and you've been at this for a while.

Depression, lethargy, and insomnia are all symptoms of a thyroid problem.

The other subjective question is how intense are your workouts? If you've worked with a trainer and taught various aerobics classes, I'm assuming you are pushing yourself. 2/12 hours is a bit much, tho. If you are used to 2 1/2 hours of walking each day, your body isn't going to perceive it as exercise. But from what you've said, it doesn't sound like you're taking a stroll for your exercise.

:hug: to you...you have lot of patience to keep on program with no results.

Mel

Hey Mel - My bf's mother see's everything I do and is baffled too - she has a thyroid issue and suspects i have the same problem as her - i have no medical insurance, so i would love to have that checked but at the moment it is impossible till i get a job and get insurance :( As for my excercise regimine - 1 hour is intense aerobics, then the rest can be anything from fast paced walking, to tennis (i love that and do that because i love it - it is a great workout though) weight training - it just depends.

Jaell - i know i am my own worst critic - it is just soooo hard when i dont have any clothes to wear and to try and shop brings me to tears - but i will try ;) Thanks for the support.

I'm thinking you might want to try to shock your system into a loss by changing your calories. Maybe either increase them a little or drop them every once in awhile, just enough so it registers a change. Because you gained and lost this before, your body may be used to the cycle and is bucking it this time.