[blanna]

I really didn't think I would be posting something about being frustrated this early. I started my diet just a little over 2 weeks ago now and for the first several days it was going really well. I lost 10 pounds in 2 weeks, and after that (and the past 4 days now) it has completely stopped. Not only do I limit my calorie intake, but I am very active (exercising for 2+ hours a day).
Yesterday I decided to up my calories because I felt I wasn't getting enough some days simply because I wasnt hungry. I ate about 1,200 calories yesterday, still exercised, and sure enough I went up .8 lbs in a day.
I am so frustrated and ready to quit. I don't know what to do differently. I thought by upping my calories maybe my body would get on a more normal track.

help.

What am I doing wrong?

[CousinRockingChair]

Well, you can't gain almost a lb in a day on 1,200 cals.

Before I say anything though, did you mean twelve THOUSAND calories in a day, or ONE thousand two hundred?

Because if you've been eating 1,200 or less that's very low, and you probably do need to up it by about 200-300/day especially with all that exercise! And sometimes it can take a few weeks before things start really moving again. Frsutrating, but thats the human body for ya..

xxx

[fiberlover]

You aren't really doing anything wrong. 10 pounds in 2 weeks is an amazing weight loss! I would stop weighing everyday. If you are exercising a lot, you might be retaining some water now.

What exactly are you doing food wise?

[blanna]

Originally Posted by CousinRockingChair

Well, you can't gain almost a lb in a day on 1,200 cals.

Before I say anything though, did you mean twelve THOUSAND calories in a day, or ONE thousand two hundred?

typo, I meant 1,200. eek 12,000 would be insane. and believe me, I gained .8 lbs from tuesday morning to wednesday morning.

[blanna]

Originally Posted by fiberlover

You aren't really doing anything wrong. 10 pounds in 2 weeks is an amazing weight loss! I would stop weighing everyday. If you are exercising a lot, you might be retaining some water now.

What exactly are you doing food wise?

As far as food goes I've just been eating lower calorie and healthier things. I will make egg scrambles with egg whites and spinach and mushrooms for dinner, special k for breakfast, healthy snacks, etc etc. (just an example). Sometimes I do shakes, sometimes I do lean cuisine, sometimes I do chicken, just depends on the day.

[PhotoChick]

You simply CANNOT gain 1lb of fat on 1200 calories. It's a physical impossibility. It's far more likely that you ate some salty foods and retained about 1 lb of water. I'm not saying that the scale didn't go up. I am saying that it CANNOT be fat.

So a few thoughts for you.

1 - at 5'8" and 255 lbs, 1200 calories is too low. If you went UP to 1200 calories, it's no wonder your weight loss stalled. I'm 5'4" and 165 and am losing quite well on 1500 calories. If you use this calorie calculator (http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm) and put in your stats (I guessed your age at 30), then your maintenance calories are around 2600 a day and your fat loss calories are 2100. You could probably even take that down as low as 1800 if you wanted and still lose quite well.

2 - Many people lose a lot of weight at first - most of it is water weight - and then when they slow down to a normal and healthy rate of loss, they get all discouraged and freaked out because they're not still losing 5lbs a week and they quit. That's the wrong thing to do. THIS ... this slower, healthier weight loss is the real loss. This is when the actual FAT is coming off, not the water weight and the retained fluids.

3 - It is perfectly normal for our body weights to fluctuate from day to day and even from hour to hour. There are many, many things that will affect your weight: the amount of sodium you've consumed, the types of foods you eat, the amount of water you drink, the amount of exercise you do, the clothes you are wearing, the time of day you weigh, the temperature and humidity when you weigh, whether it's your TOM or not, whether you're ovulating or not, whether you have allergies or not, whether you've just drunk a glass of water or not ... see? So many things can affect your weight loss. The most accurate way to weigh yourself is to pick the same time, location, and clothing and keep it all the same every single time you weigh. I do my daily weigh, in the morning, right out of the shower, wearing nothing but panties.

4 - If you're eating things like Lean Cuisines, then I will almost guarantee that your increase in weight is sodium. Processed foods are VERY high in sodium and will often cause you to retain water.

5 - You don't say if you're doing any exercise, but combining a reasonable diet (i.e. not rock bottom calories) with some exercise will help with the weight loss.

6 - Our bodies aren't machines. You simply cannot calculate calories in and calories out and have it work to a mathematical formula (unfortunately! ). We are all different and sometimes you have to tweak as you go along to see what works best for you.

I would take some time to read through a lot of the stickies posted at the tops of the forums. There's a TON of good information there about how weight loss happens, what can make your weight fluctuate, and some pointers on how to get started and keep on plan!

.

[blanna]

PhotoChick- I appreciate your lengthy and in depth reply. I will take all the info and recommendations I can from it.
I am actually 20 years old, so according to the site I can do 1,960 and still ahve "extreme fat loss". How is this reachable when I am only supposed to stay around 2400 mg of sodium a day? eek. You're right, a lot of what I eat does come from salt, I naturally like salty foods. (I absolutely love pickles too). I knew I was eating too little calories, which is why yesterday I upped them, and it was surprisingly hard to increase, even to 1,200. 1,900 seems insane and now I feel as if I have to start over, and am afraid of gaining back what I already lost in starting over.

I do have my daily weigh in the same time every day, which maybe I should limit to once every three days or something.

As far as exercise goes, I have done roughly 2+ hours everyday now for the past couple weeks. Combinations of 60 mins on the elliptical, swimming, tennis etc.

I knew this would be hard, but my body seems to be making it harder than it needs to be.

[rockstar87]

I started trying to lose weight in January and kept my calories at around 1200 and worked out about 6 hours a week. I saw no change. I then tried cycling my calories (ie: 1200 Monday, 1600 Tuesday, 1400 Wed...etc) but I think my metabolism is very screwed up from years of undereating. I finally bumped them up to 1400 and held them steady there while increasing my exercise to around 7 hours a week. That was when the weight started to come off. It also took a few weeks of me being consistent with this to see results.

Never drop below 1200. It screws around with your metabolism. Even if you can't/don't want to go up as high as 1900 try increasing to even 1400 or 1500 and always stay above 1200. If you feel satisfied I see no reason to force yourself to eat more. I think it's better to eat good, high quality foods than to try and squeeze in an extra few hundred calories of things that wouldn't be ideal. Do what makes you feel comfortable.

You may want to try increasing your calories by 10% each week to build up to a higher number. That should help prevent any weight gain you might experience from a sudden, drastic increase and give you a little more control over the situation.

[KLK]

I think you shouldn't weight yourself more than once a week, MAXIMUM. You will just drive yourself crazy... especially when your time of the month starts to approach and you're feeling a bit bloated...

[fiberlover]

Originally Posted by blanna

I knew this would be hard, but my body seems to be making it harder than it needs to be. [/FONT]

Actually - I think you might be making it harder for your body. Now that you list that you increased up to 1200 calories - you really are eating too little.

If you are having trouble eating that many calories with your current menu, then I might suggest changing those foods you do eat to full calorie versions. Instead egg whites - use whole eggs. Instead of fat free cheese, use low fat.
Try an ounce of nuts, good fats, a bit of protein and more calories in a smaller amount.

You need to give your body the energy it needs to function at the bare minimum (1200 calories) - and you will definitely need more if you exercise 2 hours a day.

I weigh 150 and eat 1400 calories per day and still lose.

[PhotoChick]

Under 1200 cals a day and 2+ hours of exercise a day? No wonder you're stalling. Your body is probably screaming for nutrients and fuel.

How is this reachable when I am only supposed to stay around 2400 mg of sodium a day?

I eat 1500 to 1600 cals a day and usually hover around 1700 mg of sodium. Sometimes I don't even eat that much. The more lean protein, fresh fruits and veggies, and NON processed foods you eat, the less sodium you consume. It's amazing how desensitized our taste buds get to salt - but once you start cutting back on it, you'll very quickly get to a point where you start to taste the salt again and you'll realize how horribly salty most foods are.

.

[Apple Cheeks]

This time around for me, weight loss has not been a consistant thing. In my twenties, I could count on losing about 3 pounds steadily every week. Not so this time. Sigh.

At the beginning, I was losing at an average rate of two pounds per week. For the last 2 months, though, that has slowed to 1 pound per week.

Of course I wish it could be quicker, but I look at it like this: 8 weeks ago I was 8 pounds heavier! I look and feel better today than I did all those weeks ago. In another 8 weeks, I will be 8 pounds lighter! Woo hoo! I will be eight pounds closer to my goal, and will look and feel even better than I do today!

There are weeks where I don't lose a pound, and the next week three will magically drop off. Or I will hold steady for 2 weeks, then only drop one pound. It's like a fun-house ride!

Frankly, I'm just pleased that it's coming off at all! This time around, I'm being patient with myself and I know I will get to my goal eventually.

You will too.

[kaplods]

From the start, you've got to learn that you can't go nuts when you see temporary stalls or even small gains and fluctuations. 4 days, 7 days, and even 14 days without a loss can be perfectly normal.

Two possible remedies. Reduce your weigh-ins to only 1 or 2 times per month or at least no more than once a week - Or weigh twice a day for at least two months, then once a day for another month or two (or as long as you want). Write the weight down, but only circle one per week. The same day and time each week. That is the only weight that "counts" and try to learn not to be agitated by the normal fluctuations as you learn about what they are.

If you try method #2 and find it MORE stressful, than follow method #1.

__________________

[Tomato]

I think you also need to adjust your expectations. How many pounds do you expect to lose in a month? It took me over two months to lose 10 pounds, and that was fine with me - I never considered this a race. I prefer a slow, even weight loss to big jumps.
If you are currently 255 lbs and 5'8", I think 1200 calories is way too little for you, especially with the amount of exercise that you do. Hide the scale and don't get on it until the end of month (I weigh myself only at the end of each month and it works well for me), and don't worry about the little fluctuations.

Also, I would suggest that you measure yourself (bust, waist and hips) each month - those numbers are just as important as the number of pounds. You must be shrinking with all that exercise.

[UrsusMaritimus]

Reduce your weigh-ins to only 1 or 2 times per month or at least no more than once a week - Or weigh twice a day for at least two months, then once a day for another month or two (or as long as you want). Write the weight down, but only circle one per week. The same day and time each week. That is the only weight that "counts" and try to learn not to be agitated by the normal fluctuations as you learn about what they are.

Amen to that. You'll drive yourself crazy if you weigh in everyday. A person's weight can vary 3-5 pounds in a SINGLE DAY. I know that seeing any increase (however miniscule) in your weight when you're dieting, whether it's water weight or not, is demoralizing - so I just don't do it.

I'd suggest weighing yourself once a week, max. Good luck!!!