Begging for advice!!

I have been doing this for about 2 months now and have only lost 2 pounds.  I have always been into working out - but quit for about a year, gained 20 lbs now i am looking to lose 20 forsure, then another 20.

i have had my activity level set at light - i weight 190 lbs, female and am 5'5 - it was telling me i burn 2200/day and should eat 1450.  I go to the gym 5 times per week, weight lift, do spin class, cardio and have started HIIT.  SO in the hour that i am there i am burning between 400 and 600 calories.

So, i had been bumped up my calorie intake from the 1000 that i was eating (and not losing weight) to 1500 to 1700 per day. But i am still not losing.

So, i have been tossign around - am i not eating enough or too much.  So i re-read the tools information and since i sit a computer everyday i thought i would change my activity level to sedentary - now i get to eat 1200 calories/day and i burn 1900.  So that means i should eat less??

Oh - i eat 5 times per day - balanced meals of about 300 calories each.

But then i have been told with the amount of activity i do - i am not eating enough???

 

Ahh so confusing - any advice out there? 

 

A few things I can recommend:

1.  Buy a tape measure and use it, muscle weighs more than fat so you may not lose weight but you may be losing fat.

2.  You should definitely eat more.  Probably around 1,500 calories at least.

3.  See a doctor, there may be underlying health problems stopping you from losing weight.  Get your blood sugar and metabolism checked.  Get a more accurate account of how many calories you should be eating each day.

4.  This may not be your problem, but start keeping a food diary, if you aren't already, also use a measuring cup and a kitchen scale because it's easy to eat a lot more than we think we are.

I'm going to agree with the previous poster and say that you should be measuring for fat loss and get tested for possible health concerns (my grandma never lost weight until she got on some thyroid medicine), but I'd also say to eat more. The suggested weight loss range of 1-2 pounds per week only allows for a maximum of 1000 calorie deficit per day, and you're blowing that out of the water. Maybe your body's trying to tell you something. I know that I stall out every couple of weeks, and then I have to eat up to my max burn for a day or two to get the ball rolling again - go figure, I eat more and then the weight drops off on those two days. Humph!

 Seriously, I hope that was helpful to you. Good luck!

Thanks for the responses and sorry it took me so long to reply - been kinda away from the computer.

I do measure and count calories and generally get about 1500 - i will work on pumping that up a bit - especially on work out days. see if there is a difference.

I measured myself this morning - last measurement was Nov 1, i was waiting becasue i am not losing weight so i figured why bother. But guess what - i have lost 7 inches - so i guess the scale will eventually catch up???

I have a doctors appointment coming up - so i will bring this up with her.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

Try a few days of setting your activity level to sedentary and then logging EVERYTHING you do into your activity log.  This will give you a better idea of how much you burn.  Definitely never go below 1200 calories for a day, that level is enough to freak out your system and really slow down your metabolism.  You are young and active, and will see the weight come off when you have no more than 1000 calorie deficit between your calories in and your calories burned. 

I'm pretty active and have recently bumped my calories up to 2000-2200 a day.  The weight is falling off me.  I'm seeing much more success now than I did when I was eating around 1500 calories a day. 

Also, there's been some chatter in the forums with regards to people saying that they don't lose any weight when they are drinking alcohol, even when they are within their calorie alotment.  I don't know if that applies to you, but it's something to think about. 

i was having excate same problem. I dieted 9usually eat healthy anyway) and started excerising 6-7 times a week rather than my usual 2x. I lost 2lbs straight away and then nothing for 2 months- really depressing and demotivating.

I went to see a doctor who told me to up my calories, starvation mode etc... result i gained 3lbs. Thats not helpful advice.

I went to an allergy clinic as i had suspected wheat intollerance which seems to cause me exzema. She diaognised allergy to wheat and an intollerance to dairy, corn, and sprouts! Being that im vegetarian the lack of wheat really limits my diet as i had to cut out bread, pasta, cakes, cookies basically a lot of the lovely carbs. I dont drink milk anyway but i eat cheese which ive now had to cut out (except goat and sheep cheese). Immediately i lost a few lbs but i guess that would also be due to cutting calories as these foods are often high cals.  

My weight had dropped from 145-140 but then i just couldnt get it to move at all. Now ive been on the lemonade fast / mirical cleanse, whihc i know isnt supposed to be a diet, rather a detox, however in 10 days ive lost 6lbs and i feel great. Ill give it another few days and then im back on just fruit and veg.

Prehaps cutting your heavy carbs may help or trying something drastic for a few days to shock your body into action. I dont advocate crash dieting, nor being unhealthy but i think i was about to give up and now im so motivated every morning when i see the scales dropping 0.6lbs a day!