Why am I bothering?

This is just a little bit of a rant... but here goes

So Ive been dieting - well, sticking to a healthy eating/living regime but the weight loss is really starting to slow. This week, Ive only lost 0.75 lbs!!! Ive been so good - eating about 1300 kcals when not exercising and 1500 when going to the gym/doing tae bo at home.

With most of my day spent at work - im up at 6am and get home at 7pm, and if I go to the gym - about 8.30pm. By the time Ive had dinner its almost time to go to bed again.

I feel like im permanantly tired - whatever I do! I just feel like im putting in loads of effort and not getting anything back! It was just so dissapointing to only see such a small loss this morning. Last week, I was 168.75lb - just 1lb away from being under 12 stone...I really tried to get there but failed. I just feel like giving up now 

My first comment would be... are you eating enough?  1300-1500 is very low and would be OK for someone your size that is quite sedentary and doesn't have an active lifestyle.   If your intake is too low that leads to a) slow weight loss and b) feelings of fatigue and low moods.  Also, if your diet is poor nutritionally you may be missing out on essential vitamins and minerals, especially iron.... low iron-stores can also lead to fatigue.  I would take a good look at your diet... aim for 1600-1800 as your base target... and increase the amount of iron-rich and vitamin C-rich foods in your diet.   Plenty of wholegrains, fresh fruit and veg, lean meat & fish, dairy products, olive oil etc.... these are all highly nutritious 'good mood foods'. Also try taking a daily multivitamin as a safety-net.

My second comment would be... weight-loss isn't everything.  Eating well & doing exercise are good things to do for your health regardless of whether you lose any weight at all.  Every day you don't eat junky processed foods and ready-meals, every day you eat your 5 minimum fruit and veg.... you're improving your health.  Every day you are as active as possible.... you're reducing your risk of diseases etc.

So keep smiling.  Eat a little more than you have been doing, make sure you get the best 'bang for your buck' nutritionally with your food choices and you'll start losing weight again soon.

Dont give up!!  Its better 0.75lb down than up!!!

What is your daily food consumption like??  are you eating alot of salt / sugar / processed foods??

I know what you mean.  I feel tired alot of the time too.  I think mine is more a mental attitude thing that a diet thing though.  I've got stuck in a rut at work and it gets me down sometimes.

I felt like I got about 2 hours sleep last night when in fact I went to bed at 10.30pm and got up at 5.30am which is 7 hours.

I am hoping that the better weather that should arrive soon will help with the energy levels. 

Don't let it get you down.  At least you haven't put any weight on.  Maybe a change of routine might help.  Even just spending a couple of nights in a row at home doing nothing might make it all the better when you start working out again.  You need rest days as well as work out days.

Hope you stick with it, it will be worth it in the long run.

I eat a lot of healthy foods. This is a typical day

Breakfast - Small bowl of special K with skimmed milk, fresh orange juice

Snack - Special K mini-breaks (99kcals)

Lunch - Sandwich (normally lean ham, chicken, salmon) on wholemeal bread

Snack - Fresh Yoghurt

Dinner - Chicken with salad/veg or soup with 2 small slices wholemeal bread.

I normally drink 2 cups of tea and 1.5ltrs of water a day - more water when exercising.

I know its better to go down than up - it was just a little dissapointing.

How about changing things around a little so you get plenty of variety?  Sometimes bodies get bored with the same old, same old and I think 'enjoyment' is the secret weapon in diets that no-one ever talks about.  If you swapped your cereal breakfast for some scrambled eggs on toast with a fruit smoothie, perhaps?  Or if you exchanged your lunchtime sandwich for a pasta salad?  Maybe you could rev things up a little that way. 

Try having one day this week where you eat a lot more than normal.  I've always found that an excellent way to boost the metabolism and get off a plateau.  Discovered it by accident once (went out for dinner) and have kept it in as a deliberate strategy!

That is just a normal day. I try to go out for dinner/get take out once a week. As for breakfast, its really the only thing I can have as I have it at work. I can't eat anything until 9 else I feel ill. At the weekend, or when I'm at home, I tend to mix it up a bit - its just a little hard in the office. Especially one with nothing nearby except a canteen thats full of grease!

I might go crazy and get a chinese at the weekend...see how that works. That should add enjoyment!

Would you think of changing your breakfast to prrridge / oatmeal?  And changing the Special K mini-breaks to a piece of fruit or something?? 

Also, do you make the sandwich and bring it to work or do you buy it in the canteen? 

Thats an Idea.

I make the sandwiches at home and bring them in....cant trust anything in the canteen! At least this way, I know exactly whats in it.

Ill try upping my cals by 100 this week and have an evening where I let myself go a bit.

When I started losing weight, I found I needed more sleep. I was getting about 6 hours a night before. I upped that to 8, and now I feel better. I think before, I was replacing the sleep I really needed with calories. Eight hours is more in line with what I need.

I normally get between 7 and 9 hours sleep on a weeknight - at the weekend - Its normally 9 - but I was so exhausted this weekend - I slept for over 12 hours Saturday night!

 

You need to eat more plain and simple.  I have been on the always tired treedmill myself.  And i have always ended up feeling better when i eat more cals!! 

Your diet is too low in calories and you eat too little protein and fat. Special K and Special K minibreaks are not nutritious foods. Eat protein at every meal and up you calories by 100-200.

^ exactly.

When you eat too little, fat cells in your body send out a hormone (a few of them actually) that signals fat cells to start developing all over your body. You're probably not in 'starvation mode' but you may be hovering very close to it.

i hear u saying that you have to eat later in the morning at work.  What about packing a fried egg with one slice of lowfat or non fat cheese and two slices of turkey bacon?  Put all this on a toasted english muffin. You could eat it at work and still be adding protein which you might need more of (along with more morning calories).  You do have to cook the egg and bacon in the morning, but you can put it in the microwave and have a hot meal at work.  Variations of that, along with a bit of fruit and juice,  might help improve energy during the day.

You could also cook protein pancakes at home (recipie on the web site) and zap those in the microwave.  spread peanut butter or some such protein filled item.

It is really disappointing to work so hard and not be where you want to be but dont let that sabotage all your hard work.  Keep it up.

One of my favorite breakfasts is 1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese, 1/2 cup pineapple chunks, 1/2 cup Fiber One.  You could put the cottage cheese and fruit and in a rubbermaid container and bring it to work - adding the Fiber One when you get there. 

It's a great breakfast with protien fruit and LOTS of filling fiber.  Very filling and long lasting.

Ok - so I upped my calorie intake - still doing the exercise and Ive put on 0.25 lbs!!!! Thats not a good thing - looks like my previous diet was the way forward!

I would be concerned in the fact that you are tired. That would raise concerns for me that something is not right in what you are doing...

Becky... My weight increased by 3lbs whilst my metabolism adjusted to what I was doing after years of neglect. Now I am down 8lbs thsi year with little effort.

What is 0.25lbs? I lose more than that urinating in a toilet each time.

0.25lbs if actually fat (which I doubt) is the same as over-consuming 875 calories. You can't tell me that you are over your maintenance by that level.

I don't think I am  - I can't be!

Its just really hard as Ive been on so many diets and nothing seems to work! I just really want to see some results!

Im not that tired anymore - which is good. I just hope my metabolism sorts itself out soon. Roj...how long did yours take to settle?

 

Scary stuff I am afraid.... In summary I ate 1000-1400 cals sun-friday witha deficit of up to 1800, and then had around 12k cals on a saturday.

My metabolism I found went to pot, and what people said would happen, did.

It took 9 months to recover of which 4 months was at maintenance level.

I dropped weight, and then gained a chunk back, but finally I lost weight regularly, and am now down 17 lbs from when I started.

Ok... this is what I would do.

Breakfast: sounds like you like special k products and that's ok... just buy some fiber one and mix them (but only do one serving size).  Stop buying orange juice and buy real oranges!  If you're thirsty drink water, tea or coffee.

Snack: mix it up, special k bars are BORING... If you like bars try the cherry pie lara bar (they are yummy) and the ingrediante list is: dates, cherries, almonds.  Buy carrot chips in a zip lock bag (carrots cut to look like chips) and find a recipe for hummus (it's good).  String cheese and grapes, apples and laughing cow cheese... you get the idea.

Lunch:  Make sure your bread has at the very least 3 grams of fiber per slice, add some avocado for healthy fat, or a side of low sodium olives, or raw slivered almonds (I think they are better then the whole ones).  Just suggestions.

When I focus on fiber and healthy fats I lose the most weight.  I also try to eat more protein on weight lifting days.