Desperate need of advice: COMMENTS PLEASE...

Like so many others in here, I wonder why the weight doesn't come off... I'm a C.C. member since february 2008 and I put on 11.8 pounds since february 2008... not quite the goal I reached for... I've got a big relapse since August but I'm trying to get back on tracks since January... I'll put here my calories intake for the last week, as well as my calories burned, can you help me figure out why the weight doesn't disappear? I'm not expecting to lose 5 pounds a week... just 10 lbs in the next 2 months or so... I want real solution, not a good body for 2 weeks... Thanks! My BMR is around 1380. On Jan. 7th I was 134.2, now I'm 134.0

07-01: IN:1286 OUT:426

08-01: IN: 1157 OUT: 370 (I was sick, could not eat more than that...)

09-01: IN: 1723 OUT: 0

10-01: IN:1439 OUT: 610

11-01: IN:1542 OUT: 472

12-01: IN: 1392 OUT: 0

13-01: IN: 1571 OUT: 350

My BMR is also around 1380. 1385 to be exact.  I've been dieting for 2 years now. I am not the best dieter. If I were, I would have reached my goal weight a year ago. I've been struggling with the "last ten pounds" for.... I don't even know how long..... Actually gained back some as well :( So now I am working on "the last" 15 pounds! But I have been dieting long enough to know that at my size and activity level, I really have to eat the bare minimum (1200 calories) to see results. I also know that it is really easy to have little nibbles throughout the day without even realizing it. Just one little bite of something here and there doesn't seem like it would be significant to add up to anything that would effect weight loss, but trust me, it really does. 3,500 calories equals a pound. If I eat 1200 calories a day, I will loose a pound a week. But if I don't watch what I eat I can VERY easily eat an extra 3,500 calories in in 2 or 3 days, and GAIN a pound instead. It's much much easier to gain then to loose, at least for me. .....Easier to eat more then I should, then less then I need...... you know? And as far as activities go, I find it much easier to just pick my activity level (sedentary, light, moderate, active) I figure I fall into the light category......and just leave it at that. If I do anything intensive that i know is extra calories burned I don't even bother to try and log it. I just live my life, and try my best to control my will-power and eat healthy. And when I am good, I loose weight. When I am not, I don't.....or I gain! So I guess my advice to you is, don't pick, or nibble. Really plan and think about what you eat. Get a food scale for sure so you REALLY know exactly how many calories you are eating. And don't even worry about logging your activities. That probably only makes you think you have burned extra, so you can eat extra, and is going to mess you up!

Edit: Now I just looked at your profile and see why our BMR is the same. We are the same height ( I say I am 5'1" cuz I like to round up. lol) and have the same goal weight, 115!

Maybe you just need to give it more time to see the results. I have seen a pattern where my exercise creates enough fluid-retention in the muscles that the weight loss doesn't show for 2-3 weeks (plus the ups and downs of sodium, etc.). I didn't "do the math" exactly, but by eyeballing your last week's input and output, I'd say you should se about a 1/2-1 lb loss per week--but that does not mean you will actually SEE it each week; it could be nothing, then 2 lbs, then 1/2 lbs, then nothing, then 3 lbs, etc. I know I've had patterns like that AND more regular patterns, but no matter what the 'pattern' is, it seems to change again after a few weeks.

It sounds like you have a very realistic approach and I would not change a thing. Eating less may leave you feeling deprived, and it would be so much better to lose slowly than to have to face only 1200 cals the rest of your life. If you can lose with eating a range between 1200 and 1700, that is much more realistic. It will also be an incentive to keep exercising, which is good for so many reasons besides weight control.

So maybe my advice is, take a deep breath and give it a couple more weeks. I'm sure you don't want to hear that, but I honestly think you are doing everything right.

Best of luck!

It looks to me that for the most part you're not eating enough to compensate for your exercise.

I get the following net calories for you (your net should be at least 1200 if not more):

7/1 - 860

8/1 - 787

9/1 - 1723

10/1 - 829

11/1 - 1392

13/1 - 1221

What are your stats?  Do you know the difference between BMR and RMR?

I still say she should be eating less calories. Reason being she is a small person, as am I. Barely over 5 feet tall. And weighs about the same as me too. CC says I would have to eat 1200 a day to loose 1 pound a week. CC says if I am light activity I only burn 1600 cals a day. Just over 1800 if my activity is moderate.  It's different when you are small. With what she has eaten in the last week, being as small as she is, she probably only had a deficit for the whole week of 1500-2000 calories. Equal to only 1/2 a pound of weight loss. Several factors could change this to be no weight loss like If her food measurements aren't precise, or she is holding onto water weight right now.....

Thank you very much for your advices. I have to say, I've been on a "diet" or at least i've been careful with what I eat for pratically the last 2 1/2 years.... and all this time, it was very hard for me to lose the weight, even though I would exercise a lot. I tried (since august) to eat more with the result that I gain 10 lbs... so that's why I eliminated that option of eating more...

I've read the difference between BMR & RMR, I understand it, accroding to CC I should eat around 1500 cals a day with the exercise I'm doing... I'm trying to eat somewher between 1300-1500 a day.

I don't really nibble. I eat 3 times a day and that's about it. I have 400 calories breakfast that includes coffee, unsweetened whole wheat cereal and 1% milk, lunch is generally 3 ounces of protein with vegetables and supper is also protein with veggies. I rarely eat pastas, potatoes... And since january I cut on wine... I'll have yogourt or fruit at night... So I'm not sure that the calories intake is wrong, I tend to overestimate the portion...

My stats: I'm 5'1, 134, 30 years old female. In july 2005, I was at 160 (my heaviest) and I went down to 117 in April with A LOT of exercise. It was a bit too much for me and as soon as I slowed down with the exercise, my weight went straight up. I think a more "natural" weight for me can be around 125-128 but I can get below 130 since december...

mkculs: thanks so much for your encouragement... Last year, I was so proud of myself for losing the weight and I was patient about it.... Now, it saddens me A LOT... all my clothes that I got are now tight and I was used to be so loose in them.... On top of it all, everything I try on don't fit.... Every morning, it takes me 30 minutes to get dressed and I'm even more depressed that the day before... I figured that since the weight came so fast, it would leave as fast... apparently not....

yeah i think aftonmae is right.  I'm 5'2 and if I want to loose weight, I have to eat the BARE minimum.  My trainer is 4'11 and this is the same way she needs to eat to loose.  It definately sucks because there's not much room for error, but I keep telling myself as soon as I can get to my goal (115) then I can start eating normal again.  Becuase I already know how much I can eat to maintain.

Gr. Being short stinks sometimes!

Original Post by smwhipple:

It looks to me that for the most part you're not eating enough to compensate for your exercise.

I get the following net calories for you (your net should be at least 1200 if not more):

7/1 - 860

8/1 - 787

9/1 - 1723

10/1 - 829

11/1 - 1392

13/1 - 1221

What are your stats?  Do you know the difference between BMR and RMR?

 smwhipple (are you any relation to "Mr. Whipple," the Charmin' man?), what do you mean by "net calories"? I see that you subtracted her workout burn from the cals she ate--what does that show? does this have something to do with the discussions about "eating back" calories that one burns through exercise? I don't understand those, either. TIA for any light you can shed!

At 5'2", your burn is still going to be around 1600-1700 per day without exercise.  That means you can safely eat 1200 calories and eat most of whatever you burn through exercise in addition.  You will lose weight more slowly, but losing weight slowly is the idea.

Eating back calories is dependent on the person.  I have to eat back calories in order to lose weight and fairly cleanly at that.  I'm 5'5", my sedentary burn rate is right around 1900 per day.  If I eat 1200 calories per day while doing nothing in the way of exercise I will lose ~1 lb per week.  I like to exercise, if I don't eat enough to account for the exercise I stop losing weight.  I don't have to eat back every single calorie but I do need to eat most of them.

Mr. Whipple from the Charmin commercials wasn't actually Mr. Whipple, that was the stage name for the commercial, so no relation.

Original Post by smwhipple:

Mr. Whipple from the Charmin commercials wasn't actually Mr. Whipple, that was the stage name for the commercial, so no relation.

 Yes, I knew that; it was supposed to be a little joke! I guess it wasn't that funny :)

Original Post by mkculs:

Original Post by smwhipple:

Mr. Whipple from the Charmin commercials wasn't actually Mr. Whipple, that was the stage name for the commercial, so no relation.

 Yes, I knew that; it was supposed to be a little joke! I guess it wasn't that funny :)

I've just heard it a few times...carries more impact with intonation.

Original Post by smwhipple:

Original Post by mkculs:

Original Post by smwhipple:

Mr. Whipple from the Charmin commercials wasn't actually Mr. Whipple, that was the stage name for the commercial, so no relation.

 Yes, I knew that; it was supposed to be a little joke! I guess it wasn't that funny :)

I've just heard it a few times...carries more impact with intonation.

 Sorry--I thought no one really knew who Mr. W was anymore!!!! I thought I was probably just showing my age!

Nah, I normally have a better sense of humor...just off today. 

ok im really confused. aren't you eating wayy too much? i try to have no more than 1000 calories a day, and usually don't even reach that. i burn off atleast 300 a day with exercise. so shouldnt you just be eating a lot less?... and by following an at most 1000 calorie intake and working out, i've lost like seven lbs in a week and a half.

Original Post by heida13:

ok im really confused. aren't you eating wayy too much? i try to have no more than 1000 calories a day, and usually don't even reach that. i burn off atleast 300 a day with exercise. so shouldnt you just be eating a lot less?... and by following an at most 1000 calorie intake and working out, i've lost like seven lbs in a week and a half.

Heida, I sincerely hope that you're miscounting.  The amount of calories you've described along with the exercise you say you do puts you at dangerously low levels for your health.  Please start reading the information on this site about nutrition, you can start with the sticked posts at the top of each forum for a lot of information.  7lbs in 10 days is far too quick.  Most of it will probably be liquids, but even so you're in danger of losing muscle and other tissue with such a restrictive diet.