So I've been trying to lose weight for quite a while now. I have an active job (I clean houses/condos), most days I do between 30-60 minutes at the gym/running, and I eat healthfully! I know I've had some slip up days, but I should still be losing weight according to everything I've read! I think it's all BS. I can't find anything that works!! I'm so freakin' frustrated! I only eat fast food like 3 times per year, only go out to restaurants once every couple of weeks, and I don't keep junk food at home. At the gym, I do weight lifting, Piloxing, Kickboxing, and I run. I eat around 1500 calories per day, and I log nearly everything that goes into my mouth. So what am I doing wrong? I have one cheat day per week, occasionally two. But my overall for the week should still mean weight loss, not maintaining or gaining. Any thoughts?? Seriously, help!
What is your current weight and height?
It almost sounds like you are not eating enough, but can't be sure without the rest of your stats.
Age would help too, if you would like.
I'm 21, 5'5" and weight 158, currently.
Have you recently lost a lot of weight over the last 4 our 5 months? How long have you been eating at a deficit? I think too many people knee jerk to the " you're not eating enough" conclusion to why you aren't losing any weight, which is absolutely incorrect in diagnosing why you aren't losing weight unless you've been eating at a serious deficit for a long period of time. While its unhealthy to under eat your target calories the result should still be weight loss within the first 2 months of dieting. What I would suggest is look at your historic caloric intake. Did you go from grossly overeating to 1500 cals? Or maybe you were only ever eating 1500 cals worth of unhealthy food with an occasional splurge, thus resulting in your metabolism slowing down to a 1500 cal maintenance. Or maybe you underestimating the caloric content of what you are eating. Or if you have a reduced maintenance caloric intake due to historic dieting, then your cheat days could be working against you. So here's a short summary of the reasons people do not lose weight. 1. They are underestimating calories consumed. 2. Overestimating the effects of exercise and activities. 3. Have recently lost a substantial amount of weight due to excessive undereating and have damaged their metabolsim. 4. Have thyroid/other medical problems. 5. Are impatient and consume water retaining foods on the weekend, masking their weightloss, and driving them to post their frustrations.
If you have been under-eating for a long time your body probably adjusted from it by lowering your RMR. As a result you now need even more of a deficit to truly lose weight.
So to "fix" your metabolism you probably should eat a fair amount more calories and up your exercise.
You also may not be burning as many calories as you think. Or you may be eating more calories than you think. Or both.
No, I haven't lost a lot of weight recently. Several years ago I lost 65 pounds in a rather "unhealthy" (according to "experts" anyway, I just liked it because it worked!) way. Up until recently I was overeating. Not in huge amounts, but more than I should have and I slowly put on weight that I didn't want to. I've stopped buying junk food and like I said, I exercise a lot between work and my regular workouts. I usually underestimate my calories burned, at least according to CC. I've fluctuated my calories a lot, so my body's not used to any particular amount. I suppose I just need to go lower. Looks like I'll be setting my daily amount at 1000-1200. The only problem with that is that I get irritable and I'm hungry all the time. I tried going that low before, but I ended up going way over because I was so hungry...
I admit, some cheat days are pretty bad. I usually don't even count when I know I'm going to go over. So I know that has to stop. And yes, I'm pretty strict about portion sizes when I cook. It is difficult sometimes, because I often don't measure what goes into the dishes I make. But I try to overestimate what I eat rather than underestimate, just in case. I make sure to measure salad dressing and things like that. I'm doing everything "right" that all the so-called experts say to do. They're wrong.
Original Post by armes13: I suppose I just need to go lower. Looks like I'll be setting my daily amount at 1000-1200.
So you lost once the "un-healthy" way and gained it all back. So you're going to try the un-healthy way again?
Hmm. Doesn't sound like a smart decision.
No, back then I was only consuming maybe 800 calories in a day. But the number I'm set at now apparently isn't working. What else am I supposed to do? Upping my calories is not an option. That's not going to help me. I've tried it before.
And I gained it back over 3 years, not all at once. I kept it off for a long time. But I went to college and got married which, granted, is no excuse, but that was the biggest cause of it.
Original Post by armes13:
No, back then I was only consuming maybe 800 calories in a day. But the number I'm set at now apparently isn't working. What else am I supposed to do? Upping my calories is not an option. That's not going to help me. I've tried it before.
You should up your calories and up your workouts. If you truly are eating 1,500 and not losing, then you probably have a slowed down metabolism. So try speeding it up by eating more and exercising more. Make sure you get good rest at night.
Otherwise it really doesn't make sense.
The side effects of allergy medications keep some people from using them. Natural remedies can be a great alternative, but some are more effective than others.
