HELP!! what to do? i am ready to scream!! can you help??

hi all, i am at my wits end, and dont know what to do now?? any input would be great. here is my deal.....

i have been stuck in the 170 since july!!  and i am getting pretty disgusted!!! i have tried,  zig zaging my cals, upping them, lowering them, upping my workouts with lowering cals. upping workouts with upping cals,  i have tried eatting maintance cals for a week, i have tried everything! with no luck!! i dont understand what to do to break this wall!!! makes me feel i am being good and still being punished!! i am ready to say to heck with it!! although i dont want to, i want to get to my goal!! but i am lost on what to do now!!  i think i have even broken my treadmill!

i am 5' , large frame, 46 year old. i eat about 1300 most days, but no lower than 1200 when i have a day off workout. and workout 1 hour a day, 5 - 6 days a week. i dont buy canned vegs anymore, it is either fresh or frozen. or i can my own.  i drink 64 + ounces of water everyday. i have lost 43 pounds since oct 07. and i measure twice a month and havent lost any inches since august.  

am i dumed at 170? or can someone give me tips on how to get to 160???   

I can understand how you feel. I'm 5'10 and was stuck at 158 since about June/July and only a month ago got down to about 151, and have been continuously losing since then.

How did I do it? I honestly have no idea. It just happened. I tried zig zagging and upping my calories as well, but both seemed to keep me stuck at 157!! I got pretty emotional about it, not so much because of the way I looked, but because I was going to so much effort for so little consequence.

Patience, I believe, is the key. Like, myself, you seem to have hit a major plateau and there are sooooooooo many antedotes to a plateau and its different for everyone. For me, I just kept to my diet, kept exercising and eventually the weight slipped off.

No matter what, don't lose hope. If you stop exercising and eating badly again you will gain weight. And remember you're not alone! I know how you feel and its extremely tough physically and mentally. Just keep going, you're doing an amazing job. 

From my own experience.....Patience Patience Patience.

It'll happen.  You have done a great job so far and should be extremely proud of yourself.  Keep up the hard work and stay positive.  I know....easier said than done.  It'll come off.

~H~

Have you had your thyroid checked?  I might start there.  You sound like you are doing everything correctly but I think you may be eating too few calories and your body may be holding onto to the weight so not to starve.

 

Just some thoughts.

thanks for the comments!

augenblick, i have had my thyroid checked and it is fine. my doc told me to  only eat 900 - 1000 cals. and i know that is too low. and on here they say 1300 cals a day. 

I can totally relate. I have an underactive thyroid but its fine on the meds so shouldn't be an issue. I've been 'stuck' at 175-177 for about 6mths, and tried all the 'plateau-busting' tricks too.

Most Docs know diddly-squat about weight-loss! Mine admitted that after telling me to go to weight watchers (been there, done that) and after a 'lecture' from me on what I had been eating/doing to try & lose weight, he referred me to a dietitian for help. They told me to eat my BMR (1535) for 3mths and see what happens- they said that no-one should be obese eating that amount of cals- we'll see! I'm giving it a try, if only to show them that I've tried it. If it works- brilliant, if not, well at least I tried it the experts way and see what they come up with next? 

I feel your pain!

 

Patience nad not being afraid to try something new will keep you moving forward.

 

After 5+ years of weight watchers nad not getting to goal in that time, I decided to try something different.  Anbd am now just getting started on that but I can tell you that so far I am enjoying hte benefits of NEW and DIFFERENT!

 

For example-

Go somewhere where your BMR can be measured specific to YOU ... I am at 1581 so will never eat less than that till i am tested again.

Seeing a nutiotionist who is helping me with meal times, quantity for each meal, and over all balance between carbs/protein/fat.  One huge change is the enormous breakfast she wants me to eat!

Seeing a personal trainer 2x's per week ad cardio 2x's a week for one hour

 

So far so good - i am steering clear of the scale right now becuase it is mentally sabotaging me to see hte numbers, but I can feel the difference in my clothes in two weeks time!

Hang in there - you can do it!  You've done AWESOME so far and there's NO going back!

 

OP-Your story could be my story as well.  I had a friend who jokingly said that that's probably where my body wants my weight to be.  I wanted to slap her!!!  So, I continue on eating what I'm supposed to eat, making variations to my foods but still within my calorie range 1300-1400, lots of fiber, water, Omega 3 fats, at least 5 and sometimes up to 8 servings fruits and vegetables.  I will add that I feel better right now than I have in my entire adult life.  I only want to lose another 20 lbs.  I've already lost 33.  I at least got my BMI out of the obese range and am now merely slightly overweight!  That's an accomplishment in itself. 

Looks like there's more than the two of us in this stalled period at this time.  I wish us all well.  I almost hate this word "patience" any more.  I am patient, damn it!   Just get on with it!!  Let's get moving again. 

Maybe try a different type of exercise? Something like belly dancing, a hip hop aerobics, or maybe a kick boxing class. Just something to freak out your muscles and get them firing in ways you didn't know they could!

That doctor is an idiot, though. ( My opinion) Eating 900-1000 calories is insane! Maybe for a week, but not long term. I'd kick that doc in the ankle bone pronto!

Just out of curiousity, how long did you try each of the plateau-busting methods?  Usually getting over a plateau on any one method can take weeks if not months to work.  I think on average it takes two weeks at a minimum, so you might want to pick a method and try it for an extended period of time.  No harm in doing that if it's not causing you to gain weight.

You also might want to try mixing up your workout routine every 4-8 weeks.  The body adapts very quickly to a particular exercise, so it needs to be tricked into doing what you want it to do.  In order to do that, your workouts must change relatively frequently.

I can understand why you are so very frustrated, but just know that you are doing all the right things and in the end your body will thank you!!  Great work and keep at it!!!  Oh, and another thing--don't look at this as an exercise in patience (which I would found annoying as well).  Get tough and say f* you 170's!!!!  You can't stop me!!  I will beat you down because I am stronger than you!!!  **Music really helps with this part**

thanks all!! i am a very patience person and very determined to do this! i just thought after 5 months, i would see what there is to do to bust this wall.  patience and determination  and trying new things is not the problem. i cant afford a trainer or to go to the gym. as my doc wont let me work.... just hubby income. so i do what i can at home..... i try different things for about 3 weeks straight then add something different.... i did eat maintance for only one week was to afraid to go for more...... and that usually helps when i get stuck for a couple of weeks.  yeah my doc says i can get by on 1000 cals because i short.... but i know i dont want to hurt my body in a differnt way..... 

AND THANKS TO ALL OF YOU! I GUESS I WILL DO SOME BRAIN STORMING... AND YES I GOT A COUPLE JUGS FOR MY WEIGHTS.

Original Post by wildntaken:

thanks for the comments!

augenblick, i have had my thyroid checked and it is fine. my doc told me to  only eat 900 - 1000 cals. and i know that is too low. and on here they say 1300 cals a day. 

 Over the years I've gotten bad advice about diet from doctors.  They don't study nutrition in medical school and tend to hand out outdated 900 calorie diets as a solution.  Consult a real nutritionist of dietician and analyze your diet and determine what you need to do.  It was the smartest move I ever made. 

Feel free to look at my weight chart in my profile and the weight history I outlined there. 

You might need to start with your calories burned, then deduct 500 calories a day from that.  I plugged your stats into the Burn Meter and this is what it says

Daily Caloric Expenditure
You burn 2000 calories during a typical day. Remember that this estimate is based on your body weight, height, age, gender, and your average level of activity.

You can use this information to help you figure out how many calories you should be consuming to maintain your weight. On active days, you'll need more calories, so it's okay to eat a little more than you would on an average day. But on more sedentary days, you may want to reduce your calorie intake. If you want to lose weight, try to stay below your calorie needs or increase your activity level. However, make sure you are eating nutritious meals and not restricting your calories too much - eating too little or losing weight rapidly can be unhealthy and dangerous.

"Over the years I've gotten bad advice about diet from doctors.  They don't study nutrition in medical school and tend to hand out outdated 900 calorie diets as a solution.  Consult a real nutritionist of dietician and analyze your diet and determine what you need to do.  It was the smartest move I ever made."

clairlaine,   Thank you!!! This is absolutely true. I am an RD (Registered Dietitian)and I can tell you first hand that Dr's do not (in most cases) know anything about nutrition science. The older doc's in general will still try to give out diet info to their patients but the younger ones are pretty good about referring to RD's. It is very frustrating for me at times because alot of my older clients/patients will still have that "my Dr. knows best" mentality and I often feel like I spend half of my day trying to dispell the false and/or out-dated nutr information that Dr's provide to their pt's.

I see you got plenty of responses already, so I'll try not to repeat. I'm in the same situation (I do have a thyroid condition, but I am medicated so that should not be an issue). As someone said, changing your exercise routine, or making it a bit longer or harder, may help. If you don't have money for a gym, walking is a good idea. When I have the time, I take long walks and that usually helps my weight loss.

But more importantly, don't focus so much on weight as on fat loss and/or shaping your body. Weight is not always the fairest way of measuring your improvement. I weight more now than 10 or even 5 years ago, but my size is pretty much the same and I'm in better shape now, since I built muscle and got in better cardiovascular shape.

 

 

 

well here i am 2 months later and still at 170.   I AM DUMED!! cant seem to break this brick wall.....   still trying any and everything!!