not loosing...not giving up but would like some advice

Hey everyone,

I would like some advice please. I am 5' 9.5" currently 170 lbs at 30% body fat, medium to large frame. 

My lowest weight was 155 lbs which I have achieved twice post teenage years but only with starving myself and exercising like crazy.

I always have been and still am a very active person. I cycle to work every day (40 minutes each way, hilly) and do additional weight training, yoga, hiking, swimming, running depending on what i feel like.

Food wise, I never have and still dont eat junk food or drink pop. I didnt grow up with burgers n coke and dont particularly like it either. Accoring to CC, I usually get an A rating on here and stick with 1500-1800 kcal generally while burning between 1800-2300.

Now, I am an emotional eater and occasionally overeat. I try and address the issues by not keeping sweets in the house, sitting down to eat, everything in moderations to avoid cravings etc.

I have been watching what I eat for years and know this is an ongoing process. I know that even 155lbs seems almost unrealistics so right now, i would just like to drop a few lbs. I have been very good for a few weeks, no overeating and according to cc deficit of abround 500-700 a day but the scale doesnt more. No, i have nto particularly increased weights but i upped the cardio- why am i not loosing anything?

I am a little upset ..i wont give up but would like to hear some thoughts.

THANKS guys :)

anyone? please?

I really wish I could help you! I'm experiencing the same thing. The scale won't move at all. It keeps fluctuating between the same 2 lbs. (also an emotiobal eater as well) I know it's very frustrating, I've tried all ways of varying my diet and activity I can think of and still am getting nowhere. Have you tried playing around with your ratios? Like eat less carbs, more fat, vice versa, etc... It sounds like you do a lot of different activities, so a workout rut can't possibly be it.

Maybe you can try eating on the higher end of calories, like try 1,700-1,800 everyday for a couple weeks. And if the scale still isn't moving, keep increasing by 100-200. If you start to gain, you'll know it's not a lack of calorie intake. And perhaps when you drop back down, after your body was getting used to that surplus you'll lose that weight and then some on top of it.

I've tried this method, but I am not a patient person. It might actually work but I'm the type that if she doesn't see results after the first week she gives up and tries something else. lol I never actually stick to the same plan long enough to know if it TRULY works or not.

I really wish I had some awesome advice here, but I am experiencing the EXACT same thing. Active lifestyle, very healthy eating habits, and occasionally (like once a month) overeating emotionally, but no weight loss. All I can say is that you are not alone. If you figure something out, share the love. lolz

I wish I had an answer for you as well, as I am going through the same thing! I work out about 5x a week, a mix between cardio and weight training, and watch what I eat (with the occasional slip up on weekends :S) and still havent lost a pound! All im doing is gaining and im not sure what im doing wrong!

I go through similar things and this is some of the advice I have received:

A) don't base it on the scale. I know when I am losing because my clothes fit better (I especially pay attention to the little muffin-top area). If you are increasing your protein intake and weight training regime, you are building muscle, which weighs mroe than fat and is how you look "toned"

B) Look up emotional eater in the dictionary and there is my picture.  Also sweets-aholic=me.  Some ways this affects my dieting are: I cheat throughout the day (especially at night) and tend to under-count it (liek 2 hersheys kisses just wont count, but they do).  Also, I spiral on my bad days and eat icing out of the can, or 1/4 of a cake or something.  Then I feel super guilty and try to correct for it on the next few days, but I am going through sugar withdrawl so I eat tons and tons of fruit and other sugary things that keep adding cals.

so my advice, which has helped me go from 155/160 at 5'8.5" to 135 (with a GW of 132) is to go through sugar withdrawl.  I didn't have ANY sugar or sugar substitute for 5 days. After that, aloooot of my cravings stopped. Also, stop looking at the scale and start looking at your body.  Third, EAT BREAKFAST (I eat about 500 cals for breakfast and generally this keeps me full until around one when i eat another filling 400-500 calories and then I kind of just force myself to eat dinner because Im not hungry). ...and DO NOT stop working out. It will pay off!!!!! Hope this helped

Sealion - what else did you do to get from 160-135? I have similar goals and would like to know what you did! Also, how long did it take you to get to where you are now?

I agree that you may need to eat more based on your size and your activity level.  Your calories burned seems off based on what you say you're doing.  I'm only 5'5" and have gone from 186 to 162 since September.  I walk A LOT and do yoga about 20 minutes a day, but that's about it for my exercise and I've been eating about 1,800 calories a day.  I stick with really healthy stuff but I eat! 

Well for starters, I graduated college. Cutting back all that alcohol and late night pizza was good for almost 5 lbs immediatley, and that brought me to like 155.  Then I started on my diet: first thing was to eliminate fast food.  I used to think it was OK to eat at wendy's if I got the baked potato, side ceasar salad and a frosty. But it just wasnt healthy, and sometimes I ended up with a cheeseburger too etc etc. Just CUT IT ALL OUT. I haven't been back since and I am so happy.  I also cut way down on food like deli sandiwches (can you believe one has about 800 cals??), pasta, bagels, and limited my portion sizes at dinner especially. I started eating breakfast, swapping pretzels for yogurt, deli sandiwches for salads, brothy soups, and anything HOME-made (stopped eating out aloooot).  I started going on cc and other places to actually see how many calories were in the things I was consuming and it shocked me. These changes brought me to about 145. Running did the rest.  I started 3x week/10 minutes. SOOO hard. Eventually, I got up to a mile, etc. etc. (this was only 1 year ago almost to date and I am now training for my first marathon, runnign about 5-6 miles/day 5x/week). 

I am now at a happy weight of about 136. Goal is 132, but what's a couple pounds? Haha. If you need a buddy, or any support, or questions just pm me. good luck!

Thanks for all the replies. Just knowing I am not alone makes me feel better. I just had another 'i feel crap' day. Honest to god (or you know, all of you) I do not cheat with the logging cals and exercise.

I have tried all sorts of different things. High protein; vegan; no sugar; no wheat; and i can do it for long periods, eg i detoxed for 6 wks which made me feel great but then i really dont want to restrict myself so much. It only goes wrong.

One other things that i noticed has to do with genes, i suppose. My mum and i have the same build, quite large and big thighs. I understand and accept the fact that i could never be skinny but i must be able to somehow get down and keep 160lbs at 5'9''... sigh

I'm in a similar situation, kind of.... I've been maintaining for 1.5 years at 110-112.  This month before my TOM, I went up 2-3 lbs basically overnight, which is not so unusual, but it does usually come off later.  I haven't changed my habits, if anything I've gotten better - cut out beer from my diet for example, and have been following my work out schedule of 5 workouts/week with 45mins of cardio each time and alternating weight lifting/pilates days.  It's been three weeks with this extra weight and even though it's basically just 2 lbs I want to shake, it won't come off!  I'm getting really frustrated and thinking about fasting for a day or two to shake up my metabolism a bit.  It is disheartening to think I'm doing everything right and see the scale creep up every morning rather than down:(

Muscle does weigh more than fat - you are probably building up more muscle due to all the exercise.

How do 'you' feel? Do you feel fat, please don't all look to the scales, how you feel is more important.

That's the thing, I feel bigger and bloated and just generally  uncomfortable.  I've been exercising like this for years, so I doubt it's a sudden jump in my muscle density.  Another thing is that before my TOM my stomach always gets a bloated around the middle (I'm use to having a pretty flat stomach) - and this is exactly what I have now, but it's not the time for it...I'm so hoping I'll just shed the weight as quickly as it came on....not likely though.

This actually happened to me once last year, my stomach was constantly bloated for over a month.  I don't remember the weight difference, but I remember being uncomfortable, having no appetite (like now), and looking like I was pregnant.  Arghhhh, just before the holidays as well! 

Have you ever tested your BMR?  I don't use calorie count's functions for actual tracking much, as I find my own ways more effective.  Maybe calculate yourself for a day and see what happens.

If you are younger, the basic BMR calculation is about 5 percent off.  You burn about 5 percent LESS than it says b/c the calulation was made using people of ALL age groups, so basically if you aren't in the median you aren't getting a true number.

Go get a pedometer and google bmr, track how many miles you walk in a day, how much food you eat based on LABELS (it's easy to mis-calculate when you can't find a specific brand on here) and track all your exercise.  BMR + exercise / 100 cals per mile vs food eaten should give you something accurate.

msh: first of all, congrats to the healthy live style! For the bloating, two things sometimes help. One, cut out everything that is hard to digest such as raw vegetables just a day or two. Lots of fluids to flush the system- i find cranberry juice (the real stuff) makes me feel cleansed and healthy. Two, rather than fasting one day i suggest eating a bit more that one day to kick the metabolism and then not check the scale for a few days (you are bound to be heavier if you have mroe food inside you). Or, maybe do some other type fo exercise that one day. 

Or if you can, go and treat yourself and do something nice with friends/family...anything that makes you smile and takes your mind off. Tomorrow, hopefully things will look better !

Thanks for the advice sidd1981.  Today was a hectic day and i only ate 2 pieces of German black bread and some fruit... (giving me a good case of acid reflux).  After work I managed to run 5.5 mi. and some weights and then I had steamed veggies and some rice.  I keep thinking this will just disappear - my appetite is always small and my stomach is so abnormally bloated...  It´s like a full month of TTOM.  But you're right, holidays start tomorrow, so I will try to forget as best i can:(

Hey, my stats are nearly the same and I've got the same issues!!

I'm just starting a new program that has me eating just over 2000 calories per day, which seems like a lot, but it's aimed to be 50% protien and 50% good carbs (brown rice, yam, fiberous veggies) and very low fat ... like no fat actually.

I'm guessing that for the amount of exercise you do daily, you're not eating enough.

sybil878, you have same stats as me? that is so cool !

I am scared of eating 2000 regularly. I love food and liek eating, i m pretty healthy. I snack a lot and occasionally overeat so that should take care of that. But I have figured out a few things. For a start, my mum is the same. Eats very little and look similar. Genes, i m guessing. Also, eating dinner at 7pm is way better than at 8pm. Dont ask me why. I hardly eat bread, rice, pasta etc- i dont digest wheat/whole wheat very well. I grew up on a high fiber, rye & grain based diet so that would explain that. Lots of protein is good, hard because I am a meat reductionist.

Do you have a meal plan for that diet? I d be interested if you dont mind sharing?

That is PRECISELY what happened to me.  I shall give you a short history

First off, I am 5'4 or 5'4 1/2 and I have an hourglass figure.

In September, I was eating about 1600 calories a day and maintaining or losing at 117 pounds, and happy with my body.

Then came Halloween... I ate candy bars for the first time in (literally) a year, and gained about 1.5 pounds, which isn't too bad because I lose (and gain) fast.  Then, late in November, I hit 120 and got really depressed because I wasn't losing ANYTHING no matter how much I dieted.  I realized (a week ago) that I tend to overeat when I'm frustrated at my weight, which is the worst possible time.  Go figure.

So, on November 30, I binged.  And somehow got up to 123.  The next day, I gained another 2 pounds. 

Now, 125 for a 5'4 person may sound fine, but it is not fine when I gain 5 pounds in 2 days, and when my goal weight is 116-117

That weight has been plaguing me this December, and I'm trying really hard to lose it.  I'll keep you updated if I find something that works, and good luck.  Don't give up!  I'm not.