Ready to Cry but not quit - ranting

I am not losing any weight. I am fluctuating the 3 lbs that i lost my first week. I am eating fine during hte week, have some splurges but none to make everyhting even all the time. I workout 5 days a week, hour of cardio 1/2 hour of pilates and I still don't see differnce on the dumb scale. I am so frustrated that I want to cry.

In one response to someone who is in the same boat as me, asked what thier heart rate was during excerise. Does it make a huge difference. My heart rate it up while I work out. I am sweating but not drenched. Do I need to up my cardio to a faster past to increase something.

Also, in general I do not function on a lot of sleep. Most nights I get 4 hours and sleep great. Sunday is now my only day to sleep in and sometimes I will take one night during the week to sleep from 7pm - 4am. Does that have anything to do with why I am not losing. Is there some sort of first month plateau and after than bam like 15 lbs are off.

I see a difference though. My arms and legs are slimmer and my belly is a bit slimmer. I am just tired of not seeing any # go down.

How can those people of biggest loser lose 15 plus lbs in one week? CRAZY #. I want that too. HAHA. I don't have all day to dedicate to the gym. Only max of 2 hours. You would think with that much 5-6 times a week, you would see #'s go down. ARG!!

I doubt we can give you any real advice without knowing:

-how much you weigh

-how tall you are

-how old you are

-how many calories you're eating

-and probably something that I've forgotten.....

SW: 203
CW: 201
fluctuating between 199-202

height: 5'1
age: 29

Calories per day 1400-1800. I should probably stick to around 1750 - 1800

burn about 700 - 800 calories a day

Average heart rate during workouts: 154, highest 161 (i know once you get into better shape the # goes lower, when I started i quickly went up to 171 and averaged around 165. Has lowered these past few weeks and I am wokring out even harder than when I started)

I don't know what else. I don't eat past 9 pm. I do snack on some healthier snack foods from trader joes. I have has cupcakes and other sweets the past two weeks but not to the point where is was over my calories.

I don't drink. I stopped smoking but bought a pack for some reason today and smoked a quarter of the cig before I put it out. Just wanted the taste, didn't inhale.

I am trying to cut white rice out of my dinner soon. It's too hard. I love rice.
Love salads but have not been eating enough.

Drink that wu yi tea but no results this time. First time around I lost 10lbs in 1 week. this time around I drink it everyday and NOTHING.

Gained weight after having and losing baby. Said enough is enough and want to get back to my Jr  weight of 120. So not think I ever can get to 105 even though I will always try for it.

Being impatient and want sooner results. I know it takes time.

Fatal mistake of a dieter: you're not eating enough!

Eating too low a calorie intake, or having a deficit from your BMR greater than 1000 results in something called "starvation mode", where your body holds every last thing it can get in expectance of a famine. Water, food, calories. Explained:

Never have a deficit greater than 1000, and never go below 1200 net.

An adult woman needs 1200 calories per day to survive, a teenage girl or an adult man 1500 per day bare minimum, and a teenage boy 1800 per day minimum and that is when SEDENTARY.  If you are exercising, you need even more than that. Here is a very rough scientific break down provided by a dietician for a  5' 2", 19 year old female weighing approximately 100 pounds, sitting around all day and doing nothing:

-The heart needs 12% of the calories (144 cals)
-The kidney needs 12% of the calories (144 cals)
-The Liver needs 23% of the calories (276 cals)
-The brain needs 23% of the calories (276 cals)
-The skeletal muscle needs 30% of the calories (360 cals)

Reference: http://www.calorie-count.com/forums/post/3178 .html#6

And this is the bare minimum when sedentary! You're much, much more active than that and larger, thus:

Per CC's tools, at a completely sedentary level you burn 2000 calories. To lose 1lb a week you'd want to have a deficit of 500. You burn more than that, so really, you could eat 2000, and your exercise, and you'd start losing. But you may have done some damage to your metabolism so to rev it up try eating 2000 WITHOUT exercise for a week or so or be willing to eat what you burn back so you're at a maintainance level.

There is a thread here called Upping Cals to LOSE that chronicles success stories of people who have eaten too little now eating more to jig their metabolism back to a working level.

I should add, not eating beyond a certain time? Total myth. But it is good you encorporate fun foods and the odd cake in without going crazy. That's a sign of balance in your diet - now just get your calories up! White rice to brown can be done in stages - if you have a half cup of rice normally, have a quarter cup of brown and a quarter cup of white mixed together and then make the full change. And... I have no idea what wu yi tea is.

Patience is a virtue, my dear!

Yup, not eating enough.  At your activity lvl, you're probably burning about 2600 cals a day, on average.

You want to make sure your deficit in calories is 500-1000 calories, so the absolute fewest you should eat is 1600.  Even then, I would aim for about 1800-2000 a day, to give you some room to play.  You may be burning more then you think, so that gives you a bit of a buffer.

Also, think about adding in some weight training.  Muscles burns more then fat and the more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism will be.

Above all, I know how frustrating it is not to see the results, but stick with it! :)

I have a lot of muscle on me already. I used to be an athlete in high school and have developed a lot of leg muscle and arm muscle. My right arm is stronger from when I was an archer 8- 14. Pilates is to tone my muscles making them lean. right now they are very tight and stocky especially my calves.

I have upped my intake to 1850. Today I had a well deserved larger but very balanced meal of clam chowder with tobasco, salad with and red snapper. It was so good and kept me full till dinner. After that I still had 700 cals reserved for dinner. Since I am back on adjustment week, I had 3/4 cup of rice with tofu and chicken.

Oh by the way, I still do some light weight training and upping it to 3 times a week next week. I do like pilates though, all my muscles are in use and it's much more peaceful to me.

That sounds perfect, and now I'm craving sea food lol.