Why am I not getting the weight off?

Hi! I am new here and have a rather annoying problem. No matter what I seem to do I cannot seem to drop the weight. My stats are this.

Age: 26

Height:5' 7"

Weight: (now) 238.5 lbs

Calorie Intake: roughly 1500 a day

Exersize: Walking generally around an hour a day minimum.

I am recovering from two drastic extreems of eating problems. In my teen years I was anorexic and now in my 20s ( due to an unhealthy work enviroment) I went the oppiset direction into binge eating. I have never made myself throw up, I just ate everything in sight when I was supper stressed out. Now even by keeping track of every calorie I eat I cannot seem to loose the weight. The Dr.'s I've seen say pretty much all the same thing, I "eat too much and I am "not being completely honest about your eating habits" and that I "just need to suck it up and work out untill you can't breath every day". But even overestimating my calorie intake I still have trouble breaking the recomended 2000 calories a day in a healthy way. I try exersizing more, but end up working out and then being in so much pain that I am unable to keep it up. In fact for up to 3 days after an exersize bout, I am so exhausted that I just go home and go to bed and sleep for long periods. I do NOT feel "happy" or "energized" or "high" after such work outs. I am in pain, and as little as 5 min. on a tread mill can leave me practically unable to walk. When I DO force myself to work up to 20 min on the treadmill a day, well...I"m sure you get the picture.  Needlessly to say it messes up my home life quite a bit and worries my husband.

 

Do you have any helpfull ideas on how to work through this? I need to loose about 90 lbs to be healthy and I want to do it in a healthy way.

You need to do a little more strenuous exercise than walking if you wish to seriously lose weight.  Walking is very healthy, but a jog, or a bike ride, or half an hour on the elliptical even on a light resistance, will do much more.  I know you said that you are in pain after a round on the treadmill so I would highly recommend using the recumbent exercise bike or the elliptical.  They are low impact exercises that won't hurt your joints at all.  Losing weight really requires a TON of sacrfice and dedication.  Trust me, I hated running and biking at first, but when you see the results it gives you, you will be happy that you started.  With an intake of only 1500 calories a day and a strict regimen of daily strenuous exercise, the pounds will fly off.  But you just need to take the incentive, keep motivated, and stay in that gym.  I'm sure you will be very successful with this.  Good luck.

You need to do a little more strenuous exercise than walking if you wish to seriously lose weight. 

 not true.

I lost 100 lbs by 'just walking'.  When you are over 200 lbs, it's very difficult to do much more than that.  I also NEVER walked more than 1 hr each day.  If you are getting your heart rate up a bit while walking, you are burning calories in a decent way!

~H~

Yet she said she isn't losing weight by doing this.  Therefore it obviously isn't enough for her.  Something like the recumbent bike can be done comfortably by a person of any weight, and it burns more calories than walking.  To the OP, calorie intake can also be deceiving at times.  Make sure to keep a log of exactly what you eat.  Never guess-timate.  Log in every little thing you eat so you know exactly how much intake you have.  That way you can work out a specific equation of calorie intake, calories burned, and how much weight you should be losing.

And by the way haley, congratulations on the lost weight.  I took at look at your before and after pics and must say, you look great.  Awesome job.

It may be possible that at a roughly 1500 calorie intake, that you are not eating enough for your current level of exercise (walking for about one hour a day).

Using CC's burn meter tool, I've estimated that you burn roughly 2600 calories in an average day. While a deficit of 1000+ isn't necessarily a bad thing when you are as overweight as you are (I started at 235 myself, and burned roughly 2500 a day at the start of this), with your history of anorexia and other eating disorders, your metabolism is probably a bit damaged.

Try eating closer to 1700-1900 calories a day. Continue your current rate of exercise. See what happens. I know my body prefers a deficit of 700--it seems like I don't lose if I'm under it, or if I'm too much over that level of a deficit. Part of CC is to figure out what, exactly works for you. =) If you want, as you lose weight, you can add additional exercise when your body is more comfortable with it. That's precisely what I plan to do when my husband comes home (I want us to get healthier together, and so does he).

by "roughly" what do you mean?

My first concern is this, Im 235lbs at the moment and eat 1800-2000 a day.

When I eat 1500 and exercise I feel like crap all the time. No energy, cant concentrate. Pissed off. LOl

What is your activity level? Do you have it set correctly for what your doing?

Next is the exercise part of it. I would recommend getting a HRm so you can track your heart rate on those walks. You want to make sure your getting it up enough to burn some good calories.

There is nothing wrong with walking. BUT, if you just puttin down the street your not doing much. I would suggest some bursts of speed walking followed by a moderate pace. It may hurt your legs at first but youll get used to it.

Why does the exercise cause you so much pain for day? Do you have an injury or medical condition that is causing this? My first thought was muscle stiffness. But I could be wrong. My best friend for exercise soreness/pain is Bengay. It does wonders.

You need to make sure you stretching your legs before you walk/run/elliptical/bike, then stretch once your done. Also stretch these muscles throught the day to get the blood flowing.  

 

Roughly means most days I do not eat over that, but because I still am struggling to recover there are days where I consume more than 2000 calories and some days I eat less than 1000. I rarely eat a full portion of anything so it makes it difficult to be extreemly accurate but I do log every. little. thing. I eat. I generally overestimate my calories in this fashion. If I have less than what it says the serving is I will generally log the whole serving unless I took only a bite or two: Then I will only log half a serving for example.

I started at 235lbs on July 15th and have gained 3.5 lbs in this last week. ( veriables include that fact that I haven't had a period in 2 months and I am not pregnant. This is normal for me and I am under a dr.'s care for it, but she doens't seem to have any good support/advice for my loosing weight except to tell me I'm either lieing about my food intake or not getting the exersize that I say I am. ) But that's a different story I think?

Activity level is set at seditary because I don't have a specific work out schedual set up atm.

Exersize is generally walking. Lots of it. I walk at work, I walk in the park behind my house, I pace my livingroom ( a lot....especially when stressed.....fast enough to leave me breathing moderatly hard) But put me on a treadmill for any length of time and I will be unable to stand up fully or be able to walk at all in just minuets. It's all in my lower to middle back, even stretching and chiro adjustments have not been able to change that. I've adjusted hight,speed,incline: everything I could think of. I have a new recumbant bike that I'm going to try to add to the mix. My main concern is that I don't do well on Ice and since I live in Alaska and we are headed into winter I know for a fact that my walking levels are going to drop.

I do have some old upper back./neck injuries but they do not seem to be affected/agrivated by exersize.

Having a calorie deficit that's too big is absolutely a bad thing.

Let me make an important distinction here first. You don't want to lose weight. You want to lose fat, right? Cutting your calories to starvation levels with no exercise is forcing your body to eat the only protein it has -- muscle. You are actually making yourself FATTER by cutting your calories that much & not exercising. Stop that now!

The first thing you need to do is find out your "maintenance level" of calorie intake. In other words, answer the question, "given your activity level, how many calories can you eat where you won't gain or lose any weight?" Subtract 20% from that number, and you will have the optimal number of calories you should eat everyday to lose weight. Eat any less than that, you risk invoking your body's starvation response, which can be very difficult to recover from.

The good news is that you have to eat more than you currently do. Given your size, 1500 is way too low for you. HOWEVER, you must also do some kind of sustained cardio activity. If you walked for 45 continuous minutes 4-5 days a week, you would absolutely start to see benefits within two weeks. Simply walking a little bit here and there is not good enough for you to see significant weight loss.

The idea for you now is to establish a habit of exercise rather than trying to cut as many calories as possible.

Making sure that you are consistent with your exercise sessions, and that your aerobic exercise is continuous over a given time period will almost guarantee weight loss (provided you are also consistent with good eating habits), no matter your body shape or genetics.

If you're out of breath on the treadmill, slow down. Who says you have to go X miles an hour? Walk a pace where you just about have your breath -- what I call "comfortably uncomfortable." If, for you, that pace is 1.5 mph, then that's the pace you walk, no more, no less.

The only secret to losing weight is simple math. Eat more calories than you burn, you gain weight. Burn more calories than you eat, you lose weight.

To paraphrase Tom Venuto, you want to BURN fat, not STARVE fat.

BTW, I very highly recommend getting Tom Venuto's book, "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle." It has changed my life. And no, I don't work for him, though I probably should! :)

I"m actually learning a LOT about my eating habits since I've started on here. I averaged out my logged calories which comes out to 1377 a day. But I have a lot of exagerated highs and lows I didn't know about.......yep I finally found out what "Analysis" does. :p

double post...sorry

Hmm. I think one of the problems is you not being consistent with your calories everyday. By this I mean eating over 2000 one day and barely 1000 the next. So by doing this your body is totally freaking out and holding on to the weight. Does that make sense?

First thing is to be very consistent with your intake. You need to eat something like 1800 everyday. Then hop on your recumbent bike everyday at whatever time is best for you. Slowly work your way up to where your doing atleast 30 minutes.

I think the main thing is being consistent with your calories.

I have damaged my metabolism severely in the past and know first hand what its like. Your body remembers, thats why its a must to eat.

After you have been consistent with your intake for a few weeks you should drop the weight, if not immediately.

Try water aerobics. It's gentle on the joints and you work HARD!

STRENGTH TRAINING!!! Starting out lighty of course! This will help you build muscles, increase your metabolism, and lose weight all at the same time! Even just going through the movements of strength training exercises w/o weights will help you tone your muscles (eg. doing bicep curls without any weights).  Resistance bands might be a good thing for you to invest in.  They're pretty cheap and really versatile when it comes to the different kinds of exercises you can do.  As for cardio, you don't want to push yourself to the point of unbearable pain so trying something with a bit lower impact might work for you now and then you can build up to walking on the treadmill or maybe even jogging :D

I agree with the other people that at your weight you should probably eat a little more.  In the past, I have royally effed my metabolism because I didn't eat enough. Also, where are your calories coming from? Like what kind of foods?  The quality of your calories can greatly impact the results of weight loss.  Other stuff like high sodium intake can hinder it too.

Hope this helps, and best of luck!!

I Second this notion Strength bands are proablly the best route if you like I have complied a little word doc with abunch of exercises you can do with the bands.   There is also less tendency to hurt your self with the bands because they almost force you to do the exercise the right way and use your muscle through out each motion.

Give your self at least 2 days inbetween( listen to your body if your still sore the muscles have not healed enough yet and you will actually do more harm then good) When your muscles hurt its because the micro tares you have made by exercising are nto fully healed they need protien and water (I aim for a gallon on a work out day)

EAT with in 30 mins after you do any exercise it will actually fuel the furnace and keep your body burning calories longer after your exercise.

Streching is important also. I don't care what reports are out there that say it does not actually do anything. (Because I got into that arguement with a lady at my old gym. ) I always hurt less if I properly warm up then strech and after the exercise strech out all the worked muscle groups while I was still warm from exercising.

 

 

Original Post by xxwhitxx:

STRENGTH TRAINING!!! Starting out lighty of course! This will help you build muscles, increase your metabolism, and lose weight all at the same time! Even just going through the movements of strength training exercises w/o weights will help you tone your muscles (eg. doing bicep curls without any weights).  Resistance bands might be a good thing for you to invest in.  They're pretty cheap and really versatile when it comes to the different kinds of exercises you can do.  As for cardio, you don't want to push yourself to the point of unbearable pain so trying something with a bit lower impact might work for you now and then you can build up to walking on the treadmill or maybe even jogging :D

xxwhit~ this is how I started my journey to losing more then 200 pounds!  I started out with the cheap resistance bands and used them while watching TV at night.  I also started walking and added a few blocks every month.  I went from barely being able to walk a block, to now enjoying bike rides and walking five miles every day. 

One thing you didn't mention about the strengh training is that muscle burns fat.  Of course muscle also weighs more then fat, which is why you need to take monthly measurements. 

Strawberry, you said your doctor told you you weren't being honest with your eating.  I found this true of myself.  As silly as it is, the morbidly obese me was in major denial.  When I decided to be honest with myself, which included charting EVERYTHING I put in my mouth, and how much I exercised, I was shocked at what I found.....  What I thought was a 2,000 calorie day was actually a 5,000 calorie day!   And the 10,000 steps which I THOUGHT I was easily getting every day, was only 1,500 steps when I got a pedometer.

Good luck with your journey.  I wish you the best in finding a healthy balance in your eating habits.

Thanks for the helpfull hints and points.

 

Afauvel: I would appreciate that doc. as I was given some bands from a friend but have no idea how to use them. I used to lift 3lb. dumb bells while watching tv at night, but just realized when weight lifting was mentioned that I have not been doing that lately.

 

Kaufmkk: Thats the point she was trying to make I think, but I didn't like being called a liar essentially, which is why I started keeping a food journal. I have found that while my calorie intake was right about where I said it was, I haven't been eating as many veggies/ fruits as I thought I was. And the carbs that I thought I cut weren't as many as I thought, along with that being my protien was way off of where I thought it was.

 

So my next question is that I'm confused how much I should be eating. I've read that an average 2000 calorie diet should have 9 servings of fruits and veggies. That equaling 2 cups raw fruits and 2.5 cups raw veggies. Is this true?

And what should be my protien intake?

I'm more lost than I thought I was. :p

 

Strawberry, for my healthy eating, I use the USDA's Food Pyramid.  It tells you how much fruit, veggies, etc. you should be eating based on your stats.

http://www.mypyramid.gov/

Since following their guidelines, my bloodwork has come back fantastic!  It's worth a look, anyway.

The only supplements I take are a multiple vitamin for women and a fiber tablet. 

Don't worry about being lost.  Just be cautious about falling for fad diets and gimmicks and you'll do just fine!

 

 

I am going to say upfront this is my compliation of resistance band exercises and explainations I got from a variety of websites not my own creation. Most came from www.bodybuilding.com  they had a contest a while back to see who could get the most beneficial and amount of strength training exercises out of resistance bands I combined a few of the different posts.

If anyone is interested in the pictures which will not show up in the posting I can send this as a word doc to an email address. The pictures are still demos like starting and stoping postions.

The Differences
There are several advantages to using resistance bands. The first and most obvious advantage is how much easier they will fit into your luggage compared with free weights. There is also a mechanical advantage in resistance bands that resistance is maintained through every part of the motion while many similar free weight exercises are actually non performing work during parts of the lift when movement isn't against gravity at a large enough angle.

With your resistance band training, every part of both the concentric and eccentric part of the exercise has resistance, resulting in better range of motion strength and more complete stimulation. The downside to resistance bands are that you can't really perform near maximum lifts and the limitation of exercises (the latter of which I will try to help overcome).

Using Resistance Bands

When using resistance bands for your workout, the factor you should be thinking about is picking a band with a resistance appropriate to your strength and the exercise you are doing. When performing the exercise, the band should be secured in a way so the length is appropriate to give resistance even at the bottom of the exercise.

Chest:

• Bench Press
  For this you will need a bench of some sort with a leg you can lift. Secure the band under the leg nearest your head, lie down on the bench, and press up like you would a barbell bench press.
• 
  Cross-over
  Secure band around a stationary post (a poll or something of the like), step back enough to begin tension. Stand facing away from post with arms raised to sides, palms forward. Keeping your arms straight, bring them across your chest.

Biceps:

• Curls
  Stand on band with leg width appropriate so tension will start with arms straight down. Holding handles palms up, curl as you would dumbbells.

Triceps:

• Triceps Extensions
  Stand on band with leg width set so tension begins at height of your hand with arms behind your back (over your head) and elbows flexed. Extend your arms as you would with Triceps extensions.

 

• Skull-Crushers
  Set up the band as you did with bench press. Point your elbows forward and up, and perform skull-crushers as you would with a barbell.

Shoulders:

• Shoulder Press
  Stand on band so that tension starts with hands by your shoulders. Hold handles palms forward with bottom part of handle on backside of your hand. Press upward as you would a dumbbell press.
• 
  Lateral Raises
  Stand on band so tension begins with arms at sides. Keeping your arms straight, raise you arms out to your sides so they are parallel with the floor.
• Upright Rows
  Stand on band so tension begins with arms at sides. Pull upwards as you would with a barbell upright row.

Upper Back:

• Row
  Fix band around a stationary post (or feet). Stand back so tension begins with arms raised in front of you. Keeping feet planted (or sitting), pull back as you would with a cable row.

• Back Flyes
  Fix band around a stationary post. Stand back so tension begins with arms raised in front of you. Keeping your arms straight and feet planted, move your arms back so they are extended to your sides.

Lower Back:

• Good-Mornings
  Stand on band so tension starts with hands clasped behind neck. Keeping legs straight or slightly bent, stand up straight, raising back as in a normal good-morning.

Quads:

• Squats
  Stand on bands so tension begins with hands by shoulders and in a squatted position. Stand up; keeping hands by shoulders, performing as you would a barbell squat.  

 

Calves:

• Calf Raises
  Stand on band so tension begins with hands by shoulders and standing straight up. (Make sure you are standing on the band with your toes). Keeping hands by your shoulder, stand up on your toes as you would with a barbell calf raise.

 

You can bend your leg instead of extending it to perform a King dead-lift (as opposed to a King squat) and this should give your hams a run for their money. A resistance band is also a useful aid. Step on the loop with one leg and wrap the other end around your other ankle. Brace yourself against a wall, then kick your leg back and raise your ankle as far as it can go.

 

Abs:

• Weighted Sit-ups
  If you have a decline bench, you can fix the band around the base of the bench and perform weighted decline sit-ups on that. Otherwise, fix the band around a stationary post and lie on the floor facing away from the post. Holding you hands by your head, perform sit-ups or crunches.
• 
  The Routine

Using the exercises given above, you can set up a workout routine as you wish. With resistance band-based workouts, the best would most likely be 3 full-body workouts or a 2-day split with Day A on Monday and Thursday and Day B on Tuesday and Friday.

Example 1: Monday/Wednesday/Friday

• 3 x 8 Bench Press
• 1 x 10 Cross-over
• 3 x 10 Rows
• 1 x 15 Back Flyes
• 3 x 15 Squats
• 2 x 10 Curls
• 2 x 8 Skull Crushers
• 2 x 10 Triceps Extensions
• 2 x 8 Shoulder Press
• 2 x 8 Lateral Raises
• 1 x 10 Upright Rows
• 3 x 8 Good-Mornings
• 3 x 10 Calf Raises
• 3 x 20 Weighted Crunches

Example 2: Monday/Thursday

• 4 x 8 Bench Press
• 2 x 10 Cross-over
• 3 x 15 Squats
• 2 x 10 Squats
• 2 x 8 Skull-Crushers
• 3 x 10 Triceps Extensions
• 5 x 10 Calf Raises
• 2 x 20 Weighted Crunches

Example 3: Tuesday/Friday

• 4 x 10 Rows
• 2 x 15 Back Flyes
• 3 x 8 Shoulder Press
• 3 x 8 Lateral Raises
• 1 x 10 Upright Rows
• 4 x 8 Good-Mornings
• 3 x 10 Curls
• 2 x 20 Weighted Crunches

Follow the basic structure of a normal workout. Warm-up, use an appropriate weight and keep about a one minute rest between sets. The routine can be tailored to fit your schedule and training preferences, changing the sets and frequency as you please. I wouldn't alter the rep range too much as resistance bands aren't as optimal for very low rep sets, and rep ranges much higher are less effective.

Benefits & Worth

As with any exercise routine, resistance bands will increase the strength of your muscles and stimulate growth. What they will also do is hit the full range of motion, working many parts of a lift and muscle often not worked by free weights (i.e. free weight curls and triceps extensions aren't working during the whole motion).

This in turn will increase flexibility and applicable strength and more muscle stimulation. So it becomes quite obvious that for anyone who needs a way to work out on vacation, periodically can't get to the gym, or wants something extra to add to the workout, resistance bands are well worth it. And at such a low cost, there's little reason not to invest in them.

Hi Strawberry,

   My stats are pretty close to yours (age 30, 5'4", 234.4 pounds) and I want to agree with the above posters who have recommended that you eat more.  I don't lose any weight on less than 1700 calories.  Most days, my total burn with exercise is around 2800, and I eat between 1800-2000 calories.  Also, exercise will get easier as you lose weight and work on strength and endurance.  The suggestion about resistance bands is a great idea.  They're cheap and you can use them anywhere.  I love mine, and they've played a huge part in my weight loss so far.  Good luck!

SB - 

Maybe you should talk to a different doctor?  You said "Dr.'s" so maybe you have already talked to more than one.  Two possible causes for your troubles unrelated to diet/exercise spring to mind:

Have you had your thyroid level checked?  

You mentioned not having a period for a few months - obesity and lack of menstruation are symptoms of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.  Maybe look up some info on that and see if you have any of the other symptoms - docs often miss this diagnosis.

I kind of disagree with Kristendaqueen ( i love that name by the way ).  i think that you should totally try the zig zagging of your calories to keep your metabolism guessing.  You may of wrecked your metabolism a bit with your high school eating disorder so if you keep it guessing then maybe you will have better results.  BY Zig zaggin you would be eating calories over the next 7 days like this.  1900, 1500, 1700, 1500, 1900, 1700, 1600.  That way you average 1685 calories a day.  Raise 100 calories each day if you do not think you are getting enough calories.

 

Since you have figured out the analysis button you should pay extremely close attention to it.  Try to eat 20% fat calories, 35% protein calories and 45% carbohydrates.  And try and get 30 grams of fiber each day.  Pay close attention to your daily analysis and your 7 days average as well as month to date averages.  That way if you are zig zagging you can get a good idea of what you are averaging in the recent past as well as the whole month.  Drink tons of water and try really hard to keep you sodium under 3,000 mg.  You are supposed to take in less sodium than that a day but start keeping it at that level because it will help you stop retaining so much water.  AND drink as much water as humanly possibly,  I have achieved that by only drinking water for a month and after that it was easy to take in tons of water and have some other form of beverage on the side.

My last thought is to stop excersing all together.  There is no question that you are going to need to excerise at some point but I promise you that if you just get the eating part figured out you will come to a point in a month or several months where you want to start doing something lite once a week and you can just build form there.  This is going to take a while so there is no reason to fix every bad habit and get going on excerise routines right away when it is much easier to sustain this healthy life style if you take one step at a time.   You can do it! and I think that if you get the eating down you should be able to lose between 5 and 10 lbs a month for the first couple of months.  Then you will be SUPER motivated to do better and you will be an expert on food.