It just wont come off! What am I doing wrong?

Hello everyone. I have been a member on here for about a week now. I have started trying to exersize daily and have been eating very healthy. I eat about 1000-1200 calories a day. My burn meter always says I burn more than I eat. I am 21, 5'7'' tall and 214 pounds :(. I have PCOS which makes  it difficult. But the weight just doesnt seem to be coming off. I feel so depressed and defeated. Why isnt it coming off and what can I do to make it come off? Thanks

Your weight times 10 equals 2140 calories - that is your maintenance level.  You should eat 500 calories per day less which equals 1600 HEALTHY calories per day, including good amounts of protein.   Exercise hard 3 times per week for about 30 minutes each time, mostly to build muscle and speed your metabolism, not to burn extra calories.  It took me about 3 weeks to start losing weight.  If you eat so little, your body will fight to hang on to every ounce.

If you're 5'7" and 214lbs you need about 2500 cals a day just to maintain your weight. So you could expect to lose weight on between 1700-1900 cals a day.   If you eat too little (crash diet) you can set up all kinds of nasty problems...  1000-1200 cals a day is a crash diet, unfortunately. 

PCOS adds an extra complication to weight-loss.  Many people with the condition are also 'insulin resistant'... this means that they need to be very careful about the balance and composition of their diet, particularly when it comes to sugars and starches (or High GI foods) which an insulin resistant body will find hard to deal with.  

I'd recommend getting hold of a copy of Jennie Brand-Miller's book 'The Low GI Guide to Managing PCOS'..   With a few simple tweaks to your food choices, appropriate medication from your GP,  the right number of calories and regular exercise you should be able to see some progress although expect it to be quite slow.   Good luck

You are not eating enough.  1200 is the minimum calories for a small (5', 100 lb.), sedate woman.   You are taller, heavier and exercising, so your body likely needs closer to 1800-2000 and you could still be losing weight. 

Also, one week is not very long, especially if you have started exercising.  Starting a new exercise progrm can cause your body to over-react to your new routine and retain fluids.  It's not a permanent thing, it's only temporary, so don't let it freak you out too much.

Weight loss isn't a race, it's a change of life-style.  It sounds like you are trying to do too much too fast, and the lack of results can be really frustrating.  But your body will respond if you give it time. 

Original Post by karozel:

You are not eating enough.  1200 is the minimum calories for a small (5', 100 lb.), sedate woman.   You are taller, heavier and exercising, so your body likely needs closer to 1800-2000 and you could still be losing weight. 

Also, one week is not very long, especially if you have started exercising.  Starting a new exercise progrm can cause your body to over-react to your new routine and retain fluids.  It's not a permanent thing, it's only temporary, so don't let it freak you out too much.

Weight loss isn't a race, it's a change of life-style.  It sounds like you are trying to do too much too fast, and the lack of results can be really frustrating.  But your body will respond if you give it time. 

 

I agree with this.  It's uncommon knowledge that you actually need carbs to burn fat, also proper hydration helps a ton.

Don't give up, you body will adjust.

Well said!  FYI I started playing soccer a few weeks ago and in that time I gained 8 pounds.  It was ALL water, due to sore muscles and it finally all came off in the past 3 days again.  Conditioning is getting your body used to something so that it doesn't overreact and then you can see progress.

Original Post by farmerswife:

Your weight times 10 equals 2140 calories - that is your maintenance level. 

I have heard a million variations of this - weight * 10, weight * 11, weight * 14. I've seen it given as your maintenance, your maintenance only if you are sedentary, the amount to eat to lose weight, and your BMR.

My point - why use the quick and dirty calculation (that nobody can agree on what it is or what it means), when we have tools that take into account your age, height, and gender, so that you know what the number you are getting means.

I'm 135 - and I can tell you right now, I maintain on a lot more than 1350 calories - I ate more than that to lose weight!

Original Post by zukigal:

Hello everyone. I have been a member on here for about a week now.

It's only been a week, how much weight were you expecting to lose by now?

Eat a reasonable amount (i.e. more than you're eating now) and be patient.

Zukigal, please do not get discouraged, it has only been a week.  It seems that you may be setting your expectations too high.  I have always heard this saying about weight loss; it has taken a great deal of time to add the weight so why don't we realize that it takes a great deal of time to lose the weight as well.

Just eat lots of fresh vegetables, especially the darkest green veggies you can find, whole grain products, low to no fat dairy, sensible snacks and relax.  It will happen.

Best of luck to you!

Using the logic of 10 times your weight to maintain. I am currently 144 x 10 - 1440 minus 500 leaves me 940 caloris a day to lose weight. No wonder I'm not losing. My cc tells me I need to eat 1300 calories a day. Either way I am NOT losing weight either. I exercise hard 2 times a week, golf twice and try to walk & exercise wherever I can. Take stairs etc. My period is coming every 2 weeks so TOM is hard to justify. My clothes aren't fitting any better and the scale is not dropping. I try to stay around 1300 calories as per cc and I am trying to up my exercise to 3 -4 times a week. I have been at this since March, i lose 2, gain 2, lose 2 and gain 2. i am down 4 since March 20 and was on a 21 day cleanse.

Any other suggestions?

Clinging

Original Post by farmerswife:

Your weight times 10 equals 2140 calories - that is your maintenance level. You should eat 500 calories per day less which equals 1600 HEALTHY calories per day, including good amounts of protein. Exercise hard 3 times per week for about 30 minutes each time, mostly to build muscle and speed your metabolism, not to burn extra calories. It took me about 3 weeks to start losing weight. If you eat so little, your body will fight to hang on to every ounce.

wait. does this apply to everyone? so if i'm 135lbs and i want to lose weight, 1350 is my maintenance level and i should only eat like... 800 calories? that doesn't sound right.

see my post #6

oops, apologies.

CLINGING, what is your height?  Either you are at a healthy weight already, or you need to eat more calories to convince your system/hormones that it's safe to burn fat... the whole starvation thing.

The *10 thing is probably the MINIMUM, and you are probably burning more than CC thinks you are.  If it's not working you need to change something, just don't eat less.

It feels like it takes me forever to lose weight, zukigal, and I don't have any health issues to slow me down.  It generally takes me almost 3 months of watching what I eat and walking/jogging 3-5 times a week for half an hour to see a loss of 10lbs.  It's really frustrating and that's usually about when I give up.  You just got to keep at it. 

The way my sister tells it, it takes years and years to put on all the weight so you can't expect it to come off immediately.  These things take time.  Even when I don't see instantaneous weight loss, I still can usually see a difference in my body after a month or so.  That's better than nothing.

Hey  Everyone,

Thanks so much for all your help and kind words. Ya... I was just hoping to see the scale go down atleast 1 pound.... Ugh its so frustrating. But the thing is that it doesnt take me years and years to gain wait. I can eat normally and will gain weight just by looking at food. I gained 30 pounds in a year and that wasnt from going out to eat a lot, it wasnt a lot of pop, I cook for myself so everything is pretty healthy. Its just my stupid body. I have been deiting since i was 16 and nothing ever works. I just get so tired of having to watch every single bit of food i put in my mouth. I just want to be like all the other people in my age group that can eat whatever they want and stay skinny. I will try to eat my veggies, I know that is one of the areas I am lacking a bit in and also try to eat more complex carbs. All the advice has been wonderful. I just wish weight loss would happen more quickly. Thanks!

I really hear you and your frustration. I had to stop going on the scale because I couldn't bear to see that the weight wasn't coming off. In the meantime I'm trying to accept that chubbiness is normal for me. I'm doing what the site says to do but I don't want to eat like some people suggest here (clean/no sugar/no ice cream). I just want to calorie count and exercise. I wonder if it'll work? I was eating 1200/1400 a day. Now I've upped it to what the site suggests: 1500. We'll see I guess. I have about twenty pounds to lose, maybe that's why it's so slow.