I workout SO MUCH and NOTHING happens!!!

Over the past 7 days, this is what I have done and how many calories I have eaten.  This is pretty much my usual as far as calorie intake and I’m always active and switching up what I do physically.  I average about 30 miles a week running.  Why can I not lose weight???  I just don’t understand!  I know how I gained it…I had a stress fracture a while back which really took me out of the game and I gained 10 lbs.  It is IMPOSSIBLE for me to even lose 1 LB NOW!  I have been trying since March and my weight has not budged!  Does anyone happen to know what the problem may be?  My stats are 5’9/f/28yrs old/158.5-today at my weigh-in.  Thanks for ANY help offered...it is GREATLY appreciated!

 Starting Thursday June 11th

       &nb sp;   Exercise: Jillian Michaels Shred #3 and Jackie’s 20 min core video (AM) <45 min and HIIT for 26 min on treadmill 3.20 miles, Weight lifting 18 min

     Calories: 2200

Friday

       &nb sp;    Exercise: Jillian Michaels Shred #2 (AM) and 5 hours of shopping

       &nb sp;    Calories:  1610

Saturday

       &nb sp;    Exercise: 10 mile run <1hr 45 min

       &nb sp;    Calories: 3500

Sunday

       &nb sp;    Exercise: jogged 4 miles and cleaned house and ran errands

       &nb sp;    Calories: 1700

Monday      &nb sp;  

       &nb sp;    Exercise: Jillian Michaels Shred #3 and Jackie’s 20 min core video (AM) <45 min and Jogged 3.75 miles over lunch <30 min  and in the evening I walked with my family for a half a mile

       &nb sp;    Calories: 1380

Tuesday

       &nb sp;    Exercise: Jillian Michaels Shred #2 (AM)

       &nb sp;               &nb sp;       HIIT for 38 min -4.50 miles on treadmill over lunch

       &nb sp;    Calories: 1570

Wednesday

       &nb sp;    Exercise: Jillian Michaels Shred #3 and Jackie’s 20 min core video (AM) <45 min

       &nb sp;               &nb sp;     1 hour walk at lunch <3.75 miles

       &nb sp;               &nb sp;     Jog at night 5 miles <1hr

       &nb sp;    Calories:  Not done with the day but estimating it to be no more than 1700

If I did 10% of this workout i would faint. You need to use your food and activity log together to see were you maybe wrong. your body needs only about 1200 calories a day. but you are exercise alot and your body maybe is trying to tell you something?

My post actually looked a bit confusing.  When I listed the calorie amount...that is what I consume daily.  It actually averages out over a 7 day period to where my burn meter with a deficit of 500 on most days would be.  Which is also frustrating because if I'm following the rules there should be some movement with the scale....one would think???

Well, if you've been doing this for months, then something seems to be off. 

Are yu sure you are not overestimating the calories you burn? I'm doubting this as it seems like you are getting a lot of exercise, but only *you* know how hard you are working.  Given the speed and distance you run, I doubt that you're just "going through the motions" with the videos though. 

Are you certain your intake calories are correct?  Are you accounting for everything you put into your mouth?  Weighing and measuring everything?  Not forgetting the sauces, cooking oils, dressings, drinks, and the  M&Ms that you (oh wait that was me) grabbed out of the bowl as you walked by? 

Are you under a huge amount of stress, are you sleeping well?

On another note.  Don't you ever give youself a rest day?  Looks like you are really pushing yourself in the exercise department.  Over-training could be a problem. 

 

Too much cardio, not enough strength training.

However, I was in a similar boat. NEver losing a pound but working out (cardio & resistance) 5 days a week. I only started to finally see some movement when I gave up eating processed soy products (tofu & soy milk). It seems to have done the trick, though the weight isn't falling off or anything. Calorie counting wasn't the only key.

HA...I considered Friday to be my rest day!  :-P  Usually on my rest day's I'm still pretty busy, sometimes on a Sunday I will do absolutly nothing except cleaning and errands though.

I have been exercising like this for about the last 2 years.  Always doing different things...but staying VERY active.  I go to bed at 9:00pm and wake up at 4:00am...sleep until 7:30 on weekends.  I'm an extremley happy person too...not a whole lot of stress...except my road rage from time to time.

I have been keeping a food journal for 3 years now.  I pretty much have the calories in every single thing I eat memorized and what my portions should look like.  I almost never eat out...once in a while but not often.  I consider myself a pretty healthy and balance eater too.  I do splurge on Saturdays sometimes...like this past Saturday, but I did run 10 miles that day...I was STARVING! HAHAHA  I sound like a nutzo...but this is why I don't understand what I'm doing wrong!  If I do all of this you would think maybe a pound here and there would be lost...right?  I guess maybe overtraining?  What on earth do I do about that?  LOL  I know the obvious answer...but it's not as easy as one would think.

Thank you so much for your response Karozel!  Your suggestions have me thinking....

I woud definitely revisit the scales if you are using memory to determine the portion sizes.  My mind is constantly trying to make me believe that the large salad bowl in my cupboard only holds one serving of ice cream.

Original Post by karozel:

I woud definitely revisit the scales if you are using memory to determine the portion sizes.  My mind is constantly trying to make me believe that the large salad bowl in my cupboard only holds one serving of ice cream.

 Touche! :-P

You sound like a great person, maybe give yourself two rest days a week, one in the weekend and one in the middle of the week.

Maybe, Nieto

One more thing..It should be realized that there is an association between depression and weight gain.

Both are caused by the body's inability to metabolize sugar into biological energy. This energy is required to produce the feel good neurotransmitters such as serotonin.

Remember..unused sugar (carbohydrates]) is accumulated in the body for a rainy day and stored in fat cells.

So, in addition to an exercise regime, one should be on a Hypoglycemic Diet, which is a high protein, low refined carbohydrate diet, frequent small snacks. I suggest you also supplement with chromium picolinate.

If you exercise as much as you do, your calorie intake seems OK, that is about what I do, and Our stats are similar I'm 5'9'' and now 146, but I think its very important that about 40% of your calories come from carbs, that way you can have enough energy for your exercise routine.

I eat about 20%fat 30-40% protein 40%carbs and it has worked very well for me, I have gone from 37%body fat to 18.6% body fat in 10 months. Just keep at it, eat BEFORE and AFTER your exercise, and make sure you get protein after.

 

Good luck!

I suggest beginning to measure yourself; there's a good chance you're losing inches and gaining muscle. :)

Like someone else said, you should measure your progress with the measuring tape, you'll be surprised!

Had great luck with Tae-Bo Advanced.  Added some ankle weights and went at it for about 12 weeks.  Redistributed some weight and felt great.  Scale said nada, clothes spoke volumes.  Hope this helps.

Well, the sad news is my inches are increasing...stupid muffin top!  My pants are all nice and TIGHT now!  The good news is I'm going to do a little less cardio and a little more weight training.  I had a pretty good session today using 20lb dumbbells for my upper body and compound movements over my lunch and I also ran 3 miles in my HIIT session.  This morning I did Jillians Shred #2 with 10lb dumbbells.  I guess I need to hit it a little harder eh? 

I think I'm getting a good balance in nutrition as well.  I live off of fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean proteins, healthy fats....and of course the occasional dessert or alcoholic beverage (on a Saturday if I do).  Maybe it's just time to visit a nutritionist.  Maybe I'm just thinking too much into it!  If my body insisits on having a muffin top after all this hard work...maybe I should just go with it! :-P 

I feel ya...I have been trying to lose 10 lbs since January and I have not lost anything either.  I'm a runner too (4-6 miles a day) along with other exercises and I'm so frustrated about this too.  I am 5'1 and 122 now, I want to be at 115-110.  I burn more or less than 500 cals a day and eat around 1500 cals...don't know what I'm doing

A better mentality to have when going into exercise/fitness is "I want to lose bodyfat" and not "I want to lose weight". When you do strength training, it is going to make you gain weight. However, that doesn't mean that you are gaining weight from fat.  When people focus too much on their scale weight, they have a tendency to have huge calorie deficits and do way too much cardio. More often than not, people aren't eating enough and too much cardio can lead to muscle loss.

That is why you may want to forget the scale all together and get your bodyfat % taken along with other measurements like waist, etc.. Then get new measurements done every few months or so. Keeping track of these is a much better way to judge overall progress than scale weight.

In regards to the lack of results, it could be that your body has adapted to the exercise that you do. In your post you say that you run 30 miles per week, etc.. You might need to change it up. I would recommend more weight lifting and less cardio. Weight lifting will will speed up your metabolism and give you the muscle you need to lose bodyfat. When you do too much cardio, you risk losing muscle which is what you don't want. Remember, to maintain cardiovascular fitness, you only need 90-120 minutes a week of cardio. I would recommend doing two 20-30 minute steady state sessions after lifting, and 2-3 HIIT sessions per week on non-lifting days. HIIT will speed up your metabolism a lot more and for a lot longer than regular cardio.  Also, since you're constantly changing speeds, your body doesn't adapt.