What is wrong with me? I need to lose weight for my wedding!

Here are my stats:

Start weight: 180lbs, Currrent wieght: 180, Age: 27, Sex: female, Caloric intake: 1500 calories per day. Goal weight 139.5 ( for October) but by wedding say I would like to be about 30-35 pounds lighter than now.

 I have been working out 1.5 hours 5 days a week for the whole month.  According to the burn meter I am buring about 3000-3500 calories a day.  I didn't think it was that much but apparently it is.  That should lead to about 3 lbs per week.  Yet I haven't lost a thing.  My daily exercise consists of a 30 minute power walk at lunch and in the evening I do 30 minte cardio, 30 minutes of weight lifting and 30 minutes of stretching.

 About 3 years ago, I found myself at 225 pounds.  I began working out and calorie counting  (1200-1400 calories a day)and lost 65 pounds. So I know it is possible.   I have since gained some of it back but know I can take it off.  I eat healthy but I have to watch my portions.  Which have been doing all month. 

To further complicate my situation about a week and a half ago I gained 10 pounds overnight.  Then lost it in the following two days.  It happened again this week.  I woke up on Tuesday 10 pounds heavier!  I was down 3 yeasterday and just weighed myself and was down another 5.  I mean I know that I normally flucuate anywhere from 1-5 pounds but this is ridiculous!

I don;t have starting measurements but I bought a measuring tape and will begin on Saturday at the start of the month, then again at mid month.  If I know I am losing inches then I will be ok with whatever the weight is.

My questions are:

How is it possible to flucuate 10lbs from one day to the next?

What am I doing wrong?  I desparately would like to lose weight for my wedding.  Please, any advice is welcome.

i dont know much about the other stuff, but the 10lbs is definitely water weight...you might want to watch your sodium intake (when i got my wisdom teeth out, i ate SO much cottage cheese which has tons of sodium, and i had about 8 lbs of water weight all weekend...)

Maybe you are not eating enough to make up for all you are exercising. it happens all the time. Add more  healthy snacks to your diet!

A calorie deficit over 1000 calories per day is unhealthy. If you are truly burning 3000-3500 calories, you need to eat a minimum of 2000-2500 per day. The reason for this is because the fastest rate that your body can burn fat is 1000 calories per day. Any other weight loss will come from muscle tissue (which is bad!) or extra sugars in the body. If you run out of fuel, your body will simply lower its metabolism; in other words: your body will burn less calories!

Try eating more, especially on days that you exercise. As you start losing weight, gradually reduce the number of calories you eat. For example, after you lose 10 pounds, drop your caloric intake by 100 calories per day. The heavier you are, the more calories you burn, so as you lose weight, you need to eat less.

PM me if you'd like to chat more. Best of luck with your wedding! 

Are you sure?  Because I don't feel hungry with what I am eating.  For example, today I ate the following:

A plum, an orange, an apple, a nectarine( all snacks), 2 hard boiled eggs and  a coffee for breakfast, a whole wheat bun and a 3 ounz steak for lunch, and I made a stirfry with sirloin and ate it with salsa and a whole wheat wrap.  That all came in under 1200 calories.  I have in putted anothe snack which is 12 crackers with peanutbutter and honey anf that puts me just over the 1500 calories. 

 I know scientifically you are correct but I have a fear of gaining more weight.   Thank you very much for the advice and please reply. 

 Oh! and thanks for the well wishes! 

First, congrats on your wedding :)

I think there are at least 2 guidelines that American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) strongly recommended. One is that adult women cannot eat under 1200 cal per day and the other is that a daily calorie deficit should not exceed 1000.

Thus, yes, you do need to eat more and make sure your calorie deficit does not exceed 1000 cal.

Ironically, eating less does not guarantee weight loss. Please, read the below article. The title is Living With Obesity At 700 Calories Per Day.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/core_march_8. htm

 

People here tend to recommend that we need to eat at least our BMR (you can find BMR calculator by googling). At least, make sure not to eat below CC's recommendation.

Also, you may try to eat 5-6 mini-meals; it will increase your metabolism. Most people who did diet before tend to experience some difficulties when they try to lose weight later. It is mainly because their metabolism was damaged from the previous diet.

Drink plenty of water; and make sure you get enough sleep - at least 7 to 8 hours.

Because of your sudden overnight weight gain, I am also suspicious about your sodium intake.  Did you go over 2500 mg?

Thank you!

It was water weight!  I am down to 180 again. 

I understand the concepts and science behind weight loss so will follow your advice.  I even began last night I added a glass of non fat milk.  I will keep you updated as to my progress.  The article is very intersting!

I calculated my BMR immediately and discovered that it is 1619.  So I will attempt to eat between 1700-1900 calories a day. ( I will do my best to stay closer to 1900, no worries)

 As per the water I am drinkin at least 2 L of pure water per day plus what ever other fluids might make it into my body ie. coffee, diet pop, etc.  And for the meals, I have been eating the 6 meals a day.  I will have breakfast at 8, then a snack at 10, another at about 11:30 before my walk.  Then I wille at lunch around 1, a snack at 2:15 and another at about 4, then I eat dinner around 6.  Then I hit the gym at around 7 and drink so much water there that I am full all night until the next morning.  I am assuming that will advise me to eat after the gym again? Perhaps another piece of fruit or veggies? 

Sodium.....I must admit that I love salt.  It is my weaekness.  Most people crave sweet chocolate but I would rather have a bag of chips.  I averaged out my sodium over the last 7 days and it averaged out at 1500 mg per day.    Is that normal? What happens if you go over 2500 mg? 

Sleeping...well what can I say ... I love to sleep too!  However during the week I average aroun 7-7.5 and on the weekends I probably sleep for 9 hours so I think that that is ok.  Right?

Anyways, thank you for taking the time to respond.  Your advice is greatly appreciated. 

 Thank you to all who have written on this page.  If I reach my wedding day goal weight then i owe it to each and everyone of you!  Thanks again!

If you reach your goal you'll owe it all to yourself.  People here just point you in the right direction, you're the one doing all the walkin'.

Good luck. =)  I've got quite a few friends also losing weight for their weddings this year, myself included.  It can be done, especially once the stress of wedding planning kicks in.

The BMR and BMI...I looked it up on the Biggest Looser website and my BMR is 1459.15 and BMI 27.8...I am 5'3'', my scale varies from moment to moment but this morning I came in at 155 lbs, 36 years old...I have been trying to eat 1200 cals a day, no exercise, yet. Should I be eating more? Also, my daily cal intake is very up and down. Can we look at an average week cal count or does it have to be daily? Some days I just can't get in 1200 and yesterday I took in like 1500!

Check out the other discussion about the same thing...whats more important my BMR or 1200 cals. very insightful and has info I haven't heard before.

Wow, bride-to-be, you are doing so great.  Your sodium intake is below the recommendation (2300 mg by FDA, I think).  I would never be able to stay at 1500 mg!!  I love salty food as well (I am also more into chips (with salsa :) than sweet things). 

You will reach your goal before your wedding day.  Just don't get stressed out - wedding is a great but also very stressful life event and we can blame stress for almost everything!!  Yes, researchers did find scientific evidence that stress does cause weight gain (it is hormone related).  Otherwise, what you are doing is almost like a textbook once you slightly increase your cal intake :)

And lucinda, for shorties (including myself - I am shorter than you, 5'2), it is extremely hard to lose weight without exercise because we cannot eat under 1200 cal yet our burn meter is so low.  When I estimated when I would reach my goal without exercise (different website), it gave me it would take about 2 years LOL

That website also recommended to eat at least at my BMR which is almost 1400 cal.  So without exercise, I burn 1600 cal per day and with 200 cal deficit, no wonder it will take forever.  I would add exercise and eat slightly more.

I would be a bit suspicious of the portion sizes. eg.  when you log your crackers and peanut butter/honey  how much peanut butter do you REALLY have on that cracker... a smidgen or 1/8 " thick.  9 crackers with a tsp of peanut butter each is a lot of calories.  1 tsp pb=50 cal. therefore 9 X 50 = 450 calories, then add the honey.  Also, what kind of crackers? Some are very high in soy, modified flour and glucose.  Some of those crackers are also very high in sodium.

Why not look into using things like hummus on natural wheat crackers instead of PB & honey.  Ryevita crackers are much more filling, more natural products, and less calories for more cracker.  Try Ryevita and hummus. 

Thanks Angie!  I will increase my caloric intake. I think that we've hit the nail on the head.  I think that in North American society we have this block in our minds that says you can only lose weight be eating less but scientificall, as you have shown, that is no the case.  Thanks again!

Fransen,

 The crackers are Nabisco Premium whole grain cracker, PB no name, Honey, No name.  However, I have inputted the nutritional content as directed by the form on this site.  As for the PB and Honey, I think 1 tsp is a lot for even a little cracker sandwich.  I barely cover a cracker with the PB and another with the honey to make a mini sandwich.  But thank you for the advice, I will also keep an eye on portion sizes just in case I am not calculating them properly.  Once again, greatly appreciated!

 

 

I'm a shortie too and also trying to lose by my wedding date in April. It's fast approaching and the forum comments are really helping me "see the light."

Be sure that your drinking at least eight 8 oz cups of water a day. If your body is not getting enough water it will hold on to any water it gets. As a result you will have extra wtaer weight. So if you drink alot more water your body will release more water. Also watch sodium in TV dinners and seasonings.

Hello,

 I am studying nutrition and weight loss in Newfoundland (canada)... just to let you know, although you weight isn't dropping so much - you are incorporating weight lifting into your routine therefore you're building muscle.. muscle weighs more than fat! Therefore, weighing yourself isn't always a great way to measure progess..try taking before and after pictures every few weeks and measuring your waist etc. Keep working out - that's great! so many people give up when they don't see results immediately. Set small goals so you can reach your future goal weight for you wedding. try out some sports too maybe-- those are great for getting exercise but having so much fun that you don't notice the physical exursion. Maybe "try-a-tri"?..

 OH and by the way- there is no way one's body can burn 3000ish calories with only 2 hours of so of exercise. Magazines (including this website) and the media suggest that we are burning WAY more than we actually are. I sat down with an experienced doctor from PEI and although your body doesn't actually burn a crapload of calories as we all think, it still helps our cardiovascular sysem etc (makes a strong heart), and working out build's muscle (which increases your resting metabolic rate...(how many calories you burn at rest)).. But don't let that put you down!.. You might not burn as many calories working out as you had once thought.. but don't forget that your body burns a lot of calories on its own, for example it needs calories (which is energy) to digest the food you eat and keep your heart beating etc. I hope i'm helpful!

  Congrats!

 

Hi there everyone,

 I don't know whether i was impatient or whether this eating more idea started working really fast.  But I was down 2 pounds on Saturday and am down 1 pound again today.  So  I guess I wanted to thank everyone for their encouragement and their advice.  Thanks!

I am so glad that it worked!!  You will reach your goal before your wedding!!!

I though tI would update everyone on my status.

Ok so I have't dropped that much weight over the last two weeks (3 lbs).  I have increased my caloric intake to 1800 per day.  However, I have seen a huge difference in the shape of my body.  My clothes are definitely loose!  Good thing I started taking my measurements or my might not believe it.

I am down an 1 1/4 in the bust, 1 inch in the waist, 1 inch in the hips, 2 inches on the arms, and 1 inch in the thighs.  I have always known myself to easily build muscle and that must be hy I haven't lost the pounds but I am ok with because I can see (and prove) that there have been changes regardless of the pundage.  I am ok with being heavy as long as it is muscle not fat. Thanks again for everyone's advise.

Don't give up! My suggestion would be (as helpful as the postings on this page are) that you see someone in person who can give you advice based on looking at your body, your meals, your activity. It is so hard to gague (the peanut butter amount on crackers, as an example) what people actually mean when they say something online and not in person. What I did was hire a personal trainer for a week's worth of sessions, I found them by putting in my city on
http://www.gatheringguide.com/ec/health_beaut y.html it wasn't at all hard, and when they're there just ask them everything you need to know to keep the routine going by yourself (without hiring them fulltime- expensive!) It will be worth it, and you will know what you can be doing more effectively.

 

Best luck,

Ann