Feel like weight loss is completely impossible!!

C

Caterpillar1

New member
I’ve tried dieting and exercising sensibly –eating ~1200kcal (maintenance for me is 1700 so that’s just a 500kcal deficit) and going to the gym 4/5 times a week but it didn’t work.

So in the last couple of weeks I went on a ridiculous crash diet in which I ate ~300kcal a day and exercised 2-3hours a day in the gym. In the first week I ‘lost’ 8lb, and the second week I lost nothing.

Now I’ve come home for the holidays I have to eat what I’m given. And in just 2days of eating normally my weight has gone right back up again. I wasn’t overeating, I still had a deficit both days. So I guess the weight I thought I’d lost was just food being eliminated from my body and not being replaced, not fat loss at all?

I know crash dieting like that is a stupid way to go about things, (I was just feeling quite desperate) but I really would have thought I would have lost *something* in those two weeks!! It doesn’t make any sense!!

I actually cried when I stood on the scale. I can’t believe I cried at a number on a scale but after all that to have lost nothing?!

Also I found out the other day that I was anaemic and that some of my hormone levels were low and the dr was concerned about my diet and exercising. The blood for these tests was taken *before* my stupid crash diet so (a) I’m probably even worse now and (b) that happened to me when I was dieting sensibly so how on earth can I be healthy?!?! I guess I should have asked the doctor but I was totally caught by surprise cos the tests were for something else and I had been taking a multivitamin with iron so was not expecting to be anaemic and she’s the kind of doctor who likes to round things up quickly.

Do you think I should just try and forget about dieting for a while and eat at maintenance? Or what do you think it would be best for me to do? The sensible part of my brain is telling me to eat at maintenance but I’m also really scared that that will make me put on weight given that dieting didn’t make me lose; and also I want to lose weight so badly that it would be really frustrating to stop trying.

Sorry for the length/patheticness of this,

Lily
 
1200 calories a day while exercising isn't really eating sensibly... it's pretty low in calories

What do you think your maintenance calories are... eating at maintenance is generally a good idea when weight loss has stalled - so you're probably best served by doing that
 
Like Mal said, it sounds like you are not eating enough. It makes perfect sense that you lost what you did when you went on your crash diet: your body was used to having a certain amount of incoming calories, so it kept burning; when it realized that you were not getting the income, it went into starvation mode and would cherish every calorie it could and not let go of anything extra.

Try eating healthily, drinking plenty of water, and exercising consistently. What does your daily diet consist of? Also, what is your normal routine at the gym?

Your goal of six more pounds in three weeks might be reasonable if you eat properly. Getting enough vitamins and protein should keep you from becoming anemic and feeling too weak to keep your program up.

--Jason
 
patience during weight loss is one of the number one things people have to deal with. Dont worry if the number on the scale isnt changing, eventually it will. As long as your getting enough calories in (which it sounds too low for anyone), it will eventually change. Remember weight loss doesn't change dramatically overnight, so be patient and just worry about being healthy, don't judge yourself by a number on the scale.
 
Patience

Morning,

Patience. Losing weight at a steady rate (and keeping it off!) requires patience...and not just an eating change (because once you 'revert', you'll gain everything back as you have seen) but a lifestyle change instead.

Your body needs a base minimum of fuel (calories) to keep it operating in a healthy manner. Starving yourself simply gets your body thinking, eeek, I'm a'gonna die, I had better conserve everything I have!

Start with some of these threads:

http://weight-loss.fitness.com/newcomers/11548-rant-about-basic-concepts-i.html

http://weight-loss.fitness.com/nutrition/13065-easiest-nutrition-guidelines-ever.html

and work you way from there.

Best wishes for your success,

Barbara
 
You need to have patience. You also need to do as others have said and increase your calories especially while working out. While your being patient please remember that you did not get this way overnight. It will be a hard road to start but you will see a change come and it will pay off.

I did a post here earlier this week on someone's journal. I stated that they needed to look at weight loss like this:

Take a roll of paper towels. Lets say that paper towel has 100 sheets on there. Each sheet represents 1 day. Each day you remove one sheet. At the beginning you do not see any change at all. Over time you see the roll is getting more slender until it is down to its "core" (ie..your goal weight).

It is called a paper towel theory that a PT shared with me a few years back. Not sure where they heard it from but it has always stuck wtih me and is a great way to look at weightloss.

Increase your calories, hang in there, CHANGE WILL COME!!!

Traci
 
I should mention that part of the reason you're not losing weight is the fact you're already quite thin. At 20 BMI, you're hovering close to being underweight. Re-examine the reasons you want to lose weight. Maybe some cardio and strength training would achieve those results for you without having to lose weight.
 
Thanks very much for all your helpful replies. I've thought about everything you've said and read through the linked pages and well these are kinda my conclusions I guess...

Everyone who has said I need to be patient is of course totally right. I am very impatient. I guess it might be partly because I put some things off 'until I get thin' and stuff like that which I really shouldn't... there's a balance to be found between trying to motivate yourself and being overly harsh on yourself. I've spent some time looking at myself and although I may not really like what I see, rationally speaking, I am fine. My weight is in the healthy range, and my boyfriend thinks I'm beautiful as I am and doesn't think I need to lose any weight so really it doesn't matter how long it takes me to get to my goal weight. (ugachick I liked the toilet roll analogy!) I'm going to try and be less obsessive about what I eat and working out as well, though I think it would be a bit naive to think that I can just snap out of it instantly.

I hadn't realised that 1200kcal a day was too low. I had estimated my daily requirement to be 1700kcal using an RMR equation and thought that cutting intake by 500kcal was often recommended. Since that would give 1lb loss a week I though exercising on top of that was ok since up to 2lb loss a week is generally regarded as healthy. I think I was burning more than 3500kcal a week in exercise though...

I think what I'm going to do for the next few weeks is aim to eat 1700kcal a day and exercise moderately. I can't really work out exactly what my maintenance calories are by the method suggested by Leigh P in the link because since I'm home for the holidays there is quite alot of guesswork involved in how many calories I'm eating, and also my activity level isn't the same as when I'm at uni. I might try that when I get back to uni though when I will have complete control over what I eat and access to the gym. Anyway atm I'll be cycling for at least 1hour a day (just for transport purposes) and I intend to go swimming once a week and running 2-3 times a week. I'm thinking with that activity and eating 1700kcal I may lose 1lb a week or at least will hopefully maintain (bearing in mind that I have probably completely screwed up my metabolism).

For my next term at uni I will probably continue to eat 1700 or may go down to 1500. I don't want to cut too much because I have important exams at the end of next term and don't want my work to suffer because of lack of energy. I will probably work out 3-4 times per week and burn approx 1000kcal each time. The term after that I may up the exercise but won't eat below 1500kcal. Hopefully I'll reach my goal weight by the summer!!

Once again thank you for your comments. I was feeling pretty hopeless and now I do feel like it is possible! I guess really I knew it was my own fault for not going about things sensibly but I think I kinda needed to be told if you know what I mean? I really wanted the whole eat nothing exercise ridiculously approach to work since with the deficits I had calculated I would have lost everything I wanted to in 3 weeks... but yeah, now I know from experience that that doesn't work. Anyway, I'm really going to try and do this sensibly and healthily now.
 
Excellent! I am glad to hear that you are feeling better about it all. :)

Keeping a diary and putting your thoughts down helps, too. A lot of people browse those and give great feedback.

--Jason
 
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