I Cannot Lose Weight!!!!!

Bad, bad, bad.....you need at least 1400 cal.

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You don't say WHEN you eat these calories, B.. Here's the rule of thumb - eat within the first hour you are awake. Never skip breakfast. Have a high protein food for breakfast - at least 25 grams of protein. Drink a full 10 ounces of water as soon as you get up. Then drink half of your water, a bit at a time, before 1:00 in the afternoon. The rest of it, drink throughout the rest of the day.

Have a protein snack (lowfat string cheese, Greek yogurt with at least 19 grams of protein) for your mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks. If you get hungry, your metabolism gets slower. Munch on vegetables along with those protein snacks.

Don't eat more than 2 or 3 fruits a day, and don't have more than 2 servings of bread/or starches a day. Any bread should be whole grain. If you can stand it, don't eat white rice or regular pasta either - the healthy grain stuff (like brown rice) is much better.

Don't eat more than a card sized portion of meat. And don't eat after 7:00. I'd up your calories to 1400, if I were you.

Try these changes and see if that doesn't break your plateau.

Good luck!
D.

3 moms found this helpful

B.:

I think that 1200 is too little and your body is reacting by going into starvation mode and saving every.single.thing. as fat so that it can stay alive and operate.

It's great that Jillian Michael's "says" this - she's NOT your doctor - what does your doctor say about this? Please remember that Jillian is NOT a doctor. YOU may not be starving but your BODY is. That's the difference.

You do realize that muscle weighs more than fat, right? If you are working out 5 days a week - your body is becoming more tone and defined, most likely, if you are doing it right.

Your carb intake as well as any carbonated drinks and alcohol you may drink also off-set your diet. There are good carbs and bad carbs. For someone who is dieting - high protein (eggs, beans, yogurt (especially Greek yogurt) and other high protein foods are better for you. White carbs - rice, bread, noodles - usually turn directly into sugar and burn faster - but not better.

Talk to a nutritionist. Talk with your doctor. Get THEIR advice on YOUR body. Jillian Michael's is great for tutoring and showing you how to work out. She is NOT a doctor nor does she know you personally.

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Cut the carbs. No soda of any kind. If it's white, don't eat it. No pasta. No potatoes. No sweets...
Just protein and veggies. The best protein comes from chicken, fish, almonds, etc. Egg at breakfast - skip the toast.
No white bread. -- Rye or pumpernickel are best.
You can have tortillas - the carbs on those are low.
Basically, you need to eat the diabetic diet. It works... It's not fun, but it works.
Good luck!

3 moms found this helpful

Maybe you should see your doctor for a full exam. Not sure if you've done that yet... He/she may recommend some tests to rule out other issues. Sometimes medications can cause weight gain. Are you taking any meds? I would talk with your doctor. Best place to start.

Weight watchers was a GREAT program for me. I lost a bunch of weight on it. You can do it online, which was great for my busy life.

I'd be happy to chat with you about it if you want more info.

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Hi B..
I was in pretty much your exact same situation one year ago...same height. similar weight, pilates, diet etc....

this is what i did to shed about 15 lbs over the past year.

1. I eat only 2-4 servings of complex carbos a day (bread, pasta, crackers).

2. i eat those complex carbs before 4 pm.

3. i do eat plenty of fruit and veggies and meat and bitter chocolate.

4. i cut out cookies and cakes. only on special occasions and only a bite.

5. i don't eat a big portion of complex carbs at any one sitting.

i do not suffer. i eat what i want and only limit the complex carbs. for me, this worked. i even put sugar in coffee. eat full fat cottage cheese and other cheeses.

bestof luck. jilly

2 moms found this helpful

My sister is over 250 and started Jenny Craig a few weeks ago and is in the same boat. I think she is down like 13 or 15 lbs. oct big the first week and paltry after and she is on 1200 calories, lots of water and exercise too. I told her that she may need more calories. Her counselor keeps telling her to up the water but she said she can't possibly drink that much. I told my sis to mention the calorie thing. I'm surprised that at her weight they put her on such a low calorie diet. I did the program and lost weight slowly. Currently I am doing weight watchers (to get the year-old baby weight off) and I am losing faster on this program than I did on Jenny. I'm 5'6 and currently weigh 147 also. I lose weight from top to bottom. If you cut me in half, my proportions don't go together... small up top and thick at the bottom. I personally think that I might be more comfortable if my weight was a bit more distributed up top and not all in my hips and thighs. But I'm down 22 lbs and I DO feel better about myself. I don't know what my goal is. Just taking it day-by-day and seeing where I kinda plateau. Try weight watchers... it really is a good program. If you track ALL your points, it works.

2 moms found this helpful

I agree that you may be eating too few calories and that you should watch the carbs. Always eat protein when you have carbs, they help to even out the effect. Someone said to up your calories 1 or 2 days a week, I agree with that as well, your body needs some "tricking" to get it out of starvation mode. Put the 2 ideas together and you should see the weight melt away! Use your extra calorie days to eat something you would not on your 1200 cal. days, a treat, just not a whole cake or box of donuts. Full fat dairy products are also good for you, for some reason the fat in dairy is not the same as other foods. If you drink diet soda's, you could be making yourself feel hungry, insulin doesn't know real sugar from artificial. Lots of ideas, but I think the extra calories and less carbs will do the trick!
And keep a food diary, it is easy to eat more than you think, if you don't write it down.

2 moms found this helpful

I could have written this. People have told me all kinds of things about why I haven't lost. Many of them are written below thyroid...starving myself...etc.

I finally went to my doctor and looked in her eyes and said that me weight issue is not a vanity thing. I'm actually scared about it and I need answers. She did a bunch of blood tests and found that I have a condition that can be treated with medicine and a very specific diet. I'm not going to say what it is here because I don't want anyone to self diagnose.

What I hope you will take away is that there is a reason, and if your current doctor won't help you find it, find a doctor who will take you seriously and get to the bottom of this. Your condition may be different than mine, but you deserve an answer. PM me if you'd like to know the particular tests I had done that finally gave me tha answers I needed.

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I am with Jen, you need to add a some calories. You are working out every day and for that you need fuel. Eat some extra fruit and a 100 cal yogurt after your workout, do that for 2 weeks and see if it makes a diffrence.

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your body's gone into self-defensive starvation mode. you can add calories so long as they're good ones, ie 4 big cups of greens per day with some evoo. it sounds like you're working hard and conscientiously to keep yourself healthy, are you focusing enough on THAT instead of all on the scales? with that much exercise and water, you should be feeling terrific!
khairete
S.

1 mom found this helpful

I have done the HCG diet. I took the homeopathic pellets from platinum fitness. The original diet consists of 3-4 loading days (eat all you can!!) and then a 500 cal diet for 21 days eating only certain foods. I did not get too hungry, but I did find a 700-800 cal version which I feel is better and safer. Google Omaha Weight Loss OWL HCG diet. I did this a year or so ago and I lost 15 lbs in my 21 days. I have kept most of it off, even though I now eat like a pig sometimes! I need to do it again to loose that last 15 lbs that I still need to loose, Good Luck!!

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Ask you Dr. to check the actual numbers of your previous and your most recent tyhroid levels. See if the " normal " changed. meaning, you might be in that normal range but, is the number the same, greater, or less than test before?

Does your Doc also check t3 &t4 levels? some don't. They are very important in knowing what the thyroid is actually doing.

I have hashimotos, and last fall i suddenly gained 40 pounds in 2 months. Nobody believes it but it's true.
i can't get rid of it. Doc has been playing with my thyroid meds to see if that helps.

Sometimes your thyroid can have a surge of function and really mess you up. I think this is what happened to me. My numbers were on the high end of normal. I was being overmedicated.

Also, it's not always about the numbers it is also how you feel on that dosage and how your body reacts to it...

hope that makes sense...

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Do you consume soda, fried foods? Have you had your hormones checked out? Are you sure that just because the foods are filling they are not still the "wrong" foods for your goals? Have you tried a protien shake before your work out? Are you on birth control (that can easily have something to do with it)? Have you spoken to your doctor about your goals and the last 15lbs? Finally have you consulted a personal trainer at your gym?

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All calories are NOT created equal-contrary to popular opinion and even many medical professionals. I bet you it is the quality of the carbs that you are eating. Simple carbs have an effect on insulin that can make it virtually impossible to lose weight. In a nutshell it causes your body to hold onto fat. So even if you fit that 150 calorie cookie into your 1200 calorie limit it is still causing havoc on your body chemistry. SO try switching out all simple for complex carbs. Look at the South Beach Diet for some excellent guidance in this.

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The body has its way to get adjusted to the diet if you've been doing it long enough. The body is smart.It learns how to keep in more calories in if you do "too much" anf it gets overworked. I think it may be time to change your routine and tell your body something different. What you are dong now isn't working anymore? Ok, let's do something different. Try, i bet it's gonna work.

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As we age, it becomes more difficult to change our bodies (weight loss, muscle building, etc)

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This will sound a little nutty probably, but when I have hit plateaus, I actually eat a little more to kick start my weight loss. Have you considered eating 1500 calories a couple days a week? Just one day even may help. Mixing it up a bit can get things moving. You are at the bare minimum of calories and so I do think if you stay with it you will start to lose, but it may take time. I think your body is just probably fighting a little bc your calories are low, but it will come off. Also, have you been stressed? If you have been more stressed than usual, it is amazing how that can keep weight on. My mom is 5'4" and is down to the last 5lbs she wants to lose and her life has be crazy stressful and she even went up like 1/2 a lb, even though her eating has been perfect. Good luck! It will come off if you stick with it, but upping calories a day or two is effective if you want to try it!!

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try the Perfect 10 diet

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Diets don't work, nutritional cleansing does. Check your private messages.

B.

This was me about six months ago too but I had a lot more to lose and it wasn't coming off despite doing Crossfit 3x a week and running 4-5x a week. I kept saying I didn't know why but when I actually started tracking how many calories I was eating and how many I was burning it was clear why I was getting more fit but wasn't losing much weight. I use the MyFitnessPal app on my iPad to track everything (it's free). I log every single thing I put in my mouth! I also invested in a Polar FT4 heart rate monitor that tracks how many calories I burn during a workout. Knowing exactly what you're burning and exactly how many calories you're eating is crucial. Having said that, I also think you're eating too few calories. 1200 is pretty much starvation mode unless you are completely sedentary and barely move. I would suggest talking to a nutritionist, you can buy a consultation session with a few follow ups pretty cheap. One last comment, what are you doing for your workouts? That's one place where you can really shake it up and see a difference. If you do the elliptical or walk on the treadmill EVERY DAY, your body will stop responding. Google "muscle confusion." I really have seen many friends and family get awesome results from Beachbody workouts, particularly TurboFire. You get the DVDs and a 12 week schedule. The longest workouts are an hour but some days are only 15 minutes. Good luck! I know ts frustrating but it sounds like you're doing a lot of the right things and just need to tweak it a little bit.