Trying for a month and can't seem to shift the weight

Calcutron

Hi All,

I'm really frustrated at the moment, hope you can help me. I'm a 33 year old girl, 5 foot 3 , 10 stone 6pounds.

I'm fit enough, I ran 2 half marathons last year (2 hours each) and run regularly enough. But bad eating habits have always let me down in terms of being a healthier weight.

Anyway - on 14th january this year I started tracking my calorie intake. Since then I have consumed an average of 1,400 calories per day (I'm measuring carb, protein & fat as part of this on a website called sparkpeople - so all within recommended levels).
I've also run an average of 12km a week. (usually 2 days, 6km each)

Today is the 7th of February and I am STILL exactly 10 stone 6 pounds.:(

What am i doing wrong? Surely I should have lost at least a few pounds by now? It's very disheartening, as I'm being really disciplined & feeling really strong about the whole thing.

I'd love to hear if anyone has had a similar experience, or has any advice for me.
Thanks for reading,
C.

Bottle_of_Smoke

Calcutron wrote: »

Hi All,

I'm really frustrated at the moment, hope you can help me. I'm a 33 year old girl, 5 foot 3 , 10 stone 6pounds.

I'm fit enough, I ran 2 half marathons last year (2 hours each) and run regularly enough. But bad eating habits have always let me down in terms of being a healthier weight.

Anyway - on 14th january this year I started tracking my calorie intake. Since then I have consumed an average of 1,400 calories per day (I'm measuring carb, protein & fat as part of this on a website called sparkpeople - so all within recommended levels).
I've also run an average of 12km a week. (usually 2 days, 6km each)

Today is the 7th of February and I am STILL exactly 10 stone 6 pounds.:(

What am i doing wrong? Surely I should have lost at least a few pounds by now? It's very disheartening, as I'm being really disciplined & feeling really strong about the whole thing.

I'd love to hear if anyone has had a similar experience, or has any advice for me.
Thanks for reading,
C.

clothes feel any looser? look better?

When you weighed yourself were you dehydrated/did you weight yourself a few times and take an average?

SheRa

Perhaps you aren't eating enough. Use this fantastic post to check out how many calories you need http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=50956807&postcount=17

Im doing similar exercises and am similar weight and height to you and including my exercise and subtracting 20% of calories to lose weight, i still have to eat 1700 cals a day.

Dixie Chick

What kind of stuff is the 1400 cals made up of? Is it as much food as you can get in for 1400cals with lots of carbs and sugars?

Khannie

Calcutron wrote: »

I'd love to hear if anyone has had a similar experience, or has any advice for me.

I have similar experiences all the time. My weight is normally in the 65-67KG range, but I'll drop down to the 63's when I'm preparing for a fight (which is regularly enough). What I have noticed is that a change to a healthier diet (more fruit, veg, etc.) tends to add some intestinal weight initially while I adjust so I see nearly no change on the scales. That changes after a while.

Now during the initial stages I do see changes in the mirror. I've been dieting a bit the last two weeks and I can see the body fat dropping a bit even during that time, but my weight hasn't budged on the scales. Hell...two days ago my weight was actually UP! (don't tell my coach :pac:).

Anyway, I think it's worthwhile using the measuring tape or even a camera as well as (or instead of) the scales to measure progress.

As has been suggested....try to measure your weight in the morning, in the nip, after your morning pee. This is when you'll be most consistent. Try to keep liquid intake at a reasonable level too so you're not retaining water.

You might want to try something other than running too (I'm not saying not to run).

Amtmann

SheRa wrote: »

Perhaps you aren't eating enough. Use this fantastic post to check out how many calories you need http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=50956807&postcount=17

She would still lose weight even if (no, especially if) she wasn't eating enough. You can't under-eat for a month and still keep your weight static (unless perhaps you have a thyroid issue). It should fall.

Calcutron

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

clothes feel any looser? look better?

When you weighed yourself were you dehydrated/did you weight yourself a few times and take an average?

Yes - I'm feeling a little difference alright in my clothes (only tiny, but in the right direction). :-)
Also part of the problem could be that I got a new digital weighing scales a couple of weeks ago. I must compare the two to see am I the same weight on the old one !

Calcutron

Dixie Chick wrote: »

What kind of stuff is the 1400 cals made up of? Is it as much food as you can get in for 1400cals with lots of carbs and sugars?

Hi there,
I've been tracking the Carb/ Fat/ Protein componants of what I've been eating every day & I'm right on target. I'm eating almost entirely fresh food throughout the whole day, doing lovely veg stir fries and chicken dishes in the evening & diligently counting up every single thing that goes into them...

Calcutron

Khannie wrote: »

I have similar experiences all the time. My weight is normally in the 65-67KG range, but I'll drop down to the 63's when I'm preparing for a fight (which is regularly enough). What I have noticed is that a change to a healthier diet (more fruit, veg, etc.) tends to add some intestinal weight initially while I adjust so I see nearly no change on the scales. That changes after a while.

Now during the initial stages I do see changes in the mirror. I've been dieting a bit the last two weeks and I can see the body fat dropping a bit even during that time, but my weight hasn't budged on the scales. Hell...two days ago my weight was actually UP! (don't tell my coach :pac:).

Anyway, I think it's worthwhile using the measuring tape or even a camera as well as (or instead of) the scales to measure progress.

As has been suggested....try to measure your weight in the morning, in the nip, after your morning pee. This is when you'll be most consistent. Try to keep liquid intake at a reasonable level too so you're not retaining water.

You might want to try something other than running too (I'm not saying not to run).

Hi Khannie - thanks for your feedback.
That's interesting about the intestinal weight, because it's definitely a much healthier diet than I was used to (especially over Christmas !). Although, I haven't felt clogged up in that department at all, so maybe that's not the case.

I took my measurements the day I started and I'm nearly scared to do them again now in case there's no change :-(. But I have noticed my clothes fit a little better, so maybe it's time to brave it and get the measuring tape out again. I'll update the thread when i do !

I love running, so gonna stick to it, but maybe I'll mix it up with a bit of swimming which I also enjoy.....

In some good news I was 10st 5 this morning, so at least some change is starting to happen now...

Calcutron

Tremelo wrote: »

She would still lose weight even if (no, especially if) she wasn't eating enough. You can't under-eat for a month and still keep your weight static (unless perhaps you have a thyroid issue). It should fall.

This is exactly why I'm confused, but as I said in an above post maybe it's the difference between my 2 weighing scales ! I don't think it'd be more than a pound though. I'll update the thread if it is. And I'll feel like a right eejit .
Oh and BTW I'm pretty sure it's not a thyroid thing, I think I'll stick it out for another few weeks and hope to see a better change....

brianthebard

I'm not sure running is going to encourage your body to lose fat, if you've ran half marathons then your body is already well adapted to long distance running so its unlikely to shed weight because of the running.

Calcutron

brianthebard wrote: »

I'm not sure running is going to encourage your body to lose fat, if you've ran half marathons then your body is already well adapted to long distance running so its unlikely to shed weight because of the running.

Really? Even if I'm only running twice a week? I'd hate to think my running was to no avail, but maybe you're right. Although i love it so I will stick at it, but maybe I should be mixing it up with other exercise....

brianthebard

Well it won't do any harm but if you are already fit and capable of running half marathons then a 6km run isn't going to be that hard for you. The problem with cardio exercise is that as you get better at them you have to go for longer, or go faster, in order to force your body to adapt and thus encourage fat loss. A new method of doing cardio, or perhaps more frequent runs to begin with, or weight training, could help in that sense.

Amtmann

Brian, if her running means that she is increasing her caloric deficit, it will contribute to weight loss. Her body might 'get used to it', but only from an endurance point of view. It will still burn calories and fat to fuel the exercise.

Calcutron

Hi All,

Good news ! I stuck to the calorie counting, started walking home from work (1 hour fast) 2 or 3 times a week and now I'm 9 stone 7 !!

It's been amazing - everyone's commenting on how fab I look. For the first time in years I'm excited about going shopping for summer clothes .

Thanks for all the comments and help at the start, it hlped motivate me that week - i felt lke i was stuck in a rut.

I've gone from 149 pounds at Christmas to 133 pounds now - I'm over the moon.

Hopefully I can keep it up now.....

Amtmann

Well done!