Ready To Toss The Scale, Or Myself....

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-19-2005
Ready To Toss The Scale, Or Myself....
16
Wed, 05-25-2005 - 11:32pm

.....out the window!!!! I finally got on the scale again today after not having used it for a few weeks now. I don't know if you remember but I wasn't losing a thing. Anyway, this coming Tuesday will be 6 weeks I've been on plan and STILL the scale hasn't budged!!! Not even one loudy pound. I just don't know what else to do. At first I was thinking I wasn't eating enough (at the time I was taking in around 1200 cals a day). So I upped my cals to around 1600-1800. But that still did no good. I have not touched any junk food at all and I am still exercising. I even started lifting weights a week and a half ago.

Seriously, has this ever happened to any of you? Did it ever take any of you this long (or more) before you actually saw even one pound lost? I've never heard this happening to ANYONE! I know people who eat exactly like I do and NOT exercise and even they have a loss on the scale each week. This is exactly what happened to me a year ago when I was going to Curves 5 days a week and doing a low carb diet. I did both at the same time for 4 months and only lost one half a pound during that entire time. So, I gave up. I figured why bother.

I don't want to give up though. But at the same time I DO want to see the scale move. I told you all how my clothes fit better and I look slimmer than I used to but there hasn't been any additional progress in those areas either for at least 2 weeks now. I really hate this and don't know what else to do or try. I just don't get it. I'm all out of ideas.

Just wanted to add that about a week ago I got myself a pedometer and have been wearing it every day from the time I get up until I go to bed. I have been averaging over 10,000 steps a day. And that's without my daily exercise. So, I know exercise is not the problem. I'm obviously getting enough.




Edited 5/25/2005 11:38 pm ET ET by disruptivespirit

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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-01-2004
Thu, 05-26-2005 - 12:14am
I have the same problem! I have been stuck at the same weight(257.5) the last two months, only going up around three lbs at my tom!!! I plateaued after losing Exactly 20 lbs since december! hope the scale moves for us both! Best Of Luck!
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2003
Thu, 05-26-2005 - 8:56am
Go to the Dr. and have your Thyroid checked. When mine is low the scale won't budge no matter what I do. sharla
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-25-2004
Thu, 05-26-2005 - 9:25am

I'm so sorry that your scale is being stubborn! I have never had it be stuck for 6 weeks, but that's because I haven't stuck with an eating and exercise plan for that long in a while! The first time I lost weight, I was only watching what I ate and not exercising. I have noticed that when I eat OP and I do a lot of lower body intensive exercise (i.e. running stairs or exercise bike), my weight loss pretty much stops. I've stuck with my plan for 3 weeks before with this happening, and I was doing my exercise bike about 4 times per week for around 25 mins, walking for a total of another 60-90 minutes, AND I was running an average of 20 flights of stairs/day for 5 days. I know I was burning way more calories than I was eating, but my weight loss just plain stopped. I know that it is so discouraging when this happens, but all I can say is stick with it, because we all know that eating right and exercising is 100xs better for us than what we were doing before.

Have you thought of maybe switching up your exercise program for a while or so. Like I said, I know I stall when I do certain exercises, but I've never had a problem with it stalling when my primary exercise is walking/hiking/jogging. Maybe a change of pace would help your scale move in the right direction? And, are you taking a multivitamin to make sure you are getting all your nutrients? Other than that, I have no idea what to say to do, except go to the dr for some tests. My grandmother has Graves' disease, where thyroid production is low, and the drs. took over a year to diagnose her. In that time she went from a size 4 to a size 14, and was so exhausted she pretty much spent all of her time in bed. Now that she's on medication, she's doing great and has lost pretty much all of her extra weight--and she did it in her 60s!

Good luck and keep us posted!

Staci


 


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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-19-2005
Thu, 05-26-2005 - 9:51am

Thanks everyone. I don't do any "one" exercise is the thing. I alternate between walking, using the glider, cardio DVD's and biking each day (a little of everything all week). And, as I said, I just started lifting weights last week in addition to my other exercise.

I would go to the doc but we just moved here in Nov. and there is a waiting list for the docs around here. It's a small town. So, I have to wait until one calls us with an opening which stinks. Don't know what to do until then. I wonder if there is something I can take OT for thyroid incase that IS the problem. Maybe certain foods that increase your thyroid? I'll have to search the Internet to see.

Yes, I take a daily vitamin.

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-31-2004
Thu, 05-26-2005 - 1:42pm

Have you talked to a nutrionist or your doctor?

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-19-2005
Thu, 05-26-2005 - 2:24pm

Yes, it is frustrating.

As for the exercise. There are 5 different things I do. On Mon, Tue, Thur, and Fri I lift weights. No excuses. Each sessions lasts for a good 30-40 minutes. EVERY day of the week I do either a cardio DVD, use my glider, walk or bike. No matter what the exercise I do it for AT LEAST 30 mins. However, when I choose to walk or bike I normally do those for 1.5 hours or more.

Since we moved to a smaller town in Nov we have been unable to get a family doctor. We are on a waiting list as of right now. Yeah, I know. I never heard of it either. My husband works at the local hopsital so he has looked into docs in the area and it is the same for all of them so it seems. If we ever have an emergency we would just go to the ER. But, this problem of mine is hardly an emergency. So, I have to wait. It sucks but there's nothing I can do until they call us and take us on as patients.

I just don't know how much more exercising I can do. And I refuse to eat less than 1200 cals a day. I know I am burning more than I'm eating. I even got a pedometer and have worn it every day for the past week to keep a monitor on how many steps I take each day. It has been consistantly coming out to over 10,000 steps a day, and well over 500 cals a day too. And, that's not including whatever exercise I do for the day!!!!

I am definitely sure too on how many cals I am eating each day. I measure out everything, write everything down then calculate it at the end of the day before I go to bed. Also, before I go to bed, I then add all the foods I have writen down onto the Fitday and Mypyramid websites and both consistantly keep coming out close to the figures I get on my own. Give or take 100 cals. I add my exercise into the sites as well and from what they calculate, I am surely burning more than I am eating. Which I already know.

I really think I have tried and altered just about everything I can think of. Unfortunately nothing is working.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-30-2005
Thu, 05-26-2005 - 2:27pm

Hello,

Sorry the scale isn't moving for you, how frustrating!! Here is a thought, if your exercising that much, maybe your not eating enough and your probably building muscle which weighs more. Also, look at your diet carefully, do you keep a food journal? I found once when I was OP that I was eating a little too much starchy foods and I now limit my breads and cereals to breakfast only. I just started the WW at home program so won't know how I'm doing till next week.

www.puritanspride.com has herbal sups for thyroid that you might look into.

Hope this helps, have a great day!!

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-25-2004
Thu, 05-26-2005 - 2:54pm

Hi there. I know you said that you have already upped your calorie intake, but have you considered upping it again? I don't know what your specifics area, such as height, weight, and age, but you still may not be eating enough for your body. Maybe you should calculate your RMR or BMR and then try eating at least that many calories. Those 2 numbers basically tell you what you need just to sustain basic life functions if you were to lie in bed all day. I am 22, 5'10" and weigh 260 lbs, and according to the calculator on www.caloriesperhour.com , my RMR and BMR are both right around 2000. According to IVillage, if I were sedentary, I would still need at least 2400 calories. That tells me I shouldn't eat less than 2000 calories--which makes me think that eating too few calories may be why I always fall off track. I've heard it reccomended that you try to create a deficit of about 1000 calories a day to lose 2 lbs a week. Since you are burning well over 1000 calories MORE than your RMR or BMR, maybe you could try upping your daily calorie intake to a minimum of that # and see if that helps get you going again. Just some thoughts :).

Staci


 


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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-17-2004
Thu, 05-26-2005 - 3:04pm

I like what Staci had to say.

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Fear

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-19-2005
Thu, 05-26-2005 - 3:27pm

Ok, yup...I've done the RMR and BMR thing. But, aside from all of that, back last year some time the doc I had in my old hometown told me to go by 1200 cals a day in order to lose weight. He also gave me a list of "good" foods to eat. I basically use that list now because he had on it what I already planned on eating anyway. Plus, the lady running my low carb group also told me the same thing back when I was doing the low carb diet, stick to around 1200 cals a day.

For the first week on plan I didn't exercise at all. Then after that I did just 3 days a week for a while. I eventually increased that to every day. All along no matter how much or how little I do it idn't working.

As for the weights, I got my routine from a woman body builder that I know who also used to be very overweight at one time. She's now at her ideal weight and has a body fat % below 17 and she's still working on it. She broke my routine down into a 4 day split. Meaning,

Mon - upper body
Tue - legs
Wed - Off
Thurs - Back/chest
Fri - mix
Sat - Off
Sun - Off

I am working every possible body part/muscle. And, the routine she gave me isn't to bulk me up into a monster. LOL! Just something she started off with when she first started trying to lose weight (and it worked). I have now decided to do the weights on the days she gave me but instead of exercising every day I am now gonna try only doing my cardio/DVD's/bike/walking on my Off days of weight lifting. Maybe that will work.

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