Starving Myself and Exercising, But Not Losing an Ounce?

You've probably heard it before, but I'll tell you again...you're not eating enough, especially protein. What you're accomplishing with your plan is this: your body is using muscle and fat for fuel and muscle is pretty metabolically active. Less muscle mass=lowered metabolism. So you end up needing fewer calories to maintain your weight. If you want to lose 5 lbs of fat, you will need to add some lean protein to your diet, increase your strength training, and maybe add intervals to your cardio. Try upping your calories to 1200 a day by adding 200 calories' worth of protein and see what that does for you.

Stop starving yourself and learn how to properly fuel your body. Your body is like a car, it cannot run without gas.

I agree with the above comments. There is such a thing as eating too little. Your body will conserve fat. Unfortunately that's a result of millions of years of evolution. I suggest that you join Weight Watchers. Someone of your age should be able to be very successful. They will teach you good eating habits. You'll find they put you on a "points" system. You eat so many points per week. As you lose, they gradually lower the amount of points. No matter how well you do, you will always reach plateaus for a while. I lost over 100lbs on Weight Watchers. Unfortunately, I didn't stick to it. Ultimately I decided on weight loss surgery. However I was well over 300lbs before I did that. Don't let it happen to you. I damaged my knees so badly that I had to have knee replacement surgery even though I was only 62. I had to go the physical therapy where they pushed me very hard. However, now I look forward to going to the gym. I do a complete weight circuit several times a week - at least three but usually more. I also do cardio in between. You are young. Develop those good habits now so you don't have to travel the road that I did.

Sometimes exercise can be taxing on the adrenals. When the adrenals are stressed, we tend to store fat instead of burning it. Make sure that you are getting enough down time, relaxation, and that you are not going into a "stress response" while exercising.

Also, big thing: You may need to get your thyroid checked. If it's low, the body will have a hard time losing weight. When you get checked, make sure they run an antibody panel (they won't unless you ask) the #1 cause of low thyroid in this country is Hashimoto's - an autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks the thyroid gland.

- Alison Anton

I know that you really want to lose weight, but at 140 pounds at 5'7", your bmi is 21.9, which is pretty low and might be a happy place for your body. So, it's great to cut out junk foods and processed foods and add so much fruit and vegetabes, I really applaud you for that, but health and healthy eating isn't all about losing weight-- it's about a healthy glow both inside and out, keeping your body strong, disease free and keeping your immune system in good shape. I agree with the above commenters that you should up your calories, if you do, your body won't fight so hard to hold on to what it has. I would also suggest lightening up on your exercise. Give yourself some room for error. Being that perfect can lead to the opposite-- as you already know.

Daily early morning regular workout 30 mins to 75 mins, have enough food (don't over eat) take enough rest. No need to overdo anything. your weight will reduce gradually.
Too much of excercise will not reduce weight (will make you feel tired thru out the day), there should be balance between food and work out.
Make sure you do your work out ,early morning daily, 6 days a week.

I read your post and I felt like you were torturing yourself.

The best thing I did was let someone else do the meal planning and cooking for me via Jenny Craig. That takes the guess work out of it.

There are so many meal sevices out there depending on what you can pay. One who's ad was featured on this site is Freshology.com and it looks like they do a good job of supplying their clients health meal plans.

Guys stop encouraging the anorexic.

Keep up the hard work! Be patient as you keep up a healthy diet and exercise regularly.

eat more calories - but eat the right percentages. typically, 60% carbs, 20% protein, 20% fat. The carbs give you the energy you need to do all that exercising, the protein will promote lean muscle development, and the fat helps your body function properly and feel healthy. the other thing to remember is muscle weighs more than fat, so while the scale may not show any weight decrease, you may just be trading muscle for fat in weight. how do your clothes fit? what has your waisteline done? and be patient, two weeks is not that much time when you're already close to an optimal BMI, once you are close to your ideal weight, drastic weight loss won't happen if your diet and exercise are proper. I would eat a more healthy diet, and give yourself some time to let your muscles and activity burn that off. good luck!

You'll get better results if you raise your calories to at least 1200 per day. Your body is probably going into starvation mode, because you're eating so little that it thinks food is scarce. When your body thinks there isn't enough food, it will hold onto fat as much as it can, which is exactly what you don't want!

Just raise your calories, and make sure it's with healthy and balanced food, and you'll do a lot better.

Hey do not get discouraged. Eat every two hours or when you are hungry. Do not deprive yourself of any foods or you will end up binging on them. Stop eating when you are full. Do this for you to be healthy but love your body as well.

I will chime in and say the same thing but 1200 is still considered a Low calorie diet. You are not getting the proper amount of calories, nutrients and vitamins in your body and it is shutting down and closing the door. Without knowing more about you I cannot give any recommendations but up the calories about 500 a day and be persistent, WEIGHT LOSS does not happen overnight. Your body needs to adjust to this.

Debra Mazda, creator of SHAPELYGIRL FITNESS

I want to tell you the secret, you must calculate the minimum calories needed to live which is called the maintenance calorie , also the minimum amount which is important to your type of life as example the one who excersice for 5 days a week need more calories that who never excersice. When you know your needed calories just reduce 500 calories and make your diet , the most important thing that you need to eat 5 to 6 times a day maintaining your calorie sum the same by dividing the toatal on no of eating time , to prevent your body to go to starvation mode as you are doing now,your body relize that he will consume a lot of calorie so he try to reserve it as fat and do not consume the faT and instead brn muscles, at the end you should not depend on weight measurment you also should check the fat percentage measurments
for further help please ask me
my e-mail is emsn77@yahoo.com
regards

I actually went to livestrong.com and calculated this for you: You need about 1300 calories to burn 2lbs a week for your height and weight.

Try dividing it into 5 or 6 meals a day instead of doing 3 bigger meals a day: trust me - it works; I burned off 50lbs (and still going strong!) by doing this and exercising regularly. I find when I starve myself all day and then eat all my calories at once, I tend to plateau and actually start gaining weight.

I used to have a "yeah, whatever" attitude toward the whole "you need to eat more" concept too - I mean, it seemed so counterintuitive - eat MORE to lose weight?! But then I hit starvation mode myself - stopped losing weight and felt just awful. I had no energy and was very cranky. And I hit starvation mode when I was eating 1,200-1,300 calories a day. Now I eat up to 2,200 calories a day while losing weight - and I feel much better!

All this "your not eating enough" shit is bullshit. U know why you're not losing weight? Cuz it's only been a month. Yes, 1000 cal a day may be too little.. but going to 2000 a day to lose weight is dumb. have a goal of about 1200-1400 a day, and you are eating to much fruit. you do know that fruit has a ton of sugar in it, right?

eat vegetables, and eat a lot of vegetables. eat a TON of vegetables. you are allowed to eat bread, who said bread is bad? bread is good! just make sure you have WHOLE WHEAT bread ya big silly!

another thing, losing 5 pounds is nothing. you want to lose "some" inches off your belly? it's gonna take more than frickin 5 pounds. i just lost 10 pounds this much and HARDLY took inches off my belly. its gonna be a few more months and about 20 more pounds before i start seeing some great results.

you've obviously never been on a diet before, one month on your diet and youre already complaining!!! keep going!

Hi, so I just lost 15 pound by 1200-1400 calories a day plus running 20-25 miles a week. I'm 25, 5'5 and now weigh 125.
1000 calories really is too little. You'll loose a lot of muscle that way and gain the weight back really easily. But, I want to say that after the first week or two, I hit a plateau and didn't loose any weight for, like 2 weeks. I've talked to other people who hit this same plateau. Honesly, I think I was just bloated because I lost 3 pound the next week. What I'm trying to say is you might be bloated or something. give it another week or two and you'll see the changes you want.

Just let evolution take its course people.

Anthony, with all respect allow me to say that I agree with your comments about eating veges but they, too, are not all created equal for weight loss. And 5 pounds on one person can make a visible difference; that first 5 is probably 'water' weight.
A few basic and very simple tips:

Begin by determining why you want to lose weight; is it for yourself or for some external reason?

1. Avoid 'white' foods, including white vegetables (except beans, which if combined to become a protein source once in a while are ok, but the carbs can be counterproductive.) Go for the green, the darker the better, and other full-colored veges. Do continue to have some fruit such as apples, pears, melon, and berries, perhaps limiting the fruit portion a bit.
2. Give up the 3 x a day meals we've all been 'taught' to eat and go for 5 to 6 'snack' size mini-meals; it evens out your blood sugar, and with an amount of protein that suits your body type, prevents hunger and feeling deprived.
3. Stop thinking "diet" and begin positively viewing your food as your friend and partner in feeling great.
4. Be prepared; keep good choices on hand and enjoy what you eat, sitting down to do it, never just standing at a counter or by the stove.
5. Put nothing in your mouth that does not have a true nutritional value. Save your calories for real nourishment, not to just "fill your stomach."
6. Get enough sleep; fatigue will slow down your progress.
7. Drink enough water and more as you are more active; flush the metabolites from your system.

Balance in everything is so important, even in our attitude. This works: I'm more than twice your age, have 3 kinds of arthritis and other significant health issues, but following these steps, I've lost 16 pounds in just the past month, without feeling hungry once. Remember that the heavier one is (me), the faster calories burn just to 'live and breathe' so a near-normal weight person (you) will most often lose slower.