I am seriously getting desperate now, please help me :(

Hi,

My name is Siobhan, I am relatively new to the boards and need help as I just don't know what I am doing wrong and its really getting to me.

I had a baby 8 months ago, I was 15 1/2 stone fully pregnant, which at 5ft 2 was terribly overweight, I am down to 11 stone 3 now but I am still a good 2 stone over weight.

I am doing weight watchers and have been for about 6 months (I am on 19 points a day) but for the last 2 months I have lost about 2lb, mostly putting on each week. I have been running now for about 5 months, I started off doing really short runs; I now run between 10 to 12 miles a week and do resistance weights too. I am at the gym 4 times a week where I do about an hour 20 minutes each time.

Hubby keeps saying that I shouldn't pay attention to the scales, look at my clothes/body and all that but I am masively overweight...surely something should have give by now, I just don't understand.

Can anyone help me, I promise I will take on board what you say if you make the effort to reply, I just need advice from people who know what they are talking about, I am getting really down about this.

I am half wondering if I may have a thyroid problem....but I hate these cliches....like "your just building muscle" - yeah course I am, my hubby used to be a pro body builder so I know I am not building muscle lol!!!

I really appreciate any advise you can give.

Thanks

Siobhan x
 
ok lets break it down...

can you post a detailed routine of what you eat daily, and what exercise you do weekly so we can analyze it?

from your post it sounds like your doing most things right, we just need to look for snags here and there.
 
This sounds just like the situation i'm in right now! No weight loss, I feel like I'm eating perfectly, well not quite, but as well as I have done ever. My measurements are the same, my weight is the same, but....I am noticing (only slight) differences from the photographs I'm taking. But it is still working. I do feel like I need to pick things up though, be a little stricter on my diet. I don't drink only water, I drink tea, I drink coffee, I have the odd beer every couple of weeks only. So, I've started just drinking water, I'm cutting out the beer. It does get harder as you get closer to your goals. To motivate yourself, just look at photos of when you were at your worst/heaviest so you can see how well you have done. You have achieved loads.

On a slightly seperate note, I have read about people believing you should have a day of high calorie intake to confuse your body a little, then the weight will drop more when you resume the good diet.
 
On a typical day I eat:

Breakfast : 2 slices weight watchers (ww) bread with low fat marg and tiny bit of marmalade or Fruit and Nut cereal with skimmed milk.

Lunch: 2 slices ww bread, piece of thin ham, low fat mayo and pckt of crisps (low fat ones like quavers)

Tea: Mostly pasta salad, mostly with prawns.
Some nights I have rice and chicken, some nights a ww meal.

Snacks: ww bar, low fat crisps etc, cqarrot sticks

On a friday night I have chinese food - but I count it within my points.

Exercise: Tuesday - 35 minutes running and 40 minutes weights (mostly upper body) like circuit training....with rowing for 4 minutes also.

Wednesday - 40 minutes running 40 minutes weights (mostly upper body) but leg press and rowing machine too.

Friday - same as Tuesday
Sunday- same as Tuesday

I stick within my ww points and I work hard at the gym. I have been to ww this morning and I have put another half pound on.

My resting heart rate is always around 45....but I don't see how that matters. My BMR is 1500....although again I am not to good with all the science stuff.

Thanks

Siobhan xx
 
According to your resting heart rate, you're in great shape cardio wise... Off the top of my head I can't see any flaws, but give me an hour or so to crunch some numbers and check back.

If for some reason my internet connection craps out, I'll get back to you tonight.
 
Well heres what I have so far...

You're dead on on the basal metabolic rate, so what I would like for you to do is just for one day, count your calories.

make sure you're eating 1500. You're basal metabolic rate is low enough that if you shave too much off of it, you can go into starvation mode and you won't lose weight no matter how much you do it.

you seem to be eating fairly clean, but with all the ww food I couldn't come up with a accurate calorie count.

Try that and we'll go from there.

Also do you feel irritable, sick all the time, depressed? If so you may be overtraining, and that can tank progress. If you dont feel any of these then you probably are ok.
 
Sorry I don't understand......so I need to eat 1500 calories a day?

Also I have been feeling very down and irritable....I just put it down to me being down about my weight.....the only time I feel happy and really jolly is while at the gym and just after I have been to the gym!

Siobhan xx
 
you may be overtraining. Try cutting one of the weight training days out and just do cardio see if that helps.

As far as your calories, any time you get into the 1200-1400 range thats getting dangerously close to starvation mode. Our bodies will cling to fat if it thinks we're starving, its a defense mechanism from caveman days. Your body can actually break down muscle and keep fat in extreme cases.
 
Also remember that basal metabolic rate (I got 1486 calories) is for sedentary people, you're active so your basal may actually be higher than that. Cutting calories also causes BMR to decrease.
 
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