I'm abnormal!!!!

Sorry, just had to have fun with Barbara's post a couple of messages below. You all know I'm abnormal. That's why you all love me. I now weight 171.5 lbs as of this morning. Was up to 172.5 a day or so ago. Was down to 167 for 4 days a few weeks ago but that was short lived. I reviewed my weight chart and found that I've basically been this weight since January 1 or so. And you know what? THIS REALLY BITES. Since mid-January I've been religiously (okay, as religious as I get ) going to the gym. I've been working out about 45 mintues a day 4 times a week. So that's almost 3 months of working out and I haven't lost a bloody pound. Nothing. Nada. Cero. Zip. Zilch. I have felt like some things fit a bit better but the tape measure isn't showing little or no change. And you know what? THIS REALLY BITES. Then we have all the strange abdominal stuff going on lately with my pain. Along with that has come some bloating. My pants are fitting tighter and uncomfortably. And you know what? (Say it along with me... ) THIS REALLY BITES. I have no clue what to do to lose more weight. I'm certainly active and exercising. If I had to guess on calories... I'd say I'm intaking about 1600 adding up all the little strays that factor in. That certainly isn't unreasonable for me given workouts that probably burn 200 of them most days. Is that too much? Is that too little? What? I find it hard to believe that I'm totally done losing. And you know what? THIS REALLY BITES. I don't want to lose much more but I certainly would prefer that my hovering be in the low 160s rather than low 170s. C'mon now, it's only 10 mere pounds.... Waaaa. Yes I'll say it again... And you know what? THIS REALLY BITES.

The only thing I would think is, it seems that your weight started stalling out about the time that you started exercising, right? Did you up your calories when you started exercising? If not, I'd guess you're not getting enough, your body burning more with the same coming in might be making you stall... If, on the other hand you upped your calories when you started working out, I would guess you either upped them a little too much or not enough. Given that scenario, I'd say not enough... Just my hunch. Are you really tracking or just guesstimating? I'd bet if you're guesitmating, you're rounding up, right? So, maybe you're only getting in 1400 calories. With the amount of exercise you're getting, I personally don't think that's enough, not sustainable. Your body's going to quit giving up the weight loss. Think about it, you're taking in 1400 calories (work with me here) and you're only absorbing a percentage of that... I don't know what that percentage is, let's say 75%... So now you're actually only absorbing a little over 1000 calories, plus quite a bit of exercising... Just a thought, but maybe you should track your calories for a few days to get a baseline and then play with them a little, try upping them a little bit and if that doesn't help, bring them down a little bit...

I'm going to try to track calories for a few days. I do think that is a good idea. I tried to do a quick one yesterday and that's what yielded the 1600. Thanks! Kathy

The other thing I meant to mention was the muscle tone. You mentioned the other night that your surgeon noticed how well toned you were becoming because of the exercise. Don't forget, the muscle is denser than fat, so you may be exchanging fat for muscle and therefore it's not being reflected in your scale... Do you know what your body fat percentage is? Your gym probably has a machine or can do the caliper test and tell you. It could be that your body fat is already so low that you really are done, it's just a matter of extra skin...

The machine at the gym says that I'm about 32% body fat, I think. My home scale (Tanita) has registered as low as 29%. I think if I had the extra skin (and thigh flab) removed... I'd probably be close to 160 which would just barely give me a normal BMI. That was also my goal weight. The one thing I don't do at the gym is big cardio workouts. Due to time constraints... I usually only have 5-20 minutes to devote to cardio. The rest I save for weight training, ab work, etc. Big cardio workouts if you keep your heart rate in the right range burn fat, right? (Plus I know having muscle tone burns fat too.) Kathy

I am right there with you Kathy! I have weighed 158 since Jan 30th! Doesn't seem to matter what I do. Plateau Buster diet to the letter...no change. All protein shakes for a few days...no change. Even tried the change it up with some carbs and then back off...no change...notta...zip...ziltch!!!! 146 would put me at a normal BMI and 143 would send me to the century club...I think I can I think I can I think I can...I just don't know when!

I'm still 171.5. (Sigh) That's 4.5 up from my lowest which lasted all of 4 days. LOL! 161 would be a normal BMI. 160 was my ultimate goal. I used to think I could but now I wonder.... I think I can if a surgeon cuts the skin off.

ME TOO ME TOO Looking back at my calendar... same wt since about Feb... Driving me nuts... Ive eaten more, less, more protein, less carbs, more carbs, less/more of anything/nothing chugging water until I slosh. excercise, no exercise... IM STUCK!! It does BITE>..... Karen

I have heard of people that stay the same for a while and then BAMMM things move again. Maybe our bodies are waiting to surprise us? Yea, that's the ticket...

That's what happened to me... I wouldn't call it BAMMM but I'm moving...