Weight Loss Seems IMPOSSIBLE

**k8mt** · 10-29-2010 06:17 AM

OKay here's the scoop: I am ridiculously overweight. We're talking a good 100lbs and more that i need to lose to be an ideal weight for my height. Back in July i started hitting it hard. Working out right around an hour a aday 5 days aweek with the exception of a few. I was still drinking and partying on the weekends so i wasn't surprised when i wasn't really losing a ton of weight. After labor day weekend i quit going out and partying and i bumped up my work out. i started doing 20 minutes on a stationary bike at lunch and then at least 30 on the bike after work plus every other day doing strength training and this last month i kicked it up more including a Wii Gold's Gym Dance workout that can be anywhere from 15-30 minutes depending on what program they give me. So basically i'm actively working out at least an hour a day sometimes more depending (I also work 40 hours a week and am a full time student so it all depends on how i balance my time)
I am NOT an unhealthy eater. I maybe have a soda once a month. I really don't eat sweets. I haven't even had a real non baked lay potato chip in months. But i have literally not lost a pound. The scale has not moved. I eat 3 meals a day with the healthy snacks in between. I drink water, milk and Fuze Health Infusions (Which have usually less than 10 calories and like no fat or sugar. I even cut out high fructose corn syrup almost completely. To look at me you'd think i was completely lazy and a total McDonalds binger but i am seriously a healthy person.. but i cannot lose weight. The only think we can think of is my birth control. Could this be causing me to hang on to my weight? I have been taking lo ovral since last march however, I'm going to stop taking it because really it was only used for ovulation pains and not anything else.. i'm single it's really not necessary at this time

. So, what i want to know is has anyone else experienced this? Weight gain or difficulty losing weight while on birth control?

**KMonte85** · 10-29-2010 06:48 AM

hey there k8mt... there is a correlation between birth control and weight gain, but it can be controlled and it is not going to cause anyone to be 100lbs overweight. I, myself, am on BC (depo provera), overweight, and am losing with a healthy diet and exercise.

From your post, it sounds like you are exercising enough... I guess the only question/suggestions I have for you there is how intensely do you work out? Are you winded and sweating, wouldyou have difficulty holding a conversation when you're exercising? If not, you might want to consider increasing the intensity.. The more intense the workout, the more you burn, and the better results you'll get.. so maybe try ramping it up on the bike? Or switching to a jog once or twice a week?

I would like to hear more about your diet... Can you tell us what a typical day's worth of food is for you? Also, do you journal what you eat/drink/snack on daily? Try it, just to get an idea of what you're eating, when you're eating, and how much... I did this and I was amazed at what I was noshing on that was causing me to sabatoge my weight loss... I wonder if your portions might be causing you trouble? Sometimes we can eat healthier options, but still not lose the weight we want because we're eating too much - so too many calories, which equals no weight loss...

**Beautiful Disaster** · 10-29-2010 07:02 AM

I agree with KMonte that BC should not cause you to gain 100 lbs. 5-10 may not be so uncommon but I would say 100 lbs points to something totally different. It sounds like you're doing well as far as exercising, and I know it's frustrating to be working that hard and not losing. Sometimes there are other things that go on with our bodies that can keep you from losing weight. I would HIGHLY recommend schedule an appointment with your OBGYN to discuss your hormone levels. Go in with a log of your weekly exercise and diet (EVERYTHING you eat on a daily basis) and ask him/her to check your hormone and vitamin levels. If you don't go in prepared he/she is most likely to just look at you and think "I bet she overeats" and tell you to go home and start counting calories. But if you go prepared with your logs, you can say "No sir....I am working very hard and feel like I'm fighting an impossible battle. I want to be healthy. But I need to know what's going on with my body". You could have a thyroid issue that's causing a problem with your metabolism. You could have a blood sugar issue that's creating a perfect environment for weight gain in your body. Seriously, 100 lbs is a lot of weight and is going to take TIME and hard work to achieve. Know where you stand medically before you exhaust yourself trying.

If you come back with a normal bill of health, then you will know you need to modify your diet more and intensify your workouts.

Also, are you on bc because you're sexually active? I was on it for 10 years and yes it kept me from getting pregnant, but it also did LOTS of other things to my body/emotions that were not desireable. I began to try to detoxify my body, and decided "whats the point in detoxing myself when I'm pumping myself full of synthetic hormones?". So I went off the pill and am exploring other non-hormonal bc options. I can not tell you what kind of difference going off the pill has made in my life. Amazing.

**k8mt** · 10-29-2010 07:04 AM

Okay i should have clarified

I have been over weight for years now, it's not a new thing. The birth control didn't cause me to be overweight.. my own years of laziness did.
I have started writing down everything i eat as of today just to double check.
A typical day goes like this though: 5:30 i have 8 oz of Metabolic Reset with skim milk. around 6:30 or 7 depending i have an english muffin with just a slice of cheese. I usually have a banana or an apple right around this time. Around 9 i have a hand ful of trail mix. 10:30 i go home and get on the bike for 20 minutes. At this time i could probably hold a short convo but nothing extensive. My "lunch time" work out isn't totally intense but it's definitely enough to get a good sweat going and my heart rate up. 11:15 when i get back to work typically i have half a sandwich, carrot sticks and sometimes very rarely a small bag of wheat thins from the vending machine. around 1 ish i have some trail mix and/or a piece of fruit. I get off work at 2:45. At this time i get my homework stuff rounded up. Around 3:30 or 4 on M, W, F i do my strength trainging. 10 different exercises, 10 reps and i run through 2 or 3 timers. Then i get on the bike for half an hour. At first i can hold a decent convo after 5 minutes it's almost impossible. After this i start up my Gold's Gym Dance Workout and there is no talking when that gets going. It is impossible. During my work outs my heart rate is always up and i have a good sweat going. I don't work out lightly.
After my work out(and this could be the killer) we have dinner. aAnd i'm going to try cutting back on my portions a little bit. Not by much. Usually dinner is pork, elk, deer, beef, chicken.. whatever.. with a veggie a carb and a salad.. with light dressing..
I know it sounds crazy but i am not an unhealthy eater.. my portions aren't killer and i don't snack except for the light snacks to keep me from going crazy later.. all i can think of is that my birth control is keeping me from losing the weight i should be losing.
Prior to beginning my work out i was still a decent eater. i'd go over board with the fast food and the snacks every so often but nothing serious. I was always so sedentary. I just didn't move! So i started moving 20 minutes a day.. started seeing small results after a bit. Then i bumped it up and it's like still only little tiny results but nothing big.. it's been over 2 months and i'm just not seeing anything drastic and i find it weird..

Also, when i got on the pill i had just become single and was starting to .. branch out.. i was some what sexually active for a few months but it wasn't what i wanted so i stopped.. so really there is no point in me being on birth control. I don't have time from a relationship!! Whether it's serious or not i just don't have time!!

**Beautiful Disaster** · 10-29-2010 07:09 AM

I don't know if you posted this at the same time I posted my response to you, but I want to make sure you read my post.

Definitely sounds like exploring some non-hormonal bc options is a good idea for you.

What are you calling "little tiny results"?

**k8mt** · 10-29-2010 07:14 AM

I was trying to respond to other questions of your Beautiful Disaster but my computer is giving me .
I went to the DR back in March for a full physical and came out of it with a clean bill of health. I don't even have high cholestorol. They did blood work, labs this that this that and nothing. They did an ultra sound to check out all my organs and nothing. According to the doctor i'm healthy! except for my weight of course. and i didn't gain my weight when i got on BC i have always been heavy. I just can't seem to get rid of it after having started the BC. So i'm getting off of it now just to see if that's what it is. I literally have no hypothyroid symptoms either.. none..
And by tiny results i mean i've gone from a 42 DD to a 40 DD and from last march till now i've dropped from a 26 to a 24. Actually i got into the 24 last May then gained a weight quickly when i stopped working out then in about July i was back into the 24.. in the last 2 months i've lost 2 inches off my waist. Frustrating but maybe i expected too much. I mean i went from No movement to little movement to a lot of movement so i figured my weight would fall off faster.. but it's being stubborn!!

**KMonte85** · 10-29-2010 07:14 AM

it sounds like you're living a pretty healthy lifestyle... When did you start this new change? Sometimes it takes your body a while to "get with the program" so to speak.. but I would think that within a couple weeks, you would start to see results, even just a pound or so a week...

I think BD had a good suggestion of journaling everything you eat, how much, and all the exercise you do and also be sure to jot down the times of your meals/exercise. Then take this information to your doctor and ask him/her what she thinks. This will show exactly what you're doing so they don't assume you're overeating and send you on your way..

I would also discuss with him/her about getting off BC. If you're not sexually active, then there's no point in pumping your body full of hormones! And should you become sexually active again, its easy as pie to get back on something.

**k8mt** · 10-29-2010 07:23 AM

i started the big work out change right around labor day. So about two months ago. I was working out lightly before then but i've been doing the strength training and the bike since before then.. it's just getting frustrating. The scale hasn't moved hardly and everyone says it's because i'm strength training so i'm gainging muscle but it's like.. when do i stop gaining and start losing?!

**KMonte85** · 10-29-2010 07:35 AM

Keep measuring yourself.. even though the scale isn't moving much, the fact that your bra and pants size decreased is a good indicator that what you're doing is working! The measuring tape is a better indicator than the scale as far as I'm concerned... you're obviously changing your body if you're losing inches, most likely losing fat and gaining muscle which would help account for why the scale's not moving. Losing 2 inches in 2 months is good!

We often drive ourselves CRAZY watching the # on the scale... so keep with the program you're on, and try to only weigh yourself once a week (at the absolute MOST - once every other week would be better), but keep up with the measurements so that you can see the hard work you're putting in is paying off!

These things take time, as I'm sure you already know.. and that sucks when you want so badly to meet your goal! But know that you ARE making progress, and the more progress you make, the easier this will get!

**k8mt** · 10-29-2010 07:42 AM

Well thanks to the both of you for your input

I will just keep on keeping on! I just got scared thinking maybe i've finally hit that age where this will be harder.. i'm 24 but i remember at 19 losing weight was a breeze.. putting it back on is even breezier!! this time when it's off it's off for good!!!

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