# Feeling frustrated



## Allkian (Mar 20, 2011)

I have been riding for over two decades and own 5 horses. I've struggled with weight since reaching my twenties. I have been working hard to lose weight for the last 3-4 months. Id lost 40 lbs last year only to hurt my knee and go right back up to where I was. I've been watching my diet, changing eating habits, exercising for 2 months (at least 5 miles a day and weights multiple times a week) and I've upped my riding. I have started dressage lessons to hone my core and push myself to excel. My pants fit better and I feel stronger, but the scale wont budge. To make matters worse, my huge calves are now quite muscular and my tall boots wont even fit. I feel so frustrated. Despite all my hard work, people I encounter keep assuming Im some lazy slob who eats bon bons and sits on a couch. I watch everyone around me eating real food and I feel like I would gain weight just breathing. Im determined because Ive done it before, but coming off this knee injury is really slowing my progress. I do what my doctor tells me and might lose 1 lb in two weeks only to randomly gain it back in a day or two. He told me I might just be genetically predisposed to weight gain, but Im so self conscious lately. Its not fair some of us bigger women can work 10x harder at this but not lose and be branded fat and unhealthy.


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## SeaBreezy (Jun 29, 2012)

What does your diet consist of?

I strongly suggest checking out the Paleo-diet. It's based on what early humans used to eat, before we developed all these grains and processed foods. It's designed to give your body the nutrition it needs, which in my opinion, is much more important than cutting down on carbs. It consists mostly of eating meat, fish, vegetables, and fruits, while cutting out foods like pastas and breads.

I'd also suggest eating four to six small meals throughout the day. This will boost your metabolism. Multi-vitamins are a good idea too, if you don't take them already. Sounds like you got the exercise portion down; just need to put the right foods in ya to give your body the strength it needs to cut down on the fat.

Kudos to you for trying so hard! Good luck with everything and don't give up!


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

There are some folks who are very fit and are not thin. that might be you. some of us are genetically meant to be larger, though that does not mean a person can jsut say, "well, I can't help it so I will just stop trying". it sounds like you are very careful and responsible about keeping YOUR body where it should be. I bet you are actually a healthy and beautiful person, inside and out!


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

I've heard that vegetarian diet is great for shedding pounds and staying healthy. So that's another option

Have you had your thyroid checked out? What do you typically eat in a day? There could be some things that appear healthy but aren't and are sneakily adding pounds.

What helped me get toned up (I was a bit overweight after spending the entire summer eating fast-food when I grew up without...gained 45lbs....) was bike rides, hikes, short jogs instead of walking places. Lots of cardio using an exercise ball. I played basketball for fun too, something that got me going

It was painfully slow, but I got back to lean and strong.

I feel you on the calves. Mine barely fit in my winter boots. I'm not plus size by any means atm but I am about 25lbs away from my goal so I feel like I'm at a loss as well. 

It's hard to lose any weight when your body doesn't want to give it up :/

Hugs though, hard work does pay off... sometimes you just need to change the work you do


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## Lisabaltic (Dec 26, 2015)

I also agree the paleo diet is great for weight loss. I went gluten free last year due to allergies. I wasn't looking to lose weight, but it came right off. If you are open as well, hypnosis is great for weight loss. I work as a hypnotherapist, sometimes there are many emotional reasons why we hold on to the weight.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

gluten free is not the same as paleo diet, is it?


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## SeaBreezy (Jun 29, 2012)

I think the main difference between gluten-free and paleo is that the paleo-diet is all natural. A lot of food manufacturers are slapping the 'gluten-free' label on their products, but those foods are usually still processed and have lots of sugar in them. 

The Paleo-diet may be more expensive, but it is very, very healthy. My dad has been on a strict paleo diet for almost ten years - he is 62 years old and in perfect health and can still swim 80 laps a day. He pretty much only eats fish (salmon and tuna especially), burgers (with no bun), steak, pork, chicken and lots of dark green veggies. He also buys special grass-fed meat. You can use all the spices you want when preparing your meals, and they taste good! I, myself, usually have fruit smoothies in the morning and grill up some salmon or chicken along with green beans, peas, or some other veggie for dinner.

I strongly believe that while, yes, consuming less calories than you burn off is important to losing weight, eating healthy and meeting your body's daily nutritional needs is even more important. You'd be amazed how fast the pounds will start to shed when your body isn't dealing with thyroid problems or iron deficiency or what have you, and is in perfect working order to be able to focus on shedding excess fat.


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## ShirtHotTeez (Sep 23, 2014)

Go easy on yourself. You have increased your exercise so remember that muscle weighs heavier than fat. Try taking measurements with a tape (hips, waist, upperarm etc - check with a gym the measurements they use) and you may see some results that way.

Keeping a record of your food intake keeps you honest. I'm sure you know what you need to cut out.

You could check out the Amway Healthpointe diet. It really is effective, but not especially cheap. (I wish I could do it myself right now  )


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## greentree (Feb 27, 2013)

Allkian....welcome to MY (former) world!! You can get out of that world by cutting the GRAIN out of your diet. There is no such thing as a healthy, whole grain. They are all unhealthy, and only animals can eat them whole, especially WHEAT.

Just clean out your pantry or cupboard. Throw away all the crackers, pasta, bread, cookies, etc. Then, go through anything that has a label. 

If it says wheat, MSG(made from wheat) hydrolyzed vegetable protein(made from wheat), gluten(made from wheat)....throw it out.

Do the same with your freezer and fridge. Leave all the vegetables and meat. 

Eat ALL you want of those. Eat plenty of fat. Leave the skin on the chicken....cook with butter, olive oil, and coconut oil.

You do not need to COUNT anything. In a few days, you will KNOW when you are full, and you will not be craving all the stuff you threw out. Your waist will suddenly shrink.

About those CALVES...welcome to my former world! ALL of my life, I am close to 60....I have had huge calves. I would CRY at tack stores because I wanted the pretty boots that all my horse friends wore. 

At my lowest weight, (about 13 years ago), I treated myself to a pair of expensive, custom made boots. Of course, since I lost that weight at Weight Watchers, I was still starving, and the weight came back so I could no longer wear the boots !

We gave up the wheat 13 months ago. About 10 months ago, I ran across an article about thyroid, and iodine. I started iodine drops, and you know what?? My calves SHRANK. I am almost 20 LBS from the weight I was when I ordered the boots, and are TOO BIG!! 

There is HOPE...

The food you eat is making you sick and the agencies that are providing you guidelines on what to eat are giving dangerous advice with devastating consequences. You can change that today.


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

I totally get how these factors lead up to a very frustrating situation. I think there are many things you need to consider:

Firstly, have you spoken with a doctor? If you are taking the proper steps but are not seeing much or any weight loss, it may be something worth investigating.

Secondly, be careful about prescribing to /any/ diet. To say "I'm vegetarian" opens you up, on one hand, to a variety of healthy options. It also opens you up to eating total garbage (there's no meat in donuts~). I think they can be great, whether you cut out meats, gluten, sugars.... But it's important, too, that you sign up for something you can stick to. If you choose something you're not wholly on board with or that's too hard, it can be easy to fall off the wagon and gain all that weight and more back.

Another thing to consider is your body style. Muscle weighs more than fat--if you are getting toned, it's possible that you will be putting on weight.

Just some things to consider! Best of luck!!


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

I am one who can loose inches, but not pounds. It can be EXTREMELY frustrating.

Three years ago, I experienced a rapid weight gain. I went from 170lbs and a size 12 to 250lbs and a size 22 in less than two months. At my heaviest, I was 275lbs and a size 24. I had an active job (worked in the wash bay at a car dealership, so I was constantly walking, lifting, etc) and didn't feel like I was eating that much. Then, I really started looking at what I was eating and I was appalled. I was out-eating my former Marine husband. :shock: So, I cut the amount I was eating in half...and lost about 10lbs. I was SO frustrated! I started a new job working at a hotel and things went from bad to worse. I couldn't walk up and down the stairs or down the hallway without getting winded and my heart pounding. Doctors couldn't find anything wrong with me other than I was fat and they couldn't find an explanation _why_ I was fat. 

Then, I got promoted to operations manager of the hotel. My salvation came in something that started more as a nervous habit than anything else. I eat ice. All day at work, I have a 20oz cup that I keep filled with ice and I munch on it. In fact, I've been at work an hour and a half now and have already finished one slightly-more-than-full cup of ice. It tricks my brain into thinking that I'm eating, so I don't get hungry as much. I end up eating maybe a quarter of what I ate when I was at my heaviest. It also helps me get my water intake for the day (I hate drinking water unless it's ICE cold) and my body has to work harder to heat and use the water I take in from the ice, which helps burn calories. Fast food holds zero appeal for me anymore. Since the beginning of February of 2015, I have now lost approximately 60lbs. I am comfortably wearing size 18 pants (before the holidays, they were even getting a little loose on me :lol: ) and XL shirts (I was in 2Xs before).

The craziest and most frustrating part is that even though I'm MUCH smaller than I was, I still weigh 210lbs. :shock: I've been a size 18 before and then I weighed 186lbs. It baffles me how I can weigh almost 30lbs more, yet still wear the same size clothing. 

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that weight and size are just a number. How YOU feel physically is the most important thing. Yes, I still weigh 210lbs and I'm still 60lbs away from my goal weight. However, I can trot up and down the stairs at work without any change in my breathing and without my heart pounding. I can bend over to tie my shoes without having to sit up every few seconds because I can't breathe. I can get in and out of my husband's lifted truck with no problems and don't have to pull myself in. I FEEL better...and that's the most important thing.

And don't let other people's stupid opinions get you down. Do you know for a fact that they see you as a fat slob? Have they said that to you? Or is that just the way YOU think they feel?

I thought of myself as a fat slob for the longest time. Then, I was talking to my boss (the owner of the hotel) who is brutally honest. I mentioned how difficult it is to find clothes that are within dress code when you're plus size. He looked me straight in the eye and said incredulously "You're not plus size. What are you talking about?" I have NEVER heard this man lie, so I know that he was telling the truth and didn't see me as fat or plus size. I had always thought that he probably thought I was a fat slob because his wife is about 4'9" and as big around as a toothpick.


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## SeaBreezy (Jun 29, 2012)

I'd also like to mention that going on a diet has a horrible stigma of starving yourself. People think going on a diet is eating a piece of toast for breakfast and a salad for dinner. But lettuce has almost no nutritional value! And the last thing you want to do is deprive your body of precious energy. If you're feeling tired and hungry all the time, then sure, maybe you'll drop a few pounds, but eventually your body is going to MAKE you binge on foods (and you'll most likely be craving those high fatty, high sugar foods) to replenish your energy.

It's all about eating the right foods. Like greentea said, you won't have to limit your intake if you are eating the right foods, and you will feel SO much better!

You have to be smart and do your research on what's healthy for you. Yeah, and that food pyramid everybody raves about? It is so backwards it's not even funny. Pastas and grains comprise the majority of it, whereas meat has an itty biddy section at the top of the triangle. The reason food agencies created the food pyramid is because grains are so much cheaper to produce. Luckily, we have the power of Google at our fingertips nowadays, and you can do your own research and make your own decisions about what to put in your body.


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## ShirtHotTeez (Sep 23, 2014)

DraftyAiresMum said:


> I am one who can loose inches, but not pounds. It can be EXTREMELY frustrating.
> 
> Three years ago, I experienced a rapid weight gain. I went from 170lbs and a size 12 to 250lbs and a size 22 in less than two months. At my heaviest, I was 275lbs and a size 24. I had an active job (worked in the wash bay at a car dealership, so I was constantly walking, lifting, etc) and didn't feel like I was eating that much. Then, I really started looking at what I was eating and I was appalled. I was out-eating my former Marine husband. :shock: So, I cut the amount I was eating in half...and lost about 10lbs. I was SO frustrated! I started a new job working at a hotel and things went from bad to worse. I couldn't walk up and down the stairs or down the hallway without getting winded and my heart pounding. Doctors couldn't find anything wrong with me other than I was fat and they couldn't find an explanation _why_ I was fat.
> 
> ...


You are an inspiration. I will start with the ice today!! And trying to cut down bread which is probably my worst problem.

:loveshower: :loveshower: :loveshower: :loveshower: :loveshower:


:gallop:


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

ShirtHotTeez said:


> You are an inspiration. I will start with the ice today!! And trying to cut down bread which is probably my worst problem.
> 
> :loveshower: :loveshower: :loveshower: :loveshower: :loveshower:
> 
> ...


I had people laugh at me when I first started eating ice. In fact, I started it before I took over as manager of the hotel I work at and the then-general manager used to make fun of me for eating ice. Heck, even the owner of the hotel laughed at it. Then I started shedding weight like it was nothing. :icon_rolleyes:

If you teeth can handle it, it works.

Greatest part is that I still eat whatever I want...I just don't eat nearly as much because I'm always full from the ice (whether I'm really full or my body is just tricked into it). Heck, we went out for steak last night and I wasn't able to finish all of my 8oz steak or all of my sides (rice pilaf, steamed veggies, deep fried butterflied shrimp, and garlic toast).


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## ShirtHotTeez (Sep 23, 2014)

I have been drinking quite a bit of grapefruit juice too. I have a tree in the back garden. It has helped me feel better (vitamin C), clearer skin, and more 'regular' :neutral: which I guess helps clear out toxins!

Lemon juice in water is supposed to be good too, especially first thing in the morning, but my supply of lemons is a bit random at the moment.


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