Weight loss frustration

capricorn122978

Hello:
I have been tracking my calories for about 3-4 weeks daily on My Fitness Pal. For the past 3+ years, I was doing Cardio Kickboxing. I did get toned and put on muscle, however, I did not lose an ounce the entire time, nor did my proportions change. I also, for a few months, supplemented these workouts with some weight training and light cardio (20 min on elliptical). Again, no losses.
SO I decided to track my calories on here. For the past 4 months I have done ZERO exercise due to my mother being very ill since July and myself being the only child. However, I set my food diary to reflect the fact that I do not workout currently. My allocated calories are set to 1350/day. I have been at or near this relatively consistently for 3-4 weeks with a few days here and there over. Still, I have NOT lost a single pound. I have had thyroid tested and it is normal.
I weigh a lot for my height. I am 5'3 and 145. I am in a size 6 sometimes 4. Why aren't I able to lose any weight? I understand I am currently not working out, but even when I did hardcore workouts I was around the same size, just a bit more solid. And I was not watching my food intake like I try to do now. I opened up my diary to public if anyone has any suggestions that I may be missing. Thank you very much

swaggityswagbag

I see you are not weighing your food. You should invest in a food scale and weigh everything in grams, though I also weigh meat in ounces (pre-cooking weight!).

capricorn122978

yes, I have considered investing in this. even still, i have seriously cut down on my portion sizes. thank you.

MinnieInMaine

That part of the account set-up is just a goal setting activity. MFP doesn't change your daily goal regarding exercise unless you actually log activity in the exercise diary.

When you log certain foods, like today's orange chicken, is that something you're making yourself or have access to the specific nutritional info or are you just finding something in the food database? If it's the former, make sure you're meausing out all ingredients and portions accurately. If it's the latter, the calorie count could be way off.

Also, I'm not seeing many fruits and veggies listed. Are you not eating any or are you just not logging them? For instance, Sunday's dinner was roasted chicken - did you really just eat chicken?

capricorn122978

many of my own recipes i added to MFP myself and this is my own recipe. sunday i had green beans with my chicken. i eat veggies each night with my dinner and eat berries with my breakfast.

SueInAz

I'm your height and was about your weight when I started getting serious about getting back to my goal weight. I'm currently down about 13 pounds since May and I've been lifting heavy weights in addition to running so I'm a lot more solid than I was when I started.

Cutting down portion sizes doesn't guarantee that you're actually eating less calories than you are burning. The only way to be really sure is to accurately log everything you're eating and drinking and to measure liquids and weigh solids. Unless you have a medical condition, which you seem to have ruled out, it really is as simple as calories in/calories out.

Portions can be a lot larger than we think they are. 4 ounces of chicken is not very much when you look at it. I've had some chicken breasts that have weighed as much as a pound before cooking. 2 tablespoons of peanut butter are 200 calories and if I don't measure I know what looks to me like a good serving of it on two pieces of bread is closer to 300 calories. Add the bread and jelly and that sandwich can be over 500 calories. I always weigh peanut butter, as a result. The more calorie dense the food, the more important it is to measure it accurately.

Look at it this way, what you're doing now isn't working so it can't hurt to try a different approach. Go spend $25 or $30 on a food scale and give it a try. You might be really surprised.

capricorn122978

i also am not logging any fitness now because i have not been working out. it was over 2100 calories/day allotted when i was lifting and kickboxing.

Kalikel

If you want to lose weight, you must eat less, move more or both.

capricorn122978

I cannot reduce the calories beyond less than 1350 calories; it's not possible for me, nor is it healthy, and having a Master's in Biology, I am aware of calories in and calories out, nutrients, how metabolism works, etc. I do not sit around, I am on my feet teaching all day, I walk a lot, constantly clean, moving around etc...and still, I keep my fitness log at zero because I am not working out hardcore like I was. I am just tired of trying everything I can and not much works for me, whether it is working out 6 days a week, lifting weights, extra cardio, quitting snacking after dinner, reducing carbs, limiting sweets, quitting soda. I don't just try something for 2 weeks and complain when it doesnt work. This has been years of consistent effort. Im starting to feel like my body "likes" this weight range for me. I WILL buy the kitchen scale as advised because measuring things in cups and teaspoons may bot be so accurate and is impossible with meats and cheese too. Thank you all for the insight

TropicalParaMonster

Okay so here's a thought. When I wasn't able to workout as much as I could I tried this thing called intermittent fasting. And it might sound completely bogus to you as it did to me. But I've youtubed various videos, having studied Health Science as well I started to see how the hormonal aspect would alter weight loss.

It's just a thought, you know...I've tried everything out there.
Intermittent fasting and the 3 day reboot juice cleanse have been the only 2 non-exercise related aspects that haven't failed me.

Best of luck! You look fab!

jgennace

Frustration does burn calories

wilsoncl6

There really is no madness to the method, you have to strictly weigh and track everything. You just can't eyeball some meats and vegetables and know exactly what they weigh. Also, anything you add to your food must be accounted for also. Unless you eat your food absolutely plain, you have to account for everything you add to it. You shouldn't have to reduce your food intake any further, just be absolutely 100% sure what you log is actually what you are putting in your body. I'm not as strict with my logging because I give myself plenty of wiggle room in my caloric intake by exercising and putting my weight loss goal at 2lbs a week when I'm happy losing just 1lb a week. You have to evaluate exactly what your doing.

wkwebby

Have you tested your blood for blood glucose? If you are a prediabetic, your diet seems higher in carbs than it should be. I found that's when I started to lose the weight (I cut carbs to 35% of my calories). Your protein looks to be on the low side too. If you aren't getting enough protein, there is no way that your workouts were helping you to build or maintain that lean muscle mass. As we age, keeping what we have becomes more and more crucial (I'm 41 and prediabetic). I am really cognizant of my protein intake.

capricorn122978

TropicalParaMonster wrote: »

Okay so here's a thought. When I wasn't able to workout as much as I could I tried this thing called intermittent fasting. And it might sound completely bogus to you as it did to me. But I've youtubed various videos, having studied Health Science as well I started to see how the hormonal aspect would alter weight loss.

It's just a thought, you know...I've tried everything out there.
Intermittent fasting and the 3 day reboot juice cleanse have been the only 2 non-exercise related aspects that haven't failed me.

Best of luck! You look fab!

Thanks for the compliment I will look into it, intermittent fasting

capricorn122978

wkwebby wrote: »

Have you tested your blood for blood glucose? If you are a prediabetic, your diet seems higher in carbs than it should be. I found that's when I started to lose the weight (I cut carbs to 35% of my calories). Your protein looks to be on the low side too. If you aren't getting enough protein, there is no way that your workouts were helping you to build or maintain that lean muscle mass. As we age, keeping what we have becomes more and more crucial (I'm 41 and prediabetic). I am really cognizant of my protein intake.

My bloodwork is excellent in all regards,not even deficient in zinc or vitamin D, as many people typically tend to be. Some days my protein is above the goal set by MFP others it's lower. That is something I can try to increase and not let fluctuate. My carbs were much higher than now; i'm italian and LOVE my pasta dishes
When I was doing the hardcore exercise, I was drinking whey protein; yes i know it is processed and not ideal, but i was surely supplementing with the correct amount.
For me I think a lot is water weight and I do have digestive issues that are currently still idiopathic. Thank you for this though, I will consciously try to up the protein a bit more