Why Am I Not Losing?

rachelleigh4988

Ok everyone I need some advice.

I'm hitting a plateau in my weight loss journey. I am 5 ft 6 inches tall and I started out at 130lbs. I lost 5 lbs in the first 4-5 weeks that I was following my diet and exercise plan with MFT. Since then, I've been fluctuating between 124 and 125 for the past 3-4 weeks.

I'm getting so frustrated! I haven't changed anything with my eating or work out habits. I'm still working out 6 days a week doing Zumba, Tae Bo, and a couple of different Jillian Michaels' DVDs. My caloric goal is still the same, 1200 calories per day. (I do eat back nearly all my exercise calories)

I'm really not sure what to do at this point, it seems like 3-4 weeks is too long to be stalled out. Anyone have a similar experience or have any recommendations? I want so badly to get back down to 115.

rachelleigh4988

MFP*

JeanMarieJ

I'm not a professional (disclaimer)
I would say change up your exercises. Your body can get used to doing the same ones over and over and it won't need to exert as much energy to do them. Have you seen bodyrock.tv? It has High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) videos for free. They are awesome.
With your diet, I find it hard for me to eat all of my allotted calories much less adding the ones I lose. I try though. Maybe change what you eat. Yesterday for breakfast alone I ate a 4 egg white omelet with half a tomato, 3 mushrooms, 1/2 cup of spinach in it and 1/2 cup of cottage cheese it was a lot of food but only 217 calories.
Don't restrict you carbs either, you need a healthy balance of carbs and protein. This mornings breakfast for me had 32g of protein and I added carbs at lunch with my sandwich and dinner with my grilled eggplant burger and sweet potato fries.
I know for me the cleaner my diet the more food I eat with more nutrients and fewer calories naturally.
I am not sure if any of this helps but it's what I know.
GoodLuck

JeanMarieJ

Also if you want to tone it is more about your diet, less about your workouts.

determinedbutlazy

You're already at a healthy weight for your height, it's going to be hard for you to lose weight. If I were you I would focus more on weights and body recomposition (burning fat and building muscle) which will make you lose inches but not weight. 115lbs would but you just a SCRAPE above an underweight BMI.

ItsCasey

You're not losing weight because you're 5'6 and 125 lbs. Your body is telling you "Enough with the dieting already."

Capt_Apollo

you are 5'6". 125 pounds is a very healthy weight for your height.

why do you want to drop down? or are you concerned about a specific problem area?

michellechawner

I'm an inch shorter than you and my goal is 120-125. 115 is almost sickly. Why do you want to be there? (if I may ask, maybe then I can understand why you want to be at "almost" healthy weight, instead of healthy which is where you are now.)

I'm currently stalled at 131 for the past 3 weeks, but I just push a little harder, watch my food, and up my exercise a bit (I don't exercise like normal people, so for me to walk extra is easy, as I can't do anything high impact or high cardio, medical problems).

Your weight seems fine, is it just that you need to tone or build muscle instead of "lose" weight?

jilloldehoeft

I agree- for your height, your weight is perfectly in line. I think it's going to be hard for you to get "skinnier."

Ashwee87

I am going to go with what everyone else is saying. Maybe you should stop focusing on a *scale number and start to focus more on toning and BF%. Don't worry so much about the scale...

kw85296

According to the weight charts a woman of 5"6" should weigh between 123 and 156. If you are not happy with the way your body looks it maybe that you need to concentrate on weight training to tighten up and maybe lose some inches rather than weight. Personally I think you look great. It is more important to be healthy. You body needs to serve you well for a lot of years.

natasa26ca

I dont think your should lose any weight but maybe build up some muscle mass instead and really tone your body.
Combination of strength training and cardio will definately get you there.
If you still have a pound or two of that unwanted fat, you could up your exercise, do some strength training and maybe switch our some of your cardio exercises for other types.

rachelleigh4988

I know 115 sounds too small, but I do have a really small frame. I would mainly just love to see the scale get down below 120 again. I have been there before (granted I was 18 years old and I know things change as we age) and I would just like to be in a place where I feel small again.

I will probably re-evaluate my goal once I hit 120 to see if it's really necessary to go any smaller.

I definitely want to tone up. I would like to see my body fat percentage go down to around 20%. (I'm at 24.2% right now) Will continuing my cardio routine help me tone up as well? I'm thinking it will since I need to burn the fat before I can see the muscle.

JeanMarieJ - Thanks for the advice! I will definitely check out the bodyrock.tv workouts. I wouldn't think changing up my diet would be a big issue because I always eat differently. I do not have the same thing everyday for any meal. But maybe just eating cleaner would be good?

rachelleigh4988

ambicion6 - OMG, sugar is definitely my weakness! Good idea on switching to the stevia. I will try that. Any suggestions on protein rich foods besides meat? Also, I had wondered about the caloric intake goals, but I decided to stick with what MFP put me at. I may try upping it soon if cleaning up some things in my diet doesn't help.

Capt_Apollo

yeah, if the last time you were <120 was 18, you're going to have a hard time get there again. sorry. your body changed in 7 years.

if you really want to drop the body fat percentage, i suggest doing a lot more strength training. trust me, it works. you seem partial to the work out videos though. any chance to hit the gym and start pick up some barbells and dumbbells?

rachelleigh4988

Capt_Apollo: Yes, I am concerned about several problem areas, lol. I'm not too happy with the way my thighs and tummy look. My upper arms and butt used to be more of a concern for me as well, but luckily they've both toned up a bit in the past two months.

rachelleigh4988

yeah, if the last time you were <120 was 18, you're going to have a hard time get there again. sorry. your body changed in 7 years.

if you really want to drop the body fat percentage, i suggest doing a lot more strength training. trust me, it works. you seem partial to the work out videos though. any chance to hit the gym and start pick up some barbells and dumbbells?

I know, you may be right!

Unfortunately, joining a gym isn't really an option for me right now. But maybe I can increase my strength training at home with additional pushups, squats, etc and some more work with my hand weights.

Capt_Apollo

well, i'm not sure what is your problem with those areas. i know a few girls on my friends list that picked up barbells and i think in a month had much more defined abs.

but if you are partial to the home work outs, check out kettlebells. they're actually very versatile and a great form of metabolic conditioning (think cardio + strength training). i'd go with a heavier KB than you think you could do, just because you do grow out of the smaller ones quickly.

rachelleigh4988

Are you vegetarian? Eggs are a great source of protein. I'm sorry other than that, I'm terrible at knowing what else. I eat my weight and then some in chicken and red meat.

Strength will help with toning. Cardio will just keep you lean but not tight. I only do 100mins of cardio a week total. Rest is all strength.

You can def just workout at home with free weights and body weight!

I'm not a vegetarian, but I don't really love meat. I mean I'll eat it just fine, I just sometimes don't feel like eating very much of it. You have some great tips, thank you!

rachelleigh4988

well, i'm not sure what is your problem with those areas. i know a few girls on my friends list that picked up barbells and i think in a month had much more defined abs.

but if you are partial to the home work outs, check out kettlebells. they're actually very versatile and a great form of metabolic conditioning (think cardio + strength training). i'd go with a heavier KB than you think you could do, just because you do grow out of the smaller ones quickly.

I'll try it out, thanks!

ninerbuff

Change your exercise routine. Body can adapt to routines if done long enough. Also consider HIIT training formats.

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