3lb loss in 12 weeks?!

Marchmallow

I seriously think that I might have a health condition that impedes weight loss. Since the first week in January I've dropped 3lbs, and I am very strict with my calories. I eat 1500 every day, and work out 30 minutes a day with P90X3, and my carbs fall between 100 - 150g daily. My fat intake is between 40-50g per day and my protein is usually between 100 - 115g per day. I'm 5'2 and female, and I weigh 12 stone 12 (180lbs). I should be dropping at least 1lb per week, but I haven't lost even a quarter of that even though I'm doing everything right. I have the occasional treat, but usually within my calories and when it isn't it's about a once per month thing. I'm serious, I am really strict with my calorie counting. I count half a stick of celery if I eat it.

Has anyone had similar problems? I'm seeing a doctor about it later this week, hopefully I'll discover what the problem is. I did get tested for thyroid issues a couple of years ago but it came back healthy.

Mycophilia

Do you weigh your food with a food scale?
Measuring liquids?
Are you making sure what you're adding to your diary is correct?

Vikkim2015

I tried a lot of things and it wasn't until i gave up grains. No bread, pasta and rice. I get virtually all my carbs from veggies, though i rarely eat potato. As soon as i did this the weight started to fall. 2 Mths later when i actively started to lose weight by formally logging food and walking everyday it fell of even more. I lost 5.7kg in the first 2mths then have lost another 15kg since Jan. And get rid of ALL low fat or diet anything, they are not good for you and usually are higher in carbs/sugar. I don't have much dairy, a bit of yogurt with fruit and a touch of milk in coffee/tea but i do make my own butter from local cream, which i use in cooking.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Are you actually logging everything you eat? I see a couple of blank days and a few days where it says you only ate 500 calories. Before you decide there's something wrong make sure you're doing the best job logging that you can:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

Definitely get tested if your diary is accurate.

Marchmallow

Hi, yeah it is accurate for the most part. The blank days are where I was travelling back home to England and I just didn't have the opportunity to log. But I would say 95% of the time I am very strict, and I do weigh and measure everything. I get paranoid if I can't do that, and even when I was travelling I had a mental inventory of what I was eating, and chopped up some red pepper, carrots and celery to take to eat on the plane. I had one small bar bar of cadbury's chocolate when I arrived at Manchester airport (because it had been so long since I'd had english chocolate, haha).

But the days where it says 30 mins exercise and 1500-ish calories in are my typical days. I really think something is going on.

PeachyPlum

It certainly couldn't hurt to have a doctor check you out and make sure there's not something else going on.

365andstillalive

There totally could be something medically at play, so seeing a doctor isn't a terrible idea.

That being said, it's a very small percentage of the population that actually has something medically impeding their weight loss; the most realistic solution is that you're not creating the calorie deficit you need to lose weight. Everything with weight loss is trial and error.

If you aren't using a food scale, you aren't being entirely accurate and you need to account for that over time. I've lost around 70lbs without a scale, but I also recognize that when I stall out, it's likely that I'm underestimating my intake, and over estimating the amount of calories I'm burning. Where did you come up with your 1500 calorie goal? And is that really creating a caloric deficit of 3500 cals per week (the equivalent to 1lb lost)?

I'm 5'7, 165ish, lightly active and I lose about 0.75lbs per week eating 1700 cals. I found that number first by using TDEE calculators as a guideline (I used four and averaged out) and then trial and error beyond that; I ate at the number generated by the calc for three weeks, looked at my results, adjusted down by 100 calories, and repeated until I found what worked for my body.

So basically the moral of my message to you is to go book that doctors appointment, just in case; but take a good, long look at your eating, portions, whether you're weighing food for accuracy, and whether that 1500 calories per day is actually creating the deficit your body needs. Everything's a guess with weight loss; just keep adjusting as necessary and you'll reach your goals.

Marchmallow

As I've said, I weigh everything religiously. I wouldn't cheat myself because I know how slowly I lose weight even when I'm at optimum efficiency. I'm currently doing a quite strenuous exercise regime (P90X3) and I'm following their nutrition guide. After I took the nutrition quiz, it placed me at 1800 per day but I knew there was no way I'd lose weight eating that much, so I placed myself on the LOWEST calorie tier, which was 1500 per day. I burn between 200-500 calories daily during exercise, and don't eat them back.

The only thing it could be is that there isn't as much cardio in P90X3 as I used to do on a running programme, there seems to be more focus on strength and muscle building which may account for SOME of the weight that I haven't lost, but...

I know it's the case in most posts like this that the person is not accurate with their logging, or they eat too much, or something that they're not admitting to, but I can promise you that I am super strict and accurate, I weigh everything (and I use the metric system, which is more accurate anyway) and I've been working my butt off for the best part of three months to lose 3lbs. It just seems ... like something's wrong.

Marchmallow

I just calculated my BMR and TDEE, BMR is around 1450 and TDEE is around 2150. I used different calculators and these figures are the average.

moglovesshoez

Have you taken your measurements? You could be loosing inches if your doing weights while retaining/gaining lean body mass?

Marchmallow

Yeah, I did start taking measurements as I don't have access to a scale where I live, and they were going down slowly. I was losing an inch from my middle about every two weeks and I've lost an inch off each arm and leg since January. I have no idea if that's a good rate of inch loss, haha.

jkwolly

Slow and steady wins the race!

7aneena

I can relate to your situation, whenever I am stuck 3 things usually work for me.
1 For one week, I take a break from dieting by eating at maintenance and limit exercising to long walks
2 change up my exercise routine
3 I start experimenting with calorie intake until I reach a deficit that gets me 0.5 lb - 1 lbs a week (lately its been 0.5 a lbs )
I hope your doctor can help you, mine told me straight out he didn't know why my loss was so slow but he did refer me to a dietician

Also, you might want to measure your BF% and check later for progress ( I am not sure what's a realistic interval to check for result, maybe someone else can help with that)

Marchmallow

I'm dropping my calories to 1200 and taking CLA and green tea. Willing to give anything a try at this point, hah. Thanks for the tips 7aneena, I'm hoping my doc can help.

justsayinisall

I totally don't know but I'm chiming in. Here are my worthless two cents. I was told by my doc to eat 1200 per day, after I stalled on 1500. I actually started to GAIN weight eating between 1200-1500 (5'9"). Came here. Saw a bunch about TDEE and two weeks ago I UPPED my calories between 1800-2100, usually closer to the 2100. In two weeks I've lost 3.7 pounds.

StaciMarie1974

If you don't have access to a scale (body weight scale, I assume you mean) where you live: was your beginning & current weighins on the same scale, in the same time of day, same level of dress, etc.? Just curious if your then & now comparison is consistent. The inches lost that you mention indicate a good transition for 3 months, so I'm wondering if your then/now weighins are off somehow. And using different scales could do that. One scale can easily be 5-8 pounds different from another. Kind of like how not all watches are set to the exact same minute/second.

wkwebby

If you're losing inches, the scale is giving you a false picture. If you just started the P90X program, then it could be water retention. That retention could be masking the loss. If not seeing the scale move is giving you stress, just use the tape measure for now.

Slow and steady.

HeySwoleSister

Marchmallow wrote: »

I'm dropping my calories to 1200 and taking CLA and green tea. Willing to give anything a try at this point, hah. Thanks for the tips 7aneena, I'm hoping my doc can help.

Oh, don't do that. You'll be wasting your money and at only 1200 per day, I'm willing to bet your workout performance will be hindered.

Trust your measurements! You are losing. Are you drinking enough water and other non-caloric fluids? Since you are working out pretty hard, you may be retaining some water as your muscles recover from exercise...that could be why you are seeing such good results (and they are good!) on the tape measure but the scale doesn't seem to budge.

I'd say keep doing what you're doing, stay more hydrated, and keep measuring. Do you have a pair of trousers that were too tight when you started? how do they fit now? How do you look in that pretty dress that you didn't want to wear two months ago because you felt icky in it? Since you don't have consistency in a scale (and since your actual weigh isn't even as relevant as your body size and composition!) look to measurements and appearance-based stuff instead!

Marchmallow

Thanks for the advice everyone!

To be honest, I've started suspecting that I have PCOS, as I have at least four symptoms associated with it. It's part of the reason I'm seeing a doctor tomorrow. I'm not trying to have kids, so I haven't really given it thought until now. We'll see.

EWJLang wrote: »

Oh, don't do that. You'll be wasting your money and at only 1200 per day, I'm willing to bet your workout performance will be hindered.

Trust your measurements! You are losing. Are you drinking enough water and other non-caloric fluids? Since you are working out pretty hard, you may be retaining some water as your muscles recover from exercise...that could be why you are seeing such good results (and they are good!) on the tape measure but the scale doesn't seem to budge.

I'd say keep doing what you're doing, stay more hydrated, and keep measuring. Do you have a pair of trousers that were too tight when you started? how do they fit now? How do you look in that pretty dress that you didn't want to wear two months ago because you felt icky in it? Since you don't have consistency in a scale (and since your actual weigh isn't even as relevant as your body size and composition!) look to measurements and appearance-based stuff instead!

Actually, the reason I weighed myself when I could use my scales again (yes, they are the same ones I've always used, in my mother's house, they're digital scales) was because relatives who saw me again after spending 12 weeks in Germany said to me "Well, you've lost a bit, but not as much as I would have expected after three months of dieting and working out hard every day." and that was from three separate people. As for the clothes, I did actually try on a dress that I'll be able to pull off when I lose the weight and it was still all bulgey, which was discouraging. I've had the dress ages and try it on every month or so. I think my legs and bum have gotten smaller though, as a pair of jeans I have have started to get sacky around the thighs and I have to pull them up a lot, but they're stretch material so I just assumed they were losing elasticity, haha.

I do drink a lot of water and tea, I'd say on workout days I drink about two litres. I usually have a bottle of water near me which I sip throughout the day.

justsayinisall wrote: »

I totally don't know but I'm chiming in. Here are my worthless two cents. I was told by my doc to eat 1200 per day, after I stalled on 1500. I actually started to GAIN weight eating between 1200-1500 (5'9"). Came here. Saw a bunch about TDEE and two weeks ago I UPPED my calories between 1800-2100, usually closer to the 2100. In two weeks I've lost 3.7 pounds.

It's great that worked out for you! I'm afraid though that as I'm a lot smaller than you (at least seven inches smaller, hah) upping my calories past 1500 would result in weight gain. My TDEE is around the 2000 mark, so best case scenario I'd maintain on that much.

You're all right though when you say progress is progress no matter how slow, it's just so agonisingly slow that I feel like I'm digging a ditch with a teaspoon!

kikichewie

I didn't lose weight when I did 90 days of P90X, although I did feel like I experienced major gains in health and muscle definition. I'll bet this is a case where you are losing fat,adding muscle, and with the addition of water retention in your muscles. My guess is that you're probably losing at a rate of 1/2 pound a week or something, but you just can't see it on the scale. I'd start taking waist and hip measurements monthly, and be patient. I think you are doing everything right.

wkwebby

If you think or get confirmation that you have PCOS, you might want to switch up your macros a bit. Think low carb or at most 1/3 of your calories of the day should be carb. The main theme I've seen from these forums is that PCOS acts like you are insulin resistant. So no or a lot less sugar and simple carbs. It is frustrating to cut carbs, but if you have PCOS, research the insulin resistant meal plans. It might help without even cutting your overall calories and starving yourself isn't going to help in the long run.

Marchmallow

So I saw the doctor today and asked her opinion after describing my symptoms and difficulty losing weight, and she's referred me for blood tests testing for female testosterone (marker for PCOS), blood sugar and another thyroid test. The thing is though, she said that even if the test comes back positive for an insulin-resistance type illness, the way to treat is would be - you guessed it - to lose weight. I'd heard this before about PCOS in particular, and was sort of expecting it, but I wanted to hear it from my GP.

I guess my question now is, what to do calories wise. I'm hesitant to drop my calories too low, as I'll lose weight initially but damage my metabolism. I'm also hesitant to up my calories as I'm small and possibly insulin resistant and might pack weight back on. I even started looking up carb cycling as a potential strategy, but I've tried very low carb before (less than 50g/day) and I used to get the sweats and shakes.

I guess, all in all, I'm just gonna have to settle for it taking 20 years to lose the weight. x)

angelasrescuedog

I simpathise. I found it so hard to lose weight. I'm type 2 diabetic. Height 5.2 I've lost 15lbs so far. But that last 7 pounds is killing me. And no matter what I do. Exercise. Make sure I eat 1200 cals the lbs are not budging. I also had blood tests to rule out anything else. However when they came back normal I was kinda gutted. As I was looking for reasons why why why. My doctor said sometimes no matter how hard u try. You reach that plateau and u stick at it. That's the weight your destine to be. Maybe try what some of the other peeps say. I must admit cutting out wheat sounds like a plan. I may try that too. I'm on holiday to Yorkshire UK for Easter and I expect all the ice cream and sticks of rock will play havoc on my waistline. Let's us know how u get on

Camo_xxx

Do the math.

If you lost 3 pounds in 12 weeks . 3500 calories per pound so you ate 10,500 calories less then maintenance during that time or 875 calories per week deficit which is of course a 125 calorie per day deficit.

If you want to lose 1 pound per week you need to eat at a 500 calorie per day deficit
1 1/2 pounds a week would require a 750 calorie a day deficit and so on.

Cortneyrenee04

P90X is great but can you do something more? 30 minutes is the recommended minimum amount. Even if you do a few strolls around the block, those steps add up!

Of course you don't have to exercise at all to lose weight, but it definitely helps move things along.

You cod also try 1400 calories and see how you progress.

Marchmallow

Camo_xxx wrote: »

Do the math.

If you lost 3 pounds in 12 weeks . 3500 calories per pound so you ate 10,500 calories less then maintenance during that time or 875 calories per week deficit which is of course a 125 calorie per day deficit.

There's no way in hell I've been netting 2025 calories per day. I log everything, and my polar tells me I burn between 250 - 500 calories per P90X3 workout. I have a digital food scale, I don't guess calories. I realise that you don't know me or see what I'm eating, and for all you know I'm lying or over eating without logging it. But I know that I'm not.

Marchmallow

Cortneyrenee04 wrote: »

P90X is great but can you do something more? 30 minutes is the recommended minimum amount. Even if you do a few strolls around the block, those steps add up!

You cod also try 1400 calories and see how you progress.

I'm thinking of starting running again alongside P90X3, because when I've tried losing weight before with running and eating less than 1500 it wasn't this slow. Still slow, but not 3lbs in 12 week slow. Thanks

Camo_xxx

Marchmallow wrote: »

Camo_xxx wrote: »

Do the math.

If you lost 3 pounds in 12 weeks . 3500 calories per pound so you ate 10,500 calories less then maintenance during that time or 875 calories per week deficit which is of course a 125 calorie per day deficit.

There's no way in hell I've been netting 2025 calories per day. I log everything, and my polar tells me I burn between 250 - 500 calories per P90X3 workout. I have a digital food scale, I don't guess calories. I realise that you don't know me or see what I'm eating, and for all you know I'm lying or over eating without logging it. But I know that I'm not.

Not sure where you are getting 2025 calories from.

I am saying if you do the math. You lost 3 pounds which works out to 125 calorie a day deficit and not the planned 500 you have your goal at or think you have eaten. So somewhere in you logging, weighing , food database , calculated calorie burn you are off by 350 calories per day.

In other words you though you were at a 500 calorie a day deficit but your results indicate an actual 125 calorie a day deficit. Find the error and tighten up your program to get your results to meet your goal.

wkwebby

I'd suggest changing your workout routine and adding more weight than P90X gives you. For a temporary fix, running will help you, but for insulin resistance the lean muscle mass really helps to burn those extra sugars floating around so that it doesn't need insulin to turn it into fat. The rearranging the carb calories to max at 35% or lower if you can tolerate it, will help kickstart you. If you're used to high carb (50% like MFP tells you), you might have carb cravings the first two weeks, but after that, you should be fine and the weight will start to come off again. Running won't get you those muscles that help you burn more at rest. Only weight lifting will help with that and P90X doesn't build those muscle fibers the same.

csteuter

I understand your frustration ... I am very slowly losing and have been at a plateau for over a month. Yesterday I was ready to throw my hands in the air and say "I give up". And, I believe that you are accurately measuring portions, etc. I do that as well. It's very easy for someone else to say you're obviously doing something wrong or you'd be losing. It's not that easy sometimes, and quite frankly, I get a bit annoyed when people jump to that conclusion and start "blaming" someone for not "obviously" not doing X, Y or Z. Sometimes you do everything RIGHT and the weight loss still stalls.

Vikkim2015

There is a film called "That Sugar Film" and the guy changed his diet from high fat mid protein low veggie based carbs to a high carb low fat/protein diet for a 30 day period without changing the actual calorie amount he consumed. He limited his new diet to normally considered healthy foods like low fat yogurts, muesli, fruit and fruit juice.
The result was he gain considerable weight and within 2 wks had the start of fatty liver and was pre-diabetic. He was fully documented by specialists for this and even they were surprised how bad high carbs are for the body.
I stopped all grain, pasta, bread without trying to lose weight and i did lose almost 6kg in 2mths. Stop eating anything low fat or diet as they contain higher carbs and hidden sugars which are the main barriers to weight loss.