Not losing weight? 6 weeks?

midpath

I have been dieting and exercising for 6 weeks now. I took one week off to visit family and actually lost weight while I was there (which makes zero sense if you saw how much and what I was eating) but the other five weeks I have diligently been logging even on the days I went over and consistently working out at least four times a week for a half hour.

I have been sticking to about 1800 calories or less. I really try to follow my hunger cues so sometimes it's around 1300-1500. I'm 5'10" female, 230 lbs. so that puts me at like a 400 calorie deficit every day not counting exercise so I should've lost at the very least like 3-4 lbs by now if you count in my crap days (which were not as many as you'd think)

I have been drinking 3 liters of water a day religiously, I have been doing T25, and as of about a week and a half ago I tried to cut added sugars down a bit.

My diary is public if you want to check it out. April 5th is not logged properly (easter)

malibu927

You're eating more than you think. There are a lot of generic entries from the database and it doesn't look like you're using a food scale. Start reading these threads to see what you can change:

community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1296011/calorie-counting-101#latest
community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide#latest

elisa123gal

i'd try lowering your calories by 200...

midpath

I'm really trying to avoid using a food scale because I have a long history of eating disorders and I don't want to do anything that would bring me back to those days. That's why I'm not eating like 1200 calories and I'm instead going for the slow route. Am I just going to have to measure my food? Is that the only way to lose weight?

christina3180

I don't think your eating enough. Im same heigh and 220lb. I eat 1500 cal a day if not more. I try not to focus on the calorie aspect as much as the clean eating. Processed foods will hurt you more.

I think it may be the sugars based on glancing at your dairy. If your not eating for a long stretch and then eat, your insulin shoots up and your body natural function is to bring it back down. Which in turn, the sugars turn to fat cells. So if you keep your sugar at a constant state of normal it won't store fat cells

I eat about every 2-3 hrs. No matter if I'm hungry or not. So Meal-Snack-Meal-Snack-Meal. oh and water ally day haha Adding some weight training to your work out should help, muscle burns 6% , fat 2%

I hope this helps a little. Remember to loose fat its 20% exercise and 80% diet

malibu927

Measuring will help, but it won't be as accurate as a scale

christina3180

I have also learned that wheat bread has a lot of chemicals in there, so apparently thats not healthy.

Honestly thought, putting so much stress on weight loss doesn't help. I would just do your very best and have fun with your workouts and make the best eating decisions you can.

midpath

christina3180 wrote: »

I have also learned that wheat bread has a lot of chemicals in there, so apparently thats not healthy.

Honestly thought, putting so much stress on weight loss doesn't help. I would just do your very best and have fun with your workouts and make the best eating decisions you can.

Yeah I've been really trying to give up gluten and I've done a pretty good job so far. Processed foods are just crap and I'm trying to view my food as fuel and I seem to have a much more positive view on it now that I do. It's just disheartening when 6 weeks later I'm 2 lbs bigger. I'll try eating more and see if that helps and I hope it doesn't make it worse.

I'm trying to have fun with my workouts but I always have to stop them after an hour even if I want to keep going and its depressing.

elphie754

christina3180 wrote: »

I don't think your eating enough. Im same heigh and 220lb. I eat 1500 cal a day if not more. I try not to focus on the calorie aspect as much as the clean eating. Processed foods will hurt you more.

I think it may be the sugars based on glancing at your dairy. If your not eating for a long stretch and then eat, your insulin shoots up and your body natural function is to bring it back down. Which in turn, the sugars turn to fat cells. So if you keep your sugar at a constant state of normal it won't store fat cells

I eat about every 2-3 hrs. No matter if I'm hungry or not. So Meal-Snack-Meal-Snack-Meal. oh and water ally day haha Adding some weight training to your work out should help, muscle burns 6% , fat 2%

I hope this helps a little. Remember to loose fat its 20% exercise and 80% diet

No. Most of this is just broscience/myth.

christina3180 wrote: »

I have also learned that wheat bread has a lot of chemicals in there, so apparently thats not healthy.

Honestly thought, putting so much stress on weight loss doesn't help. I would just do your very best and have fun with your workouts and make the best eating decisions you can.

Even more no. There is nothing wrong with wheat bread (barring any medical conditions). There is no reason to "give up gluten" if you do not have a medical reason.

zoeysasha37

Sorry but without a food scale it's going to be really hard to determine what your actually consuming. My guess is that your eating way more then you think

christina3180

There is just so much to weight loss and its gonna be different for everyone. I also add herbalife shakes in my diet. Normally breakfast (because I hate eating that early and having to make anything) and sometimes in mid afternoon.

For me I add weight training to my workout. I hate cardio and unless your training for a marathon it isn't the best for your body. I looked back a few more days and as long as its clean eating and not much processed food I think your doing what you can. I never got into the scale so I can't comment on that part of it.

zoeysasha37

Also there is no need to give up gluten or sugar or anything unless you have a medical condition. Moderation and portion control is what you need to learn but you do not have to give up anything

emdeesea

I haven't given up gluten, dairy, processed food, etc., and I'm almost at a 50 pound loss. I love my bread and my frozen pizzas. There's no reason at all to give anything up if you don't have a medical condition that forces you to do so.

As others have said,you're really going to have to bite the bullet and use the food scale.

elphie754

christina3180 wrote: »

There is just so much to weight loss and its gonna be different for everyone. I also add herbalife shakes in my diet. Normally breakfast (because I hate eating that early and having to make anything) and sometimes in mid afternoon.

For me I add weight training to my workout. I hate cardio and unless your training for a marathon it isn't the best for your body. I looked back a few more days and as long as its clean eating and not much processed food I think your doing what you can. I never got into the scale so I can't comment on that part of it.

No, there isn't so much to weight loss. It boils down to calories in vs calories out. If you are in a deficit you will lose weight.

Cardio IS good for your body, which is why it is universally reccomended by physicians that adults get regular cardio exercise.

Clean eating has nothing to do with weightloss.

rileysowner

Since you don't want to use a food scale and have a reason why, I would suggest you make sure the database entries you are using are accurate. Try to focus on USDA entries and the like. Avoid ones that are listed as homemade and the like, instead for recipes use the recipe creator and enter the ingredients. If you are measuring, even if not weighing your food, you should be able to lose weight, but if the database entries are way off, then you could be eating far more than you think, and eating through a 400 calorie deficit is not hard if a couple of database items you are using are way off.

kimny72

OP, if you aren't losing then you are eating more than you think. I can understand you have concerns about weighing everything due to your history. Do you think a short period of using the food scale is something you could do?

Chances are you have some staples of your diet - things that you eat all the time. So take a week where you weigh your servings of those foods and then try to "memorize" what the correct serving size looks like in the container you would normally store or eat it in. I'll bet you will be surprised, I sure was. Then whenever you add another food to your list of staples, weigh it for the first couple of times. And then every couple of months pick a week to use the food scale again to make sure your "servings" don't start to grow again. I'm not sure if that is doable for you, but it certainly would help.

You don't have to give up any foods to lose weight. You just need to figure out what foods will help you feel satisfied without going over your calories. Good luck!

christina3180

elphie754 wrote: »

christina3180 wrote: »

There is just so much to weight loss and its gonna be different for everyone. I also add herbalife shakes in my diet. Normally breakfast (because I hate eating that early and having to make anything) and sometimes in mid afternoon.

For me I add weight training to my workout. I hate cardio and unless your training for a marathon it isn't the best for your body. I looked back a few more days and as long as its clean eating and not much processed food I think your doing what you can. I never got into the scale so I can't comment on that part of it.

No, there isn't so much to weight loss. It boils down to calories in vs calories out. If you are in a deficit you will lose weight.

Cardio IS good for your body, which is why it is universally reccomended by physicians that adults get regular cardio exercise.

Clean eating has nothing to do with weightloss.

Clean eating has everything to do with weightless. If you put 1500cal of junk vs 1500 of clean food in your body you will lose weight.
Cardio is good but not just cardio, you need to add weight training.

999tigger

christina3180 wrote: »

There is just so much to weight loss and its gonna be different for everyone. I also add herbalife shakes in my diet. Normally breakfast (because I hate eating that early and having to make anything) and sometimes in mid afternoon.

For me I add weight training to my workout. I hate cardio and unless your training for a marathon it isn't the best for your body. I looked back a few more days and as long as its clean eating and not much processed food I think your doing what you can. I never got into the scale so I can't comment on that part of it.

err just NO

Weight loss is straight forward.

Just lol @ cardio being bad. Ofc not keeping your cardio vascular system in shape makes sense to people who dont want to put in the effort.

Herbal life and clean eating as well.......

DeguelloTex

christina3180 wrote: »

elphie754 wrote: »

christina3180 wrote: »

There is just so much to weight loss and its gonna be different for everyone. I also add herbalife shakes in my diet. Normally breakfast (because I hate eating that early and having to make anything) and sometimes in mid afternoon.

For me I add weight training to my workout. I hate cardio and unless your training for a marathon it isn't the best for your body. I looked back a few more days and as long as its clean eating and not much processed food I think your doing what you can. I never got into the scale so I can't comment on that part of it.

No, there isn't so much to weight loss. It boils down to calories in vs calories out. If you are in a deficit you will lose weight.

Cardio IS good for your body, which is why it is universally reccomended by physicians that adults get regular cardio exercise.

Clean eating has nothing to do with weightloss.

Clean eating has everything to do with weightless. If you put 1500cal of junk vs 1500 of clean food in your body you will lose weight.
Cardio is good but not just cardio, you need to add weight training.

Clean eating has nothing to do with weight loss. 1500 calories is 1500 calories, from a weight loss perspective. It doesn't matter if it's Twinkies.

Now, you may be better able to stick to a diet that isn't all Twinkies, but a calorie is a calorie, barring some medical condition.

BWBTrish

Weight loss is about eating less calories than you burn...thats all there is too it.
Clean, junk whatever.

Of course it is healthier to eat more vegetables and other delicious foods like nuts and fruit etc. But nothing wrong with a pizza sometimes or a Mac.
It all comes down to moderation and portion control.

I lost 85 pounds in 6 months and ate everything, i cook from scratch and weigh ALL my solid food on a food scale. i ate pizza in that time had some champagne and beer, some take outs....but the key is "some" It was back on track the next day. I eat a cookie sometimes. The only thing i had to cut out for medical reasons was added salt and being very careful with added sugar. So yes, i eat fruit as much as i want.

without weighing your food my guess is you eat a lot more than you think

Here a short video about the difference between weighing your food and measuring...a couple of hundred calories difference just there for only two kinds of foods.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY

fatjon73

OP........I do believe you need to find a way that can allow you to weigh you food....as that's the important part to find your exact intake....butter / condiments / sauces really do add up if you weight them fully....

Is it possible to maybe bulk cook some foods, then portion them, weighing it out in one go all at once, so its a portion exercise, not a measure, then freeze and just take out when needed......adding veg / salad to it...so your not weighing every day...if that is an issue from the past, or maybe you have someone that could weigh for you.???

Pre packaged foods could help....although not the best. I am trying my best to cut processed out of my life.......but if it helps you....even for a month or 3 to get your logging more accurate....maybe a weight watchers type meals...if you can afford them.....

BUT......

I will also add....be patient too...In my first 8 weeks I lost 4 lbs.....according to all the data it should of been 18 lbs.....with my deficit each day.......but still only 4lbs....the odd week I was gaining in there...yo yoing.......

I went a bit mental about this....obsessive as to why.......I bought a FitBit I designed spreadsheet to track everything.....I started punishing my workouts.......and over the next 4 weeks....still only another 2 lbs....

I could notice a difference in my body though.....my stomach not a bloated, I was definitely losing weight.....but not on the scales.....

Reading all the forums etc...they said its water....its newbie gains all that....

Anyway I carried on doing what I had been doing...although now I am on a proper treadmill training program for my cardio / fitness......and in the last 4 weeks I have lost nearly 14 lbs......

So please be patient it should come eventually especially if you are adding more exercise......if your eating better quality than you always have, smaller portions and adding exercise....then just think your are doing the right thing....even if the scales don't show it YET.........

Don't get depressed and let it lead to your old habits etc......positive mental attitude for me......knowing what changes I am making are the right ones keeps me focused....

I have now started to relax my obsession with data collection (this is how I cope.....I am an engineer...data collection in my world is key...sad I know...lol)

And I am enjoying how things are going.....


Good luck...I hope you can find your groove in this....but please don't let it take control....