What am I doing wrong? Less than 16 lbs lost in 4 months (pics)
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healthy_life2015 wrote: »Also you're doing your math wrong! You've lost 16 in 4 months
I know, sorry
I use metric systemWhoa! Emma, your ticker says you have 24 pounds left to lose. You might want to rethink that.
Why do you think that? I had 115 lbs once and it looked perfect:) So this is my goal.
Because from your pictures you do not look like you need to lose weight, and 24 pounds is quite a bit.0 -
If you are eating 900 calories, you are not gaining muscles. You are losing fat and revealing muscles that were under it but not building more. And you are likely retaining water due to lifting weights, which will make your muscles appear larger and more visible as well.
And, she is likely losing muscle as well at that kind of a deficit.0 -
StarlightAria wrote: »At the risk of being redundant, I don't think you need to lose more weight, and you're definitely not fat. If you want more definition, you have to eat MORE. Try protein shakes. It takes a lot of calories to "bulk". Work on lifting and strength exercises.
And weight lifting, progressive heavy weight lifting. Its the bomb. I've seen amazing changes in my body, and I'm an old lady at 53.
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If not 25 then 15 at least.... In my belly and hips. Just look at the updated photo
And now were are getting somewhere.
At a guess, and god knows I am not anywhere near as capable as some of the people in the exercise and fitness groups at judging these things, you are at just about 25% body fat right now.
http://www.builtlean.com/2012/09/24/body-fat-percentage-men-women/
Realistically, aiming for less than 20-22% fat is questionable. So, assuming you manage to lose mostly fat, you only have a total of about 2kg-3kg (4.5lbs to 6.5lbs) available to lose.
Which means that eating at maintenance or at a small deficit and trying to build up to maintenance is where you should be!
Unless you think that getting your body fat to where you stop menstruating makes sense...
I did the measurements and calculations and it showed that I have 27% of body fat, you are almost right.0 -
I know losing weight is not going to take my problems away. Though nothing will. But exercising and cooking my meals wisely helps me to take my mind off it. You know, like those guys in the movies locked in prisons, who start doing push-ups cause they have nothing else to do
Unfortunately, I gain weight very easily all my life
On a usual day, not dieting, I would consume about 1500-2000 calories and gain weight day by day. My whole family are overweight, I guess it's genetics...
Previous dieting attempts can make your maintenance TDEE lower than the TDEE of a person who has never dieted, and who has the same height, weight, age, and lean body mass.
Please watch how your thinking about life and your other problems interacts with your thinking about your food and your body. It is a dangerous path and close to ED territory.0 -
I did the measurements and calculations and it showed that I have 27% of body fat, you are almost right.
Unfortunately all the calculations and body pod tests and dexa scans are nowhere near 100% accurate.
But regardless of whether it is 25% or 27%, that still leaves you in the normal weight range with a grand total of only 2kg to 3kg (4.5lbs to 6.5lbs) of fat available to lose before you are in the 20% to 25% range.
And you sure as hell are NOT going to only lose fat if you try to do this in any way other than extremely slowly and extremely carefully. I am talking 200Cal deficits, not 500...
Please read up on reverse dieting and body recomp. And ask for help in the maintenance and exercise forums.0 -
carolynmo1969 wrote: »I would look at it this way - in highschool you were a child. You are an adult now and adults weigh more than children. I met with a trainer years ago who asked me what my size goal was. I said Size 8, and she asked me to be honest - had I ever been a size 8 before? I could honestly answer that I had been, prior to having 2 children. My body changed, unless I have my hip bones shaved there is no way I will ever get a pair of size 8 pants over them. My frame changed. My ribcage is wider. My feet are a size bigger. Your body will evolve as you age, and a person can do real damage to themselves by holding onto to body ideals that are unsuitable for your age and how you have evolved.
I have to diagree with this based on my own experience-in my 20s/before kids I wore a size 6 jean. After three pregnancies/going into my 30s/my highest weight-I was wearing size 14 jeans. However, after losing almost 60lbs and doing strength training with body-weight exercises I now wear a size 4 jeans and my whole shape has changed-I look way better now than what I did pre-kids I'm also at this point, at age 36 and my twenties are a distant memory lol.
Also one funny 'side effect' of my weight loss-I've gone down a whole shoe size, from a 9 to an 8. After I transitioned into maintenance I had to buy all new shoes!0 -
Nony_Mouse wrote: »Emma hon, I see some very concerning things in some of your posts, and specifically that you were happy with your progress until you stepped on the scales. It's just a number, go back to the happy!! If you want to build muscle, you're going to have to accept that you will weigh more than you would without the muscle, so learning to ignore the scales is a good thing.
FWIW I agree with others that your goal is set too low. I'm a couple of inches taller than you, used to weigh 56kg in my late teens. I got close to that weight again a few years ago and was skeletal. Like seriously you could see the bones in my shoulder joints.
Concentrate on getting your calorie intake up a bit, and work on body recomp. Ignore the scale.
Thanks, I'm trying that:) I hope it will be good for me:) It wasn't very easy though to reach that 1200 limit. When you are not eating pasta calories are hard to come by
OP I don't think we've delved much into this yet since everyone has been focused on trying to help you understand a reasonable goal weight and calorie goal for yourself but... You don't have to cut out pasta, carbs, or any other type of food in order to lose weight, unless you have a medical reason to restrict a certain food. Many people here lose weight or work toward other fitness/health goals eating all the foods they love, just using portion control and moderation to stay within their calorie goals.
As others have said, you've made some concerning comments throughout this thread so I hope you find the balance between your ideal body image and realistic health goals (physically and mentally)
Good luck.
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galgenstrick wrote: »If what you're doing isn't working for you then why are you so hesitant to try something new and give it a good 90 days?
90 days? Why so much?
You've gotten some great feedback already, but I just want to point out that this is maybe not the mindset to have with weight loss. Obviously I don't know anything about you, but it's always somewhat dangerous to get into this thought process that weight loss has to happen quickly and soon you'll reach your goal weight and be totally done with fitness and diets and everything. You want to create sustainable, life long habits so you don't gain any weight back and have to do it again! 90 days really isn't all that long, and neither is 4 months! You can't expect everything to come off at once 0 -
Typo correction: above should read: 20% to 22% range.But regardless of whether it is 25% or 27%, that still leaves you in the normal weight range with a grand total of only 2kg to 3kg (4.5lbs to 6.5lbs) of fat available to lose before you are in the 20% to 25% range.
Being lazy, I am just cribbing wholesale from various web-sites here:
A research paper by Gallagher et. al. in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2000) came to the conclusion that certain low body fat ranges are “underfat”, which implies “unhealthy”. For women between 20-40, any level under 21% is “underfat” and 21% to 33% is considered “healthy”.
Using the Jackson & Pollock bodyfat % chart for Women aged 21-25, the ideal range starts at 23.8%, midpoints at 22.1% and approaches "too lean" at 20.3%.
At your current 25% to 27% "agreed upon" range, you are, horror of horrors: at the low end of average (28.4% being the midpoint for your age group)!0 -
I think you look beyond fine - many people would be very happy to have your physique! But, it's about personal goals.
PS: I LOVE your Japanese wave art dress!!0 -
You are doing great! And you look good. I'm hoping to loose 7 pounds in 3 months! -*-0
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OP I don't think we've delved much into this yet since everyone has been focused on trying to help you understand a reasonable goal weight and calorie goal for yourself but... You don't have to cut out pasta, carbs, or any other type of food in order to lose weight, unless you have a medical reason to restrict a certain food. Many people here lose weight or work toward other fitness/health goals eating all the foods they love, just using portion control and moderation to stay within their calorie goals.
As others have said, you've made some concerning comments throughout this thread so I hope you find the balance between your ideal body image and realistic health goals (physically and mentally)
Good luck.
Oh, I'm not afraid of carbs, but I have too much of them daily. As well as fats. See
And when I cook pasta I can't just eat plain boiled spaghetti, there need to be sauce, cheese, ham etc etc, so it's definitely not a healthy option for me)0 -
catieraney wrote: »
You've gotten some great feedback already, but I just want to point out that this is maybe not the mindset to have with weight loss. Obviously I don't know anything about you, but it's always somewhat dangerous to get into this thought process that weight loss has to happen quickly and soon you'll reach your goal weight and be totally done with fitness and diets and everything. You want to create sustainable, life long habits so you don't gain any weight back and have to do it again! 90 days really isn't all that long, and neither is 4 months! You can't expect everything to come off at once
I mean, If i see that this is not going well, why should I wait for 90 days to change something? A shorter time would be enough to see if I'm doing the right thing and adjust accordingly. I suppose.0 -
ALLCAPSKATIE wrote: »I think you look beyond fine - many people would be very happy to have your physique! But, it's about personal goals.
PS: I LOVE your Japanese wave art dress!!
Thank you! I love it so much myself!0 -
Asher_Ethan wrote: »You are doing great! And you look good. I'm hoping to loose 7 pounds in 3 months! -*-
I think this is as possible as sundawn:)0 -
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Just stop it. You look fantastic. Seriously. ..posts like this make me so sad. What are we doing as a society when a woman with a body like that says "why am I so fat?" and thinks existing on 900 calories is an acceptable way to treat her body?
I completed agree.
we really need to sort out our society if this is the impact that all these ridiculous images are having.
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you look incredible! I definitely don't think you need to lose any more weight - your body will be different if you are building muscle this time around0
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I love the other thread losing slowly and loving it. Perspective is rallt importnat, it cna save a lot of needless stress and frustration.0
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Lots of red flags by the OP here. I hope you can reconcile your self image and eating habits.0
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You look just fine. There's nothing wrong with that rate of weight loss (16 lbs in 4 months) slow and steady wins the race. But you look great so you should be proud of yourself0
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OP, I just thought about this.....are you grossing 900 calories a day, or is that ALL you eat while working out 45min-an hour a day?0
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And I said at your ht/wt/age, the scale can be a really poor indicator of progress.0 -
OP, I just thought about this.....are you grossing 900 calories a day, or is that ALL you eat while working out 45min-an hour a day?
I have, for some time. But during previous months until I joined MFP I think I had more. I just didn't count. Now as everybody advised me to do so, I try to reach 1200.0 -
You don't have much to lose and you've been losing 1 lb a week. That's pretty good.
Actually nobody knows how fast she is losing because she is guessing as to her starting weight; but she has the mindset to lose fast. Which means that she is not trying to (or even aware of the need to) minimize non fat mass loss.
OP: you may want to consider whether your involvement in the modeling industry is skewing your perception of what is normal. The strong guy on steroids and the lean long distance runner cannot have the same body.
You may really want to look into increasing your strength and then arm wrestling with some of the models you find distressingly thin. Yes, they are thinner than you, and you are stronger than them...
Greek yogurt is relatively high protein, and low fat, for the amount of Calories it has. Nuts and seeds easily add a lot of 'healthy" calories and fats to your meals: almonds and walnuts, pumpkin and chia seeds, even hemp hearts.
You can easily mix some fruit and nuts into plain greek yogurt, so it is silly to be claiming you can't eat more than 900Cal a day.
You mention "many other problems" and "weight/or food is not one of them". Becoming thin/thinner is not going to affect your other problems.
As you are already at a healthy weight you may want to evaluate the risk/rewards associated with trying to be thinner and decide whether that's where you need to be putting your energy.
Note that not a single person here is advocating that you should not work out, or become stronger/healthier.
The problem some of us have is that you appear to be starving yourself by eating 900 +/- margin of error calories, when you probably need closer to 2250 to fully fuel your body and workouts.
For some of us who are obese or overweight eating at a deficit is likely to make us healthier. For someone who is already in the normal weight range... not so sure that you don't have better options.
I've bought a pack of greek yogurt today with an intention to use is as a dressing with the vegetable salads I make. I'm really low on protein and high of fats, to I think a little protein will be perfect for me. Thanks.
I know losing weight is not going to take my problems away. Though nothing will. But exercising and cooking my meals wisely helps me to take my mind off it. You know, like those guys in the movies locked in prisons, who start doing push-ups cause they have nothing else to do
Unfortunately, I gain weight very easily all my lifeOn a usual day, not dieting, I would consume about 1500-2000 calories and gain weight day by day. My whole family are overweight, I guess it's genetics...
No - it's because you're eating more than you think you're eating when this happens. Not many people could eat at this range and see a legitimate difference every single day, over time maybe but not every day. You're simply eating more than you think you are (or telling yourself you are) if this happens.
ETA: bolded legitimate since slight fluctuations daily are very normal, but are not always legitimate gains or losses0 -
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