why am i not losing weight?

eckocardona

Its so discouraging when u excersize and stay under your calorie goal but STILL don't lose a single pound feeling very discouraged right now.

livingleanlivingclean

Are you logging properly? Overestimating exercise cals?

eckocardona

Yes I log everything.. And I scan everything too

livingleanlivingclean

Scanning isn't necessarily accurate... Lots of the entries are incorrect. Do you weigh all your food?

eckocardona

Weigh? No I don't. Some of my friends tell me it's just water weight and that Itll fall off..

eckocardona

But its Ben 10 days since I started

livingleanlivingclean

If you're not weighing your food, how do you know how much you are really eating?

Chieflrg

If you're not using a food scale, you are not accurate with your calories.

alyhuggan

Ten days isn't really enough time to say you aren't losing. Sometimes if you have just started exercising you will retain more water to repair the used muscles which will mean it looks like you don't lose for the first while.

Also, as said above if you aren't weighing foods out you aren't tracking your calories accurately and are most likely overeating.

kkayyla

i stayed level for 2 mo - people are different - cico works - stay determined and gl

fad_sin26

Food scale. Stay dedicated to your diet. Lift weights.

Nicshtik

10 days isn't enough to tell. At least in the beginning, you have to weigh your foods. You are re-learning the size of a portion. Chances are that you are significantly underestimating your caloric intake.

dramaqueen45

Agree with above posts. Weigh everything solid and semi-solid (peanut butter, etc) and measure everything else. Give it time. It will happen.

Unknown

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yourradimradletshug

10 days is not much time to tell. Trust me, weighing your food helps. Yes it is time consuming and can be annoying but if you weigh things out then you get an idea of how many calories you really are eating. Also, when working out, what is it you do? Are you strictly doing cardio? If so, incorporate weights. It'll really help!

I got on here and didn't listen when people told me exactly what I am telling you and I gained 10 pounds and was so discouraged. I started following the tips they gave me and I lost the 10 pounds again and another 2 on top of it in the 6 months I have been on here. Yes I have slacked off sometimes but I am not giving up.

You can do this too! Just give it more time. You got this!

SnuggleSmacks

I know it's frustrating, but it does come down to basic math. Calories in - calories out = weight loss/gain. So if your weight isn't budging, there's 3 possibilities:

1. Calories out is wrong: check to make sure that you've put the right information into MFP so that it could give you a correct calorie goal. Make sure your current height/weight is right, and that you haven't overestimated your activity level. Try calculating your TDEE on several different sites to get an idea of what the average says, and compare that to MFP's numbers with your average exercise added in. See if the numbers make sense. If they don't, there are plenty of people here who can help you set things up correctly. Also, if you are using an activity tracker, read reviews to make sure it's accurate. Some over or under estimate calorie burns, and then they adjust MFP with their incorrect numbers. And when you add in exercise, know that MFP overestimates...if you're not using a heart rate monitor for exercise, and are using MFP's estimates, don't eat all of those calories back.

2. Calories in is wrong: check to make sure you're logging everything, and logging it correctly. Measuring cups and spoons are nearly as bad as just eyeballing volumes for solid food. Get a digital kitchen scale. It's an investment of about $15 and it will last for years. You'll be surprised at how much a serving of cereal actually is. It's definitely not what your measuring cup says it is.

3. Both are right, but you're retaining water: we retain water for a number of reasons, including normal hormonal fluctuations (particularly for women), consuming more sodium or starch, and for muscle repair after an increase or change in activity. That last one is a big culprit for people starting on a weight loss journey. We begin a new exercise program along with our dietary changes, and then water weight swoops in and masks all of our hard work. It's frustrating, but fortunately it's also temporary.

Check out #1 and #2. If you can be sure that you're doing everything right, you can pretty much assume that #3 is the culprit, and then you just have to exercise your patience muscle along with all the other parts you've started working out You can retain as much as 10 lbs in water (or more) and your body will release it eventually. Things that can sometimes prompt this are to lower sodium and starch consumption for a couple of days and to take a couple of rest days from exercise. Some people even find that they suddenly lose a bunch of water if they eat at maintenance for a day or two, but I wouldn't suggest that this early on. Just something to keep in mind later on if you find you're at a plateau and you're sure you're doing everything right.

Good luck!

xcalygrl

First, 10 days isn't really enough time to say you aren't losing. Like PPs said, if you just started working out, you are more than likely retaining water.

Second, if you aren't weighing your food, you are most likely overeating. Here are a few video examples.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLQO2YGo9mA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5sovhvLAig

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QPr5CYi9Lo

THird, just scanning is inaccurate. A lot of the database entries are wrong, plus some packages have 2+ servings. Also, some packages that say 1 serving, when weighed out are actually 1.25-1.75 servings. If you don't weigh it out, you don't know this and don't log it as such.

NHJuice

I think when you are just starting out, you do much better to try to prepare as many of your own foods as possible. Take a break from dining out and going for prepackaged/processed foods. Then you can accurately weigh and measure your foods and achieve a nice jump start on weight loss. Take the time to plan and buy your food for the week so that you have everything you require. Be patient with yourself. Plan a simple exercise routine that you can achieve daily ( even weekends). Every step counts and every bite counts. You need to double check that the programs you are using have the correct activity level and height, etc. to give you the right calculations.
Just for now, do the extra work and it will pay you back.