Tracking and exercizing faithfully - Not losing weight?

axiommaxim

So, about a month ago I joined OrangeTheory Fitness and started faithfully tracking my calories. I go to the gym every other day for an hour (haven't missed a class) and I burn anywhere from 500-600 calories each time doing both cardio and strength training.

I generally stay around the 1200 calorie per day mark, sometimes I eat some or all of my exercise back and there have been 2 days where I went way over in calories (Full disclosure: I was drinking beer while hauling heavy loads of rock/dirt in my backyard for 6 hours in the sun [didn't track that as exercise] so I'm guessing it wasn't AS bad as I think it was).

I haven't lost any weight, and I don't really know why. I've lost weight fairly easily before by just staying within the 1200 calories(ish) per day and not doing any exercise, so I can't explain why adding intense cardio/strength training into it would hinder weight loss.

Unfortunately I didn't take measurements when I started a month ago so I can't confirm or deny the "You're losing inches and building muscle!" argument, but my clothes aren't fitting any differently and I would think that at 5'8" and 215lbs that I would certainly see SOME weight loss even if I was losing inches and building muscle.

I know I'm in better shape based on how I perform at the gym, but I'm still becoming discouraged that I'm not physically seeing any progess.

Can anyone offer some advice?

malibu927

How are you determining you burn 500-600 calories? How are you determining how much you eat (food scale, measuring cups, eyeballing portions)?

Alyssa_Is_LosingIt

If you aren't used to exercise, and have just started a relatively strenuous exercise routine, then your muscles are likely retaining water, which will come off eventually if you are being consistent with your logging and staying in a deficit.

How are you measuring your foods? Do you have a food scale?

StaciMarie1974

Are you using a food scale? If so you may just need to give it more time. If not, they are in the under $25 range and will help you improve accuracy in your logging. If you do not lose weight over time (and it really needs more than a month) then you're eating more than you think and/or burning less. But for one month, it could just be other factors are increasing your water weight temporarily and that's hiding your true loss.

annavalente

If you havw been able to lose weight eating 1200 calories before you may be over estimating your caloriea burned! On the days where you think you have burned 600 calories ) which probably isnt totally accurate!) you are eating 1800 calories (minua whatever you have actually burned!)

What exercise are you doing to burn 600 calories? I work out for around 75 mins doing strength and cardio and burn around 300 calories.

annavalente

Lots of mistakes...Apologies- sitting in the sun and can't particularly see my.phone lol

Verdenal

Don't eat back your calories. Exercise because it's good for your general physical and mental health, not in order to lose weight or to be able to eat more. Exercise -- and it's hard to measure the actual calorie burn accurately -- doesn't burn enough calories to be a meaningful factor in weight loss, at least for the average exerciser.

ndj1979

please answer:

do you use a food scale to weigh all solids?
do you eat back 100% of calories burned?

juggernaut1974

axiommaxim wrote: »

So, about a month ago I joined OrangeTheory Fitness and started faithfully tracking my calories. I go to the gym every other day for an hour (haven't missed a class) and I burn anywhere from 500-600 calories each time doing both cardio and strength training.

I generally stay around the 1200 calorie per day mark, sometimes I eat some or all of my exercise back and there have been 2 days where I went way over in calories (Full disclosure: I was drinking beer while hauling heavy loads of rock/dirt in my backyard for 6 hours in the sun [didn't track that as exercise] so I'm guessing it wasn't AS bad as I think it was).

I haven't lost any weight, and I don't really know why. I've lost weight fairly easily before by just staying within the 1200 calories(ish) per day and not doing any exercise, so I can't explain why adding intense cardio/strength training into it would hinder weight loss.

Unfortunately I didn't take measurements when I started a month ago so I can't confirm or deny the "You're losing inches and building muscle!" argument, but my clothes aren't fitting any differently and I would think that at 5'8" and 215lbs that I would certainly see SOME weight loss even if I was losing inches and building muscle.

I know I'm in better shape based on how I perform at the gym, but I'm still becoming discouraged that I'm not physically seeing any progess.

Can anyone offer some advice?

All the bolded.

You are guessing, estimating, thinking, etc.

Take the next month and be accurate - that mean weighing/measuring & logging EVERYTHING.

I'd put money on the fact that you're consuming a lot more than you think, and burning a lot less than you think. That's not a criticism, but it is almost always true when someone isn't taking the time to be accurate.

ElizabethKalmbach

The other thing too, is that it's only been a month. Weight loss isn't linear, and especially if you're a woman, there are all sorts of things that will disguise or effect your weight loss. My weight loss ramps up in speed, despite the fact that I am actually DOING the same thing from one month to the next. The first month, I lost 1 lb, then 3lb, then 5lb, then 8lb. I feel like it takes a while for my body to "catch on" and "get with the program. ANYTIME I start trying to lose weight, I pretty much resign myself to not seeing any loss for the first 3 weeks. Your body may be doing something similar, though not all women are the same (obviously.).

DO be patient.
DO allow for water retention from the new workout regimen.
DO double check your food measurement and calorie counts.
DO NOT give up.

axiommaxim

malibu927 wrote: »

How are you determining you burn 500-600 calories? How are you determining how much you eat (food scale, measuring cups, eyeballing portions)?

I wear a HRM at orangetheory and our calories burned is displayed throughout each session.
I use measuring cups and am sure to be aware of portion sizes and adding the number of calories based on the serving size on the package.

axiommaxim

annavalente wrote: »

If you havw been able to lose weight eating 1200 calories before you may be over estimating your caloriea burned! On the days where you think you have burned 600 calories ) which probably isnt totally accurate!) you are eating 1800 calories (minua whatever you have actually burned!)

What exercise are you doing to burn 600 calories? I work out for around 75 mins doing strength and cardio and burn around 300 calories.

At orangetheory you wear a HRM which is preprogrammed with your height, weight, etc. to more effectively measure number of calories burned for the entire session and they do HIIT training.

It's 50% cardio and 50% weight training using treadmills, rowers, TRX, weights, etc.

axiommaxim

ndj1979 wrote: »

please answer:

do you use a food scale to weigh all solids?
do you eat back 100% of calories burned?

I do not use a food scale. And I don't always eat back all of my calories burned. I'm guessing I should invest in a scale based on these answers though!

axiommaxim

ceoverturf wrote: »

axiommaxim wrote: »

So, about a month ago I joined OrangeTheory Fitness and started faithfully tracking my calories. I go to the gym every other day for an hour (haven't missed a class) and I burn anywhere from 500-600 calories each time doing both cardio and strength training.

I generally stay around the 1200 calorie per day mark, sometimes I eat some or all of my exercise back and there have been 2 days where I went way over in calories (Full disclosure: I was drinking beer while hauling heavy loads of rock/dirt in my backyard for 6 hours in the sun [didn't track that as exercise] so I'm guessing it wasn't AS bad as I think it was).

I haven't lost any weight, and I don't really know why. I've lost weight fairly easily before by just staying within the 1200 calories(ish) per day and not doing any exercise, so I can't explain why adding intense cardio/strength training into it would hinder weight loss.

Unfortunately I didn't take measurements when I started a month ago so I can't confirm or deny the "You're losing inches and building muscle!" argument, but my clothes aren't fitting any differently and I would think that at 5'8" and 215lbs that I would certainly see SOME weight loss even if I was losing inches and building muscle.

I know I'm in better shape based on how I perform at the gym, but I'm still becoming discouraged that I'm not physically seeing any progess.

Can anyone offer some advice?

All the bolded.

You are guessing, estimating, thinking, etc.

Take the next month and be accurate - that mean weighing/measuring & logging EVERYTHING.

I'd put money on the fact that you're consuming a lot more than you think, and burning a lot less than you think. That's not a criticism, but it is almost always true when someone isn't taking the time to be accurate.

So, my issue with this is that I'd been maintaining 215lbs for years by being supremely lazy and eating whatever and however much garbage I wanted to. Over the past 3 years I would start tracking calories, lose 5-10lbs, fall off the wagon and creep right back up to 215 and stay there. I just find it strange that I spend a month doing high intensity gymming every other day and being diligent in tracking (admittedly not 100% diligient, but 90% is fair) and I'm still maintaining that 215lbs of weight.

axiommaxim

Alyssa_Is_LosingIt wrote: »

If you aren't used to exercise, and have just started a relatively strenuous exercise routine, then your muscles are likely retaining water, which will come off eventually if you are being consistent with your logging and staying in a deficit.

How are you measuring your foods? Do you have a food scale?

PS. Thank you for your advice about my muscles possibly retaining water. My muscles have been sore every day since I started at the gym so hopefully water retention is accounting for *some* of it! I took measurements yesterday so hopefully next month I see some movement in measurements if not on the scale.

sijomial

axiommaxim wrote: »

annavalente wrote: »

If you havw been able to lose weight eating 1200 calories before you may be over estimating your caloriea burned! On the days where you think you have burned 600 calories ) which probably isnt totally accurate!) you are eating 1800 calories (minua whatever you have actually burned!)

What exercise are you doing to burn 600 calories? I work out for around 75 mins doing strength and cardio and burn around 300 calories.

At orangetheory you wear a HRM which is preprogrammed with your height, weight, etc. to more effectively measure number of calories burned for the entire session and they do HIIT training.

It's 50% cardio and 50% weight training using treadmills, rowers, TRX, weights, etc.

That's a pretty terrible mixture of exercise to get a reliable calorie estimate from a HRM. Both intervals and weights will more than likely give an inflated burn.
With intervals your HR is elevated during the recovery periods when you are doing little work and with weights HR isn't an indicator of energy used.

But the main place to look is your food diary - which is locked.

Ditch measuring cups - they measure volume and not weight.

leggup

So it has been about a month- 4 weeks. Your muscles could be retaining water from your new exercise regime. You could be overestimating your workout calories. A heart rate monitor can only reasonably be used to measure steady state cardio (treadmill, elliptical, bike) and not lifting, resistance training, yoga, HIITS, yoga, etc. You could also be underlogging your food since you're using cups instead of a food scale. This is often the culprit.

It's probably all 3 factors- water weight fluctuation, overestimating exercise, underestimating food.

Since I also noticed that you say you generally and sometimes do this and that, I recommend tightening up your calorie estimates using a food scale and upping your calories to 1,400 or 1,500. I am 5'11 and I started at 215 lbs. I remember MyFitnessPal giving me 1,650 calories to start with, so I don't know why you're aiming for 1,200 calories. You may actually already be eating at that level, maybe even more.

deceived1

axiommaxim wrote: »

ndj1979 wrote: »

please answer:

do you use a food scale to weigh all solids?
do you eat back 100% of calories burned?

I do not use a food scale. And I don't always eat back all of my calories burned. I'm guessing I should invest in a scale based on these answers though!

Yes, you should 100% invest in a digital scale. You are probably underestimating your actual calorie intake by quite a bit.

ndj1979

axiommaxim wrote: »

ndj1979 wrote: »

please answer:

do you use a food scale to weigh all solids?
do you eat back 100% of calories burned?

I do not use a food scale. And I don't always eat back all of my calories burned. I'm guessing I should invest in a scale based on these answers though!

yes, I would highly recommend a food scale as your issue is probably underestimating calories, so you are consuming more than you think.

If you are going to eat back exercise calories you should only eat back half. So if you are showing a burn of 600 only eat back 300.

RedVonMunster

axiommaxim wrote: »

So, my issue with this is that I'd been maintaining 215lbs for years by being supremely lazy and eating whatever and however much garbage I wanted to. Over the past 3 years I would start tracking calories, lose 5-10lbs, fall off the wagon and creep right back up to 215 and stay there. I just find it strange that I spend a month doing high intensity gymming every other day and being diligent in tracking (admittedly not 100% diligient, but 90% is fair) and I'm still maintaining that 215lbs of weight.

Unless you have one of the few medical conditions that stop you from losing weight then your problems are that you're not working out all that much to be honest. One hour a day, six days a week with a day of rest is best. You're not accurately tracking your calories burned, get a heart monitor. You're not tracking your food intake properly, your not weighing, measuring your food properly either. Baring one of the few conditions that can stop you from losing weight, if a person isn't losing, it's because they're doing something wrong.