Nothing seems to be working.
DrLainey
Posts: 6 Member
I have been working out 5 days a week, 3 hours each day. I do zumba 3 of those days and circuit training the other 2. I ride a recumbent bicycle 2 hours a day, and last week, I added 1 hour of yoga 2 days a week. Sometimes I think I may be overdoing it, but I'm not losing weight. I actually have gained weight. I am 68 years old, and I would at least like to weigh what my driver's license show. 
Any suggestions?
Any suggestions? 0
Replies
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It sounds like you need to eat less.0
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Are you using a food scale and accurately weighing most (if not all) foods? You might be eating more than what you think, especially if you're using measuring cups instead of weighing.0
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- Are you using an electric food scale?
- Are you weighing your foods accurately? i.e. using grams instead of cups
- How are you obtaining your calorie burns? MFP, HRM or machines?
OP I suggest you read the stickies - it's quite clear that you haven't. Here they are: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177910/most-helpful-posts-general-diet-and-weight-loss-help-must-reads#latest
Weight loss comes from a caloric deficit. Exercise is for physical fitness.
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If you open your diary, it can help us analyze what might be happening. Exercise is only a small part of losing weight.
To open it, go to My Home > Settings > Diary Settings > Scroll to the bottom to "Diary Sharing" and set it to "Public".0 -
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OP you cannot out run and a calorie surplus. You feel like you are overdoing it but not losing weight because you are eating too much.0
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I would give it another week or two as an increase in exercise can lead to increased water retention in the short term.
If you still see no movement check your methods for calculating your calories (do you use a food scale etc) and see if that makes a difference.
If, after feeling confident your tracking methods are sound and you still see no movement, start reducing your deficit by 100 cals until you find your weight loss sweet spot.
Keep at it!0 -
Muscle weighs more than fat, so if you are exercising a lot, you may be building a fair amount of muscle.0
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No. This isn't it.schandler1011 wrote: »Muscle weighs more than fat, so if you are exercising a lot, you may be building a fair amount of muscle.
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DeguelloTex wrote: »
No. This isn't it.schandler1011 wrote: »Muscle weighs more than fat, so if you are exercising a lot, you may be building a fair amount of muscle.
Well since OP never said a thing about diet she could be in calorie surplus.
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It's all about the calorie balance. If you're not losing weight, you're eating too much.0
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How long have you been doing this without losing any weight?0
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Well, since she's gaining weight, she probably is in a calorie surplus. That hardly means the 68 year old woman's weight gain can be attributed to muscle gains from cardio.yopeeps025 wrote: »DeguelloTex wrote: »
No. This isn't it.schandler1011 wrote: »Muscle weighs more than fat, so if you are exercising a lot, you may be building a fair amount of muscle.
Well since OP never said a thing about diet she could be in calorie surplus.
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DeguelloTex wrote: »
Well, since she's gaining weight, she probably is in a calorie surplus. That hardly means the 68 year old woman's weight gain can be attributed to muscle gains from cardio.yopeeps025 wrote: »DeguelloTex wrote: »
No. This isn't it.schandler1011 wrote: »Muscle weighs more than fat, so if you are exercising a lot, you may be building a fair amount of muscle.
Well since OP never said a thing about diet she could be in calorie surplus.
OP can be a newbie lifter+calorie surplus=?
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Look, if you think the 68 year old woman doing almost all cardio is gaining weight due to increased muscle mass, have at it.yopeeps025 wrote: »DeguelloTex wrote: »
Well, since she's gaining weight, she probably is in a calorie surplus. That hardly means the 68 year old woman's weight gain can be attributed to muscle gains from cardio.yopeeps025 wrote: »DeguelloTex wrote: »
No. This isn't it.schandler1011 wrote: »Muscle weighs more than fat, so if you are exercising a lot, you may be building a fair amount of muscle.
Well since OP never said a thing about diet she could be in calorie surplus.
OP can be a newbie lifter+calorie surplus=?
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DeguelloTex wrote: »
Look, if you think the 68 year old woman doing almost all cardio is gaining weight due to increased muscle mass, have at it.yopeeps025 wrote: »DeguelloTex wrote: »
Well, since she's gaining weight, she probably is in a calorie surplus. That hardly means the 68 year old woman's weight gain can be attributed to muscle gains from cardio.yopeeps025 wrote: »DeguelloTex wrote: »
No. This isn't it.schandler1011 wrote: »Muscle weighs more than fat, so if you are exercising a lot, you may be building a fair amount of muscle.
Well since OP never said a thing about diet she could be in calorie surplus.
OP can be a newbie lifter+calorie surplus=?
What I think is OP said nothing about diet. So her eating habits have not changed at all and maybe even an increase in intake because of extra exercise.0 -
First thing to check is your intake. If that's right then, check accuracy of intake. Then from there, you may want to get a health check. From experience, I find that seniors usually have metabolic or hormonal issues that come up that they knew nothing about if they have a difficult time losing weight and the above was addressed.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Yeah. My first post was "It sounds like you need to eat less." I'm not arguing that she isn't in a surplus. I'm arguing that her gain can't be attributed to increased muscle mass.yopeeps025 wrote: »DeguelloTex wrote: »
Look, if you think the 68 year old woman doing almost all cardio is gaining weight due to increased muscle mass, have at it.yopeeps025 wrote: »DeguelloTex wrote: »
Well, since she's gaining weight, she probably is in a calorie surplus. That hardly means the 68 year old woman's weight gain can be attributed to muscle gains from cardio.yopeeps025 wrote: »DeguelloTex wrote: »
No. This isn't it.schandler1011 wrote: »Muscle weighs more than fat, so if you are exercising a lot, you may be building a fair amount of muscle.
Well since OP never said a thing about diet she could be in calorie surplus.
OP can be a newbie lifter+calorie surplus=?
What I think is OP said nothing about diet. So her eating habits have not changed at all and maybe even an increase in intake because of extra exercise.
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You can't out exercise a bad diet. You're eating too much.0
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Exercise all you want but you want it to be sustainable. If you enjoy it, great! But if it has become a chore, you will not be able to keep it up. I am 50 and know how little a more "mature"
woman has to eat to lose weight. Some days you feel like you eat like a bird, which is why I try and fill my day with lots of protein and healthy fats which are filling.
I agree with @DeguelloTex. You are probably in a surplus and your weight gain or lack of weight loss is not due to increased muscle mass.0 -
Many of you suggest that I eat less. I am eating between 1000 and 1400 calories. My caloric deficit is about 2000 calories a day. If I eat any less, I will be in starvation mode. I actually concerned that I may not be eating enough for the amount of exercising I am doing.0
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Many of you suggest that I eat less. I am eating between 1000 and 1400 calories. My caloric deficit is about 2000 calories a day. If I eat any less, I will be in starvation mode. I actually concerned that I may not be eating enough for the amount of exercising I am doing.
Starvation mode is not a thing.
How do you tracking how much you are eating? Do you eyeball portions, use measuring cups, or weigh everything on a food scale? If you're not weighing all solids and measuring all liquids, then you need to start. It's really easy to underestimate how much you are eating and its the most common problem that we see on here when people aren't losing weight. I'm not picking on you or questioning your intelligence or anything of that sort. It's just really common that people are eating more than they think because they aren't tracking accurately.
Here's a video that demonstrates how easy it is to throw off your calorie intake by not being accurate:
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Many of you suggest that I eat less. I am eating between 1000 and 1400 calories. My caloric deficit is about 2000 calories a day. If I eat any less, I will be in starvation mode. I actually concerned that I may not be eating enough for the amount of exercising I am doing.
How accurate is your logging? And how long have you been doing this?
There could be a lot of factors:- If you just started exercising, you will likely be sore and your cortisol levels increase due to the new "stress" on the body. Both of these cause water retention which can mask weight loss.
- There are bad entries in the database since many are user created. If you don't choose the correct entries, you may be underestimating how much you eat.
- If you don't use a food scale, your logging could also be inaccurate. Guessing using the eyeball method can be very inaccurate; same with using cup/teaspoon measurements.
- The exercise database overestimates calories burned as do cardio machines for the majority of the population using them.
- Weight loss isn't linear. Period.
Some helpful information:
Basics for getting started:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
Why measuring cups aren't accurate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY 0 -
You're gaining weight; you're eating enough.Many of you suggest that I eat less. I am eating between 1000 and 1400 calories. My caloric deficit is about 2000 calories a day. If I eat any less, I will be in starvation mode. I actually concerned that I may not be eating enough for the amount of exercising I am doing.
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Ooh, I spent way too much time trying to find this video on youtube. I need to create a document with all these links...SingRunTing wrote: »Many of you suggest that I eat less. I am eating between 1000 and 1400 calories. My caloric deficit is about 2000 calories a day. If I eat any less, I will be in starvation mode. I actually concerned that I may not be eating enough for the amount of exercising I am doing.
Starvation mode is not a thing.
How do you tracking how much you are eating? Do you eyeball portions, use measuring cups, or weigh everything on a food scale? If you're not weighing all solids and measuring all liquids, then you need to start. It's really easy to underestimate how much you are eating and its the most common problem that we see on here when people aren't losing weight. I'm not picking on you or questioning your intelligence or anything of that sort. It's just really common that people are eating more than they think because they aren't tracking accurately.
Here's a video that demonstrates how easy it is to throw off your calorie intake by not being accurate:
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Ooh, I spent way too much time trying to find this video on youtube. I need to create a document with all these links...SingRunTing wrote: »Many of you suggest that I eat less. I am eating between 1000 and 1400 calories. My caloric deficit is about 2000 calories a day. If I eat any less, I will be in starvation mode. I actually concerned that I may not be eating enough for the amount of exercising I am doing.
Starvation mode is not a thing.
How do you tracking how much you are eating? Do you eyeball portions, use measuring cups, or weigh everything on a food scale? If you're not weighing all solids and measuring all liquids, then you need to start. It's really easy to underestimate how much you are eating and its the most common problem that we see on here when people aren't losing weight. I'm not picking on you or questioning your intelligence or anything of that sort. It's just really common that people are eating more than they think because they aren't tracking accurately.
Here's a video that demonstrates how easy it is to throw off your calorie intake by not being accurate:
I just learned to type into the search bar "why you are failing at your diet" and this video is usually one of the first to pop up.
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Many of you suggest that I eat less. I am eating between 1000 and 1400 calories. My caloric deficit is about 2000 calories a day. If I eat any less, I will be in starvation mode. I actually concerned that I may not be eating enough for the amount of exercising I am doing.
Impossible to gain if you are being truthful with your logging. And to have a 2000 calorie deficit is huge. You should be eating back at least 1/2 of that. Where did you get your initial calorie goal?
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DeguelloTex wrote: »It sounds like you need to eat less.
I would say this.Many of you suggest that I eat less. I am eating between 1000 and 1400 calories. My caloric deficit is about 2000 calories a day. If I eat any less, I will be in starvation mode. I actually concerned that I may not be eating enough for the amount of exercising I am doing.
And if you're exercising that much and eating that little then one of a few things could be happening here:
1) you're legitimately not eating that little and you're either knowingly or unknowingly eating more than that. It's very easy to underestimate on what you're eating. Before I started tracking I could easily eat 3,000+ calories/day and not even realize that's what I was eating. Be honest with yourself about what you're eating.
2) you're not burning nearly what you think you are with exercise. And if you're using MFP to guess those burns then you very well could be grossly overestimating what you burn because, well, MFP does that.
3) a combination of # 1 and # 2. If you're honestly exercising as much as you say you are, and eating that little then you should be losing weight - provided all is accurate and honest.
What I found to work better for me (and I eat a lot more than you do at ~2,200 cals/day as I'm in training for a 10K and I'm 5'10) is to more appropriately time my meals. So I still eat the same amount of food, but I just eat them at different times. For example, most people look at it like breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. But for me because I'm usually at the gym by 5:45am 3x/week I find I can't eat breakfast right before I run because I won't feel very good. So on Monday Wednesday Friday my days look like snack, breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I work out after work and I don't get home until 8:30 or 9 at night so my day looks more like snack, breakfast, lunch, snack, snack, dinner.
With changing the timing of my meals I feel way better and I've actually dropped a few more pounds. I think it's because I was trying to stick to the schedule but cramming a lot in where I just didn't need to eat. Now that it's more spread out, I feel better and I'm able to better understand the cues my body is giving me.
ETA: no, you won't be in starvation mode. Are you a legit doctor? What kind of doctor?
Anyways, starvation mode doesn't work like that and most people's conception of what it is are wildly inaccurate. Are you netting 1,400 or that's what you eat over all?
Also, what kind of answer were you looking for here? There isn't a one pill fix all and the truth can be hard to face. The answer isn't always (or hardly ever) eat more to lose. That just isn't the case for the majority of people; every body is different sure but there isn't that much difference in the functions of the human body or human kinetics. If you want to lose you have to have to have to burn more than you consume.0 -
acorsaut89 wrote: »DeguelloTex wrote: »It sounds like you need to eat less.
I would say this.Many of you suggest that I eat less. I am eating between 1000 and 1400 calories. My caloric deficit is about 2000 calories a day. If I eat any less, I will be in starvation mode. I actually concerned that I may not be eating enough for the amount of exercising I am doing.
And if you're exercising that much and eating that little then one of a few things could be happening here:
1) you're legitimately not eating that little and you're either knowingly or unknowingly eating more than that. It's very easy to underestimate on what you're eating. Before I started tracking I could easily eat 3,000+ calories/day and not even realize that's what I was eating. Be honest with yourself about what you're eating.
2) you're not burning nearly what you think you are with exercise. And if you're using MFP to guess those burns then you very well could be grossly overestimating what you burn because, well, MFP does that.
3) a combination of # 1 and # 2. If you're honestly exercising as much as you say you are, and eating that little then you should be losing weight - provided all is accurate and honest.
What I found to work better for me (and I eat a lot more than you do at ~2,200 cals/day as I'm in training for a 10K and I'm 5'10) is to more appropriately time my meals. So I still eat the same amount of food, but I just eat them at different times. For example, most people look at it like breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. But for me because I'm usually at the gym by 5:45am 3x/week I find I can't eat breakfast right before I run because I won't feel very good. So on Monday Wednesday Friday my days look like snack, breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I work out after work and I don't get home until 8:30 or 9 at night so my day looks more like snack, breakfast, lunch, snack, snack, dinner.
With changing the timing of my meals I feel way better and I've actually dropped a few more pounds. I think it's because I was trying to stick to the schedule but cramming a lot in where I just didn't need to eat. Now that it's more spread out, I feel better and I'm able to better understand the cues my body is giving me.
I vote for #30
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjKPIcI51lU
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