SOS : can't lose weight AT ALL

jonnythan

Maybe I missed it, but I don't believe anyone has asked what I consider to be a very important question:

How LONG have you been trying to lose weight? Are we talking months, weeks, or the typical "I've been doing x, y, & z for a week and the weight won't come off, why?!"

I can easily fluctuate between 1 - 5 lbs in a week due to all sorts of factors, one mainly being water retention.

Take some measurements for starters and ditch the scale for a bit. Also in my experience (myself included), we tend to underestimate both food intake and exercise intake. You don't specify how long you are walking/biking/exercising and what types of exercise you are doing. If you don't get your heart rate up, you won't be getting much out of any of those activities as you would if you have your heart rate in the correct target zones.

Well we haven't gotten answers to any of the questions we have asked, so there's no reason to think she's interested in answering any additional ones....

BeachIron

1. Measure 75g dry pasta.
2. put it on the side.
3. Go out and buy a food scale.
4. Get home and weigh pasta.
5. Put the extra 75g back in the box/packet.
6. Cook the reamining 75g pasta.

There you go!

^ Spot on

lrmall01

Dartaa,

I'm going to assume that you don't understand what many others have already said and re-explain something in very simple terms.

If we can't see your diary, then we can't offer real suggestions based upon what you are doing. This works like a feedback loop. You measure, track, measure again, than adjust. If you aren't measuring and tracking then we can't offer suggestions for adjustments.

Someone needs to review your diary, which anyone in this thread would likely do, to offer meaningfull suggestions. In order for this to happen, you have to change your permissions.

Go to your settings link - which is up in the top right corner if the web page.

Next scroll down and look for your diary settings. It will be set to private or friends. If it is on friends, then you need to invite me or someone else who offered suggestions from this thread so we can review. Otherwise you can set it to public and all MFP users can view it.

Now if you are unwilling to do this and accurately track your food intake and activity, then we can not help you and you has wasted everyone's time. If you are new to this site, and your diary is empty, that is ok too. We may not have any suggestions at the moment but add a few of us as friends and we will help you over time.

I would consider this thread dead until the OP opens her diary.

Hope this helps.

tbrain1989

SHINEY HAPPY PEOPLE HOLDING HAND

deksgrl

Are.

You.

Using.

A.

Scale.


Open.

Your.

Diary.

Yes, I love how people pay no attention to the ripped girl who did it right. I think they do that because they are afraid if they even talk to you they will get big muscles. *eyeroll*

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Yes, but: are you using a scale? This is very important.

Open your diary if you want practical advice.

This is my first thought as well.

kr1stadee

Go to your settings link - which is up in the top right corner if the web page.

Next scroll down and look for your diary settings. It will be set to private or friends. If it is on friends, then you need to invite me or someone else who offered suggestions from this thread so we can review. Otherwise you can set it to public and all MFP users can view it.

Bet she know's that too... :laugh:

tinabarett

Check your thyroid levels

cmeiron

Are.

You.

Using.

A.

Scale.


Open.

Your.

Diary.

Yes, I love how people pay no attention to the ripped girl who did it right. I think they do that because they are afraid if they even talk to you they will get big muscles. *eyeroll*

True. I'm all bulky and stuff :sad: It's contagious, you know.

CrankMeUp

I have a question.


Do you own a digital food scale?

SmartAlec03211988

If enough people ask, maybe she'll respond, or break down and go get one if not.

Do you HAVE A FOOD SCALE?

BroiledNotFried

I agree, start with the doctor. If it is thyroid or another health issue, then it will get alot worse if you stop your strict eating and exercise.

BeachGingerOnTheRocks

I agree, start with the doctor. If it is thyroid or another health issue, then it will get alot worse if you stop your strict eating and exercise.

Why start with the doctor? She hasn't even gotten to step 1 - GET A FOOD SCALE. That's like saying "I have a mild headache" and scheduling brain surgery before she takes a Tylenol.

SideSteel

While I'm all for people getting good medical information, I find it ridiculous that people are suggesting getting thyroid issues checked for an 18 year old who is about 3-5lbs from being in a normal weight range, while none of us have any idea as to her caloric intake or intake accuracy at this point.

joolsmitchell

I totally agree with this comment :-) your body gets used to a diet so it always pays to change it around a bit to re start the weight loss :-) best of luck x

Achrya

Are.

You.

Using.

A.

Scale.


Open.

Your.

Diary.

Yes, I love how people pay no attention to the ripped girl who did it right. I think they do that because they are afraid if they even talk to you they will get big muscles. *eyeroll*

True. I'm all bulky and stuff :sad: It's contagious, you know.

Contagious? Can you come out to PA and save me a few years of work then? ...no?

Ah well, back to the weight room.

joolsmitchell

I would suggest you go see a nutritionist. They can scrutinize you diet and help you make adjustments to kick start your weight loss. You may need a different source of protein than fish, I do better if I switch my protein up and my exercise to keep my body guessing.

escloflowneCHANGED

You're doing it wrong....

ckone4me

Hi!

Can you add me as your buddy? This way I can see your food diary!

I think your in a rut and need tomshake things up a bit! I am not sure what calories burns you are doing, how many calories your eating or what your eating but somthing needs to change.

I would like to help you figure it out if you let me.

Also , there are many medications that can cause someone to gain wieght and its the kind of weight that can not be loss unless you get off the meds.

I know this is not a bs thread, as I have seen some of your other posts here. Add me and let me try to help you, if you like. Thankx.

Mia_RagazzaTosta

Hi!

Can you add me as your buddy? This way I can see your food diary!

I think your in a rut and need tomshake things up a bit! I am not sure what calories burns you are doing, how many calories your eating or what your eating but somthing needs to change.

I would like to help you figure it out if you let me.

Also , there are many medications that can cause someone to gain wieght and its the kind of weight that can not be loss unless you get off the meds.

I know this is not a bs thread, as I have seen some of your other posts here. Add me and let me try to help you, if you like. Thankx.

You won't be able to see her diary even if you're buddies unless she changes the settings.

ckone4me

I agree, in order to help you have to share what you have been doing!

sullus

I don't know if anyone has brought this up yet, but do you have a food scale?

jenf330

This happened to me and I got myself so frustrated, feeling like I was doing everything absolutely right without any results. Here's what ended up working for me:
1) It's been said before on here, but a food scale is a must. I was measuring out my food using cups and spoons, but I was shocked how different the amounts could be using the scale.
2) This is controversial, but I quit relying on those TDEE calculators. Depending on which one I used they kept telling me my TDEE was around 2000 a day. I already owned a Fitbit and heart rate monitor, so I decided to test it out. Way way off. My TDEE is more like 1600 on a rest day and 1900 on a workout day. And maybe that doesn't seem like a big deal, but when trying to get the scale to budge, a few hundred calories make a difference.
3) I started paying attention to my macros. That's when I realized just how many calories I was getting from carbs. I made some small adjustments and started adding in quality proteins (cottage cheese, chicken, Greek yogurt) and got my macros in line with 40/30/30.
4) I started lifting heavy (or heavier). I had been lifting before, but I was using 3 and 5 lb weights. Now I'm working my way up to 10s, 15s, and 20s.

This is just what worked for me. Losing weight is still painfully slow, but at least it's started to move in the right direction. I think it can be really easy to feel like you're doing everything right and be just slightly off. It's that tiny amount off that's keeping your weight the same. Hope this helps in some small way! Keep experimenting :-)

SmartAlec03211988

I literally laughed out loud at that "list." Hilarious.

laserturkey

Honestly at 5'7" your weight sounds pretty darned close to where it should be. I'm just a wee bit shorter than you and my goal is 153. I'm working on building muscle. If I were planning not to have significant muscle mass, my goal would be lower, but 153 pounds looks like a LOT less when more of it is muscle.

I think you should be taking measurements with a measuring tape and ignoring the scale. Work on building your muscles. You will LOOK smaller even if you weigh more.

LoraF83

1. Measure 75g dry pasta.
2. put it on the side.
3. Go out and buy a food scale.
4. Get home and weigh pasta.
5. Put the extra 75g back in the box/packet.
6. Cook the reamining 75g pasta.

There you go!

Agreed



Seriously though, it's amazing how much different "our" measurements are vs. actual measurements. What I thought was a serving (2T) of PB was actually like 2 servings. A food scale saved my diet. It makes all the difference in the world to actually know how much you are eating.

Sjenny5891

CHECK YOUR GOAL SETTINGS!!!

If you have it set at anything BUT sedentary some if not all of your exercise calories are figured in. If you are eating all of them back, you would be eating too much and not realize it.

Are you eating back your exercise calories..... if you are set at sedentary and are not, you may not be eating enough.

Everyone has their own perfect number. you just have to find it. Try eating 200 calories a day MORE for a week. If you lose weight, it is what you need. If you gain, drop it 400 the next week.
Are you using a HRM? Maybe your exercise is off so you are eating too much or too little.

avatrx

I would think that body fat % should play a part. I don't know if you mentioned that? When I was young - I weighed as little as 138lbs, (5'10 small boned) but typically weighed around 148-151. I am now 59 and Weight 168. I wanted to get down to 155, but did a body weight % calculator to figure out what I SHOULD weigh. 160 was that number. http://www.fat2fitradio.com/

I could NOT lose weight to save my soul last spring until I started weighing EVERYTHING and recording EVERYTHING. Pain the butt, but did it and began losing. Snacking around the grocery stores? Record it. Soft drinks? I don't drink them, but I do put cream in my coffee so I would pour some into a measuring cup in the morning and record it. If I used it all - fine - if not - it gave me a couple of calories.

Has it occured to you that your scale is off since that seems to be your motivator? I use mine all the time, but did have to replace it. I compared the new to the old and my old one was off by about 1.3 pounds.....

Sam's clubs offer free health screenings periodically. They will tell you body fat, weight, bone mass, etc. Maybe you're relying on non-functioning equipment.

I live in the rust belt (very little iodine) so I do take iodine supplements which did help a little. Iodoral. got it from Amazon. Only take what they suggest. Too much is a bad thing, but if you're not getting enough of that mineral, that could be an impediment.

I am in no way trying to suggest supplements as a replacement for making sure you are accurately keeping track of movement and calories. I use a fitbit. That records how much I move in a day. They suggest 10K steps per day to help with weight loss. I don't often reach that goal, but I do regularly reach 5K - 7500.

Losing weight is a process. We all want to lose it fast while retaining our muscle tone. even those of us over 50. The first step is to be honest with yourself. If you have insurance (I don't) you could get a wellness physical. Or go to the local "Y". I think they offer those services.

I have gotten lots of good advice on this site, and as of today - I"m going to increase my calorie intake since I seem to have hit a slight plateau. I'll increase my step count and exercise at the same time.

You'll do it - just hang in there..

Greenrun99

Agreed



Seriously though, it's amazing how much different "our" measurements are vs. actual measurements. What I thought was a serving (2T) of PB was actually like 2 servings. A food scale saved my diet. It makes all the difference in the world to actually know how much you are eating.

Oh man that is always me.. I end up having left overs for a week.. why do I make so much!!! WHY!!!!

fooninie

Caloric deficit. Eat less than you burn - that is the only scientifically proven equation for weight loss. Walking and jogging are all fine and dandy, but for me to see the most results, I have to incorporate weights. Try it, it won't hurt!