Need help understanding lack of weight loss

powercatbergie

New Member
I'm 46. I have been 235-239 pounds for years while being fairly inactive, working desk job, drinking very little water, and eating poorly. For 5 plus weeks I have been working out 5-6 times per week at 500-550 calories per session, eliminated diet Pepsi, consuming 80 ounces water daily and decreasing my calorie intake. Just weighed and still at 235 pounds. Want to know if hydration and muscle gain are offsetting fat loss and when or how will I see results?

choppie70

How are you making sure that you are in a calorie deficit?

You will hear it a lot, but do you weigh your food on a food scale? I thought I was in a calorie deficit, but when I started weighing my food (even pre measured, packaged food!) I found that indeed I was eating way more than I thought.

Also, how are you getting your calorie burn? The calorie burn for fitness machines and MFP are notorious for overestimating calorie burn. You may not be burning as many calories as you think.

jswigart

How many calories are you eating per day? If you haven't already, start weighing your food and tracking every bite you eat for its caloric content. If your female keep your calories down to 1200 ish if male don't go below 1500.
The one epiphany that I have gotten is its all about the balance between calories in and calories out. Don't be discouraged. Must keep on trying. J

booksandchocolate12

in order to lose weight, you have to eat fewer calories than you burn. How are you working towards that? How many calories are you eating per day? How many calories does MFP say you should be eating per day? How do you measure your food: on a scale or with measuring cups? Are you logging everything?

ilex70

Hey OP. I'm 45. Started at 210 this time around, but I spent many years in the 240 -260 range. Desk job too.

Quitting the diet soda is good. Getting water in is good for hydration. Exercise is a healthy habit.

But you won't lose if you are eating more than you are burning.

FWIW I would set your activity to "sedentary" and your goal to 2 pounds a week as you can safely lose 2 pounds a week and not lose more than 1% of your total body weight.

Focus on your food intake above other factors. If doing a lot of exercise makes you too hungry to keep your deficit, then cut back the exercise. Walking is very good for this. I generally don't eat back my exercise calories because without a heart rate monitor (and for some exercise even with one) the calories burned are a guess. Some people eat back half their burned exercise calories and do well with that.

You have to be honest with yourself and use a food scale even though it is a PITA. Tare is a beautiful thing. I'm not as vigilant as many here, and maybe I will need to be more careful with it later, but I use measuring cups for liquids and (naughty) some solids...mostly veggies.

My diary is open if you want to look at it. I started Dec. 7 w/1200 calories a day and I've upped my total daily calories some since then.

Muscleflex79

diet pepsi has 0 calories...how did you think eliminating that would help with your weight loss??

booksandchocolate12

Muscleflex79 wrote: »

diet pepsi has 0 calories...how did you think eliminating that would help with your weight loss??

Thank you! I was thinking this as well.

powercatbergie

Because it was almost the only thing I was drinking. Needed to drink more healthy therefore I have focused on my water consumption.

booksandchocolate12

But that has nothing to do with weight loss. For weight loss purposes, a calorie is a calorie. So 0 calorie water is the same as 0 calorie diet soda. 50 calories worth of candy is the same as 50 calories worth of vegetables.

Before people get all up in arms, note that I said "for weight loss". For health/nutrition, obviously a different story.

zoeysasha37

booksandchocolate12 wrote: »

But that has nothing to do with weight loss. For weight loss purposes, a calorie is a calorie. So 0 calorie water is the same as 0 calorie diet soda. 50 calories worth of candy is the same as 50 calories worth of vegetables.

Before people get all up in arms, note that I said "for weight loss". For health/nutrition, obviously a different story.

Qft

powercatbergie

Appreciate your feedback. If water is also zero calories then this discussion is focused on the wrong issue. Looking for solutions for my weight loss.

booksandchocolate12

powercatbergie wrote: »

Appreciate your feedback. If water is also zero calories then this discussion is focused on the wrong issue. Looking for solutions for my weight loss.

OK, now that we've cleared that up, back to my original questions:

booksandchocolate12 wrote: »

in order to lose weight, you have to eat fewer calories than you burn. How are you working towards that? How many calories are you eating per day? How many calories does MFP say you should be eating per day? How do you measure your food: on a scale or with measuring cups? Are you logging everything?

faramelee

Forget the muscle gain option, there is no way (from what you are describing) that you could have gained enough muscle yet to hugely affect your weight. I would also be surprised if it was due to the water you are drinking as your body would have acclimatised to the amount you're drinking by now, that is unless you drink half a gallon immediately prior to weighing. I would also suggest that you weigh everything you ingest to ensure that you are in fact eating the calories that you presume you are. Even the nutritional values on pre packaged foodstuffs can be out by approximately 20% (I was shocked when I learnt this). I also agree that you may not be burning off as many calories as you think. Are you logging religiously? It's great that you have ditched the diet soda for water but yeah, 0 calorie is 0 calorie! Lastly, have you measured yourself? It may be that your body is changing but it isn't obvious on the scale as yet. Make sure you weigh at the same time i.e. first thing in the morning ater using the toilet seems most common.

Best of luck to you!

callsitlikeiseeit

powercatbergie

Not currently logging but I guarantee you my calorie intake is less than previous due to my daily habit changes. Point is: eating less, drinking water and exercising more is getting same result as no exercise and poor eating habits. There has to be physiology reasons such as muscle gain and water intake but I must be wrong. Will try logging my calories more.

elaineamj

I did something similar several years back, working out quite intensively. I didnt lose a pound. Yes, I was still eating healthier - but it still added up to way more calories than I burned. Those bananas, choc milk, high protein bars, and the larger (albeit healthier) meals packed on a lot of extra calories. And of course, the big plate of pasta to fuel a big event the next day, etc etc all didn't help.

This time I am counting calories with mild workout (will step that up soon as my body gets stronger - have to train for a race in June) and the pounds are dropping faster than I could ever have imagined. Easier too.

I do like that the math makes sense so I try to be very accurate in my logging.

booksandchocolate12

powercatbergie wrote: »

Not currently logging but I guarantee you my calorie intake is less than previous due to my daily habit changes. Point is: eating less, drinking water and exercising more is getting same result as no exercise and poor eating habits. There has to be physiology reasons such as muscle gain and water intake but I must be wrong. Will try logging my calories more.

If you're not weighing/measuring/logging your food, there's no way you can guarantee that. Give it a try.

powercatbergie

elaineamj wrote: »

I did something similar several years back, working out quite intensively. I didnt lose a pound. Yes, I was still eating healthier - but it still added up to way more calories than I burned. Those bananas, choc milk, high protein bars, and the larger (albeit healthier) meals packed on a lot of extra calories. And of course, the big plate of pasta to fuel a big event the next day, etc etc all didn't help.

This time I am counting calories with mild workout (will step that up soon as my body gets stronger - have to train for a race in June) and the pounds are dropping faster than I could ever have imagined. Easier too.

I do like that the math makes sense so I try to be very accurate in my logging.

callsitlikeiseeit

powercatbergie wrote: »

Not currently logging but I guarantee you my calorie intake is less than previous due to my daily habit changes. Point is: eating less, drinking water and exercising more is getting same result as no exercise and poor eating habits. There has to be physiology reasons such as muscle gain and water intake but I must be wrong. Will try logging my calories more.

you are eating more than you think you are. you are not gaining muscle while being in any kind of a deficit, or even maintenance.

but don't listen to those of us who know what we are talking about .....

powercatbergie

I appreciate all the feedback

powercatbergie

but don't listen to those of us who know what we are talking about .....

Alright then. I appreciate your help.

donalynvaughn

You can still eat a high amount of calories eating healthy. In fact, many junk foods are low in calories. I second the advice here. Get a scale, measuring cups, and spoons, and measure and log everything. Even log any supplements you take, or sugar-free gum (they often have calories too). Don't eat back any calories you earn from exercise (that was the mistake I was making for a while). Do these things, and the weight will come off. Good luck!!

powercatbergie

Thanks

AngelinaB_

I would recommend logging. Not logging more, but logging everything you eat for a week. And be super honest about it into putting everything on it. May I ask why you are not doing it? It has worked and it's working for thousands of people in here, all coming with different points of view in relationships with their diets, eating habits, goals and relationships with food.

It might sound overwhelming but it is really not that big of a deal. Just give it a try.

When I started logging I wasn't thinking on dieting, I just wanted to know what I was doing wrong, and found out my caloric intake regularly was 2300+ calories, ohhhh.... then started to adjust eating habits, nothing perfect, I am not, personally haven't taken anything out of my diet, but I am trying to fit food I like not passing my daily caloric intake which is about 1450 cal daily. Everybody had different caloric intake, you can calculate it here and in the forums you can find great info about it. Little changes in habits, things you can sustain for the rest of your life without feeling deprived is what use to work best in the long run.

I also would suggest to spend time reading success stories, they are very encouraging and filled with tons of very useful info.

It's not an exact science and works different for everybody, or everybody have their own ways, and it's all good, you just have to find what can work for you.

And give it yourself plenty of time....

Regards,

CollieFit

powercatbergie wrote: »

Not currently logging but I guarantee you my calorie intake is less than previous due to my daily habit changes. Point is: eating less, drinking water and exercising more is getting same result as no exercise and poor eating habits. There has to be physiology reasons such as muscle gain and water intake but I must be wrong. Will try logging my calories more.

No there's not likely to be.

I refer you back to the flow chart above. You're not logging and therein probably lies the problem. You are guessing your calorie intake and when you start logging you'll probably find it's a lot more than you think.

Are you also guessing your output? How do you know how many calories you burned from the various exercises you did?

If you're not losing weight you're eating at maintenance and have not created a significant enough calorie deficit.

AngelinaB_

powercatbergie wrote: »

Not currently logging but I guarantee you my calorie intake is less than previous due to my daily habit changes. Point is: eating less, drinking water and exercising more is getting same result as no exercise and poor eating habits. There has to be physiology reasons such as muscle gain and water intake but I must be wrong. Will try logging my calories more.

Our metabolism is very complicated....

choppie70

Just because your calorie intake is less than it previously was, does not mean you are in the calorie deficit needed to lose weight. You could now be eating at maintenance and therefore not losing weight. You could even still be eating at a surplus, just less of a surplus.

cerise_noir

I echo weighing and logging of all foods. Eyeballing/cups/spoons are waaaaay off.
If you aren't losing, you're eating to maintain your weight, not lose it.

RoxieDawn

Use the flow chart above. It is 100% fool proof and to get it work, you have to weigh your food using the food scale and do not underestimate your exercise calorie burns and how many exercise calories you eat back if you do eat some of them back.

Measuring spoons and cups are just bad ideas when dialing into your daily/weekly deficit, you can eat way more than you thing.. Also, do you cook with oil, butter, and do you use condiments? Got to log these too.. These are creepy crawly calories that will derail the deficit. I will just say, take this from someone that was hard headed as heck in not getting a food scale in the beginning. Now it is my third arm in the kitchen..

GlamourVintage

powercatbergie wrote: »

Not currently logging but I guarantee you my calorie intake is less than previous due to my daily habit changes. Point is: eating less, drinking water and exercising more is getting same result as no exercise and poor eating habits. There has to be physiology reasons such as muscle gain and water intake but I must be wrong. Will try logging my calories more.

rreynolds2905

I am currently going to a weight loss clinic, they say do not drink anything caramel colored. So props to you for cutting out the diet pepsi. I was a tea/vanilla coke drinker for a long time, it's a very tough change to make. I also have an office job, which causes me not to eat and puts my body into starvation mode. When I was counting calories several months ago I figured out in the evenings i was eating a lot more than I thought. I had a bad habit of taste testing and mindlessly putting food in my mouth with out even realizing it. Of course I couldn't see any change even when logging no more than a 1000 calories a day. (My 14 yr old started pointing it out to me).