Not losing weight!

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Within the last two and a half weeks I've been at the gym religiously burning between 800-1000+ calories 4/5 days a week, and as a result have stayed below 1200 calories on those days. The days I haven't been at the gym I've gone over but when I look at the entirety of the week have only been a couple hundred over. Shouldn't the scale have gone down by now? I've cut out over 4000 calories a week from my usual eating habits within this time. I count out or measure portions and track everything I eat but I'm getting frustrated that the scale won't move. What am I doing wrong?
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  • lemonychild
    lemonychild Posts: 654 Member
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    how much are you trying to lose ?
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
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    Going to the gym doesnt equal weight loss. Calorie deficit = weight loss.
  • ilex70
    ilex70 Posts: 727 Member
    edited March 2016
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    800-1000 for one gym session is an awful lot. If you are using the MFP entries for exercise calories they are generally believed too be to generous.

    Try only eating back half the exercise calories and see if that gets the scale moving.
  • luvmoo1126
    luvmoo1126 Posts: 2 Member
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    I have been tracking and exercising for 2 weeks straight. I lost .6 pounds the first week, and it was back on the second week! I even stopped eating bread!
  • Igotithear
    Igotithear Posts: 21 Member
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    ilex70 wrote: »
    800-1000 for one gym session is an awful lot. If you are using the MFP entries for exercise calories they are generally believed too be to generous.

    Try only eating back half the exercise calories and see if that gets the scale moving.

    No I use a heart rate monitor when working out and do a lot of cardio (zumba/ interval training) in addition to running two miles and lifting weights...
  • Igotithear
    Igotithear Posts: 21 Member
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    how much are you trying to lose ?

    40 pounds
  • Igotithear
    Igotithear Posts: 21 Member
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    eldamiano wrote: »
    Going to the gym doesnt equal weight loss. Calorie deficit = weight loss.

    I am in a calorie deficit... so not sure what the problem is.
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
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    I'm not losing weight this week either...but I ate a lot of cheese over the weekend which seems to bloat me up. Also, I've been hitting the chocolate a little too hard...Barely any calorie deficit. If it's only been 2 weeks I wouldn't stress over it. It could be you haven't got enough water, you're holding onto water due to all the extra exercise, you're ovulating, it's shark week, you had too much salt....2 weeks is too little of time to get worried. I'd also take measurements. They are a better indication of body health than the scale.
  • _Waffle_
    _Waffle_ Posts: 13,049 Member
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    Igotithear wrote: »
    Within the last two and a half weeks I've been at the gym religiously burning between 800-1000+ calories 4/5 days a week, and as a result have stayed below 1200 calories on those days. The days I haven't been at the gym I've gone over but when I look at the entirety of the week have only been a couple hundred over. Shouldn't the scale have gone down by now? I've cut out over 4000 calories a week from my usual eating habits within this time. I count out or measure portions and track everything I eat but I'm getting frustrated that the scale won't move. What am I doing wrong?

    You're over on calories. No weight loss. That's pretty much the entire story here.
  • Igotithear
    Igotithear Posts: 21 Member
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    _Waffle_ wrote: »
    Igotithear wrote: »
    Within the last two and a half weeks I've been at the gym religiously burning between 800-1000+ calories 4/5 days a week, and as a result have stayed below 1200 calories on those days. The days I haven't been at the gym I've gone over but when I look at the entirety of the week have only been a couple hundred over. Shouldn't the scale have gone down by now? I've cut out over 4000 calories a week from my usual eating habits within this time. I count out or measure portions and track everything I eat but I'm getting frustrated that the scale won't move. What am I doing wrong?

    You're over on calories. No weight loss. That's pretty much the entire story here.

    Even by just going over 100 total for the entire week?..
  • _Waffle_
    _Waffle_ Posts: 13,049 Member
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    luvmoo1126 wrote: »
    I have been tracking and exercising for 2 weeks straight. I lost .6 pounds the first week, and it was back on the second week! I even stopped eating bread!

    #IDontWantToLiveInThisWorldAnymore
  • _Waffle_
    _Waffle_ Posts: 13,049 Member
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    Igotithear wrote: »
    _Waffle_ wrote: »
    Igotithear wrote: »
    Within the last two and a half weeks I've been at the gym religiously burning between 800-1000+ calories 4/5 days a week, and as a result have stayed below 1200 calories on those days. The days I haven't been at the gym I've gone over but when I look at the entirety of the week have only been a couple hundred over. Shouldn't the scale have gone down by now? I've cut out over 4000 calories a week from my usual eating habits within this time. I count out or measure portions and track everything I eat but I'm getting frustrated that the scale won't move. What am I doing wrong?

    You're over on calories. No weight loss. That's pretty much the entire story here.

    Even by just going over 100 total for the entire week?..

    The idea is that you segment your calorie goals into a specific day but your weekly calories must be under your calorie needs to lose weight. What's your goal to lose weight?

    If mine is 2000 per day then 2000 x 7 = 14000 per week. If I eat that or less I should lose. If I go over 500 a couple days and hit 15000 then I probably will not lose weight. Be consistent and hit your goals each day.
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
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    Igotithear wrote: »
    eldamiano wrote: »
    Going to the gym doesnt equal weight loss. Calorie deficit = weight loss.

    I am in a calorie deficit... so not sure what the problem is.

    You arent, or you would be losing weight...
  • KrysKiss87
    KrysKiss87 Posts: 124 Member
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    There's another thing you might want to consider. If you are doing any type of weight training or strength training, you might be building muscle mass. SO even though the scale doesn't move, you might be gaining muscle while still losing fat. Instead of focusing on the scale, take your measurements. See if you have lost any inches. But in general you have to stay in calorie deficit. So if you are over (even just by 100 for the whole week) then you aren't truly in deficit. You are just maintaining. Hope this helps. Keep your head up though.
  • CaitlinW19
    CaitlinW19 Posts: 431 Member
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    I must be the only one reading your post this way...are you eating back any of those exercise calories? You should be eating back at least half...

    It sounds to me like you are undereating if I'm reading this right, which can cause you to hold on to weight. If I'm not reading this right, then disregard. :-)

    Also, two and a half weeks isn't very long...it could very well be that you are gaining muscle which weighs more than fat. Measuring yourself instead of weighing is a better way to track progress if you are putting on muscle, showing you that you are getting more trim even if the scale doesn't show actual number loss.
  • Igotithear
    Igotithear Posts: 21 Member
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    _Waffle_ wrote: »
    Igotithear wrote: »
    _Waffle_ wrote: »
    Igotithear wrote: »
    Within the last two and a half weeks I've been at the gym religiously burning between 800-1000+ calories 4/5 days a week, and as a result have stayed below 1200 calories on those days. The days I haven't been at the gym I've gone over but when I look at the entirety of the week have only been a couple hundred over. Shouldn't the scale have gone down by now? I've cut out over 4000 calories a week from my usual eating habits within this time. I count out or measure portions and track everything I eat but I'm getting frustrated that the scale won't move. What am I doing wrong?

    You're over on calories. No weight loss. That's pretty much the entire story here.

    Even by just going over 100 total for the entire week?..

    The idea is that you segment your calorie goals into a specific day but your weekly calories must be under your calorie needs to lose weight. What's your goal to lose weight?

    If mine is 2000 per day then 2000 x 7 = 14000 per week. If I eat that or less I should lose. If I go over 500 a couple days and hit 15000 then I probably will not lose weight. Be consistent and hit your goals each day.

    40 pounds.. and my calorie intake for last week was 8,500.. so on a 1,200 calorie a day diet that's 1,200x7=8,400... I'm no where near 14,000
  • Igotithear
    Igotithear Posts: 21 Member
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    CaitlinW19 wrote: »
    I must be the only one reading your post this way...are you eating back any of those exercise calories? You should be eating back at least half...

    It sounds to me like you are undereating if I'm reading this right, which can cause you to hold on to weight. If I'm not reading this right, then disregard. :-)

    Also, two and a half weeks isn't very long...it could very well be that you are gaining muscle which weighs more than fat. Measuring yourself instead of weighing is a better way to track progress if you are putting on muscle, showing you that you are getting more trim even if the scale doesn't show actual number loss.

    Apparently.. And no I'm not eating back half what I burn... but according to everyone else I'm over eating... This is just confusing lol. Sounds like I should just toss the idea of eating any food period out the door :/

    I just can't imagine from typically eating 2,000 calories plus daily that has maintained my weight to 1,200 or less most days, is not creating a deficit.
  • xcalygrl
    xcalygrl Posts: 1,897 Member
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    You say you count and measure your portions. Are you weighing your portions out on a food scale? If not, you're most likely overeating/underlogging your food.

    If you were truly in a calorie deficit you would lose weight. Eating fewer calories than you need results in weight loss. Some medical conditions can mess with the CICO equation, but that just means you have to play with the CI side of the equation (by eating less) or bump up your CO (by exercising more). You can log 1200 calories all you want, but if you're actually eating more you won't see weight loss.

    Also, for everyone saying: you're just gaining muscle. It's highly unlikely. It takes time and extra food to build muscle, not just doing cardio at the gym eating 1200 calories a day.
  • cJOYv6881
    cJOYv6881 Posts: 72 Member
    edited March 2016
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    CaitlinW19 wrote: »
    I must be the only one reading your post this way...are you eating back any of those exercise calories? You should be eating back at least half...

    It sounds to me like you are undereating if I'm reading this right, which can cause you to hold on to weight. If I'm not reading this right, then disregard. :-)

    Also, two and a half weeks isn't very long...it could very well be that you are gaining muscle which weighs more than fat. Measuring yourself instead of weighing is a better way to track progress if you are putting on muscle, showing you that you are getting more trim even if the scale doesn't show actual number loss.

    I'm confused, I keep reading posts in forum topics where people say you cannot gain muscle if you are in a calorie deficit, and that you cannot gain enough muscle to outweigh fat in a few weeks. Then I read posts that say the opposite ( I'm in no way picking on you, please don't think that, I've seen this exact information many times). I'm just confused as to which it is?

    OP, I know it can be frustrating when the scale doesn't move, and there may be a variety of reasons it isn't. I would keep at it for a few more weeks and see how it goes. If it's water weight as suggested above, make sure you're drinking enough water and it should come off. If it's excess calories, maybe check to see if the entries you are using for your foods are correct? Some of them can be very inaccurate, I used one the other day that only gave me 50 calories for something that I knew had over 100 cal in it!
  • Igotithear
    Igotithear Posts: 21 Member
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    xcalygrl wrote: »
    You say you count and measure your portions. Are you weighing your portions out on a food scale? If not, you're most likely overeating/underlogging your food.

    If you were truly in a calorie deficit you would lose weight. Eating fewer calories than you need results in weight loss. Some medical conditions can mess with the CICO equation, but that just means you have to play with the CI side of the equation (by eating less) or bump up your CO (by exercising more). You can log 1200 calories all you want, but if you're actually eating more you won't see weight loss.

    Also, for everyone saying: you're just gaining muscle. It's highly unlikely. It takes time and extra food to build muscle, not just doing cardio at the gym eating 1200 calories a day.

    Well when the portions on the box say 17 pieces... That's when I count... Or when it says 1 cup, what is there to weigh?