no results

jcbrianna15
jcbrianna15 Posts: 7 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I've been doing this for almost 3 weeks now and still haven't seen any results. I've been eating the needed calorie amount, sometimes a little less. I have been working out about 4-5 times a week and mainly only drinking water. Why am I not seeing any results? In my opinion, I look even fatter than I was before. Help?

Replies

  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so, don't sweat it! Normal fluctuations happen and unfortunately sometimes we stall for a week or two even when we're doing everything right. Give your body some time to catch up with the changes you're making.

    2. If you aren't already, be sure that you're logging everything. Sometimes people forget about things like veggies, drinks, cooking oils, and condiments. For some people these can add up to enough to halt your weight loss progress.

    3. Consider buying a food scale if you don't already have one. They're about $10-$20 dollars in the US and easily found at places like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Measuring cups and spoons are great, but they do come with some degree of inaccuracy. A food scale will be more accurate, and for some people it makes a big difference.

    4. Logging accurately also means choosing accurate entries in the database. There are a lot of user-entered entries that are off. Double-check that you're using good entries and/or using the recipe builder instead of someone else's homemade entries.

    5. Recalculate your goals if you haven't lately. As you lose weight your body requires fewer calories to run. Be sure you update your goals every ten pounds or so.

    6. If you're eating back your exercise calories and you're relying on gym machine readouts or MFP's estimates, it might be best to eat back just 50-75% of those. Certain activities tend to be overestimated. If you're using an HRM or activity tracker, it might be a good idea to look into their accuracy and be sure that yours is calibrated properly.

    7. If you're taking any cheat days that go over your calorie limits, it might be best to cut them out for a few weeks and see what happens. Some people go way over their calorie needs without realizing it when they don't track.

    8. If you weigh yourself frequently, consider using a program like trendweight to even out the fluctuations. You could be losing weight but just don't see it because of the daily ups and downs.

    9. Some people just burn fewer calories than the calculators predict. If you continue to have problems after 4-6 weeks, then it might be worth a trip to the doctor or a registered dietitian who can give you more specific advice.
  • godlikepoetyes
    godlikepoetyes Posts: 442 Member
    1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so, don't sweat it! Normal fluctuations happen and unfortunately sometimes we stall for a week or two even when we're doing everything right. Give your body some time to catch up with the changes you're making.

    2. If you aren't already, be sure that you're logging everything. Sometimes people forget about things like veggies, drinks, cooking oils, and condiments. For some people these can add up to enough to halt your weight loss progress.

    3. Consider buying a food scale if you don't already have one. They're about $10-$20 dollars in the US and easily found at places like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Measuring cups and spoons are great, but they do come with some degree of inaccuracy. A food scale will be more accurate, and for some people it makes a big difference.

    4. Logging accurately also means choosing accurate entries in the database. There are a lot of user-entered entries that are off. Double-check that you're using good entries and/or using the recipe builder instead of someone else's homemade entries.

    5. Recalculate your goals if you haven't lately. As you lose weight your body requires fewer calories to run. Be sure you update your goals every ten pounds or so.

    6. If you're eating back your exercise calories and you're relying on gym machine readouts or MFP's estimates, it might be best to eat back just 50-75% of those. Certain activities tend to be overestimated. If you're using an HRM or activity tracker, it might be a good idea to look into their accuracy and be sure that yours is calibrated properly.

    7. If you're taking any cheat days that go over your calorie limits, it might be best to cut them out for a few weeks and see what happens. Some people go way over their calorie needs without realizing it when they don't track.

    8. If you weigh yourself frequently, consider using a program like trendweight to even out the fluctuations. You could be losing weight but just don't see it because of the daily ups and downs.

    9. Some people just burn fewer calories than the calculators predict. If you continue to have problems after 4-6 weeks, then it might be worth a trip to the doctor or a registered dietitian who can give you more specific advice.

    All of this, yes. Also, you must be patient. Are you in a hurry to lose for some reason?
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    I've been doing this for almost 3 weeks now and still haven't seen any results. I've been eating the needed calorie amount, sometimes a little less. I have been working out about 4-5 times a week and mainly only drinking water. Why am I not seeing any results? In my opinion, I look even fatter than I was before. Help?

    Three weeks is not that long.

    That said, what tools do you use to determine the needed calorie amount? Do you weigh your solid food, measure your liquids, and log everything you eat, including condiments?

    What about your calorie burns? Do you each your exercise calories back and, if so, where do you get those numbers from?

    Most of the time we underestimate calories in and/or overestimate calories out, causing our weight to stall. :)


  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Eileen_S wrote: »
    This chart may provide you with a few helpful weight loss tips:

    mdpdusbefomp.jpeg

    This is my favorite chart. It shows pure truth.
This discussion has been closed.