HELP ME PLEASE

042kristy

Im not sure why i cant lose weight in fact i have put on in the last 5 weeks. I go to the gym 6 days a week 1hr of weight training and 45mins of some form of cardio. I eat 1800 to 2000 calories a day. Walk my dog every day well for at least an hour. In the five weeks i havent had any alcohol, bread, pasta, rice or any other hi carb food. What am i doing wrong? I used to run everyday but i have shin splints atm plus im sick of being exhausted all the time. Am i just eating to much?

diannethegeek

1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so since you last saw a drop on the scale, 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.

042kristy

Thanks for that. I don't actually put any exercise i do into MFP. should i start and ear back some calories? I just stick to 1800/2000cal

042kristy

Im 5ft 4inc and 142pounds

looney9708

I'm 5'4 and at maintenance am 145. No matter how low I go in calories my body really likes it here. For me, I need to be around 1500 cals to maintain even though I do CrossFit and am very active during the day. You may need to drop your calories. And also for me I can not have one cheat, EVER! Not a bite of something. Not a single glass of wine in a week.

Hang in there. You sound like you are within a relatively healthy weight range. Don't be so hard on yourself and focus on being healthy

042kristy

Yeah i probably shoud drop my calories i just find it hard to keep up energy for gym, work, life in general. But maybe my body just needs to get used to it.

looney9708

It takes time to get used to it and so it a little at a time. Also make sure healthy fats are intentionally put into your diet. Like olive oil or coconut oil on veggies. I even use a tsp of coconut oil in my coffee. Helps with satiation and energy

SarahPeters3

If you're having a hard time with energy levels try only dropping your calories by 100 and make sure you're eating lots of protein from meats or other sources and fiber from veggies it makes a big difference I have steamed vegetables for dinner last night with a little rice and was full for the night!

sylkates

I'm 5'3, not much shorter than you, but when I was at 146 lbs in Febuary, my weight loss calorie amount was around 1460 calories, for half a pound a week.

It sounds like your calorie goal is too high or perhaps you didn't enter your activity level as 'sedentary' when it should be set to that.

jemhh

042kristy wrote: »

Yeah i probably shoud drop my calories i just find it hard to keep up energy for gym, work, life in general. But maybe my body just needs to get used to it.

Am I reading this right--you're doing an hour of weight training plus 45 minutes of cardio plus an hour of dog walking six days a week?

cathipa

I wouldn't recommend dropping your calories. I would recommend making sure you are logging your entries correctly (avoiding homemade and generic) as well as weighing all of your food. Dropping your calories would cause more fatigue given your activity level. If you are working out 1:45 for 6 days a week you actually may be not eating enough.

Fluffy2Fit2Shredded

Only thing I can add here is to second the note on dropping calories. 3500 cals per pound. If you're 500 less calories per day that's 1 pound per week list doing nothing. Just your normal daily activities. If not 500 then 250 less plus your workout where you burn more. Drop your sugar intake drastically and check how many grams of it instead of looking at calories. Consume carbs 4+ hrs before workout to use up the energy it will convert to. Increase your protein to build muscle. More muscle u have the more your body will burn fat just to maintain it. Get enough sleep 6-7hrs daily, very important. LOTS of water, I shoot for 21 cups or like 8 refills of those 24oz blender bottles (YouTube benefits of water) you'll definitely pee a lot but all the more excuse to get up and walk around if I have an office job. Take your multivitamins daily. Eat high volume low calorie foods and just add different homemade dips to change the Flavors (spinach, carrots, cauliflower, be coli, etc). And when you've lost weight consistently be sure to refeed once a week in place of "cheat days" (YouTube refeed and carb reload). That's good to start, the pounds will fall off, it did for me and I've tried everything in the past! Good luck!!

maxit

cathipa wrote: »

I wouldn't recommend dropping your calories. I would recommend making sure you are logging your entries correctly (avoiding homemade and generic) as well as weighing all of your food. Dropping your calories would cause more fatigue given your activity level. If you are working out 1:45 for 6 days a week you actually may be not eating enough.

The accuracy of logging is important, but the bottom line is that, as the original poster said she has not only not lost weight, but has gained weight in 5 weeks, calorie intake has exceeded calorie burn.

GrnEyes839

I'm wondering why the scale means so much... Have you taken measurements? If you're gaining muscle, your body is going to change and that might not reflect in the scale. Are your clothes fitting differently?