Help: weight loss not happening despite excercise and dieting

rusty_balls

I go to the gym almost every day, and I have been avoiding sugar and other carbs like bread, rice, pasta etc.
I do 45 mins - an hour and a half of cardio and always 30 mins of lifting.
The weight isnt coming off?!!
I dont know what i'm doing wrong but it's so discouraging honestly.
I'm trying to feel confident and be healthy but this is taking forever.
Ive been on this set gym cycle for about a month and a half.
Can anyone suggest things to help, or stuff that can kick start metabolisms/ weight loss?

DaniCanadian

Use a food scale to weigh out any food that's not a liquid, even condiments like ketchup, mayo, etc.

malibu927

You don't mention if you're in a calorie deficit. That's how you lose weight. Exercise and cutting out foods won't do much if you don't know how much you're eating.

rusty_balls

I eat from 1,000-1,200 calories a day, sorry i didnt mention that

MikilouB

When you say the weight isn't coming off, do you mean your aren't losing anything or not as fast as you want? Slow is better for you and more sustainable in the long run. 1-2 pounds a week makes the most sense. Limiting carbs is ok, but watch your total calorie intake...remember, more calories out than in will result in loss.

DaniCanadian

rusty_balls wrote: »

I eat from 1,000-1,200 calories a day, sorry i didnt mention that

Are you using a food scale to weigh everything?

diannethegeek

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.

malibu927

rusty_balls wrote: »

I eat from 1,000-1,200 calories a day, sorry i didnt mention that

How are you measuring those calories? 1000 is below the recommends minimum (1200), so if your logging is 100% accurate you should be losing.

rusty_balls

Ive lost like 5 pounds in a month and a half and I really feel like im busting my *kitten* here for little take away
I think im just gonna really look even closer at the calories i eat, even in veggies and stuff

singingflutelady

5 lbs in a month and a half is excellent

Rocknut53

You haven't told us how much you weigh and your height. Your stats are just as important if you want anyone to give you helpful advice. If you don't have a lot to lose it will come off slowly, painfully slowly.

singingflutelady

Rocknut53 wrote: »

You haven't told us how much you weigh and your height. Your stats are just as important if you want anyone to give you helpful advice. If you don't have a lot to lose it will come off slowly, painfully slowly.

she replied saying she has lost 5 lbs in a month and a half so that's good progress

MissusMoon

rusty_balls wrote: »

Ive lost like 5 pounds in a month and a half and I really feel like im busting my *kitten* here for little take away
I think im just gonna really look even closer at the calories i eat, even in veggies and stuff

This makes me think that you are not weighing your food or logging consistently. Even with that, you're losing just fine.

murp4069

It sounds like you are making good progress. How much do you have to lose? What does MFP have as your daily calorie goal? If you don't have a lot to lose, you don't have my leeway for errors in logging. That being said, if you aren't using a food scale, you should invest in one. It makes a world of difference.

booksandchocolate12

Since you've been asked a few times if you're weighing your food, and you refuse to answer, I'll take that as a no. I don't know how you can be sure how much you're eating without using a food scale.

Anyway, maybe this will help you find an answer to your problem:

Jacob1020

1000-1200 calories a day by how much of a deficit is that for your weight/height & gender? Your deficit in the begginging should be close to your manitance level around 200-300kcal below would be a good starting point. Also long steady-state cardio wich will down regulate metabolism not to mention the amount of calories your eating wich are dropping you metabolic rate rapidly & cutting carbs drastically is not a good over a long period of time ( 5 months in your case ) Get out of low carb and start reintroducing carbs again & upping calories by 100kcal weekly until you hit manitance level, there are all types of metabolic adaptations that have occurred in your body for 5 months to effect your hormones that inevitably determine if you will lose weight safely. Personally to me this looks like the typical "Quick Rapid Fat Loss Solution" Wich is never-ever the way to long term healthy weight loss and or body-recompistion. I've seen this over & over again, You need to Reverse Diet. That's it.

pebble4321

You've lost 5 pounds in 6 weeks.

That is progress, even though it's not as fast as you want.
The reality is that it takes time to lose weight, especially if you aren't too heavy to start with. This is real life not a TV program, and you have to put in the effort over a prolonged period of time to get the results you want.

As you have lost weight, you are clearly doing something right. Just keep on doing that (though you would be better to keep your calories close to or over 1200, getting enough good nutrition to keep you healthy isn't going to be easy on 1000 cals a day).

I'll also note that cutting out specific foods isn't necessary - if you like to eat that way, or have a medical reason to do so, then go for it, but most people just have to eat a variety of foods and watch portion sizes in order to stay healthy and lose weight.

Jacob1020

pebble4321 wrote: »

You've lost 5 pounds in 6 weeks.

That is progress, even though it's not as fast as you want.
The reality is that it takes time to lose weight, especially if you aren't too heavy to start with. This is real life not a TV program, and you have to put in the effort over a prolonged period of time to get the results you want.

As you have lost weight, you are clearly doing something right. Just keep on doing that (though you would be better to keep your calories close to or over 1200, getting enough good nutrition to keep you healthy isn't going to be easy on 1000 cals a day).

I'll also note that cutting out specific foods isn't necessary - if you like to eat that way, or have a medical reason to do so, then go for it, but most people just have to eat a variety of foods and watch portion sizes in order to stay healthy and lose weight.

Worse advice ever to you current situation. To rusty_balls Do not keep doing what your doing. You will evetually wreck yourself in the long term. You need to emphasis of *Need* to Reverse Diet.

LivingtheLeanDream

Exercise doesn't necessarily mean weight loss. To lose we have to eat less than we burn so if you aren't losing you are simply eating at maintenance calories.
Logging your meals as accurately as possible, use a food scale so you know the calories you really are eating.
Be patient, if you are doing everything right, then you will lose.

fr33sia12

rusty_balls wrote: »

Ive lost like 5 pounds in a month and a half and I really feel like im busting my *kitten* here for little take away
I think im just gonna really look even closer at the calories i eat, even in veggies and stuff

Seriously annoys me when people say they haven't lost anything when they have.
The fact you're saying "even veggies and stuff" means you haven't been counting all calories you eat, so maybe you're eating a lot more than you think.

rusty_balls

First off, some of you on here are kind of condecending and its coming off rude, I asked this question because i'm kind of doing this on my own and I wanted help from a nice community wanting to reach out and help. Secondly no I do not own a food scale, based off of the comments I should definitely invest in one so I will.
Im 5'5 and 200, thats why i'm thinking it should be coming off a lot quicker.