Cannot loose weight despite dieting

laurajc1982
laurajc1982 Posts: 10 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been calorie counting and weighing food since mid July. I haven't lost 1lb. I'm the exact same weight.
I'm 5ft weigh 113lbs my maintenance is 1400. I've tinkered with my reduced calorie levels. Was eating 1200 for a month and didn't get anywhere now I've dropped to 1000 as I've read petite people do have to reduce further.
I'm strict with this level of calories apart from a Saturday I'll go to my maintenance level of 1400.
I train 3-4 times a week combo of tabata and free weights.
My weight has always been around 107lb with good muscle definition.i went on holiday and gained 6 lb now I just can't loose it.
I try to always stick to 60g of protein a day.
Not sure what's going on and why I consistently stay the same I'm not even eating my maintenance calories?
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Replies

  • laurajc1982
    laurajc1982 Posts: 10 Member
    edited October 2016
    Should also say day I train I eat around 200 calories more. I'm never more than 40 calories over a day and I weigh everything I eat it's mainly 30g porridge am. No snacks Parma ham salad lunch with poached eggs. Usually either chicken bites for mid afternoon snack or a low calorie nbut bar. dinner either fresh fish lean lamb mince or chicken breast with spices with a pack of frozen microwave veg if I train I'll have some sweet potatoes with dinner protein shake after he workout. My diet is bloody boring!
  • courtneyfabulous
    courtneyfabulous Posts: 1,863 Member
    Are you using a digital scale to measure your food? Have you considered not eating back exercise calories?

    But before you do that... how old are you and do you really look like you have excess body fat to lose or are you just trying to get back to your old weight? If you are in your late teens or early 20s you may have just "filled out" a bit and should not be trying to get back to that lower weight... when I was in my mid teens 120 to 125 pounds was a good weight for me, but I actually grew an inch taller in my late teens/early 20s and my hips got wider, breast size went up, and by the time I was 25 years old 125 was too small for me and 130-135 was my new healthy weight range. Could it just be you've grown up a bit and filled out? Not really put on excess weight?
  • kristinaaugust
    kristinaaugust Posts: 1 Member
    I learnt that 1 kg of fat is equal to 7000 calories....so think if it like this, if u want to lose 1kg u need to burn 7000 calories plus whatever you consume. So to loose a kg a week thats burning 1000 calories a day. if u are consuming 1000 u need to burn 2000 calories a day. So do u know how many calories u burn over 24 hr period?? maybe wear a calorie counter watch n try to wear it all the time so it measures ur total calorie burn. Ivr tried this method and it worked and would motivate me to train more so i could burn more.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited October 2016
    First I do understand that you are already at a very very healthy weight for your stats. I am not going to question if you should or should not lose these pounds or not, since you stated you gained weight you are not used carrying around... You can certainly lose weight you want to, so long as it is healthy for YOU and it is not detrimental to you health.

    OP, you do have a low BMR and TDEE for your stats (height, age and current weight), however eating below your BMR is never suggested. I do realize that its not much lower than that and being a shorty myself and older too, I understand how it is difficult.

    This is where you need to get down to precision in your food consumption and logging efforts and how to deal with your exercise calories, increasing your day to day activity as well. And if your exercise is the same, doing some thing different or increase the volume and/or intensity of your work outs..

    You need to look back at your historical data (food diary and exercise diary) and see where you need to tweak it, also work on moving more.. edited to add: please eat the 1200 calorie min.
  • laurajc1982
    laurajc1982 Posts: 10 Member
    edited October 2016
    I wish it was my age I'm 34. I've always been 100-103lbs pre baby (2014) which was too low and before training but after having my son I went up to about 107 that was my final weight loss which consisted of 6 months of personal training and not really attempting to diet but I looked toned and defined.

    However it was only after a holiday I've went up 6lbs. I definitely feel I have more of a stomach and bum than a few months ago and my jeans and trousers are all abit too tight just had my old winter coat on and it's pulling in the middle so although I'm not worried about the actual weight figure and I don't look like I have allot of excess fat but I'm wanting to get rid of that little extra I have gained and feel comfortable again in those clothes. I always thought you had to eat extra when you train to properly build muscle or at least it allowed you to have extra that day without affecting fat loss? If I don't eat extra on the training days would that be likely to lead to some loss?

    I don't think I am slacking when I train though I do a one on one personal session once a week and train the other twice with the same guy and another gym member I'm always sweating ALLOT unable to talk and very red I wouldnt consider that to be slacking?
    I use a digital food scale to measure my food weight I've started this for just over a month now.
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,745 Member
    edited October 2016
    Perhaps "slacking on workouts" was too harsh a way to put it, what I mean is a subtle reduction in activity and a subtle change in your perception of what you eat, leading to you moving a little less and eating a little more than you think. At your weight range the difference would only have to be tiny.

    We all hit points as we age where we put on weight, and sometimes that's just natural changes and it's meant to be that way. The healthy BMI ranges even change as you age to allow for the fact that we naturally get a little heavier as we get older, and that that's normal and healthy - even protective of health. Personally I would roll with that extra 6lb and work on fitness instead.

    If you do decide to carry on trying to lose it, you'll need to step up your logging accuracy to "anal stage 3" - even 50cal can throw it out enough to matter (half a tbsp of mayo!). It's just the reality of trying to lose weight when you're so close to goal.
  • courtneyfabulous
    courtneyfabulous Posts: 1,863 Member
    Well you could just get new clothes...

    Or you can eat fewer calories

    Or you can increase exercise or exercise intensity. It sounds like you already work out intensely so you could just add 1 more weight training day a week or you could add a day or 2 that you do hiit cardio for 20 to 35 minutes.

    It is important to fuel your workouts but you can't gain significant muscle and lose fat at the same time- it's kind of either or. It IS important to keep training to maintain the muscle you have and to get enough protein after training for muscle recovery. You might want to just do a post workout whey protein shake if you don't already. Maybe ask your trainer what they recommended.
  • extra_medium
    extra_medium Posts: 1,525 Member
    edited October 2016
    Most likely you are overestimating your burn, or underestimating your intake, or both. Weigh your food and consider eating back about half of your estimated calories burned from exercise. If you're still not losing, then keep making adjustments until you do.

    Keep in mind when you're already at what's considered a healthy weight for your height, or very close to goal, weight loss slows down a lot and it takes more time to get those last few pounds off because you're very close to equilibrium as it is.
  • ericwhitt
    ericwhitt Posts: 87 Member
    Let's just break down the math. You're Maintenance was 1400, for the longest time you were doing a 200 deficit except for Saturdays where you ate 1400. That means assuming your measuring is perfect and never less, you should lose 1lb in ~3 weeks. Any sort of deviation from this will really slow it down. You said you weren't using a scale for the first bit of it, and only started using a scale for a month. Odds are you probably were still eating too much the first part and now that you're using a scale, your results are going to be very slow at a 200 deficit. This isn't a bad thing, you're at a healthy weight and do not want to eat much less. Especially if you are going and training 3-4 times a week.

    You sadly have very little room for error. Measure one dinner wrong by 10% and your deficit gets cut 25-50% for the day. Remember not to leave anything out of your diary. Alcohol adds a lot of calories, and you didn't mention anything about drinking or not, so that's also something maybe hurting you. But since your diary isn't public, we can't really comment on other things. Honestly at your weight and size, I would almost send you over to the Recomp thread instead of the weight loss. The idea being you are already a healthy weight, but you're not happy with a little fat on you. The theory of recomp is eat at maintenance, work out hard and keep the same weight but shift fat into muscle. Your clothes would fit a little better and your definition would come back. It's a long, tedious process though.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat
  • laurajc1982
    laurajc1982 Posts: 10 Member
    Thanks for the replies ericwhitt you've made allot of sense when broken down.

    I do have alcohol on a Friday and Saturday generally two to three gins and Tonic I don't go out to binge as a I have a toddler so evenings out are a thing of the past that makes working out abit harder as childcare can be an issue.

    But I've just recently last couple of weeks started doing some 20-30 min HIIT at home trainer developed for extra workouts.

    I'd ideally like todo a good weight lifting programme but time is a huge issue for me with work and childcare so my lunch is my gym time and I use that to either do tabata with the trainer or tabata form of weights ie today was 20kg squat barbell 15kg shoulder press burpee box jumps 2 x 6kg kettle bells get ups 2 x 6kg dumbell bicep curls and dumbbell push-ups. I estimate a burn of 200 cals but no idea if that's realistic.

    I was considering dropping below 1000 cals a day I gather then this isn't really recommended? Can I ask why?

  • laurajc1982
    laurajc1982 Posts: 10 Member
    Yeah I do log it I've been trying to reduce my food intake hugely on these days as my calories are so low I just can't accommodate that extra calories from the alcohol and tonic but here is probably a few days where I've miscalculated I reckon now.
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    Don't lower your calories further, it will be tough to meet minimum nutrition requirements with so little food.

    I'd go down the getting super tight with the logging route. Your margins are tiny and your losses will be small. It's probably going to take a good 8 weeks of being meticulous to see measurable movement on the scale just due to hormonal and exercise related water weight fluctuations masking them.
  • courtneyfabulous
    courtneyfabulous Posts: 1,863 Member
    Cut out the alcohol completely for a month- I bet you'll lose those extra few pounds much more easily.
  • ericwhitt
    ericwhitt Posts: 87 Member
    laurajc1982 wrote: »
    Thanks for the replies ericwhitt you've made allot of sense when broken down.

    I do have alcohol on a Friday and Saturday generally two to three gins and Tonic I don't go out to binge as a I have a toddler so evenings out are a thing of the past that makes working out abit harder as childcare can be an issue.

    But I've just recently last couple of weeks started doing some 20-30 min HIIT at home trainer developed for extra workouts.

    I'd ideally like todo a good weight lifting programme but time is a huge issue for me with work and childcare so my lunch is my gym time and I use that to either do tabata with the trainer or tabata form of weights ie today was 20kg squat barbell 15kg shoulder press burpee box jumps 2 x 6kg kettle bells get ups 2 x 6kg dumbell bicep curls and dumbbell push-ups. I estimate a burn of 200 cals but no idea if that's realistic.

    I was considering dropping below 1000 cals a day I gather then this isn't really recommended? Can I ask why?

    https://stronglifts.com/5x5

    This is a very popular entry-mid level weight lifting program. Takes ~45 minutes 3 days a week. So depending on how far away your gym is and how much time your lunch is, you could do 5x5 M,W, F and your other stuff on the other days. Weight lifting is very hard to predict calories for, 200 might be high for the list you said, so that could be another place you're losing some of your deficit if you are eating 200 calories back. And like others said, you're stretching it thin with 1000 calories as it is to be able to get proper nutrition. At your weight, you can't rush weight loss, it's a very slow process. If you dip too low, you're more at risk of pushing yourself too hard and making it too hard for you to want to stick with the diet.
  • courtneyfabulous
    courtneyfabulous Posts: 1,863 Member
    It's not just the calories you have to worry about with alcohol- it also can slow the metabolism, mess with weight loss hormones, cause increased body fat storage especially in the abdominal area and visceral fat (fat around the organs)... not to mention dehydration and the fact that it's a toxin so it puts added stress on the liver & kidneys.

    Honestly the FIRST thing I would do if I were you is completely cut out alcohol (have soda water and lime, no gin) for at least a month. Or at least cut down to only 1 drink per week. Until you have lost the few pounds you want to shed.

    I'd do that before trying to cut calories, exercise more, etc.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,944 Member
    Please be careful with these interval workouts. They do burn much less calories than you think. First of all if you do a 40 minutes workout be honest with yourself on how much of that that is not working out. That's including 10 seconds breaks. If you were running for said 30 minutes you'd probably burn more calories. To get an idea for that use weight * distance * 0.64 (approx., in lbs, miles). You are very light already, thus every calorie burn from sport will be much lower for you than for people being heavier. I'm 125lbs. My 3.1 mile runs give me about 250lbs. You would burn about 224. Any strength training would burn substantially less than that. Maybe just around 120-140kcal. Thus you might be eating too much.
  • laurajc1982
    laurajc1982 Posts: 10 Member
    Thanks for these replies.
    I need to look at my calorie tracking again and consider cutttjng alcohol for a month I know I won't be able to cut in December just too many social events for once and that will mess up the dieting I was hoping to have lost the weight before then. But given how little room I have and limited potential for loss I get that is unlikely now.
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
    Do you make the G&Ts at home? If not, be aware that restaurant pours of non-alcoholic beverages may be significantly bigger than the amounts in the entries in the calorie database.
  • courtneyfabulous
    courtneyfabulous Posts: 1,863 Member
    For those who think I'm lying or wrong about alcohol having more negative effects to weight loss than just its calories, please watch this video explaining why it makes you gain more fat and burn less calories:

    https://youtu.be/GbVB0FFEfrs
  • courtneyfabulous
    courtneyfabulous Posts: 1,863 Member
    It also inhibits your ability to build muscle
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    VintageFeline wrote: »
    courtneyfabulous wrote: »
    It's not just the calories you have to worry about with alcohol- it also can slow the metabolism, mess with weight loss hormones, cause increased body fat storage especially in the abdominal area and visceral fat (fat around the organs)... not to mention dehydration and the fact that it's a toxin so it puts added stress on the liver & kidneys.

    Honestly the FIRST thing I would do if I were you is completely cut out alcohol (have soda water and lime, no gin) for at least a month. Or at least cut down to only 1 drink per week. Until you have lost the few pounds you want to shed.

    I'd do that before trying to cut calories, exercise more, etc.

    Pretty sure this horror story about alcohol is mostly untrue.

    well it can dehydrate you,and your body will try to burn it off first instead of fat,the rest I doubt though. my mom is an alcoholic and she has no fat in her abdominal area anymore than she already had,as for stress on liver and kidneys? sure if you overdo it or have a health issue,otherwise a few drinks arent going to hurt. I think it also depends on the type of alcohol. my mom drinks beer and has No beer belly to speak of. maybe shes a special snowflake? LOL j/k
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    kristinaaugust wrote: »
    I learnt that 1 kg of fat is equal to 7000 calories....so think if it like this, if u want to lose 1kg u need to burn 7000 calories plus whatever you consume. So to loose a kg a week thats burning 1000 calories a day. if u are consuming 1000 u need to burn 2000 calories a day. So do u know how many calories u burn over 24 hr period?? maybe wear a calorie counter watch n try to wear it all the time so it measures ur total calorie burn. Ivr tried this method and it worked and would motivate me to train more so i could burn more.

    If you're burning 7000kcal and what you consume, you are net zero.
    Please stop. You don't know what you're talking about.

    OP "I'm 5ft weigh 113lbs"
    This person should be looking at 1/4 to 1/2lb losses per week if anything at all!

    This person states that their TDEE is 1400.
    Let's do some math.

    BMR alone is appx 1300

    Going from OPs statements alone, moderate to very active lifestyle.

    Sedentary calories to maintain 1600
    Moderate calories to maintain 1800
    Active calories to maintain 2000 <--- This is for people working out 3-5x a week.
    So OP wants to lose? 5lbs for this person is easily 6 months if a sensible trainer who cares about who they help were helping her.

    Lift weights 3-4x a week, eat 2k a day, HIIT 2x a week for 10 mins each, go out with friends and enjoy your food.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    edited November 2016
    courtneyfabulous wrote: »
    Cut out the alcohol completely for a month- I bet you'll lose those extra few pounds much more easily.
    courtneyfabulous wrote: »
    It's not just the calories you have to worry about with alcohol- it also can slow the metabolism, mess with weight loss hormones, cause increased body fat storage especially in the abdominal area and visceral fat (fat around the organs)... not to mention dehydration and the fact that it's a toxin so it puts added stress on the liver & kidneys.

    Honestly the FIRST thing I would do if I were you is completely cut out alcohol (have soda water and lime, no gin) for at least a month. Or at least cut down to only 1 drink per week. Until you have lost the few pounds you want to shed.

    I'd do that before trying to cut calories, exercise more, etc.

    Not necessary at all.

    Courtney, if you're going to make such claims you need to back them up with peer reviewed articles. I'm pretty sure what you're claiming is inaccurate.

    OP, you're at a healthy weight. I suggest you look into recomp rather than weight loss. You might weigh the same or a bit more, but you will be smaller.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    courtneyfabulous wrote: »
    It's not just the calories you have to worry about with alcohol- it also can slow the metabolism, mess with weight loss hormones, cause increased body fat storage especially in the abdominal area and visceral fat (fat around the organs)... not to mention dehydration and the fact that it's a toxin so it puts added stress on the liver & kidneys.

    Honestly the FIRST thing I would do if I were you is completely cut out alcohol (have soda water and lime, no gin) for at least a month. Or at least cut down to only 1 drink per week. Until you have lost the few pounds you want to shed.

    I'd do that before trying to cut calories, exercise more, etc.

    Well, at least you got the part about it being a toxin right. The rest...no.

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