Ideas about why I am not losing weight?

scrocke

I am 5'6, 230lbs, 35yrs old. I have been meticulous for the last 45 days about logging everything I eat. I weigh solids and measure liquids. (I even log my vitamins) I ride my bike 4.5-5 miles 5 days a week (logged through MapMyFitness) and do cardio exercises (T25 videos) 3-5 days a week. My calorie goal is 1100 a day, leaning towards more protein. I usually have between 90-100g protein (especially the days I do cardio). I feel stronger during the workouts, particularly this past week. I can do some of the ab exercises I could not do at the beginning, for example.
So it's been 45 days, and.. nothing. No change in weight. I don't feel fatigued or hungry at the end of the day. I don't want to give up, but I am just baffled why I am not losing. My diary is open also if anyone has suggestions.

malibu927

Are you weighing your protein powder out?

1100 is very little, especially when you aren't eating back exercise calories as you should be, so I would just double check everything in your logging to make sure it's accurate.

HippySkoppy

Ok - had a look back through your diary for Nov. and then back into mid Oct. Your diary could stand an overhaul.

There were days not complete and everyone I looked at showed you to be quite a deal below your goal of 1100 calories per day. Which by the way is far to low for you especially if you want to fuel your workouts effectively and not crash and burn like so many others on here with such an aggressive goal.

This site here recommends between 1000-1200 at a MIN for women. Bear in mind though, this is the very lowest end of the spectrum and designed for older, shorter sedentary women....criteria which you do not at all fit.

The other issue is that I can see in your diary is the use of tablespoons for peanut butter, cups for quinoa etc. For the greatest accuracy use your scales in grams for all solids especially important for calorie dense foods. Make sure to use verified entries in the database too.

At the end of the day I would say you are eating more than you think. Water weight from fluid retention in your muscles from your inceased workouts may be masking some loss but, yes, given the stats. you have provided and if you are positive your diary is accurate then you would normally expect to see a fair amount of loss.

Once you tidy up the issues with logging and you find yourself still not losing it may then be time to seek a Doctor's help in picking up any medical issues that are hindering your loss.

All the best.

crzycatlady1

How are you weighing your food? You should be using a food scale, set to grams.

scrocke

What you are seeing as peanut butter is powdered peanut butter, 1 serving is 2 TBSP or 12g, what I do is put my shake on the scale and weigh it, but it is listed in the database as 2 TBSP (or half that if I use half a serving). Well, I do use a measuring cup for the quinoa/bulgur, so I will start weighing that. I will also start weighing my protein powder. Otherwise, I am confident in my logging.
Can you point to specific days where you are not seeing completion or need an overhaul? There was a week in late Oct where I was significantly below 1000, but it was a very stressful week and I couldn't make myself eat more. So I did complete my diary but it won't post due to the very low calories.
I am also a bit confused as if the only major issues are the powdered peanut butter and quinoa, and I am logging less than 1100 cals a day, then an extra half serving of powdered peanut butter would add 32 cals a day (if I do not weigh correctly, for example) and an extra half cup of bulgur would add 75 calories a day. This is still below 1200 calories. So is that the major issue, that I am not eating enough?

Edit: I worked in a lab, so I have a lab scale that goes to 4 decimals. I am pretty confident in its precision. Also, I hope I am not sounding like I am making excuses, I am just trying to reply to specific points, and as we all know, weight loss is frustrating. So my apologies if I seem, snarky.

I should also mention that early this year a I had a full panel done and have no thyroid, diabetes, cholesterol, or other health issues.

HippySkoppy

Hmm, there were 2 particularly low days that caught my eye 870 something and a 275? There were also a few entries for takeaway foods, or restaurant dishes and maybe using large as an indicator of calories.

You don't sound snarky in the least, TBH I was worried I might offend you.

Sincerely though...you sound as though you have a handle on the weighing but if you aren't losing weight now the 1st place we are going to ask you to look at is the accuracy of your logging.

Again I have to stress the issue I and others too are going to have with you consistently eating so little. Your supposed to eat at least a portion of your exercise calories so the NET comes to a min. of 1200 which is what this site would be recommending for you at your age, height and weight and your burns are quite significant.

Yes I am concerned about your long term health eating so little. I have seen it so often on here and experienced it myself that not eating enough or going for the most drastic of loss quickly can cause problems.

Fatigue, hair loss, fingernails splitting etc. I know it sounds dramatic and a bit fanciful but over time dieting can take a toll and you'll end up burnt out and exhausted.

For what it is worth I'd go back to the Dr. and get a repeat of the testing necessary to rule out anything that could be impeding you, as you said it was early this year and the year isn't far from being over so a lot might have changed.

Decapins

theres no way you're not losing weight on that. it sounds like you're pretty accurate too esp if youre eating so little. even if you weren't eating enough, you would still be losing weight (rapidly and unhealthily!). theres been no change at all in 45 days? no fluctuations at all? either you're lying or its time to see a doctor

Meghanebk

Have you been taking measurements as well as weighing? Between water retention from exercise/dietary changes and maybe a bit of muscle gain, you may be losing fat and seeing it only in the tape measure, not the scale. On the plus side, you know you're making progress since you are increasing what you can do in those exercises.

I definitely would not lower your intake if you are logging accurately with that lovely lab scale (I'm jealous). Do make sure the entries you are using to log are cross checked, some people's listings are pretty far off.

If you have been active fairly continuously for that long, I'd take 2 days off entirely, eat at a couple of hundred calories above your current level, and see if anything shifts. Weirdly, I tend to drop a lot of weight on breaks like that after a few weeks of activity.

scrocke

Not in weight (change that is, I have no reason to lie and then seek advice). Unfortunately, I won't be home (I am away for school) until Thanksgiving when I can pick up my digital body tape measure. I realize it is an inaccurate tool, but I have seen no perceptible difference in how my clothes fit, I have a slim fitting pair of jeans that fit the same. Upper body I tend to wear loose shirts, and I see my face every day so don't know if it is slimmer.

I can't always find a verified entry, but for things that have a barcode (powdered PB and protein powder for instance), I scan them to get serving size. I had assumed this would be accurate, is this a wrong assumption? I will try to be more diligent in this area.

Edit: Since this is the second time water retention has been mentioned, I will research more into this. Although I hate to say, no I'm not fat, it's just water

rileysowner

If all you say is correct, the two things I would suggest is make sure of your database entries, and go see a doctor for a full workup. One question, has there been any change in the fit of your clothing?

GottaBurnEmAll

rileysowner wrote: »

If all you say is correct, the two things I would suggest is make sure of your database entries, and go see a doctor for a full workup. One question, has there been any change in the fit of your clothing?

^This. I've gone into your diary twice and can't really find any answers.

HippySkoppy

GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »

rileysowner wrote: »

If all you say is correct, the two things I would suggest is make sure of your database entries, and go see a doctor for a full workup. One question, has there been any change in the fit of your clothing?

^This. I've gone into your diary twice and can't really find any answers.

Oh thank the Great Potatoe!!!!

I was *kitten* myself I'd missed something. You more experienced members are better at spotting things than me.

This sounds like a bit of a mystery OP - water retention maybe a little bit of the answer but not enough to cover what you 'should' have lost at such a deficit. As for gaining muscle, no sorry, again at such a steep deficit you would be losing muscle....

I sorry other than what I've already suggested to do I'm stumped.

scrocke

Well, I won't be able to get to my doctor until March for a scheduled check-up (again, away for school and I have VA healthcare so I can't just find a local Dr.). Until then I guess I will try to make sure:
-look for verified entries
-weigh bulgur/protein powder
-aim for 1100-1200 calories a day vs <1100

Thank you for all of your responses

Psychgrrl

scrocke wrote: »

Well, I won't be able to get to my doctor until March for a scheduled check-up (again, away for school and I have VA healthcare so I can't just find a local Dr.). Until then I guess I will try to make sure:
-look for verified entries
-weigh bulgur/protein powder
-aim for 1100-1200 calories a day vs <1100

Thank you for all of your responses

Just a reminder, this should be your NET (what you have left after eating back some exercise calories) not your GROSS (the total of what you ate for the day. With your activity level, 1100-1200 is not enough nutrition to sustain you. You'll end up losing a good deal more lean muscle than you probably want.

If you're at a college campus, they have services like a health center, wellness center, Rec center you can access with people like doctors and registered dietitians.

Meghanebk

Keep in mind that anything prepackaged might need to be weighed too - If canned beans says x calories per serving of 100 grams, 2.5 servings in the can - you may weigh the beans and find there are 270 grams in there instead of 250. Little differences like that add up. Though things like restaurant food are more notoriously imprecise in serving size accuracy and calorie count.

scrocke

I admit that eating back calories is anathema to me and something I struggle with. It is hard to get over the mindset that deficit is necessary therefore more deficit must be better. Logically I recognize this, emotionally I don't. I keep thinking that I don't have an exact number for calories burned, just estimates, so I don't want to eat more than I should be.

RoxieDawn

OP your BMR at your current weight is approx 1760.. I must disagree with the 1100-1200 calories.. While I can agree that going a little under is ok at your current weight, eating less than 1200 certainly is way too low.

You have not had one drop in weight since you started logging in MFP at all eating 1100 calories? Not even water weight loss?

sheebs11

Try adding in more strength training and eating more. More strength training = more lean muscle mass = better resting metabolism. Try dropping down to 3 or 4 cardio session a week and aim to burn approx 300 cals in those session and aim for 5 or 6 strength sessions and do not do your cardio before them (fatigues your muscles too much before lifting). Increase your cals to help fuel this but make sure its still clean eating and lots of protein. And no it won't make you bulky. You might see a minor gain in the first week or two from water retention and then the scales should start going down as long as you are consistant Good luck!

sarahsamandpete

I would recommend eating more calories. 1100 is too little. Just give it two weeks. Eat back most of your exercise calories and see if your body will adjust. I know it sounds scary and counter-intuitive but sometimes your body needs more to lose more. I've had a similar situation I was stalled out for months at about 1500 calls and never ate back my exercise calories. Upon the advise of my trainer I upped it to closer to 1800 and have seen losses. It is a little early for me to determine if this will stick long term but I am hopeful. I know everyone says it's only about calories in/calories out, so u would think the greater your defect the bigger your weight loss but it doesn't always work that way especially if you are not giving your body the minimum it needs to function. Try eating back at least 50% of your exercise calories. Just give it two weeks and see if your body responds.

scrocke

Try dropping down to 3 or 4 cardio session a week

I have to ride my bike to get to school (edit: this is also where the gym is), should I count this as cardio and try weights instead of more cardio 3-5 times a week?

Try eating back at least 50% of your exercise calories. Just give it two weeks and see if your body responds

I can do this.

sheebs11

Yes! Absolutely! If you are already riding to and from school daily then you are getting plenty of cardio! Switch out your other cardio sessions for strength training ones. It can be intimidating if you have never weight trained before but bodybuilding.com has plenty of great beginner routines as well as instructional videos on how to do exercises properly! And I cannot reiterate enough that you have to eat more the help sustain muscle gain and fat loss! When I'm losing I try to eat lots of protein, moderate amount of fats and lower carbs (because my body hangs on to those suckers haha)