Not losing weight!

nancysesinyi1

Hi guys, I'm hoping I could get some insight. I have recently begun my weight loss journey beginning this year and have completely overhauled my diet and started strength training. I have cut my caloric intake to 1,200 to sometimes even less (I know its wrong). It has been a month and my starting weight was 80kg and I have since lost 1.9kg only!..I have lost a cm on my waist and a cm on my hips but I had thought by now my weight would have be down by 4kg at least since my goal is to lose 1kg per week. I sometimes indulge but I always get back up!...I snack on a lot of dark chocolate but I make sure its within my caloric intake.

What could I be doing wrong?...I know losing a cm here and there is progress but how could the math be wrong?..Please help!

Rayman79

Firstly, great job!

Secondly, you probably need some more perspective. Consider the following points:

1. Unless you are morbidly obese, a really quick weightloss is not ideal, or in some cases particularly healthy.
2. A change in routine is going to cause various reactions. If you have increased or changed your exercise habits you may be retaining more water. For women, even the monthly fluctuations will effect the scale.
3. Weight loss is not linear. For example, I lost 1 kg in my first week, then 0.5 for the following three weeks in total, then 1kg the week after. The long term trend is what is important.
4. There is an element of error when measuring calorie intake. Even food labels can be off at times, and there are also factors in the body that determine how much energy is used to breakdown food etc (you have no control over this).

So, having said all that - you are seeing some great progress! You could have a crazy reaction and slash your calories, lose some more weight then fall off the wagon, binge... and start all over again... OR keep doing what you're doing and see steady progress. 2kg in a month is perfect! Trust the process and the results will come!

theabsentmindednurse

Totally agree with the above information.
Excellent and thorough explanation.

Another reason.
YOUR CALORIC INTAKE IS TOO LOW!!!
It may seem a good idea to go 1200 calories or lower, but it is self defeating.
Your metabolism will slow down and you are not meeting your body’s nutritional needs. Particularly when you are exercising. (Which you should eat more).

MFP gives you a daily Caloric intake for a reason.
By eating high protein, high fibre, nutritious diet, you will reboot your body and your body will lose weight.

Stay positive. Be patient and trust the process.

BitofaState

Could be a couple of things.

You're overestimating how active you are - the calories burned are lower than you think. Are you tracking your activity (you can use apps on your phone to see how much you move), can you fit in a few extra walks each day?

Your underestimating your consumption - if you're snacking on dark chocolate at 600KCal for 100g then maybe you need to break out the kitchen scales and start measuring amounts a little better. We often fool ourselves, or "forget" to log that mouthful. An example when cooking do you add in the calories in the oil, do you measure out a teaspoon/tablespoon to make sure that you haven't accidentally dumped another 100Kcal in the pan?

Your exercise regime may be encouraging you to retain water - resistance exercise creates different response mechanisms in the body and you are trying to build or retain muscle, which may be increasing your retention of water - especially if combined with a diet change that increases fiber or similar.

Finally you ARE losing weight - just not as fast as you'd like. Focus on the things you can control - your exercise, activity and diet - and less on the number on the floor.