Struggling

SamBoling

So for the past 2-3ish months I’ve been working out 5 days a week for roughly 1 1/2-2 1/2 hours and burning anywhere between 500-900 calories each workout. I eat around 1200 calories a day (that’s what MFP recommended) and don’t really eat back my calories burned. I’ve been doing this and I’ve only lost like 3 pounds. I don’t understand why I’m not losing any weight. I’m not eating clean but I don’t eat a bunch of junk food either. I weigh my food (most of the time), rarely go over the calorie allowance, and I’m confused as to why my body isn’t responding. Any tips?

MichelleSilverleaf

If you're only weighing your food most of the time, something somewhere that you're not weighing could be throwing you off. Weigh EVERYTHING.

It would be helpful though to know how much you have to lose, if it's a small amount that loss is going to be very slow and may be masked by things like water weight and TOM. 1200cal may not even be necessary (or realistic). Also 3lbs is still a loss, even if it's slow.

malibu927

What do you mean by most of the time? If you aren't losing on 300-700 net calories (which you should be eating those exercise calories back to bring you up to 1200 net) then there is an issue with your logging.

SamBoling

MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »

If you're only weighing your food most of the time, something somewhere that you're not weighing could be throwing you off. Weigh EVERYTHING.

It would be helpful though to know how much you have to lose, if it's a small amount that loss is going to be very slow and may be masked by things like water weight and TOM. 1200cal may not even be necessary (or realistic). Also 3lbs is still a loss, even if it's slow.

When I say most of the time, I mean more often than not. The times I don’t is when I’m eating dinner that’s been made but I still don’t over eat and know portion sizing. For amount I need to lose...I’d like to lose 20lb. I’m 5’7” and stuck at 183. Goal is to be in the 160s.

MichelleSilverleaf

Unless you know 100% for sure how many calories are in the serving you're eating, you can very easily blow a deficit. Logging is probably the issue. Double check entries with labels of what you're eating or the USDA database just in case some are off. User created database means lots of incorrect entries, I had to correct quite a handful when I started.

SamBoling

malibu927 wrote: »

What do you mean by most of the time? If you aren't losing on 300-700 net calories (which you should be eating those exercise calories back to bring you up to 1200 net) then there is an issue with your logging.

I thought there was an issue with my logging too or at least my tracker was calculating wrong amount of calories but going back, I can’t see anything wrong. I even log if a have something I shouldn’t. Now I don’t know if genes are playing a role in this but I take after my dad’s mom side of the family. Practically all of them are extremely overweight and I’m trying not to end up like that. It’s always been difficult to lose weight. So I’m honestly trying to figure it out.

yweight2020

Dinner thats been made by you and you know what and how much ingredients is in it like.butter or cream? Or made by other family member and you dont know? Easy to be thrown off calorie wise, must count measure and weigh to know what your really eating and I also gather your not eating enough with all the exercise you do and minimum calorie consumption. Best of luck to you, you can do this. Just refine things.

xxerniexx

are you drinking enough water? i know for me if i don't get enough water that slows or stops my loss

sedj241

I train and workout with a few people and the first thing I love to ask them is how many calories are you eating everyday then I ask are you tracking your food, most of the time I get the deer in the headlight look. Then I say let's try this, first I want for you to eat at your maintenance for for a week, maybe two, then I want for you to tapper off about 100 calories every week or two till you get to about 400-500 and then we go from there. You have to train your body to work off you calorie, sugar, or fat reserve. Until then what you're doing is carb crashing, eating, and the carb crashing again... end the end no weight lose or stalled weight lose. Hope it helps.

MichelleSilverleaf

sedj241 wrote: »

You have to train your body to work off you calorie, sugar, or fat reserve.

...huh?

kimny72

Please don't take this the wrong way, but there is no way you are netting 300-700 cals and not losing weight. You would be starving yourself sick, it's physically impossible. There has to be something off with your numbers. Double check the entries you are using in the database. And I can't tell on my phone, but if you're willing to open your diary, long time users may be able to catch something with fresh eyes.

Glossberg

As others have stated, tracking is often a big issue for some people. Also, how are you determining how many calories you are burning at the gym? It’s not uncommon for people to overestimate what they are burning.

Medical issues can play a role in weight loss as well such as hypothyroidism.