Should I be seeing more results?

MLoNYC

Hi! I’ve been using this app for a couple months and have only lost 2 pounds! I have increased my working out from 2x to 4x per week and I also do CICO. I feel like I’m doing everything right but barely see results. Can someone tell me if I’m doing something wrong? I’m hoping the fat is just turning into muscle.

VictorSmashes

First saying I'm just an amateur but here are some suggestions I've seen floating around here:
Are you sure you're logging calories correctly? Are you drinking enough water? You could try to measure your fat level (using a caliper for example) and compare in another month, or use measuring tapes and compare over time. The first month or two is an adjustment period, especially if you're only doing CICO. Are you doing cardio or strength training (or a mix)? (Cardio will "use" calories, strength training doesn't do much.)

Those are just the things that pop into my head. It's hard to lose weight, especially when you're already at a healthy weight (as it would appear anyway!) as you are. I hope some of these things are of help

WinoGelato

Everyone who is breathing is “doing CICO”. CICO is an abbreviation for the energy balance equation.
If you are losing weight then CI<CO
If you are maintaining then CI=CO
If you are gaining then CI>CO

If you are not losing at the rate you expect the typical root cause is logging inaccuracy. Are you weighing your foods with a food scale? Double checking entries for accuracy? How are you estimating exercise burns? Are you eating those calories back?

MLoNYC

Thanks for the responses! For some more background, I am 5’4 and weight 132 pounds. Over the last year I have steadily gained 15 pounds and I’m trying to lose it and feel more comfortable in my skin as a lot of my clothes are tighter.

As for exercises I do HIIT workout classes (Tabata & Athletic conditioning) 2x per week, hot yoga 1x and I do a running class 1x per week so it’s a mix.

@VictorSmashes Why do you say that strength training doesn’t do much? Just curious because I have been doing that. I will definitely try using a caliper! So thanks for your suggestions!

@WinoGelato I don’t weigh my food and it could be due to logging inaccuracies but I generally eat 1300 calories a day and stick to meats and veggies and try to keep it low carb. I stopped snacking when I started using MFP and I don’t eat desserts so maybe I should start weighing my food!

Thanks for all your help guys! I appreciate it!

Machka9

MLoNYC wrote: »

@WinoGelato I don’t weigh my food and it could be due to logging inaccuracies but I generally eat 1300 calories a day and stick to meats and veggies and try to keep it low carb. I stopped snacking when I started using MFP and I don’t eat desserts so maybe I should start weighing my food!

Thanks for all your help guys! I appreciate it!

Yep ... you might be surprised.

VictorSmashes

MLoNYC wrote: »

@VictorSmashes Why do you say that strength training doesn’t do much? Just curious because I have been doing that. I will definitely try using a caliper! So thanks for your suggestions!

Generally speaking if your heart rate is not raised, you won't burn a significant amount of extra calories higher than your resting burn rate. I know that technically weight lifting or strength training can raise your HR but unless it's the focus of your workout, weight training generally focuses on the fine-tuning/maintaining/building of muscle function (depending on how much and how far you push yourself). I'm not a nutritionist or trainer or anything but that's kind of basically (really basic) why lifting doesn't work as well as cardio for weight loss. I hope that clarified a little!

EDIT because I just read the other part of your post: If you're doing HIIT that is considered cardio so I'm not sure why this isn't affecting your weight loss. As with others, I would suggest measuring your food more closely. You might even try a day or two eating "normal" and measuring it to see the difference in volume or mass. Personally I measure by volume, but when you're closer to your goal it's a lot harder to lose unless you measure by mass.