Working hard and not losing weight :(

goodbr

Hey guys! Just looking for some advice. I’ve been running consistently 5 days a week for 2 1/2 months now and I’m not seeing any results. I really try to push myself and make my workout count every day and the Nike Run app says I burn about 300+ calories per workout. During the rest of the day I try to stay on my feet and walk around while I study so I’m not just sitting down all day. I also eat healthfully (I’m vegetarian so fruits and veggies, beans, nuts, rice, etc.) and keep my calories between 1000-1200 a day and I don’t eat after 2pm. I’m fairly overweight (I’m 24 y/o and 5’6.5” and 200.6lbs and I have narrow wrists so I think that means I have fine bones?) so I didn’t think it would be that hard to lose weight at this point but I’ve literally been the same weight to the ounce since I started running again after breaking my back. For the last month, I’ve pretty much completely cut out dairy and bread from my diet to see if that helps but nada. I drink only water and copious amounts of it at that, and I get plenty of sleep (8-9 hours). And even though I’m in medical school, I live a pretty low stress life since I enjoy studying and I have good friends and great cats. Also, my scale is fine cause I keep track of my kittens’ weights and they are steadily gaining weight on track with their ages so it’s just me. I always weigh myself at the same time on the same day as well. Also, my clothes don’t fit any differently either so I just feel like my body isn’t changing no matter how much work I put in. Does anyone have any ideas? I’m getting discouraged.

apullum

Are you weighing ALL of your food using a food scale?

kimny72

Would you be willing to temporarily make your diary public? There are common logging errors many of us made when we first started logging, and sometimes fresh eyes can spot issues for you.

ElizabethKalmbach

Are you eating back exercise calories? That is the way MFP is meant to be used, though I'm not sure how you're using it with the Nike app. 1200 calories doesn't seem like enough for someone who is 2" taller than I am and burning 300 extra calories 5 days per week.

I am 5'4 and I start out with 1236 calories for a 750 calorie per day deficit. After my workout, I usually find myself adding about 400 calories and eating about 1600 calories per day while still losing weight and maintaining a deficit.

Make sure you're accounting for bites and tastes while cooking and *weigh everything.*

Honestly, I haven't the faintest notion how anyone manages to get accurate calorie calculations trying to measure "a cup of green pepper."

Also, dry weight and cooked weight on legumes and grains can make a HUGE difference so make sure you're selecting the *correct option* when making selections in the food log.

LyndaBSS

If you haven't already, read the stickies at the top of the getting started forum. Very informative and helpful.

NovusDies

Do you mean there has been net zero difference in scale weight after 2.5 months or that your weight hasn't fluctuated at all for that long?

Silentpadna

1000-1200 calories per day - if you did nothing, would be enough of a deficit to lose significant weight. As a matter of fact, it would not be enough to eat even if you were 60 pounds lighter (and still did nothing).

If you have not already - invest in a food scale. Use it for everything - even packaged food that says it's 1 serving size.

If you've been steady for 2.5 months with that activity, there's most likely something off with your logging. Start there.

Your food scale is way more important than your bathroom scale.

AwesomeOpossum74

Could be you're converting fat into muscle, which weighs more?

Make sure you log all your food, in the proper amounts. Incorrect logging was a big factor when I was getting started.

And if you haven't already, join a dance group and get your swing dancing on! Plenty of calorie burn in dancing.

kimny72

AwesomeOpossum74 wrote: »

Could be you're converting fat into muscle, which weighs more?

Make sure you log all your food, in the proper amounts. Incorrect logging was a big factor when I was getting started.

And if you haven't already, join a dance group and get your swing dancing on! Plenty of calorie burn in dancing.

Unfortunately, it's pretty much impossible that a woman eating at an almost 1000 calorie deficit would be gaining much muscle at all, certainly not enough to mask fat loss on the scale. Building muscle is slow work, especially for women, and especially especially for women eating at a steep deficit.

3011sophie

The most likely explanation is that you're accidentally eating more than you realise - I'm a similar age and height, and started at about 220lb, also vegetarian! And I've been consistently losing weight on 1200-1400 calories a day with little to no purposeful exercise (just over 40lb down in just under 5 months).

All solid foods should be weighed rather than measured in cups etc, because the calories in a certain volume will depend on how densely packed it is. And as @ElizabethKalmbach said - check your dried/cooked weights. For example, I got really thrown off with rice for a while. Uncooked rice should be just below 4 calories a gram, so a 75g portion would be about 300 calories. 75g of cooked rice might be more like 100 calories. So if you measure your uncooked rice but accidentally log it as cooked rice, you'll be logging about 1/3 of the calories you're actually eating.

Also keep a close eye on calorie-dense foods - you've mentioned nuts, but also be aware of oils, avocado, nut butters etc. They're healthful but can all add up a lot of calories in a very small amount.

If cutting out dairy/bread and not eating after 2pm are working for you then great, but neither are necessary to lose weight - personally, if I didn't eat after 2 I would be absolutely ravenous by the next morning and would probably end up bingeing! So it suits me better to spread my calories out over the whole day. Some people get on really well with intermittent fasting, but it's not necessary, so if you find it's not working then don't be scared to switch it up.

Good luck! Hope there's something in there that's helpful!

LivingtheLeanDream

if you haven't seen scale movement, you are eating more than you think...

wal3qx

Take your measurements, arms, waist, etc., and use that as a gauge on progress instead of just what the scale says. You could be making progress in muscle gain and fat loss both, making the scale number stay put. I went 2 months with the scale sitting in the same spot but in that 2 months, I went down a size in both pants and top.

3011sophie

wal3qx wrote: »

Take your measurements, arms, waist, etc., and use that as a gauge on progress instead of just what the scale says. You could be making progress in muscle gain and fat loss both, making the scale number stay put. I went 2 months with the scale sitting in the same spot but in that 2 months, I went down a size in both pants and top.

Usually solid advice, but the OP has already mentioned that her clothes are not fitting any differently. Also, running (i.e. steady state cardio) and eating at a significant deficit is not going to build a noticeable amount of muscle. Far more likely that caloric intake is higher than realised.

cbihatt

If you have already ruled out medical issues, then your calorie estimates are most likely incorrect. As others have said, get a food scale and use it. It is possible to lose weight while being less than 100% accurate with your calorie intake, but when you are not seeing progress accuracy becomes more important.

Also, keep in mind that eating too little can be just as detrimental to weight loss as eating too much. Given your stats and your activity level, 1200 calories sounds extremely low. You may want to recalculate your daily target.

One last thought. Your mind may not feel stressed, but it’s possible that your body may feel that way. You mention a major injury, running 5 days a week, and eating a low amount of calories. Those are all stressors. It may also be a good idea to scale back your running to 3 days a week. You could still cross train on those other 2 days, but maybe chose a lower impact activity.

I wish you luck finding out what works for you.

cheryldumais

No one ever appreciates being told that they are eating more than they think but it is likely the case here. Several folks have given you ideas where to look. I wanted to just add a couple of items. The first is the "cheat day". Often people admit to them but don't realize how they can derail your progress. Chances are this is not your whole issue if at all but I wanted to mention it just in case it's a factor. Next is what some call BLT (Bites, Licks and tastes). I just had an eye opener the other day as I was preparing something for my hubby. I weighed before and after reheating and found I had consumed 100 grams of it just tasting as it heated. Watch those things as well. They can really add up.

Last thing is to check on some of your recurring items to ensure you are using the correct calorie count on them. Some of the items in the lists are wrong and can really mess you up if it's something you eat often and are underlogging the calorie count accidentally. You can go to the USDA website for clarification if you are unsure.

javamoaka

Hey! I would firstly say that if you are eating 1200 calories a day you for sure should be losing weight. My initial thought is somehow you are eating more than you think. Secondly, I would work on boosting your metabolism. The best way to do that is by increasing muscle mass. If you are working out 5 days a week, I would lift 3 days and run 2. Or lift 4 days and do 15 minutes of cardio at the end of each lift. Working hard without results is frustrating but I'm confident small tweaks will get you to your goal.

Sharon_C

AwesomeOpossum74 wrote: »

Could be you're converting fat into muscle, which weighs more?

This is not physically possible. And muscle doesn't weigh more than fat.

PO, like cheryldumais said, you're eating more than you think. Weigh and log everything. Don't rely on the entries in MFP, because they're notoriously wrong. Enter your own foods.

Don't go by what the app is telling you you burned, those are always wrong too. If you want to eat your exercise calories back, I would eat half back to make up for the inconsistencies the app says you're burning.

ceiswyn

Muscle does weigh more than fat, for an equivalent volume, so a smaller volume of muscle could weigh the same as a larger volume of fat. BUT think about it; that weight has to come from somewhere. You can’t build muscle out of air! So even if the OP’s body composition were changing, the fact that they weren’t losing weight would still indicate that they weren’t in a deficit.

Danp

Lets take a look at your post bit by bit.

You've been running and trying to stay active and on your feet during the day.
That's great for your health but your progress from this will be measured in your fitness, not weight loss. You can be as active and run as much as you want but if you're not eating fewer calories than you burn then you'll not lose weight.

You've been eating healthfully.
Again, that's great for your health but no matter how 'healthy' you label the food you're eating if those healthy foods contain more calories than you use you'll not lose weight.

You don't eat after 2pm
This is completely irrelevant to weight loss. When you do or don't eat doesn't matter. What time of day you start and stop eating doesn't matter. If you eat more calories than you use before your 2pm cut off you'll not lose weight.

You're eating 1000-1200 cal
This is very low to begin with and extremely low for someone as active as you're reporting. Most of the time when I see posts with reported calorie consumption this low and there's no weight loss occurring there's usually one of a few things going on.
- The person is logging inaccurately using poor database entries, inaccurate measurements (cups instead of grams) or guessing/estimating their serving sizes and is eating far more calories than they think
- The person is overly restricting and bingeing but writing off the excess binge calories as 'just falling off the wagon'. So they say their eating 1000 cal per day but twice a week they're overeating but not counting that as it's not part of their plan to eat 1000 cal per day
- The person isn't ready to be honest with themselves and fudge their logging to be what they want it to be rather than what it actually is.

Cut out dairy and bread
Unless you've been diagnosed with a medical reason to avoid a particular food or food group elimination won't make a difference beyond perhaps satiation. Eating or not eating particular food doesn't matter if the foods you're not avoiding provide more calories than you use you'll not lose weight

The other thing to keep in mind is that weight loss isn't linear and the scale shows more than just body fat. This means that fluctuations in undigested waste, water and other stuff can mask fat loss. If the scales not budging has gone on for less than 3 or 4 weeks it might just be a case of needing a little bit of patience.

G'luck