What if you already exercise and eat healthy?

caitlinashe511

So, I want to lose weight and have been trying for a long time. I eat healthy, I rarely drink alcohol, I even more rarely binge eat, I run, do yoga, do work out videos, even body weight and resistance band exercises. I weigh the same, am the same size, but now just have a lot more muscle definition. I know, I know, it's all about the progress you see and muscle weighs more than fat blah blah blah. In the past, when I do things like this, my body responds very quickly with great results. Now, it's been a year and nothing has budged... I'm only 25! Is weight loss slower when you already exercise a lot? Am I missing something? Does anyone else have this challenge? I joined MFP to track my calories for real instead of my guessing to see where I'm going wrong. What do y'all think?

TavistockToad

How many cals do you net per day?

SmartAlec03211988

Unless there's some underlying medical issue, perhaps you're not eating at a calorie deficit? Do you weigh your food on a food scale? Maybe you're not eating enough (also possible).

Sky089

Watch Secret Eaters on Youtube

Alwayssohungry

Me too - me to - me too -

What was killing me is all the good and healthy foods I was eating was in huge portions. Several handfuls of healthy nuts each day. Using avocado as mayonnaise in my chicken salad, eating big bowls full fat Greek yogurt (cause it's better for you than low-fat sweetened), hand fulls of 72% cacao chocolate chips - goes great with the walnuts and almonds.

PORTIONS killed me. Now, I'm doing great and learning to enjoy the smaller portions instead of snarfing bigger portions

herblackwings39

Me too - me to - me too -

What was killing me is all the good and healthy foods I was eating was in huge portions. Several handfuls of healthy nuts each day. Using avocado as mayonnaise in my chicken salad, eating big bowls full fat Greek yogurt (cause it's better for you than low-fat sweetened), hand fulls of 72% cacao chocolate chips - goes great with the walnuts and almonds.

PORTIONS killed me. Now, I'm doing great and learning to enjoy the smaller portions instead of snarfing bigger portions

This. Portion sizes can be so deceptive. Regardless of what you eat you can gain weight, lose weight, or stay the same weight all because of portion size. Try weighing your food and logging everything for a week to see where you actually are.

hookilau

Unless there's some underlying medical issue, perhaps you're not eating at a calorie deficit? Do you weigh your food on a food scale? Maybe you're not eating enough (also possible).

I agree. Once you're able to nail down any factors that may be amiss (eyeballing portions, rather than weighing, over-estimating caloric burn, primary/secondary medical issue) you should be able to lose.

For me, it was an underlying medical issue. I was eating healthily, working out diligently (lifting) as well as doing yoga & additional gym classes, using a fitbit and HR monitor with a strap and using TDEE < 20% as a guide, I also have an active job (dog walker)....all that didn't make a lick of difference because of the underlying medical issue.

So in lieu of that, If I were you, I would re-calculate my TDEE & try using a fitbit to estimate activity or using a HR monitor to estimate caloric burn, as well as weigh portions to fine tune. If it still doesn gel for you, it's time to tinker with your routine a bit more, as in either increase or decrease either exercise or caloric intake, though not simultaneously :drinker: Good luck!

caitlinashe511

Looks like I've been way over doing it on the sugar level... I live in Africa, so all the fruits available are tropical and I don't have much in the realm of protein and whole grains and vegetables. I also seem to have been heavy on the peanuts and crackers! Now that I can see where I'm going wrong by tracking my food intake on here, I am under because I'm not supplementing with so many snacky sugary high calorie foods! Hopefully I'll get it all straightened out by the end of the week. Unfortunately I don't have a scale to weigh my food... my time here is coming to a close and I'm trying to travel back to the USA with only one bag... don't really see any point in investing if I'm going to leave it behind! But I sincerely intend on buying one once I get back. I'm currently eyeballing according to those comparison things (like meat should be the size of a deck of cards, nuts the palm of your hand, greens two handfuls, etc).

Thanks for all of the advice!