Don't seem to be losing any fat even though in a 500 caloric deficit?

yesthisisdaniel

Hey all!

I've been in a caloric deficit for the past month and I feel like I'm not seeing any progress. Of course, I know that month is not that long of a time period when losing weight, but I feel like I'm staying in one place.

I'm currently eating around 1600 calories a day, which according to my estimated TDEE is being in 500 calorie deficit. I'm 23, 81 kg, 176 cm.
I have have a steady workout plan, strength training 3 times a week and doing cardio with some core work on my "off days".

Thing is, I'm not sure if my weight isn't changing because I'm gaining strength or if I'm doing something wrong. Because when I look at my belly/love-handles, etc, it doesn't seem like anything is changing or reducing.

If anyone has experience with this or has any suggestions, I'd love to hear the advice, thanks!

yirara

How do you determine that you are indeed in a 500 calorie deficit? Are you using a foodscale for everything? Are you accounting for condiments and cooking oils? What about making sure database entries are correct?

Lillymoo01

Have you lost any weight at all? If not there is a fair chance you are eating more than you think you are as it has been a month. You should be able to tell by your appearance (assuming you took a before shot) whether you had lost fat and gained muscle during that time but to do this you still would not be eating in a deficit.

Kodekai1988

Hey - I recently asked a similar question! Stalled in terms of weight loss and was absolutely sure I was tracking everything accurately. People on here gave me direct an helpful advice and based on that I adjusted three things:

1) when people say weigh everything on a food scale that means pretty much EVERYTHING. I was measuring butter, oil and mayo with measuring spoons. I now weigh them. I also realised I was free-pouring cream into coffee (I eat Keto) - I now weigh it. Because I eat Keto those “small” things are actually a larger part of my diet
2) diet drinks have calories too. I now actually look at the calories on the back and while the difference is small, there is one!

I did all that and in the last week I’ve dropped weight “without even trying”. My point? You might be doing everything right but chances are there is something you can tweak. Measure everything. Everything! And be paranoid about the entries on MFP. Since starting my own thread I now google things way more to cross-reference and have found some inconsistencies.

Kodekai1988

Oh sorry! The third thing was googling/paranoia - messed that up.

cupcakesandproteinshakes

If the scale hasn’t moved down at all in a month then you likely are not in a 500 cal a day deficit. Sorry to be the bringer of bad news. Get a food scale and weigh your food. Check mfp entries against usda database.

janejellyroll

It's unclear from the post -- are you doing just a visual assessment or has your weight not changed for a whole month? We can have strong feelings about our weight, but sometimes data is more useful.

dloewen17

First off we are very similar in age, weight, and height as well as our workout program. And it looks like you’re doing all the basics right to lose weight which of course is move more, eat less. 1,600 calories should definitely be below your TDEE.

I definitely agree to weigh everything and truly tune in your diet. Nutrition is everything especially as you get leaner. Address the incoming calories. Be absolutely positive you’re eating the calories you think you are. Food labels and the mfp database can be further off than you think. But to weigh absolutely all food seems to be everyone’s go to answer. It’s possible some people are weighing absolutely everything and in a deficit but the scale might not reflect that for some time (the scale weight absolutely will eventually drop over time guaranteed if you’re a “normal” healthy human in a deficit). Weight loss definitely isn’t a straight line down.

People like us who are dieting but also strength training (essentially recomping) could very well lose 1 pound of fat and gain 1 pound of muscle in the same month. And the scale will basically show a month of no progress. I would spend some time taking measurements all over the body and use those along side the scale. I was in a 500 a day calorie deficit for 5 weeks and didn’t drop a pound on the scale but I was visually and actually leaner after those 5 weeks.

I would take progress pics, take measurements all over your body, weigh daily and use trending weight, check that diet, and up the intensity (Or length of workout) on your cardio and strength training. What might “seem like” you’re not making progress might be more progress than you think.