FRUSTRATING!

christina_michelle

Hi Everyone!

So I have been back at it for a month or so working out / lifting weights.

I try to do at least an hour of cardio (usually some sort of class - kickboxing, spin, bootcamp, zumba, etc) and another 45 minutes of weight lifting (switch off on legs, arms and such)

I have been REALLY watching my diet, trying to keep around a 40% carbs 40% protein 20% Fat and make sure i'm eating enough. Drinking between 13 - 18 glasses of water.

However, I haven't lost A POUND. NOT ONE POUND. This is so frustrating and I have seen myself being able to keep up better in classes, but still haven't seen that significant of a difference.

Before the last couple months, I was eating alright, but not healthy (drinking, late night foods, etc) and working out maybe once a week? and definitely not as strong as now. I just don't understand!

Please feel free to look at my journal.

christina_michelle

BUMP

Greenrun99

Not sure how tall you are or what you currently weigh, but your calories seem ok.. I would make sure you have a food scale, and measure everything your eating.
I can tell you your probably overestimating your exercise calories..700-800 calories doing 1 hour of kickboxing.. probably not. that would be total 90% HR for a large majority of people.
Might want to switch to TDEE method, and eat what it tells you for activity daily instead of cycling.. plus its only 1 month.. give it some time.

CMorning99

I would recommend getting a HRM to help you zero in on calories burned...I burn 350 cals in 60 min of zumba and that is dancing my butt off! I barely burn anything in straight up toning classes..I think in JM 30 day shred I barely burn 100 cals. Once you have your exercise figured out, I would start figuring out your TDEE....I love scoobies calculator (you can google it).

deksgrl

1- what did you choose for how many pounds you want to lose per week? If it is not 1 pound, set it to 1 pound.

2- Are you accurately measuring / weighing everything you eat? If not, get a food scale and track meticulously. You may be eating more than you think you are.

3- If you see no difference after a few weeks of logging meticulously, then begin to eat only 75% of your exercise calories back. Your exercise calories may be inflated.

christina_michelle

Thanks everyone!

I unfortunately lost my HRM a few months back - however, it usually said I burned between 550 - 700 calories.
I actually lower the amount of time I do the classes by a little cause I know it could be over estimating and that is why I most of the time go under my calories between 200 - 400 calories for error.

But I am at the gym between an hour and a half and three hours daily (three hours = Cardio Class, Hour long Pilates, 45 minutes of weights)

I'll keep going at it!

ndj1979

do you weigh/measure your food?

Do you log everything???

psuLemon

do you weigh/measure your food?

Do you log everything???

This..

Also, have you considered dropping your cardio down to 2-3 days. Because 1500-1700 calories doesn't seem like a lot for a person who is working out 2 hrs a day.

Also, you really don't need a HRM. And what are your stats.

christina_michelle

do you weigh/measure your food?

Do you log everything???

Yes! I log everything. I do not weigh my food, but I measure it.

So the only thing I don't really have complete accurate weight of is my meat.
But, I don't eat extremely large portions and have weighed in the past and know about the size of a 4 oz piece.


What do you mean stats?

christina_michelle

do you weigh/measure your food?

Do you log everything???

This..

Also, have you considered dropping your cardio down to 2-3 days. Because 1500-1700 calories doesn't seem like a lot for a person who is working out 2 hrs a day.

Also, you really don't need a HRM. And what are your stats.

That is what my friend says, she said 1,800 on my low workout days and 2,100 on my high? I just don't know how to eat that much to be honest. Getting to 1,800 a day is hard.

NRSPAM

If your food logging is accurate, you are probably gaining muscle and losing inches. Have you measured yourself? Are your clothes fitting any better? Those things are better at determining your weight loss than that scale. ))

NRSPAM

do you weigh/measure your food?

Do you log everything???

This..

Also, have you considered dropping your cardio down to 2-3 days. Because 1500-1700 calories doesn't seem like a lot for a person who is working out 2 hrs a day.

Also, you really don't need a HRM. And what are your stats.

That is what my friend says, she said 1,800 on my low workout days and 2,100 on my high? I just don't know how to eat that much to be honest. Getting to 1,800 a day is hard.

Oh, it's easy, trust me! Lol. Just look at my diary. Well, not today. Some healthier things that are high in calories are nutella, peanut butter, and protein shakes, if you add 2 scoops.

SweetSailor

Stats=current height/weight

I can tell you being smaller, and you look smaller in you pic, can make losing slow going. absolutely have someone regularly measure your body fat. I dropped several percent over a year when I only lost seven pounds over that same time period which can be frustrating for sure.

Edited-I just glanced at your diary, but it looked pretty good to me.

christina_michelle

Stats=current height/weight

I can tell you being smaller, and you look smaller in you pic, can make losing slow going. absolutely have someone regularly measure your body fat. I dropped several percent over a year when I only lost seven pounds over that same time period which can be frustrating for sure.

Edited-I just glanced at your diary, but it looked pretty good to me.

Oh 5 feet 5 inches and 160 lbs.

pinkiemarie252

This. Muscle weighs more than fat so that could be part of it.

I'm also curious why 13 to 18 glasses of water. Are you forcing it down or are you drinking when you're thirsty? You could be retaining water.

christina_michelle

This. Muscle weighs more than fat so that could be part of it.

I'm also curious why 13 to 18 glasses of water. Are you forcing it down or are you drinking when you're thirsty? You could be retaining water.

I read that the more water you drink, the less you retain actually.

I have this dasani bottle that is 36 oz, and I fill it up 4 times most of the time. I most of the time drink about 4-9 glasses of water in the morning/ gym between 8 - 1 pm then drink another 9 in between then..


I could be retaining water I guess? But I'm not exactly forcing it down.

SweetSailor

This. Muscle weighs more than fat so that could be part of it.

I'm also curious why 13 to 18 glasses of water. Are you forcing it down or are you drinking when you're thirsty? You could be retaining water.

No. No. No.

One, a pound of feathers and a pound of sand weight the exact same. A pound.

A pound of muscle is more dense than a pound of fat on the other hand, so have someone at your gym measure your body fat.

Second, drinking plenty of water will not make you retain water, actually opposite, it will help your body shed excess water because it's not holding on to it.

I drink up to 25 glasses of water or tea a day because I also often work out hard, spin, heated yoga, etc. no forcing necessary, it's replenishment.

Our stats are identical. Seriously, start tracking your body fat and take photos for your own measurements.

Nicolee_2014

When I was going to a personal trainer 2 x a week & eating right etc. I found that the weight didn't really shift but it sure made a HUGE difference in my body shape. Clothes fit me better than they did when I was wearing them when I was 10kgs lighter.

Keep at it, take measurements.

haymancm

Just create a bigger deficit with your calories eaten & burned. If you are eating too much, the scale will not budge, regardless of how much you burn. I love your workouts! (((feeling the sweat!))) Are you weighing yourself often? I weigh daily just to make sure I'm on the right track.

Add me if you'd like.

Kevalicious99

Don't freak out over the scale .. it is not a good indicator of progress. Do some measurements .. and track that here at MFP. Probably a much better way to determine if you are making progress.

You really need to stop worrying about what the scale says.

I personally will take an inch lost over a pound lost any day of the week.

- Kevin -

Sashyteds

Hi Christina, it might be worth checking your energy expenditure for your exercise routines. I struggled to lose weight for years thinking that exercising a lot would help counteract calorie intake, but sadly the truth is you would have to spend hours and hours in the gym to knock off a few hundred calories, so in the end I cut down my calorie intake and only used exercise to help earn an extra treat here or there, and voila! it worked! Best of luck!

cafeaulait7

This. Muscle weighs more than fat so that could be part of it.

I'm also curious why 13 to 18 glasses of water. Are you forcing it down or are you drinking when you're thirsty? You could be retaining water.

I read that the more water you drink, the less you retain actually.

I have this dasani bottle that is 36 oz, and I fill it up 4 times most of the time. I most of the time drink about 4-9 glasses of water in the morning/ gym between 8 - 1 pm then drink another 9 in between then..


I could be retaining water I guess? But I'm not exactly forcing it down.

Your muscles will be retaining water (and glycogen, I believe) because of all the exercise you are now doing. Definitely take measurements. As much as you do, you might even get muscle swelling a bit at first (I do). So even give measurements a little time.

I don't know if it helps, but after 3 weeks I started losing inches (and have been consistently after a big jump at first that was probably the swelling going away). However, my scale is stuck, stuck, stuck. Which may be a great thing, since inches are coming off.

fatfrost

Maybe try to change up the timing of your intake a bit. See what happens if you go a week without eating after nine pm.

JcMey3r

Are you losing inches/cm's. My scale will go up but I'm losing inches. Weight loss isn't always on the scale.

psuLemon

do you weigh/measure your food?

Do you log everything???

This..

Also, have you considered dropping your cardio down to 2-3 days. Because 1500-1700 calories doesn't seem like a lot for a person who is working out 2 hrs a day.

Also, you really don't need a HRM. And what are your stats.

That is what my friend says, she said 1,800 on my low workout days and 2,100 on my high? I just don't know how to eat that much to be honest. Getting to 1,800 a day is hard.

I would suggest 1900 calories if you were only working out 1 hour a day but if you are going to workout 3 hours (especially with lots on intensity) it's probably going to be more like 2400 calories. Honestly, I would suggest dropping exercise down to 1 hour a day for 6 days a week. There is NO benefit from working out as much as you are. I would suggest doing 3 days of weight training, 2 cardio and 1 yoga. And then eat 1900 calories a day and macro's around 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fats.

If you have trouble getting enough calories, just go dirty. You can either eat peanut butter out of a jar, eat some ice cream (i prefer a klondike each night), high calorie protein shakes, high calorie protein bars, adding cheese to your menu, or even drink some calories.. milk/almond milk. Add avocado to some of your meals or cook foods in olive oil

psuLemon

If your food logging is accurate, you are probably gaining muscle and losing inches. Have you measured yourself? Are your clothes fitting any better? Those things are better at determining your weight loss than that scale. ))

You can't gain muscle without gaining weight and you can not gain muscle really unless you are eating a surplus of calories to include progressive load lifts. And two major things going against her on a deficit, she is a women (lacks high levels of testosterone) and she is already lean.

ndj1979

This. Muscle weighs more than fat so that could be part of it.

I'm also curious why 13 to 18 glasses of water. Are you forcing it down or are you drinking when you're thirsty? You could be retaining water.

this is not good advice...

First, you can't be eating in a deficit and going the amount of cardio OP is and gain muscle.
Second, muscle does not weight more than fat.

Third - drinking more water does not make you retain water, it actually helps you release water retention and release excess sodium and what not ...

Please look these things up before you give someone advice that is dead wrong.

ndj1979

do you weigh/measure your food?

Do you log everything???

Yes! I log everything. I do not weigh my food, but I measure it.

So the only thing I don't really have complete accurate weight of is my meat.
But, I don't eat extremely large portions and have weighed in the past and know about the size of a 4 oz piece.


What do you mean stats?

if you are not weight your food get a food scale...

Consider this, if your were off 100 by calories per day that means that you would consume an additional 1200 calories per week ...

You really need to be weighting everything...

psuLemon

do you weigh/measure your food?

Do you log everything???

Yes! I log everything. I do not weigh my food, but I measure it.

So the only thing I don't really have complete accurate weight of is my meat.
But, I don't eat extremely large portions and have weighed in the past and know about the size of a 4 oz piece.


What do you mean stats?

if you are not weight your food get a food scale...

Consider this, if your were off 100 by calories per day that means that you would consume an additional 1200 calories per week ...

You really need to be weighting everything...

100% this. Food scales are cheap ($15 off amazon) and it's amazing how much different measuring has vs weighing. I can tell you I was way off when I weighed oatmeal, peanut butter, or even my meats.

tigersword

If your food logging is accurate, you are probably gaining muscle and losing inches. Have you measured yourself? Are your clothes fitting any better? Those things are better at determining your weight loss than that scale. ))

You don't gain muscle in a calorie deficit. Water retention.

Kat5343

Hi Everyone!

So I have been back at it for a month or so working out / lifting weights.

I try to do at least an hour of cardio (usually some sort of class - kickboxing, spin, bootcamp, zumba, etc) and another 45 minutes of weight lifting (switch off on legs, arms and such)

I have been REALLY watching my diet, trying to keep around a 40% carbs 40% protein 20% Fat and make sure i'm eating enough. Drinking between 13 - 18 glasses of water.

However, I haven't lost A POUND. NOT ONE POUND. This is so frustrating and I have seen myself being able to keep up better in classes, but still haven't seen that significant of a difference.

Before the last couple months, I was eating alright, but not healthy (drinking, late night foods, etc) and working out maybe once a week? and definitely not as strong as now. I just don't understand!

Please feel free to look at my journal.

One thing, have your doctor check your thyroid.. Before going on my meds my (now ex-) husband and I both went on a low-fat and reduced calorie diet for 3 weeks and I walked at least a mile nightly for those 3 weeks... My husband did NO exercise and still drank light beer... we both weighed in the same day on his parent's scale.... guess what??? He lost 13 pounds and I GAINED 5!!!! I never cried so hard in my life.

To make a long story short... I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's and my TSH level was 22 and normal is 2-4!! So my metabolism was not moving at all. I went on my meds and followed a low(er) carb diet and walked and in about 6 months I dropped 80 pounds!!!!!

So, I would recommend a trip to your doctor just to see. It couldn't hurt.