Strength training but losing nothing! Help?

LSJC18

Hello!

So, after losing about 24lbs through cadio, I stopped all together to begin doing stronglifts 5x5. It's been a month and a half now and I have not lost a single pound. I have made progress in terms of strength gain, very steadily.
Still, I am at 143lbs, and the scale has either only moved up (not by much) or not at all.
My measurements haven't really gone down either.

I still have a long way to go before my goal, about 25lbs more, because I'm still bordering the "overweight" category for my height (5'5") and I KNOW I'm still pretty darn chubby.

I'm starting to get worried that my weight won't go anywhere. Should I do a lot more cardio now along with the heavy lifting? It's usually not recommended with stronglifts, but I really still do need to lose weight.

Am I just being impatient? Because maybe my body composition is changing, but I'm just not sure I see results.

Any helpful tips or advice? Words of wisdom?

Thanks so much. (:

EDIT: My calorie intake is at about 1400-1500 per day. Sometimes less, sometimes more, but that's the average.

EDIT2: I sort of got to the point where I dislike cardio very very much. I dislike jogging on a treadmill or cycling on the stationary bike. I do enjoy running outside or biking outside, but it's winter and I just moved here from a tropical country and I can't handle the cold yet. I love dancing, but I don't have the space or teacher for that sort of thing... But if I HAVE to, I would do cardio in the gym.

hwoeltjen

How many calories are you getting in per day?

LSJC18

How many calories are you getting in per day?

I eat at an average of 1400-1500. I can't really eat more than that, purely because I just get really full. I try to keep most of the food I eat very healthy but I don't limit myself. I'm trying to make this a "lifestyle" sort of thing and I can't not eat certain foods! Haha.

princesstoadstool82

have you taken pics of yourself. ??? even when the scale hasnt moved... and my clothes feel the same... ive compared pic's and theres been a difference.... good luck

uconnwinsnc

It is often hard to see changes in yourself because you see yourself every day. If you are eating correctly and doing the weights correctly, you should be getting where you want to be.

SLLRunner

Exercise is not required to lose weight, even though it is an added plus.

If you are maintaining weight, you are eating about as many calories as your burn. If you are gaining weight, you are eating more calories than you are burning.

How tall are you? How much do you weigh?

Open you diary and people will be able to give you specific feedback.

Cheeky_and_Geeky

I suggest going back to cardio 3-4X week & strength training 2-3X week. Cardio will help you lose weight more than weight lifting, but weight lifting is essential to sculpting your body. So you really need both.

LSJC18

Exercise is not required to lose weight, even though it is an added plus.

If you are maintaining weight, you are eating about as many calories as your burn. If you are gaining weight, you are eating more calories than you are burning.

How tall are you? How much do you weigh?

Open you diary and people will be able to give you specific feedback.

Like I said in my original post, I am 5'5" and I weight about 143lbs.

I don't track my calories on MFP because I eat pretty much the same things everyday (save a few things here and there every once in a while, but I always check the amount of calories) and so at this point I know how much calories I am taking in.

Also, I am not doing to stop exercising. I like exercising.

uconnwinsnc

Exercise is not required to lose weight, even though it is an added plus.

If you are maintaining weight, you are eating about as many calories as your burn. If you are gaining weight, you are eating more calories than you are burning.

How tall are you? How much do you weigh?

Open you diary and people will be able to give you specific feedback.

Like I said in my original post, I am 5'5" and I weight about 143lbs.

I don't track my calories on MFP because I eat pretty much the same things everyday (save a few things here and there every once in a while, but I always check the amount of calories) and so at this point I know how much calories I am taking in.

Also, I am not doing to stop exercising. I like exercising.

So if you know what you're eating, and you aren't noticing any weight loss, then why are you still eating the same amount day in and day out? Ultimately, you need to eat less than you burn if you want to lose weight. If you have to add a few days of cardio into your lifting routine, then do so.

LSJC18

Exercise is not required to lose weight, even though it is an added plus.

If you are maintaining weight, you are eating about as many calories as your burn. If you are gaining weight, you are eating more calories than you are burning.

How tall are you? How much do you weigh?

Open you diary and people will be able to give you specific feedback.

Like I said in my original post, I am 5'5" and I weight about 143lbs.

I don't track my calories on MFP because I eat pretty much the same things everyday (save a few things here and there every once in a while, but I always check the amount of calories) and so at this point I know how much calories I am taking in.

Also, I am not doing to stop exercising. I like exercising.

So if you know what you're eating, and you aren't noticing any weight loss, then why are you still eating the same amount day in and day out? Ultimately, you need to eat less than you burn if you want to lose weight. If you have to add a few days of cardio into your lifting routine, then do so.

I eat the same things everyday, but I'm not eating that much. I feel like if I brought down my calorie intake to like 1200, it would just be TOO LOW. I don't want to do that. At the same time I want to eat enough to be able to support my muscles after strength training. Heavy lifting makes me really sore.

I'd rather have my solution be something other than "eat less". But if it gets to that point, I guess I will eat less.

uconnwinsnc

Exercise is not required to lose weight, even though it is an added plus.

If you are maintaining weight, you are eating about as many calories as your burn. If you are gaining weight, you are eating more calories than you are burning.

How tall are you? How much do you weigh?

Open you diary and people will be able to give you specific feedback.

Like I said in my original post, I am 5'5" and I weight about 143lbs.

I don't track my calories on MFP because I eat pretty much the same things everyday (save a few things here and there every once in a while, but I always check the amount of calories) and so at this point I know how much calories I am taking in.

Also, I am not doing to stop exercising. I like exercising.

So if you know what you're eating, and you aren't noticing any weight loss, then why are you still eating the same amount day in and day out? Ultimately, you need to eat less than you burn if you want to lose weight. If you have to add a few days of cardio into your lifting routine, then do so.

I eat the same things everyday, but I'm not eating that much. I feel like if I brought down my calorie intake to like 1200, it would just be TOO LOW. I don't want to do that. At the same time I want to eat enough to be able to support my muscles after strength training. Heavy lifting makes me really sore.

I'd rather have my solution be something other than "eat less". But if it gets to that point, I guess I will eat less.

I would be very willing to bet you don't know how many calories you are actually eating and you are making an estimation that isn't accurate. There is something going on here that just isn't making sense. You're either:

A) Eating too much
Not working out enough
C) Both

mcesira

Sounds like you were very successful with the cardio--- congrats! From what you have shared, you are a strong woman and hard worker. Love it!

I hope this helps, just basing this on my personal experience and that of many friends who have been successful with their weight loss. I am sure everyone is different but I say always doing the same thing and not changing it up is not going to allow for weight loss. I do believe you need variety, especially for weight loss. Personally if I just do the strength conditioning I find I bulk up/gain weight and definitely do not lose. I also think your calorie intake is good for now. I'm sorry- did you say you eat back your exercise calories? I hear you on the exercise thing... it is SUPER necessary for many reasons. I think I would go insane if I did not exercise, too. Never stop!

Best wishes to you!

LSJC18

Exercise is not required to lose weight, even though it is an added plus.

If you are maintaining weight, you are eating about as many calories as your burn. If you are gaining weight, you are eating more calories than you are burning.

How tall are you? How much do you weigh?

Open you diary and people will be able to give you specific feedback.

Like I said in my original post, I am 5'5" and I weight about 143lbs.

I don't track my calories on MFP because I eat pretty much the same things everyday (save a few things here and there every once in a while, but I always check the amount of calories) and so at this point I know how much calories I am taking in.

Also, I am not doing to stop exercising. I like exercising.

So if you know what you're eating, and you aren't noticing any weight loss, then why are you still eating the same amount day in and day out? Ultimately, you need to eat less than you burn if you want to lose weight. If you have to add a few days of cardio into your lifting routine, then do so.

I eat the same things everyday, but I'm not eating that much. I feel like if I brought down my calorie intake to like 1200, it would just be TOO LOW. I don't want to do that. At the same time I want to eat enough to be able to support my muscles after strength training. Heavy lifting makes me really sore.

I'd rather have my solution be something other than "eat less". But if it gets to that point, I guess I will eat less.

I would be very willing to bet you don't know how many calories you are actually eating and you are making an estimation that isn't accurate. There is something going on here that just isn't making sense. You're either:

A) Eating too much
Not working out enough
C) Both

Thanks for your input, I don't really feel the "willing to bet" part was very necessary.

I'm actually very much aware of all the calories I am taking in. I'm not just daftly eating random things and being in denial. Trust me, I don't eat too much.

But, my concern does lie with my workout program. I think a combination of no cardio (it's the recommendation for stronglifts 5x5) and my low metabolism (I really don't have any muscles, but I'm working on it).

So... I'm just thinking perhaps if I continue strength training, that I can build muscle and boost my metabolism. But I'm just STARTING to get worried because it has been over a month and not MUCH has changed.

Safiyandi

Weight training burns significantly fewer calories than cardio. Assuming you're eating the same and are now devoting the exact same amount of time to weight training that you previously were to cardio, you'd have to eat less to lose at the same rate.

e:VVV Muscle mass won't increase in any significant way on a deficit, nor will overall body weight. Though novice lifters can gain strength, it's not due to muscle growth. Initial weight gain after beginning resistance training is due to glycogen/water retention in muscles.

alicia_rae

Hi there!

Another thing to keep in mind is that when you're weight training, especially heavy lifting, you are going to start gaining muscle mass. So you may be losing fat while simultaneously gaining muscle, in which case you may even gain weight. I wouldn't let this discourage you. The more muscle you put on, the more calories you burn doing your day to day activities. I didn't track on myfitnesspal when I originally started working out about 8 years ago but my results were similar. I focused on cardio at first and lost 20 lbs and then moved to a combination of cardio and weightlifting. Once I began weightlifting I put on about 5 lbs but eventually went down a a little more than one size. My routine was and is to warm up for about 15-20 min with cardio and then move to weight lifting for about 45 minutes (60 if I throw in abs that day). Of course, you have to take a rest from weightlifting a couple days a week and on those days I try to do more cardio and stretching/core.

Hope this information is helpful. Keep up the good work!

Edit: Overall I went down about 5 size but after I started weightlifting I lost one size although I gained 5 lbs.

SLLRunner

Exercise is not required to lose weight, even though it is an added plus.

If you are maintaining weight, you are eating about as many calories as your burn. If you are gaining weight, you are eating more calories than you are burning.

How tall are you? How much do you weigh?

Open you diary and people will be able to give you specific feedback.

Like I said in my original post, I am 5'5" and I weight about 143lbs.

I don't track my calories on MFP because I eat pretty much the same things everyday (save a few things here and there every once in a while, but I always check the amount of calories) and so at this point I know how much calories I am taking in.

Also, I am not doing to stop exercising. I like exercising.

I'm sorry, I didn't see your weight and height in your original post.

I'm not saying to quit exercising, I'm pointing out that it's not required to lose weight and really not a factor in gaining and losing weight. The only thing required to lose weight is to eat less than you burn.

I exercise every day with a mixture of cardio and weight lifting. I love exercising.

If you are not losing weight, you are clearly eating more than you think you are. I suggest you get in the habit of logging both food and exercise. You will then see where your error is.

uconnwinsnc

She can't be gaining muscle mass if she is eating in a deficit.

Commander_Keen

I eat the same things everyday, but I'm not eating that much. I feel like if I brought down my calorie intake to like 1200, it would just be TOO LOW. I don't want to do that. At the same time I want to eat enough to be able to support my muscles after strength training. Heavy lifting makes me really sore.

I'd rather have my solution be something other than "eat less". But if it gets to that point, I guess I will eat less.

NO one said to eat at 1200, just less, just less
I would recommend to eat at 1500 calories. If you know for a fact you can not loose weight at 1500, then go to 1450 and try again. If you are still not loosing weight, keep dropping by 50 calories until you see a difference.

There are reports/study's on the internet that shows weight loss occurs greater with Cardio and weight lifting done at the same session.

SLLRunner

Hi there!

Another thing to keep in mind is that when you're weight training, especially heavy lifting, you are going to start gaining muscle mass. So you may be losing fat while simultaneously gaining muscle, in which case you may even gain weight. I wouldn't let this discourage you. The more muscle you put on, the more calories you burn doing your day to day activities.

This is misleading. It takes a long time of heavy lifting to gain muscle. She also needs to eat at a surplus to gain muscle.

LSJC18

Sounds like you were very successful with the cardio--- congrats! From what you have shared, you are a strong woman and hard worker. Love it!

I hope this helps, just basing this on my personal experience and that of many friends who have been successful with their weight loss. I am sure everyone is different but I say always doing the same thing and not changing it up is not going to allow for weight loss. I do believe you need variety, especially for weight loss. Personally if I just do the strength conditioning I find I bulk up/gain weight and definitely do not lose. I also think your calorie intake is good for now. I'm sorry- did you say you eat back your exercise calories? I hear you on the exercise thing... it is SUPER necessary for many reasons. I think I would go insane if I did not exercise, too. Never stop!

Best wishes to you!

Thanks so much! Since I am only weight training, I don't know how much that burns exactly (MFP doesn't calculate anything). I just eat at around 1400-1500 a day.

I am now thinking I should start doing cardio again.

Weight training burns significantly fewer calories than cardio. Assuming you're eating the same and are now devoting the exact same amount of time to weight training that you previously were to cardio, you'd have to eat less to lose at the same rate.

I used to do cardio for about 50 minutes and now I'm at the gym for strength training for about 80 minutes (including warm up, a and cool down)

Hi there!

Another thing to keep in mind is that when you're weight training, especially heavy lifting, you are going to start gaining muscle mass. So you may be losing fat while simultaneously gaining muscle, in which case you may even gain weight. I wouldn't let this discourage you. The more muscle you put on, the more calories you burn doing your day to day activities. I didn't track on myfitnesspal when I originally started working out about 8 years ago but my results were similar. I focused on cardio at first and lost 20 lbs and then moved to a combination of cardio and weightlifting. Once I began weightlifting I put on about 5 lbs but eventually went down a a little more than one size. My routine was and is to warm up for about 15-20 min with cardio and then move to weight lifting for about 45 minutes (60 if I throw in abs that day). Of course, you have to take a rest from weightlifting a couple days a week and on those days I try to do more cardio and stretching/core.

Hope this information is helpful. Keep up the good work!

Edit: Overall I went down about 5 size but after I started weightlifting I lost one size although I gained 5 lbs.

Thanks so much for your input! It really is helpful (:

Hmm, so I'm gathering now that it's probably best for me to add cardio to my strength training. I really just don't want to eat less because if I did, I'd have to bring it down to about 1200 to make a significant difference from 1400-1500... And a lot of people (including myself) think that it is just too low. I actually already do only eat 1200 on some days when I miss a meal or something (I try not to).

Thanks for all your help everyone!

alicia_rae

That's a great point and you are correct! However, when I originally started weight lifting I still had a good amount of fat to burn so I was able to get stronger while losing fat on a calorie deficit. Generally, I agree if you are fairly lean already you aren't going to gain muscle but I found as a new lifter it didn't hold quite as true. Scientifically, you are correct, but I guess my results didn't lie. Of course, I'm no personal trainer so what I say is solely based on personal experience.

Safiyandi

I used to do cardio for about 50 minutes and now I'm at the gym for strength training for about 80 minutes (including warm up, a and cool down)

It still may be a negative balance - an hour of on the treadmill for me burns north of 600 calories, vs. about 150 for weightlifting. Sucks, I know! If you hate cardio (like I do), look up kettlebell and barbell complexes. It's weightlifting....but faster. It's tolerable cardio. XD

LSJC18

Exercise is not required to lose weight, even though it is an added plus.

If you are maintaining weight, you are eating about as many calories as your burn. If you are gaining weight, you are eating more calories than you are burning.

How tall are you? How much do you weigh?

Open you diary and people will be able to give you specific feedback.

Like I said in my original post, I am 5'5" and I weight about 143lbs.

I don't track my calories on MFP because I eat pretty much the same things everyday (save a few things here and there every once in a while, but I always check the amount of calories) and so at this point I know how much calories I am taking in.

Also, I am not doing to stop exercising. I like exercising.

I'm sorry, I didn't see your weight and height in your original post.

I'm not saying to quit exercising, I'm pointing out that it's not required to lose weight and really not a factor in gaining and losing weight. The only thing required to lose weight is to eat less than you burn.

I exercise every day with a mixture of cardio and weight lifting. I love exercising.

If you are not losing weight, you are clearly eating more than you think you are. I suggest you get in the habit of logging both food and exercise. You will then see where your error is.

Thanks! Uhhh, I used to track my calories and I got sick of it when I realised I ate pretty much the same thing here and there every day... I still measure my meals the exact same way, so I'm 100% sure I haven't changed my diet.

I do think now, my problem lies with weight training not burning enough calories like my cardio used to...

uconnwinsnc

You should add cardio back into your workout but keep the weight training. :drinker:

Willbenchforcupcakes

<-- One year comparison. Not much cardio, 4 45-60 minute weight training sessions a week, same weight. And I'm only a couple pounds under the overweight line for my height.

LSJC18

All right, this thread is getting pretty messy! Haha.

So, I think I've come to a conclusion. Thank you so much everyone for all your help!

I gather that I should definitely add some cardio into my workout routine again (even if I hate it haha).

Sorry I'm so adamant about not reducing my calories though. It's just... I know myself and I know how much I'm eating. I know I won't be eating enough if I eat less (every time I try, I never have enough strength in the gym during weight lifting, etc etc).

Anyway... Thank you, thank you, thank you! (:

Cardio it is! Haha.

Nimblewhite

Sometimes it's not just the total calories but also when you eat them. If you eat a heavy dinner and backload your carbs in the latter part of the day (when your body is really getting ready to slow down your metabolism before sleep) that can slow down weight loss. Try having a heavier breakfast and lighter dinner.

SLLRunner

Never mind.

acogg

This is not an either/or question. Work out, lift seriously and you will get where you want. Lifting is great, so is cardio. MOVE and feel good!

LSJC18

<-- One year comparison. Not much cardio, 4 45-60 minute weight training sessions a week, same weight. And I'm only a couple pounds under the overweight line for my height.

Congratulations! You look wonderful and healthy! (:

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