Just like lots of others...

Sweetface421

I could use some guidance.
I've been here before & tried the same ol' thing. I know, it's the definition of insanity... But I'm trying to understand the science of it and finish what I've started instead of being a failure again.

I'm 46 years old. I'm 5'4" and weigh 165. My goal is to lose 30 lbs. over the next 6 months.
I have been tracking my food intake for about two and a half weeks. I have lost nothing. I gained a pound yesterday.

I measure/weigh everything. I eat at a deficit everyday. I try to eat close to half of my exercise calories back. I calculated my TDEE and it came out to 1983, so, if I understand correctly, I should eat to 1483? I try to eat to that count, but sometimes it's hard. And I feel bloated a lot of the time. I'm drinking lots of water and have cut myself down to one Diet Dr. Pepper per day (and that's a WIN!).
I don't eat dairy and I cook a lot. Also, I'm a cake decorator. But I don't eat my cake (or rather, I only test-taste for quality control; and I haven't had any cake orders since the end of November, so that's not an issue right now)... It's like when you work in accounting and, darn it, no, I'm not doing your taxes! KWIM?

I started the Advocare 24 Day Challenge (half-heartedly) today, which I'm kind of regretting. I'm just so frustrated that I can't seem to lose a single pound in two weeks. Not even water weight Instead, I GAIN a freaking pound.

I have been doing the 30 Day Challenge on Bodyrock.TV and just finished the 15th day. The workouts are no less than 40 minutes and are HIIT/Circuit training/Weight/Resistance based workouts. They are above my fitness level, but I'm pushing myself to see results.

I just recently went to see a doctor for a physical to have blood work done so I can see if there might be a thyroid/metabolism issue, as well. I'm doubting that there's anything worth being worried over but my husband sees how hard I'm working at this and sees my frustration so he told me to go see if something else is going on.

I'm curious as to why, if I'm eating at a deficit, I'm not losing anything. I know I'm going to get a lot of those 'Well you must not be tracking everything you're eating' posts but, trust me, I'm tracking everything, even stuff I'm embarrassed to see in print (chocolate truffles). My diary is open.

I'm not looking for anything huge, just a pound would give me some motivation.
Thanks for taking the time to read and offer your expertise

Wenchiness

My "Fat Dr." put me on this plan and does not allow me to eat my exercises calories back. His feeling is that people over estimate what they are burning and the calorie counters over estimate what is actually burned. I'm not a trained medical professional, but I would start by not eating the exercise calories and see if that helps. Just don't starve yourself doing that.

Mia_RagazzaTosta

If you are doing the TDEE method you aren't supposed to be eating any exercise calories back. So if you're eating half of them back you aren't really creating much of a deficit, if at all, which is why you aren't losing.

LaurenAOK

First off, ditch the Advocare thing and ignore the poster above.

Okay, so, I completely understand why you're frustrated! And there's no magic answer, but here are a few of my thoughts. First off, when you calculated your TDEE at 1900-something, did you include your workouts in that? Doing bodyrock and such should burn a lot of calories, and the TDEE you stated sounds too low to me. That could be your first problem - if you're eating too little, it can actually stall weight loss, so make sure you have an ACCURATE measure of your TDEE and use that to determine how much you eat.

Also, have you taken measurements? Have you noticed any of your clothes fitting a little better? The scale isn't everything - at all. You can find hundreds of posts on this site about people who didn't lose a single pound but totally transformed their body, or people who only lost three pounds but look like they lost twenty. Through exercise, you can recomposition your body, meaning your weight may not change but you become smaller and leaner.

Finally, are you new to exercise? When you start a workout program, oftentimes your body retains water for a while because it doesn't know what the heck is going on. Your muscles are sore and tired and your body decides to retain water to help with that. So, oftentimes you won't see a drop on the scale (or you may even gain weight like you said) due to this. Then, a few weeks later, you drop five pounds all of a sudden as your body finally adjusts to your new lifestyle and lets go of the water. (it's not as simple as what I just said, but I'm giving a summary here). It's also (slightly) possible that if you're doing strength training, you've made "newbie gains" meaning you are gaining a litle muscle, so the scale doesn't drop. Again, your body will adjust to this and the weight loss will start eventually!

I'm sure I'm missing some possibilities, but these are the first things that came to mind! Hang in there and don't get discouraged - this can be a frustrating road, but it's worth it.

bajoyba

There are lots of successful people here who will probably have more suggestions for you, but I noticed right off the bat that you mentioned TDEE.

If you're going to use the TDEE method, you should not be eating your exercise calories back unless you didn't account for any exercise when you calculated your TDEE. Additionally, most people recommend a deficit of no more than 20%. If your TDEE is 1983, then a 20% deficit should give you 1587. Assuming you've accounted for your level of exercise in your TDEE, you should eat a flat rate of 1587 every day. If you haven't accounted for your exercise as part of your daily activity, you'll want to recalculate it.

So if you've been eating back your exercise calories, that may have created a smaller deficit than you had planned on. If you're more comfortable eating back your exercise calories, you can let MFP calculate your calories for you (but aim for no more than 1lb a week), and make sure that your exercise burns are accurate.

LoveMyLife_NYC

You've got a lot of processed food in your diet, which contains a lot of salt, and you don't seem to have too many fresh veggies every day. Fixing those two things could help reduce that bloated feeling you are getting. Try changing the diary settings so that you track your sodium intake.

Also, a lot of people here increase their protein goal from MFP's setting to about one gram per pound of lean muscle mass. Increasing protein helps you feel fuller longer, while helping your body retain muscle mass as you lose weight.

A great forum to poke around in is the one called Eat, Train, Progress. Those mods take the time to do lots of research and are very helpful when members post questions. I'm sure you'll find a lot of people with similar issues there!

Good luck, and I hope this helps a little!

LVCeltGirl

I'm 44 and have a lot more to lose than you. What type of exercise are you doing? Also have you taken measurements rather than just using the scale as your only confirmation of what's happening? 30 lbs isn't a whole lot and so it's going to come off really slowly (being over 40 can do that to a person). A 1 lb gain is small and can be that you had too much salt, or not enough water, basically anything that could possibly cause water retention on weigh-in day could cause a 1 lb gain. That's nothing to worry about.

I've tried some of the "weight loss" products, none of them work for me. You might also need to adjust your diet, be low carb and healthy fat, or low carb, high protein. Each person is different so what works for me (I've cut back wheat products because it's made me feel better to eat less of them, hence my belief that I'm sensitive to the gluten or something else in wheat) won't work for you and what works for you won't work for another person.

Keep the faith, keep doing what you're doing and start looking into the different things you can do to adjust your diet but still be happy with how/what you're eating (hence not completely wheat free because I like my sourdough and my regular pasta too much to completely give it up and my body doesn't indicate that I need to completely give it up).

FindingMyPerfection

First off, ditch the Advocare thing and ignore the poster above.

Okay, so, I completely understand why you're frustrated! And there's no magic answer, but here are a few of my thoughts. First off, when you calculated your TDEE at 1900-something, did you include your workouts in that? Doing bodyrock and such should burn a lot of calories, and the TDEE you stated sounds too low to me. That could be your first problem - if you're eating too little, it can actually stall weight loss, so make sure you have an ACCURATE measure of your TDEE and use that to determine how much you eat.

Also, have you taken measurements? Have you noticed any of your clothes fitting a little better? The scale isn't everything - at all. You can find hundreds of posts on this site about people who didn't lose a single pound but totally transformed their body, or people who only lost three pounds but look like they lost twenty. Through exercise, you can recomposition your body, meaning your weight may not change but you become smaller and leaner.

Finally, are you new to exercise? When you start a workout program, oftentimes your body retains water for a while because it doesn't know what the heck is going on. Your muscles are sore and tired and your body decides to retain water to help with that. So, oftentimes you won't see a drop on the scale (or you may even gain weight like you said) due to this. Then, a few weeks later, you drop five pounds all of a sudden as your body finally adjusts to your new lifestyle and lets go of the water. (it's not as simple as what I just said, but I'm giving a summary here). It's also (slightly) possible that if you're doing strength training, you've made "newbie gains" meaning you are gaining a litle muscle, so the scale doesn't drop. Again, your body will adjust to this and the weight loss will start eventually!

I'm sure I'm missing some possibilities, but these are the first things that came to mind! Hang in there and don't get discouraged - this can be a frustrating road, but it's worth it.

Listen to this woman!

Sweetface421

Thanks so much for the replies and advice. I really appreciate it all.
I will ditch the Advocare.

I've been following the MFP calculation. I mentioned TDEE only because I noticed that it and the MFP calculation seemed to be really close after subtracting the 500 per day for weight loss. I realize I was mistaken. I still believe I've been eating at enough of a deficit to see a little weight loss in almost three weeks. At least some water weight...

I realize my foods include a bit of processed stuff, although I do cook a lot. With the holidays, a lot of crap came into our home. I'm throwing it out.

I have been taking weekly measurements since I started the Bodyrock 30 Day Challenge workouts on 12/22. There have been no changes or only very slight. Nothing that (I think) would correspond with the amount of time that I'm putting into exercising. My clothes aren't fitting any differently, which surprises me. It's hard for me to understand why that would be.

I'm not new to exercising, only new to this intensity level. We go hiking outside with the kids and we go to the gym, but I was only walking on the treadmill, using the recumbent bike, taking Zumba classes or using the weight machines. It became boring and a time-suck. So I changed it up and started doing the Bodyrock stuff from home, which works better for me, my kids & my business (I can have cakes baking in the oven while I'm working out upstairs).

Note: When I weighed myself on Sunday and found out I had gained a pound, it was first thing in the morning, after I used the toilet. That's why it was so astounding to me.
Also, I've notice I'm a bit constipated. I've been having a BM only every three - four days or so. I realize that could be an issue too.
Guess it's time to see THAT doctor