Not Losing Weight

Pinkysky412

Hi,
I am 29 5' 8" 232lbs and not losing weight like I thought. I work out about 5 to 6 times a week. I have been keeping my calories around 1500 per day with lots of protein, salads, lite carbs, no hard sugar and doing so for about 2 months and not lost any weight. For my workout I jog/walk, elliptical training, light arm weights, and abs. Over the past week, I even tried slowing down my heart rate/workout to see if I was working out to hard. I really do not know if anyone can tell me anything I was not doing or do not already know to try. I had a baby 17 months ago and of course I guess my metabolism is slowing down... Anytime I have ever kept my diet and exersise steady I at least lost .5 to 1 lb per week. I never really ate bad to begin with but I was not working out before as much b/c of a new job and baby. If someone has some advice I would appreciate it. I am getting discouraged...

diannethegeek

Would you feel comfortable opening your diary for us to take a look? We might be able to spot something you're missing.

How accurately are you logging? Are you using a food scale, measuring cups, or eyeballing portion sizes? A food scale is the most accurate way to measure your food and the little inconsistencies can add up over time.

Are you eating back any of your exercise calories? If so, are you using a heart rate monitor or MFP/gym machine estimates to determine your burn? MFP and cardio machines have a tendency to overestimate the number of calories you burn. You could be eating too many calories back.

Fefe150

Do you think a heart monitor is really the best thing to go by for accurate calorie expenditure? Still a newbie and while I know in my heart that the MFP calorie counter probably isn't 100% accurate, I still sometime will think "oh sweet! 450 calories- now for a glass or two of wine!" and there probably goes any of my effort. *sigh*

eAddict

Plateaus happen.
When I started out the plateaus where short (week or so). As I got closer my goal weight they got longer and longer. Patience and persistence as your body adjusts and it will go down again.

Francl27

If you're not losing anything for 2 months, you're probably eating too much. What you eat doesn't matter as much as how much you eat.

TheRealJigsaw

Open your diary

CallMeCupcakeDammit

Check out this link http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

jackpotclown

I think you're not eating enough, for someone of your age, height, weight, even if only doing little exercise and at a 20% deficit should be eating at least 2-300 more calories per day, even before exercising....your BMR is estimated at 1842, so it could be that your body is fighting this drastic change \m/

19TaraLynn84

My guess is that you are probably underestimating your calories eaten and overestimating your calories burned. In my opinion, the 2 most important things to have while losing weight are a food scale and a heart rate monitor. Food scale is #1, though. Good luck!

DebbieLyn63

I see that you are a Type 1 Diabetic. This alone can affect your metabolism.
Are you staying within your carb numbers every day and spacing them out correctly?
How often do you check your blood?
Do you have a pump or do you inject manually?

If your insulin levels get too high, it can stall your fat loss. If you have cut your carbs, but don't adjust your insulin intake, this can cause them to be too high.

Pinkysky412

Ok, I opened my diary. I usually do not eat my calories back after I exercise. I do measure my food and use the heart rate monitor at the gym. I am going to invest in one soon I just thought I have done this before without a heart monitor.

Yes, I am a type 1 Diabetic, I am very healthy my blood pressure is usually around 115/72 resting heart rate of 60 and my A1C(for my diabetes) is 6.5. I test about 6-8 times per day.

I am telling you I am very good at measuring and counting. I have been diagnosed and taking insulin shots since I was 12. Very good at exercising. People come to me for eating habits and exercise. Just this time seems different in my weight loss.

19TaraLynn84

I'm not trying to be nit-picky, but I started out measuring my food. After I purchased my food scale, I realized that even measuring can cause inaccuracies in your logging. Measuring is great, but weighing is even more accurate.

akaMrsmojo

I would try eating back your calories. I always do and never once hit a plateau. I earn them, I am eating them.

CallMeCupcakeDammit

Maybe try lowering your carbs and increasing your protein. And definitely invest in a scale if you don't have one. If you watch the video that's linked to the thread I posted previously, you'll see why.

ETA, if you went by MFP's settings, and did not include your activity in your calculations, you should be eating some or most of your exercise calories back.

www.shouldIeatmyexercisecalories.com

RosieWest8

First thing I notice in your diary is your sodium....it's way high. Now...I love salty things and when I was logging faithfully (which I'm not now) I was always a little over but not 1,000mg over. So I'd watch your sodium intake. Also, log your water consumption. It helps to make sure you are staying properly hydrated. I'm not saying that you're retaining water and that's why you're not losing weight but it's much more healthy to be hydrated.

Also, you should definitely be eating back your workout calories. Perhaps you need to recalculate your BMR....when I first started on here my cal. goal was 1500 and I weighed 175ish.

I doubted it at first too but when I started to just make sure I hit my calorie goal (with the addition of my exercise calories) I steadily lost weight.

I'd also definitely say that a heart rate monitor is a must for calculating accurate calories burned. I have found that heart rate monitors on exercise equipment can be pretty accurate (if you put in your weight so it can calculate better)....but MFP was always WAY off for me.

Pinkysky412

Yeah, my sodium is high, I know. The fat free and items as such have a lot of sodium associated with them. Also, I do love chunchy items. I make up for it drinking water(at least I tell myself). I drink at least half my weight in oz every day in water.

toya1815

Based off your diary, I am sure you are retaining a huge amount of water. Try and monitor your sodium intake. Do you take any supplements? Try waterex by gnc. Since you are drinking an ample amount of water, this may help you shed some of the water weight....Works great for me. Good luck!

DebbieLyn63

Take a hard look at your diary for the past 2 months. If you click on the reports button at the bottom of a diary page, you can pull up 2 months of menus all at once. Looking thru them quickly, I see quite a few days that you have gone way over your 1500 goal.

You may be thinking that you did enough exercise to counteract a 2600 calorie day, but burning 1000 calories in one hour is quite difficult to do.

There are several days that appear to be unfinished. I doubt that as a T1D patient that you actually did not just eat breakfast and nothing else the rest of the day?
Are you eating quite a bit more on those days and just didn't get around to logging it?
Some of your meals are extremely high in carbs. This can be dangerous for you.

I am not picking on you or being judgmental, just trying to help you figure out why you are not losing weight.

Go back thru your 2 months of logging and pick the days that are finished. Add up the total calories for those days, then divide that total by the number of days you have included. This will give you an approximate average daily intake.
This is your maintenance level if you have not lost any weight at all in 2 months. Subtract X number of calories from that number to create the deficit you wish. 250= 1/2 lb a week, 500= 1 lb a week.
Eat this amount without adding more exercise calories.

Try this for a few weeks and see what happens. :flowerforyou: