Weight won't budge, please help!

jgerard83

Ok so I am really frustrated.. I started working out again about a month ago at 158 pounds, I have yoyoed in weight for years and I am trying to get it off again and keep it off. I have been going to the gym 4 days a week and I usually workout for 40-50 minutes total including warm up and cool down. I am only thirty years old, I know as you age it gets harder to lose weight. I just turned 30 on Dec 28 and its so much harder than it was in my twenties to lose weight. So.. I started out at 158 and weighed in this morning.. although my eating habits still arent the best I have been trying to eat better and continue to work out but when I weighed in this morning it said 157.5.. really frustrating and didnt seem right to me because my fiance said my face looked thinner and my chest looked smaller as well, but of course my shorts are still extremely snug so I know I am definitely not into the 140 yet. When I reach 140s in weight my clothes fit nicer. I am wondering if I could be retaining alot of salt and or water and that could be why the scale is still as high as it is. I try to eat 1500 calories or less every day and I usually try to record what I eat in the my fitness pal app but lately counting every calorie is driving me insane so I have taken a break from logging. I do still occasionally eat fast food in small quantities and I do eat alot of foods high in salt. I drink barely any water which I know is a major downfall because I hate it unless its extremely hot or im really thirsty so I have to force it down. I definitely do not drink enough water. I also sometimes go over in my calories but then I usually work out harder the next day or add more time to my workout. I am going to be starting to lift this week so I am hoping that will help but my weight just wont budge. How did I only lose a half a pound in a month? I have really been trying to eat better and some days I go over in nutrients and calories but I feel like I work out enough to be losing. The good news is at least I didnt maintain or gain any weight. I am getting married May 22 its a beach wedding at the outer banks NC and I am trying to get down to 140 145. I am 5 5 so that is a good weight for me. Could it be water weight and salt retention? Do diuretics help to reduce alot of water weight so that you can get a better more accurate reading on the scale? I also just came off of my cycle about 2/3 days ago so I am wondering if I could be holding water there. Please help!

DigitalDiana

Sorry you are feeling so frustrated... keep working out- that's a great deal of effort and you will begin to see some change... as for help, it would be easier to assist you if we had an idea of your daily intake and macros, etc.
Logging food each day is difficult but it is one way that we can look and assist each other with ideas and information.

Don't get discouraged...we are here for you!

Good luck!

jgerard83

How do I open it? I usually log but not all days I log. I have the app on my smart phone but I don't use the website is there a way to make it public through my phone?

RaspberryKeytoneBoondoggle

I started at about 160 and lost 18 pounds.
The secret for me was that I logged every day, and I carefully measured out my portions. When I ate over I made up for it in subsequent days. My weigh did and still does fluctuate by five or so pounds, but I always knew that if I logged carefully I could trust my diary to show my progress rather than the scale.
Now that I am my goal weight and its almost two years later, I really don't have to be as diligent. Some days I don't log and some days and I can eat over without consequences.
The good news is your losing!!!
I lost on average less than half a pound a week.
You can also use your measurements, pictures and your boyfriend's awesome comments to measure your progress:)

jgerard83

Yes im losing but I have only lost like a half a pound in like a month. Could it be water retention or salt retention, because I feel like I lost at least 2/3 in a month. a half a pound does not seem right to me. I do eat alot of processed foods as I do not know how to cook and when I eat home cooked meals my fiance does the cooking. I want to be in the 140s by end of april and I am still in the high 150s which for me at 5 5 is high. 150 would be the max high I would want to be and my goal and comfortable weight for my height is in the 140s.

heddabunny

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I honestly think it is the food you are eating. A diet is like a marriage--you can't cheat. I take it you are more on a lifestyle change than a "diet," but you know what I mean. It sounds like you are putting a lot of time and energy into trying to meet your goal, and I feel like that is the hardest part. I was in your shoes and found that once I was a lot more strict with the things I put in my mouth the weight fell off. I think drinking more water would benefit you, but I don't think it is the answer to you wanting your weight to budge. I think that lies in what you are eating. Hope that helps. Keep on keepin' on!

Dnarules

If you are jot logging, you can't really know what you are eating at this point. Unless logging is a trigger, you need to do it to get a true look at your eating habits. It is incredibly easy to underestimate intake. Do the work.

DigitalDiana

I'm searching the MFP site for info on how to open a diary on a smart phone....

DigitalDiana

Ok, hope this helps, on my smartphone iphone 4S on the top left there are three bars..click on these...
it will open up a long menu of items, scroll down to Settings- click on this, then go to Diary settings, go to Diary Sharing, then choose, public, private or friends only....

hope this helps

jgerard83

Thank you T that helped. It should be public now. Everyone take a look if you can.

jgerard83

Most of the days that I logged should be public now. Take a look if you don't mind and offer suggestions if you can. I know my sugar intake definitely needs to go down and my sodium, sometimes my fat and carbs need to go down too but its hard for someone that hates most vegetables and doesnt know how to cook. Luckily my fiance can cook. haha

Socalgal13

IMHO...you have not given the process a 100% of your attention and i think your results show your effort you have put in. For myself, when I do not log, I eat more calories and larger portion sizes. It took me a lot of years of yoyo dieting to realize that I will have to log for the rest of my life, because that for me is the only way I can keep my food in balance. Try giving 100% for a couple of weeks, logging, eating better foods, drinking water and see how it goes

Ready2Rock206

If you're not logging then that's your problem right there.

jgerard83

it is hard to measure every single thing though. like if you go out and there is no barcode to scan or the food isnt in the database then you have to guess. there are some things on there like the lean beef that I logged that I had to estimate or like sometimes similar stuff comes up in the database but you have to do all kinds of math to figure out your portions. If I constantly log every single thing I go absolutely insane and it is driving my fiance nuts. I am trying to log though each and every day, but there is no way to be 100 percent exact on every thing, even when you measure.

jgerard83

I do log, it is just impossible to measure every single thing because not all things have nutritional labels to scan or nutritional information.

SillyC2

it is hard to measure every single thing though. like if you go out and there is no barcode to scan or the food isnt in the database then you have to guess. there are some things on there like the lean beef that I logged that I had to estimate or like sometimes similar stuff comes up in the database but you have to do all kinds of math to figure out your portions. If I constantly log every single thing I go absolutely insane and it is driving my fiance nuts. I am trying to log though each and every day, but there is no way to be 100 percent exact on every thing, even when you measure.

No, it's not impossible. It's just HARD. As others have said, get a food scale. Get another set of measuring cups. And get over it - you're not going to go nuts.

While you can't be perfect on everything, you can certainly get a lot closer to it than where you are right now.

jgerard83

I came here for help and motivation, not negativity. I am already frustrated as it is. I am not a lazy person and at one point in time I was an athlete.

Achrya

I came here for help and motivation, not negativity. I am already frustrated as it is. I am not a lazy person and at one point in time I was an athlete.

I somehow manage to log every individual thing. More than that I weigh and measure it all too, and rarely need to scan anything in.

Less excuses and whining about perceived negativity and more doing.

SillyC2

I came here for help and motivation, not negativity. I am already frustrated as it is. I am not a lazy person and at one point in time I was an athlete.

You're awesome! Now weigh and measure your food.

SLLRunner

Yes im losing but I have only lost like a half a pound in like a month. Could it be water retention or salt retention, because I feel like I lost at least 2/3 in a month. a half a pound does not seem right to me. I do eat alot of processed foods as I do not know how to cook and when I eat home cooked meals my fiance does the cooking. I want to be in the 140s by end of april and I am still in the high 150s which for me at 5 5 is high. 150 would be the max high I would want to be and my goal and comfortable weight for my height is in the 140s.

I think your slow loss is due to a calorie surplus you are not aware of. You don't log each day, which opens the door for miscalculating your calorie input. I also think your exercise calories might be a bit overestimated. Where do you get these calorie burn estimates from?

I advise you to weigh all solid food and measure all liquids. Log every single thing you put in your mouth and work hard to stay within your calorie goals. If you use MFP or gym machine estimations for calorie burns, eat back approximately 75% of your exercise calories.

I also don't believe it's harder for a person to lose weight as they get older. I am 52 and this have found it easy to get this extra 37 pounds off because I have the correct tools to do so and have worked hard to change my eating habits instead of "going on a diet" in the sense of depriving myself of certain foods.

Finally, you don't have that much to lose so you need to lose it slowly, Aim for a half a pound a week. Keep in mind that weight fluctuates and that you may lose nothing one week and lose more the next week. Weight loss is not linear. You just need to be patient and trust the process.

Cranquistador

it is hard to measure every single thing though. like if you go out and there is no barcode to scan or the food isnt in the database then you have to guess. there are some things on there like the lean beef that I logged that I had to estimate or like sometimes similar stuff comes up in the database but you have to do all kinds of math to figure out your portions. If I constantly log every single thing I go absolutely insane and it is driving my fiance nuts. I am trying to log though each and every day, but there is no way to be 100 percent exact on every thing, even when you measure.

I dont understand...you stick the lean beef on your food scale...or were you out?

SLLRunner

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I honestly think it is the food you are eating. A diet is like a marriage--you can't cheat. I take it you are more on a lifestyle change than a "diet," but you know what I mean. It sounds like you are putting a lot of time and energy into trying to meet your goal, and I feel like that is the hardest part. I was in your shoes and found that once I was a lot more strict with the things I put in my mouth the weight fell off. I think drinking more water would benefit you, but I don't think it is the answer to you wanting your weight to budge. I think that lies in what you are eating. Hope that helps. Keep on keepin' on!

It doesn't matter what type of food you eat as long as you eat at a calorie deficit. Burn more calories than you eat and you will lose weight.

Otterluv

Your logging is really inconsistent, there are a ton of empty days, which is much worse than having everything logged but off a few calories here and there because you ate out and had to guess at equivalencies and amounts.

Log everything, EVERYTHING, as closely as you can. If you are at home then a digital food scale and measuring cups is the way to go. This will also help you to be more accurate at guessing/eyeballing portion sizes when you go out to eat. Once you get your data right, if you are still not losing, then we can help narrow down what is going on. But right now there is no way for us or for you to know what you are really eating.

Really, it works. Do it and it will take less and less time as you get better at it. Logging my food only takes minutes out of my day. Using a food scale just means that I hit the tare button in between items as I pile them on my plate (which is on the scale). It's really not difficult to pour your milk into a measuring cup before dumping it in your glass. It becomes habit.

You came here to help figure out why you weren't losing, and just because you don't like the answer doesn't mean that it's not helpful. Try it for a month and see what happens.

Cranquistador

BTW you asked for help.


weighing your food is the BEST thing you can do to see the results you are wanting...you may be eating more than you think...why not find out?

jgerard83

I DO MEASURE with measuring cups. I am not working and cannot afford a scale, although one would be nice. I could ask my fiance to get me one he probably would.

jgerard83

I have a heart rate monitor. A polar heart rate monitor a nice one with a chest strap and watch. I have my weight, height, and age in the watch. it calculates my calories during my workout

Cranquistador

I DO MEASURE with measuring cups. I am not working and cannot afford a scale, although one would be nice. I could ask my fiance to get me one he probably would.

that or save up.

i think mine was ten or twelve dollars.

Achrya

I DO MEASURE with measuring cups. I am not working and cannot afford a scale, although one would be nice. I could ask my fiance to get me one he probably would.

You can get a scale for like ten bucks. Its infinitely more useful than a HRM since how much you burn is useless information if you don't know what you're eating.

jgerard83

Where did you get yours? we do have an amazon gift card for 50 dollars that my brother got us for christmas, I could always ask him to use that.

Otterluv

I DO MEASURE with measuring cups. I am not working and cannot afford a scale, although one would be nice. I could ask my fiance to get me one he probably would.

That's great. Log it consistently.

Digital food scales are generally less than $20.

Otterluv

Where did you get yours? we do have an amazon gift card for 50 dollars that my brother got us for christmas, I could always ask him to use that.

I bought mine from Amazon, so that's perfect.