Doing everything right, but stuck on same weight!

jaredtritsch

I don't understand whats going on... I have my goal set at 1350 a day which I never go way over or under (most days I'm under, some days I'm over, but its never more than 200 cals in either direction). I work out six days a week (30-40 mins cardio everyday, weights 4 days a week with extra cardio on the non-weight days. All cardio is rigorous, I'm sweating heavily after every session). I'm even way exceeding the water goals too.

I lost 4 pounds in my first week, but i haven't lost an ounce since. What am I doing wrong? I'm coming from a piggy eater that never exercised, and I feel better, more energized, etc. But no weight loss.

wewon

Well the bad news is (or good depending on you POV) , this type of frustration is not unusual, weight loss is not linear so you will run into plateaus every now and then.

How long have you been dieting and working out? Short plateaus should be expected, consistency will be the key here.

marye2021

Is the 1350 your net? Try eating at your tdee for a week and see if that helps.

But keep up the great work! Your body is going through internal changes right now, AND adding muscle from all the weights you are lifting!

jaredtritsch

I started at the end of December, right after Christmas so I'm 5 weeks in.

jaredtritsch

1350 is my base. with the cardio it ends up being more like 1900. My ending net is almost always within 200 cals. (i.e. yesterday I ended 172 cals over)

MinnieInMaine

Might help to make your diary public if you're willing...

When I first started, the same thing happened to me. Had a nice big loss the first week or two then started execising and stalled out for a bit but then my body acclimated and I started losing again.

As you're newer to exercise, it may be your body is still retaining water and glycogen from the increase in activity. However, it may also have to do with accuracy of logging. Weigh and measure foods as much as you can and double check the listings on the food database against food labels. Some listings are user entered and not complete or accurate. Plus nutrition info does change from time to time so an older listing may no longer be correct.

If you're going by calorie burns by either cardio machines or MFP exercise database listings, these tend to be overestimated a bit so try only eating back 50-75% of earned calories to see if that helps.

Cookie_4

What are you doing for cardio?

Also, make sure the scale you're using isn't broken

navyrigger46

1350 for a guy? Just how short are you?

Rigger

jasciola

It's important to recognize that there is no right and no wrong, just what is and what could be. Go with the data...look at what you are doing without judgement and see what you can change. If you can't see anything to try, ask for advice from others who might be able to give you an unbiased perspective or help you think of something you didn't before. And remember...YOU ARE AWESOME!!!

nico1les2001

Try some strength training on top of the cardio, or switching up the type of cardio you're doing. That helped me jump start when I hit my last road block. I also fast one day a week where I only eat no more than half of my base calories.

jaredtritsch

1350 for a guy? Just how short are you?

Rigger

5' 8"

What are you doing for cardio?

Elliptical mostly. I do the treadmill when I can but I get really bad pain in my shins after 15 minutes or so.

If you're going by calorie burns by either cardio machines or MFP exercise database listings, these tend to be overestimated a bit so try only eating back 50-75% of earned calories to see if that helps.

I tried that for today, I'll keep on this for a week or so and see if I feel any difference.

jaredtritsch

Might help to make your diary public if you're willing...

Publicized. :-)

bellevie86

I second Rigger, 1350 seems a bit low to me as well!

But that's besides the point, though I fully believe that we plateau once in awhile I do however, think that since you just started it's way too early for one. I suspect it must be the muscles retaining as well, also, have you paid attention to your salt intake? Sometimes it masks my progress for a couple days. While it is most definitely not linear, it seems too early in your journey to actually not lose. My advice would be to keep at it, it'll start up at it again. May not be 4 pounds a week, obviously as you start to weigh less you'll lose less over time, Just keep at er!

*Edited to add the suggestion of a heart rate monitor to accurately log your cardio*

a_stronger_me13

Are you weighing and measuring your food as much as possible and not just eyeballing things?

Also, as others have suggested, 1350 is an unusually low calorie goal for a male.

jweindruch

I couldn't see your diary…but I can tell you this has happened to me twice. The first time I realized my body had gotten used to the elliptical machine because I was doing so often. So to shock my body I rotated the cardio between several different exercises. Also, if you can try and not eat all you exercise calories back that helps too. The second time I realized that the culprit was alcohol. Not sure if you're drinking but this can play a big role. Basically when you drink your body only focuses on metabolizing the booze and you're essentially giving your metabolism a "time out" from all the other calories and stored fat. Anyway, not sure if either of these pertain to you but I thought I'd share since I've been in your position before…twice.

mxmkenney

It is frustrating when you don't see the scale budge, especially when you are doing everything right. I know the feeling, I have been there. The important thing is that you are feeling better and doing all the right things. Sometimes the scale does not reflect actual weight-loss - you could be losing fat and gaining muscle considering you didn't exercise before.

Use other ways than the scale to measure your success: How your clothes fit, increased strength and endurance, more energy, etc. If you keep a calorie deficit, you will lose weight. Just don't give up. Give yourself a solid 2 months before making any changes to what you are currently doing. Also don't stress about it - stress can keep you from shedding weight. Get enough rest, and make sure you are eating foods that will fuel your body for all the working out you are doing. Keep it up, success is right around the corner!!

Rayman79

Sorry, diary is still not open.

I suspect your issue is one of four possibilities (or in all likelihood some combination of all four).

1. You are not logging your food accurately and underestimating
2. You are overestimating your calorie burns
3. Your body is retaining fluid as a result of new stimuli (assuming you are new to weight training). This will level out after a couple of weeks
4. Your body is not losing weight in a linear fashion (this is normal). You may go a couple of weeks with no result on the scale, then will rapidly lose a pound or two in the space of a few days.

I applaud you for getting started, and your exercise program seems reasonable enough. Though don't be afraid to cut back on the cardio on lifting days if your energy is suffering, you are better to have a great lifting session and no cardio than be lackluster at both.

Hopefully that gives you some food for thought, just don't get discouraged and throw in the towel. Trust the process and the results WILL come!

Cookie_4

I agree with Minnie regarding those exercise machines over estimating, especially the elliptical. If the machine says you burned 800 calories, only eat back 400. Also, try to mix it up! If running is hard for you (it's hard for me), power walking is great cardio AS LONG AS you get your heart rate up, which means you should be walking fast enough to break a sweat and breathe harder.

Hope this helps! Good luck

jaredtritsch

Thanks for all the help and motivation everyone. You've given me some things to try and think about.

eldamiano

1,350 - very low.

But you are quite possibly not, as you quote, doing everything right. The weight is not obliged to leave you so it is up to you be stricter and more honest with yourself, where appropriate.

Run4Fun349

Hi,

As a health and wellness coach, I see this happen to many of my clients -- they do everything 'right' and still can't seem to lose the unwanted pounds. The good news is that, it's not your fault! I agree with the above comments that you should likely be consuming more calories (restricting calories and fat will not lead to healthy weight loss but rather your body will go into starvation mode and will hold on to food as excess weight which counteracts your efforts), but I also believe that there is something else going on. Whenever our bodies carry extra weight, we want to get rid of it, right? But sometimes it is actually doing something good for us; it's protecting us from something. It's not just physical. Until you address that emotional landscape, the subconscious mind will continue to sabotage your efforts to lose weight. Some of the most common blocks include:

1. I don't have the time to work out/cook/play
2. I'll never be able to stop eating emotionally
3. I'll feel deprived if I give up my food cravings
4. I've tried everything to lose weight and nothing has ever worked.

Does this sound familiar? These limiting beliefs are programmed into the subconscious mind and, try as we might to work through them, without addressing them, they work against us in our weight loss efforts because of the incredibly powerful mind-body connection.

My question and advice to you would be this: how often do you weigh yourself? I would suggest weighing yourself no more than once/week. Keep doing what you're doing, but take away the stress and the pressure that the number on the scale places on us (I guarantee you that you will feel so liberated!). Your body knows its ideal weight best so trust in that and eat the foods that nourish you from the inside out (the ones that make you feel awesome!).

I hope this information is helpful! Best wishes in your continued efforts.

Stephanie