9 weeks of work and no weight loss. What's wrong?!?

kimberlycarlile

I'm 48, female. Need to lose 20-30 lbs.

I've always been a regular exerciser--walking, jogging, light-weight workout videos, tennis. When I am trying to lose, I exercise more consistently and count calories (using WW and MFP). I still eat regular foods, including some treats every day, but carefully counting and weighing. This has worked in the past.

In January 2014, I decided to get "back on the stick" after living 6 months in England and not paying any attention to what I was eating (but still exercising 3-4 times a week). I began on Jan 5, RELIGIOUSLY tracking exercise (with a good-quality HRM) and weighing and measuring my food and entering it into MFP. Most days, I stayed within the calorie goal. Still eating "normal" foods and some treats, but counting and weighing and building them into my budget. Weight didn't budge.

So, I met with a nutritionist. She suggested I amp up fruits and vegetables, trying for 10 servings a day. Just to help my metabolism along, I started doing an ADDITIONAL 30 minutes of treadmill work just before bed, and making sure I am getting lots and lots of water through the day.

I STILL HAVEN'T LOST A POUND.

I've faced my fears and opened my food diary to you all because I am desperate. You will see that, while I love chocolate, I am counting it carefully, and I am also eating lots of kale, spinach, sprouts, brown rice, unsweetened almond milk, beets, squash, yogurt, and other healthy foods. I drink only water and herbal tea sweetened w Stevia. There ARE one or two bad days in there (one day, I ate 7.5 chocolate chip cookies), and there are one or two days I didn't record, but the VAST MAJORITY of the days, I am recording fastidiously and staying in the calorie goal. I'm not cheating on my recording, because what would be the point of that.

I've always said, I don't want to do a diet I can't sustain, so I have thus far refused to banish any specific food stuff. In other words, I've said I can eat anything (white flour, potatoes, dairy, sugar) as long as I fit it into my calorie budget. I can sustain that sort of regime for the rest of my life.

BUT I'M BEGINNING TO THINK THAT DOESN'T WORK FOR EVERYBODY. And it's stopped working for me.

Any ideas? I'm so bummed.

Chief_Rocka

you're eating too much

Mia_RagazzaTosta

you're eating too much

UmmSqueaky

Eat back half your exercise calories instead of all

nomeejerome

1. Calorie deficit for weight loss and exercise for fitness. If you aren't losing, there is a miscalculation. (could be calories and/or exercise)
or
2. There is an underlying medical condition that is making it more difficult. (which would take you back to #1)

wilsoje74

Are you maintaining weight? I took a look at just a couple days in your diary and you do eat at more of what I'd feel is maintenance. It may take eating a bit less to lose. I am almost 40 and would not lose eating 1800 cal per day. You may be slightly overestimating your exercise burns then it looks like you are eating all of those cals back. Try eating half of them back to be more conservative.

popflying

Also if you don't have one, get a food scale! Makes counting calories a lot more accurate.

a_stronger_me13

Probably a miscalculation in your TDEE.

terbusha

You should try to lower the amount of carbs you are eating in a day and up your protein intake. Also, be careful on how much fruit you eat. Sugar, even from whole fruit, is still sugar.

You said that you are doing a lot of cardio for exercise. Is it intense cardio or lower-intensity cardio? You'll want to be careful. Doing a lot of low-intensity cardio can result in decreased metabolic capacity, which can lead to plateaus. Try some more intense versions of exercise and add in more resistance training. Lifting weights not only burns calories while you are exercising, but also for another 24 hours or so as your muscles repair and recover.

Allan

a_stronger_me13

You should try to lower the amount of carbs you are eating in a day and up your protein intake. Also, be careful on how much fruit you eat. Sugar, even from whole fruit, is still sugar.

While I partially agree with some of what you wrote, your statement on sugar is just... No.

a_stronger_me13

I could write this all out, but it's so wonderfully put already: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Boogage

You've found your maintenance calories (which is no easy task!). Now cut 10-15% off of that a day and you should start losing

Maaike84

I see you are walking a lot as exercise, which is great, but MFP in my experience vastly exaggerates calories burned through walking and jogging etc. So log them, but don't eat all of them back!

thevoice1973

I looked over your diary, and I can see that you are consistently eating around 1800 calories a day, with more than 60% of that as carbs. I don't know how tall you are, but that seems a little high to me, just by judging your size from your picture. It's not that carbs are necessarily bad, but you might want to try a couple things to help you out:

1. You need to reduce you total calories a day. Perhaps you need to make sure you enter your activity level in MFP as lower than you believe, just to experiment.
2. Change your macro balance to include a higher percentage of protein and a lower percentage of carbs a day. I've been finding 40/30/30 to be very effective (carbs/protein/fat). More protein will keep you feeling fuller longer.
3. Try to front load your calories (more calories in the first half of the day than the last half); you consistently have a much larger supper than breakfast.
4. Drink lots of water.
5. Don't automatically assume that the database in MFP indicates the correct amounts of calories/macros for a specific food. There are times when they are completely off.

Just as a last note, you could have a diet that is exclusively organic/healthy/paleo/insert whatever adjective you want and still be overweight. It's not just a question of what you eat; it's also how much of it you eat.

serindipte

I second (or third) the one above who said to only eat back half of your exercise calories but I have to question the accuracy of your logging.

Friday, did you actually eat just a smoothie with one and a half crackers? All day?

It's not your carbs, it's your total calories. Too many of those and you aren't going to lose.

You have nearly a week that you didn't log at all.. days that you aren't logging but a single meal when you habitually eat 3 plus several snacks.

Be honest with yourself, weigh and log everything, keep your totals down and check back in two weeks.

p4ulmiller

You should try to lower the amount of carbs you are eating in a day and up your protein intake. Also, be careful on how much fruit you eat. Sugar, even from whole fruit, is still sugar.

What? What's wrong with sugar?

candy102389

I agree with some the comments of Carbs and lowering your calorie intake a little. Some also mentioned no eating back all your calories you have burned during exercise.

mccindy72

I'm 48, female. Need to lose 20-30 lbs.

I've always been a regular exerciser--walking, jogging, light-weight workout videos, tennis. When I am trying to lose, I exercise more consistently and count calories (using WW and MFP). I still eat regular foods, including some treats every day, but carefully counting and weighing. This has worked in the past.

In January 2014, I decided to get "back on the stick" after living 6 months in England and not paying any attention to what I was eating (but still exercising 3-4 times a week). I began on Jan 5, RELIGIOUSLY tracking exercise (with a good-quality HRM) and weighing and measuring my food and entering it into MFP. Most days, I stayed within the calorie goal. Still eating "normal" foods and some treats, but counting and weighing and building them into my budget. Weight didn't budge.

So, I met with a nutritionist. She suggested I amp up fruits and vegetables, trying for 10 servings a day. Just to help my metabolism along, I started doing an ADDITIONAL 30 minutes of treadmill work just before bed, and making sure I am getting lots and lots of water through the day.

I STILL HAVEN'T LOST A POUND.

I've faced my fears and opened my food diary to you all because I am desperate. You will see that, while I love chocolate, I am counting it carefully, and I am also eating lots of kale, spinach, sprouts, brown rice, unsweetened almond milk, beets, squash, yogurt, and other healthy foods. I drink only water and herbal tea sweetened w Stevia. There ARE one or two bad days in there (one day, I ate 7.5 chocolate chip cookies), and there are one or two days I didn't record, but the VAST MAJORITY of the days, I am recording fastidiously and staying in the calorie goal. I'm not cheating on my recording, because what would be the point of that.

I've always said, I don't want to do a diet I can't sustain, so I have thus far refused to banish any specific food stuff. In other words, I've said I can eat anything (white flour, potatoes, dairy, sugar) as long as I fit it into my calorie budget. I can sustain that sort of regime for the rest of my life.

BUT I'M BEGINNING TO THINK THAT DOESN'T WORK FOR EVERYBODY. And it's stopped working for me.

Any ideas? I'm so bummed.

1. You're overestimating your exercise calories and eating too many calories back.

2. you're underestimating your food calories and eating at a maintenance level.

3. You're oveeating on the days you aren't logging (7.5 cookies is an awful lot - probably 700 calories at least).

It doesn't make sense to say you are being fastidious about weighing everything you eat and then say there are some days that you didn't log.

mccindy72

You should try to lower the amount of carbs you are eating in a day and up your protein intake. Also, be careful on how much fruit you eat. Sugar, even from whole fruit, is still sugar.

You said that you are doing a lot of cardio for exercise. Is it intense cardio or lower-intensity cardio? You'll want to be careful. Doing a lot of low-intensity cardio can result in decreased metabolic capacity, which can lead to plateaus. Try some more intense versions of exercise and add in more resistance training. Lifting weights not only burns calories while you are exercising, but also for another 24 hours or so as your muscles repair and recover.

Allan

No.

jdquitugua87

Like others have mentioned, cut back a little on your calories. It looks like you're net calories are around 1800 per day, so drop about 10% - 15% (so about 1620 to 1510). Also, I know this sounds crazy, but also eat MORE!

Yes, you heard me. Eat throughout the day, not just three meals. Split your alloted calories into 5 different sittings instead of just three. You'll see a difference soon enough.

Good luck!!

jeffpettis

You've found your maintenance calories (which is no easy task!). Now cut 10-15% off of that a day and you should start losing

^^^^ This