Why am I not losing any weight?

daybehavior

The OP says she hasn't been tracking and she's been at this for a month and a half. You can't make a "definitive conclusion" based on five random days where she has admitted she has been haphazardly tracking.

OP, don't buy into the "starvation mode" fear mongering. What the above poster failed to tell you is that your body doesn't even begin to go into starvation mode until after 72 hours of fasting and even then the slowdown isn't as dramatic as they want you the believe. Adaptive thermogenesis does exist obviously but it is nowhere near significant enough to halt weight loss. You cant defy physics. Even if you WERE undereating (not recommended), you would continue to lose as long as your calories in is less than your calories out.

yewbic

Adaptive thermogenesis does exist obviously but it is nowhere near significant enough to halt weight loss. You cant defy physics. Even if you WERE undereating (not recommended), you would continue to lose as long as your calories in is less than your calories out.

ETA: addressed Adaptive Thermogenesis BS.

alot of factors affect weight loss it's not all about calories in vs calories out. your logic is flawed.

besides, you will never find a study that's going to have people on a 200 calorie diet a day and measure how much their metabolism reduces by. Normal studies show something like a 50% decrease in calories results in a 10% drop in metabolic resting rate

ok... some of the days in the OP's diary had her at 200 calories net for the day... from her 1800 TDEE that is approximately a 90% decrease in calories... i would have to assume, in general, that metabolic rate tends to drop more with more excessive caloric deficits

coconuttjd

I think two things you can learn from the responses...

1) you need a food scale and you need to properly log your calories and exercise
2) join a gym, preferably a fitness gym with a trainer that can help you train better

As I tell others, I've lost over 60 lbs doing nothing more special than portion control and exercise, and the exercise is really just for fun. The real weight loss comes from understanding what your body needs in terms of nutrition and energy and balancing those needs with portion control to create a calorie deficit. You can do this. You sound like you just might need a little help from someone closer to home.

eldamiano

Drinking milkshakes and doing cardio exercise does not equal weight loss. Calorie deficit = weight loss.

lemonsnowdrop

How could someone gain weight from starving? I thought starving was the opposite of trying to lose weight, but I could be wrong. "Starvation mode" as it's tossed around here is crap.

MissInce26

I am in the same boat as you iv just posted a question to figure out what's going g on with my body I'm similar weight as you and was doing exactly the same eating clean low calories exercising lots and did not loose a single pound for 6 weeks!! Iv just had 2 weeks of not counting calorie and not much exercise and 3lbs has just dropped of very confusing I'm not sure if its delayed weight loss from all the hard work or if in fact I wasn't eating enough calories so my body was holding onto the weight not sure now if I should carry on as I am or go intense again! I would say have a week off and see if you lose weight like I have I have got more energy again now and ready to up the exercise x

Lizplus3

I read almost all of the comments on here trying to help this young lady. I'm no expert so let me just say that up front. I can tell you that I have struggled with this also. 1. You do need to make sure your servings are acurate and log them (it not only will confirm that you are on track but it alows others to better help you. 2. You don't need to join a gym or have a personal trainer in order to lose weight (but they can help to push you hard and that leads to results). 3. Try something - eat real food for two days - eat all the calories that you are supposed to (1500) and eat back your exercise calories (even go a little over if you still feel hungry. When I do this I get results (I'm not talking bing either - have a cookie). 4. Make sure you are drinking 8+ glasses of water because your body needs the water in order to help you lose weight. 5. I do agree that you might want to take a day off (or what I do is drop a session from my day).

I am sure that you can figure this out - remember that your body needs fuel in order to burn fat, make muscle and just do its normal daily thing - don't starve yourself and listen to your body. I started out doing the shakes and the bars and only eatting dinner as a real meal but I will be honest that now I do real food and I am not hunry as often and I have more energy. Good luck!

LolBroScience

Adaptive thermogenesis does exist obviously but it is nowhere near significant enough to halt weight loss. You cant defy physics. Even if you WERE undereating (not recommended), you would continue to lose as long as your calories in is less than your calories out.

ETA: addressed Adaptive Thermogenesis BS.

alot of factors affect weight loss it's not all about calories in vs calories out. your logic is flawed.

besides, you will never find a study that's going to have people on a 200 calorie diet a day and measure how much their metabolism reduces by. Normal studies show something like a 50% decrease in calories results in a 10% drop in metabolic resting rate

ok... some of the days in the OP's diary had her at 200 calories net for the day... from her 1800 TDEE that is approximately a 90% decrease in calories... i would have to assume, in general, that metabolic rate tends to drop more with more excessive caloric deficits

This is assuming she had logged all of the calories she had eaten during that day. More often than not the culprit is inconsistency. gtfo with your starvation mode trash. dyel?


OP:

After looking at your diary more closely I'm still sticking with the culprit being your lack of accuracy. You don't track calories or weigh food etc. How do you come up with 4.8 oz, etc? Couple that with the fact you only actually logged entries like twice out of the past 30 days... . Most people aren't experienced enough to eyeball and get away with it.

Even if this wasn't the issue, it would at east rule it out...

webbkr913

The whole point of the body storing fat during periods of over consumption is to carry one over during periods of under consumption. Therefore, it would seem to me that when you put yourself at a significant calorie deficit, the body would start to use these stores to maintain itself. It may be that it also slows down a bit in an attempt to make the fat stores last as long as possible, but clearly its going to be taking stored fat and burning it. It has no other choice. This idea that people think the body “holds on” to these calories, and therefore you stop losing weight, just doesn’t make sense to me. If this happened, your brain and organs would just cease to function. You would die. People with excess body fat do not die from starvation due to a few weeks of calorie deficits.

Ever seen a fat bear in the wild in spring?

MityMax96

I know this is a common question, but I was hoping maybe somebody can help me with this. I'm 20 years old, 5'5" and 150 lbs. I was 150 in mid February when I started this change in lifestyle and I am still 150. I cut out dairy, gluten, wheat, added sugar. I drink herbalife shakes for breakfast and eat super healthy throughout the day, about 1500 calories. I workout twice a day; an hour of cardio and sometimes also weight training in the morning and different intervals like running stairs at an arena and Insanity workouts in the evenings. I store a lot of fat in my lower half and I know that is the last place it leaves so I really need to start losing weight so that I can wear shorts in the summer. It's super discouraging because I feel like I work so hard and get nowhere and my friends will ditch soda and drop like 10 lbs. Does anyone know of anything that might help me or what my problem could be?

You are most likely eating more than you think.

I would highly recommend getting a food scale, and weigh/measure everything.

Do that for a couple months and then see where you are at.

levitateme

OP flat-out said she is not logging everything she eats. Stop telling her to eat more, she isn't losing weight because she's not in a deficit.

missomgitsica

i've been keeping it mentally cause it becomes a hassle to add everything in the app. But i do need to do that. And I just read a few articles about how those types of foods could be affecting weight loss

I think you just answered your own question. Log EVERYTHING.

But really, if you've lost 8 pounds since mid February you're losing at a healthy rate, so I kind of think you're freaking out about nothing.

yo_andi

I know this is a common question, but I was hoping maybe somebody can help me with this. I'm 20 years old, 5'5" and 150 lbs. I was 150 in mid February when I started this change in lifestyle and I am still 150. I cut out dairy, gluten, wheat, added sugar. I drink herbalife shakes for breakfast and eat super healthy throughout the day, about 1500 calories. I workout twice a day; an hour of cardio and sometimes also weight training in the morning and different intervals like running stairs at an arena and Insanity workouts in the evenings. I store a lot of fat in my lower half and I know that is the last place it leaves so I really need to start losing weight so that I can wear shorts in the summer. It's super discouraging because I feel like I work so hard and get nowhere and my friends will ditch soda and drop like 10 lbs. Does anyone know of anything that might help me or what my problem could be?

If you don't log every single bite, lick or nibble, you just can't know what you're actually ingesting. Listen to everyone here. Ditch the expensive shakes and LOG EVERYTHING.

Ready2Rock206

i've been keeping it mentally cause it becomes a hassle to add everything in the app. But i do need to do that. And I just read a few articles about how those types of foods could be affecting weight loss

This is exactly why you're not losing. A vague estimate of what you may be eating isn't working for you. You need to log your food - and log it accurately. Or if it is too much of an inconvenience then be happy with the weight you are. Maybe you're just not ready for the commitment it takes at this moment in time - there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

emuravyeva

Why did you cut out dairy, gluten, wheat and added suagr? This is totally unnecessary unless you have a medical condition diagnosed by a physician.

THANK YOU!!! Unless you have Celiac's disease, there is not reason to cut gluten. That is a well-propagated myth!!!!!

ItsCasey

so it's more sensical to assume that on the days she didnt log calories that it was all the way over her normal calorie deficit over (1800) when all the days she did log she was atleast 200-800 calories below 1200?

do you even have any experience with weight loss? you think lifting weights is equal to weigh loss?

I have experience with both, and I think lifting weights is harder than weight loss. What now?

It's pretty freaking obvious that if your goal is to lose weight, and you aren't losing weight, you're eating too much.

And for the record, when people only log twice a month and happen to be a few hundred calories under on those two days, the more likely scenario is that they failed to log the other 28 days because they knew full well they were over their goal. This is pretty typical of all humans ... do something right? Tell everyone. Fail at something? Act like it didn't happen.

cakesyme

No! Don't cut out dairy! calcium is a staple for weight loss. Don't listen to what they say about fat. Fat and protein are your best friends. They keep the hunger out.

usmcmp

This is assuming she had logged all of the calories she had eaten during that day. More often than not the culprit is inconsistency. gtfo with your starvation mode trash. dyel?

OP:
After looking at your diary more closely I'm still sticking with the culprit being your lack of accuracy. You don't track calories or weigh food etc. How do you come up with 4.8 oz, etc? Couple that with the fact you only actually logged entries like twice out of the past 30 days... . Most people aren't experienced enough to eyeball and get away with it.

Even if this wasn't the issue, it would at east rule it out...

so it's more sensical to assume that on the days she didnt log calories that it was all the way over her normal calorie deficit over (1800) when all the days she did log she was atleast 200-800 calories below 1200?

gtfo of here with your bs assumptions

do you even have any experience with weight loss? you think lifting weights is equal to weigh loss?

The answer is that they are eating more than they think. They aren't being accurate. End of story.

I do have experience with weight loss. I know they aren't being accurate.

BrainyBurro

The answer is that they are eating more than they think. They aren't being accurate. End of story.

I do have experience with weight loss. I know they aren't being accurate.

^ this

x 1,000,000,000

gandydancer

I have the same problem and sometimes I didn't log in here but have logged daily in WW booklets so I know my caalories also and keep them under 1200 usually, so I am at a loss also but I am slowly gaining which is worse...wish I could help you but I needed to vent also and perhaps their are different ideas out there...I have gotten wonderful help from a member but problem is not going away.