Why No Loss

Hannahlindele

Well lets see. I've been trying to loose weight for almost a month and a half and I have only dropped about 2 pounds. I do 45 minutes of cardio (Insanity) everyday, eat 1,400 calories and drink tons of water. My calories healthy food (mostly veggies and protein), but what am I doing wrong? I have had a few days where I maybe eat the right calories to maintain, but I know I should be loosing weight! Is there something wrong?

thavoice

If you are truly doing insanity for 34 min a day and eating a calorie deficiency then you wll be losing weight (unless you are just so small there isnt much to lose).

Are you sure you are keeping ACCURATE records of your calories (and a calorie is a calorie)?

navyrigger46

Do you weigh and log all your food?

Rigger

Hannahlindele

I'm 5"6 and weigh 148. I'm pretty sure that's not too small. I do count my calories, but I don't always get to log them in but I know I stay under my calorie goal.

em435

Your ticker says you only have 9lbs to lose so, assuming you're losing at the recommended 0.5lb per week, that's not bad progress at all for the time you've been here (6weeks?).

If you are weighing and logging food accurately, I'd say that you should just continue with what you're doing and be patient.

richardheath

You are losing weight - 2 lbs in 6 weeks isn't bad when you only have 9 lb to go. 0.25 - 0.5 lb a week is a good target rate. The less weight you have to lose, the harder it becomes sometimes (you have less fat reserves to use). Go on too big of a deficit, and you'll be tired, hungry, will lose muscle etc. Just stick with what you are doing and be patient!

MBrothers22

You need to weigh your food with a digital scale.

jdb3388

That is almost correct. You should have lost 3 lbs rather than 2, but that could be water retention or lack of fiber.

_Zardoz_

As you only have 9 pounds to lose. Half a pound a week is a good loss just have some patience

SezxyStef

I'm 5"6 and weigh 148. I'm pretty sure that's not too small. I do count my calories, but I don't always get to log them in but I know I stay under my calorie goal.

Well that depends on your body composition...I am an inch taller and 10lbs heavier and I wear a size 5/6 jean.

It is impossible to know intake without weighing and logging consistently. Unless you log somewhere else....

If you aren't losing weight chances are you are eating more than you think...

thavoice

I have found that unless you log and write food down ACCURATELY you more than likely are going to see some bad surprises on the scale.

Calories in food can craep up on you QUICKLY and portion/serving sides are very misleading. Many times they are very small and just part of what you normally would eat.

em435

I'm 5"6 and weigh 148. I'm pretty sure that's not too small. I do count my calories, but I don't always get to log them in but I know I stay under my calorie goal.

This would be the problem. You only have a small deficit (250cals per day I assume) so you're really going to need to be a lot more accurate and consistent.
It sucks but it works and it does get easier.

November_Fire

You're losing slowly, which is good. To see a faster loss you'd need to eat less.

You'd be surprised what you can miss by not logging. Let's say you don't log the 'healthy' things or the small stuff. A couple of bananas (210 cal), a handful of strawberries (100 cal, assuming you don't add sugar), a coffee with whole milk (60 cals), that half-slice of toast your kid didn't finish (115 cals) and bam - your "I only ate 1400" just became 1885.

Also, portion size. Breakfast cereal is a good example, especially if you use vague logging like "one bowl". The box says a 'serving' is 45g, which is about two spoonfuls. The box lies. No one eats 45g. And 'one bowl' is a description of crockery, not portion size. I sometimes had 'big bowls' of oatmeal or 'a small bowl' - my small bowl was about 120g! The log may default to '100g' of pasta, but don't assume that's an 'average' portion - that's just the easiest number off the back of the pack for calculating. Measure everything.

Hannahlindele

Does logging everything make that much of a difference? I measure out portions exactly, I don;t always write it down though. I know how many calories I'm eating- just seems like writing everything down is too much of a bother.

SezxyStef

Does logging everything make that much of a difference? I measure out portions exactly, I don;t always write it down though. I know how many calories I'm eating- just seems like writing everything down is too much of a bother.

It is very easy to lose track if you are mentally keeping track.

Measuring doesn't really do it either...weighing on a food scale gives you a more accurate reading for solids..

And how do you know how many calories are in your servings? just curious?

I don't write stuff down I log it here...easy peasy..takes 5mins

ottermotorcycle

Does logging everything make that much of a difference? I measure out portions exactly, I don;t always write it down though. I know how many calories I'm eating- just seems like writing everything down is too much of a bother.

It really does make that much of a difference, especially at a small deficit. Underestimating a spoonful of peanut butter and guessing the oil you use to cook puts you at maintenance already. Overestimating your exercise will also put you over quickly.

Branstin

Does logging everything make that much of a difference? I measure out portions exactly, I don;t always write it down though. I know how many calories I'm eating- just seems like writing everything down is too much of a bother.

Yes, it makes a world of difference. Tracking allows you to develop a pattern and if you have problems, you could easily spot the root cause. For example, even though you eat within your calories range and still are not losing. One of the causes might be sodium because sodium holds water. Are you going to remember how much sodium you consumed over several weeks? Probably not! Your focus would be on your calories limit for the day. In case you weren't aware, MFP has a free app for your cell phone. Don't stress out over mentally tracking when there is any easier and more accurate way to do it.

Good Luck!

Hannahlindele

normally I look at the package ( if it has actual serving size in cups or other easy measurements) or I'll look it up on here. I do log, but I find it tedious to log things when I know how much calories are in them.

trogalicious

normally I look at the package ( if it has actual serving size in cups or other easy measurements) or I'll look it up on here. I do log, but I find it tedious to log things when I know how much calories are in them.

yeah, except when you need to look back at what you're doing.. versus your results...

you'll have data.

SezxyStef

normally I look at the package ( if it has actual serving size in cups or other easy measurements) or I'll look it up on here. I do log, but I find it tedious to log things when I know how much calories are in them.

well you can find it tedious to log and chose not to do it and not lose weight

or

you can take the 5mins to log and lose...

loubidy

normally I look at the package ( if it has actual serving size in cups or other easy measurements) or I'll look it up on here. I do log, but I find it tedious to log things when I know how much calories are in them.

and by law the packaging can be 30% off actual information..

Hannahlindele

yup you're right just a little more effort in that area! I guess it's discouraging when I look at my goals and I'm doing everything to loose 1.5 pounds a week (according to MFP) but the scale doesn't reflect that!

trogalicious

yup you're right just a little more effort in that area! I guess it's discouraging when I look at my goals and I'm doing everything to loose 1.5 pounds a week (according to MFP) but the scale doesn't reflect that!

because at 9lbs to lose, that's too aggressive.

asciiqwerty

every time i get lazy and stop logging, i gain or lose less

every time i start logging more accurately i lose (and usually end up feeling like i'm eating more)

if you want to lose it's worth the effort, but you're doing well, you only have a little to lose against your target take it slow and steady - for 9lb target loss you should be aiming for 0.25 to 0.5 lb per week, no more

don't forget to log and measure what you drink too - lots of people are supprised by the number of calories they drink
don't forget to log fruit and healthy snacks

your best friend is a digital food scale with a tare weight function (so that you can put your cereal bowl on it - zero it, pour the ceral to the right weight - zero it again, and poor the milk - again measuring)

Ready2Rock206

. I do count my calories, but I don't always get to log them in but I know I stay under my calorie goal.

If you're not logging then how do you know? I'm going to assume you don't weigh or measure food either. You're probably just eating too much.

November_Fire

Does logging everything make that much of a difference? I measure out portions exactly, I don;t always write it down though. I know how many calories I'm eating- just seems like writing everything down is too much of a bother.

It does if you're calorie counting or you're trying not to go over a certain amount. Basically, you can't say "I'm only eating X!" when there's a very good chance you're eating lots more than that. Log for your own eyes if you want to, just so you can identify perhaps some foods you might like to cut down on, or improvements you can make (less butter, less cream, less oil.) Short answer to your thread title: you're eating too much, or another way, you're eating more than you burn off.

1.5lb is also too much to lose in a week. 1lb is the recommendation for obese people; at your size you need to lose slowly.