Working out everyday, eating right, NOT losing weight??

wheird

Your diet contains almost no fat. Continue and you will get sick.

MMarvelous

Check this young lady out and how she transformed her body weight training! http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1281688-from-skinny-fat-to-fit-and-muscular

Weights can seem scary but it real does change your body in a great way. I enjoy being in a room with all these men staring at me...*VAIN* LOL

LeanButNotMean44

OMG - STOP with the muscle is heavier than fat! Muscle is DENSER than fat, a pound of muscle and a pound of fat weigh the same. I really hope that is what you meant to say.....

I realize that this is a bit off topic, but it always baffles me when comparing the weight of muscle to the weight of fat, why people would measure the initial amount by weight instead of mass or volume. Why would you measure out a pound of anything and a pound of something else, and then compare their weights? Why wouldn't you measure out a cubic inch, or foot, or whatever, of each and then weight the two? It's so completely illogical to assume that when a person says muscle is heavier than fat, that they mean a pound of muscle vs. a pound of fat, that it just flummoxes me every time I see someone make such a profoundly illogical leap.

Muscle is heavier than fat. A cubic inch of muscle weighs more than a cubic inch of fat. It's a fact. Stop railing against some imaginary inconsistency that is caused only by your own illogical assumptions.

Read the last part of what I said before you get up in my business.

LeanButNotMean44

OMG - STOP with the muscle is heavier than fat! Muscle is DENSER than fat, a pound of muscle and a pound of fat weigh the same. I really hope that is what you meant to say.....

Since when did this become such a cool know-it-all thing to point out? Of course a pound of anything weighs the same as a pound of anything else. That doesn't mean muscle is "not heavier" than fat. Of course it is. It is heavier than fat by volume because it is denser. To simplify this to "muscle is heavier than fat" is as true as saying "stone is heavier than marshmallow." A person making this statement isn't contemplating pallets of marshmallow, but is implying the weight difference between similar volumes of each material.

The point of using the "muscle is heavier than fat" conversational shorthand is to reassure people who are trying to "lose weight" (when really they want to lose body fat %) that if they put on muscle mass, they might actually see scale weight increase even though they have not accumulated additional body fat.

The post I was referring to was full of mis-information, and you should really pay attention to the last part of what I said in my response.

dreamingofskinny2013

I've been trying to lose weight for some time, and relatively recently I've kicked it into high gear and really cleaned out my eating and started working out everyday.

I really struggle with losing weight.

For the past four weeks, I've been working out every single day, and as far as I know my diet is good. I cut out fatty foods and processed things, really overhauling from how I used to eat.
The first week I really started I lost one pound. And then all I have done is gain from there.
At the gym, everyday, I do 10-20 minutes of brisk treadmill walking on an incline, and I've incorporated sprints lately.
I do 5-10 minutes of the rowing machine.
10-15 minutes of precor
15 minutes of spin bike.
Then I do arm exercises with a 10 pound kettlebell ( I know it's not much, but I'm tiny and also don't want to build much muscle in my arms; just tone) and I'll do 50 calf raises with 5 pound weights in each hand.
This routine normally has me burning 450-500 calories and I do this at least 6 days a week.

My eating is normally like this;
every morning one measured serving of raisin bran with flax and unsweetened almond milk. (230 calories)
lunch is sometimes a small sandwich on whole grain bread with turkey and lettuce/tomato/onions and no cheese(I'm also dairy free) so around 300 calories.
I'll have either a Kashi healthy bar or an apple and PB2 as a snack(I've also cut peanut butter out of my diet and only have the basically fatless PB2) so around 100-140 calories for my afternoon snack.
Dinner is ALWAYS healthy, mostly grilled chicken and a salad (no cheese and only olive oil and vinegar as dressing) or a veggie burger and baked sweet potato. Something like that. So probably 350-400 calories I'll assume.
And after the gym I'll have a small bowl of cereal because I get very hungry after I workout. I have Cheerios so that's only 130 calories at the most with my almond milk.

I really feel so badly because I look the same as I did over a month ago, and I know it's not a long time for me to be doing this but I expect SOME sort of result after all my hard work it makes me feel like giving up when I don't see any sort of result. Why aren't I losing weight?

By reading this I am gettting the feeling that your logging may not be "on point"...saying that you have a small bowl of cereal that is "at most" 130 calories seems to be an estimate....clean up your logging my dear!

I do log and before exercise I'm always at 1200 or a bit under. My cereal is 130 exactly measured. I measure all my portions

Measured how? If you used a measuring cup for your cereal, then you are not doing it correctly. You need a scale for solid foods and those measuring cups/spoons for liquids only. You'd be very surprised by how much that measuring cup will vary on a daily basis based on how it settles in the cup. As a result, it's very easy to go over your calorie goal.

As someone else mentioned, I think your issue is more one of body comp than weight loss. You can lose another 20 lbs but if your not doing the right exercises to maintain lean muscle then you'll still think you have fat thighs, etc. I would suggest you look up Starting Strength, Strong Lifts 5x5 and/or The New Rules of Lifting for Women. Those will get you where you want to be.

I use a food scale in addition to the cup measurements to make sure it's accurate. I can't measure every exact piece of cereal I eat, but by using both I'm pretty sure it's as close as it can get to 100% accurate

Quasita

If you truly eat that much and truly burn that much, you're leaving your body to have zero extra, and therefore it's going to hold onto every bit of body insulation you have because it needs to fuel it's basic functions no matter what. A month is definitely long enough to impact that survival tactic.

No matter how many times you keep repeating this, its not going to come true. The body doesn't start to begin burn muscle as its primary fuel source until youre nearly dead.

I fail to see anywhere that I said that the body would burn muscle. I said it would hold onto insulation aka body fat. This is a proven fact. The only time I've ever spoken about muscle breakdown is during VLCD and extreme crash dieting discussions so I don't know what you're referring to here?

Edited to add: Oh, is this because I referred to a survival tactic? Seriously? There are several stages of body preservation that occur. There's adaptive thermogenesis that decreases your basic function calorie needs, increasing "efficiency" of the body, enabling it to support basic life functions on a lower amount of calories. There's the tipping point where body functions switch to a preservation mode, after continued low to no calorie reserves from intake, where the body basically says "Well, we're not getting food so we have to store as much as possible to survive the longest." The body will eventually breakdown muscle tissues before gnawing away the entirety of body fat, as some of said fat is used to protect and insulate internal organs and vital processes (including the brain tissues). The last step before starvation is the breakdown of internal organs leading to systemic failure and death.

A person does not have to be nearly dead to breakdown their muscle tissues though. Anorexia nervosa patients are a prime example. They are not "nearly dead" when they begin to experience this process... Neither are people with hyperthyroidism or diabetes. However, all of these cases and more can result in protein breakdown on a systemic level, which is pretty well the opposite of the goal for anyone trying to tone or build muscle mass.

Quasita

Where do I begin?

One, toning IS adding muscle. What you are doing when you are toning is you ARE building muscle, and burning fat. You're adding definition. I just wanted to clear that up for you.

Agree to disagree?

Agree RG... Toning does not mean mass is being added, but rather existing mass is being conditioned. Granted, most people on a toning regimen that are started from nil will build a very modest amount of muscle mass solely due to the fact that they are likely putting enough extra strain on their muscle groups to cause compensatory growth... However, the whole point of toning is to make existing muscle mass more pliable and stable.

All in all though, coming back to this thread after several hours, it doesn't seem like it really matters truth or not. Just another pick and choose situation.

yopeeps025

Where do I begin?

One, toning IS adding muscle. What you are doing when you are toning is you ARE building muscle, and burning fat. You're adding definition. I just wanted to clear that up for you.

Two, you're eating too many carbs (both good and bad), and not getting enough protein. Carbs absorb into your body and can be stored as fat. Take cereal for example. No matter how healthy they say cereal is, it's not the best carbs to have, ESPECIALLY after a workout. In fact, you shouldn't be getting those carbs into your body at all after a workout. You should be consuming protein after your workout because you need your muscles to rebuild and recover. If you don't, your muscles will not develop. You need for your muscles to develop because it also promotes body strength. Do you really want to be frail? I hope not. With the kettlebell exercises you're doing, even if it is only a 10 lb. kettlebell, you are still using muscles you never thought you had, what you are doing is you are tearing up your muscles (not in a bad way, so don't be alarmed). You are creating microtears in your muscles, and if you do not get the protein you need 30 minutes after a workout, your muscles will not develop. You should really invest in a good protein shake after a workout. It's really the best way. I would suggest getting Rebuild Strength because it has whey and casein proteins, BCAAs, and L-Glutamine, all of which is great for muscle recovery. You will not bulk up. This will help you recover, and it is VERY IMPORTANT that you get these proteins in.

Three: Protein snacks. You need protein snacks. This is going to be the difference with the results you will get. For the most part, your snacks are good, but you must consume the protein snacks for your metabolism.

And four: If you are not losing weight after all of the advice I've given you, do not be alarmed or discouraged. Remember, muscle is heavier than fat, and it is better to weigh as much as you do with muscle (and healthier) than it is to weigh as much as you do with fat. If your scale still reads the same, see how many inches you have lost. I guarantee you will lose inches.

I am happy to help with any advice you may need. I really hope this will help some.

And this is why I always say it's a bad idea to announce you are a trainer. Because when you give out terrible advice like the above you look worse than you normally word. Worst advice ITT. So much broscience it's not even funny.

You eat a lot of wheat like in your cereal. Cut that out and the pounds will drop.

Wheat is stopping her from losing weight? No, just no.

Don't starve your body like that....It causes your metabolism to stop because it thinks you are literally starving...also, remember, muscle weighs more than fat! If you are working out, you may be replacing fat with muscle...Have you seen results in your measurments?

No she is not. Not at all.
And if someone's metabolism stopped, they be dead.

LOL we actually agree on something.

daybehavior

If you truly eat that much and truly burn that much, you're leaving your body to have zero extra, and therefore it's going to hold onto every bit of body insulation you have because it needs to fuel it's basic functions no matter what. A month is definitely long enough to impact that survival tactic.

No matter how many times you keep repeating this, its not going to come true. The body doesn't start to begin burn muscle as its primary fuel source until youre nearly dead.

I fail to see anywhere that I said that the body would burn muscle. I said it would hold onto insulation aka body fat. This is a proven fact. The only time I've ever spoken about muscle breakdown is during VLCD and extreme crash dieting discussions so I don't know what you're referring to here?

Edited to add: Oh, is this because I referred to a survival tactic? Seriously? There are several stages of body preservation that occur. There's adaptive thermogenesis that decreases your basic function calorie needs, increasing "efficiency" of the body, enabling it to support basic life functions on a lower amount of calories. There's the tipping point where body functions switch to a preservation mode, after continued low to no calorie reserves from intake, where the body basically says "Well, we're not getting food so we have to store as much as possible to survive the longest." The body will eventually breakdown muscle tissues before gnawing away the entirety of body fat, as some of said fat is used to protect and insulate internal organs and vital processes (including the brain tissues). The last step before starvation is the breakdown of internal organs leading to systemic failure and death.

A person does not have to be nearly dead to breakdown their muscle tissues though. Anorexia nervosa patients are a prime example. They are not "nearly dead" when they begin to experience this process... Neither are people with hyperthyroidism or diabetes. However, all of these cases and more can result in protein breakdown on a systemic level, which is pretty well the opposite of the goal for anyone trying to tone or build muscle mass.

It's too late and I'm too worn out to even begin to argue your nonsense today so let me just direct you back to the thread where you were called out by other posters (which coincidentally you never bothered to respond to):

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1279532-starvation-mode-is-a-myth?page=5

Aside from that, you're someone who believes you can eat under your BMR and gain weight, effectively violating the the law of conservation of matter --ie creating something out of nothing.

Your credibility speaks for itself.

ETA: She didn't really say those other things, it was another person.

daybehavior

I just realized she didn't actually SAY those first two things so I had to go back and edit it. In any case, I still give her no credit.