Why am I not losing weight?

Aaron_K123

So it has been about 2 weeks since I came home from college where I gained the freshman 15 (more like 20).
Since I have been home I am much more active (work out every day), and eat much healthier.
So why aren't the extra pounds falling off?
Can anyone give me some tips?

Two weeks is insufficient time to accurately measure weightloss underneath the normal weight fluctuations your body will experience day to day. You have to wait at least 6 weeks and be consistent with your diet before you can truly evaluate your progress.

I second what others have said that you are probably not accurately logging your food however regardless not enough time has past to really evaluate your weight loss anyways. Aiming for 700 calories a day however is a bad idea, that is not nearly enough food. As for not being able to eat enough because you get nauseous I'm sorry but I don't believe that for the simple reason if you are overweight you clearly have the ability to eat more food happily. You don't have to limit your diet to 100% nutrient high calorie low foods, have some nuts, have some ice cream, have some bread, have a beer. Its not hard to add calories.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

chrisdavey

So now the answer to people who can't lose weight or can't gain weight is to eat peanut butter. Now I understand :happy:

brower47

So now the answer to people who can't lose weight or can't gain weight is to eat peanut butter. Now I understand :happy:

I wish I'd known that years ago. No time to start like the present I always say.

*goes and prepares serving spoon worth of PB*

daybehavior

LOL it never fails.

OP: Why am I not losing weight?

Reply1: You're not measuring correctly
Reply2: YOU'RE IN STARVATION MODE
Reply3: Your're retaining water
Reply4: You're not logging accurately

OP: THANKs #2 I'll eat more !!!

DYEStarvationmode bro

Stop being so rude and arrogant

I think your sarcaso-meter is broke.

And FYI - I can't stop being arrogant.

I think yours is too

Unknown

This content has been removed.

crissi725

Ok, you've posted before about not losing weight. Its only been 2 weeks. That's not nearly long enough to see real weight loss. And yes, you either need to measure your food more accurately or you aren't eating enough. And regardless if "starvation mode" is a real thing or not....you should still eat more than 700 calories a day. You can't keep that up for your whole life and look good. One day you'll get tired of doing that and start eating again and gain everything back. Do some weight training, eat what you should but make sure you are in a calorie deficit and be patient. Weight fluctuates naturally so 2 weeks is just too small a time period to see real changes.

fatcity66

You need to read the following. I am also broke and I eat much more than 700 calories a day. You are doing a lot of damage to your body. You managed to gain the freshman 15 so you can eat more. Sorry for being so blunt but I'm not going to sugar coat this.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide

Right?? I was just thinking, the OP must have been eating more before in order to gain, right? I would literally pass out if I ate that little for more than a couple days. But I would lose a couple pounds of water weight, at least. Something is up.

Maybe you are at good weight for yourself now? I dunno, alot of people are never as skinny as high school again, but are at a perfectly healthy weight. Just a thought...I could be totally off the mark.

heybales

You're not eating enough according to your diary. And also, it's only been 2 weeks be patient and why don't you measure yourself. Sometimes you'll notice changes there that you won't with the scale.

Good Luck.

I literally cannot eat anymore because a) it makes me nauseous and b) i don't have the money to buy more food anyway. I am poor

You obviously ate a whole lot more than 700 to gain 20 lbs.

Might need to redefine what you consider "healthy" eating - you may be limiting yourself too much.

fatcity66

According to the many pages I've read on starvation mode... You would literally need to get rid of 95% of your fat stores before you would go into starvation mode.

What do you think fat is for? It's used for times of famine. If you didn't lose weight due to caloric insufficiency then you wouldn't die of starvation a complete stick.

Haha! Very good point.

heybales

According to the many pages I've read on starvation mode... You would literally need to get rid of 95% of your fat stores before you would go into starvation mode.

What do you think fat is for? It's used for times of famine. If you didn't lose weight due to caloric insufficiency then you wouldn't die of starvation a complete stick.

Don't confuse the effects of starving that are mis-applied to what is called starvation mode. 2 different things.
A diet really just is controlled starving.
Starving is what you referred to - though you mention no effects to that losing 95% of fat stores.

What would you say about the true effects of starvation mode kicking in with just a mere 25% deficit from a tested measured TDEE for an obese person?
True effects?
Your body slows down amount of spontaneous daily activity. Your body becomes more metabolically efficient and burns less on everything. Net effect, your real TDEE is much less than potential.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/heybales/view/reduced-metabolism-tdee-beyond-expected-from-weight-loss-616251

This may be an eye opener.

Not for the OP though, not with mere 2 weeks. But heading that direction if she keeps it up.

Though I do find it incredible that bad logging is being blamed for somehow overcoming what must be close to a 1000-1300 calorie deficit to potential TDEE.

Other research where they aren't as positive about getting over it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i_cmltmQ6A

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1077746-starvation-mode-adaptive-thermogenesis-and-weight-loss

beautifulwarrior18

You're not eating enough according to your diary. And also, it's only been 2 weeks be patient and why don't you measure yourself. Sometimes you'll notice changes there that you won't with the scale.

Good Luck.

I literally cannot eat anymore because a) it makes me nauseous and b) i don't have the money to buy more food anyway. I am poor

If you gained the freshman 15, you clearly didn't have a problem eating enough before without being nauseated.

fatcity66

According to the many pages I've read on starvation mode... You would literally need to get rid of 95% of your fat stores before you would go into starvation mode.

What do you think fat is for? It's used for times of famine. If you didn't lose weight due to caloric insufficiency then you wouldn't die of starvation a complete stick.

Don't confuse the effects of starving that are mis-applied to what is called starvation mode. 2 different things.

A diet really just is controlled starving.
Starving is what you referred to - though you mention no effects to that losing 95% of fat stores.

What would you say about the true effects of starvation mode kicking in with just a mere 25% deficit from a tested measured TDEE for an obese person?
True effects?
Your body slows down amount of spontaneous daily activity. Your body becomes more metabolically efficient and burns less on everything. Net effect, your real TDEE is much less than potential.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/heybales/view/reduced-metabolism-tdee-beyond-expected-from-weight-loss-616251

This may be an eye opener.

Not for the OP though, not with mere 2 weeks. But heading that direction if she keeps it up.

Though I do find it incredible that bad logging is being blamed for somehow overcoming what must be close to a 1000-1300 calorie deficit to potential TDEE.

Other research where they aren't as positive about getting over it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i_cmltmQ6A

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1077746-starvation-mode-adaptive-thermogenesis-and-weight-loss

Very interesting study! Thanks for posting this! I am watching the HBO special now! :P

vismal

According to the many pages I've read on starvation mode... You would literally need to get rid of 95% of your fat stores before you would go into starvation mode.

What do you think fat is for? It's used for times of famine. If you didn't lose weight due to caloric insufficiency then you wouldn't die of starvation a complete stick.

Don't confuse the effects of starving that are mis-applied to what is called starvation mode. 2 different things.
A diet really just is controlled starving.
Starving is what you referred to - though you mention no effects to that losing 95% of fat stores.

What would you say about the true effects of starvation mode kicking in with just a mere 25% deficit from a tested measured TDEE for an obese person?
True effects?
Your body slows down amount of spontaneous daily activity. Your body becomes more metabolically efficient and burns less on everything. Net effect, your real TDEE is much less than potential.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/heybales/view/reduced-metabolism-tdee-beyond-expected-from-weight-loss-616251

This may be an eye opener.

Not for the OP though, not with mere 2 weeks. But heading that direction if she keeps it up.

Though I do find it incredible that bad logging is being blamed for somehow overcoming what must be close to a 1000-1300 calorie deficit to potential TDEE.

Other research where they aren't as positive about getting over it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i_cmltmQ6A

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1077746-starvation-mode-adaptive-thermogenesis-and-weight-loss

The slowdowns you speak of would not be nearly enough to cause weight loss to halt. Even at 50% reduction from tdee subjects in the Minnesota starvation experiment all still continued to lose weight despite any metabolic slowdown.
I also believe so many people are absolutely terrible at logging. Anytime you see 6 days of logging and a blank day I almost assume it was a day full of pizza, alcohol, candy, etc. If you eat 1200 calories 6 days a week and 3500 on day 7, you did the equivalent of eating 1700 every day. I really do believe that 99% of people claiming not to lose weight at very low calorie levels are either confused about their intake or dishonest about their cheat days.

heybales

The slowdowns you speak of would not be nearly enough to cause weight loss to halt. Even at 50% reduction from tdee subjects in the Minnesota starvation experiment all still continued to lose weight despite any metabolic slowdown.
I also believe so many people are absolutely terrible at logging. Anytime you see 6 days of logging and a blank day I almost assume it was a day full of pizza, alcohol, candy, etc. If you eat 1200 calories 6 days a week and 3500 on day 7, you did the equivalent of eating 1700 every day. I really do believe that 99% of people claiming not to lose weight at very low calorie levels are either confused about their intake or dishonest about their cheat days.

Well, actually the results from the deficit were enough to cause the effect, but small enough that the reduced TDEE would eventually cause no deficit to be in place and weight loss to stop, IF you kept basing the math on what was or could be.

But as the study you referenced did, this study they kept lowering intake to always be 25% below tested TDEE (nice having a lab). So they compensated for suppression by just constantly eating less and less. And true the studies show about a max 20-25% suppression to TDEE, but look at what that eating calorie level would be then.

So indeed, you can keep eating less and less and eventually you will start losing again. And then as TDEE lowers with less weight, eat less again. Do the math for the end game to reach goal weight, and many would have to be either eating 800 calories with reasonable amount of exercise, or 1200 with a whole lot of exercise. That's a scary maintenance. If you reach goal weight that limited.

And very true for logging like in this case, where there is no weight loss at all. And if exercise calories had been eaten back with inflated values (which they were not in this case) even a worse effect.
But for ones that were successful for 20-50 lbs and then it slowed and stopped - doubtful that's suddenly the issue.

Perhaps it's embarrassment in bad logging that causes some not to report back how much they were off in total inflated calories daily, but the ones I have seen report back are maybe 200-300 inflated. Not nearly enough to wipe out a 1000 or more deficit they should have had in place.

I think the cheat days and meal binges are bigger deal too. "I gain weight only eating 1200". Huh, yeah, that may be your goal usually hit, but as you point out, it averages 1700 in reality. And their workouts eating 1200 were probably so pathetic they barely burned anything.

jennifries227

I agree with others saying you simply haven't given it enough time yet. Sometimes a change in diet or exercise can cause water retention, so it might be something as simple as that. Otherwise, if you're only looking to lose 20 pounds, it's going to take a bit of time.
You also may not be logging your food correctly. If at ALL possible save up your money and buy a food scale. It's an invaluable tool for weight loss. You can get them for $10 on Amazon.com, I paid $15 for mine (Ozeri brand) and it's amazing.

I am a little concerned with your diet, looking at your diary. I'm not a nutritionist, but...
Even if you don't eat MORE, you should really try to eat BETTER. I noticed most of your diet consists of little to no protein, which can be bad news. Peanut butter has a little protein in it, but whole nuts and beans are a better option for a vegetarian (it looks like you're a vegetarian from your diary) Cans of beans or bags of dried beans are insanely cheap and easy to prepare. Look up recipes online for ideas. Nuts are more expensive, but they're so tasty! And they both pack a huge protein punch into a little package.

Edited to add the bit about weighing food.

metacognition

I gained four pounds the first week I started exercising.

Give it time. As in a month or two. If you are losing weight your body will give you certain hints, even if the scale doesn't budge. They can include:

disrupted sleep habits (for instance waking up 2 - 3 hours early for no particular reason)
increased cravings, headache, tiredness, mood swings, irritability, a sense of malaise. It's not pleasant but they are indicators if you find the scale has stopped moving.

For me these symptoms are the worst in the first two weeks of dieting and deepen if my calories swing rapidly from one day to the next - even if the deficit only a couple hundred calories.

Losing weight is no fun, but if you feel perfectly comfortable and not the least bit peckish around food, you may be eating at maintenance.

dizzylizzie34

You're not eating enough according to your diary. And also, it's only been 2 weeks be patient and why don't you measure yourself. Sometimes you'll notice changes there that you won't with the scale.

Good Luck.

I literally cannot eat anymore because a) it makes me nauseous and b) i don't have the money to buy more food anyway. I am poor

If you gained the freshman 15, you clearly didn't have a problem eating enough before without being nauseated.

Yes I did, I was sick every day.