Scale hasn't budged for almost six weeks!

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Taymolly
Taymolly Posts: 21 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I really don't understand what I'm doing wrong. My weight is 181, and I have a calories budget of 1300. I workout 3-4 times a week, and I burn around 500 calories by doing 20 minutes on cardio, and 40 minutes doing strength and ab workouts. When I don't go to the gym, I walk the dog for an hour. My problem used to be that my body was in starvation mode (because I didn't know that when I burned the calories at the gym, I needed to consume them back). But now it's been almost two weeks of consuming my calories back from workouts and being strict on my diet and nothing has changed. I lost three inches around my waist, and I notice a difference in the mirror, and every week the weights I can lift go up - but the problem is the scale hasn't changed. I measure my weight on two different scales (the one and the gym and the electronic one at my house), they both say different numbers (5 lbs difference), but the numbers stay consistently the same! I don't know why I'm not losing weight, am I gaining muscle? But it's not like I'm trying to gain all this muscle if so, I'm a girl, I don't want to have huge muscular arms. Someone please help?
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Replies

  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
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    How accurate are you in calorie counting. Do you log every single piece of food you put in your mouth. Do you weigh everything before you log it?
  • Taymolly
    Taymolly Posts: 21 Member
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    I am. I log everything that I eat, and always check the calories on the labels of the food.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
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    Most people underestimate calorie intake and overestimate calories burned from exercise. Let's pretend for a minute that you're being 100% accurate with both (which is impossible btw). In that case you just need to either increase your calorie deficit by about 100 calories a day and see how that affects your weight over the next month or so.

    Also, just for future reference, the "starvation mode" that you referenced in your original post doesn't exist.
  • breakingfitter
    breakingfitter Posts: 26
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    You said that you notice the difference in the mirror and inches are coming off. Focus on this positive NSV and forget the number on the scale. Also, if you are lifting heavy, you may be replacing fat with muscle and this is why the scale isn't changing. I'm not an expert but I think adding some more cardio might help, like (HIIT).

    Just ideas, I'm sure more experienced MFPers will have good ones too.
  • Taymolly
    Taymolly Posts: 21 Member
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    Ok. I'm just going by what the machine at the gym tells me by how many calories I'm burning. I'll try to reduce my calories and see if that works, thanks!
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
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    You said that you notice the difference in the mirror and inches are coming off. Focus on this positive NSV and forget the number on the scale. Also, if you are lifting heavy, you may be replacing fat with muscle and this is why the scale isn't changing. I'm not an expert but I think adding some more cardio might help, like (HIIT).

    Just ideas, I'm sure more experienced MFPers will have good ones too.
    No she is not replacing fat with muscle.

    Haha, my thoughts exactly
  • kdeaux1959
    kdeaux1959 Posts: 2,675 Member
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    If you are losing inches, you are recomposing your body... This means that your weight is not going down BUT you are still losing fat. This should not be a concern... a tape measure is much more accurate than a scale anyway. Eventually, the scale will follow; for now, just know that what you are doing is working...
  • mcjimy
    mcjimy Posts: 14 Member
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    First measure our success by how your clothes feel and any notable muscle gains and apparent fat loss. As others stated ignore what the machines say, the MFP calories burned are pretty close, I have checked several with a Polar F7. Also ask close friends, take monthly photos in swimsuit, and compare. :smile:
  • triciab79
    triciab79 Posts: 1,713 Member
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    The machine at the gym gives you total calories not net calories. The machines also always over estimate. Take the lowest estimate you have seen for the activity you did and use that as a base.
  • NonDebutante3dot0
    NonDebutante3dot0 Posts: 42 Member
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    1300 calories a day sounds very low. Your body still may be in starvation mode.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    You said that you notice the difference in the mirror and inches are coming off. Focus on this positive NSV and forget the number on the scale. Also, if you are lifting heavy, you may be replacing fat with muscle and this is why the scale isn't changing. I'm not an expert but I think adding some more cardio might help, like (HIIT).

    Just ideas, I'm sure more experienced MFPers will have good ones too.
    No she is not replacing fat with muscle.

    Haha, my thoughts exactly
    My thoughts as well.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    1300 calories a day sounds very low. Your body still may be in starvation mode.
    No. This is not accurate. Starvation mode does not happen just because someone eats a certain amount of calories, and those of us who are normal and overweight don't get it.
  • happysquidmuffin
    happysquidmuffin Posts: 651 Member
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    There is no starvation mode in 99% of circumstances in which it's blamed... if I could remember that awesome website/blog post that someone posted here in the forums a few weeks ago, I would. It's a myth! If too few calories made you stay at the same weight, we wouldn't have anorexic people looking like skeletons! Drrrrr....
  • Barbellarella_
    Barbellarella_ Posts: 454 Member
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    Open up your diary if you want specific help.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    Double post
  • GuyIncognito123
    GuyIncognito123 Posts: 263 Member
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    For what it's worth....

    When you starve your body of calories you lose weight. That's called dieting (or starvation mode).

    If you are logging your food at 1300 calories, write off 500 through exercise and eat them back - chances are, you only burned 200 calories and added 300 to your net calories (1600) - 300 more than you suspected. If you were trying to eat at a 300 calorie deficit then chances are you're eating at maintenance.

    You may want to try only eating back half your burned calories for a couple weeks and see if that makes a difference.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
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    1300 calories a day sounds very low. Your body still may be in starvation mode.

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  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    For what it's worth....

    When you starve your body of calories you lose weight. That's called dieting (or starvation mode).

    Dieting is not starvation mode, and you don't have to starve your body to lose weight.
  • QueenBishOTUniverse
    QueenBishOTUniverse Posts: 14,121 Member
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    No, you're not in starvation mode. BUT, I also stalled out on my weight loss for about six weeks when I upped my calories and started weight lifting. I was also losing inches etc. my weight just wasn't changing any, however it started going down again about a week after I started panicking about it.

    You have made some changes to your program that can cause things to slow down for a bit. I would say give it a bit more time before you go and change things yet again.

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