Just started dieting and exercising and no weight loss

cbm1442

I am a 23 year old male. I am 6 ft tall and I weigh 237 lbs. I just started dieting and exercising in an effort to lose 50 lbs. I do 30 min of cardio everyday and I use a heart rate monitor to make sure I am in my target heart rate zone. I also do strength training at my local gym 3 times a week. As for my diet I do not count calories because I have tried that before and that failed. I do know however that I am getting somewhere between 1500-2000 calories per day. I do eat egg whites, vegetables, brown rice, boneless chicken, turkey sandwiches with whole wheat bread and fruit. Am I doing anything wrong that would cause me not to see any results my first week? Is it too early to be worried?

CindyMarcuzAdams

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Take a look at this, it will get you headed in the right direction.

SugaryLynx

If you don't count your calories you cannot possibly know how much you're eating.

hearthwood

Yes, you're not counting your calories.

Chris_Pierce

Yeah, you need to count calories. Sorry bro, but it's the name of the game. I guess maybe, big maybe, you could get by if you counted macro-nutrients. But then it's basically the same as counting calories since each of the three Marcos has a set calorie value for its given amount. Off the top of my head, 1 gram of fat is 9 calories, 1 gram of carbs is 4 calories and 1 gram of protein is 4 calories, I may be wrong on the numbers, but you get the idea.



Oh yes, one week is too short a period to really see results. If you're really against tracking what you eat, then try doing what your doing for 6 weeks. If your plan isn't working, then fix it.

st0rmagedd0n

And it's your first week.

Be patient. Count calories. Keep at it.

cowgirlashlee

Download the app to your smartphone (assuming you have one) that way you have no excuses other than yourself when you don't log. I don't like to log, but I do it because I know it helps. I hit a plateau a couple of years ago, got frustrated, and quit logging. I kept working out, and *thought* I was eating at a deficit...and here I am 10 pounds HEAVIER than when I first started losing weight, and I'd lost 45 pounds before this!

Log your calories. Yes it sucks. Yes it's a pain in the *kitten* when your meal isn't in the database. Add it. Count it. Exercise. If you screw up a day, suck it up and move on. One day won't ruin your plan. I've fallen off and gotten back on the wagon twice now, and each time prior I saw little to no results the first week or two. Patience.

caesar164

You tried counting calories, but failed? Dust yourself off, and try again! Try using a food scale too.

oxenreider

I've been counting calories for the past 20 days and it has helped me avoid foods that I have consumed mass amounts of and lead me to the practice of drinking water before meals and throughout the day. Also, I automatically eat 5-6 times a day to keep my stomach satisfied and out of the 20 days I only missed one day so I could reward myself with a little more calories.

cbm1442

I may not be counting calories but I have estimated the amount I am eating. There is no way am eating above 2000 calories. I even estimated the calories I could eat from snacks.

And no I do not own a smartphone. I do not have the money for one.

njtheaterchick

It is also possible that you aren't eating enough calories and your body is going into starvation mode and holding on to weight. I weigh 234, am 5'3, female, and trying to loose 1 lb a week. MFP has set my calories at 1,910. You are taller than me, and male, you probably need more than 1500-2000 calories a day. Slow and steady wins the race.

mahanaibu

You might not want to count calories, but do it at least for a week or two, eating the way you normally do. That at least gives you an idea of what you're eating and how much it adds up to, gives you a baseline. Try not to change what you eat, just measure and weigh or use the labels on packaged foods to get your calories down in the food diary.

Then you'll know where you are. If you see that it adds up to more than you thought, eat at a reduced level for a couple of weeks, again keeping the diary. and if your calories come out better, and you're losing a bit of weight, then you know what you need to do.

It's something you probably will need to go back to once in awhile to recheck yourself...old habits creep back up and we can fool ourselves about what we're really eating. But at least try this. Don't give up without knowing.

mahanaibu

It is also possible that you aren't eating enough calories and your body is going into starvation mode and holding on to weight. I weigh 234, am 5'3, female, and trying to loose 1 lb a week. MFP has set my calories at 1,910. You are taller than me, and male, you probably need more than 1500-2000 calories a day. Slow and steady wins the race.

This, however, is a myth.

http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=35501

SherryTeach

I've been counting calories for 735 days and it most certainly does work. I still cannot eyeball food and know how much I am eating. I spend about 5 minutes a day doing it. It's just a routine part of life now.

mahanaibu

By the way, my son is 23, your height, and had gotten into the low 90s. I introduced him to MFP, he started keeping a food diary and lost 20 pounds within about 6 weeks, with moderate daily exercise. Every time he stops the food diary, he gains weight. Again, easy to hide our consumption from ourselves.

st0rmagedd0n

I may not be counting calories but I have estimated the amount I am eating. There is no way am eating above 2000 calories. I even estimated the calories I could eat from snacks.

And no I do not own a smartphone. I do not have the money for one.

Count. Your. Calories.

Meal plan. Look up what you're going to eat ahead of time, log the calories, see where you're at. Weigh, don't guesstimate. If you don't have a smartphone, do with pen and paper, but don't come on a website built around a calorie counting system and then flat-out refuse to consider counting properly, because then you're just wasting everyone's time.

MississippiMama87

Duuuuude. Calories...count them.

fushigi1988

Eyeballing food does not work, people almost always estimate wrong. Can't find the site at the moment, but there was research that people often estimate that they eat less than they actually do, for heavier people the difference could be quite a lot! They would say they were only eating 2300, when it was really 2800 when properly measured.

How did you get to this weight if you are so good with eyeballing portions? Just saying..

ASKyle

You have no idea what you're eating if you're not logging it. You do not have a food calorie database in your head. You are also not a scale.


To echo others, starvation mode, the way it is used on this site, is a an excuse people use when they are not losing weight to justify their underestimation of calories and overestimation of exercise burns.