Help! Why am i not loosing weight? :(

eventon1

Hey guys, I'm 23 years old and since April 2014 I've lost 2 stone, which I'm really proud of. But in the last 3-4 weeks I have just been maintaining the same weight. I have upped my workout sessions at the gym even starting to go to extra exercise classes and am eating 1200 calories today with a clean diet, also i am drinking plenty of drink. I'm just feeling really disheartened after doing so well in previous weeks. Any advise would be much appreciated. Thanks x x

sjmrox4ever

We've all hit plateaus like this, this could either be a very long plateau, or maybe you're losing fat and gaining muscle? If you truly are eating 1200 calories then there's no reason why you shouldn't be losing fat. I know sometimes I don't log small snacks, or I forget to log certain things. This stuff can add up! If you really are eating 1200 calories a day, try measuring yourself or calculating your body fat percentage. Another problem can be water retention. Try to eat less salt and eat more fiber and drink 1 - 2 gallons of water a day (but don't make yourself sick). Hope I helped

andiechick

Maybe you're not eating enough with all the calories you are burning? I see a lot of people on here losing weight by eating more calories. Try working out what your body needs - this site was recommended to me by a few people on here http://scoobysworkshop.com/. Good luck :drinker:

brook3r

Sometimes your body adjusts and doesn't release the hormones that allow for fat release. You get around that by having a cheat meal once a week or so. However, it's not a ticket to just eat whatever you want. Pick one night, I usually do saturday night and eat about 60 grms of carbs over what you normally eat. You can eat whatever you want, but be careful, it's not as much as you want. About one and a half cup of pasta. Or a muffin, Or creampuffs. Anything. Aim for about 60 to 80 extra grams. That'll help you break your plateau. You can do it once a week and it'll help get the scale moving again.

jameselam12

I was just posting on another thread about this, so I'm going to be really lazy and just link it here since I think it applies to you too:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1389705-i-m-not-losing-weight?page=1#posts-21075479

I agree with the other poster though, there's a high probability you're not eating enough. It's a common misconception that extreme caloric restriction = weight loss all the time. If you go really low right out of the gate, what happens is your body goes into starvation mode, where your metabolism, seeing it's not getting as many calories as it used to, grinds to a halt as a form of self preservation to keep the energy stores it has (aka: fat).

All you need to do is make sure to maintain a caloric deficit - but not an extreme one.

That being said, I don't think we have enough info to really help you out here. by that I mean:

1) how much do you weigh now?
2) what's your activity level / exercise routine, if any?

For what it's worth, when I first started out, I made that very same mistake - I was almost 300 lbs and I figured it was a straight numbers game - lower is better, right? heck with it, start at 1500 calories and call it a day. as a 6' 300lb guy, that worked for about the first 60 lbs, then I ground to a halt.

now that presents a problem: if you're already low, what do you do next to break your stall? you can't really go lower calorie, you're already pushing such a huge deficit that you risk not feeding your body enough calories for essential organ function, and then you start losing muscle mass -instead- of fat, and look rather blah in the end.

After I learned more about the metabolic process, and understood that you have to eat enough to make sure your metabolism knows there's a ready food source at any given time to force it to give up it's fat stores, you have a lot more options for breaking metabolic stalls. for me, that point came about at around 2400 calories - completely counterintuitive, but when you factored in how active I am, it made a total sense, and I started losing 1-2 lbs a week again and shed another 80lbs that way.

there's some other tips and tricks you can do along the way to break metabolic stalls, but the key take away here is: baby steps. don't do too much, too quickly - it'll backfire.

Kudos on the first 2 stone though; good luck on the rest!

eventon1

Ive just measured myself and since april ive lost 10" from my waist, so maybe im just loosing inches atm?
Thanks for your advise x

jameselam12

Bingo, that'll happen a lot, especially when you're just starting out. 10" is great!

The 2 biggest other tips I can offer are:

1) make sure you're eating enough protein to maintain the muscle you have - muscle burns more calories than fat.

and:

2) don't lose weight too fast. you'll end up burning both muscle and, depending on how much you're trying to lose, may end up losing some skin elasticity at the same time. aim for 1-2 lbs a week at most. if you're losing more than that, up your calories. be patient, the end result is worth the wait.

And very well done on a 10" loss.

chelseasans

Sometimes to get your metabolism kicking again you need to actually up your calorie intake for a bit, then go back to cutting. It seems like you are not eating enough anyway! If you are working out and burning calories at the gym, 1200 calories is way too low. 1200 calories is just enough for your body to do its daily functions if you were to lay on the couch all day. You need to account the extra energy you burn at the gym!

diannethegeek

Would you be willing to open your diary for us to take a look?

You're logging everything you eat? Including condiments, cooking oils, veggies, cheat days, etc? Are you using a food scale, measuring cups, or eyeballing your portion sizes? Most people can be off in their estimates by several hundred calories when they eyeball portions. Measuring cups are better, but a food scale is going to be the most accurate.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1290491-how-and-why-to-use-a-digital-food-scale

And make sure that you've calculated your calorie goals appropriately. Remember that these are just estimates. You may need to play around a little to find what works best for you.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

If you're exercising and eating back your earned exercise calories, be sure that you're using accurate estimates of your burn. MFP and gym machines have a tendency to overestimate certain activities, which can cause you to eat back more calories than you need to. Even a heart rate monitor isn't 100% accurate. If you're eating those extra earned calories it might be a good idea to eat only 50-75% of those.