What am I doing wrong!?!?!?!?

AusteenaHayes

So I am trying to lose the last fifteen pounds. I workout and stay active everyday, eat healthy, stay within my calorie deficit. So what am I doing wrong here? The number won't go down no matter how hard I try!

lindustum

Do you actually need to lose 15 pounds? What is your current weight? Clothes size? Do you want to lose weight or gain shape?
You diary has lots of gaps in it, stick to it daily.

Perhaps switch to TDEE instead of MFP. I.e. increase your daily intake, but don't log exercise extra.

__freckles__

How long has it been since you lost weight?

What's your calorie intake?

Do you use a food scale or guesstimate portions?

How do you measure calorie burns?

Need a little more info.

skittle316

Why worry about the scale?
Do you know your Body Fat? Since humans need essential fat, usually around 10lbs that 15lbs could easily be just 5lbs of fat.
Try measuring and start lifting, the scale isn't always the best goal.

robin52077

height?
weight?
exercise routine?

like everyone said, need more info..

__freckles__

Just took a quick glance at your diary. Correct me if I'm wrong but it appears you don't weigh your food. Everything is too perfect in there. I don't see any odd numbers that would result from you weighing things in grams or ounces.

Also, I'm not sure what you're doing for exercise but those are huge calorie burns.

You're probably eating more than your think and overestimating calorie burns.

AusteenaHayes

Exercise routine:
Running with added strength and weight lifting sessions seven days a week.

Height: 5'6
Weight: Around 150

inneedofanap

15 pounds is quite a bit. Unless you're using an old profile pic I just don't see how you have that much to lose. You are absolutely adorable. Maybe you should reevaluate your goal.

__freckles__

15 pounds is quite a bit. Unless you're using an old profile pic I just don't see how you have that much to lose. You are absolutely adorable. Maybe you should reevaluate your goal.

She's 5'6 and 150. She'd be perfectly safe losing 15 pounds if she wanted to.

OP: still need our other questions answered.

AusteenaHayes

My clothes size is 5-6 in jeans, sometimes a size 4. Tops I wear a small or extra small. Or sometimes for most brands even an extra small is too big for me.

This is a recent profile picture by the way.

__freckles__

How long has it been since you lost weight?

What's your calorie intake?

Do you use a food scale or guesstimate portions?

How do you measure calorie burns?

Need a little more info.

^^need these answered.

AusteenaHayes

Since I last lost weight was senior year of high school. And I'm nineteen how. Calorie intake is usually around 1300 to 1400 and with my workouts I typically burn around 1200 or 1400.

MKEgal

Usually when someone isn't losing like they'd like to, they either don't have a realistic expectation (in your case, 1/2 lb a week would probably be the max) or they're not weighing/measuring their food, so they're really eating more than they know.

Exercise routine: Running with added strength and weight lifting sessions seven days a week.
Height: 5'6"
Weight: Around 150

Well, at 150 you're at the top end of a healthy weight range for your height (115-150) http://www.shapeup.org/bmi/bmi6.pdf
So losing a little would be OK if you think you'd feel better.

For weightlifting, I hope you're not doing the same muscles 2 days in a row. They do need time to repair & grow in between sessions.
Maybe drop 50 cal, increase the intensity for exercise a bit (HIIT / increase weight), and see how that works for a couple weeks?
{ETA: First, weigh & measure all your food, record it accurately}

mcloving81

Drop ALL sugars including fruit.

You are doing weights and running. Make sure your weights are progressively heavier.

All the best.

__freckles__

Since I last lost weight was senior year of high school. And I'm nineteen how. Calorie intake is usually around 1300 to 1400 and with my workouts I typically burn around 1200 or 1400.

You're not answering the most important questions:

Do you use a food scale or guesstimate portions? 

How do you measure calorie burns? 

SonicDeathMonkey80

Drop ALL sugars including fruit.

You are doing weights and running. Make sure your weights are progressively heavier.

All the best.

Sugar (and fruit) doesn't matter.

What does matter is how OP is measuring food and accounting for calorie burns.

AusteenaHayes

Since I last lost weight was senior year of high school. And I'm nineteen how. Calorie intake is usually around 1300 to 1400 and with my workouts I typically burn around 1200 or 1400.

You're not answering the most important questions:

Do you use a food scale or guesstimate portions? 

How do you measure calorie burns? 

I use MyFitnessPal. I don't understand that question:-/

SonicDeathMonkey80

Since I last lost weight was senior year of high school. And I'm nineteen how. Calorie intake is usually around 1300 to 1400 and with my workouts I typically burn around 1200 or 1400.

You're not answering the most important questions:

Do you use a food scale or guesstimate portions? 

How do you measure calorie burns? 

I use MyFitnessPal. I don't understand that question:-/

When you take the food out of the fridge/container/whatever, what do you do with it before it goes in your mouth?

logg1e

This morning you recorded 1/2 a cup of dry oatmeal from Aldi. What you should be doing is weighing it on a kitchen scale to the nearest gram. Find this in MFP's database and check that the nutritional information is the same as on the side of the pack. That's what you record in your diary.

DeguelloTex

Since I last lost weight was senior year of high school. And I'm nineteen how. Calorie intake is usually around 1300 to 1400 and with my workouts I typically burn around 1200 or 1400.

You're not answering the most important questions:

Do you use a food scale or guesstimate portions? 

How do you measure calorie burns? 

I use MyFitnessPal. I don't understand that question:-/

MyFitnessPal doesn't know how much food you put on your plate. How do you measure how much food you put on your plate?

Missfit35

Specify what foods you are eating please and I'll share some light if you wish.

MKEgal

Since I last lost weight was senior year of high school. And I'm nineteen now.

So a year ago. But have you gained weight since then, or have you maintained at your current healthy weight?
If you want to maintain 140 lb, 2100 cal. (15 x weight)
To lose to get there, 1400 cal. (10 x weight)
Don't eat back your exercise calories (which it doesn't look like you're doing anyway).

Calorie intake is usually around 1300 to 1400 and with my workouts I typically burn around 1200 or 1400.

Here's your recorded intake for the last week:
09AUG Sat. 1703 - 1333 exercise
08AUG Fri. 1289 - 1860 exercise
07AUG Thurs. 529 !! - 2135 exercise
06AUG Wed. 1209 - 1589 exercise
05AUG Tues. 374 !! - 1310 exercise
04AUG Mon. 991 - 1437 exercise
03AUG Sun. 369 !! - no exercise

You have your goal calorie goal set at 1790.
All 7 days you were below your goal, 4 of those severely. Don't go below 1200 unless you're monitored by a doctor. You're starting to look like you have an eating disorder - under-eat, over-exercise.
And I'm seeing lots of "fiber bars", processed chicken foods.
(To be fair, you're also eating lots of fruit, nuts, oatmeal, fat-free yogurt.)

So if you're not losing weight when you're practically starving yourself, and on some days exercising away 4x the calories you ate, there's something seriously wrong somewhere.
You're not recording accurately, you're not measuring your food, you're not exercising that much, something.
If calories in are less than calories out, you will lose weight. You have to.


Also, you're usually eating very little for breakfast. Have about half your calories for breakfast.

This study compared eating a small breakfast, medium lunch, and large dinner, [200, 500, 700 cal]
with eating a large breakfast, medium lunch, and small dinner [700, 500, 200 cal].
"The [large breakfast] group showed greater weight loss and waist circumference reduction ... fasting glucose, insulin [&] triglycerides ... decreased significantly to a greater extent in the [large breakfast] group."
In addition, hunger was less and satiety was greater.
Abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23512957
Full text:
http://genetics.doctorsonly.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Jakubowicz-at-al-Obesity-2013-oby20460.pdf

"subjects assigned to high caloric intake during breakfast lost significantly more weight than those assigned to high caloric intake during the dinner"
Abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24467926
Full text: http://www.tradewindsports.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Nutrient-Timing-and-Obesity-2014.pdf

"data suggest that a low-calorie Mediterranean diet with a higher amount of calories in the first part of the day could establish a greater reduction in fat mass and improved insulin sensitivity than a typical daily diet."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24809437


Using myself as an example (5'9", aiming for 165 lb) my calorie goal is set at 1650.
For breakfast, I had 650 cal:
banana
1.5 c skim milk + carnation instant breakfast + malted milk powder
1 piece whole wheat bread + 1.5 T peanut butter

Lunch will also be pretty big, also about 650 cal:
1c brown rice
10 oz tofu
about 4c vegetables + stir fry sauce

Usually lunch is a bit smaller, maybe 500.
Then dinner is about 300. So I'm under by a couple hundred that day, or I can have some chocolate.

I've been pretty consistently losing, averaging 1.5 lb per week.
I do weightlifting at least 3x per week, and cardio (elliptical) 5-6x for at least 30 min, sometimes up to 60. Recently started doing HIIT, and it's really upped the calorie burn.

GiveMeCoffee

Looked at your diary:

Your logging could use some work, here's a couple questionable entries:

Cake - White, prepared from recipe with coconut frosting, 0.5 oz 50 calories
(Did you create this entry, or pick one that was already there? If it's not yours how do you know what was used? And 50 calories for cake with frosting??

Jif Extra Crunchy - Peanut Butter, 1 Tbsp (32g) 95 calories
(Not weighed so probably more than 1/2 serving)

Banana - (Small), 6 - 6.9 inches 90 calories
(What's a small banana... the 6 inch banana isn't the same calories as the 6.9)

What are you adding to your 1/2 cup of oatmeal?

Those are just a few

logg1e

Secondly, there's your calorie burn. What kind of exercise are you doing to burn that amount of calories? It's extremely high. My guess is that you are using MFP's approximate figures which are generally considered too high.

gabrielleelliott90

Are you eating back the calories burnt? Are you sure you aren't undereating? If you are eating less than 1200, you will go into starvation mode. Maybe up your calories to enough to lose 0.5lb and see how you go. It will take longer, but it is an easier goal to reach each week and is easier on your body. Try it.

logg1e

Are you eating back the calories burnt? Are you sure you aren't undereating? If you are eating less than 1200, you will go into starvation mode. Maybe up your calories to enough to lose 0.5lb and see how you go. It will take longer, but it is an easier goal to reach each week and is easier on your body. Try it.

With respect, I disagree. The OP just needs to work on her accuracy of logging. If she ups her calories she's going to put on weight, isn't she?

GiveMeCoffee

I would stop logging vigorous cleaning, and take a look at the other exercise entries you have as well.

Mr_Knight

Since I last lost weight was senior year of high school. And I'm nineteen how. Calorie intake is usually around 1300 to 1400 and with my workouts I typically burn around 1200 or 1400.

Your workout estimates are vastly over-estimated.

Vastly.

Mr_Knight

If you are eating less than 1200, you will go into starvation mode.

No, she won't.

GiveMeCoffee

Are you eating back the calories burnt? Are you sure you aren't undereating? If you are eating less than 1200, you will go into starvation mode. Maybe up your calories to enough to lose 0.5lb and see how you go. It will take longer, but it is an easier goal to reach each week and is easier on your body. Try it.

No, she's not in starvation mode. Increasing her calories will cause her to gain not lose.

kmbrooks15

Too low a calorie intake (below 1200) can actually slow your metabolism down and make it harder to lose weight. Try increasing your calories and easing off on the exercise a bit. You might see an initial weight gain, but it should help kickstart things.