10 Months, No Inches or Pounds Lost

I've debated whether I should actually make a post about it since there are so many of these types of "HALP I'M NOT LOSING WEIGHT" posts on here, but looking through them this morning I haven't found one that is similar enough to my situation to be helpful.

I started working out at the beginning of November 2013, and have been quite regular about going since then (with the exception of taking a lot of days off in January due to bronchitis / borderline pneumonia). My workout routine has evolved since then; when I started I did 3 days of lifting (each day full body) with cardio in between at least twice a week, which turned into a more traditional bodybuilding split around March. My current routine is chest/biceps on Monday (with 10 min HIIT warmup), legs on Tuesday, shoulders/abs on Wednesday (with 10 min HIIT warmup), cardio on Thursday, back/triceps on Friday (with 10 min HIIT warmup), cardio on Saturday, and rest on Sunday. From March to about June I lifted for strength, and from June til now, I've focused more on higher reps (though not anything past 10-12) with appropriately heavy weight for that. I maintain a good sweat throughout each lifting session, and make sure to keep a "mind-muscle connection" during each rep, paying close attention to form. I don't feel like I'm overworking my body, and if I need a rest day, I don't feel bad about taking one.

Eating is the portion of this equation that has been the most difficult thing to adjust to. When I began, I allowed myself to be more focused on making the exercise part a habit before getting serious about my food intake. I've had an on-again, off-again relationship with MFP and tracking calories, but for the last few months I've been good at and very strict about tracking every bit of food/drink and staying within my daily target calorie and macro goals. I have used IIFYM to determine this (based on being 5' 3", 165 lbs, exercising 6 times per week): my calculated TDEE is 2198, and for aggressive fat loss, my calorie goal is 1758.

Yet here I am at the same weight I was when I started all those months ago. I have tracked inches, too, but no dice. I am not dumb enough to believe that all this weight training hasn't increased muscle (and thus given me a few muscle pounds to replace fat), because I can see a slight difference in some places; I actually have biceps now, my back is a more rippled, and my lower thighs are like rocks. But it's so frustrating to take photos every month and see virtually no difference overall, and to have clothing not fit any better.

For the longest time I was telling people, "This has made me appreciate what I've got, and the strength I can build in my body versus what the scale or tape measure says!" but it's really, really, really starting to wear thin. Especially when my husband -- who has been doing the same things with me -- has lost 15+ pounds and 3 pants sizes, and is starting to look ripped as hell. I'm also not dumb enough to expect us to have the same results since our bodies are inherently different, but c'mon!

I've had my thyroid hormones checked, as I'm missing half of mine from surgical removal 5 years ago, but they came back normal. I don't take any daily medication other than birth control (for endometriosis control) and vitamins. I don't drink my calories since I only drink water and black coffee, although I do occasionally enjoy a beer or mixed drink (which I track). I only have 2-3 cheat meals (not days) a week, usually on the weekends. I eat almost solely lean meat -- fish, chicken, turkey -- with the occasional steak, and eat veggies and good carbs (brown rice, quinoa, etc) every day.

I'm just lost. Is there something here that I'm not seeing or is my body just slow about losing weight?

Replies

  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    It sounds like you're eating at maintenance, regardless of what an online calculator says.
  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
    Are you using a food scale to weigh your foods?

    How are you tracking your calories burned and are you eating back any portion?
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    It sounds like you're eating at maintenance, regardless of what an online calculator says.

    I agree with this. Have you actually tracked your calories burned using a HRM? I know its not as accurate for weight lifting but it should give you an idea. My problem with the TDEE calculators is the workout selections, they just seem so general. I prefer to use their sedentary calculation for my stats and then calculate out my exercise and add it in myself.

    It is also pretty common for people not seeing the results they expect to not be logging accurately, if you are not sure read this:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide

    Or just cut 100 calories/day for a month and see what that gets you (and so on and so forth) until you see the reasonable losses you want.
  • WickedPineapple
    WickedPineapple Posts: 698 Member
    It sounds like you're eating at maintenance, regardless of what an online calculator says.

    Agreed. Cut your calories and tighten up your food logging (weigh/measure everything, be consistent, etc.). I had a long plateau before and it's because I wasn't weighing my food. It's a rude awakening when you start using a food scale...
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    How often do you use a food scale?

    Do you log/track the cheat meals each week, and how much of a surplus do they put you for those 2-3 days a week?
  • happyfeetrebel1
    happyfeetrebel1 Posts: 1,005 Member
    I have to agree as well. If you're meticulous about weighing and logging your food and you KNOW it's correct, then you're eating more than you think, or you're simply eating too many calories.

    Try stepping down in maybe a couple hundred calorie increments for a while. Try a few hundred less for 2 weeks, see what happens. This whole thing is going to be about trial and error.

    Good luck
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    Your goal seems to be a 250 deficit per day - which is why I asked about the value of the cheat meals. If 2x a week you go over by 500, then you're 5x -250 and 2x 500 or a weekly deficit of only 250. And that's assuming you're not overestimating your burn and/or underestimating your intake.

    Firm up food logging - weigh everything. Even a slice of bread. Be careful to use accurate entries/nutrition information. And drop 100 calories from your planned goal - so aim for 1650 per day.
  • kaymelt
    kaymelt Posts: 7 Member
    Thanks for the suggestions so far. I will definitely try lowering my caloric intake by 100 until I see results.

    Although I am good about tracking every bit of food I intake, I will admit that I am lazy about searching out the correct one (as shown by the post 4legsRbettert linked) or using "homemade" instead of inputting my own recipes. I think I will also follow the suggestion of calculating my sedentary stats and using my own exercise calculations. Not sure how to do that exactly, but I'm confident I can find it somewhere on MFP boards. I've been thinking about investing in a FitBit for a HRM. Has anyone tried it, and is it worth the cash?
  • Fit_Housewife
    Fit_Housewife Posts: 168 Member
    I've debated whether I should actually make a post about it since there are so many of these types of "HALP I'M NOT LOSING WEIGHT" posts on here, but looking through them this morning I haven't found one that is similar enough to my situation to be helpful.

    I started working out at the beginning of November 2013, and have been quite regular about going since then (with the exception of taking a lot of days off in January due to bronchitis / borderline pneumonia). My workout routine has evolved since then; when I started I did 3 days of lifting (each day full body) with cardio in between at least twice a week, which turned into a more traditional bodybuilding split around March. My current routine is chest/biceps on Monday (with 10 min HIIT warmup), legs on Tuesday, shoulders/abs on Wednesday (with 10 min HIIT warmup), cardio on Thursday, back/triceps on Friday (with 10 min HIIT warmup), cardio on Saturday, and rest on Sunday. From March to about June I lifted for strength, and from June til now, I've focused more on higher reps (though not anything past 10-12) with appropriately heavy weight for that. I maintain a good sweat throughout each lifting session, and make sure to keep a "mind-muscle connection" during each rep, paying close attention to form. I don't feel like I'm overworking my body, and if I need a rest day, I don't feel bad about taking one.

    Eating is the portion of this equation that has been the most difficult thing to adjust to. When I began, I allowed myself to be more focused on making the exercise part a habit before getting serious about my food intake. I've had an on-again, off-again relationship with MFP and tracking calories, but for the last few months I've been good at and very strict about tracking every bit of food/drink and staying within my daily target calorie and macro goals. I have used IIFYM to determine this (based on being 5' 3", 165 lbs, exercising 6 times per week): my calculated TDEE is 2198, and for aggressive fat loss, my calorie goal is 1758.

    Yet here I am at the same weight I was when I started all those months ago. I have tracked inches, too, but no dice. I am not dumb enough to believe that all this weight training hasn't increased muscle (and thus given me a few muscle pounds to replace fat), because I can see a slight difference in some places; I actually have biceps now, my back is a more rippled, and my lower thighs are like rocks. But it's so frustrating to take photos every month and see virtually no difference overall, and to have clothing not fit any better.

    For the longest time I was telling people, "This has made me appreciate what I've got, and the strength I can build in my body versus what the scale or tape measure says!" but it's really, really, really starting to wear thin. Especially when my husband -- who has been doing the same things with me -- has lost 15+ pounds and 3 pants sizes, and is starting to look ripped as hell. I'm also not dumb enough to expect us to have the same results since our bodies are inherently different, but c'mon!

    I've had my thyroid hormones checked, as I'm missing half of mine from surgical removal 5 years ago, but they came back normal. I don't take any daily medication other than birth control (for endometriosis control) and vitamins. I don't drink my calories since I only drink water and black coffee, although I do occasionally enjoy a beer or mixed drink (which I track). I only have 2-3 cheat meals (not days) a week, usually on the weekends. I eat almost solely lean meat -- fish, chicken, turkey -- with the occasional steak, and eat veggies and good carbs (brown rice, quinoa, etc) every day.

    I'm just lost. Is there something here that I'm not seeing or is my body just slow about losing weight?


    Iifym bases their exercise at 60 min of cardio per session. Are you doing cardio 6 x a week 60 min each time? If not readjust the calculator settings. I had to email iifym to clarify this for myself because their calculator gave me a much higher calorie number than any other calculator. I usually do cardio at 30 min a time so this threw my numbers off.
  • kaymelt
    kaymelt Posts: 7 Member
    Really? I didn't know that! Each session is always at least 40 min, but certainly not always 60. Thanks for telling me!
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    I have a Fitbit One - and very happy with it. It is not a HRM - so does not read intensity. But for me, that's fine. I go by what it calculates as a total daily burn, and presently aim for a 250/day deficit. Which means I actually like to see a 300-400 deficit to have a little room to spare for errors.

    IMO the smaller your intended deficit, the more important it is to be as accurate as possible. And not using a food scale (not sure if you do - if you indicated it in this thread, I overlooked it), using random 'homemade' entries that have no connection to what you eat, etc. : easy way to burn thru that deficit.

    But if you've not been gaining, then you should be able to turn this around.
  • jwats8
    jwats8 Posts: 112
    I use a VivoFit- I love it to track my mileage per day. It is not 100 percent accurate when I run- it adds more mileage than I actually do, but it's pretty close, and it keeps me motivated to hit my step goals each day.
  • Cortneyrenee04
    Cortneyrenee04 Posts: 1,117 Member
    I'm no expert by any means, but a great place to start seems to be cutting down your cheat meals. It seems like 2 or 3 of those would easily take away any deficit you've had for the week.
  • justlistening
    justlistening Posts: 249 Member
    Well the tracking is either off on how much you eat/drink or how much you burn. Other have suggested tracking intake more closely.

    Maybe get your RMR (resting metabolic rate) tested? Check hospitals, clinics, nutrionalists around you to see if they have a machine to calculate this. It looks at amount of oxygen your body uses. Mine was slightly below average for my height.

    The calorie burn on HRMs should not be used for weight lifting. It will be incorrect. They are mainly for cardio exercises.
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    Thanks for the suggestions so far. I will definitely try lowering my caloric intake by 100 until I see results.

    Although I am good about tracking every bit of food I intake, I will admit that I am lazy about searching out the correct one (as shown by the post 4legsRbettert linked) or using "homemade" instead of inputting my own recipes. I think I will also follow the suggestion of calculating my sedentary stats and using my own exercise calculations. Not sure how to do that exactly, but I'm confident I can find it somewhere on MFP boards. I've been thinking about investing in a FitBit for a HRM. Has anyone tried it, and is it worth the cash?

    The way I did it was using http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ (but you can use your normal calculator). I just used this to calculate my TDEE for sedentary. I then added up all my estimated burns for a week (based off previous exercises using a HRM {currently I am mostly a runner so hopefully a lifter can help give good guidelines on estimating for lifting?}) and devide that by 7. Add to your sedentary TDEE.

    Sedentary TDEE + (exercise burnes for entire week/7)

    Subtract your desired deficit from your TDEE and thats your calorie goal.

    Make sure you are 100% dedicated to your routine if you use TDEE, otherwise you are eating calories you did not burn when you skip workouts.

    On another note: I have a fitbit one and I find it very helpful to get an idea of my TDEE on a normal day and to track step based exercises. For lifting you would need to track that on the side still since it can't measure that for you. It should be pretty accurate for walking, running, and elliptical type work. Will probably underestimate something like the stair master since if you are not actually going upwards in space it will not reconize the "climbing action". Non step based cardio you are probably better served with a HRM.

    ETA: HRM uses your heart rate and stats to calculate your burns. Fitbit cannot (at least the current models) track your heart rate, it is a fancy pedomiter.
  • jeffpettis
    jeffpettis Posts: 865 Member
    Thanks for the suggestions so far. I will definitely try lowering my caloric intake by 100 until I see results.

    Although I am good about tracking every bit of food I intake, I will admit that I am lazy about searching out the correct one (as shown by the post 4legsRbettert linked) or using "homemade" instead of inputting my own recipes. I think I will also follow the suggestion of calculating my sedentary stats and using my own exercise calculations. Not sure how to do that exactly, but I'm confident I can find it somewhere on MFP boards. I've been thinking about investing in a FitBit for a HRM. Has anyone tried it, and is it worth the cash?

    The second line of this reply is your problem...

    For this to work you can't just TRY. If you are serious about losing weight you will do whatever it takes to make it happen. I know that probably sounds a little harsh but sometimes the truth hurts.

    Good Luck! :drinker:
  • scrittrice
    scrittrice Posts: 345 Member
    A Fitbit has been invaluable for me for figuring out TDEE. I am very up and down activity-wise.

    Are you logging the cheat meals? Personally, I can easily wipe out a 1-pound-per-week deficit with 2 or 3 nice-sized restaurant meals.
  • Allterrain_Lady
    Allterrain_Lady Posts: 421 Member
    Your goal seems to be a 250 deficit per day - which is why I asked about the value of the cheat meals. If 2x a week you go over by 500, then you're 5x -250 and 2x 500 or a weekly deficit of only 250. And that's assuming you're not overestimating your burn and/or underestimating your intake.

    Firm up food logging - weigh everything. Even a slice of bread. Be careful to use accurate entries/nutrition information. And drop 100 calories from your planned goal - so aim for 1650 per day.

    My opinion exactly
  • Mnecka
    Mnecka Posts: 119 Member
    Yeah, using other people's "homemade" is not the best thing to do :ohwell: .... But once you add something and you cook it regularly, it becomes less of a hassle