how come I havent lost?

dawnna76

for 2 weeks now I havent lost anything? I am under or at calorie goal everyday, workign out 6 days a week. yet no movement on the scale? I have lost a bit in measurements so I look a little different but I would asume a los in pounds would be reflected in that? So could someone take a look at my journals and maybe give some feedback on what to do different or to try? Thanks!

katzplay62

Seriously, what's more important? The number on the scale or the size of the clothes in your closet?

You may want to check your protein/carb/fats levels, too. I'm a big fan of low-carb, recently read Gary Taubes' "Why We Get Fat" and HIGHLY recommend it to everyone!!

jram70

Don't worry too much. I stayed at almost the same weight for a month after losing about 8 lbs while doing P90X. I was losing inches but not weight. This week the weight has started falling off.

hpygirl64ColleenLinder

being under calorie goal is not a good thing. i haven't looked at your food diary but when you are under goal and can actually work against you. also you can zig zag your calorie intake each day to confuse your system. eat every 3 hours. combine a protein with your carbs if you can. drink lots of water. most of all be patient, only weigh in every couple of weeks and try and combine weight resistance with your cardio. muscle burns fat. good luck Colleen

cerysrhi

your net cals seem to be under 1200 most days i would say you are not eating enough you have great diaries but with your level of activity you are not netting the 1200 minimum

SheehyCFC

Your calorie intake looks fine, and if you are changing measurements that's a good thing. The only things I could think of, were that your body is retaining a lot of water (based on your exercise + water intake), and that most of the foods you have are pretty high in sodium. Sodium is a sneaky culprit when it comes to water retention

stang41992

If I were you I would break up my meals a bit. You seem to eat 3 large meals regularly. I eat 6 times a day (sometimes more) of smaller things. Try to go for a 300-400 calorie breakfast, morning snack around 100-200, 300-400 calorie lunch, 100-200 calorie snack, dinner around 400-500 and then maybe something after dinner in the evening. This keeps your metabolism stoked throughout the day.

HotMomma86

One thing that stuck out to me first was your sugar intake. Your foods look good and you are staying within your calories which is good. Perhaps you could add some more fresh veggies or fruits? I can't see the sodium, but sometimes that can cause you to hang on to water weight. I know when I go a few days over my sodium, even when I drink the recommended water, the scale either doesn't budge or it goes up.

emersoam

Are you using a good quality heart rate monitor? I think a lot of people over estimate their calorie burns...especially if you are only relying on the myfitnesspal estimates for different activities.

etherah

I'm currently at a 2 week stall myself. For the first month I lost 6 lbs, and for the last two weeks I've gained 2lbs. My food has been good (just hovering around my cal limit most days). BUT, I have been working out and lifting weights, so I know my body if gaining muscle, which weighs more than fat. I"m still losing inches though. I'm frustrated myself because I want to see that scale going down, but I do know I'm still losing fat. Hang in there. It will eventually come off.

ericaq

I would say to improve your quality of food a bit more. The less processed the better! You eat quite a bit of salads which is good, but, it seems like there's some room for improvement with your breakfasts (i.e. try cottage cheese, yogurt, steel cut oats instead of high processed foods like cereal, french toast, etc.) and dinners. Lots of veggies and fruits and water!

Just some suggestions! Don't get frustrated and keep up with your workouts and calorie counting!

Thorneapple

I just took a peek at several days. Looks like you are in a good cal range (1800 net). Make sure you are getting plenty of water.

Sometimes the measurements tell the story better than the scale does. The fact that the scale hasn't moved could be a reflection of gain in muscle mass, water rentention (in the newly worked muscles), or any of a number of things.

Make sure you are getting plenty of water and watching the sodium and sugar. There will be times when the measurements go down even when the scale doesn't. Hang in there!

DeadZip2010

Most of the women at my office are doing the Biggest Loser programand turned it into a game throughout the office. A few of them hit the same issue. sticking to their calories and doing excersise and walking 2 to 3 miles a day. From what I saw the deal was their bodies would building muscle at the same rate they were burning body fat. thier bodies were adapting to the new physical demands they were putting on them.

look not only at how your clothes are fitting but also the muscle definition in your body.

might4

I reviewed the last two weeks and your average net calories are 1130 which is too low. You had quite a few days where your net calories are less than 1,000 and then a few days that were 1100-1200. I have heard many accounts of people increasing their net calories by 100-300 kicks their body into better weight loss.

musicgirl88

Well, I have read a few comments and have checked out your diary. One thing that people have been leaving out that my grandmother used to always tell me, and now my mother tells me everytime I look at the scale and see the number go up or stay the same is that muscle weighs more than fat. I don't know exactly how true this is, but I have heard it all my life, and have even heard trainers mention it. Perhaps you have been building more muscle!! Which is always a good thing, because the leaner your muscles get, the better you will burn fat, and before you know it you will see some BIG results on the scales! It looks like you're doing great! Keep up all the good work

megan_mp

I too was stuck in a rut through the holidays - for about 6 weeks!!

I finally figured out a few things that were hindering my progress. First one was MFPs calories burned estimations when entering activity. I think they estimate a little high for some things - one is cleaning house. It doesn't seem possible that I would burn more calories cleaning house than if I went for a walk or did a fitness DVD at home when I worked up a bigger sweat exercising. I finally invested in a heart rate monitor and found a website that could tell me how many calories I burned based on my average heart rate during a period of time. My HRM is on the low end as far as HRMs go, so it doesn't calculate calories for me. I have found that MFPs cals are always off either + or - compared to what I calculated. If my HRM vs. the MFP calculations were different, I always enter the lower number into my exercise log just to err on the side of caution.

There's another thing I read here in the msg boards that I started trying and it has made all the difference. Some call it zig-zagging your calories, meaning eat at your BMR some days and lower on others and switch up the days to keep your body guessing. I don't understand the math that goes into MFPs algorithms and some people here do, but I tried this for a little while and started losing again.

It's frustrating, I know. But, maybe if you try switching things up a bit in the calorie department, it will help? These are just my 2 cents...

Good luck to you!
Megan

bjshields

I second (or third or fourth?) the idea that you need sufficient calories in order to lose fat. If your nutrition is really solid, try high intensity interval training. If you've been exercising for a long time, you can try five intervals of 60/60 -- walk for 60 seconds, then run for 60 seconds and repeat that five times. If you're not at that level yet, do a 90/30 split -- walk for 90 seconds, then run for 30 seconds and repeat that five times. Be sure to stretch when you're done, especially calves. Good luck to you.

Senta7

Hi Dawn!
After looking at a few of your days, my suggestions would be to look into the whole foods movement. I am a total newbie to this way of eating and far from perfect, but the idea is to get the chemicals and processed foods out of our diets as much as we can. I highly recommend Jillian Michael's new book on metabolism. It has nothing to do with The Biggest Loser and has all new info that I have never heard on hormones and metabolism. It's actually kind of scary what these chemicals are doing to us, but at the same time it's very empowering. I don't follow her diet, but I am am slowly implementing her suggestions. I also have a whole foods cook book. I love the philosophy. It's called Clean Food by Terry Walters. Haven't cooked anything from it yet, but I'm reading the intro pages and my goal is to be living this life style fully within a year or less. It's not about being a fanatic, but getting back to simplicity and health. Another eye opener for me was Food Inc. I watched it on Netflix. Very motivating reasons to eat organic. I weigh 319 pounds myself (down 7 in a week!) and used to eat a ton of fast food and junk, so I am in no way an expert, but I feel so much better after adopting a lot of the recommendations in Jillians book. Good luck Dawn!

newDZ

for 2 weeks now I havent lost anything? I am under or at calorie goal everyday, workign out 6 days a week. yet no movement on the scale? I have lost a bit in measurements so I look a little different but I would asume a los in pounds would be reflected in that? So could someone take a look at my journals and maybe give some feedback on what to do different or to try? Thanks!

It's not uncommon for some of us that our body adjusts after every 20-30lbs lost. My theory is our body is re-setting it self. Be gentle with your spirit and don't get discouraged. Try NOT eating below your calorie requirement for a week. Because your body may think starvation. So eat at your required amount and then see what happens.

I often do a forced plateau to let my body know it's not starving. It's a dieting break I take. I explained how I do it in a posting a few weeks ago.

All the best and stay strong!!!

skinnylizzard

I reviewed the last two weeks and your average net calories are 1130 which is too low. You had quite a few days where your net calories are less than 1,000 and then a few days that were 1100-1200. I have heard many accounts of people increasing their net calories by 100-300 kicks their body into better weight loss.

This is true. I upped my cals by 200, including more healthy fats and I lost 2 lbs right away. I was getting frustrated because I thought i was being so good and I gained 2 lbs! But as soon as I did that I lost the 2. Now I'm starting from scratch again. We'll see what tomorrow's weigh in shows

newDZ

I reviewed the last two weeks and your average net calories are 1130 which is too low. You had quite a few days where your net calories are less than 1,000 and then a few days that were 1100-1200. I have heard many accounts of people increasing their net calories by 100-300 kicks their body into better weight loss.

This is true. I upped my cals by 200, including more healthy fats and I lost 2 lbs right away. I was getting frustrated because I thought i was being so good and I gained 2 lbs! But as soon as I did that I lost the 2. Now I'm starting from scratch again. We'll see what tomorrow's weigh in shows

I agree. Eating too few calories and not enough good fats actually have a negative effect on weight loss.

TwilaG

Someone told me about the same thing. I also was not eating enough calories for the amount I was exercising. I tried to even out this last week and started seeing weight come off. Last week I ate more fruits and vegetables and lowered my sugar. (Not doing too well on that this week.) Good luck. I know there has been a lot of advice for you.

newDZ

Twila try adding an extra ounce of protein at breakfast/lunch and also try adding good fats, rather than just adding more fruit. I would keep the fruit the same and up the protein.