why cant i lose

Jessicaruby

i am 5'7 and started my journey at 150lbs. i am now down to 130lbs but can not lose anymore weight. i workout everyday and usually do not eat all of my alloted calories. alot of people say i should eat them all but if i am not hungry i am not going to eat just so i use all my calories. i workout on the treadmill do zumba and weightlifting but no matter what i can not lose any more weight. i my gain or lose a few pounds depending on what i eat but within a day or two i am back to 130. my goal weight is 120 what am i doing wrong????

Rae6503

You are close to your goal. You DO need to eat more. Eat more to lose more! Set you weight loss goal to half pound a week and eat all of it including exercise calories. Try to eat at least 100-120 grams of protein. It'll be slow but it'll come off eventually and hopefully you'll maintain most of your muscles.

jillwaller

You're probably gaining a lot of muscle from all of the exercise you're doing. Since you're so close to your goal weight, stop worrying about the number! If you're gaining muscle, but not losing weight, it's not a bad thing- you're still losing fat. You'll look trimmed and toned no matter what the scale says.

Jessicaruby

what if i am not hungry though? i never feel deprived and i dont want to eat just to eat if i am not truly hungry

lsd007

Eat them. It isn't that hard, really.

Knightrobs

What's the best estimate of your current bodyfat percentage? 15% is pretty darn good for most women and dropping any lower is normally difficult. Random suggestion... change your cardio, try some high intensity training for 6 weeks (e.g. sprints, burpies... etc). If you're like most people, your routine has become stagnant, your body has adjusted to the stress you are placing on it.

mrsvatitagain

Watch your sodium intake and you still have to eat.

Rae6503

You're probably gaining a lot of muscle from all of the exercise you're doing. Since you're so close to your goal weight, stop worrying about the number! If you're gaining muscle, but not losing weight, it's not a bad thing- you're still losing fat. You'll look trimmed and toned no matter what the scale says.

You can't gain muscle weight on a calorie deficit. You can reveal muscle by removing the fat over it. You can strength muscle you already have. But you can't build pounds of muscle.

Rae6503

what if i am not hungry though? i never feel deprived and i dont want to eat just to eat if i am not truly hungry

I think, once you start eating more, denying your body less, it'll return to normal function and start signaling hunger like it's supposed to. Add it a bit at at time. A hard boil egg and a glass of milk for morning snack, olive oil, cheese on salads, low fat yogurt instead of fat free...

shelbygeorge29

You can't gain muscle weight on a calorie deficit. You can reveal muscle by removing the fat over it. You can strength muscle you already have. But you can't build pounds of muscle.
[/quote]

Yes!!! Thanks for posting that..

karenwill2

5'7 and 130 lbs is about right. You can always tone up more but I have been 5'7 forever and 136 is the ideal weight for me according to charts and etc. Just sayin' maybe there is nowhere else for you to go healthy. See your doc. The standards may have changed so I could be wrong.

Rae6503

what if i am not hungry though? i never feel deprived and i dont want to eat just to eat if i am not truly hungry

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/231636-the-eating-when-you-re-not-hungry-dilemma

millerll

Rachel6503 is right....listen to her. You must eat to lose, and you're NOT gaining muscle.

Adding calories here and there is easy, just like she said. Have a spoonful of peanut butter on toast, saute your veggies in a tablespoon of olive oil, and that's 300 calories right there.

If you still don't believe us, search for SHBoss's post on calorie deficits from a few years back. Great stuff, and he's a pro at this. It may even be a sticky at the top of this forum section. Good luck!

bigredhearts

You can't gain muscle weight on a calorie deficit. You can reveal muscle by removing the fat over it. You can strength muscle you already have. But you can't build pounds of muscle.

^ THIS!!!

xraychick77

You DONT need to eat more..
please dont listen to all the bro science on here.

listen..our bodies adapt..they become super efficient after a while of what we do to them. the thing is..if you want to start losing again..take a break.. seriously. my got stuck weight was 125. no matter how much i worked out i couldnt lose. i never ate back cals, but i always ate 1300. what i had to do...was take a break for about two weeks. let your body 'decondition' itself. then start back hard.

remember the smaller you get, the harder it is to lose weight..since our BMRs also reduce.

if you arent hungry..dont force feed yourself.
i just want to say, that those who believe in starvation mode need to go check out truely starving people. go tell them the reason you cant lose weight because you arent eating enough.

maryd523

I eat coconut oil when I am not hungry and way under my calorie goal (which almost never...ever...happens). It's really, really, REALLY good for you and you can get those calories in about 5 seconds flat.

Don't undereat. It's screws you up.

millerll

You DONT need to eat more..
please dont listen to all the bro science on here.

what i had to do...was take a break for about two weeks. let your body 'decondition' itself. then start back hard.

"Taking a break" would be the same as....eating more.

vballcaptain

130 pounds is pretty low for 5'7... its exactly where im at. this was always my normal weight and now since ive started dieting i wanted to be thinner than my original weight but my body is just sticking to the old 130. and im lifting weights as well. I think this is the lowest weight you/i could be and still have muscle mass honestly.. maybe 125.

MissTomGettingThin

You DONT need to eat more..
please dont listen to all the bro science on here.

what i had to do...was take a break for about two weeks. let your body 'decondition' itself. then start back hard.

"Taking a break" would be the same as....eating more.

^ This!

RangerSteve

Take 1-2 weeks and eat at maintenance calories. Even if you gain a pound because you don't calculate quite right, that will come off in one week of calorie deficit (assuming you're 500 under your maintenance) when you start dieting again. This will balance out your cortisol levels as well as even out testosterone/estrogen so your body can adapt better to dieting again.

bhagavatilad1

I agree with you're probably gaining muscle that's why you're not losing and don't get so obsessed with this app because its merely a tool to guide you and now you're so close to your goal weight you may not need to visit so often but just to check your're on track that's what I plan to do. You might have even reached a plateau and later you might just drop a bunch don't stress about eating back all your exercise calories cause I'm the same as you I'm not hungry but i'm still losing what helped in the past was instead of working out for just 1hr I went for 1.5hrs and that got me losing weight again.

After reading my paragraph it dawned on me the reason I'm working out for longer period of time is because now I'm using my muscles to their full potential to burn fat.