What am I doing wrong? (Please help!)

deninevi

Yes, me! And then I upped my cals, start lifting heavy things and things started to change.

CMXL

Yes. I am at the same place.

I have been working out regularly (3-4) times a day with a trainer since October. I had no weight goal to begin with but just to get into a good fitness routine and feel stronger. I felt better but was disappointed to find that I hadn't lost any weight at all in the two plus months I have been working out. So, my trainer suggested MFP and I have been logging on twenty days now and have lost only one pound (I am in the middle of my cycle) and I don't know how that affects my weight. I eat healthy, no processed food, no soda, not much of a sweet tooth (except for occasional good chocolate), but my empty calories come from alcohol. I hadn't realized a glass of wine is a ton of calories:)

I am 5'2" at 144 and would like to lose thirty pounds in the next six-eight months, but going by my results so far, it looks like it might take about a year!

A couple of things that have changed for me are

1. I do think about the calories before I put something in my mouth. Not that I was ever a big binge eater, but still, knowing that one oreo costs 70 calories means instead of 2, I would eat one:)

2. I have missed only two days of exercising in the last twenty days. And doing more rigorous ones like kickboxing. Just started on zumba.

Mom0fTwo

I think you need to eat more. I'm as tall as you and when I was on 1500-1600 cals my weight didn't move for a long time. Now I'm doing 1800-2000 cals, lift heavy things 3 times a week and do kettlebell workouts the other 2 days and I loose weight. Up your cals. with 100 to 200 a day and see how thing go for 2 weeks. If that doesn't work, adjust again. Good luck to you.

This^^ i plateaued for about a month decided to up my cals by putting 0.5lb/week in the past month i have lost 4 lbs, my body clearly wasn't getting enough

wrecked_willow

I think you need to eat more. I'm as tall as you and when I was on 1500-1600 cals my weight didn't move for a long time. Now I'm doing 1800-2000 cals, lift heavy things 3 times a week and do kettlebell workouts the other 2 days and I loose weight. Up your cals. with 100 to 200 a day and see how thing go for 2 weeks. If that doesn't work, adjust again. Good luck to you.

This^^ i plateaued for about a month decided to up my cals by putting 0.5lb/week in the past month i have lost 4 lbs, my body clearly wasn't getting enough

I know I may sound like a total retard, but I just can't get it in my head that I have to eat more in order to lose weight :S Can anyone explain it to me like with all the details ?

katzblood

Also, if you can, try to break down your meals into smaller meals.

No science behind this what so ever, it doesn't matter if you eat 1,500 calories in one meal or 5 meals. 1,500 is 1,500.

And if you have to eat "bad", try to do it earlier in the day.

NO science behind this what so ever, you can eat big macs at 10pm and still lose weight, there is no "magic eating time"

As far as your workout, you may need to cut down on cardio a bit and lift more weights.

Lifting weights, with a proper diet, will help you look better than cardio ever will. Aim for a 80-20 strength/cardio routine.

Not heavier, just more reps.

If you can get more than 10 reps the golden rule is to go heavier.

This.

roro73

I know I feel better and seem to lose steady when I eat clean, whole foods. I started doing a somewhat low carb plan and it really helps me focus on eating natural foods. You don't necessarily need to do low carb, but if you start eating lots of eggs, lean meats, poultry, fish, as much veggies as you'd like and throw in some fruit you'll notice a difference. I know life gets busy so it's hard to prepare stuff & the smart ones are easy to grab & go, but you could get a rotisserie chicken for lunches during the week and do some prep work on the weekend (boil eggs, chop veggies & fruit, prepare salads & yummy toppings etc). A few references I suggest googling are Tosca Reno's Clean Eating (great book regarding food, but alot of rules which I don't like) & George Stellas Livin Low Carb (another great book, less rules, clean low carb eating). Once I make some of the recipes this weekend I'll pass them along And MFP has some great recipes too...I tried this one this morning...it literally took 3 minutes with prep and cooking to have a low carb, low cal and really high fiber cinnamon muffin:

Basic MIM
Serving Size: 1
1/4 cup flax meal (8.09 total carbs, 7.6 fiber)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder (0.64 net carbs)
1 packet Splenda® packet (0.9 net carbs)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (1.84 total carbs, 1.2 fiber)
1 large egg (0.6 net carbs)
1 teaspoon butter
(total calories 234; total carbs is 12.07, fiber is 8.8; net carbs is 3.27)

Put the dry ingredients in a coffee mug. Stir.
Add the egg and the butter. Mix.
Microwave 1 minute (or more). Take out. slice, butter, eat.

I added cream cheese to mine, but there are a ton of variations on MFP...just type in MIM in the search box in the message boards.

Other than that, keep up with the exercise and water and it should kick in. Focus on health & feeling better instead of just weight loss and I think it'll help

wrecked_willow

Basic MIM
Serving Size: 1
1/4 cup flax meal (8.09 total carbs, 7.6 fiber)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder (0.64 net carbs)
1 packet Splenda® packet (0.9 net carbs)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (1.84 total carbs, 1.2 fiber)
1 large egg (0.6 net carbs)
1 teaspoon butter
(total calories 234; total carbs is 12.07, fiber is 8.8; net carbs is 3.27)

Put the dry ingredients in a coffee mug. Stir.
Add the egg and the butter. Mix.
Microwave 1 minute (or more). Take out. slice, butter, eat.

I added cream cheese to mine, but there are a ton of variations on MFP...just type in MIM in the search box in the message boards.

Other than that, keep up with the exercise and water and it should kick in. Focus on health & feeling better instead of just weight loss and I think it'll help

what's flax meal?

wrecked_willow

Bump

roro73

Basic MIM
Serving Size: 1
1/4 cup flax meal (8.09 total carbs, 7.6 fiber)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder (0.64 net carbs)
1 packet Splenda® packet (0.9 net carbs)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (1.84 total carbs, 1.2 fiber)
1 large egg (0.6 net carbs)
1 teaspoon butter
(total calories 234; total carbs is 12.07, fiber is 8.8; net carbs is 3.27)

Put the dry ingredients in a coffee mug. Stir.
Add the egg and the butter. Mix.
Microwave 1 minute (or more). Take out. slice, butter, eat.

I added cream cheese to mine, but there are a ton of variations on MFP...just type in MIM in the search box in the message boards.

Other than that, keep up with the exercise and water and it should kick in. Focus on health & feeling better instead of just weight loss and I think it'll help

what's flax meal?

It's just ground flaxseed but I buy the kind that's already ground aka: flax meal . Do you have a Trader Joe's where you are? If not I would check out any health conscioud stores, here in CA we have Whole Foods, Mother's Market, Sprouts. You may even be able to order it online. It's got so much fiber and is so good for you. Just make sure to drink lots of water or you may get a tummy ache from all the fiber.

jenifer7teen

like others mentioned, i would be concerned with sodium and quality of food choices. also depending on how many calories you are ACTUALLY burning it is possible that your caloric deficit may be a little too high. Those of us with less weight to lose aren't going to lose fast anyway... and it doesnt help if your body starts to slow it's metabolism. I will tell you that i stopped losing weight when i was eating 900-1200 calories and burning off almost all of that from exercise. It is not simple math or i would have lost weight FAST using this unhealthy method... upping my calories to 1500-1600 has already started my weight loss again. There are many articles on this issue (search things like "eat more to weigh less" "starvation mode" etc and you will find a million things).

Finally, i believe you are already in or very close to a healthy weight.... so if you are unhappy with your size perhaps you need to focus more on your fitness than the scale. Your goal of 128lbs at 5'8" is very UNLIKELY to be a healthy weight for you especially since you seem to have hips... unless you have like no muscle tone (also unhealthy)! And if you are trying to get pregnant i can't imagine you will have enough body fat to do so at that weight... I stop menstrating in the 130's and i am 5'7". I know every body is different but i guess i am just asking if when you were 128 you would say you were healthy? If your goals are unhealthy your outcome and methodology is likely to be unhealthy as well...

jenifer7teen

**** oops! i see that your goal isnt to be 128 (i based this on your 1st picture). well good! haha

Shariet0630

I never said it was scientifically proven. Chill out already! I said it worked for me and it has. I also said it was my opinion.

I agree, whether science or not certain things works for some n not others. I don't eat after 8pm usually cause it does affect me.