Help! I'm not losing!

wahmx3

Unless you are really short or young, at your weight aiming to lose 1.5 pounds a week just won't happen. You should change it to .5-1 pound a week. Do you eat back most or all of your exercise calories? If not, you have a net way under 1200 and you won't lose weight , as you are finding out. The other thing, double your water. It is best to aim for half your weight in ounces of water every day.

jennkess

I am aiming for 1240 calories a day to lose 1.5 pounds a week. I usually reach about 1350, but i try to exercise at least 600 calories off a day, but sometimes I only burn 250-400. I am always about 20g under my fat allowance, but my sugar intake always runs a little over. I try to drink about 32oz of water a day and I've been trying to limit soft drinks. My exercise varies from strength training, running, walking, or dancing.

I am not losing any weight. For about two months I have remained 146! What should I do?

1.5lbs a week is pretty aggressive at the size you are now. it sounds like you need to eat more, have you calculated your TDEE- total daily energy expenditure? then you cut your calories (500 per day) from that # my guess without knowing all your stats is that you should be around 1500 calories a day- not 1200 with your exercise you need to fuel your body due to the work you are putting it through- otherwise it will hold everything to keep your muscles and organs from shutting down.

SlimPossible8

The eating more is so true. But dont just add to your regular meals a day. add an extra snack or post workout protien shake. You need to eat about every 3 hours to keep your metabolism up. Also every couple weeks you need to change up your exercise routine. Interval training is great and the internet has a lot of free training programs to get you started that tell you exactly what level to set the treadmil at for what length of time. hope this helps

freckledrats

I was plateauing for about a month and a half. I thought I was doing great. 900-1100 calories (I am short, btw). The problem in my case was that I was allowing myself to not log calories and "eyeball it" on weekends. I would ESTIMATE 1200 cals.

The thing is, I'm a bad estimator. Most people are. I sat down and did the math one day and revealed to my SURPRISE that I was actually eating back nearly every single calorie I'd burned during the week of logging.

If you're not logging everything everyday, that's probably the problem.

You can try eating more to lose weight, but the fact is, your metabolism isn't going to get so stunted that netting 1200 calories is going to plateau you, unless you are like 4'9" or something. The body isn't exactly a simple machine, but if you're burning more than you are eating, your body has to shed fat or die. Starvation mode doesn't make you stop losing weight. If that were true, people who come out of labor camps or starve themselves on purpose wouldn't be traditionally dangerously thin. You are not dying, so my guess is there's some missing logs, calorie underestimation, or burn overestimation happening somewhere.

Eating more can still work, though. Getting more energy (but still little enough to have a deficit) can make you feel better and be less likely to eat something you shouldn't on a day where you might be trying to "eyeball it"

Log everyday, log everything, if you drink sodas or other drinks that aren't water, log those too.

michelleepotter

I am aiming for 1240 calories a day to lose 1.5 pounds a week. I usually reach about 1350, but i try to exercise at least 600 calories off a day, but sometimes I only burn 250-400. I am always about 20g under my fat allowance, but my sugar intake always runs a little over. I try to drink about 32oz of water a day and I've been trying to limit soft drinks. My exercise varies from strength training, running, walking, or dancing.

I am not losing any weight. For about two months I have remained 146! What should I do?

I'm a little confused. Are you saying that you eat 1350 calories, and then burn off 250-400 of that with exercise? If so, then you are ending up with a net of 950-1100 calories? That would be waaaay too low, and that could be your problem right there. If that's what you are doing, you need to eat a lot more. Try eating like 1550, then burn off about 250 so you end up with a net of 1300.

I also agree with the comment of not necessarily eating more per meal, but eating more often instead. Eat a little bit every time you feel hungry, then drink a bunch of water.

psuLemon

Listen to Eric, your goal is way too aggressive. You need to set your goal to 1/2 lb per week and you should be aiming to eat back 50-75% of your exercise calories. Another approach is to include exercise in your TDEE calculation which would put you around 1800 calories a day. Below is a good article on why you aren't losing.


http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html

shellbee381

Just wondering....what kinds of foods should one eat when needing to increase calories but not carbs, sugars, or fats? Any recipes or suggestions?

psuLemon

Just wondering....what kinds of foods should one eat when needing to increase calories but not carbs, sugars, or fats? Any recipes or suggestions?

Why would you not want to increase fats? They are very healthy for you. The improve skin, nails, hair, and improve organ function. And dietary fat doesn't' make you fat. Sugar is a carb and as long as you fall into your macro's or more importantly, your calories, then you will be fine. But if you want lean choices, peanuts, nuts, avocado, eggs, chicken, or really any meat.

Cath2016

Thanks for all the help. Because I am not eating back any of those calories worked off, I guess I'm not eating enough to keep my body fueled. I had no idea that 1.5 pounds a week was too aggressive. I thought like 5 pounds away from the goal weight was really close. I am going to up my calorie intake and aim to lose about a pound a week and see how that goes. Thanks again and good luck to everyone else!