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2 weeks and only .6lbs lost. What am I doing wrong?

mmtschan

I do cardio 40mins 6 days a week and think I'm eating all my calories. What am I doing wrong?

Replies

AthenaErr

sheesh am clearly asleep over here. You posted 0.6lbs. Maybe you are giving your exercise too many points. I often think the machines in gyms etc over estimate. Have you tried eating but not eating your exercise points? Make sure you dont eat too little though.
In any case you may find it all comes off in a rush next week!

DiannaMoorer

Good job on your .6 lb weight loss and cardio 6 days a week. You need to weight train though. Put some muscle in those arms. I run 6 to 7 days a week and weight train about 3. It's not a good idea to post those quick calories because you can't track your protein and carbs that way. I would advise you to cut back on carbohydrates like cereal and eat WAY more protein. It is good to try and eat at least 20 to 30 grams of protein at each meal. Eggs, yogurt, cheese,nuts and protein smoothies using protein powder. Feel free to look at my diary. It's not perfect but I am losing weight and inches. Feel free to send me a friend request also.

yogamama30

are you eating all your calories even the extra ones you get from working out? sometimes your body needs more calories even than is suggested when you're exercising...hope that helps!

natalie412

First, do you have a hrm? Because if y are going by what mfp says you burn don't. They grossly overestimate and you are probably eating back way to much!

Could be sodium as was mentioned as well. Or if it's close to your Tom then that also effects it greatly.

I'm not sure what hrm and tom means.... this is all new to me

hrm = heart rate monitor
tom = time of the month

Meloonie

Only 6 lbs in two weeks? Are you serious? Thats great! You should be proud, not beating yourself up. Have you weighed that out in measurement and picked it up? - bags of sugar or packs of butter in the supermarket?

Honestly, dont feel bad you're doing very well! Chin up!

xx

Gloria415

I don't know but I'm going thru the same thing. I've lost 6lbs. then gained 2 then lost 1 ughhh! and I'm exercising and I know for a fact that I am always under my calorie intake.

jenj1313

Not sure how tall you are, but since you're goal is 18 lbs to lose, it doesn't seem like you're extremely overweight. That's awesome, but you have to realize that it's going to come off more slowly than it will for someone who is 100 lbs overweight doing the same amount of exercise and eating the same number of calories.

MFP grossly over-estimates my calories burned vs my heart rate monitor. Yesterday, for example, I mountain biked for 3 hours. Heart rate monitor said1257 calories and I think MFP said 2100. That's a big difference if I ate it all back. I notice a lot of people on here put up what seem like really high calorie counts and I can only assume the same thing. Unless you're using a heart rate monitor, you don't really know what you're burning.

If I use MFP to estimate calories, I keep the time, but adjust the calories to half because that's about what it works out to with the heart rate monitor if I compare all the different types of exercise I do.

As for sodium, I personally find it doesn't make a huge difference in my weight numbers when I'm drinking a lot of water, but your body may be more sensitive to it than mine. I'd try changing one thing at a time until you figure out what works for you!

Hope that helps and good luck :-)

DiannaMoorer

Only 6 lbs in two weeks? Are you serious? Thats great! You should be proud, not beating yourself up. Have you weighed that out in measurement and picked it up? - bags of sugar or packs of butter in the supermarket?

Honestly, dont feel bad you're doing very well! Chin up!

xx

It was .6 lbs in 2 weeks not 6

jenj1313

Only 6 lbs in two weeks? Are you serious? Thats great! You should be proud, not beating yourself up. Have you weighed that out in measurement and picked it up? - bags of sugar or packs of butter in the supermarket?

Honestly, dont feel bad you're doing very well! Chin up!

xx

Apparently some people don't know what a decimal point is! at 0.6 lbs in 2 weeks, you'd still be at a pound a month, but I think we all want to progress faster than that, so keep adjusting until you get it!

Athijade

Honestly... you only have 18lbs to lose. You should be aiming for about .5 lbs a week.

You have also only been at this for 2 weeks. Sometimes changes do not start right away or you will see a delay. No reason to worry yet.

RooChilders

I started off this year and only had 14lbs to lose I thought no big deal I will have that off by March. Well...its way harder to lose the smaller you are. Water and more water and measure yourself its a great NSV if you aren't seeing it on the scale. If you are at a plateau do all your exercises backwards. Good luck I have been fighting this for a couple months now.

Mompanda4

Thanks for sharing

AZKristi

Your protein is super low. Try increasing the amount of produce and lean protein in your diet.

honestlysweet

Hi, don't lose hope! You are losing perfectly normal. I didn't lose anything at all my first month, it was sooo discouraging! But I kept at it, exercising like crazy and taking measurements. My measurements showed I had lost two inches on hips an waist the first month, but scale showed no loss. So I say take your measurements and some photo's so you can compare later. The second month should show some loss, for me the second month showed eight pounds lost. So it will be worth it for you.

mittensofdoom

Well, you're only two weeks in. That's probably part of it.

Secondly, as long as you're taller than 5'5, you're not technically overweight (BMI greater than 25) and you will lose weight slower than someone with a BMI of say 29. Half a lb a week is a reasonable goal.

Thirdly, water weight fluctuates a lot (2-4 lbs a day normally, I've seen 8+ lbs a day in hospitalized patients with congestive heart failure that were put on a high dose diuretic). The best way to get around this is to have a steady salt intake (eating no salt for a few days then eating a moderate amount will change your water weight drastically, consistency is key) and weigh yourself the same time each weighing. I weigh myself once a week first thing in the AM after I pee.

Fourthly, I didn't look at your journal but it sounds like you aren't eating much in the way of veggies. Don't go overboard on the fruits, they do have a lot of sugar. Sure, it's natural sugar but the physiological effect in your body is the same as a piece of candy. Vegetables are typically not calorie dense and are loaded with nutrients. Try recipe that incorporate more veggies. Soups, chilis, stews, and salads are a great way to accomplish this. When you eat a meal, always start with the veggies.

Water intake is important, drink an 8 ounce glass of water about 20 minutes before you eat. This will cause your stomach stretch receptors to send signals to your brain that your stomach is being filled and will help prevent over eating.

Additionally, the advice about varying your workout routine and adding weight bearing exercises is great. The advice about canning your exercise for light walking is bullocks and I would ignore it (it would be more useful if you had a BMI so high that it was preventing you from exercising). If you aren't exercising you're losing just as much muscle mass as you are fat when you calorie restrict. Muscle burns more calories than fat, a key to long term weight loss is building and maintaining muscle. Yes, muscle weighs more than fat, blah blah blah but I will guarantee you, if you are losing fat it will show up on the scale.

Lastly, I do agree that focusing on measurements is a more accurate way to determine what you're losing. You'll care a lot less about what the scale says when your pants start falling off. But like all good things, it takes time. Hang in there!

Meloonie

Only 6 lbs in two weeks? Are you serious? Thats great! You should be proud, not beating yourself up. Have you weighed that out in measurement and picked it up? - bags of sugar or packs of butter in the supermarket?

Honestly, dont feel bad you're doing very well! Chin up!

xx

Apparently some people don't know what a decimal point is! at 0.6 lbs in 2 weeks, you'd still be at a pound a month, but I think we all want to progress faster than that, so keep adjusting until you get it!

I didnt see the decimal point sorry, my bad.

Wow what a reaction, slightly over the top I think.

Even so, Its still a loss and as other people have said sometimes it just takes a little time to adjust. Good luck x

lisa28115

looks like u are not eating enough
lots of days u are eating less that 1200 calorie

you should NEVER eat less than 1200 calories:bigsmile:

monkeypantz

6lbs lost in 2 weeks is amazing....I lose about 2lbs a week so I'd say your doing well!

tashajayne2011

1) 6lb is NOT a small amount in 2 weeks. As you are not massively overweight I would say thats pretty good!

2) go to a butchers (the one in the supermarket will do) and ask him for 1lb of fat... you will be surprised how big it really is

Good luck x

Di3012

I do cardio 40mins 6 days a week and think I'm eating all my calories. What am I doing wrong?

Something you are eating in your daily diet is not agreeing with you, start to eliminate and replace it with something else one by one and you will find what it is.

Start with something you eat a lot of, for instance those Granola Bars, cut them out for a week, replace with something like some chicken, a couple of eggs or some fruit. See what happens and if the weight suddenly shifts.

One other thought, watch your quick calories, are you 100% sure they are just 200 calories, something quick calories can be underestimated.

Once you find what the "offending" food is, you will be well on your way xxx

AmandaCaswell1982

Set your goal to lose .5 lb a week- if you don't have too much to lose, you don't want a huge deficit. If I lose slowly, I always increase my calories, especially if I am not losing. I know it sounds counterintuitive, but it works! I usually never go below 1500. Use the BMR tool on this site and don't eat below that.

Good luck and be patient!

HonkyTonks

Scales aren't a very good indicator. Give yourself a bit more time, expect it'll be non linear weight loss. As long as you're eating at a deficit and you're not being dishonest, you'll lose weight.

mmtschan

Well I added in more strength training today and am trying to add more protein. Protein is not an easy thing for me. Takes time to prepare usually and I have no time as it is!

But I hear I need to be eating more. so your wish is my command. I have no problem with eating more

Thanks sof all the advice.

mittensofdoom

You can always incorporate protein shakes into your diet. I'm not an advocate of dairy products (cause more harm than good imo) but there are tons of whey powders (or greek yogurt), and of course, if you want to avoid dairy, soy powder. There are also a variety of protein bars. I'm a fan of Cliff Builder Bars (especially chocolate mint) but they will kill your sugars for the day. Nuts also make a good protein snack that's quick.

toffee322

2 weeks and only .6lbs lost? it's not ONLY.. i think you are doing very well!

drmerc

Eat less. If you want to lose weight you need to eat less not more. This is common sense

Di3012

2 weeks and only .6lbs lost? it's not ONLY.. i think you are doing very well!

The OP means 0.6lbs, she isn't satisfied with that.

Di3012

Well I added in more strength training today and am trying to add more protein. Protein is not an easy thing for me. Takes time to prepare usually and I have no time as it is!

But I hear I need to be eating more. so your wish is my command. I have no problem with eating more

Thanks sof all the advice.

People often say "eat more" because that seems to be the habitual comment on MFP lately.

A person posted a thread on here a while back saying they was not losing weight on 2000 calories per day (female), the first comment was "eat more" - bloody ridiculous because if she was unable to lose on 2000 calories per day, I am damned sure even MORE calories will ensure weight gain.

Be careful x

heybales

Eat less. If you want to lose weight you need to eat less not more. This is common sense

Didn't read the Topic posts, did ya?

Common sense doesn't mean you understand body energy needs and metabolism.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/539980-people-who-have-had-success-by-upping-their-calories
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/518533-major-sucess-with-higher-calories
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/531583-an-easier-way-to-setup-goal-calories-eating-for-who-you-wi

And many many more of people realizing what doesn't work beyond a short time, and being given advice by those wiser that experienced the wrong direction.

Lesa_Sass

I just looked at your diary and I am going to be one of those people that say EAT MORE!

You are not eating enough. This EXACT same thing happened to me and I upped my calories to 1400 and started losing between .4 and .6 lbs a week! I was in shock, I swear that every time I weighed myself I got off and back on the scales a couple of times.

You also need to get some more protein in your diet.

I took this profile picture last week, I am 43 years old and made my goal weight by eating more food. It was hard to wrap my head around but the proof is in my diary and pictures.