4 Weeks in, no weight lost.

bradthemedic

I've been using MFP for almost a full month now. I've been tracking diligently and haven't missed any days. I'm trying to lose my last 20lbs, but I just can't seem to shed them. I've been under my calorie goals, working out several times per week and eating balanced.

I am looking for some advice and help here as I am starting to get a bit frustrated.
Thanks

Mirandas5bgirls

I completely understand, I was running everyday for 5 weeks and was not losing weight. I found it was in my eating, so I did a body cleanser using 5 Oranges daily, eating green raw veggies and chicken breast and lots of water. That helped break it after 3 days and I began losing weight again on my 1200 calories per day.

bradthemedic

How much chicken did you eat per day?

Exactly. I am working out with Rushfit every 2-3 days and running every other day. I am running HARD so it could be water weight... but I don't think so. Not after a month.

saustin201

That happened to me too. It's very common. There are lots of posts about this. Be patient. I started losing inches immediately, but the pounds just recently.

Keep at it. They will shed off soon.

BeachyBecky

I've struggled with this issue too. Almost for a month and a 1/2 I sat. Starting to lose again now. I'm eating more proteins and changing up my routine. Keep at it and don't give up it will happen.

nichole325

bump. havent lost in about a month and i go to gym 6 days a week. at 215lbs i should be LOSING!

FinallyFindingLisa

You might want to check your sodium, I know for me, it's a killer. When I stray over the line (canned foods especially bad) I stall out - happens every time!

imthelobster

What are you set to lose per week, and are those the last 20 lbs before your goal weight?

Mawskittykat

I went 13 weeks and then again went 7 weeks with no loss. I began to watch my sodium at first thinking that it was water retention from sodium and this didnt work. But then I heard that sugars even if natural sugar can make you retain water so I began to watch sugar intake and immediately began to lose again. Within 5 days I lost 6 pounds. What I would recommend is do not let you sodium or your sugar go over what MFP allows you to have. The bad thing about this is I have to limit my fruits which I dearly love to keep it under. But even our veggies have some sugar in them so you have to watch carefully. Just try it cause it wont hurt a thing and within a few days you should be able to tell whether or not it is working for you.

blynn2708

By looking at your diary, you may need to eat more. You should be eating back your exercise calories or half of them anyways. Maybe try changing your workout routine. It does take time! Did you get your measurements when you first started? And measured since then? You may not see the numbers going down on the scale, but you will on the measuring tape:bigsmile: Good luck!

Amy_Lynn74

Are you drinking water? Gettig your water in really helps. Also sodium can be a killer, the water helps flush it out. I also noticed you eat a lot of fruit which is loaded with sugar. I know it is good sugar but you still need to watch it.

TracyLou0404

I stalled a few weeks ago too. After a lot of reading on these boards I decided to up my daily calorie goal from 1200 to 1500. I have consistently lost a pound every week since.

m16shane

How tall and how much do you weigh?

psuLemon

What are your stats (height, weight, age) and what do you do for exercise? I am 200 lbs, 5'11" and 29 years old and I eat 3000 calories a day to lose weight. I also do P90X2 and have 12% body fat. But even when I was at 18% body fat, I was eating 2600 calories. It's a good chance you are under eating causing your body to conserve. Below is a very good link that can tell you caloric needs.


http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

Captain_Tightpants

Recalculate TDEE.

Some people have luck with ketogenic diets to lose the last stubborn lbs. It's up to you if that approach fits into your nutritional beliefs.

DJStewie

Looking at your food diary I noticed something you could try that has helped me-> lowering your carb intake.

Under "my home" and then "goals", change your setting to carb 40%, fat 30%, protein 30%, and try to stick with that ratio. I have my setting at lose 1 pound a week and try to stick to those macronutrient ratios. I don't worry if I go over on protein and some days I do that on purpose.

Good luck

Jannelley87

From what I've read, one will plateau because the body has gone into emergency starvation mode (not the technical term, btw). In other words, you are eating too little of calories and therefore your metabolism is slowing down. I have read several places that the resolution to this is to simply eat more (to rev up your metabolism to start burning energy)! This may seem counter-intuitive since we think that calories not consumed equals stored calories (i.e. body fat) burned. But, in fact, your starving your body and it's going through survival mode (unhealthy and dangerous). Read this article--it's crucial to understanding this concept http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/wbond/view/eat-more-lose-more-really-129327 !!

bast2112

Sometimes you need to up your calories. I wasn't losing a thing on 1,200 for 3 weeks and upped it to 1,300 and really started to see results!

Sharonks

Have you lost inches? Those last few pounds are awful to lose. The only thing keeping me sane is the fact that I have lost some inches even though my weight hasn't moved. But at this close to goal it isn't much. In the last few weeks I've lost 1/2" off my stomach and no weight at all. Given that I'm happy with my dimensions everywhere besides my waist and stomach I can live with that. I'm still thinking I need to lose about 5 or 10 more pounds but as I keep getting more toned the amount I think I need to lose gets smaller.

bradthemedic

Hey everyone,
I am 27 years old, 6' tall, 222 pounds. I run a few times per week and do weights (rushfit) other days.
I was 380lbs in my teens and lost that weight doing Atkins but this time around I want to be healthy.

I am going to up my calories to jump start my metabolism and try eating back some of my workout calories as suggested.

I want this to work so I am willing to do whatever it takes.

bradthemedic

Yes this is my last 20 or so. I want to be at 195-200. That's been a comfortable weight for me in the past.

Sboncy2685

Just shock your body, maybe try a diet like the sacred heart diet. Or even do no carbs for about three weeks. You will see a change. You also should change up your workout. If you were doing for example only 30mins of running try 45 or 50 mins...........
Also stay on s strict diet, like only veggies and try to cleanse your body

stewartcarden

Try once or twice a week eating like an actual pig , stuff your face ( with nutritionally good things ) and see if the spike can boost your metabolism (: .

Try switching your diet around too , if you eat the same things all the time your body will just do the exact same things with it as before.

Make sure you drink a lot of water , cutting out sugar and fizzy drinks worked brilliantly for me.

And make sure you rest a lot if working out hard too (:




Starvation mode doesnt sound like whats happened , more of a platueu in the sense that your bodys adjusted itself to the methods you are using. Switch it up a bit man (:

Jannelley87

I've been using MFP for almost a full month now. I've been tracking diligently and haven't missed any days. I'm trying to lose my last 20lbs, but I just can't seem to shed them. I've been under my calorie goals, working out several times per week and eating balanced.

I am looking for some advice and help here as I am starting to get a bit frustrated.
Thanks

Hi again, I looked some at your diary and it seems, in general, you're in-taking a lot of sugar. Besides upping your calories like bast2112 wisely suggests, I'd suggest adding the sugar column to your diary so you can keep track of this as well as lowing your sugar intake (primarily lowering sugar that is non-fructose). here's a helpful article one this (it is one person's knowledge and experience on this matter) http://naturalbias.com/how-to-eliminate-sugar-from-your-diet/
To add sugar to your "nutrients tracked" in your diary, click the FOOD tab, and then the Settings tab under that.
Also, have you ever calculated your BMR (Basic Metabolic Rate)? This is under the "tools" tab. This will calculate the amount of calories you'd burn in a day if you laid in bed all day. I'm becoming more and more convinced that one should never go below their BMR calorie intake (an expert at a fitness center I used to go to even told me to not go below 1500, my BMR). I imagine your BMR is definitely more than you have been consuming (esp. this last Sunday).

Hope this helps at all--take care!

bradthemedic

Thank you for the advice everyone. Sounds like I have some tweaking to do to my diet. I'm going to shock it up and see what happens

golf4birdies

Try looking at and reducing your carbs, which is basically sugar. When you eat grains (bread, rice, pasta, etc.) it turns to glucose fairly rapidly. (Less rapidly if it is whole grains, but still provides your body an insulin rush.) This then can result in your body storing the carbs/glucose as fat. Pretty much what you DON'T want to do.

I've been eating a low carb diet after readying "The Diabetes Solution" and then "The Primal Blueprint." I'm a diabetic, so my first concern is my blood sugar and less about weight. However, that said, my husband and I are both eating low carb, feeling full/satisfied and definitely losing weight.

Everyone is different, just thought I'd offer what has worked for me.

I'm tracking my diabetic journey and goals on my blog at: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/golf4birdies
Or if you want to check out the website about low carb eating and all the reasoning behind it, go to www.marksdailyapple.com.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

pinkita

What is your weekly weight loss goal set to on MFP? Set it to 0.5lb per week if not already.

psuLemon

Hey everyone,
I am 27 years old, 6' tall, 222 pounds. I run a few times per week and do weights (rushfit) other days.
I was 380lbs in my teens and lost that weight doing Atkins but this time around I want to be healthy.

I am going to up my calories to jump start my metabolism and try eating back some of my workout calories as suggested.

I want this to work so I am willing to do whatever it takes.

Based on your stats, you should be eating around 2700 calories a day total.

BMR is around 2193
Moderately active with working out 5 days a week

TDEE = 2193 * 1.55 = 3399
CN = 3399 * 0.8 = 2719


If you eat that along with 35% carbs, 40% protein and 25% fats and stress ST more than cardio, you should be able to cut pretty well. Also with this method, you do NOT eat exercise calories as it's a part of the TDEE calc.

bradthemedic

Based on your stats, you should be eating around 2700 calories a day total.

BMR is around 2193
Moderately active with working out 5 days a week

TDEE = 2193 * 1.55 = 3399
CN = 3399 * 0.8 = 2719

If you eat that along with 35% carbs, 40% protein and 25% fats and stress ST more than cardio, you should be able to cut pretty well. Also with this method, you do NOT eat exercise calories as it's a part of the TDEE calc.

Thank you. I calculated my BMR and it was at 2640 - so almost exactly what you quoted. I'm going to focus on eating more and lifting weight/doing my crossfit. I love to run so I'll do that as well but I'll add more strength in.

This seems to make sense.