why am i not losing weight? PLEASE help!!!

mcherri

its been about 3 weeks now since i started mfp, and i have done everything that i'm supposed to do.... i never go over my calories, i work out literally every day, i eat the calories i burn too... maybe i shoulldnt?? also i'm eating much healthier than i used to. i just don't know what im doing wrong!!! i just got on the scale and i've gained a pound back.... i started at 138 then a week ago i weighed in at an even 136 and thought that was great, so im back up to an even 137... i don't understand why in 3 weeks i've only lost one pound.... in fact, i've lost less than a pound because when i started i rounded up!!! what the hell is going on?????

can someone pleaase help me with this? bbecause i am really about to give up...

dzvinka82

It took me 6 weeks before I lost any weight. Stick with it, and you will see results!

LianaG1115

I don't know why either I've hit a plateau too so I changed my intake of calories around and it seems its still at a plateau so I'm changing my exercise, I hope it works!q

davlaur

Maybe you should your full calorie intake each day

kris4chloe

how tall are you? if you are taller then you may be at goal and dont need to lose, if you are shorter then that is not the case. need more info.

how many calories, how much exercise. could be that you are not eating enough for your activity and your body is holding on, or it could be that you are miscalculating what you are eating.

what about your measurements? sometimes our bodies will not show a loss on the scale but inches go down due to increased exercise, particularly weight training.

really need more info.

shorty35565

Have u been takin measurements as well? A lot of times u can lose inches, but no weight. The scale isn't the only way to measure success.

mcarter99

You don't weigh much. If you're at a healthy BMI it's all got to be tracked closely. I would skip the 'eating back' stuff. What deficit are you trying to eat at? If it's 500/day, you're about on track. It takes a while to shake out to a 1 lb/week average.

If your exercise routine or intensity is new, that messes with the scale.

stroud62455

Hi there!

I do understand waht you are going through becuase I was there myslef! Here is what I discovered. I exercised each day, thought I was eating correctly, and watched my intake of sugars and fats religiously! Guess what? I did not lose the weight. Why? Becuase i was still consuming too many carbs! Now that I have that under control, the weight disappeared! It was just that simple for me. Take a look at the foods you eat and you will see that carbs are hidden in everything. Be sure to keep the good carbs, but try and eliminate the bad ones! Hope this helps you!

FlaxMilk

Sometimes people or the database overestimate calories burned. Try eating no more than 1/2 your exercise calories back.

heybales

You have started working out everyday.

Diet is for weight loss.
Exercise is for body improvement and heart health, and may or may not support weight loss.

Since you are asking your body to improve, many of those first changes are storing more glucose for energy you are asking your body to do - that is weight gain.

Just keep steady, at some point you won't be placing such a load on your body for improvement, and weight will drop.

In the meantime, measure the sizes of all your limbs and hips/torso/chest - because that is where you will see improvement first since you are exercising so much now.

Norinella

My nutritionist recommended NOT eating the exercise calories back when I plateau. It is really really hard. But maybe you should try that.
Do you eat breakfast? I never used to eat before I exercised, and now I know it is important. Your body needs to wake up and start burning calories right away, even if it is only a few crackers. I vary it. Sometimes a half a granola bar, half a banana, or half a hard-boiled egg.

islandnutshel

You don't weigh much. If you're at a healthy BMI it's all got to be tracked closely. I would skip the 'eating back' stuff. What deficit are you trying to eat at? If it's 500/day, you're about on track. It takes a while to shake out to a 1 lb/week average.

If your exercise routine or intensity is new, that messes with the scale.

The above is prob correct. There is a lack of information when your diary is closed, but unless you are realy short you are close to your goal weight. So your calorie deficit won't be that high because MFP won't let you eat below 1200, and that's a good thing. So if your calorie defficit is set at say 500, then you can safely leave uneaten as much as 500 exercise calories.
And take measurements. You need results you can measure, so cloths fitting better, smaller measurments and feeling healthy are all great indicators that your work is paying off.

dvisser1

What is your height? Height, age and body composition play a lot into how your body will react. 137 lbs is not very heavy unless you're fairly short. Also, if you have only started exercising significantly since starting on MFP 3 weeks ago then your body is toning / trying to build lean muscle mass, which will cause you to retain some extra water.

As already suggested, get a soft tape measure (like sold for about $1 with sewing supplies in Walmart or wherever) and take measurements. The scale is a very poor judge of health and fitness, body weight is only one part of it. (look at my profile pic for reference. I'm 6'2" and it was taken at 230 lbs, which is the bottom end of obese per BMI. Do I look obese? If weight was all I cared about, I'd think I was obese even though I'm clearly not.)

Progress pics are also a good way to track. You see yourself everyday and the changes are gradual so you may not notice all the changes until you look at a picture of you from a month ago.

101hellokittys

maybe you accidentally put maintain your weight rather than lose weight. so you should check that. also, you don't weigh much.

germaic

Don't give up, it seems that I won't lose weight and then a few pounds will drop off. If you are new to exercising then you are probably replacing fat with muscle and muscle weighs more then fat, that's why all of the personal trainers don't suggest getting on the scale when you first begin. Instead of relying on the scale so much, monitor how your clothes are fitting, they may be starting to loosen up some and that is a sign you are losing fat! Keep up the good work, you'll see results.

mcherri

to everyone that asked..... i am short, i'm 5'2", i'm 22 years old, anddd is chunky a body type, not sure what mine is, and im at 1200 calories... i usually eat around 1500 though after the gym and i do only cardio stuff there. i do the elliptical for 30 minutes as fast as i can for that amt of time, and then i walk as fast as i can for an hour on the treadmill uphill. and my clothes arent' fitting any differently so far. i keep looking at myself, and i don't look any different. i thought abouit taking some measurements, but in 3 weeks do you really think stuff has shrunk any? i dont know... i guess maybe i should try not eating everything i burn off at the gym, but i'm always so hungry at 1200.... this is really the first diet i've been on ever and it's really a shock to my system because i used to eat soooooooo much food, like big southern meals every meal of the day every day and up until about a year ago, i didn't go over 108 and that was a good weight for me, i guess i carry my weight poorly, bc i see other girls at 108 and i think they're about to die.. anyways, i gained 30 pounds in like a matter of months it seemed like... i don't know what happened, i guess i'm just getting older...anyways, i've been going off the machines at the gym, it takes my weight and then spits out calories burned, so i'm sure it's not all that accurate for everyone, but i assumed since i've just started working out, it would be a fair estimate.

you know, my sister has a hypothyroid condition... is that genetic? could that explain sudden weightgain like i've had in the past year or so?

mcherri

oh! also! i'm on a medication that makes me crave sweet things obsessively, so i know my diet is a little carb heavy, but literallly if all i could eat was sugar all day, i would still crave for more at night. ive cut back on my sugar intake tremendously, and i eat a lot of fruit now, i wonder if that's preventing me from losing weight though....

ise311

I'm at the same problem too. Didn't eat much everyday, still exercise sometimes, but it just wont go down.

HHackney

Don't let a lack of scale results get you down. When I first started changing my lifestyle to something less couch obsessed and more healthy I gained 10 pounds before any weight started coming off. Luckily I had a personal trainer at the time (He came free with my gym membership) who told me to ignore the scale and instead focus on my measurements. He was right, I was losing inches in huge quantities! And after I kept at it pounds started melting off quickly too.

But you mentioned that you are on medication too. Some medicines can cause all sorts of things that can effect your weight. Weigh yourself the same time every day (like after you pee in the morning) You could be fluctuating 1-3 pounds depending on how ....ahem....full...you are in the morning.

yourenotmine

If you really gained 30 pounds over just a few months with no dietary or lifestyle changes, that's likely medically significant. You should talk to your doctor about it.

Did you say you're exercising that much every day? An hour and a half is a lot to do with no rest days, and I would think a lot even with rest, if you weren't already doing a lot of activity. Along with the decrease in food, your body probably doesn't know what's going on all of a sudden. Give it a minute. I know it's hard, but try to measure yourself and enjoy some fitness goals and other non-scale type benefits.

mcarter99

this is really the first diet i've been on ever and it's really a shock to my system because i used to eat soooooooo much food, like big southern meals every meal of the day every day and up until about a year ago.. anyways, i gained 30 pounds in like a matter of months it seemed like... i don't know what happened, i guess i'm just getting older...anyways, i've been going off the machines at the gym, it takes my weight and then spits out calories burned, so i'm sure it's not all that accurate for everyone, but i assumed since i've just started working out, it would be a fair estimate.

you know, my sister has a hypothyroid condition... is that genetic? could that explain sudden weightgain like i've had in the past year or so?

I don't know about hypo but 30 lbs. in a year is quite a bit but not impossible with eating big Southern meals every meal of the day every day. About a half pound a week, or 250 calories extra per day. Hypo could make you suddenly burn that much less, maybe? It's likely you started moving less and/or eating more, too.

Seriously, don't base your diet decisions on gym machines' calorie estimates.

Assassins_Angel

i found that the first few months of my lifestyle choice i actually gained 5lbs, what i did was up my calories a teeny bit (from 1430 to a minimum of 1500), stopped eating my exercise calories back and drank more water, within 2 weeks of changing i lost those 5lbs plus a bit more (ignore my ticker i gained abit due to an accident)

i find its abit trial and error, where somethings work for some might not work for others!!

Keep at it though, I'm sure it will start shifting soon xx

dclem2012

Just thought I would jump in with a few thoughts. 1) Be sure you are eating balanced. Especially watch reduce carbs from white bread, pasta, rice, and sugars. 2) Be sure you are eating plenty of fresh fruits and veggies not only are they healthy carbs, but the contain lots of fiber (that actually negates carb effect); fiber also gives fat something to bind to and flush from your system. AND all the vitamins and minerals (which "white starches" do not contain) tell your brain that you have plenty of nutrients, so that frees your body from storing all those other carbs. 3) Add some free weight and machines to your workout. Muscle burns more calories than fat (but it takes up less space per inch than does the same weight in fat). 4) SQUATS, SQUATS, SQUATS. Especially add those dreaded squats. You can google how to do them correctly.

Feisty_Red

If you are doing 30 mins on a elliptical..AND an hour on the treadmill?(Hope I understood that correctly) lets just short guess that you burn maybe..500 calories in that hour and 1/2?? So..if you are taking in 1500 calories on gym days...your body is running on 1000 calories..It will hold it..if you don't eat enough calories..especially if you are more on the close side to your goal weight.. this type of plan will work the highly obese(1000 a day calories)..but only for a short time..and they will plateau as well...

I would advise too... mix it up.. and start strength training..and not as much cardio every day...maybe 3-4 cardio.. 2-3 weight days depending? Muscle(no..you wont bulk up) is fantastic..because it allows you to burn more in a more resting state... you only burn cardio the time you are doing it

And check your water intake..as well..

farmgirl88

oh! also! i'm on a medication that makes me crave sweet things obsessively, so i know my diet is a little carb heavy, but literallly if all i could eat was sugar all day, i would still crave for more at night. ive cut back on my sugar intake tremendously, and i eat a lot of fruit now, i wonder if that's preventing me from losing weight though....

Sugar is hard to part with (trust me, I know!) but it's necessary to lose weight and keep it off. When we eat too much sugar, we overwhelm our liver to the point that it can't keep up, so our body starts grasping for every ounce of fat we eat to safely package the excess sugar away for storage until we're no longer drowning our liver in "toxins." This video explains it in more detail: http://youtu.be/dBnniua6-oM

A piece of fruit or two a day is healthy, but any more than that makes it hard for your body to keep up.

Hope this helps!

wackyfunster

Wow, a lot of less than helpful advice here. Here's the deal:
If you are eating at a 500 calorie deficit per day, and are accurate in calorie count and exercise cals, you will lose 1 lb. per week.
Your body weight will vary by several pounds based upon water weight, even more for women around TOM, so it is quite possible to lose 3 pounds in 3 weeks and end up with a heavier scale weight at the end of the 3 weeks.
3 weeks is not long enough to gauge results, for a woman, due to monthly hormonal variations. Track your weight daily, and look at it month-on-month to get a fair comparison. An app like JEFit will give you nice graphs.
There are a variety of other factors that influence water weight... your body will retain water in response to exercise stress, in response to sodium, in response to carbohydrate intake, and in response to a sustained caloric deficit. Add all of these together, and not seeing scale results for weeks or months at a time is not unusual.

Have patience, and you will see results in time.

If you follow this advice, and have not seen results month-on-month, then you need to reevaluate your caloric intake (are you counting calories correctly), your exercise burn (I personally don't recommend eating back calories... just use a 'light' activity multiplier and be done with it... for 90% of people that will work better, as it reduces the margin for error in regards to inaccuracies estimating calorie burn for exercise and calorie intake for foods), and your BMR: using a formula that calculates it based on body fat is going to be a lot more accurate than the 'general' formulas... for me it makes a difference of >200 calories/day BMR, and >300 calories TDEE. Individuals with very high or very low body fat do not fit the assumptions of most BMR calculations, and so will not be able to receive an accurate estimate from the general purpose BMR formulas.

heybales

to everyone that asked..... i am short, i'm 5'2", i'm 22 years old, anddd is chunky a body type, not sure what mine is, and im at 1200 calories... i usually eat around 1500 though after the gym and i do only cardio stuff there. i do the elliptical for 30 minutes as fast as i can for that amt of time, and then i walk as fast as i can for an hour on the treadmill uphill. and my clothes arent' fitting any differently so far. i keep looking at myself, and i don't look any different. i thought abouit taking some measurements, but in 3 weeks do you really think stuff has shrunk any? i dont know... i guess maybe i should try not eating everything i burn off at the gym, but i'm always so hungry at 1200.... this is really the first diet i've been on ever and it's really a shock to my system because i used to eat soooooooo much food, like big southern meals every meal of the day every day and up until about a year ago, i didn't go over 108 and that was a good weight for me, i guess i carry my weight poorly, bc i see other girls at 108 and i think they're about to die.. anyways, i gained 30 pounds in like a matter of months it seemed like... i don't know what happened, i guess i'm just getting older...anyways, i've been going off the machines at the gym, it takes my weight and then spits out calories burned, so i'm sure it's not all that accurate for everyone, but i assumed since i've just started working out, it would be a fair estimate.

you know, my sister has a hypothyroid condition... is that genetic? could that explain sudden weightgain like i've had in the past year or so?

That type of workout is probably 70-80% carb, that is the system you are training to burn calories.

So actually measurements won't change much.

You'll just store more glucose/water.

I'd recommend go hard on the ellip as you do for 30 min, and keep the walking to 3.5 mph or less, on 1-2% incline, more of a fat burning workout.
Allow you to train fat burning and carb burning system. And good news, as you train fat-burning system, it is used more at higher levels. But the reverse is not true that training the carb-burning system by itself increases fat burn. Not at all.

You should also feed the workout, or else you are wasting your time working out, because your body has no way to make improvements from what you are doing. Now if the purpose is just to increase your calorie burn, then just walk 1 hr every day and eat at 1400.

vvanm

Please rule out any underlying medical condition. Low thyroid usually means low energy though and it sounds like you are exercising a lot. At 22 your metabolism should be functioning perfectly. Eat low glycemic foods and limit portion size on sugar a lot. You want your blood sugar to stay level so that insulin doesn't spike and make your crave food. Taste a couple of bites of what sweets you crave, but eat complex carbs for nutrition that will help control those cravings. Listing what you eat here will really help keep in check those sneaky carbs and calories.

Omsy828

Maybe your consuming little calories but alot of carbs or fats?

FlaxMilk

If you are relying on your machine for calorie burn, you are probably eating at maintenance or very close to it. Machines are very unreliable.