Any Advice For Me??

Kaprigge

I have been using MFP for about a month now. I log everything I eat (often don't log my water or black coffee or green tea). I work out 6 days a week and do high intensity interval training and resistance bands. I am doing the Turbo Fire routine and am on week 14. ( I haven't been able to figure out how to log my resistance training DVD's that I do so those calories burned on not in my diary) I do not eat back my exercise calories, have cut all sugar out of my diet, increased my protein, and don't see the scale dropping anymore. I do not have much weight to lose but each day when I finish my entry for the day I get the message of how much I would weigh in 5 weeks if I kept up my routine, but I don't see the scale change. It is becoming discouraging to me. Any advice?

postrockandcats

are you loosing inches?

ARoseinDecember

I think the closer you are to your goal, the tougher it becomes for the lbs. to come off. You are doing a lot of resistance training, so I agree, you should compare inches to see if it's just that you're gaining muscle.

angelicarubi

Maybe you should try eating the exercise calories for a while and see if that helps.

wolfchild59

First thing, If you are close to your goal weight it becomes more important to keep a smaller deficit. So if you aren't eating back your exercise calories than I would suggest that you start eating back at least some of them and see if that helps.

It's okay to keep larger deficits when you have a lot to lose but once you are within 15 or so pounds of a your goal weight, you should be keeping your daily deficit around 250-500 calories. Yes, you will lose weight a bit more slowly, but it's more likely that you will be losing.

Second, completely ignore that stupid notice of what you will weigh in five weeks. It's not based on anything having to do with you or your body, it's a simple calculation that looks at your calories eaten and creates a weight. It's the same thing as online weight prediction calculators that will just keep subtracting weight for as many columns as there are on the form (e.g. you put in your stats and how much you plan on eating and it tells you a prediction of how much you'll weigh every week based on that, they'll literally keep going down to zero if there's enough columns.)

It's an inaccurate method of charting, like taking 100 meter dash speeds and seeing that there is a trend line that is going down and down because people are finishing faster and faster and just following the trend line down to zero seconds on the chart. You have to allow for nature and the laws of physics, which that calculation doesn't.

Finally, what the first reply said. Did you take measurements before? Have you lose inches around your waist even no pounds have dropped? Since you are doing resistance training, there may be a small amount of muscle building and some general body reshaping happening. When I went through the training for my first half marathon, which involved strength training, I weighed only a pound less on the day of my race than I had when I started, but my pants were much looser and I'd had to tighten my hydration belt multiple times over the course of the training.

wftiger

Don't pay any attention to that "In 5 weeks you will weigh" crap. Weight loss is not linear. You will not lose the same every week. You might not lose for a few weeks then you might drop a few pounds.

Kaprigge

I did not take measurements. I know I should have. My clothes are loser and I know my muscles are more toned. The thing is, I know muscle burns more than fat so I would think my metabolism would be sped up and I should be losing even quicker. I work out to advanced workouts and get my heart rate up and sustain it at about 180 bpm most of the cardio workout. The Turbo Fire advanced workouts are comparable to Insanity. I cannot believe that there is not a bigger change on the scale. I know the scale is not everything but it makes me wonder why I am giving up foods that I like if I am not going to see better results for doing so. I have always been a healthy eater but as you can see from my food diary, there is not much room for improvement. I feel like I might as well go back to eating baked chips, fat free frozen yogurt etc if it really isn't going to make a difference on the scale. I know the "in 5 weeks" is not a science. I am just simply saying that I should be losing weight. I have a calorie deficit.

Kaprigge

The other thing that baffles me is that my daughters who have no weight to lose are doing insanity and losing weight like crazy. They are two inches taller than me and eat about 300 calories a day more than I do. My daughter who is the lightest lost 10 pounds in about 4 weeks. I would think her body would be hanging onto every calorie being she is already thin. She is 5' 9" and about 120 pounds now. They follow the insanity workout and the meal plan.

wolfchild59

I am just simply saying that I should be losing weight. I have a calorie deficit.

Sadly, the human body is not as simple as this. It has it's own ideas of when it wants to lose weight and when it wants to hold it, even if in a deficit. Trust me, I speak from experience. All you can do is keep working at it and seeing what works best for you to start making the pounds come off again.

SkinnyChemicals

I am just simply saying that I should be losing weight. I have a calorie deficit.

Are you sure? Are you tracking your calories to the greatest accuracy possible?

absolament

Muscle weighs more and it takes more calories to build it. Make sure you aren't depriving your body of the nutrients and energy it needs to burn fat and build muscle, otherwise it will choose not to produce muscle in order to protect itself. And don't dismiss the need for 2 days of rest. Your body needs time to repair. Also, subscribe to fitness magazines if you haven't already. They are a great tool to understanding the body.

Kaprigge

Yes I am tracking. I have a food scale and I measure everything closely. The only thing that might be off is the exercise calories burned. I personally thing MFP might estimate calories burned on the high side. I just exercise as just an additional calorie deficit. I never add it in.