ONLY 3.5LBS WEIGHT LOSS IN 1 MONTH!!!!!

nithinmuktesh83

Dear all,

I am a male, 29 years, weight - 208lbs.
Done with my Month 1 of power 90(Beachbody workout home video) and i've lost hardly any weight. Only 3.5pounds from where i started a month ago. I work out really hard and dont eat more that 1600-1700cals a day. On weekend i do Sculpt 1-2+Sweat 3-4 or FBE. Some days i do Sweat 3-4+FBE, On 2 cardio days i went for 10kms run/walks. Last 4 days, i've worked out atleast 6 hours and ate "kind of right".
My typical food daily is
Breakfastats with fat free milk+raisins and 2 spoon sugar OR Cornflakes(plain)+raisins+fat free milk.
Lunch:Indian bread(chapati, made with whole wheat) or 1.5 - 2 cups white rice+some curry. Mostly is Indian bread.
Snacks PM: Carmans energy Bar
Dinner - 3 slices brown bread + omelett OR Campbells instant Soup or Maggi instant noodles 1 cup
I dont follow nutrition guide from P90 just because my Indian food habits does not support it. And i do have some snacks from time to time. But on a daily basis, i always have 500-600cals calorie deficit. And i never eat more than 1700cals in a day.
Can someone please help me!!!Am i doing anything wrong?
Actually a brief history of my weight is - i lost almost 40pounds for wedding in Jan 2011(178lbs) and gained it all back 1 year post wedding. In Jan 2012, tried Herbalife shake diet and lost 17lbs in 3 months. Gained it all back 2 months after that. And now - decided to go for a lifestyle change with P90. But it looks like an doing something wrong here.

peachyxoxoxo

You've lost 3.5 lbs - totally reasonable amount to lose in a month. You aren't doing anything wrong.

warriorsdontbitch

i think that you may not be eating enough calories

lilschrec0007

Dear all,

I am a male, 29 years, weight - 208lbs.
Done with my Month 1 of power 90(Beachbody workout home video) and i've lost hardly any weight. Only 3.5pounds from where i started a month ago. I work out really hard and dont eat more that 1600-1700cals a day. On weekend i do Sculpt 1-2+Sweat 3-4 or FBE. Some days i do Sweat 3-4+FBE, On 2 cardio days i went for 10kms run/walks. Last 4 days, i've worked out atleast 6 hours and ate "kind of right".
My typical food daily is
Breakfastats with fat free milk+raisins and 2 spoon sugar OR Cornflakes(plain)+raisins+fat free milk.
Lunch:Indian bread(chapati, made with whole wheat) or 1.5 - 2 cups white rice+some curry. Mostly is Indian bread.
Snacks PM: Carmans energy Bar
Dinner - 3 slices brown bread + omelett OR Campbells instant Soup or Maggi instant noodles 1 cup
I dont follow nutrition guide from P90 just because my Indian food habits does not support it. And i do have some snacks from time to time. But on a daily basis, i always have 500-600cals calorie deficit. And i never eat more than 1700cals in a day.
Can someone please help me!!!Am i doing anything wrong?
Actually a brief history of my weight is - i lost almost 40pounds for wedding in Jan 2011(178lbs) and gained it all back 1 year post wedding. In Jan 2012, tried Herbalife shake diet and lost 17lbs in 3 months. Gained it all back 2 months after that. And now - decided to go for a lifestyle change with P90. But it looks like an doing something wrong here.

How much muscle did you have on your body before weighing yourself. Also, did you weigh yourself during the 30 days. You may have lost more than 3.5 pounds of fat, but gained more weight in muscle.

foochick

I agree that you may not be eating enough, on the other hand...sounds like you've worked very hard to build muscle and you may have gained some muscle weight. Are you measuring? Sometimes that's a better judge of what's happening, and 3.5 pounds a month is almost a pound a week...that's reasonable, not super agressive, and not slow.
Yay! you lost 3.5 pounds!!!

bonnieluann

You may also be losing inches are u taking measurements ? Also every pound counts hang in there ....there is no easy fix .......Just stay strong and continue what u are doing ....Doing something is better then doing nothing :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

claire_diggle

i had this problem but i started to weigh myself more and it was because i was gaining muscle try not to beat yourself up about it. Make sure your eating enough claories to cover your bmr

2LoveEnnisMccall6

Eat fruit and vegetables as snacks or add to meals? I think 3.5 lb is alright but I suppose I'm alot smaller so

John2347

holy carbs batman!... if you are looking for significant weight loss, cut down the insane number of carbs that you are eating and replace those carb calories with protein calories. increasing protein intake and reducing carb intake will make your body use more body fat for fuel than the carbs supplied in your diet. start the morning off with the most carbs of the day and taper it off throughout the day to little carbs at night. also make sure you have protein with every meal/snack (very important) since it is slower to digest than all the carbs that you are eating.

ps. carbs are the easiest to digest and turns into stored body fat quicker than anything else

unicornpoop

Only 3.5, that is still awesome! Slower loss is more manageable in the long run. I would be thrilled to lose 3.5 in a month since I have plateaued all summer.

jeepzilla

you really need to eat more if im not mistaken and anyone else that has done p90 or p90x you should be around 3000 calories for that intense of a work out. when i did p90x i ate around that much I gain a lot of muscle.

you might want to try some old fashion running I lots 2 pounds per week running around 3 miles a day. theres a fine balance of calories that you intake everyone will tell you to eat clean. If you plan your meals out you can do it no problem.

also if you drink sodas stop now you will lose around 1 or 2 pounds just by getting rid of them you will feel better too. If you wanted to get extreame you could drink a protein shake in the mornings,

work out then a post recovery drink or shake, mid day snack power bar or shake, another bar or other snack and a nice dinner with the work out you will lose weight. and no its not unhealthy to substitute a protien shake for a meal.

em9371

You are not eating anywhere near enough, especially if you are exercising a lot. I eat 2100 and I'm a 5'5 / 182lb female losing 1.5-2lbs a week, exercising 5-6 days. For a male who works out I would expect you would need 3000 plus to maintain, so at least 2000-2500 to lose. If you are exercising, macros are important not just calories, try and aim for at least 25% protein.

You will not have gained muscle while in a large deficit eating mostly carbs, it take a lot of heavy weight training and a high protein diet to gain muscle, and its pretty much impossible to do while in a deficit.

Have a look for helloitsdans post 'in place of a roadmap', and work out your cals from there. I would cut down the carbs a bit and eat more protein and fruits / vegs. Eating Indian food doesnt mean you can't follow nutrition guidelines, for example for your lunch have more curry, ideally with meat for protein and some vegatables, and less rice / bread. your dinner seems to be carbs only except for the omlette, so try adding some meat or eggs. Add some protein shakes as snacks if you need to.

madmickie

Chill - 3.5 a month is fine.

nithinmuktesh83

How much muscle did you have on your body before weighing yourself. Also, did you weigh yourself during the 30 days. You may have lost more than 3.5 pounds of fat, but gained more weight in muscle.

I havnt lost much fat either! i was 35%fast when started, 30 days down - i am 34.4% :-(

nithinmuktesh83

You may also be losing inches are u taking measurements ? Also every pound counts hang in there ....there is no easy fix .......Just stay strong and continue what u are doing ....Doing something is better then doing nothing :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

Yes, i have lost inches for sure. i can fill tht. I have a HUGE belly. Thats reduced quite a lot now. But only thing it, its not showing up in the scales :-(

Cocochickdeleted

A pound a week is a very reasonable loss, especially considering the fact that you aren't starving yourself.
You are likely not building muscle eating at a deficit, no matter what anyone says. More than likely, you are retaining some water. It seems that you eat a lot of processed foods, which are generally pretty high in sodium. My recommendation would be to substitute some of those with whole foods--fruits, vegetables, nuts, quinoa, etc. See if that doesn't make a difference.
Above all, be patient. If it's truly a lifestyle change, then you have all the time in the world. The weight didn't go on overnight, and it won't come of overnight. A few tweaks here and there, and you'll see the weight continue to drop off. Good luck!

mommayomma1

If losing weight is more important to you now, lighten up on the weights and concentrate on cardio more. Also make wiser choices in what you eat. And make sure when you eat is good also.

Plain and simple fact though, you need to burn more than you consume for weight loss. Regardless of what it is

nithinmuktesh83

holy carbs batman!... if you are looking for significant weight loss, cut down the insane number of carbs that you are eating and replace those carb calories with protein calories. increasing protein intake and reducing carb intake will make your body use more body fat for fuel than the carbs supplied in your diet. start the morning off with the most carbs of the day and taper it off throughout the day to little carbs at night. also make sure you have protein with every meal/snack (very important) since it is slower to digest than all the carbs that you are eating.

ps. carbs are the easiest to digest and turns into stored body fat quicker than anything else

:-)....yes i think carbs i consume is more than required. will try to replace that with protiens. this is one of the biggest problems with indian food. too much carbs in the daily meal :-(

nithinmuktesh83

Thanks man...I'll add a lot of protiens into my diet now...also will start having some shakes + protien bars. Needs to throw those carbs out of my diet....

cjc166

Try "Eat to Live" by Dr. Fuhrman. I've been following for six weeks and have lost 27 lbs in that time and feel the best I've felt in a very long time. It's definitely worth looking into.

nithinmuktesh83

Hi..thanks a lot for reply. Can you please let me know which food you felt was the high sodium ones? Will try to replace those...

nithinmuktesh83

A pound a week is a very reasonable loss, especially considering the fact that you aren't starving yourself.
You are likely not building muscle eating at a deficit, no matter what anyone says. More than likely, you are retaining some water. It seems that you eat a lot of processed foods, which are generally pretty high in sodium. My recommendation would be to substitute some of those with whole foods--fruits, vegetables, nuts, quinoa, etc. See if that doesn't make a difference.
Above all, be patient. If it's truly a lifestyle change, then you have all the time in the world. The weight didn't go on overnight, and it won't come of overnight. A few tweaks here and there, and you'll see the weight continue to drop off. Good luck!

Hi..thanks a lot for reply. Can you please let me know which food you felt was the high sodium ones? Will try to replace those...

fortyonetogo

the decreasing number on the scale is only a mental image we hold onto because it's a way we are use to tracking with a weight scale. As long as you're noticing a physical difference as far as losing inches and gaining strength I'd say you're on a good track and should stick with it. A pound of muscle takes up much less space than a pound of fat. If you weigh 185 and are very muscular you will be much smaller than someone of the same height/build who weighs 185 but have hardly any muscle. Also, I think an article of clothing you regularly wear can be a better mirror for seeing how much progress you're making. Put it on. Notice how it fits (maybe take a pic) continue with what you're doing for 2 more weeks and repeat the process with the same article of clothing. I think you'll see a big difference.

hope this helps

DopeItUp

You may also be losing inches are u taking measurements ? Also every pound counts hang in there ....there is no easy fix .......Just stay strong and continue what u are doing ....Doing something is better then doing nothing :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

Yes, i have lost inches for sure. i can fill tht. I have a HUGE belly. Thats reduced quite a lot now. But only thing it, its not showing up in the scales :-(

So what's the problem? Who cares what the arbitrary number on the scale says if you've seen significant decreases where you want them. Isn't that the whole point?

Regardless, you still lost 3.5lbs in a month, which I would happily strangle several people to death to obtain. Odd thing to be disappointed by.

em9371

If you are seeing changes in your shape, then take measurements, that can help keep you motivated for when the scales dont behave :-)

Re the carbs, you don't need to cut them out completely, just aim for an overall balanced diet.
I go with 40% carbs / 30 protein / 30 fat and try to get 5 fruit & veg a day. If I was eating Indian food, I used to have chicken or lamb curry with naan and rice, now I will have chicken tikka, curry and then naan OR rice, so I am replacing one of the carbs with a protein but still having a tasty meal.
Try and get the majority of your protein from proper food like meat, eggs, cheese, nuts, greek yogurt etc., but protein bars and shakes are good as a supplement. They can be high in carbs / sugars / fat though too so try and find one that has at least 80% protein content, and below 2g of carb/sugar/fat.

cwashkowiak

Don't beat yourself up, that's the MOST important thing. 3.5 is a GREAT loss in a month!!!! I joined a lose 10 in 30 days group on mfp and have been really discouraged that I've only lost 2 since the beginning of Aug. Like everyone else is saying, it's better to limit carbs, more protein and as we all know, muscle weighs more. I've been doing strength training too and have noticed that my clothes fit differently, but it's not reflecting on the scale. Take pictures of yourself every 10 days, you will notice a difference Best of Luck and keep at it, you can't come this far and give up because of a number, it's all about how you are changing your lifestyle.

onyxgirl17

ONLY? LOL

JacksMom12

Sounds like you are terribly low on protein, and probably too low on calories as well. Bread with a side of noodles for lunch? Swap those noodles for a hefty serving of protein. I am 5'4, 117 lb female and eat over 100 grams of protein easily a day.