Help What am I doing wrong

taramc1970

So I have been on MFP since 8/18 and started working out that day. Since then I have been working out 5-6 days a week and eating what I am suppose to and I have lost NOTHING!!!!!! I am getting so sad and think I want to quit. I feel better - healthier but no change in the amount I weigh
I do the eliptical trainer for 35 minutes a day 5 days a week and take a minimum of 2 extra classes (yoga/CardioFunk - what am I doing wrong?

Deedles2012

Open your diary. Maybe we can give you ideas if we can actually see what you are doing.

superchunk17

I was experiancing the same thing. In my opinion, I have found the amount of calories this website shows being burned during exercising to not be 100% accurate. Also, many times the food that enter is not correct either. I was meeting the goals according to MFP but most likely not in "real life". What I did was low ball my exercise (ie manually enter 100 calories burned for each mile I run instead of the 187 MFP says) and make sure I have a wrapper for all of the foods I have been eating so I can get the nutritional info right from the package. I found a ton of inaccurate info on this site. Hopfully this helps.... Good luck!

NikkiGetsFit185

Opening your diary might help i was in the same situation as you for a month or so, but i saw i was taking in too much sodium, foods might of been low in calorie but i was eating too many processed foods, so i changed that up and i have been losing since then, and i also agree some of the foods on here are incorrect, sometimes since i have the mobile app, i will use the bar scanner and it scans the correct nutrional information onto my diary. And i almost forgot i was actually losing inches when i wasnt losing pounds, my cothes were feeling different but i wasnt happy with the scale, and since i had a lot to lose i wanted to see those numbers decrease, they finally are.

allgoodthings

If you haven't taken your measurements, you should do so. I had the same issue but I was losing inches. The scale isn't the only measure of success. Keep it up!

MelodyBronson

I have the same problem! I eat right, staying at or below my calories, plus I exercise and I don't eat the extra calories I supposedly get from exercising!

Monalisa85

Hi,
I experienced that too but it seems it takes our bodies time to get with the program. I say that because I felt that too and was getting discouraged at 3-4 weeks but then the day comes when you start to notice the changes, looser-fitting jeans/dresses, number goes down on the scale. Just stick with it and like someone else already said, I also log in less exercise minutes just to be sure and log all from the nutritional info on foods I'm eating. Whatever you do--do not give up cause success is around the corner but be patient with yourself! I wish you well.

StoogieQ

Don't give up! You're probably swapping fat for muscle. Can we take a peek at your diary?

strawbblondie

Have you taken measurements of different areas (neck, chest, waist, hips)? You may be burning fat but building muscle; which won't necessarily show up on the scale. I've also measured my forearm, bicep, thigh & calf. Take these measurements every couple of weeks. I haven't seen much on the scale, but have seen a difference in the measurements. Hope this helps.

MrsBooher

I had the same problem for quite some time. My advice would be to go to some health clinic that has a bod pod. It measures the amount of body fat you have, and they run resting metabolic testing and give you the exact caloric intake your body needs while not doing anything. I found out that I wasn't losing any weight because I (shockingly!) had a fast metabolism not a slow one so the 800-1200 cal diet was in fact the reason I did not lose weight. Turns out I need to consume at least 1820 calories/day if not working out and more if so to lose the weight. My guess is your not eating correctly and need a plan specific to your body. Good luck!

donnamariewilliams

When you work out a lot, you build muscle. And muscle weighs more than fat. But then what happens is that the more muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate is. And that is how you should start to benefit from the exercise. Also look at how much sodium you take in. My problem is that I retain water, so I have been adjusting my sodium intake each day. Keep up the good work and don't get discouraged. I am sure you will start to see results!

dwh77tx

Do something different than the elliptical to really challenge your body. I recommend Zumba or Turbo Jam DVDs if you can.

tjakatjs

Add some weight bearing exercise for good bone health. Visit with a trainer. I had a friend that busted her butt for months with little results. She started working with a trainer and he was able to zero in on what was lacking. With a change in her diet, NO processed sugar, and the new exercise program that was only three days a week for 45 minutes, she has had amazing results over the past two months with only a fraction of the time spent at the gym as before.

Bingbi

Our bodies have an amazing ability to get too accustomed to the routine workouts we do. That can lead to a plateau. You need to mix up your workout (varied intensity, time, activity). I would recommend trying HIIT (high intensity interval training). Also, you should think about weight training.

DoomCakes

Are you losing inches? Try measuring yourself that way. Sometimes you gain a bit of weight from water or muscle gain. Your muscles might be building up. It's much better to worry about body fat% and inches for those situations. It's bittersweet, but it shows that you actually are losing something more than just a pound or so! don't give up

californiagirl2012

If you have a lot of body fat reserves you would be surprised at how little you can eat (unless you have emotional eating issues or disorders). The leaner you get the less your body has to draw from and then you have to taper up your calories. There is no such thing as starvation mode for women over 12% body fat or men over 6% body fat. I am a living breathing example of that. I went from obese to now under 12% BF and I've maintained for one year and built muscle the whole time. You don't BUILD muscle in starvation mode, so I proved everyone wrong.

Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale though: water retention, digestion, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations

Only you can decide calories, base it on how you feel and what the scale trend is doing, not what anyone here tells you to do. You can always gradually notch your calories up or down by 100 and see how you do. It takes some experimentation to find what works for YOU. What worked for the next person may not work for you just because it did for them. For the most part, if you have fat reserves eating more to lose weight is just plain silly, think about it.


"The Reverse Taper Diet " :

The Theory of Fat Availability:
•There is a set amount of fat that can be released from a fat cell.
•The more fat you have, the more fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
•The less fat you have, the less fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
•Towards the end of a transformation, when body fat is extremely low you
may not have enough fat to handle a large caloric deficit anymore.

At the extreme low end, when your body fat cannot ‘keep up’ with the energy deficit
you've imposed on your body, the energy MUST come from SOMEWHERE. This is
when you are at risk of losing lean body mass during dieting (commonly referred to
as ‘starvation mode’). This happens at extremely low levels of body fat, under 6% in
men and 12% in women [Friedl K.E. J Appl Phsiol, 1994].

Oddly enough, it seems as though some obese people have an unbelievable amount of fat available as a fuel, but a lower ability to burn that fat, whereas as they get leaner, they have less and less fat available as a fuel, but a greater and greater ability to burn the fat they do have. So at extreme levels of leanness, it is the fat availability that limits a persons ability to lose fat.

californiagirl2012

I don't know what your exercise is but you can't exercise away too many calories.

I ignore exercise calories anyway so the exercise log is just to track time spent exercising for me. Exercise calories are highly over rated. You can't exercise away eating too much food. I learned this the hard way most of my life running marathon after marathon (and lifting) and not being able to lose weight and in fact continued to gain year after year. And I don't pig out, binge, snack mindlessly, eat out of boredom, etc, but the portion sizes are too big for a small person like me. (well I wasn't small when I weighed over 170 lbs at 51'0"!)

Anyway I found what worked for me was separating out the two things:

Eat less to lose weight
Exercise to maintain or build lean body mass
end of story.

Well, it did work for me. I am the fittest, leanest, strongest, and most muscular I've ever been in my life at age 51 and I'm healthy and don't get sick and have long endurance.

chroniclesofthinoholic

I was experiancing the same thing. In my opinion, I have found the amount of calories this website shows being burned during exercising to not be 100% accurate. Also, many times the food that enter is not correct either. I was meeting the goals according to MFP but most likely not in "real life". What I did was low ball my exercise (ie manually enter 100 calories burned for each mile I run instead of the 187 MFP says) and make sure I have a wrapper for all of the foods I have been eating so I can get the nutritional info right from the package. I found a ton of inaccurate info on this site. Hopfully this helps.... Good luck!

^^ this totally agree!

es5864

I think you should switch it up instead of doing the elliptical everyday. Your body gets use to that, you should try cross training and switching it up. Running on the treadmill, bicycle, swimming, hiking, etc.

xNJAx

Don't give up...especially since you're *feeling* better!

Instead of only looking at the scale, take measurements and photos to compare with as you progress. I can be the exact same weight but have a completely different figure depending on what I've been eating, what exercise I've been doing etc. There have also been times when I seem not to have lost a thing for weeks then all of a sudden drop a load of lbs in one go.

Make sure you drink enough water, vary your exercise and eat as much unprocessed food as possible to watch the sodium intake. Also make sure the values you're putting in for calroies in and out is correct (use the food packagaing/weigh food/wear a HRM when working out). It makes a big difference!

Just keep going and you'll get there! x

mercymarque

It sounds like your doing all the right stuff in terms of exercise... Your food diary is not open to really get a look at what your eating. Water intake is important, sleep, staying within your calories. Make sure you up your protein, get lean meats, fresh fruits and vegetables. MFP provides you with more calories to eat. My suggestion would be to only eat back some (SOME) if your hungry. Good luck! Don't give up. You may just need an adjustment. I was at a stall for a little while and tweaked my routine... I stoped eating meat, no sugar, no avocado and no white rice, white potatoes or pasta. I work out 7 days a week for at least an hour and drink 8-12 glasses of water a day.

LadyIvysMom

My first thought is that you are gaining muscle.

But also, to touch on what a previous poster said, the calories burned listed on MFP are not always accurate. I would use machines that estimate what you are burning on them and invest in a pedometer that monitors speed, time and how many calories burned. If you have a smart phone, you can even get pedometer apps on your phone that will do this. Just make sure you get one that is rated well and has been proven to be accurate.

I use Pedometer GPS+ on my iPhone and it’s quite accurate. Last night it took me exactly 60 minutes to walk exactly 3.5 miles and the pedometer app recorded my average speed as 3.5 mph. It also calculates how many calories you burn per minute and adjusts for speed.

I use my pedometer amount of calories burned rather than MFP’s. They are often different numbers. Sometimes the pedometer is better, sometimes MFP is better. But better or not, I want the accurate number.

mercymarque

Have you taking measurements, before and after pictures. While the scale wasn't changing for me. My clothes were falling off me at times. I had lost inches in my waist and arms. The eliptical had really toned my arms. I do weight training but I contribute the toning of my arms to the eliptical. I hope this is helpful.

imadiva32

First, open up your diary so we can see what you are eating. That way we can help and suggest other items to eat. Track everything you eat. Also, change up your exercise. Depending on your weightloss goals will determine the exercise you should do. Lots of cardio is always a good start. Your current exercise and food seems to just maintain your weight. You have to change it so that you loose weight.

mitsi94

I have been in the same boat as you. It seems every year when I would "get serious" about exercising, I would actually gain a few pounds but never lose any. I have struggled with this for years .... Finally this year, things are moving in the right direction. I think there are a few things that I am doing differently this year that have finally helped me get going on my weight loss journey.

1. I quit using any products (drinks, food, etc) with artificial sweeteners in them. No Equal, Splenda, or anything like that. You can do your own research into this, but from everything I have read, these sweeteners may actually be helping people to gain/retain weight. I truly believe this is one of the major things that has finally helped me start to lose some weight. I think it took a couple of months for all those chemicals to get out of my system (because I used to "chug" Crystal Light thinking it was better than soda) but once they did, the scale actually started to move and it has been pretty steady ever since.

2. I take a good selection of vitamins every day. Again, do your own research into this and talk to your doctor about what you personally might need, but most of us are lacking in some of the necessary vitamins to help our bodies function properly. Now that I have a good regimen, I am feeling so much better every day and am finally starting to lose some weight.

3. I started eating small meals (200 - 400 calories) every 3 - 4 hours throughout the day.

4. I added flax seed to my diet. I recommend you research this also! Dr. Oz recommends flax, especially for women. I mix it into everything I can think of throughout the day so that I get my 2 tbsp a day. I think this is one of the other major things that has been helping me finally start to lose some weight.

5. Started using MFP.

I have been overweight most of my life, honestly as far back as I can remember. And I have always been a fairly active overweight person, I ride my bike to work every day, play softball every summer, participate in local walks for charity, etc. But my weight hasn't budged in at least 10 years until this year. I truly believe you have to find what's right for you, and the same thing does not work for everyone's bodies. Hope the above list of things that I have done differently this year just might give you some more things to think about or try. I will say keep working at it! Do not give up easily! You will be able to find what works for you and get the results you want, you just have to not quit!

taramc1970

Thank you all so much - I really appreciate the support. I will open my diary and measure myself and vary my workout - thanks