Where am I going wrong?

EllabelleMarie

I'm new to this weight loss thing and really have no idea what I'm doing and I'm doing it totally on my own. I've been counting my calories for about 6 weeks now and I lost 8 pounds almost immediately (And I wasn't even being that strict with myself). It was noticeable! I was feeling highly motivated. Then about 3 weeks ago I started going to the gym (something I have never done before) and I've been very good with staying within about 100 calories of my daily goal every day (with the exception of one single 'cheat' day) but I haven't lost a single pound in 3 weeks, nor have I seen much of a difference in the mirror. I feel discouraged and don't want to lose my motivation.

I'm 5'6, 24 years old, I weigh 185 now and my goal is 2lbs/week so I've been eating 1200 calories a day, sometimes a bit more. I do cardio (walking/jogging and elliptical) for 45 minutes 3 times a week and I eat back about half of the calories I burn that day. Where am I going wrong?

LoraF83

What is your goal weight? 2lbs a week might not be realistic - you might be better off aiming for 1lb a week. My stats are very similar to yours and I'm only losing about 0.5lbs a week right now.....weight loss slows down when you don't have as much to lose. You definitely can't expect an 8lb/week loss. That was mostly from the shock to your system. It's totally normal that it slowed down/stalled out after such an extreme number the first week.

When you exercise, your muscles retain fluid, which can mask weight loss. It's just water and it goes away after a rest day or two. In the meantime, drink plenty of fluid.
If you are exercising, 1200 calories isn't a lot. For example, I work out 3-5 days a week (depending on my schedule), I'm 5'6" and I'm eating about 2000 calories a day.

Railr0aderTony

What is your goal weight? 2lbs a week might not be realistic - you might be better off aiming for 1lb a week. My stats are very similar to yours and I'm only losing about 0.5lbs a week right now.....weight loss slows down when you don't have as much to lose. You definitely can't expect an 8lb/week loss. That was mostly from the shock to your system. It's totally normal that it slowed down/stalled out after such an extreme number the first week.

When you exercise, your muscles retain fluid, which can mask weight loss. It's just water and it goes away after a rest day or two. In the meantime, drink plenty of fluid.
If you are exercising, 1200 calories isn't a lot. For example, I work out 3-5 days a week (depending on my schedule), I'm 5'6" and I'm eating about 2000 calories a day.

^^^^ This Lady said it much better than I could have.

EllabelleMarie

My goal weight is 140 pounds. I eat back half my exercise calories, so if I burned 340 in a day, I will eat 1370 instead of 1200. Would I have better luck if I eat more? I seem to be having trouble convincing myself I need to eat more. All my life I've exercised little to no control over my eating and now I feel like I might be a bit too controlling.

onyxgirl17

I started same height as you, about 178. From personal experience if you just started exercising and hadn't before, you may be retaining water which is masking your true fat loss. Give it more time. Also, that is a lot to lose per week. A 2 lb/week loss is not sustainable at your height and weight. You should get your BMR checked and TDEE to be sure. 1000 cut from my TDEE would be ~700-800 calories a day. That's starvation.

After I didn't notice a loss for weeks I kept doing what I was doing and the weight did start coming off. Now I'm up to 26 lbs lost, yay! Add me if you like.

CamillaBeaumont

I am also 5'6" and started at 180lbs back in April. I have MFP set to lose 0.5lbs per week and have lost 32lbs so far, right now my target is 1550 calories per day and I am still losing. I also typically eat back about 1/2 my exercise calories, not always but when I'm feeling hungry in the evening. You don't have to eat only 1200 to lose weight!

pixiestick

Also, I would suggest a renewed vigilance with counting your cals. Be meticulous in measuring and weighing everything. Generally, lack of results (especially at the beginning) is because we are being dishonest to ourselves.

I would also add that you should examine what sort of cal you're eating. Sometimes eating junk can really inhibit your success.

If you are eating your exercise cals back, do not go off of the MFP calculator. Invest in a heart rater monitor (HRM) that will calculate your cals based on your specific stats (even the machines at gyms can be really off... even the ones that have heart rate readers).

With the weight you are looking to lose, you should be seeing results. However, little "fudges" here and there do add up. Hope this helps. :flowerforyou:

LoraF83

My goal weight is 140 pounds. I eat back half my exercise calories, so if I burned 340 in a day, I will eat 1370 instead of 1200. Would I have better luck if I eat more? I seem to be having trouble convincing myself I need to eat more. All my life I've exercised little to no control over my eating and now I feel like I might be a bit too controlling.

I would suggest reading this link:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

You probably can eat more, but it's hard to say unless you run your numbers. 1370 isn't a lot when you are exercising - and I can say that because I am roughly your size.....just unfortunately a few years older :laugh:

llaurenmarie

I do pretty much the EXACT same as you, even with 45mins of cardio/1200cal.

However, I RARELY eat any of my exercise calories, and I stayed steady losing.

llaurenmarie

I do pretty much the EXACT same as you, even with 45mins of cardio/1200cal.

However, I RARELY eat any of my exercise calories, and I stayed steady losing.

(Also being 5'6'' and 23 years old.. 195lbs)

LoraF83

I do pretty much the EXACT same as you, even with 45mins of cardio/1200cal.

However, I RARELY eat any of my exercise calories, and I stayed steady losing.

(Also being 5'6'' and 23 years old.. 195lbs)

No offense, but good luck with that long term. When I tried to eat below my BMR while exercising 3-5 days a week, I had some serious negative side effects - my hair fell out, I "hit a wall" during workouts, I was tired all the time, had mood swings, etc. It may be possible for awhile, but when you start to stall out and/or have some of the issues listed above, you should probably consider upping your calories or at least eating back your exercise cals.

EllabelleMarie

Thanks for all the feedback! Based on the general consensus, I am going to eat more. Going to try 1500 a day, and be patient. Considering I had very minimal muscle before I started working out, it's probably just the muscle I am building. I'll admit I also need to be more vigilant with my water intake because some days I barely drink anything at all.