No weight loss for over 3 weeks

dingle2k3

Hi Guys,

I'm starting to get slightly discouraged with the lack of weight falling off over the last few weeks.

I started this on 1 October and was at 127kg, by 10 November i was down to 120kg but since then my weight hasn't really changed, i try to weigh myself at about the same time each week but its starting to get slightly discouraging.

I'm hitting the gym 5 times a week in a morning before work, doing around an hour a day mainly cardio, and I'm logging everything i eat, consistently under my daily/weekly goal.

I know water weight can make a big difference on a daily basis, but over almost a month i thought i would see some drop in weight.

Has anyone been in a similar position or have any ideas?

fetchfury

Looking at your food diary, even though your calories are fine your not really getting a balanced diet in there. I recommend dropping all the sugary drinks your drinking and lowering your sodium intake drastically.

AnneC77

Well done for sticking to your calories, I would try and eat more fruit and veggies and eat more refined foods, like wholemeal bread instead of white and wholegrain cereals instead of Frosties and perhaps try and drink more water? Well done on your loss so far though. I know how hard it is to plateau, I do it all the time and I found out it is due to health complications, perhaps see a DR as well just to make sure everything is ok?

Jennifer_Lynn_1982

You could also try some weight lifting ......sometimes changing up your routine can start the weight loss again

bigglesinc

Well done on the 7kg lose, it might be worth recalculating your goals and see if your calorie allowance changes.

chooriyah

Are you weighing your food? Is there a possibility that you're underestimating portion sizes?

Do you have an HRM? Is there a possibility that you're overestimating your exercise burns?

When you cook, are you logging the oil, butter etc that you use?

Otherwise I think probably it's just a plateau (I have had them last 2 months before) and you will eventually see a drop. Have to be patient and just keep at it. I do also think you could increase the fruits, veggies, whole grains etc, and drop the daily Lucozade, but that's more for health than for weight loss.

nikilis

harden up. just wait a minute.

geebusuk

I still stick by calories in vs calories out.

If your weight is staying constant, it suggests that calories in = calories out over that period.

Some people seem to find success in changing those factors by eating "cleaner". Me, it's just been a case of eating less or exercising more. However, generally I would have a bit more varied diet than you - when I started out this time I was eating a few ready meals a day, but doing a lot of activity. As I got lower my activity level reduced due to what I was doing at work, but I made a point of eating more low-calorie-density foods; purely to make sure I was filled up without the calorie intake.

The figures in your diary do look decent - so, as per above, how do you measure your food and your exercise?
MFP is notorious for over-estimating calories burnt in exercise. For instance when I was a bit over 100kg I still very much doubt I'd have burnt 1000 calories with '3.5mph walking up hill' - even when me and a friend went up Mnt Tiede in Teneriefe because the cable car was down due to bad weather I doubt I was hitting that, considering how I know I feel burning 1000cal/hour.

rfsatar

If it is an option, I would gradually move away from processed food and do more cooking.
As much as you can - measure what you use and try and include everything (not always possible I know)

I would definitely try dropping the fizzy drinks if you can - If I want a bit of a lax day I'll throw in a can at the weekend, and try and drink more water (which I HATE, so it's a real force to get 4 glasses down in a day!).

Bring in some fresh veggies and fruit but well done on your losses so far.

dingle2k3

Thanks for the advice, i weigh all of my food when home cooking and tend to avoid cooking oils etc.

For calories burnt, when I'm jogging (which i started this week) i have the Nike+ app, MFP's estimation and whats on the treadmill readout , i tend to log whichever says the lowest to air on the side of caution.

I used to drink a lot of "full fat" sugary drinks, I'm trying to cut down on those, I've switched to diet versions and I'm trying to add more water by alternating the drinks.

I do feel much better in myself than i did 2 months ago, I definitely feel fitter I just didn't expect a plateau so soon.

rfsatar

If it is an option, I would gradually move away from processed food and do more cooking.
As much as you can - measure what you use and try and include everything (not always possible I know)

I would definitely try dropping the fizzy drinks if you can - If I want a bit of a lax day I'll throw in a can at the weekend, and try and drink more water (which I HATE, so it's a real force to get 4 glasses down in a day!).

Bring in some more fresh veggies and fruit but well done on your losses so far.

rfsatar

Yeah - I plateaued when I re-injured my knee because I was still trying to stick at 1200, and another thing that helped was doing a bit of research around:
Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) and Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR).
I have just reinjured my knee, but before that I had two weeks of eating between those two numbers, and a lost a pound where I had stalled for a month.
Now I am back to rehabbing for the rest of this month, I switched to maintenance which starts me JUST at the edge of my TDEE deficit... It's something you might consider to just balance what you eat a bit more, shake things up a bit and get the weight shifting down again.

But good on you for logging so honestly - a lot of people don't so be really proud of that.

Firefox7275

Switch to a diet based on real foods, almost everything you eat is processed, there is little fruits and veggies, loads of sugar and probably low in fibre. Get rid of the sports drink and eat a more substantial, wholegrain breakfast for a start. Aim for nine portions of fruits and vegetables a day, three portions of reduced fat dairy, oily fish several times a week, a small portion of protein at each meal and snack, only whole carbs, junk/ processed/ sugary foods to comprise no more than 10% of daily calories which is one small snack.

When you eat right you can do better quality workouts, recover faster, have all the nutrients associated with lower bodyfat (eg. calcium from dairy, omega-3s from oily fish) and health. Research suggests a proper breakfast will help you make better choices and naturally eat fewer calories through the rest of the day. There is no poiint in tracking sodium unless you check the entry of every food you eat because it's not on many of the listings, there is quite a bit of sodium in sweet biscuits/ cookies and breakfast cereal,

SusanDoesIt

I started to weigh myself every day a long while back because I could see the ups and downs more clearly and see what my food issues might be. Carbs are a big problem for me. I've slowly figured out the right level, and if I go over it, I gain immediately. Since I weighed every day, I could see that and change things.

During my last major plateau I also figured out that if I had allowed myself some indulgences on weekends in the form of 300-400 extra calories, while still averaging the right calories during a week, I would gain after the indulgences, then barely get the pounds off by the end of the week. Once I became more consistent with calories, my weight loss did as well. It's not always predictable, but most of the time, consistency gets me a weekly loss.

dazza_098

from looking at your fitness diary id suggest dropping some sugar and eating more healthy carbs from natural sources

Bigjayinga

Everything looks good with your diet. Have you been doing empty stomach cardio? Have you been weight training? I would try some intermedia fasting for a week or so to see if it helps. Hope this helps. You doing really good.

thecrass

Well done so far m8, try some Fruit n veg . snack on apples an plums, and drink more water or try the Zero drinks like 7up, sprite, fanta, and coke zero. if you must have the juice.
if you have loads of fruit and veg and say chicken or turkey with each meal, you would struggle to be hungry and im pretty sure your weight would shift a gear.

haroon_awan

Start weight lifting.

Doing just cardio is absolute bs and people need to learn that.

Albert Einstein's definition of "Insanity": doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. If what you're doing now isn't working then do something different.

EDIT: Seriously?
Semi skimmed milk and Frosties? Come on man, what are you 12?
Chinese buffet for lunch?
You don't eat dinner?
2L bottle of Pepsi Max?
Isotonic drinks are for athletes who do long sessions of cardio, eg footballers cyclists AND/OR weight trainers who know what they are doing, not for you I'm afraid.

Good luck man

dingle2k3

I've been doing weights in addition to the cardio, just not much maybe 15 minutes a days, doing different areas each day.

haroon_awan

15 is not good enough.

Don't do that much cardio, do weight training only for about 40 mins, 4 or 5 times a week. Alternatively do HIIT.

Ask any personal trainer and he'll tell you the same. And fix your diet too!

stuntpilot51

Increase your calories.

Looks like another good candidate for the roadmap, this has worked for many people.

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

cmcmommy

Happen to me too. It had been a month , NO LOSS! Someone said add more calories& exercise less. I was afraid to at first but withing that first week I lost 2.5 lbs . well worth the extra calories.

nonstopjamhen

Running is great, keep doing it! I feel a million times better since I started running. But make sure you're mixing it up - definitely do weights if you aren't doing any already. Personally, I like compound exercises that work lots of things at once (good time-saver).

Mostly I think it's diet though. Sugar is a killer, I'd highly recommend dropping the Lucozade in particular. It's just awful stuff. If you need a boost before working out go for something with some nutritional value. Protein powder is also high calorie for what it is, and unless you've just had a heavy weights session I'd say drop it and go for chicken or fish. Real food is always preferable to supplementation.

Get more veg too. Assuming it's not deep fried, you can't really go wrong with upping the veg.

RunningFromFat

Looking at your food diary, everything is processed. Ditch the frosties for something more natural, maybe wholemeal toast with natural peanut butter, shredded wheat or weetabix. If you like the taste, porridge is best. Change the white bap to a wholemeal one, and add some salad in to it, the chicken slices are good. Dinner looks like a decent meat and 2 veg which should be good. The diet drinks will cause you to have sugar cravings, so instead of drinking 2L every night, try cutting back gradually. So essentially, add more fruit, veg and wholegrains and cut out the processed carbs (biscuits, crisps etc) and I'm sure you will see the scale moving. Dedicate one day a week where you can eat your favourite snacks, and try to be consistently healthy throughout the week. Weight loss unfortunately isn't easy, so sometimes sacrifices have to be made. Good luck!! xx

STrooper

First, it isn't a race. Yes, we like to see progress every week and we like to see it fast, but what we like and what actually happens are two different things.

It isn't unusual to have a fairly rapid loss that meets our schedule and then suddenly have very little happen on the scales. Stop focusing on the weight.

The weight is the symptom, not the problem (and it probably did not just happen overnight).

Second,you could have some inital weight loss that is a combination of water, fat, and yes, muscle loss. But when we get active, the muscle loss will be pretty short-lived because your body is scrambling to figure out what happened. Why the change (all of a sudden) is what your body is wondering. It was in some other equilibrium and you changed that. And it may fight you to keep doing what you had been doind and maintaining that weight. Evidence suggests this is what happens with a large decrease in calorie consumption to trigger weight loss even if it is accompanied by physical activity.

Third, given your diary it could be that you are on a muscle build given how much protein you seem to be consuming. Yes, I have friends that swear by protein supplements and I know there are some studies that show that a slight increase in protein after workouts and now seemingly more importantly just before bedtime may help muscle repair and burn rates. But then again, they workout at the gym with weights on a rotation program for different muscle groups and I'm more of a cardio guy. But I can run up the 5 floors in our building and not be straining to breathe and they are huffing and puffing.

Lean.

Fourth, take a look a look at what you are drinking. Yes, I know I drink coffee. I have cut back my sugar and cream intake and have given up the flavored creamers. But I have given up carbonated drinks. Just lost my taste for them as a caffeine, phosphoric acid, carbonic acid and sweetener delivery system.

Finally, my weight loss was a relatively straight line at first but then was a series of plateaus with fairly dramatic drops after several weeks or months even though I kept doing what I was doing. Even though my weight wasn't changing (remember it is a symptom), other measures such as how my clothes fit, my physical endurance, etc. were changing. I had a one year long plateau in 2011 where I just kept going even though my weight really did not move. But my clothe sizes were...down 4 inches in pants waist size, down another inch in neck size, moving from a L/XL size (depending upon which piece of clothing we are talking about) to the point where L was really too large.

This year was the final drop with a very small adjustment in physical activity and adjustment of food intake.

Dauntlessness

Tough love time.

Lose the soda.

Stop eating soo much processed food. Its not just about calories, its about what you eat too.

I'm guessing your sodium is really high too with the type of food your eating which causes weight to stay on or lots o water weight

Stop eating fast food and limit your take out to once or twice a week.

Limit your cal consumption. Your diary seems kind of high. What is your tdee? That's what I use at my goal so at the end of the week I can see how "in the green" I am and how much I should have lost. Again, a calorie is not just a calorie but the rule of thumb is you should be -3500 calories to lose 1lb of fat.

Get an HRM to be accurate in your exercise. MFP and machines are usually off.

Hope that helps

FitForLife81

Yup get a HRM I bet you are overestimating your calorie burn!

tigger3498

Start weight lifting.

Doing just cardio is absolute bs and people need to learn that.

Albert Einstein's definition of "Insanity": doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. If what you're doing now isn't working then do something different.

EDIT: Seriously?
Semi skimmed milk and Frosties? Come on man, what are you 12?
Chinese buffet for lunch?
You don't eat dinner?
2L bottle of Pepsi Max?
Isotonic drinks are for athletes who do long sessions of cardio, eg footballers cyclists AND/OR weight trainers who know what they are doing, not for you I'm afraid.

Good luck man

Love this.... I do very little cardio, eat clean and strength train 4 days/wk. I eat 6 times per day and am dropping 1-2 lbs per week. Diet is 90%

beccamh

It's possible you are adding muscle and losing fat, which would keep your weight about the same. Take measurements!

tigger3498

Actually, your diet is horrible and 15 min of strength training doesn't add anything.....It takes very little time to set up a weeks worth of good, clean food. I do it every week and portion it into containers. Greens especially, work wonders. You are eating so much sodium and preservatives and way too much protein versus little strength training. Oats, eggs, egg whites, natural nut butters, protein pancakes.muffins, these types of foods will fuel you at breakfast. Grilled lean meats, veggies, greens, fruit....I would absolutely lose those sports drinks! If cooking is an issue, why not some tuna, packaged salads, etc.

rousehouse

I took a look at your food diary, and I have some suggestions. I hesitate to critique anyone's habits and diary, but since you asked here are my thoughts. I suspect you are over-estimating your calories burned at the gym. I read your comment about how you estimate the calories burned, but I suspect something is off in the calculations. Unless you are working for 1.5-2 hours, I doubt you are burning 900-1100 calories.

Some other thoughts:
- I noticed that you drink a lot of diet soda. I used to do that too and I didn't lose any serious weight until I stopped.
- I would suggest more water, fruits and vegetables and see if you notice a difference.

Again, I hesitate to comment on anyone's diary, please do not take any offense. Good luck!