sticking to 1300 calories, but not losing!

lbwinick

I am truly sticking to my calorie limit, I am in week 7 of P90X and the scale is not moving (up a pound/down a pound!) Yes, I am losing inches. I have lost 3 in my waist. I think I have lost 8 inches all over so far. I am definitely seeing a difference in my clothes, but am very frustrated that the scale is not moving. I have about 11 pounds to lose. Any suggestions??

:flowerforyou:

FitJoani

you probably ARE losing wieght but also in return gaining muscle. OR on the flip side u may not be putting enough calories in

questionablemethods

So are you also eating your exercise calories or just the 1300? If it is JUST the 1300 without exercise calories, my first instinct is that you might need to eat more. P90X is an intense program and your body might be holding onto fat for dear life if it is afraid that you are in "crisis" (lots of stress from exercise and highly restricted intake). In my opinion, it is especially important to not restrict calories too much when you only have a small amount to lose, like yourself. Think about bumping up your intake to 1400-1600 or eat your exercise calories back if you aren't already doing that.

fitchic_76

The scale is not all it is cracked up to be. If you are losing inches then you are losing with an exchange of fat for muscle. Fat takes up more space than muscle so essentially you can weigh the same and be smaller. If you lose a pound of fat, but gain a pound of muscle then you wont lose any weight. However, for every pound of muscle gained, that is 50 calories a day that your body is burning in a sitting mode.

snowsflake

I would say that you should bump up your calories to match your workout by about 150-200 in the form of protein and veggies/fruit. I did a boot camp a couple of months ago and was frustrated that I wasn't losing. I upped my calorie intake a bit and dropped 5 pounds right away. I ended up losing a ton of inches but the scale didn't move much. I felt better though because my clothes were fitting me oh so good! Good luck!

lbwinick

thanks! I really haven't been adding in my exercise calories. I am going to start doing that today and hopefully see a difference!

questionablemethods

thanks! I really haven't been adding in my exercise calories. I am going to start doing that today and hopefully see a difference!

The other big piece of the puzzle is to make sure that the majority of the calories that you are getting are high quality foods. I will be the first to admit that I like my share of sweets and I usually have at least a cookie every day, but I try to make sure that 80-90% of what I eat is good, "clean" (unprocessed) sources of lean protein, vegetables, whole grains, low fat dairy, etc. I find that a 40/30/30 (carbs/fat/protein) ratio works well for me, but sometimes I need more carbohydrates when I workout harder. Basically, be sure you are getting a good balance of high-quality, unprocessed foods. I think the P90X nutrition guide has some great examples, if I remember right.

Best of luck! Let us know how it goes!