Advice!! Clean eating--not losing inches!

shannana

Hi everyone,

I'm fairly new to this message board portion of MFP, but I've been a faithful food/exercise logger for quite a while now! I'm frustrated--I've been eating clean for years (salads, no gluten products, dairy-free, fruit all the time) and since January, I've been the cleanest ever: quinoa, greek yogurt, kale, fruit and nuts, with fish, chicken, tofu and beef every few days. I'm gluten-intolerant and lactose-intolerant, so those aren't coming back.

I'm doing P90X most days (sub cardio running or yoga when I'm too lazy to do push-ups for an hour straight.)

However, even though I feel healthy, my inches have hardly budged! My weight numbers have gone down gradually, but not significantly since December. I am technically closer to my goal weight, but I'm pretty sure my thighs have grown, I'm just as jiggly in all the same places, and I'm no closer to uncovering the muscles that I've been building these months.

I stuck to 1,200 cal/day for most of the last month, and under 1,500 January-April. I've read around that I should be eating more, so I upped it to 1,300, but it made me gain weight! Nothing is working. I'm already taking thyroid medication, so that is under control, and I sleep 8 hours a night, drink 2 liters of water a day, and am less stressed than I've ever been in my life.

Helo!

Age: 22
Height: 5'8
Weight: 130

Calories: 1,200-1,300
Exercise: P90X lean

annasor70

It sounds like your body is at its optimal weight for your height! You are fit and healthy. What is your goal weight?
According to all weight calculators for a 5 foot 8 woman you weigh in on the low end!
It sounds liek you shoudl be worrying less about actual numbers on the scales (which are fantastic) and about measurements..how are your measurements?

laele75

First of all, you're not even eating your BMR, which is 1467 calories per day. That's just not good. That's the amount of calories you need to lay in bed all day and live. Especially doing intensive cardio like that, you're basically burning up everything you eat.

Second of all, your BMI is 19. Which is the middle ground of healthy. If you gained weight by eating more, then you probably were gaining muscle, which weighs more than fat.

Since you're not getting anywhere, your body is most likely hanging onto every calorie it can get because you're starving yourself. You won't make any progress period and could possibly be doing damage to your body if you continue like this.

shannana

Hi guys,

Thank you so much for your responses and encouraging words. I've tried raising my caloric intake to between 1,400-1,500 a day for the past week. I've gained half an inch on my waist, I feel bloated and overstuffed, and I haven't lost any pounds. What am I doing wrong?? I know that I need more cardio...

herblackwings39

Are you eating your exercise calories? Have you considered weight training instead of more cardio? If you're already at the low end of healthy for your height you might consider adding weights instead of more cardio.

laele75

It's been a week since you made the changes. Your body needs four to six weeks to adjust to the changes. Until that much time has passed, you can't know if the changes are helping or not.

BeachIron

Your current weight is fine. If you want to change your body composition then start lifting weights and make sure your protein intake is about 1 gram per pound of lean body mass and that you're getting about .35 grams of fat per pound of body weight. Then be patient.