Why am I not losing weight??

Hi,
I started using MFP about a month ago. Before MFP I had horrible eating habits. One day I'd eat everything and the next day I'd eat nothing to "balance" things out. I'd lose two pounds and gain two pounds like every other day it was horrible. MFP has been great since I've been eating like a normal person meaning eating consistently thrughout the day and not punishing myself for eating foods like pizza or chocolate because I have been staying within my daily calories more or less. If I've gone over it's been by maybe 100 calories at most. I've only lost like half a pound though and it's been one month. I'm sure I haven't been eating enough vegetables and not drinking enough water. Could that be why? I'm also pretty active I workout 3 times a week and have dogs that I am constantly walking. Any thoughts anyone?
Thanks

So you were not exercising before, but now you are.
Exercise is asking the body to make improvements that may not include weight loss, actually gain.

So that's one way to be losing fat but not scale weight.

The other reason is you are not correct on amount of calories being eaten.

I'm guessing you've selected 2lb weekly loss, so deficit of 1000 daily.

So that would have to be some terrible estimation of food eaten to miss 1000 calories, but it is possible.

If you are correctly eating back the true workout calories, those could be overestimated too, so eating back more. But again - huge gap to overcome in in accuracy.

Slight combo.

Combined with, many have a metabolic slowdown because of the shock to your body going from one extreme to the other.

Did you select activity level of Lightly Active, since you walk the dogs daily. You should, then don't log dog walking. Only true workouts. And eat those back correctly so you have the original deficit of 1000 still in place.

I would suggest opening your food diary to your friends and asking for some advice

Also try using measurements of your hips, waist, chest, etc. and see if they change.

I'm interested in seeing all the responses ...I'm having this problem too and was suspecting it was due to increased muscle mass . I try to weigh only every two weeks .

I'm interested in seeing all the responses ...I'm having this problem too and was suspecting it was due to increased muscle mass . I try to weigh only every two weeks .

If you are eating at a big deficit, and not doing heavy lifting at least 3 x a week and not eating enough protein, you haven't gained any muscle mass, you have lost it.

You may have gained glucose stores for doing lots of cardio, 500 cal's worth of glucose/water weigh 1 lb. But you can only pack away about 3-4 lbs of that, it doesn't keep increasing unless you train correctly.

But besides burning away muscle (most studies show 25% with big deficit diet and no lifting/increase in protein), you may also have slowed your metabolism down beyond what less muscle would cause.

We can eat the healthiest of foods but if our bodies have a sensitivity to it, then you WON'T lose weight. Some of the biggest offenders: wheat/grains, corn (technically a grain and not a vegetable), soy, milk.

The body needs protein to heal and repair, and it needs good fats. You need to make sure you are getting plenty of these. Then, lots of fruits and veggies. The more whole foods you eat, the better it would be for you (and everyone else for that matter).

Also, if one has a lot of toxins in the body that can affect weight loss. You may want to start out by doing some sort of cleanse or fast (but under the guidance of a nutrition practitioner).

DRINK WATER!! Alot of it. And and have you checked what your bmr and tdee are? How are your macros set up, are they set to around 40-30-30% ? All these things have a role in your weight loss

I'm interested in seeing all the responses ...I'm having this problem too and was suspecting it was due to increased muscle mass . I try to weigh only every two weeks .

If you are eating at a big deficit, and not doing heavy lifting at least 3 x a week and not eating enough protein, you haven't gained any muscle mass, you have lost it.

You may have gained glucose stores for doing lots of cardio, 500 cal's worth of glucose/water weigh 1 lb. But you can only pack away about 3-4 lbs of that, it doesn't keep increasing unless you train correctly.

But besides burning away muscle (most studies show 25% with big deficit diet and no lifting/increase in protein), you may also have slowed your metabolism down beyond what less muscle would cause.

I work out with a trainer 2x a week and the majority of our focus is lifting . I also have work conditioning 3x per week focus is strength training . I do 30- 60 min of cardio on the days I'm not with my trainer. I've been watching my protein intake to make sure I'm consuming enough and I only eat back about half my exercise calories when I do. I am only set to lose 1 lb a week not 2 lb. so I should have a huge deficit .

Shouldn't not should

We can eat the healthiest of foods but if our bodies have a sensitivity to it, then you WON'T lose weight. Some of the biggest offenders: wheat/grains, corn (technically a grain and not a vegetable), soy, milk.

The body needs protein to heal and repair, and it needs good fats. You need to make sure you are getting plenty of these. Then, lots of fruits and veggies. The more whole foods you eat, the better it would be for you (and everyone else for that matter).

Also, if one has a lot of toxins in the body that can affect weight loss. You may want to start out by doing some sort of cleanse or fast (but under the guidance of a nutrition practitioner).

I agree with eating the right foods...but lots of fruits= lots of sugar, even if natural its too much..and veggie calories also count.
Eat real foods, not fat free or low fat etc.. real foods. Good luck.

I work out with a trainer 2x a week and the majority of our focus is lifting . I also have work conditioning 3x per week focus is strength training . I do 30- 60 min of cardio on the days I'm not with my trainer. I've been watching my protein intake to make sure I'm consuming enough and I only eat back about half my exercise calories when I do. I am only set to lose 1 lb a week not 2 lb. so I should have a huge deficit .

Shouldn't not should

Excellent. May be able to gain about 1lb a month while losing fat and weight if really putting a heavy load on the muscles. Only way they get bigger. They can get stronger though even without getting bigger.

The way to tell if you have a huge deficit though, is your daily goal less than your BMR? Read the definition there.
MFP - Tools - BMR Calc

If your body isn't left with the calories it would like to burn on just the basic functions of life, it won't have any extra to make muscle. In fact it could be hard pressed to take care of much else outside basic metabolic functions, so even good recovery might be iffy.

My daily goal is set to for my BMR and light activity ( I'm an aircraft mechanic and have a active job) . I m very reluctant to go below my BMR . I think it's asking for trouble ...my primary goal isn't to lose weight . It's actually to reduce anxiety , however it would be nice to lose the excess lbs. I feel really good and I have lost some inches but not a significant amount and I'm have a lot of positive NSV's such as 95% reduction in my anxiety symptoms . I started this in the end of June .. And I'm ready to do some fine tuning in the food department . Thanks for your advice!

i think the 1200 calories a day is generic. what if your body isn't burning that? the only way to really lose weight is to know what your body expend and know exactly what you're putting in (food wise). Calories in / Calories out..... good luck with that. i used the body bugg for awhile and that's when i found out my calories expenditure at that time. it was pretty low. so make sure you exercise and get moving.

Don't get discouraged especially with the fitness portion. Many people when they make the change to a fitness lifestyle initially gain weight, it's not uncommon. They get discouraged because they don't understand what's happening inside the body. Initially the muscles will absorb water to begin the repairing process and this many times explains the weight gain. A few suggestions:

1- When measuring don't go by weight first, this can be misleading and can be stressful. I would measure by body fat% and lean body mass, you should lose body fat and keep your LBM, this will results in inches going down but sometimes no weight loss and it's normal. Also take measurements of yourself as well as pictures (once a month on the pics) also see how clothing fits this is always a good way to see if you're really making an impact on body fat.
2- Stick with your fitness program at least for 21days to start seeing results, many people get discouraged after week 1. Rome wasn't built in one day so patience is "KEY" remain calm and give it time to work
3- Hydrate, this is important you must drink enough water. The number differs by person but this is key to get your metabolism going. Something that really helps people is chugging 16oz of water first thing in the morning (if you're weighing in do it after)
4- Nutrition - probably the most important factor, many and I mean many get this wrong. The belief is that if you eat less you will lose, and yes you will lose but not much body fat. Three things you should know before planning your nutrition plan:
a- Body fat%
b- BMR - never eat below this
c- TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure or BMR+DAC) this is probably a very important number. Once you know your TDEE I would suggest eating a deficit of 20% below this number, this is moderate and can provide body fat loss. People experiment with different numbers so I would suggest experimenting with the number also.
I originally ate 1000 cals under my TDEE and it worked for a few months but then stopped so I reassessed my TDEE and am currently at 25% of a deficit from it and it's working for it.

Remember TDEE and BMR change as your body changes so I would suggest regularly adjusting these numbers.
It's a lot to digest but this is a good start.

Wish you the best of luck and feel free to add me. A lot of this I have learned here and outside sources.

I had the same issue. I added 100 more calories a day and added in more protein and less carbs. It's coming off now.

Lorisara75 wrote: »

Hi,
I started using MFP about a month ago. Before MFP I had horrible eating habits. One day I'd eat everything and the next day I'd eat nothing to "balance" things out. I'd lose two pounds and gain two pounds like every other day it was horrible. MFP has been great since I've been eating like a normal person meaning eating consistently thrughout the day and not punishing myself for eating foods like pizza or chocolate because I have been staying within my daily calories more or less. If I've gone over it's been by maybe 100 calories at most. I've only lost like half a pound though and it's been one month. I'm sure I haven't been eating enough vegetables and not drinking enough water. Could that be why? I'm also pretty active I workout 3 times a week and have dogs that I am constantly walking. Any thoughts anyone?
Thanks