How can i lose body fat???

WillBeSlimSarah
WillBeSlimSarah Posts: 15
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been going to the gym for about 6 weeks about 3 times a week for around 55 minutes. Ive done general cardio eg 10 minutes rowing, 15 minutes cycling, 10 minutes jogging 10 mins cross trainer and a few machine weights.

The past week I have been to gym every day as i am now trying to do 6 days a week but i have started running more up to 40 minutes and then maybe doing 15 mins cycling then weights. I have also cut out junk food, crisps, chips, biscuits, sweets etc, cut down on sugar in coffee and introduced protein shakes into my daily calories to make sure i have plenty of protein.

However I have not lost any weight yet and getting very frustrated. Can anyone tell me where im going wrong? Im 28, female, 143lbs 5ft 5 in height and my body fat is 27.9.

Any advice appreciated.
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Replies

  • RonnieBigGunz
    RonnieBigGunz Posts: 52
    Are you logging all of your intake to ensure you are in a calorie deficit? Weighing and measuring portions?

    Your weight on the scale doesn't tell the whole story. It can vary a lot depending on hydration levels, digestive tract contents, and other factors. I recently went almost three weeks without losing a lb, then dropped 3 lbs in one day. Just keep at it.
  • WillBeSlimSarah
    WillBeSlimSarah Posts: 15
    Yes i am eating 1200 cals a day and logging everything including drinks. Im also not sure if im meant to eat the calories i burn at gym to make my intake back up to 1200 or be in even more deficit. I read that your meant to eat them back so body doesnt go into starvation mode???

    Thanks, i will definitely stick at it!
  • lin7604
    lin7604 Posts: 2,951 Member
    yes make sure you are eating your cals back or at least half of them..... you are burning lots by the sound of it...
  • vmerie
    vmerie Posts: 36
    Definitely sounds like you are not eating enough with the amount of exercise you are doing.
  • WillBeSlimSarah
    WillBeSlimSarah Posts: 15
    Do you think i should put my calories up? Its MFP that has set me at 1200.
  • wolfpack77
    wolfpack77 Posts: 655
    You need to eat more.
  • Vansy
    Vansy Posts: 419 Member
    I imagine your BMR alone is higher than 1200...and you're exercising an hour a day on top of that. You should probably be eating more calories.
  • wolfpack77
    wolfpack77 Posts: 655
    Your BMR is 1450. Fat loss calories are probably around 1750.

    Oh, and you dont need to exercise 6 days a week.
  • WillBeSlimSarah
    WillBeSlimSarah Posts: 15
    Thank you everyone! I will put my cals up and hopefully the body fat will start to come off in the near future :-)
  • LisaWilson2012
    LisaWilson2012 Posts: 118 Member
    Based on your height of 5'5" and your weight of 143ib (or 10st 2lb) you may not need to lose any. Although you say your bmi is 27 ish, it may be a case of just improving your tone and trimming up a little bit. You're certainly not overweight. You look just perfect in your picture...
  • kgprice11
    kgprice11 Posts: 749 Member
    Run and swim and repeat haha stay active
  • WillBeSlimSarah
    WillBeSlimSarah Posts: 15
    Based on your height of 5'5" and your weight of 143ib (or 10st 2lb) you may not need to lose any. Although you say your bmi is 27 ish, it may be a case of just improving your tone and trimming up a little bit. You're certainly not overweight. You look just perfect in your picture...

    Thank you that is so kind! To be honest I really just want to lose about a stone and then just tone up lots (on my bottom half mainly)
  • Tilran
    Tilran Posts: 627 Member
    Toning will come from weights and resistance excersises...stick to those if you are looking to shape your body rather then drop weight.
  • LisaWilson2012
    LisaWilson2012 Posts: 118 Member
    Based on your height of 5'5" and your weight of 143ib (or 10st 2lb) you may not need to lose any. Although you say your bmi is 27 ish, it may be a case of just improving your tone and trimming up a little bit. You're certainly not overweight. You look just perfect in your picture...

    Thank you that is so kind! To be honest I really just want to lose about a stone and then just tone up lots (on my bottom half mainly)

    9 stone at 5'5"...? You'll look quite thin. I'm the same height and I'd never look right just above 9 stone. Still, I'm quite thick boned so I'm told. I know what you mean about toning though. It's tough but stick at it...
  • askin74
    askin74 Posts: 7 Member
    I was the same as you, went to the gym nearly everyday for a year doing lots of cardio with the result of no weight loss and lots of wobbley flabby bits, although I did feel fitter. After reading other messages on this forum I decided to try the Jillian Michaels dvd's, I bought 30 day shred to start with and did this strickly for 6 days a week for 30 days, and wow the flab fell off - I noticed a difference within 2 weeks. I now have all of her dvd's which I try to rotate (30 day shred & ripped in 30 are good ones to start with - they are 20 minutes intense work outs (35 in total with warm up and cool down))
    I also did some research on HIIT training and incorporated this in with the cardio I was doing esp on the bike and treadmill. I found this really effective also, instead of doing an hour of steady excercise - change it to 20 minutes of intense intervals.
    I am by no means an expert but this has worked for me - I haven't dropped loads of weight maybe half a stone, but I have lost inches and lots of them. I was a UK dress size 10-12 (esp on the bottom area!) and now I am a size 8!
    I think it is about finding out what works for you and trying it.
    Good luck
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    1200 calories is pretty slim to support that kind of activity. Here's an article you may be interested in reading:

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html
  • LiamGTR
    LiamGTR Posts: 20 Member
    Start lifting more, and heavier weight.

    Hundreds of women don't want to do it, but those that do look amazing (Jessica Ennis) and women who don't lift want to look like women that do, but without lifting themselves. Aint gonna happen.
  • littlejobo120
    littlejobo120 Posts: 72 Member
    Hi. I agree that you are not eating enough. The link below will take you to a reply (first reply) on a thread I wrote the other week, which explains about BMR and TDEE. It has helped some people already and I think it might apply in your situation.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/692123-feedback-on-my-diary-please-please-please

    Please feel free to add me if you like. The same goes for anyone else.

    Good luck!
  • WillBeSlimSarah
    WillBeSlimSarah Posts: 15
    Thank you so much to everyone for your advice. I have put my calories up to 15 but I burned about 500 off yesterday do ended up eating 1700+. Definitely feeling better for it. And I have never heard of the 30 day shred thing but I will look it up now. And thanks for the articles I will definitely go and have a read of them both now xxx
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    You are losing body fat. You have to be, because you must be adding muscle with all that exercise.

    Muscle is denser than fat, so when you burn fat and build muscle, you may weigh more, but you'll be thinner.

    If you're logging your exercise and food accurately and eating no more than you should, your fat really is going away. Just not your weight.
  • JustMichelleB
    JustMichelleB Posts: 290
    Less cardio, more weight training.
  • lynz4589
    lynz4589 Posts: 389 Member
    although I weigh ALOT more than you I exercise the exact same amount of time as you per week. My basic cal intake sits at 1350 (yes MFP has me at 1200 but you can self adjust to whatever number you want) and the extra 150 cals which is basically an extra snack makes all the difference!

    I've only just started the new gym routine of going 5 times a week as of 2 weeks ago and on Monday I had officially lost 7lbs! Again as I said I have ALOT more weight to lose than you so the first week of a new routine I always drop a good amount but it certainly works anyway. Im not one to purposely eat back my exercise cals but they are there if I need them, I work on the idea now of eating when Im hungry rather than eating at a set time, it works for me.
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
    Creating too large of a deficit through calorie restriction and insane amounts of cardio will yield very discouraging results and won't get the physique you desire. Try a more moderate deficit instead (15% to 25% below maintenance) and focus on resistance training rather than cardio.
  • georgeaj2000
    georgeaj2000 Posts: 9 Member
    Personally if you're trying to lose weight, then don't eat the calories you've earned, there will be a greater deficit that way. Also unless you have some pretty accurate equipment at measuring your exersion levels you may be over estimating how hard you're working - it's human nature to under-estimate what we eat and over-estimate how hard we exercise and that can be the difference between losing weight or not.

    If you are accurately tracking all your food and you are eating the number of calories that MFP has set you to lose weight at a steady rate then you should lose. If after three weeks you haven't get yourself checked out by a doctor as there may be an underlying reason why you're not losing.
  • WillBeSlimSarah
    WillBeSlimSarah Posts: 15
    I'm loving all the advice and feedback! Definitely taking it all on board. Thank you so much xxx
  • kalynn06
    kalynn06 Posts: 368 Member
    We're the same height, and I started at 142. I probably work out 4-6 days per week and eat over 1200 calories, probably 1400-1800 and have cheat days. I'm down 13 total lbs so far (to 129). I'd definitely think you's need to more, so I hope upping your calories eventually works for you. I lost the most scale lbs by doing cardio and light strength and cutting calories. I've seen the most visual changes when lifting heavier weights. Best of Luck!
  • WillBeSlimSarah
    WillBeSlimSarah Posts: 15
    We're the same height, and I started at 142. I probably work out 4-6 days per week and eat over 1200 calories, probably 1400-1800 and have cheat days. I'm down 13 total lbs so far (to 129). I'd definitely think you's need to more, so I hope upping your calories eventually works for you. I lost the most scale lbs by doing cardio and light strength and cutting calories. I've seen the most visual changes when lifting heavier weights. Best of Luck!

    Thank you its good to see someone in my position has lost weight! I have put my calories up to 1500 but generally have up to 1700 when ive exercised. on my scales at home they said i had lost 2lbs this morning but im going to wait a few days and get weighed on the scales at the gym to make sure :-) x
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    you are probably eating too little and your body is holding on to the body fat.

    http://www.quickbmr.com/what-is-tdee.html

    go here to find out your tdee (total daily energy expenditure) and that'll help you find your BMR (basal metobolic rate). BMR is what you would need to consume, at MINIMUM, if your body were just laying in bed all day.

    you should be eating in between you TDEE and BMR. unfortunatly some people get confused and eat below their BMR, which causes their weight lose to suffer.

    also, read this for a good article on body fat percentage. http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2012/07/02/body-fat-percentage/
  • mlegosz
    mlegosz Posts: 74 Member
    I recommend taking measurements of yourself rather than focusing on weight alone. If you're working out hard, you'll be building muscle which will look on the scales like you're not losing [much] weight, when in truth you're burning fat and adding muscle.
  • paulsmisses
    paulsmisses Posts: 178
    Do you think i should put my calories up? Its MFP that has set me at 1200.

    i am 27 and have been experiencing pains in my chest, been at 1200 calories for 3 months now. went to doc and told him about diet etc and he was horrified at me eating 1200 cals said i should never go below 1600 and ideally be at my bmr which is 1710, said by eating 1200 cals your body doesnt have enough to function and can be causing all sorts of problems internally with muscle that protects organs etc. so as of monday i am strictly 1710 cals a day. chest pains was acid reflux but still got a fright!

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