What's going on???

MirandaKeeler
MirandaKeeler Posts: 23 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Okay, so... I'm getting very discouraged right now. I've been working out for an hour five days a week, and eating way better than I used to- lots of fruits and veggies, almost no processed fatty foods. This has been going on for three weeks, and I haven't lost a single pound. I know everyone says "It takes time", or "you're building muscle mass", but after three weeks, you'd assume I'd lose at least one pound, and I measure my body fat everyday, it's not going anywhere, it's not muscle... what am I doing wrong?

Replies

  • fourgotten
    fourgotten Posts: 4
    Don't measure your body fat every day... or weigh yourself... take a week off of it, stick to your dietary plan, and then come back and see what happens. Are you weighing yourself at the same time of day every time?
    There are so many variables and different people's bodies react differently to a change in lifestyle. If you're honestly logging everything that you're eating AND you're expending more energy than you're taking in, you WILL burn off the stored energy (fat).
  • smokinjackd
    smokinjackd Posts: 341
    Can't hazard a guess without seeing your diary
  • LayneMorris
    LayneMorris Posts: 9
    It's hard to say without knowing specifics, if you are anything like me its just really hard to lose weight. I have to fight for every pound, and if I slack off even for a little while it can destroy all my hard work.
  • simonlcube
    simonlcube Posts: 73 Member
    How accurately are you tracking food?

    What exercise are you doing?

    If you make your diary public people can offer better suggestions.
  • TonyStark30
    TonyStark30 Posts: 497 Member
    You're still eating too much to lose weight, that's it No mystery.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    you are probably over estimating your burned calories, and under estimating your intake calories, and you are probably eating too much sodium.
  • Bubbles5360
    Bubbles5360 Posts: 5
    and you could be retaining water
  • marycmeadows
    marycmeadows Posts: 1,691 Member
    You're not building muscle that fast..... period.

    have you measured inches?

    and it's very possible you're not eating enough, not eating the right food, not hydrating enough, or not burning as many calories as you THINK you are.
  • charl_hcafc
    charl_hcafc Posts: 50
    Not entirely sure why you wouldn't be seeing some sort of difference by now, but Captain_Apollo might be right in what he is saying about underestimating food and overestimating exercise.
    My advice to you would be to weigh yourself/calculate your body fat much less often than you are doing. If you are doing this daily then you probably aren't going to notice any change.. perhaps if you did it once a week or fortnight you may see gradual change.
  • MirandaKeeler
    MirandaKeeler Posts: 23 Member
    I appreciate all the feedback. Thank you to everyone.
    I just started this yesterday, so I'm not sure how to make my diary public or anything like that.
  • Graceious1
    Graceious1 Posts: 716 Member
    I appreciate all the feedback. Thank you to everyone.
    I just started this yesterday, so I'm not sure how to make my diary public or anything like that.

    Welcome. If you go into settings then into Diary settings you will be able to change it there. All the best and we are all here to encourage each other.
  • rose313
    rose313 Posts: 1,146 Member
    The advice already given is good, but I'd like to add portion sizes. Make sure you are logging everything accurately, including exercise. MFP tends to overestimate exercise calories burned.
  • mom2handh1975
    mom2handh1975 Posts: 224 Member
    Making your diary public is pretty easy. You got instructions just a couple of posts up. When I first started, I measured everything I could, but I couldn't "measure" my meat portions. I just estimated them. I lost next to NO weight. Frustrated, I bought a digital food scale ($20). I also got a heart rate monitor to help me more accurately measure my calorie burn during workouts. I know there's a lot of debate on here about using a HRM, but it's working great for me. Ever since, I have been losing steadily. I have never used so many measuring cups & spoons in my life, but it's totally worth it! Good luck and keep at it!
  • janewhite2627
    janewhite2627 Posts: 7 Member
    I had this exact thing happen to me recently so I feel qualified to speak on this. I carefully tracked every bite I put in my mouth as well as every bit of exercise. I believe I was doing everything perfectly. After 5 weeks, I had actually gained a pound! I was fit to be tied and exhausted from all the work. I went to a wellness clinic near my home and showed them my diary. There was a computer there and I logged in and showed them. The nutritionist said, "Oh well you have everything right except you are eating way too many carbs in a day!" I was like, no way.... but wait .... there it was plain as day, I was eating lots of carbs. I reduced them and immediately started seeing some pounds go. However, it was still very slow. I really started examining what else it could be and looked into how I am taking my thyroid med and wondering if I was taking it incorrectly. I was taking it with a multivitamin and a few supplements in the morning. Turns out that multivitamin was interfering with the the thyroid pill absorbtion and I needed to change the way I take that. Now I take the thyroid med alone and 4 hours before taking the multivitamin and supplement. I changed this two weeks ago and now have lost 8 pounds in the two weeks. So, I say don't give up but re-examine how you are doing things and maybe you'll find something too! If you read my blog, you'll see all that I have gone through just to get things moving! Don't give up!
  • MirandaKeeler
    MirandaKeeler Posts: 23 Member
    Wow! That's such good motivation for me. I don't have medical insurance, though, so I can't go to a doctor/dietitian. (That's why I posted this topic) But, thank you for your encouragement! I appreciate it!
  • Nerdy_Rose
    Nerdy_Rose Posts: 1,277 Member
    Track your food. It's very easy to underestimate the number of calories you're consuming. I actually gained 25 lbs while exercising every day because of poor eating habits, and nothing started changing until I started logging every single thing I put in my mouth.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    Your diary is open now (yay!) and there are no entries prior to today! Tracking your food, and tracking it accurately, is very important, and was extremely eye-opening for me. I thought I ate pretty well - I cook at home, make a lot of things from scratch not a whole lot of junk food - but once I started logging what I ate, I realized how many carbs, how much bad fat, and how little protein I was eating on a daily basis.

    Logging your foods helps keep you in check, not just in amount of calories, but for those other things as well. It makes a big difference. It seems tedious at first, but as you start logging, it keeps things you've already logged on a list so its easy to find again. And once you get a better view of what you're eating on a daily basis, you can start to adjust and make better food choices as you go. I've changed a LOT of my eating habits over the past year!
  • jennfisher13
    jennfisher13 Posts: 50 Member
    Don't get discouraged!!! I worked out for 2 hours a night for 6 months straight while I was deployed. I avoided the scale the entire 6 months because I wanted to be super surprised with all of my progress at the end of the tour. The last week I kicked off my shoes and was so excited to jump on that scale KNOWING I had lost a ton!!!!! Nope not a single pound... BUT I lost 2 inches off my waist and 2.5 off of my hips. My monthly pictures SHOWED the huge amount of progress. My suggestion is don't get caught up in the numbers on the scale. Eat right and work out.... I have finally stopped even getting on the scale and rely solely on my pics and measurements because the disappointment of that weigh in almost killed me. It made me feel like I had busted my @$$ for nothing. THANK GOD for progress pics and measurements or I would have jumped off the healthy lifestyle wagon.
  • pg3ibew
    pg3ibew Posts: 1,026 Member
    Mathematics is your friend. Use it properly to calculate your calories and workouts. This includes measuring cups and food scales.
  • simonlcube
    simonlcube Posts: 73 Member
    Ok I've looked at your diary now that it is public. My recommendation is to track ALL your food and drink for a week. Even if it is a drag, try to measure as much as you can. Do it for a week and see how that helps you better work out what is going on. Good luck with getting down to a weight you are happy with, and post again if you have more questions.

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