NOT LOSING in over a month...HELP!!

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workoutqueen628
workoutqueen628 Posts: 220
in Health and Weight Loss
So, I don't have that much weight to lose. Probably 3-5 lbs. I easily took off 3 lbs, but since then I have lost nothing!!! It is really frustrating. I feel like I have tried everything. I have upped my calories from 1200 to around 1400-1500, and that didn't seem to work. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I eat healthy, exercise everyday (I am a very active person and love to run, go to spin class, kickboxing, pilates, etc.). I typically burn around 500 calories everyday from exercise. Am i working too hard in the gym? Upping my calories is enough food for me and usually don't eat my exercise calories, sometimes maybe half at most. And I am a college student so I am always walking and on the move. I thought the weight would just peel off!! :( Any tips, advice?!

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  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    Do you eat all or most of your exercise calories? If not then you should start.

    If you are keep in mind that when logging exercise calories that you should minus off the calories you would have burned during that time anyway. As an example say you do cardio for 30 minutes and burn 300 calories, during that 30 minutes you would have burned say 2 calories per minute so a total of 60. the amount you should enter into MFP would be 240 (300-60). Good luck.

    You may also want to increase the amount of resistance training you do, as you didn't mention this as part of your exercise routine. Also try reducing your goal to loose 1/2 pound per week since you don't have much to go this will be very realistic.
  • mschwengels
    mschwengels Posts: 1
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    Make sure you are drinking your 8 glasses of water everyday or more since you are working out. You won't lose without the proper amount of water:)
  • sonjavon
    sonjavon Posts: 1,019 Member
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    Are you tracking your sodium? Drinking all your water? I'd honestly try eating more of your exercise calories for a week or two and see what happens. And from everything I've read - that last 3-5 pounds can really be hard to budge. Just focus on how good it feels to be healthy and you'll drop it in time.
  • Ahaverland
    Ahaverland Posts: 24
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    Your body is probably comfortable where it is it, 2lbs is really not that much to fuss over, once the body reaches a weight it is comfortable with, dropping additional fat becomes very difficult because you are fighting your bodys urge to stay at what it feels is a 'healthy' weight, my suggestion is to work on your inner self, learn to be happy with where you are at, 2lbs should not break your spirit or your feeling of sucess, good luck!
  • jarce1408
    jarce1408 Posts: 5
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    Beacause of my profession, I have access to a professional-grade Body Composition Analyzer where I can look at client's fat free mass (muscle, water weight, etc), body fat percentage, and water weight.
    Unless you have access to equipment like this, you may have been gaining muscle and / or retaining water.
    Stop focusing on the "number" and focus on how you look to yourself in the mirror. If you like what you see - great! Just because you are not losing does not mean you are not toning and defining.
    I agree with the above poster to watch your sodium intake because I've seen people retain up to 10 lbs of water by eating too much sodium!
    Keep it up - and again, it's not about the number, it's about the look and feeling!
  • angelarunsalot
    angelarunsalot Posts: 1
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    This quote is from the book entitled "prevention's stop dieting & lose weight". They talk about your body's "happy weight": "that's a weight your body will live with (plus or minus five pounds) for two years". So, it sounds as if your body may be hitting your "happy weight". Just remember that the key to this isn't just to lose weight but to eat healthier and exercise more. Also, there are other ways to gauge your fitness level than just the scale: tracking your body fat, resting heart rate, take measurements of your hips & waist, etc. Oh, muscle weighs more than fat which is why the scale isn't always a good tool.

    Don't stress over the two pounds and keep up the good work!
  • ranhound
    ranhound Posts: 59 Member
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    Besides boxers and wrestlers trying to meet a weight class, I don't think athletes fuss over body weight. If you are fit, healthy, and look good, why be obsessive about 2 lousy pounds? Your body weight probably fluctuates a pound or two depending on the time of day you weigh yourself anyway. Make fitness goals if you need to aspire to something and stay in shape. "F" the scale. You've done a terrific job. Be proud of the fruits of your hard work.
  • kjensen15
    kjensen15 Posts: 398 Member
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    I want to lose a little more than you do, about 10 lbs but I have similar issues. I can lose like 3-4 lbs pretty easily with diet alone but then I get stuck. I have found in the past that upping the resistance training helps me out. There are some people that can get away with just cardio and watching their diet but I HAVE to strength training as well. I usually lift weights 4-5 times a week, do 20-30 min of cardio on those days, then do 45 min of cardio the other day or 2 days, and have a day of rest. I also agree with the others that have said to drink LOTS of water.
  • workoutqueen628
    workoutqueen628 Posts: 220
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    Thanks everyone for the help and advice!!! I'm feeling much better and thinking positively. Good luck to everyone who has more to lose than me. YOU CAN DO IT!!!! :)

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