WHY am I Not losing weight?

Hi, Alissa.

I was having trouble losing weight as well, even though I've been doing the exercise portion of P90X. Once I limited myself to 1500 calories, I started seeing results pretty fast (within a week).

I tend to try to stick to 1500 total calories and not to eat the calories that I make up in exercise. On very heavy cardio days (which it sounds like you do quite a bit) I allow myself a little overage so that I have the energy I need.

1500 calories is not near enough fuel for your body if you are burning that many calories.

One of my friends (she is a trainer) suggested that upping your protein is a good way to lose those last few pounds. I'm not anywhere close to hitting that point yet so I cannot verify that it works, but I trust her!

I have read that when you are trying to lose your last 10 or 20 lbs (Vanity pounds as Jillian Michaels would put it), you need to do completely different cardio exercises, something different you have never done before, and you need to workout at different times than when you lost all your other lbs. Instead of evenings do mornings, if you normally take a break on Sunday's switch it to Thursdays. If you normally run try doing muay thai or boxing.

I agree with the above, change your routine, and change some of what you eat as well if you tend to eat the same every week.

If you're hammering the gym too you need to eat more not less, to gain the muscle that will utlimately increase your metabolism and make you lose more fat!

Unfortunately once you get passed the urgent stage and into the vanity stage it gets a lot more complicated than 'less in, more out'. Trial and error is the way forward, and tape-measures rather than scales, maybe you don't need to lose another 20lbs.

Eat the majority of your workout calories - otherwise your body will think you're trying to starve itself and you'll go backwards, not forwards.

Good Luck!!

Hey there, Alissa. I'm in a similar place as you goal-wise. I'm looking to lose the last 10 or so and, more importantly (to me) a lower body fat percentage. One question I have is why are you working out SO much? Don't get me wrong, if it is simply that you love bringing it hard in the gym, that's awesome. But I don't know if two hours a day of exercise is necessarily going to be any better than a shorter routine in terms of weight loss, especially if it leaves you with a GIANT calorie deficit. When you get to the "vanity pounds" stage I think it is important to take it slow and not try to create too huge of a deficit. Like others have said, you should aim for 1/2 lb to a pound a week. This might be a lot slower than you have been losing, but that's what it takes to lose the last few pounds in a healthy way and not sacrifice muscle.

What I'm doing might not be right for everyone, but it seems to be getting me fairly consistent losses (just under a pound a week). Basically, I wanted to be sure that I was getting IN at least my BMR calories. I figured those out to be about 1400. With my activity level (lightly active because I walk to work and back and walk around quite a bit while at work, etc.) I burn about 1700/day, so if I do no exercise, I should lose just over 1/2 lb a week. Then, I basically try to burn another 200 or so in exercise for a total of 500-calorie deficit. I might do 20 minutes of bootcamp-type circuit training or running with the Couch to 5K program. My HRM needs to be fixed, so I'm just using this site's estimates. Some days I'll do both for a bigger deficit and maybe eat a couple hundred more calories. Sometimes I will do less or nothing, but I still try to eat about 1400. I also give myself one day a week for a high calorie day where I eat about 2000 calories.

In short, if you are KILLING it at the gym (which it sounds like you are), you might want to up your calorie intake. Or (and I realize this sounds counter intuitive), light up at the gym. Keep the workouts intense, but maybe only half as long. Also, be sure that you are giving yourself at least one day a week of rest, if not two. You could try that and see if it brings you some results. Seems to be working okay for me so far.

I wasn't losing weight earlier in the year and it was because I actually wasn't eating enough! My body thought I was starving and slowed my metabolism way down. A trainer/fitness person told me to ease up on exercise and eat more calories. (I thought I died and gone to heaven). BUT- before I joined MFP I had lost 25 lbs and hit the wall. I just joined this site and love the community support and ease of tracking food and exercise.

I wouldn't starve myself, eat those calories, afterall - your body doesn't have all that fat stored now. congratulations on your loss!

On the subject of upping protein intake: I've started drinking the EAS Advantge Carb Control drinks for one of my "small" meals. 17 grams of protein(!) and no sugars. It really makes me feel full and gives me good calories (110 total, I believe).