What am I doing wrong?

Do you weigh your food?

Hang in there! The # on the scale may not be changing if you are gaining muscle and losing fat since muscle weighs more thaan fat.

hey girl, i just took a look at your diary. This is my own personal advice, and what I would do if I were you. I would keep with the 1230 cals a day as MFP suggests. Start by leaving 1 or 2 extra bites on your plate. Do you eat your exercise cals when you exercise? From looking at the past week, you've been over in carbs every day. Try taking some carbs out of your diet and see if that helps!

Just remember that our bodies are a litte lazy. They won't change on their own. We have to force change by making them work harder than they are used to. That shocks them into changing for self preservation. Don't just change exercise routines, vary intensity.

I also recommend eating small meals frequently. Eat your 1200 calories in 6 small meals. If you eat clean, you should never be hungry, and your metabolism won't go through the peaks and dips it does when you eat three big meals. You will be eating every 2 or 3 hours during the day. Most importantly if you never get hungry you stay anabolic, and your muscles will grow!

Hi April,

If you come to the point where eating at 1230 still isn't making a difference, it won't hurt to try increasing your calories for a few weeks. And yes, it can take a few weeks for your body to realize it's not starving, and start letting go of the fat again.

When I started here, I had been eating at around 1200 most days for over a year, with hardly any weight loss. Didn't matter if I exercised or not. When I joined here, MFP had me set at around 1240. I did this for four weeks, and also ate back most of my exercise calories. I didn't lose an ounce.

I decided to take the risk I was afraid to take: to eat more food. Obviously eating at a low level wasn't working, so I figured it couldn't hurt to try eating more for three or four weeks. I moved my MFP settings up to losing .5 lbs per week instead of 1 lb, and then for the next three weeks I ate to that level, and also ate at least half of my exercise calories. I also didn't weigh myself for three weeks--I realized I was psyching myself out by weighing every day.

After three weeks I lost three lbs. Seems my body really did need more fuel before it was willing to release the weight!

In the five weeks since then, I've lost four more lbs. Three weeks ago I tried moving my food amount back to the 1240 range, plus eating my exercise calories. I had a feeling that my metabolism had kind of re-set itself, and wanted to see what would happen if I reduced things a bit. There have been several days where I have gone over--in some cases, way over. But I've still lost weight. At this point, I'm kind of in a zig-zagging pattern, which seems to work well. Some days I'm over, some days I'm a little under. Overall, though, I'm right about where I need to be.

You have received some very sound advice here so far. Whatever you try, just remember that there's no rule that says you MUST lose x number of pounds by x date. This is a journey. You are learning about your body, what fuels it, what makes it feel sluggish. If you do decide to increase your calories to see if it will help shake things up, I would advise trying it for three or four weeks before giving up on it. Your body might take time to get used to it. And it might be worth it to stop weighing yourself for a week or two.

Also, keep track of your measurements. As many people have said on MFP, the scale is only ONE way to track your progress. How many inches have you lost? How do your clothes fit? How do you look? Most importantly, how do you feel?

Keep on keeping on. You're doing a terrific job!

I had 2 months where I didn't lose inches or weight. It was very frustrating. While I'm not one to say that all things work for everyone, but some things work for some. My all means, try all of the ideas posted above. What worked for me was changing what time of day I went to the gym. I am currently not working so that was simple for me to do, but I go around lunch, or in the afternoon, or in the morning. Sort of gauge it by what I feel like that day and whether or not I got on a roll in writing my papers for school. I also, upped the calories for a few days, dropped them for a few days, and do that every so often just so my body doesn't get used to something. I hope it all works out for you and stay motivated!!!

I have been going with the "do so much exrcise that your body has to eat something plan". It has been working for me to the tune of about 3.5 lbs a week. If you ahve the time for the exercise, give it a shot.

I don't do anything higher impact than walking uphill or elliptical. I do about 7500-9500 calories a week in exercise and eat reasonably (1500 to 2200 Calories a day). If i feel hungry I eat something. I keep tons of nuts, low fat chips, protein bars, and protein shake stuff and If i feel the need to eat, I do. If your body can take it, try it. I also split up my workouts into 2 -3 short ones a day to allow for some rest between each. It is time consuming, but I think it will be worth it in the end. I was tired of being The FAT GUY.

Most days I do 4- 5 miles elliptical in the am @125 calories per mile.

35 minutes of 15% incline walking at lunch and some light weight lifting and situps for a total of 50 minutes and about 550 calories.

In the evening we walk at home 3-5 miles @ 166 calories per mile. We live on a mountain and it is steep, so it is hard to calculate calories, so I use the hiking with <10 lbs to track it.

Steve,

I do not think she is at that point yet. Based on her final goal, my guess is that she is at about 5'2 or 5'3 and 150lbs and cardio should be enough for the next 20- 30 lbs. That being said, a higher protein diet and adding some weights/P90x surely will speed things along.