Not losing weight despite diet and exercise

Hi guys,

I have never been over weight till I had my daughter. She is one.

5 weeks ago, I started dieting and exercising to lose the baby weight. Most days, I have no carbs - just salad, vegetables, fruits and grilled meat/fish/chicken/seafood. I try to drink lots of water and attend the gym at least 4 times a week. At the gym, i do cirrcuit training for 30 minutes and Pilates for the next 30 minutes.

In 5 weeks, I have only lost 2 kilos and 13 inches, which I don't think is good enough. In the last week, I became even stricter with my diet and went to the gym for 5 days and only lost 100 grams. The fact that I am not losing as much as I am expecting is very frustrating.

Any tips will be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

L

Replies

  • snowmanluv
    snowmanluv Posts: 200 Member
    Inches are fabulous. Your body is converting the fat to muscle. Agree is slow but it's progress. I have had the same thing with it not fallling off then realized this is a lifestyle change. Better habits with eating, drinking, exercising. Keep it up
  • 141by2016
    141by2016 Posts: 179
    2kg in 5 weeks is 1lb a week, a healthy rate to lose at. Since your profile and log are private it is hard to help.
  • tonyanoemy
    tonyanoemy Posts: 15
    13 inches in 5 weeks is still pretty amazing! don't stress. have you thought about talking to a dietitian?
  • needsalife3
    needsalife3 Posts: 56 Member
    If you are breastfeeding you're eating WAY too little. If you're not you may still be eating too little. Your body will keep what it needs for the baby and begin to consume muscle and other organs if you're not giving it enough fuel. Also 2kg is good for 5 weeks. 1-2 pounds a week is all you can expect. Good luck.
  • tcraw15
    tcraw15 Posts: 223 Member
    I would say inches lost are more important than pounds/kilos lost. With the pounds/kilos lost, you don't know what you're losing. That could be fat, muscle, water weight, etc. You're headed in the right direction! Just keep going. I've been stuck in a weight plateau for a few weeks now. My weight hasn't been going down. It's been fluctuating, but I've been losing inches every week. So I'm pretty happy with that.

    In the past 3 months I've only lost 15 lbs (6.8 kilos), but I've lost a total of 18 inches.

    Your progress may be slower than you would like, but progress is STILL progress!
  • mawali24
    mawali24 Posts: 5
    Thanks for the encouragement. I forgot to add that I am 5' 2'' and weight 139 lbs. I need to lose 11 - 18 lbs.
  • wannabpiper
    wannabpiper Posts: 402 Member
    Gained 34 lbs with each of my three pregnancies and it took me six weeks after each delivery to get back to my fighting weight. I didn't diet and exercise - just watched what I ate and took care of the children and it came off.
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  • congrats on the inches lost. That should really be what matters. Example: If you were a size 6 whether you weighed 125 or 150, why would the scale weight matter?

    wink wink; salad, veggies and fruits are indeed carbs.
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
    Be patient and kind with yourself you had a baby less than two months ago. Are you breast feeding? If you are you might want to look at adding some more nutrient dense foods to your diet this is a great time to add some healthy oils like canola, walnut, or dairy fat to you diet to help give you some essential nutrients and nutrients your baby needs for brain development. Your weight loss is wonderful. Keep up the hard work and take some time to enjoy your new joy as this time is very short and you can never get it back.
  • mawali24
    mawali24 Posts: 5
    Lucky you. i gained that as well but it's hard for me to lose it. But to be fair, I was not careful about what I was eating.
  • mawali24
    mawali24 Posts: 5
    Go easy on yourself
    you just had a baby!
    Your body has been through hell and needs to recover!

    Go easy on your bod.......just eat healthy, go for long walks with yuor newborn and enjoy your baby.

    In time, with patience, your body will go back to normal!!

    have faith!


    Sorry if I was unclear. My daughter is already 1 years old. I just started dieting and exercising 5 weeks ago.
  • EmmaKarney
    EmmaKarney Posts: 690 Member
    If you maintain a deficit of 500 calories a day / 3500 a week you WILL lose a pound a week.

    If you're not, it's because you're not maintaining the deficit you think you are - either by over estimating calories burnt, under estimating calories consumed OR your start point (your TDEE) is lower than you think, therefore skewing the deficit you think you've created.

    Soooo....maybe you just need to reassess the accuracy of your logging?
  • tmcoyle
    tmcoyle Posts: 168 Member
    You are doing a fabulous job. Keep working out and eating healthy is the key. Have you thought about changing to a fat shredder meal plan 50% protein, 30% carbs and 20% fat? I am in the group P90X/Insanity Game Changers and the coach, Shawn, has great tips on how to complete the fat shredder plan and this group is very motivating and encouraging. I would give it a try and git a shout out to ShawnDMuth.

    I have found that I hit a plateau also and when I began the fat shredder program I noticed a considerable difference in my inches, not so much the scale, but I dropped 2 sizes.
  • Momwidomski
    Momwidomski Posts: 24 Member
    Water weight gain is common with child birth. Maybe dr. would give you a water pill to get rid of the excess.
    I had one pregancy where after the baby came, I weighed less than when I became pregnant, but I could not get into my clothes. Fantastic on the inches lost. That is a huge accomplishment seeing at your body gets stretched out during pregnancy.
  • astronomicals
    astronomicals Posts: 1,537 Member
    Gained 34 lbs with each of my three pregnancies and it took me six weeks after each delivery to get back to my fighting weight. I didn't diet and exercise - just watched what I ate and took care of the children and it came off.


    umm.. no... months maybe... 34# in 6 weeks aint happening.. perhaps your "fighteing weight" wasnt your initial weight, b ut, that just makes your post confusing
  • I feel ya!! The inches are the most telling, tho. Also, muscle weighs more than fat, so if you are gaining muscle, you are not going to loose pounds quickly, but the weight is MUCH healthier. It is very important that you eat enough calories each day, or else your body will go into "starvation mode" and convert EVERYTHING to fat. You are doing fantastic!!!
  • EmmaKarney
    EmmaKarney Posts: 690 Member
    I feel ya!! The inches are the most telling, tho. Also, muscle weighs more than fat, so if you are gaining muscle, you are not going to loose pounds quickly, but the weight is MUCH healthier. It is very important that you eat enough calories each day, or else your body will go into "starvation mode" and convert EVERYTHING to fat. You are doing fantastic!!!

    With respect - this is all incorrect.

    Muscle weighs the same as fat, it just takes up less space.

    However you can't gain muscle whilst on a deficit anyway - you can only lose fat (and possibly even lose lean muscle mass)

    And starvation mode is BS.
  • lcfairbairn74
    lcfairbairn74 Posts: 412 Member
    I think you need to pause for a moment. 2 kilos in 5 weeks is right where you should be for healthy weigh loss. And 13 inches is amazing it that time! It took me much longer to see those kind of measurement changes! You are absolutely on track! Be proud of what you have lost! :drinker:
  • mawali24
    mawali24 Posts: 5
    Thanks all for the encouragement. It's easy to give up when trying to lose weight.