Why can't I lose weight?

24

Replies

  • twinketta
    twinketta Posts: 2,130 Member
    OP I checked your diary back over 4 or 5 days and you are netting less than 1200 cals?

    You are not eating at your BMR even. this could be the biggest problem causing the lack of weight loss?

    Friday your net calories after exercise were 251 :noway:
  • PcShed
    PcShed Posts: 84 Member
    How are you measuring, just weight scales. It is possible that you are losing weight, Body Fat and gaining Lean Mass hence you weight is the same or increased.
    <snip>
    Like this you be able to see if you gained weight, what was it: Fat or Muscle?

    Sorry, you can't gain muscle on a deficit (nothing substantial, anyways).
    Sorry but there are exceptions ie. noob gains. will build some muscle on a deficit
    thats why its always good to regularly take measurements and not just rely on the scale.

    Noob gains, sure. "Nothing substantial", like I said.

    Hi sorry but I have prove this wrong, in these last 4 weeks doing IF, my body fat loss in 1 week, was 0.4% (1.1lbs) bringing my body fat to 26.1% but gained total weight too.
    Lean gains i made this week. I gained 2.21lbs in Lean mass bringing my total weight to 241.40lbs.
    so you see it is possible to lose bodyfat and gains lean mass on a calorie deficit

    BMR: 2259 calories
    BMR+Activity: 3502 calories
    Target BMR with Nutrition: 2802 calories
    Fat - 202g
    Protein -196g
    Carbs - 49g

    Cheers
    Sergio
  • mjl54
    mjl54 Posts: 127 Member
    Hi sorry but I have proved this wrong, in these last 4 weeks doing IF, my body fat loss in 1 week, was 0.4% (1.1lbs) bringing my body fat to 26.1% but gained total weight too.
    Lean gains i made this week. I gained 2.21 lbs in Lean mass bringing my total weight to 241.40lbs.
    so you see it is possible to lose body fat and gains lean mass on a calorie deficit

    BMR: 2259 calories
    BMR+Activity: 3502 calories
    Target BMR with Nutrition: 2802 calories
    Fat - 202g
    Protein -196g
    Carbs - 49g

    Cheers
    Sergio
    how did you calculate that body fat scale? but regardless if its true it won't last and you WILL need to be at a surplus to make muscle gains.
  • cmeiron
    cmeiron Posts: 1,599 Member
    How are you measuring, just weight scales. It is possible that you are losing weight, Body Fat and gaining Lean Mass hence you weight is the same or increased.
    <snip>
    Like this you be able to see if you gained weight, what was it: Fat or Muscle?

    Sorry, you can't gain muscle on a deficit (nothing substantial, anyways).
    Sorry but there are exceptions ie. noob gains. will build some muscle on a deficit
    thats why its always good to regularly take measurements and not just rely on the scale.

    Noob gains, sure. "Nothing substantial", like I said.

    Hi sorry but I have prove this wrong, in these last 4 weeks doing IF, my body fat loss in 1 week, was 0.4% (1.1lbs) bringing my body fat to 26.1% but gained total weight too.
    Lean gains i made this week. I gained 2.21lbs in Lean mass bringing my total weight to 241.40lbs.
    so you see it is possible to lose bodyfat and gains lean mass on a calorie deficit

    BMR: 2259 calories
    BMR+Activity: 3502 calories
    Target BMR with Nutrition: 2802 calories
    Fat - 202g
    Protein -196g
    Carbs - 49g

    Cheers
    Sergio

    I'd have to argue that if you're gaining, you're not in a true deficit. The maths don't make sense.

    Worth a read: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/adding-muscle-while-losing-fat-qa.html

    Glad what you're doing seems to be working for you.
  • twinketta
    twinketta Posts: 2,130 Member
    OP I checked your diary back over 4 or 5 days and you are netting less than 1200 cals?

    You are not eating at your BMR even. this could be the biggest problem causing the lack of weight loss?

    Friday your net calories after exercise were 251 :noway:

    Has anyone bothered to look at the OP`s diary, as I have mentioned above, he is grossly undereating
  • Do this and you *will* lose weight:

    1) Eat mostly to get the nutrition your body needs, and less for enjoyment. Establish a healthful diet and find pleasure in other things.

    2) Three meals a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That's it. No snacks, and no "in between" meals.

    3) Give up sugar. No sugar in coffee, soda, or on cereal. Give up fruit juice -- it's mainly just another form of sugar. Water is the only liquid you need.

    4) In the beginning, establish a very regulated moderate calorie diet. Don't follow any sort of fad. Just pick a selection of foods that add up to a normal balanced diet -- whole grains, veggies, fruit, dairy, a little meat, etc. But start out by having exactly the same three meals each day -- the same foods and the same amounts. Weigh the portions on a scale. Consider frozen dinners. Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, Kashi, Smart Ones, and probably other brands have several that are low in calories and saturated fat, 25% daily value or less of sodium, and high in fiber.

    5) Weigh yourself every day on a 0.2 lb. accuracy scale. Your weight should go down over every two or three days. If it doesn't, eliminate items from your diet or reduce the size of portions until your weight does go down. (If you don't have a 0.2 lb. accuracy scale, I'd recommend the EatSmart Precision Plus Digital Scale, which is sold on Amazon.) Don't obsess over the scale — let it be your friend and point the way to a weight losing diet.

    6) When you have achieved a weight losing diet, then you can start making adjustments to add variety, but make sure that you keep losing weight.

    7) Maintain your exercise program.

    I've written an essay about losing weight on my blog that talks somewhat more generally about how to lose weight. Here's a link to that essay: http://bobday.net23.net/?p=27

    Ignore about 90% of this ^^^ keep up doing what you're doing but for longer and see how things pan out. If you still arn't losing in a month reassess then.

    Edit due to not seeing your diary. Eat at your BMR at the very least, minimum.
  • twinketta
    twinketta Posts: 2,130 Member
    So my advice OP is to eat at least at your BMR.

    So you need to add more food in order to lose weight.

    If you constantly eat below your BMR you will become ill and your organs will not function correctly.

    In order to lose weight you have to eat, especially if you are exercising.

    The only thing you will lose if you carry on as you are is muscle.
  • Hi sorry but I have proved this wrong, in these last 4 weeks doing IF, my body fat loss in 1 week, was 0.4% (1.1lbs) bringing my body fat to 26.1% but gained total weight too.
    Lean gains i made this week. I gained 2.21 lbs in Lean mass bringing my total weight to 241.40lbs.
    so you see it is possible to lose body fat and gains lean mass on a calorie deficit

    BMR: 2259 calories
    BMR+Activity: 3502 calories
    Target BMR with Nutrition: 2802 calories
    Fat - 202g
    Protein -196g
    Carbs - 49g

    Cheers
    Sergio

    You are saying you gained 2.2 lbs of lean mass in a week.....really?
  • cmeiron
    cmeiron Posts: 1,599 Member
    OP I checked your diary back over 4 or 5 days and you are netting less than 1200 cals?

    You are not eating at your BMR even. this could be the biggest problem causing the lack of weight loss?

    Friday your net calories after exercise were 251 :noway:

    Has anyone bothered to look at the OP`s diary, as I have mentioned above, he is grossly undereating

    Good catch. OP, she's got a very good point.
  • Imani9629
    Imani9629 Posts: 52 Member
    See if your doctor can prescribe you phentermine pills. I would work out and eat right with no results but phentermine increases your metabolism and decreases your appetite so you're bound to lose weight
  • See if your doctor can prescribe you phentermine pills. I would work out and eat right with no results but phentermine increases your metabolism and decreases your appetite so you're bound to lose weight

    This thread is moving into epic fail territory fast.
  • cmeiron
    cmeiron Posts: 1,599 Member
    See if your doctor can prescribe you phentermine pills. I would work out and eat right with no results but phentermine increases your metabolism and decreases your appetite so you're bound to lose weight

    JEEZUS H NO.
  • mmddwechanged
    mmddwechanged Posts: 1,687 Member
    Like everyone said. It's only one week. I plateaued for months when losing. Patience is key.
  • twinketta
    twinketta Posts: 2,130 Member
    See if your doctor can prescribe you phentermine pills. I would work out and eat right with no results but phentermine increases your metabolism and decreases your appetite so you're bound to lose weight

    sometimes the replies on this forum are mind boggling!!!!!

    did you even bother to check the OP`s diary or read back that he is not eating enough?

    He does not need drugs he needs to eat
  • cmeiron
    cmeiron Posts: 1,599 Member
    See if your doctor can prescribe you phentermine pills. I would work out and eat right with no results but phentermine increases your metabolism and decreases your appetite so you're bound to lose weight

    This thread is moving into epic fail territory fast.

    Holy crap is it ever. :grumble:
  • mjl54
    mjl54 Posts: 127 Member

    Has anyone bothered to look at the OP`s diary, as I have mentioned above, he is grossly undereating
    just looked
    yep you need to eat more. alot of the days you are real low on your fats and proteins could be higher also.
  • twinketta
    twinketta Posts: 2,130 Member
    OP I checked your diary back over 4 or 5 days and you are netting less than 1200 cals?

    You are not eating at your BMR even. this could be the biggest problem causing the lack of weight loss?

    Friday your net calories after exercise were 251 :noway:

    Has anyone bothered to look at the OP`s diary, as I have mentioned above, he is grossly undereating

    Good catch. OP, she's got a very good point.

    Hallelujah!!!
  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
    Maybe your muscles are toning up? So losing fat, but replacing with muscle mass
    By just walking every day ? I doubt it's muscle mass.
  • lahan505
    lahan505 Posts: 10 Member
    The scale won't always change quickly. For as long as I have been at this, the scale is the LAST thing to move for me. It took about a month, but the first thing I noticed that while the scale was stubborn, the clothes were saying another story. They were getting looser, the belt had to be sinched tighter and I no longer had to suck my abdomen in to zip up the pants. To this day, it is still that way for me. The clothes get looser, the body fat drops (measured via electronic resistance) and then the scale drops. Give it time to figure out how your body will react to this process. Then you will be able to figure out when/if you will plateau.
  • Same thing happened with me, the next week I weighed myself and I was down 3 pounds!! Its probably all the muscles you are building. Muscle weighs more then fat. Just keep going and wait to see, its all trial and error at first. Another idea from personal trial and error..... dont weigh yourself all the time, it does more harm then good, atleast it did for me and the best time to weigh yourself is first thing in the morning before exercise or anything to eat or drink.
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    Muscle weighs more then fat.
    No it doesn't unless you have changed the laws of physics.
  • albaehr
    albaehr Posts: 8 Member
    Hang in there, I went 8 weeks and actually gained 2 lbs and like you I was doing everything right, I do notice that when I do a lot of cardio or weight training I tend to hold more water, But I am happy to say the scale Finally went down, So hang it there and even when I was not losing I could tell my mid section was getting smaller so just dont count the scale as progress , Good Luck
  • mjl54
    mjl54 Posts: 127 Member
    Muscle weighs more then fat.
    No it doesn't unless you have changed the laws of physics.
    seriously? do we really to get into this everytime? muscle does weighs more than fat by volume. everyone knows a pound of feathers weighs the same as a pound of bricks.
  • lambchristie
    lambchristie Posts: 552 Member
    Yes, I forgot to mention that I weigh most of my food.

    ah, must measure ALL your food!
  • 13suzie
    13suzie Posts: 349 Member
    To break plateaus or to jump start weight loss, I have found success with three things:

    1. eat minimal processed/refined sugars (flour etc.) - try to be certain that the sugars you consume are bundled in fibers (oatmeal; veges)

    2. stop eating early in the evening. This is hard to do but your body burns the fat all evening and night long when you cut yourself off at dinnertime. When I am in the losing mode (I'm maintaining now), I chew gum and drink tea.

    3. eat an apple every day! Seriously, it works... best time for me to grab an apple is btw 3-4pm. It curbs hunger, provides great fiber, adds pectin to your day, and adds something magical to regimen...not sure what is really going on, but I'm a believer!

    --

    Give it a little time. But, also maybe consider stepping up your workout to get your heart rate going stronger. Is running a possibility? Nothing shabby about 5mi walks...just trying to think of how to rev that fat burning motor...

    Good luck.
  • Same thing happened with me, the next week I weighed myself and I was down 3 pounds!! Its probably all the muscles you are building. Muscle weighs more then fat. Just keep going and wait to see, its all trial and error at first. Another idea from personal trial and error..... dont weigh yourself all the time, it does more harm then good, atleast it did for me and the best time to weigh yourself is first thing in the morning before exercise or anything to eat or drink.

    Oh stop it!! Please, no more it's muscle comments please!! It takes a long time and a lot of effort to build muscle. It doesn't happen in the space of a week on a calorie deficit with no strength training. Muscle is not built from fresh air and cardio.
  • jennifershoo
    jennifershoo Posts: 3,198 Member
    Maybe your muscles are toning up? So losing fat, but replacing with muscle mass

    No! Just no. You don't gain muscle on a calorie deficit.
  • jennifershoo
    jennifershoo Posts: 3,198 Member
    :huh: So much NO here:
    Do this and you *will* lose weight:

    1) Eat mostly to get the nutrition your body needs, and less for enjoyment. Establish a healthful diet and find pleasure in other things.

    No. Is eating more healthfully wise? Sure. But cut out enjoyable foods, or view enjoying food as a bad thing? No. Not sustainable in the long run. Learn now how to incorporate them into your usual eating.

    2) Three meals a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That's it. No snacks, and no "in between" meals.

    No. Eat however many meals you want. Eat snacks if that works for you. The number of meals and their timing makes no difference. What matters is how many calories you take in over the course of the day, or week. Determine how many calories you need to consume to maintain a reasonable, moderate deficit, weigh and measure your food, and you're good to go.

    3) Give up sugar. No sugar in coffee, soda, or on cereal. Give up fruit juice -- it's mainly just another form of sugar. Water is the only liquid you need.

    No. Do you mean white sugar? No need to give it up, but you might want to reduce it if only because it'll eat up your calorie alottment pretty quickly, making it more difficult to hit your other more important macro targets (proteins, fats). But there's tons of sugar in other "healthy" food, including fruits. "Giving up" sugar is silly.

    4) In the beginning, establish a very regulated moderate calorie diet. Don't follow any sort of fad. Just pick a selection of foods that add up to a normal balanced diet -- whole grains, veggies, fruit, dairy, a little meat, etc. But start out by having exactly the same three meals each day -- the same foods and the same amounts. Weigh the portions on a scale. Consider frozen dinners. Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, Kashi, Smart Ones, and probably other brands have several that are low in calories and saturated fat, 25% daily value or less of sodium, and high in fiber.

    No. Exactly the same meals every single day? Are you kidding me? Snoozefest. :yawn: Variety is the spice of life! Enjoy your food, be creative, make delicious things! Frozen dinners? No. Just...no. Eat real food.

    5) Weigh yourself every day on a 0.2 lb. accuracy scale. Your weight should go down over every two or three days. If it doesn't, eliminate items from your diet or reduce the size of portions until your weight does go down. (If you don't have a 0.2 lb. accuracy scale, I'd recommend the EatSmart Precision Plus Digital Scale, which is sold on Amazon.) Don't obsess over the scale — let it be your friend and point the way to a weight losing diet.

    No. Weight loss is not linear. You cannot reasonably expect a predictable pattern of loss. It will go up and down, fluctuate wildly from day to day and week to week. Weigh in once a week, or once a day if you like. Track it, and look for a long term pattern of loss over weeks or months. Also, any old scale will do. Yeesh.

    6) When you have achieved a weight losing diet, then you can start making adjustments to add variety, but make sure that you keep losing weight.

    No. Enjoy variety NOW. Learn how to do it NOW. Do it NOW, so you're set up for success LATER.

    7) Maintain your exercise program.

    Ok, yeah, I can get behind that. Exercise is good for you. It also lets you eat more. Yay.

    I've written an essay about losing weight on my blog that talks somewhat more generally about how to lose weight. Here's a link to that essay: http://bobday.net23.net/?p=27

    OP, my guess is that either you're (a) retaining water from all the new exercise - this will pass; (b) overestimating your calorie burns from your workouts (you should use a heart monitor, don't rely on the machine to be accurate; (c) underestimating your calorie intake (you need to measure everything with a food scale); or (d) some combo of the above.

    (Also, reported that post for spam :/)

    This!
    Thanks for fixing those misinformations. Everything was bad advice in that post.
  • jennifershoo
    jennifershoo Posts: 3,198 Member
    How are you measuring, just weight scales. It is possible that you are losing weight, Body Fat and gaining Lean Mass hence you weight is the same or increased.
    <snip>
    Like this you be able to see if you gained weight, what was it: Fat or Muscle?

    Sorry, you can't gain muscle on a deficit (nothing substantial, anyways).
    Sorry but there are exceptions ie. noob gains. will build some muscle on a deficit
    thats why its always good to regularly take measurements and not just rely on the scale.

    Not with cardio though. Weight training maybe.
  • jennifershoo
    jennifershoo Posts: 3,198 Member
    OP I checked your diary back over 4 or 5 days and you are netting less than 1200 cals?

    You are not eating at your BMR even. this could be the biggest problem causing the lack of weight loss?

    Friday your net calories after exercise were 251 :noway:

    :noway: :noway: :noway:

    Dude, EAT MORE FOOD.