What am I doing wrong? Please help!!

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SutapaMukherji
SutapaMukherji Posts: 244 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So, I got the weighing scale today and guess what? I have lost only 0.5kg.

Here is the deal, I started hitting the gym since 10th of May,2013 which means I have had about 25 days of it. Most days I do 40-50 mins of cardio which includes 30 minutes of the treadmill, 20 minutes of stationary bike and another 5-10 minutes on the elliptical.

However, I started tracking my calories only since 20th of May, which means it has been 15 days now. MFP has set a goal of 1200 total cals for me which I follow most days, apart from the occasional weekend.

Inspite of working my a** off (I say that because it is my first time in the gym) and having controlled my diet, why am I not losing weight??
I feel so upset right now that I just want to give up. Its as if one of those success stories will never be mine..I will always be fat.

So here is what I want you people to do. Based on the above info and feel free to take a sneak peek into my diary, tell me what am I doing wrong? How much harder should I try? Don't I deserve to lose weight :(

For those of you, who are going to tell me about eating back exercise calories, I do eat back as much as I can. and about BF% and TDEE, I am really not sure how those work, so help is appreciated; but at the moment, I only want to lose weight and see the scales budge. That is my only aim.
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Replies

  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
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    What's your bodyfat %?

    You can't analyze with incomplete data.
  • TigressPat
    TigressPat Posts: 722
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    you have to open your diary if you want us to peek!
  • beekay70
    beekay70 Posts: 214 Member
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    I wouldn't add your calories burned from exercise back into your budget unless you're Michael Phelps. Also, since you've only been tracking calories for a short period, you are very likely underestimating what you're actually taking in.

    For body fat percentage, there are plenty of online calculators that can give you a decent estimate using only a tape measure.

    My advice is stick with it, track your measurements (at least hips, waist, and neck), and maybe add some strength training. You won't get bulky from working with weights.
  • SutapaMukherji
    SutapaMukherji Posts: 244 Member
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    As said, I am not comfortable about BF% and TDEE. Please help me understand what these are.

    My diary is open, aren't you able to see it? Let me do something about it again.
  • SutapaMukherji
    SutapaMukherji Posts: 244 Member
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    I do a bit of strength training but it is minimalistic. Just lateral push and some tidbits of workout, that too with 3kg dumbbells. The rest seem too heavy to me.

    That apart I do push ups (3 sets of 10) and leg press (4 sets of 25).

    That is all that I can manage.

    So are you saying, I shouldn't eat back my exercise cals?
  • beekay70
    beekay70 Posts: 214 Member
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    Body fat calculator: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/
  • beekay70
    beekay70 Posts: 214 Member
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    I would not eat back your exercise calories; let those add to your deficit. Push ups, squats, whatever you like; those are good examples of body weight strength exercises.
  • stephaniemejia1671
    stephaniemejia1671 Posts: 482 Member
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    Are we to assume that you have been doing said workouts for about a month or so? Started tracking the 20th of May; off to a great start I must say, don't rush into things. You are doing what you can and that's all you can do. Give yourself more time.
  • SutapaMukherji
    SutapaMukherji Posts: 244 Member
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    Body fat calculator: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/

    Thanks a ton for this one. Would do it first thing in the morning. Right now too busy binge eating chocolate :brokenheart: :cry:
  • purple4sure05
    purple4sure05 Posts: 287 Member
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    Body fat calculator: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/

    This doesn't even ask for your height. Isn't that a pretty big factor?
  • SutapaMukherji
    SutapaMukherji Posts: 244 Member
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    Are we to assume that you have been doing said workouts for about a month or so? Started tracking the 20th of May; off to a great start I must say, don't rush into things. You are doing what you can and that's all you can do. Give yourself more time.

    Have been working out since the date mentioned and tracking calories for about 15 days now. I have heard so many people here lose 10-15lbs in the first month, even if water weight... what am I doing wrong that its not happening to me?
  • beekay70
    beekay70 Posts: 214 Member
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    Are you in India? I just moved back from Mumbai at the end of 2011.
  • murphy612
    murphy612 Posts: 734 Member
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    You're not going to like this answer but..... be patient :-) It took me almost 3 months to lose 1.5lbs, but then it just started coming off steady after that, about 1 to 1.5 lbs a week. It will happen, just don't give up. It's too soon to start changing things, just wait a little longer. Make sure you weigh and measure everything accurately.
  • fooninie
    fooninie Posts: 291 Member
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    I wouldn't add your calories burned from exercise back into your budget unless you're Michael Phelps. Also, since you've only been tracking calories for a short period, you are very likely underestimating what you're actually taking in.

    For body fat percentage, there are plenty of online calculators that can give you a decent estimate using only a tape measure.

    My advice is stick with it, track your measurements (at least hips, waist, and neck), and maybe add some strength training. You won't get bulky from working with weights.

    I agree with this post! If you are working your *kitten* off in the gym, you will likely lose many inches and not as much in kg. Muscles are dense, fat is not...so if you are losing fat and gaining muscle, you will see the scale change slowly, but should begin to "feel" the difference in your clothes! Try not to be hard on yourself and try not to eat all your calories back, but I'm not sure I would fall much below 1200 calories. Unless you are eating refined carbs...then cut the carbs and load up on veggies and protein!

    Don't get discouraged! Stay the course, you are doing fantastic!
  • Ravenesque_
    Ravenesque_ Posts: 257 Member
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    Put the chocolate down. it doesn't have any comfort, it doesn't contain any answers. All it will do is make your journey longer and harder.Put it away. You will kick yourself so hard for it later.

    instead, put on your shoes and go for a stroll. that's what i do - chocolate cant chase you down the street.

    And, if you get hung up on the scales, the scales will only torture you. Focus on being healthy and not losing weight. Sure losing weight is part of, and a result of, being healthy, but being healthy is kinder and better in the long run.
  • astrampe
    astrampe Posts: 2,169 Member
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    I would not eat back your exercise calories; let those add to your deficit. Push ups, squats, whatever you like; those are good examples of body weight strength exercises.
    NO!
    MFP calculates your calories with the deficit already built in - if you exercise, the deficit is a lot bigger....If you do that exercise on 1200 calories, it is no wonder you are binge eating chocolate... I would not rely on the machines in the gym's calorie count - they are often more than is really is - get a heart rate monitor...

    I have very little to lose, eat between 1600 and 1900 calories a day and do heavy weights 3x per week and cardio twice...I also make sure that I get 10 000 steps in per day....And I still lose...
    If you eat that little you will binge and not lose...

    Also - you started a little over three weeks ago with a brand new workout program - chances are that your muscles are holding onto water for repairs.....Keep on doing what you are doing now, eat more and make sure YOU WEIGH MEASURE AND LOG everithing you eat....
  • rowanwood
    rowanwood Posts: 510 Member
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    Wait.

    15 days of tracking except occasional weekend of which there is one in 15 days. I don't agree with 1200 for most people personally, but the key thing is you can eat 1200 all week, but if you have 5000 on Fri-Sat-Sun, it sort of negates everything else.

    You sound like you are working out really hard, from zero to 110% right away.

    Combine these things and I would expect your weight to be all over the place.

    From my experience and what I hear from successful people...slow changes and steady changes. Could take months depending on how much you have to lose and what you were doing before and what state your body is in.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,960 Member
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    Binge eating chocolate can't be helping.


    And EAT the exercise calories, that is the way this site is designed to be used.

    Set your goal at "Lose one pound per week" use Moderately Active as your Activity.

    Weigh your food - all of it - for a month. Stay on track with your eating. It takes consistency and time.
  • beekay70
    beekay70 Posts: 214 Member
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    @ astrampe, She's likely only burning 300-400 calories while in the gym. She is also likely to be off by that much in her estimates of what she is taking in. BMR and calories consumed are estimates and 30-45 minutes of working out is not going to significantly impact your budget.
  • ashscot50
    ashscot50 Posts: 6
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    You can do all the exercise you like but unless you plan to emulate Sir Christopher Hoy, 50 mins in the gym isn't going to get you much more than 200 or so cals; it's the cals you eat that count. Chocolate is a killer, have you LOOKED at the calories content? Don't buy any more till you lose some weight then treat yourself to a SMALL bar and go a square or two at a time, say at weekends. Then seal it up with sellotape!

    I would agree with those who say don't eat back the cals you gain in the gym until you start losing some weight; then I would try to keep just under the total allowance inc the cals "earned" on a weekly rather than a daily basis. The mobile app shows this very clearly in a bar chart.

    Also start walking! "Not far? Leave The Car", http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/scots-urged-ditch-car-short-1873812 New Active Travel campaign encourages Scots to ditch the car for short journeys and walk or cycle, which we're happy to share with the rest of the country.

    Another personal tip is to start a weight chart on excel and add a trendline; you will get a great kick out of seeing the graph start to go downhill and you will want to make that keep happening.

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