4 Mos and minimal weight loss.

nikidirocco81
nikidirocco81 Posts: 11 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Someone probably has already posted about this, but I'm in need of some help. I started working out almost 4 months ago when my husband deployed. I workout 5 days a week, anywhere from 1 to 2 hours a day, incorporating both cardio and strength. On Fridays I do Zumba. I try to consumed at least 2000 calories, even after the calories I burn which super hard for me. Before I started this journey, I was eating maybe one meal a day. Coffee was my appetite curb. Anyway, From March to June, I literally lost 2 lbs. I'm losing alot of inches, and I understand that muscle weighs more than fat, but come on. 2 lbs in 3 months?? Middle June, I start the 24-day Challenge. I managed to lose 5 more lbs., but since finishing it, I've gained 3 of those lbs back, and can't get them off. I still workout the same, I still get calories in, still taking the thermogenic and catalyst. On days I don't workout, I lower my cals to anywhere from 1200 to 1800. I've started eating cleaner. I only eat Fish, Chicken, and Turkey, and have just started incorporating limited red meat. The only processed foods I have eaten turkey sausage patties or links in the morning, and an occasional 1/4 cup of part-skim mozzarella. I use spray margarine, and have limited my carb intake. I don't eat candy, I eat natural peanut butter and fruits for snacks. I limit canned veggies to green beans with no sodium added. Other than that I only eat fresh everything. Brown rice, whole grain bread. I don't allow myself cheat days because, well, I just don't want it. I'm happy eating healthily, and don't really crave the nastiness. I've eaten out one time in the past month, and it was a 6 oz sirloin, green beans, and a sweet potato, which I didn't even finish. I don't drink coffee anymore. I drink Spark in the morning, every now and then one in the afternoon, the rest of the day nothing but water. I've given up sodas and Red Bulls.

I know this is rather long-winded, I just wanted to make sure I'm covering everything. My diary is public, though there are days I skip logging. I've been doing this for so long I pretty much know when I've gotten enough cals. Can anyone tell me why I'm not losing weight? I'm happy with the inches lost. But I don't want to be fit, and still weigh what I weighed when I started, it's ridiculous. Thanks for any input.
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Replies

  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Are you weighing solid foods, and measuring liquids?

    If not you may be consuming way more than you think you are eating.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    To start, muscle doesn't weigh more than fat, it's denser than fat therefore a pound of it takes up less space making you smaller at the same weight. Muscle is very hard to build so I doubt you're had huge muscle gains.

    How are you measuring your exercise calories and obviously you are eating them back. If you have no weight loss success my guess is you're eating too much. It doesn't matter if you eat "clean" or you eat junk food. Calories in/calories out. You may feel better and be healthier but there is no magic to eating certain foods when it comes to weight loss unless you have a specific medical issue.

    I'd try lowering your calories until you see weight loss. You know now where your maintenance level is because you aren't losing and you aren't under eating so it isn't a metabolic slow down.

    Opening your food diary would help.
  • TdaniT
    TdaniT Posts: 331 Member
    Are you going by TDEE or by MFP calculations? I found using the MFP calculations helped me a lot. I did it all by estimation. I don't use an HRM. I would log what I eat and log when I exercise. I would try and eat back my exercise calories, which I was successful at most of the time.

    Like Mokey41 stated, muscle does not weigh more than fat. 1lb = 1lb. Muscle just takes up less room, which is why you may not see the number on your scale move much but you are losing inches.

    I don't try to eat "clean"...I just eat. I eat whatever I want, I just make sure it is within my calorie limit. Now for the last 3 weeks I have only seen a 0.6lb weight loss but I have kind of fallen off the wagon. Back at it today though!

    Feel free to add me...it is a struggle but we are all in it with you. :)
  • nikidirocco81
    nikidirocco81 Posts: 11 Member
    sheesh! I keep changing it to public, it keeps changing back to private. My apologies. I weigh all my foods. I have only had soup the other day when I had dental work done. I measure my exercise by logging it here, I don't trust the treadmills, since most of the heart rat monitors don't work. I was only doing 1200 cals, but I've checked with several weight management calculators online, they all say on workout days I should be consuming at least 1800 to 2000 cals. It's only after I upped the cals that I lost the 2 lbs. I am training on running for a 5k. On tuesdays and thursdays I do a 'boot camp' that my workout buddy and I came up with, using various exercises we've seen others do, and on the internet.
  • nikidirocco81
    nikidirocco81 Posts: 11 Member
    I'm going by MFP calculations. I started eating cleaner while on the challenge so I would have max results with it. And frankly, after starting that, I don't want to go back to the junk food. Or processed foods. I find I like the whole foods, and find myself less hungry throughout the day.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    I'm going by MFP calculations. I started eating cleaner while on the challenge so I would have max results with it. And frankly, after starting that, I don't want to go back to the junk food. Or processed foods. I find I like the whole foods, and find myself less hungry throughout the day.

    For calories burned MFP ofter over estimates, that said for your 2000 cals, was that using TDEE method, if so you don't eat back the cals you burn from exercise, if you follow MFP guide, eat back what you burn from exercise. Either method should put you near the same cals at the end of a week, provided you chose similar goals (TDEE -20% which should be close to MFP with a weekly goal of 1-1.5lbs/week)
  • SandraMartin3008
    SandraMartin3008 Posts: 22 Member
    I have been on a liquid diet of juices and some solids like fruits for five days. After a jog for about 45 minutes I have lost 3.5 pounds!
  • nikidirocco81
    nikidirocco81 Posts: 11 Member


    For calories burned MFP ofter over estimates, that said for your 2000 cals, was that using TDEE method, if so you don't eat back the cals you burn from exercise, if you follow MFP guide, eat back what you burn from exercise. Either method should put you near the same cals at the end of a week, provided you chose similar goals (TDEE -20% which should be close to MFP with a weekly goal of 1-1.5lbs/week)

    Sorry if I'm a bit dense this morning, but, are you saying I should be doing MFP calculations or TDEE?
  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
    You are probably eating too much. I see you don't log consistently, so us try doing that and maybe cut back your cals a bit.
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member


    For calories burned MFP ofter over estimates, that said for your 2000 cals, was that using TDEE method, if so you don't eat back the cals you burn from exercise, if you follow MFP guide, eat back what you burn from exercise. Either method should put you near the same cals at the end of a week, provided you chose similar goals (TDEE -20% which should be close to MFP with a weekly goal of 1-1.5lbs/week)

    Sorry if I'm a bit dense this morning, but, are you saying I should be doing MFP calculations or TDEE?
    If you use TDEE, don't eat exercise calories back.
    If you use MFP, eat a percentage of them back.

    If you're measuring / weighing / logging everything accurately and not losing, you may actually be at maintenance. All of the numbers that are given to you on calculation websites are, at best, guesses. If 1+2 is coming up to be 4... you might need to tweak 1 or 2.
  • Espressocycle
    Espressocycle Posts: 2,245 Member
    Honestly, if you are losing inches, you're doing it right.
  • renroc57
    renroc57 Posts: 14 Member
    Just wondering what has happened to my weight loss lately. I recently went on a scuba diving holiday. I did 19 dives in 7 days which is much more exercise than normal. While I did eat a little less carefully than at home I did not stray too far from sensible eating. Each of these dives was within a few minutes either side of 60mins. On average we did 3 dives a day.
    When I got home I was 1kg heavier than when I left. Now 2 weeks later I am 2 kg heavier than when I left. Since I have been home I have been back into routine with food.

    I can't understand what has happened to cause this gain. Yes I know I probably underestimated food intake while on holidays but not by enough to counter the huge calorie burns diving 3 hours a day should have created.
  • Mosala
    Mosala Posts: 3
    Also try eating more often, with very small portions throughout the day. Perhaps your metabolism needs a jumpstart.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member


    For calories burned MFP ofter over estimates, that said for your 2000 cals, was that using TDEE method, if so you don't eat back the cals you burn from exercise, if you follow MFP guide, eat back what you burn from exercise. Either method should put you near the same cals at the end of a week, provided you chose similar goals (TDEE -20% which should be close to MFP with a weekly goal of 1-1.5lbs/week)

    Sorry if I'm a bit dense this morning, but, are you saying I should be doing MFP calculations or TDEE?

    Either, but choose one and stick with it, and if doing MFP eat back cals, if doing TDEE don't.

    As an example say MFP gives you 1450 calories to lose 1 lb/week, and you plan on exercising 5x/week for an average of 400 cals per workout. well MFP will tell you to eat 1450 on the days you don't workout and 1850 on the days you do whereas a "professional" or TDEE calculator may tell you to eat 1700 everyday regardless if you workout.

    So for the week MFP will have you eat 12,150 (1450*2+1850*5) whereas doing it the other way will have you eat 11,900 (1700*7) almost the same number of cals for the week (250 dif). The issue in not following MFP is if you don't workout the full 5 days or burn more or less than planned. If that is the case you may lose more or less than your goal, whereas MFP will have you lose your goal amount regardless how much you actually workout.

    What many MFPers do is take the low 1450 and not eat back exercise calories which is wrong, if you are not eating them back then your daily activity level should reflect the higher burn with would be covered in the 1700/day above.
  • seliinac
    seliinac Posts: 336 Member
    Just wondering what has happened to my weight loss lately. I recently went on a scuba diving holiday. I did 19 dives in 7 days which is much more exercise than normal. While I did eat a little less carefully than at home I did not stray too far from sensible eating. Each of these dives was within a few minutes either side of 60mins. On average we did 3 dives a day.
    When I got home I was 1kg heavier than when I left. Now 2 weeks later I am 2 kg heavier than when I left. Since I have been home I have been back into routine with food.

    I can't understand what has happened to cause this gain. Yes I know I probably underestimated food intake while on holidays but not by enough to counter the huge calorie burns diving 3 hours a day should have created.

    I scuba dive and I don't think I burn many calories doing it. Do you swim really fast? Usually I'm just moving along slowly so I can take a look at fish, coral, etc. I probably wouldn't even log it as exercise myself.
  • Love_Is_My_Fuel
    Love_Is_My_Fuel Posts: 211 Member
    First off..sorry that your having a rough go and working so hard with minimal results :frown:

    Thing is ,,,the same plan doesn't work for everyone but once you find out what works your body will pay you back on the scale. I tried a few things before I found what worked and have changed my plan a few times over the last few months. What's worked for me is consistency. My day is planned out on my food diary mid morning and I always plan the night before what I'll eat for the next day. I work out at the same time everyday. I noticed that you only logged 1 day and it was very lacking in natural sugars, fruits, vegetables and fresh food. I don't have high carbs after 2 pm. And don't get hooked on the fad juice diets or shake replacement fads...none of these will work for a long term goal of a healthy lifestyle. If you take a look at my log I have a few idea's for meal plan...with the exception of yesterday it was a cheat day lol. Also a big tip on water...you should be drinking at least half your body weight in oz. of water. Right now I'm working on upping my calories to 20% TDEE...I'm at 30% now and it's a lot more calories then what I'm used to. When I started back in Dec. 2012 I was 282 lbs. and now I'm 224.
  • Love_Is_My_Fuel
    Love_Is_My_Fuel Posts: 211 Member


    For calories burned MFP ofter over estimates, that said for your 2000 cals, was that using TDEE method, if so you don't eat back the cals you burn from exercise, if you follow MFP guide, eat back what you burn from exercise. Either method should put you near the same cals at the end of a week, provided you chose similar goals (TDEE -20% which should be close to MFP with a weekly goal of 1-1.5lbs/week)

    Sorry if I'm a bit dense this morning, but, are you saying I should be doing MFP calculations or TDEE?

    Either, but choose one and stick with it, and if doing MFP eat back cals, if doing TDEE don't.

    As an example say MFP gives you 1450 calories to lose 1 lb/week, and you plan on exercising 5x/week for an average of 400 cals per workout. well MFP will tell you to eat 1450 on the days you don't workout and 1850 on the days you do whereas a "professional" or TDEE calculator may tell you to eat 1700 everyday regardless if you workout.

    So for the week MFP will have you eat 12,150 (1450*2+1850*5) whereas doing it the other way will have you eat 11,900 (1700*7) almost the same number of cals for the week (250 dif). The issue in not following MFP is if you don't workout the full 5 days or burn more or less than planned. If that is the case you may lose more or less than your goal, whereas MFP will have you lose your goal amount regardless how much you actually workout.

    What many MFPers do is take the low 1450 and not eat back exercise calories which is wrong, if you are not eating them back then your daily activity level should reflect the higher burn with would be covered in the 1700/day above.

    GOOD INFO!!
  • nikidirocco81
    nikidirocco81 Posts: 11 Member
    I noticed that you only logged 1 day and it was very lacking in natural sugars, fruits, vegetables and fresh food.

    I actually have a lot more days logged, I just haven't the past few days.
  • nikidirocco81
    nikidirocco81 Posts: 11 Member
    Ok, I just changed my goals, and it put me down to 1480. Sound about right? I'm really no good at telling whether or not I'm eating enough calories, since I never ate enough before.
  • kittyhasclaws
    kittyhasclaws Posts: 446 Member
    My only comment is this:

    Don't waste your money on Advocare. It's not worth it. You'll get the same results without it, but you'll have more money in your wallet.
  • tootchute
    tootchute Posts: 392 Member
    When did you start, it says 4 months ago but there not many diary entry's?
  • Danny_Boy13
    Danny_Boy13 Posts: 2,094 Member
    Honestly, if you are losing inches, you're doing it right.

    ^^^ This. IMO go by the looks in the mirror and how you feel over the # on a scale or on the tag of clothing.
  • KenosFeoh
    KenosFeoh Posts: 1,837 Member
    I recently read about a study in, if memory serves, the Czech Republic. It concluded that the participants whose calories were divided between 2 meals per day lost more weight than participants who received the same number of calories, even the same food, divided over multiple small meals per day.

    If you haven't, you might try that. I started my experiment today.
  • jlapey
    jlapey Posts: 1,850 Member
    I've lost a mere 13 pounds since I started MFP almost a year ago, however, my body has changed a lot. I'd say 90% of the changes have occurred in the last 4-5 months when I've lost no pounds at all. Thanks to weight lifting my body is looking very different and I have to buy new clothes.

    From this: (that's me in the white shirt)
    44763_1524240699559_5521590_n.jpg

    To this:

    27445807_1600.jpg
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
    I have been on a liquid diet of juices and some solids like fruits for five days. After a jog for about 45 minutes I have lost 3.5 pounds!

    Uuuuummmmmm NOT!!!!! :noway:


    OP: Looking at your diary, well.....where's your food, not a whole lot of entries!! :ohwell:
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    Honestly, if you are losing inches, you're doing it right.

    This. Unless you're planning to tattoo your weight to your forehead who cares what the scale says if your body is getting smaller?!
  • begotus
    begotus Posts: 1
    You have a very simple problem with a remarkably simple solution. Your goal, it sounds like, is to reduce your percent body fat. Fat cells are strongly regulated by your insulin level. When your insulin is low, this signals your fats cells to break down and release fat for use as energy. When your insulin is high, this tells your body to store fat for future use. The primary driver of your insulin level is the amount of net carbs that you eat. (Net carbs are all carbs minus fiber and sugar alcohols.) This is well known and well established science. However, a low carb diet requires you eat under 50 g of carbs. To do this, you must embrace and eat fat, otherwise you won't get any energy. I know this sounds opposite to much of what you may have learned, but give it 2 weeks and you'll easily drop 5-10 lbs in water weight alone.

    Keep in mind that this is a lifestyle change, not a fad diet. Some diets work for some people, a low carb diet is natural (see Atkins or Paleo as examples) and works for every one.

    Some great resources are "Low Carbohydrate Living" and "Low Carbohydrate Performance", both by Phinney and Volek. See the movie "Fat Head" for some fun commentary and read Gary Taubes' "Why We Get Fat" for some real science on the subject.
  • nikidirocco81
    nikidirocco81 Posts: 11 Member
    I've lost a mere 13 pounds since I started MFP almost a year ago, however, my body has changed a lot. I'd say 90% of the changes have occurred in the last 4-5 months when I've lost no pounds at all. Thanks to weight lifting my body is looking very different and I have to buy new clothes.

    Whoa. That's amazing! And it makes me feel a lot better. Thank you so much for sharing those pics.
  • nikidirocco81
    nikidirocco81 Posts: 11 Member
    OP: Looking at your diary, well.....where's your food, not a whole lot of entries!! :ohwell:

    From June 24 on, I have quite a few entries. I go on and off with having time to input the foods. I'm a volunteer leader, and dealing with spouses of deployed soldiers can take up quite a bit of time! haha

    I'm trying to keep at the logging. It's just been something to get used to.
  • RockinTerri
    RockinTerri Posts: 499 Member
    You have a very simple problem with a remarkably simple solution. Your goal, it sounds like, is to reduce your percent body fat. Fat cells are strongly regulated by your insulin level. When your insulin is low, this signals your fats cells to break down and release fat for use as energy. When your insulin is high, this tells your body to store fat for future use. The primary driver of your insulin level is the amount of net carbs that you eat. (Net carbs are all carbs minus fiber and sugar alcohols.) This is well known and well established science. However, a low carb diet requires you eat under 50 g of carbs. To do this, you must embrace and eat fat, otherwise you won't get any energy. I know this sounds opposite to much of what you may have learned, but give it 2 weeks and you'll easily drop 5-10 lbs in water weight alone.

    Keep in mind that this is a lifestyle change, not a fad diet. Some diets work for some people, a low carb diet is natural (see Atkins or Paleo as examples) and works for every one.

    Some great resources are "Low Carbohydrate Living" and "Low Carbohydrate Performance", both by Phinney and Volek. See the movie "Fat Head" for some fun commentary and read Gary Taubes' "Why We Get Fat" for some real science on the subject.

    I have tried Atkins before, and felt like I was starving most of the day. Since I've switched gears and just replaced many of my sweets and salty snacks with healthier choices, and swapped out the large plate for a smaller plate, I've gone down 12 pounds, and lost a good 8 inches off of my frame.

    I think low-carb eating can be great for many, eating once a day works for some, eating multiple small meals during the day may work (as it does for me). There's no one form for everyone, but to all who work hard and stick with what works for them - that's what is key.

    And to OP - losing inches was where I started too. The scale changed very little, but my clothes became baggier. Only recently have I started to see the pounds start to come off. The past 2 weeks alone I've dropped 4 pounds. Good luck on your journey!

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