Not losing weight. At all. :(

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jpartin475
jpartin475 Posts: 11
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been on MFP and spending lots and lots of time in the gym for the last year. At first I lost a LOT of inches and a couple of pounds. I have been eating the calories MFP says. I usually have 100 or a little less left at the end of each day. This includes the "extra'' calories as well. I spend well over an hour 5 days per week in the gym. I alternate between the elliptical, the arc and a machine called the AMT. I lift weights. I burn a LOT of calories according to the machines (and I know that isn't an accurate amount most times, but if it says I'm burning 900, then I'm probably burning at least 500.) I have been gaining and losing the same five pounds for over 6 months now. I'm starting to get sick of it. It makes me want to give up. I'm wondering if MFP isn't giving me enough calories, or if I'm just exercising too much. What do you all think?
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Replies

  • theoriginaljayne
    theoriginaljayne Posts: 562 Member
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    Please open your food diary.
  • Zuzanna100
    Zuzanna100 Posts: 39 Member
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    Please don't give up. You look amazing and have come so far!
    Do you want to go back to that? Because if you give up you most likely will gain weight.

    Okay, now I'll wait for the pro's to help you get over the hump but don't ever give up, you've worked too hard to be where you are.

    It's also possible that your muscles are really getting heavier and that you're toning. Have you tried less weight and more reps?
  • Maria_Cutie
    Maria_Cutie Posts: 136 Member
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    Have you readjusted your diary to fit your weight loss?

    I've been having this problem for the past 2 months but its only been a fluctuation of 3-4 pounds. I realized I had to readjust my intake.
  • jpartin475
    jpartin475 Posts: 11
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    I haven't logged for days because 1) I've been really busy, and 2) I'm getting too frustrated with it. I thought about quitting MFP altogether. BUT...It gives me 1500 cal per day, plus whatever I burn. I eat a pretty "normal" diet, but I am fixated on broccoli. I've eaten 2 whole bunches per week for the last 4 weeks by myself. I eat a lot of veggies and I don't eat after 9 (i'm not usually in bed before midnight and I have to eat with my meds I take before bed).
  • jpartin475
    jpartin475 Posts: 11
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    I have readjusted my goals.
  • sdauback
    sdauback Posts: 10 Member
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    Maybe change up the exercise routine? Sometimes our bodies can become accustomed to the activities we do repeatedly. Maybe take a couple of classes...kickboxing, RIPPED, etc. Some type of activity that will shake up your body a little bit, use all of your major muscle groups, and jump start the process again?
  • jpartin475
    jpartin475 Posts: 11
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    But this is what my diet looks like for the most part. Breakfast, I alternate between a sandwich made with whole wheat skinnies, canadian bacon and 1 egg OR a bowl of plain cheerios with some kind of chopped nut and a TBSP of mini chocolate chips.
    Lunch: I either have a sandwich with soup or a small handful of chips. Or a big salad with diced ham or whatever meat I cooked the night before. Once a week I eat out for lunch. Dinner, I have whatever my family is having. Ususally something grilled, with veggies and sometimes a slice of toast. I cook 9/10 meals myself. Snacks are usually a light string cheese with a few crackers and some fruit or a fruit bar or chobani bite size cups. I try to keep snacks around 100-150. But I always come in just under what MFP says I can have.
  • bimpski
    bimpski Posts: 176 Member
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    you don't say how much you are eating. with all your workouts at the gym you may need to add more protein. for breakfast, i would ditch the bread and add another egg. add more protein to your salad. at first glance it does seem that you are eating a lot of bread, I see a sandwich for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and toast with dinner, and imo it doesn't matter if it's white or wheat. also, like an above poster said change up your workout routine. you don't say how you do your cardio. I find intervals the most beneficial and most challenging. what does your weight lifting routine consist of?
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
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    Maybe get your thyroid checked.
  • MyaPapaya75
    MyaPapaya75 Posts: 3,143 Member
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    1. Your not properly measuring your foods and not logging accurately.
    2. Your overestimating your calorie burns per workouts.
    3. Possibly need to have a set of lab test done to rule out anything medical.

    If you don't put in 100% you wont get 100% back everyone is busy just the same day to day...it takes a lot of time and effort to see results...if you really want honest answers the diary open will be the only way.
  • MrsMX
    MrsMX Posts: 98
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    I have been on MFP and spending lots and lots of time in the gym for the last year. At first I lost a LOT of inches and a couple of pounds. I have been eating the calories MFP says. I usually have 100 or a little less left at the end of each day. This includes the "extra'' calories as well. I spend well over an hour 5 days per week in the gym. I alternate between the elliptical, the arc and a machine called the AMT. I lift weights. I burn a LOT of calories according to the machines (and I know that isn't an accurate amount most times, but if it says I'm burning 900, then I'm probably burning at least 500.) I have been gaining and losing the same five pounds for over 6 months now. I'm starting to get sick of it. It makes me want to give up. I'm wondering if MFP isn't giving me enough calories, or if I'm just exercising too much. What do you all think?

    Your post sounds so much like me ...
    It's depressing when effort is being made and inches move but scales don't
    and you feel good like your making progress and step on those stupid scales ....

    It's been recommended that I
    1, toss my bathroom scales ...
    2, get some kitchen scales and make sure I'm eating right amounts
    3, get into walking and jogging more for cardio ...my road cycling isn't doing much!

    Good Luck :))x
  • pavrg
    pavrg Posts: 277 Member
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    1. You're not properly measuring your foods and not logging accurately.
    2. You're overestimating your calorie burns per workouts.
    3. Possibly need to have a set of lab test done to rule out anything medical.
    I agree with 1 and 2, and wouldn't bother spending hundreds of dollars on 3 until you are absolutely positive that your workouts are accurate, your food portions/ingredients are accurately weighed, and you are logging every little thing that passes your lips. For example, that salad you mention might surprise you once you weigh everything out and calculate the recipe, not to mention the calorie dense dressing.

    900 calories in an hour estimated by the various machines you do? Unlikely to be accurate. You'd have to run a 8-10 min/mile pace for an hour to burn 900 calories.

    Also, you say that you are within 100 calories of your daily caloric intake. Everyone is slightly different and you may have to lower that by 100-200 calories, but do #1 and 2 first.
  • Siegel15
    Siegel15 Posts: 100 Member
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    "Calories burned" indicator on work out machines always totally way way over estimate. Try using Sparkpeople calories burned during work out calculator . Much more accurate.

    Also, we all tend to under estimate what we really eat. Your macros help tell you what you are really eating as well as the calorie total.

    Also, heck! The measuring tape is a WAY better way to know your progress. Isn't inches around the waist and butt what it's all about? Who wants to be 103 pounds but flabby!
  • Nicolee_2014
    Nicolee_2014 Posts: 1,572 Member
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    So you have stopped losing inches?

    Do you weigh everything? That is personally my down fall some days. You think something isn't that much when it really is.

    Don't give up - a year from now you may wish that you had kept on going. :flowerforyou:
  • GemmaRowlands
    GemmaRowlands Posts: 360 Member
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    I hate it when I see threads like this and people claim "oh you must just be gaining muscle". I don't think people really understand how hard it is to gain muscle, and the fact that you cannot possibly gain anything physically whilst being in a calorie deficit.

    You're either:

    - Overestimating your exercise
    - Underestimating your food (maybe not logging things like drinks, condiments etc.. they all add up)
    - Don't need to lose any more weight
    - Have a medical problem

    It might help to rule out the bottom option by seeing your doctor. The majority of people who assume they have "fat genes" and will never be able to lose weight most certainly DON'T, and once you get it out of your head you might find it helps the motivation to get rid of all possible excuses.

    If you're eating back your exercise calories, and recording the calories that the machines at the gym say you're burning, then I'd say that's the problem. All machines vastly overestimate calories burned, and I even feel as though MFP will overestimate most of the exercises that you try to add as well.. so if you then eat all exercise calories you might find yourself breaking even at best, or even possibly in a surplus again.

    Try NOT eating back exercise cals (unless obviously your net goes ridiculously low) for a couple of weeks, and see what happens.
  • lauren3101
    lauren3101 Posts: 1,853 Member
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    I have been on MFP and spending lots and lots of time in the gym for the last year. At first I lost a LOT of inches and a couple of pounds. I have been eating the calories MFP says. I usually have 100 or a little less left at the end of each day. This includes the "extra'' calories as well. I spend well over an hour 5 days per week in the gym. I alternate between the elliptical, the arc and a machine called the AMT. I lift weights. I burn a LOT of calories according to the machines (and I know that isn't an accurate amount most times, but if it says I'm burning 900, then I'm probably burning at least 500.) I have been gaining and losing the same five pounds for over 6 months now. I'm starting to get sick of it. It makes me want to give up. I'm wondering if MFP isn't giving me enough calories, or if I'm just exercising too much. What do you all think?

    You say you haven't lost any more lbs, but are you still losing inches?

    It's also very hard to help if you aren't logging anything in your food diary. You could be over-estimating calorie burns, under estimating food eaten, you could be eating far too much sodium, the choices are endless.

    How close are you to your final goal? If you are within a stone (14lb) of your goal weight, sometimes you need a less aggressive deficit, so only 10%.

    The other thing you could try is a reset. Slowly up your calories each week until you are eating at your TDEE. Stick with that for a few weeks, then drop them again. Plateaus are a perfectly normal part of weight loss, and I've heard resets work for many people. Keep logging your food, though!
  • joannlim965
    joannlim965 Posts: 4
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    Same here! Getting frustrated and thought of giving it all up.

    I've exercised daily (4x a week, 40 mins each time) doing HIIT on treadmills for like 8 weeks and I've not been losing any weight.

    I try to keep under my calorie goal of 1,290 per day but its not working either. Not sure what is wrong?
    It makes me wonder why I maintain my weight doing nothing for the past few years and then when I start exercising I gain like 2-3 lbs :(

    Really frustrating, it's like all the sweat coming out of me is a waste of time and energy :(

    I'm 5'8" and 130 lbs currently. Any tips? Am I not exercising enough?
  • millerne
    millerne Posts: 17 Member
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    Same here! Getting frustrated and thought of giving it all up.

    I've exercised daily (4x a week, 40 mins each time) doing HIIT on treadmills for like 8 weeks and I've not been losing any weight.

    I try to keep under my calorie goal of 1,290 per day but its not working either. Not sure what is wrong?
    It makes me wonder why I maintain my weight doing nothing for the past few years and then when I start exercising I gain like 2-3 lbs :(

    Really frustrating, it's like all the sweat coming out of me is a waste of time and energy :(

    I'm 5'8" and 130 lbs currently. Any tips? Am I not exercising enough?

    Maybe your problem is a focus on weight. perhaps you should shift focus to BMI or arm/neck/waist/thigh measurements. you may be building muscle and getting leaner. there is a point where weight should plateau.
  • KimberlyinMN
    KimberlyinMN Posts: 302 Member
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    Do you use a heart rate monitor or something like that? If not, you might want to invest in one. (Even a BodyMedia device.) These will provide you with real time accurate caloric burn information specifically for you, not some mythical 140 pound person. (Not that 140 pound people don't exist....) LOL

    Stalls DO happen too. I know I had a three week stall that was..hmmm... kind of a bummer. Then the weight started going down again.
  • WhoDat5o4
    WhoDat5o4 Posts: 50 Member
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    Maybe (in addition to the good suggestions of others about overestimating burn and underestimating calories in) you are doing too much cardio not enough heavy weights. Don't be afraid of heavy weighs (ones that are so heavy that you can only do a few reps of each exercise-less than 12 reps before fatigue). The low weights high reps is cardio, and you seem to already get enough cardio. Build some muscle, up your metabolism, and you will break your plateau.

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