Only lost 8 lbs during 5 months! any idea?

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shelerance_f
shelerance_f Posts: 26
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everybody,

I am 30, 5'4" and I was 128 lbs. From 5 months ago, I've changed my diet completely and start eating very healthy.
I read lots of articles regarding this and now I am happy with my 1200 Cal/day diet including lots of vegetables and fruits but the problem is I haven't lost the expected weight while I eat 5-6 times per day to increase my metabolism. I also workout 5 times per day for 30 min following one of the well-known trainer's DVD. I see my body has changed but the problem is everything happens very very slowly!
however before my new diet plan, I had never been a fat person or I had never eaten so much in my life, only didn't care about healthy food which caused weight gain after 29 for about 4 lbs.
I really don't know what is the problem and why my body's reaction is like that. I supposed to lose 4 lbs per months but it is 8 lbs during 5 months!
Any idea?

Replies

  • hankHardisty
    hankHardisty Posts: 3 Member
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    I am a 60 year old man, weighing 160 at 5' 11". However, in 2010, I was 225 lbs. waist size dropped from 42 to 33 inches. I eat only 3 meals a day and do 1 hour medium walk and 10 minutes of strength exercises a day. In my experience, the keys to success are twofold:

    1) Sustainability
    2) Persistence

    My meals are are plant based, leaving off meat and dairy, restricting the amount to 1500 cal/day. The meals are a lifestyle change and I will sustain that practice the rest of my life. So also, the exercise programme.

    If you will develop your diet and and exercise plan so that it is a pleasure and not a burden, you will achieve your goals over time. Don't worry that you are not meeting your weight goals within a self-imposed period of time. You will find you loss fluctuate at different rates.
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
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    Hi everybody,

    I am 30, 5'4" and I was 128 lbs. From 5 months ago, I've changed my diet completely and start eating very healthy.
    I read lots of articles regarding this and now I am happy with my 1200 Cal/day diet including lots of vegetables and fruits but the problem is I haven't lost the expected weight while I eat 5-6 times per day to increase my metabolism. I also workout 5 times per day for 30 min following one of the well-known trainer's DVD. I see my body has changed but the problem is everything happens very very slowly!
    however before my new diet plan, I had never been a fat person or I had never eaten so much in my life, only didn't care about healthy food which caused weight gain after 29 for about 4 lbs.
    I really don't know what is the problem and why my body's reaction is like that. I supposed to lose 4 lbs per months but it is 8 lbs during 5 months!
    Any idea?

    Your ticker shows you want to lose 3 kg. Is that accurate? If so you should probably change your expected weekly loss. With less to lose you're not likely to lose a great deal quickly. 3 kg is between 6-7 lbs and if they are your last ones they should come off slowly.
  • Colossus882
    Colossus882 Posts: 22 Member
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    I would suggest if you are only eating 1200 calories a day, and doing 150min of hard cardio, you are probably burning off close to half of those 1200 calories. Meaning your body is trying to survive on 600 calories a day, which wil slow your metabolism not raise it. Can you clarify if you are eating back your calories so your combined intake - calories burned through exercise = 1200
  • Hungry_Gurl
    Hungry_Gurl Posts: 23 Member
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    I'm 5'4" 30 yrs old and weight 117. You are within the normal range of what a 5'4" person is suppose to weigh. It will take a lot of work to continue to lose. Can't expect big loses with you are just trying to get to the smaller end of the weight bracket.
  • 2aycocks
    2aycocks Posts: 415 Member
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    Hi everybody,

    I am 30, 5'4" and I was 128 lbs. From 5 months ago, I've changed my diet completely and start eating very healthy.
    I read lots of articles regarding this and now I am happy with my 1200 Cal/day diet including lots of vegetables and fruits but the problem is I haven't lost the expected weight while I eat 5-6 times per day to increase my metabolism. I also workout 5 times per day for 30 min following one of the well-known trainer's DVD. I see my body has changed but the problem is everything happens very very slowly!
    however before my new diet plan, I had never been a fat person or I had never eaten so much in my life, only didn't care about healthy food which caused weight gain after 29 for about 4 lbs.
    I really don't know what is the problem and why my body's reaction is like that. I supposed to lose 4 lbs per months but it is 8 lbs during 5 months!
    Any idea?

    Well how much do you need to weigh at 5'4"? That sounds pretty good to me. How much are you trying to lose?
  • shelerance_f
    shelerance_f Posts: 26
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    Colossus882: I do 30 min of cardio per day and I don't replace the burning calories. Actually I cannot as most of the time I feel really full :( so my intake net average is around 900- 950!
  • shelerance_f
    shelerance_f Posts: 26
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    [/quote]

    Your ticker shows you want to lose 3 kg. Is that accurate? If so you should probably change your expected weekly loss. With less to lose you're not likely to lose a great deal quickly. 3 kg is between 6-7 lbs and if they are your last ones they should come off slowly.
    [/quote]

    That's right. When I started my diet, I used another app so I'd already lost 8 lbs during 5 months when I changed to MFP and now I need to loose more 6-7 lbs.
  • cingle87
    cingle87 Posts: 717 Member
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    Colossus882: I do 30 min of cardio per day and I don't replace the burning calories. Actually I cannot as most of the time I feel really full :( so my intake net average is around 900- 950!

    Thats your problem then, you are asking your body to lose weight when you are not giving it enough calories to keep its basic function working. Being on so low of a NET average your body has been design to keep hold of what little fat stores it has because it think its in a famine ie getting few calories a day, up your cal to min 1200 Net and add in some weight trainging to get your overall bf% down.
  • shelerance_f
    shelerance_f Posts: 26
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    Now I am - after loosing 8 lbs - I am within normal range but I had a little bit of lower belly fat. It is really better now but I guess I have to continue loosing 6-7 lbs to reach my goal.

    I'm 5'4" 30 yrs old and weight 117. You are within the normal range of what a 5'4" person is suppose to weigh. It will take a lot of work to continue to lose. Can't expect big loses with you are just trying to get to the smaller end of the weight bracket.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
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    Now I am - after loosing 8 lbs - I am within normal range but I had a little bit of lower belly fat. It is really better now but I guess I have to continue loosing 6-7 lbs to reach my goal.

    I'm 5'4" 30 yrs old and weight 117. You are within the normal range of what a 5'4" person is suppose to weigh. It will take a lot of work to continue to lose. Can't expect big loses with you are just trying to get to the smaller end of the weight bracket.

    If you're just trying to get rid of a little bit of belly fat, it isn't about losing lbs, it's about dropping BF% (inches). That's a big difference.
  • shelerance_f
    shelerance_f Posts: 26
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    Ummm, sounds correct but you know, because of my current work-at-home job and except my 30 min daily workout and the time I need for preparing food, I spending my whole day in front of my laptop. So I think maybe 1200 of net cal amount is for a normal person who has more activities. MAYBE. that's why I skip eating back the exercise calories I burned.
    Am I wrong?


    Colossus882: I do 30 min of cardio per day and I don't replace the burning calories. Actually I cannot as most of the time I feel really full :( so my intake net average is around 900- 950!

    Thats your problem then, you are asking your body to lose weight when you are not giving it enough calories to keep its basic function working. Being on so low of a NET average your body has been design to keep hold of what little fat stores it has because it think its in a famine ie getting few calories a day, up your cal to min 1200 Net and add in some weight trainging to get your overall bf% down.
  • spmcavoy1
    spmcavoy1 Posts: 60 Member
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    So let me get this straight: you work out for 150 minutes a week and you net under 1000 calories a day? I think you may need to up your calories to net ~ AT LEAST 1200/day (8400/week).

    ETA - I suggest looking up what your TDEE is (google it) and go from there. It may surprise you. Your BMR (just to keep you alive #) is probably higher than you're netting, and with that little to lose, it might not be working.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
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    How good are at tracking your calories? Honestly, until I started entering EVERYTHING I put in my mouth into MFP, I didn't lose weight either. For me, that was the magic bullet.
  • shelerance_f
    shelerance_f Posts: 26
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    Not that bad, At least I lost 8 lbs :tongue: , by the way you are 48 year old mom! and 117 lbs. You are already on shape :)
    How good are at tracking your calories? Honestly, until I started entering EVERYTHING I put in my mouth into MFP, I didn't lose weight either. For me, that was the magic bullet.
  • shelerance_f
    shelerance_f Posts: 26
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    OMG! My daily calories to maintain weight (TDEE) is 1832 as a Lightly Active person! so it suggests me to eat 1465 cal per day and still loose 2.9 lbs per month!! How can I eat 1465!! :noway:

    So let me get this straight: you work out for 150 minutes a week and you net under 1000 calories a day? I think you may need to up your calories to net ~ AT LEAST 1200/day (8400/week).

    ETA - I suggest looking up what your TDEE is (google it) and go from there. It may surprise you. Your BMR (just to keep you alive #) is probably higher than you're netting, and with that little to lose, it might not be working.
  • shelerance_f
    shelerance_f Posts: 26
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    Can you please explain more?

    Now I am - after loosing 8 lbs - I am within normal range but I had a little bit of lower belly fat. It is really better now but I guess I have to continue loosing 6-7 lbs to reach my goal.

    I'm 5'4" 30 yrs old and weight 117. You are within the normal range of what a 5'4" person is suppose to weigh. It will take a lot of work to continue to lose. Can't expect big loses with you are just trying to get to the smaller end of the weight bracket.

    If you're just trying to get rid of a little bit of belly fat, it isn't about losing lbs, it's about dropping BF% (inches). That's a big difference.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    OMG! My daily calories to maintain weight (TDEE) is 1832 as a Lightly Active person! so it suggests me to eat 1465 cal per day and still loose 2.9 lbs per month!! How can I eat 1465!! :noway:

    So let me get this straight: you work out for 150 minutes a week and you net under 1000 calories a day? I think you may need to up your calories to net ~ AT LEAST 1200/day (8400/week).

    ETA - I suggest looking up what your TDEE is (google it) and go from there. It may surprise you. Your BMR (just to keep you alive #) is probably higher than you're netting, and with that little to lose, it might not be working.

    It's really easy to add more calories without add a lot more food. Look for calorie dense foods. Add olive oil, full fat dairy, nuts & seeds, nut butters, Greek yogurt, cheese, avocado, protein shakes & smoothies, etc. to your diet. With a little pre-planning you can add a few hundred calories to each meal really quickly.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    Options
    Can you please explain more?

    Now I am - after loosing 8 lbs - I am within normal range but I had a little bit of lower belly fat. It is really better now but I guess I have to continue loosing 6-7 lbs to reach my goal.

    I'm 5'4" 30 yrs old and weight 117. You are within the normal range of what a 5'4" person is suppose to weigh. It will take a lot of work to continue to lose. Can't expect big loses with you are just trying to get to the smaller end of the weight bracket.

    If you're just trying to get rid of a little bit of belly fat, it isn't about losing lbs, it's about dropping BF% (inches). That's a big difference.

    Lowering BF% and lowering weight, don't always go hand in hand, plus since all you have to lose (so you say) is around the midsection the loss will be verify minimal.

    With so little weight to lose, you need to figure out what 15% of TDEE (I think you came up with 1465) which should be OK (and if it's not you can always adjust down), and work on keeping your LBM while you lose fat. Your weight will fluctuate a bit, but you will be lowering your BF% while keeping the muscle mass you already have (you won't get any bigger, mass wise).

    The best advice I can give you is Eat at a deficit (starting at 1465), Work (Cardio AND Compound lifting), and patience. The smaller the amount of fat a person needs to lose, the slower it can go.

    Oh, and the tape measure is the indicator of success, not the scale. Especially at this point.
  • mischelleguerrero
    mischelleguerrero Posts: 12 Member
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    Thank you for posting this. I am 4'11" at 114 lbs. I have lost 38 pounds from my pregnancy 7 months ago.

    I can not move the scale any further despite eating right and exercising every day for 45 minutes. I have never been a big eater and can't eat more than the 1200 I get now. It's a struggle to eat that much. I guess it sounds like I need to stop looking at the scale and start measuring.

    It is so frustrating and makes me want to quit.
  • shelerance_f
    shelerance_f Posts: 26
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    Thank you so much for your complete answer. Got the point and now I know why this little belly fat needs more time to disappear :)
    Can you please explain more?

    Now I am - after loosing 8 lbs - I am within normal range but I had a little bit of lower belly fat. It is really better now but I guess I have to continue loosing 6-7 lbs to reach my goal.

    I'm 5'4" 30 yrs old and weight 117. You are within the normal range of what a 5'4" person is suppose to weigh. It will take a lot of work to continue to lose. Can't expect big loses with you are just trying to get to the smaller end of the weight bracket.

    If you're just trying to get rid of a little bit of belly fat, it isn't about losing lbs, it's about dropping BF% (inches). That's a big difference.

    Lowering BF% and lowering weight, don't always go hand in hand, plus since all you have to lose (so you say) is around the midsection the loss will be verify minimal.

    With so little weight to lose, you need to figure out what 15% of TDEE (I think you came up with 1465) which should be OK (and if it's not you can always adjust down), and work on keeping your LBM while you lose fat. Your weight will fluctuate a bit, but you will be lowering your BF% while keeping the muscle mass you already have (you won't get any bigger, mass wise).

    The best advice I can give you is Eat at a deficit (starting at 1465), Work (Cardio AND Compound lifting), and patience. The smaller the amount of fat a person needs to lose, the slower it can go.

    Oh, and the tape measure is the indicator of success, not the scale. Especially at this point.

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