19 year old trying to lose weight, please help!

It's simple. You're not logging everything you eat correctly. If you burn more calories than you eat, you WILL lose weight. FACT.

Try logging everything in Myfitnesspal. Not just Weight Watchers points but all the 'free food' or Slimmers World 'sins'. There is no such thing as no calorie or free foods. Everything you eat has a calorific value. Even the small amount of milk in your tea or coffee.

It all adds up and it seems to me you're just not logging right. Be anal about it. Log absolutely everything for a week and see what happens.

Hope this helps.

You're probably overeating and don't realize it. You have to track absolutely everything.. I used to overestimate burned cals. and then overeat because of it. Which is why I stopped losing weight for a little while.

Are you putting your exercise into this app meaning you have more calories to eat a day? Cause to be honest i am so against that its not funny. Regardless of what exercise you do in a day, you should be consistent with the amount of calories eaten a day. Whether or not you workout and burn 1000 calories, doesn't mean you can eat another 500 calories and have that 500 calorie deficit.

If you are aiming for 2000 cals a day, example, and burn 1000 calories worth of exercise in a day, don't eat 3000, still eat your 2000. You vary off that and thats where you are doing your damage

The only possibilities I can think of is:
a) You not logging accurately, do you have a digital food scale?
b) You are over compensating (calorie wise) for exercising
c) You have an undiagnosed medical condition

http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/

Are you putting your exercise into this app meaning you have more calories to eat a day? Cause to be honest i am so against that its not funny. Regardless of what exercise you do in a day, you should be consistent with the amount of calories eaten a day. Whether or not you workout and burn 1000 calories, doesn't mean you can eat another 500 calories and have that 500 calorie deficit.

If you are aiming for 2000 cals a day, example, and burn 1000 calories worth of exercise in a day, don't eat 3000, still eat your 2000. You vary off that and thats where you are doing your damage

You can do this, but only if your account is set to maintain. Large deficits can lead to greater muscle losss, which will require you to lose more weight to get a lean and tight body. I will concede and partially agree on the fact that MFP can over estimate your calories, so if you workout, eat 50% of the exercise calories. For the most part, barely anyone is burn 1000 calories during a workout. It's actually pretty tough, especially for a petite woman. With 30 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of weight training, 300-400 calories is more realistic.

Are you putting your exercise into this app meaning you have more calories to eat a day? Cause to be honest i am so against that its not funny. Regardless of what exercise you do in a day, you should be consistent with the amount of calories eaten a day. Whether or not you workout and burn 1000 calories, doesn't mean you can eat another 500 calories and have that 500 calorie deficit.

If you are aiming for 2000 cals a day, example, and burn 1000 calories worth of exercise in a day, don't eat 3000, still eat your 2000. You vary off that and thats where you are doing your damage

So against using an app the way it was designed to be used? :huh:

MFP is actually a secret 'weight loss sabotage' website designed by fast food restaurants because they don't want us to get slim. It tells you to eat back your exercise calories in the hope you will spend them on a Big Mac or a KFC bargain bucket, then not lose weight, then give up and continue eating fast food. Didn't you know?

Are you putting your exercise into this app meaning you have more calories to eat a day? Cause to be honest i am so against that its not funny. Regardless of what exercise you do in a day, you should be consistent with the amount of calories eaten a day. Whether or not you workout and burn 1000 calories, doesn't mean you can eat another 500 calories and have that 500 calorie deficit.

If you are aiming for 2000 cals a day, example, and burn 1000 calories worth of exercise in a day, don't eat 3000, still eat your 2000. You vary off that and thats where you are doing your damage

*sigh*

Please ignore everything this person said. To eat 2000 calories a day and then burn off 1000 means you are actually only fueling your body with 1000 calories, which is unhealthy. I swear people should be made to take a questionnaire before being allowed to post on this forum.

I've only been here a short while, but I 100% agree with you!! It's amazing how some people just think....wrong. And no doubt these are the people that probably ride that roller coaster their entire life.

@GeorgeSanchez - If you're stuck at a plateau research "zig zagging" your calories. It's good to mix it up. Eat less some days, eat alot more on others, etc, etc. You want to wake up your metab.

Soo many lol's at all your responses to my comment.

Im riding a roller coaster? Let me just shuv the 35kgs back onto my "roller coaster" ride. Oh and thats just the fat i lost, not to mention the additional fat i lost, then muscle gained.

If u think the reading this app gives u is correct, you are kidding yourself. Take into account personal metabolic rate and previous metabolic damage that may have been done.

This app says for someone my size, ie height, i need to eat over 3k calories to maintain weight which is completely wrong, but oh wait, cause the app tells me too i think i might just do that. Cause the app couldn't be wrong....

Enjoy continually over estimating your input. I'll enjoy my continued transformation.

At the end of the day its personal preference, but when trying to lose weight why would you purposely consume more food and ruin your losses? no your not under fuelling your body. This site is great for tracking calories, however, that is as far as it goes. Please do some research on websites not affiliated with this, or Women's Guide or some **** like that. Reputable sources please.

I pose this question, people have a base metabolic rate, in which calories they burn when doing nothing, at a complete rest. Key words, DOING NOTHING. Are you saying you input walking around into the exercise counter? or sitting at a computer typing? Cause these expel calories, and by your reasoning this may cause you to be under fuelled...

Now to sit back, and wait for the hate!

I have been doing 30-60 min of cardio 4-5 times a week for a month with strength training every other day and every week I gain about two pounds. I have been watching what I eat with the occasional slip-up but for how hard I am working in the gym, WHY AREN'T I LOSING WEIGHT?!

I weigh 144 and hope to lose 15 pounds if not more.

You can not out-exercise poor eating habits. You say you are watching what you eat with occasional slip-ups...are you weighing/measuring and logging everything to eat?

Soo many lol's at all your responses to my comment.

Im riding a roller coaster? Let me just shuv the 35kgs back onto my "roller coaster" ride. Oh and thats just the fat i lost, not to mention the additional fat i lost, then muscle gained.

If u think the reading this app gives u is correct, you are kidding yourself. Take into account personal metabolic rate and previous metabolic damage that may have been done.

This app says for someone my size, ie height, i need to eat over 3k calories to maintain weight which is completely wrong, but oh wait, cause the app tells me too i think i might just do that. Cause the app couldn't be wrong....

Enjoy continually over estimating your input. I'll enjoy my continued transformation.

At the end of the day its personal preference, but when trying to lose weight why would you purposely consume more food and ruin your losses? no your not under fuelling your body. This site is great for tracking calories, however, that is as far as it goes. Please do some research on websites not affiliated with this, or Women's Guide or some **** like that. Reputable sources please.

I pose this question, people have a base metabolic rate, in which calories they burn when doing nothing, at a complete rest. Key words, DOING NOTHING. Are you saying you input walking around into the exercise counter? or sitting at a computer typing? Cause these expel calories, and by your reasoning this may cause you to be under fuelled...

Now to sit back, and wait for the hate!

Nope, no hate. Just reality...I lost 110 pounds so far eating back (some of) my exercise calories. Also, sometimes I get to eat ice cream. And pizza.

first off congrats thats huge! Each to their own i guess, i dont like doing it, and i still get to eat the stuff i want as long as i fit it in right with my macro's.

Soo many lol's at all your responses to my comment.

Im riding a roller coaster? Let me just shuv the 35kgs back onto my "roller coaster" ride. Oh and thats just the fat i lost, not to mention the additional fat i lost, then muscle gained.

If u think the reading this app gives u is correct, you are kidding yourself. Take into account personal metabolic rate and previous metabolic damage that may have been done.

This app says for someone my size, ie height, i need to eat over 3k calories to maintain weight which is completely wrong, but oh wait, cause the app tells me too i think i might just do that. Cause the app couldn't be wrong....

Enjoy continually over estimating your input. I'll enjoy my continued transformation.

At the end of the day its personal preference, but when trying to lose weight why would you purposely consume more food and ruin your losses? no your not under fuelling your body. This site is great for tracking calories, however, that is as far as it goes. Please do some research on websites not affiliated with this, or Women's Guide or some **** like that. Reputable sources please.

I pose this question, people have a base metabolic rate, in which calories they burn when doing nothing, at a complete rest. Key words, DOING NOTHING. Are you saying you input walking around into the exercise counter? or sitting at a computer typing? Cause these expel calories, and by your reasoning this may cause you to be under fuelled...

Now to sit back, and wait for the hate!

I think he's right! :-) I've seen a few people lose weight like this and keep it off. Personally, I eat about 25-50% of my exercise calories back. Just so I don't overestimate. Both methods work because we're all different. To answer the OP's question, most of us are not experts even if some of us have successfully lost a great amount of weight because our bodies are different, and our health conditions are different. It does not mean that any body on here are wrong. But simply what I mean is that, if you're doing everything right, then maybe just call your doctor, leave him a message if necessary and ask him or her, your doctor will know if it's a health condition or point you in the right direction. Best of luck!!

Soo many lol's at all your responses to my comment.

Im riding a roller coaster? Let me just shuv the 35kgs back onto my "roller coaster" ride. Oh and thats just the fat i lost, not to mention the additional fat i lost, then muscle gained.

If u think the reading this app gives u is correct, you are kidding yourself. Take into account personal metabolic rate and previous metabolic damage that may have been done.

This app says for someone my size, ie height, i need to eat over 3k calories to maintain weight which is completely wrong, but oh wait, cause the app tells me too i think i might just do that. Cause the app couldn't be wrong....

Enjoy continually over estimating your input. I'll enjoy my continued transformation.

At the end of the day its personal preference, but when trying to lose weight why would you purposely consume more food and ruin your losses? no your not under fuelling your body. This site is great for tracking calories, however, that is as far as it goes. Please do some research on websites not affiliated with this, or Women's Guide or some **** like that. Reputable sources please.

I pose this question, people have a base metabolic rate, in which calories they burn when doing nothing, at a complete rest. Key words, DOING NOTHING. Are you saying you input walking around into the exercise counter? or sitting at a computer typing? Cause these expel calories, and by your reasoning this may cause you to be under fuelled...

Now to sit back, and wait for the hate!

As much as you would like to point out about how most people are wrong, the assumption that you lost a lot of weight and gained muscle at the same time is fairly assuming. Yes, you gained strength but during weight loss, it's fairly common to also lose lean body mass. It's actually pretty difficult to gain new lean body mass at the same time you lose fat. In fact, very few even have that ability. One being complete noob gains which will probably yield 2-4 lbs of new mass and people morbidly obese, but even then as they lean out, they will end up losing some of that mass. Now if you cycled between bulk and cut, then it's a different story.


I can tell you I burn 3000 calories a day and eat 2400-2600 calories. I know this because I average 1 lb per week when I concentrate on my weight loss. And lets be real, most people don't have metabolic damage. To assume that is just crazy. If that were the case, most people would struggle to even lose weight, which isn't the case.

f you're doing everything right, then maybe just call your doctor, leave him a message if necessary and ask him or her, your doctor will know if it's a health condition or point you in the right direction. Best of luck!!

Unfortunately, most doctors know less about nutrition than you think. (in fact, many of the frequent posters here on MFP are much more knowledgable) I'm not saying don't ask for help from a professional, but, unless there's a medical reason for your difficulty, ask your doctor to refer you to a dietician.

Exactly he or she could refer her to dietician. Most insurances don't pay for dieticians, specialist of whatever kind without the referral. It could be a health issue (hopefully not) that the doctor himself could help her to diagnose.

Most of the responses are very knowledgeable but again we're all different. What worked for you (in general) might not work for me (in general) and that doesn't mean yours or their method is wrong unless you have an eating disorder of course.

Just call your doctor, it is the best common-sense advice I can give. He or she can POINT you in the right direction.