5 weeks.. no weight loss

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Tye9988
Tye9988 Posts: 5 Member
in Introduce Yourself
I came here as my last resort, not that it's a bad thing but I am feeling discouraged. I started working out at 24 hour Fitness 5 days a week, 45 minutes to an hour a day eating about 1300 calories a day... so far it's been 5 weeks and really no weight loss. I am 5'2 went from 212 to 205 and magically gained 3 pounds back leaving me at 208. Don't want to whine but I joined this site for inspiration and hope. I am 31, a nurse with no kids and really trying to get on a healthy path. I would think the heavier I am the more weight I would lose considering my height as well and how hard I was working out. I am afraid I might have underlying PCOS or Hypothyroidism but to chicken to find out, regardless that shouldn't stop me from trying to get healthy. Any suggestions on how to lose this weight. I lost 68 pounds back in 04-06 doing Lean Cuisine and microwave dinners. Now that I am older I would like to take a more healthier natural approach and have a life style change, not just a diet... Any suggestions on where to start over or tweak some changes? I would gladly appreciate it. Workouts - 45 minutes- 1 hour of cardio Squats and legs 15 mins 3 sets of 15. Thanks for listening :flowerforyou:

Replies

  • jessicahill530
    jessicahill530 Posts: 65 Member
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    patience. really that's all there is to it. also, are you eating back any exercise calories? you may want to start eating back at least some and see how it goes. your body might be needing some more fuel after those workouts! keep it up and don't get discouraged!
  • Tye9988
    Tye9988 Posts: 5 Member
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    Thank you... I am going to try to stay positive and keep going.. :smile:
  • 1two3four
    1two3four Posts: 413 Member
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    Yes on the more calories! I started here eating too few calories and once I started eating more I lost more!

    FWIW, I'm 5'0", 186-pounds and I currently maintain at 1470. Also, I'm pretty much sedentary (I have life long chronic pain and it's been rearing it's ugly head more often recently).

    Play around with your calories, sometimes we need more than we think.

    Good luck and WELCOME!

    (Of course, this is just a suggestion. Some people do fine on low calorie diets.)
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,709 Member
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    Get checked and confirm. Chickening out just leaves you more frustrated if you think you're doing it all right and there is an actual hormonal issue.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    Do you log everything every day? Do you use a food scale?
  • sun_fish
    sun_fish Posts: 864 Member
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    Are you feeling better than you were 5 weeks ago? More energy? Clothes fitting better? It's so easy to get discouraged but try to hang in there, you are making changes in your lifestyle and that is a good thing.

    There is so much great information on this site, but this post is one of my favorites and one I go back to when I need a little motivation or just to remind myself how to do this. I hope it helps you. And agree with what ninerbuff said - please get checked out by a doctor for your suspected health issues.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
  • juul76
    juul76 Posts: 20
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    It's very frustrating isn't it? It took me 3 months!!!! to start loosing weight... I kept on telling myself I was gaining muscle... After that it went reasonably quick and now I am closer to a so called healthy weight, I get many plateaus.... As said before, do you feel healthier and fitter? That is important too. And of course, weight isn't everything, get the measuring tape out and take some photos... You might be surprised. Most of all, don't give up!
  • Siansonea
    Siansonea Posts: 917 Member
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    I love how people just reflexively say "eat more calories!" without first determining how ACCURATE your calorie reporting is. Accuracy is enormously important. Know EXACTLY how many calories you're consuming, and EXACTLY how many you're expending. Stay in a calorie deficit, and you will lose weight. You can't maintain weight unless you're eating roughly the same number of calories as you expend. People throw around "slow metabolism" and "starvation mode" like they're more powerful than simple arithmetic. That's BS. Stick with the basic arithmetic, get your numbers as accurate as humanly possible, and you'll see results. There's no substitute for accuracy.
  • skadoosh33
    skadoosh33 Posts: 353 Member
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    I love how people just reflexively say "eat more calories!" without first determining how ACCURATE your calorie reporting is. Accuracy is enormously important. Know EXACTLY how many calories you're consuming, and EXACTLY how many you're expending. Stay in a calorie deficit, and you will lose weight. You can't maintain weight unless you're eating roughly the same number of calories as you expend. People throw around "slow metabolism" and "starvation mode" like they're more powerful than simple arithmetic. That's BS. Stick with the basic arithmetic, get your numbers as accurate as humanly possible, and you'll see results. There's no substitute for accuracy.

    Exactly. It must be accurate. Food scale. Weigh everything. Log everything. It is hard to go from never doing this to logging and exercising and expect weight loss right away. You don't know what your maintenance is. Once you find that out it is much easier to figure out how to lose weight.
  • onespoonfulls
    onespoonfulls Posts: 7
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    While it is hard for me to personally put all I know into practice,I've learnt a lot about the body on my way to a healthy weight and recovery (on-going)

    There's so much more to weight loss than what you eat and how much you exercise.It's about how you feel about yourself,how your feel about what your eating and the exercise that you are doing. Health whether through weight loss or just eating better is a mind & body journey and it's as easy as you believe it is.

    As far as eating goes,it's not enough to simply eat less calories-sure it helps,but different food reacts to the body in different ways.You can lose more weight eating 1 cup brown rice which is typically 200+ calories,than eating 1/4 cup white rice which has 150-160 calories.
    And of course,every body is different so what may work for me,may not work for you,this is where patience and getting to know your body comes in.
    With exercising I found that doing hours and hours of Cardio can be an effective tool for weight loss but I could never maintain it.I added yoga to my routine and everything just melted away and I maintained my 18 lb (healthy)weight loss for years.
    It really all comes down to taking the basics of eating healthy,staying active,keeping a good mindset-and the using it to experiment with to see what works for you!:)

    Are you tracking your meals and activity level,I would like to add you as a friend so that I can view it for myself and help you out as much as possible!:)
  • unFATuated
    unFATuated Posts: 204 Member
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    1. Are you logging EVERY SINGLE THING you eat/drink? Are the entries you are using on MFP accurate? (There are many user entries which aren't entered correctly, I find if I don't know the true value of what I'm entering personally I go with the one with the most confirmations).

    2. Are you weighing/measuring accurately everything you eat? Or are you eyeballing the portions and guessing the weight/amount you are consuming? If not, use a food scale and/or liquid measuring jug to ensure you are correctly calculating the amount you are eating. It can be very surprising how 'off' our eyes can be.

    3. Are you entering your exercise and eating back the calories you are burning? If so, how are you calculating your burn? MFP can often overestimate your burn, so a HRM or Fitbit is probably better to estimate your burn. However, 1300 calories per day is quite low for your current weight and I would expect you are burning quite a few calories doing 45 min or more of exercise each u

    If you are doing all of the above, I would firstly look at upping your daily calorie allowance. Research your BMR and TDEE (basal metabolic rate - the number of calories your body would need just to maintain vital function, and total daily energy expenditure - the number of calories your body requires to maintain weight during your daily activities and maintaining vital function). I would guess that you are eating at least 300 cal per day under your BMR, maybe more. Look to consume AT LEAST your BMR, if not a couple of hundred calories above. Unless you are a couch potato and don't move much (which we know is not true) that will still give you a decent deficit.

    If you still don't lose weight after say, a month or 6 weeks, get your hormone levels checked and rule out any medical issues.
  • SusanDugas
    SusanDugas Posts: 30 Member
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    OMG, you are me 5 months ago! I started at 237, then stalled completely, so I upped my exercise to 5-6 days a week to fix it! Didn't work for me either, so I went on an exploration journey to learn about what my body needs, when, how much, etc. and adjusted accordingly. Having read here so many times about TDEE and BMR and low calories, etc. I went to numerous sites and the one that made the most sense for my calculations turned out to be: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
    Based on my current size, I have set a limit of 1553 per day for calories. I still exercise as much as possible, but I was just too confused with figuring out why I would want to eat back the calories I worked off!?!?! My research lead me to setup my lifestyle as lightly active rather than sedentary (I work a desk job) and just exercise and forget eating it back, etc. One other thing that I found boosted my weight loss into action again was increasing my daily protein intake. I currently have MFP set for, I think, 45% protein, instead of the default and it was like I found the magic button to turn on the weight loss again. I am losing steadily and have tons of energy. Most days it is difficult for me to reach my protein goal with food, so I often supplement with smoothies mixed with Whey Protein Isolate powder, either unflavored or sugar-free depending on whether it is a green smoothie or a fruit smoothie (though I still add spinach to those). I much prefer veggies over meats, but I gained the weight from breads, pastas, cheeses... all high calorie options, with limited protein.
    I also bought kitchen scales, all manner of measuring cups, spoons, etc. and everything is weighed and measured and logged.
    I do need to reconfigure my calories, etc. since I have lost an additional 10 pounds, but I just figured out that I am still losing almost 1/4 pound a day and I am good with that. I am enjoying my new dining routine and finding comfort in figuring out how to get the most bang for my daily calorie costs. I treat it like a budget, and I may not want to 'spend' 300 calories on a beverage when I can drink water just as well and have a slice of bread with my dinner.
    Just some thoughts on how I got past where you are... I am sure you can do so, too!
  • airangel59
    airangel59 Posts: 1,887 Member
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    Do you log everything every day? Do you use a food scale?

    This ...since your diary is not public it's hard to know exactly what you're consuming and if eating back all or some of your workout calories and how you are figuring them out. Food as well as work out data on this site is often incorrect. If you're not losing I'd be weighing and logging everything and checking to make sure the values you are using are correct.

    I'd think by now you should be seeing a loss unless there is a health issue holding you back.
  • MuseofSong
    MuseofSong Posts: 322 Member
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    I have PCOS and borderline hypothyroidism. It's still possible to lose weight. However, my PCOS is being treated, which coincidentally led to some better thyroid results at my last physical.

    I cut 500 calories a day off my TDEE and that's it. I go for that net of calories everyday. I am lightly active and when I exercise or do physical work outside of my normal weekly routine or pace regular activity for a moderate burn, I log it. I eat back some of my exercise calories, cautious that it can be over-estimated, but my goal is to net my calories every day or at least over the balance of a week.

    TDEE -20% lightly active, you do not have to log or eat back the exercise calories
    - However, if you do activities outside your normal 'lightly active' (or whatever) range, you should log them and eat back calories to reach your net calories

    If you set a weight loss goal with MFP guiding you, you are SUPPOSED to eat your 'net' calorie goal, which includes eating back exercise calories (with a cautious eye to over-estimating a caloric burn).

    If you have been only eating 1300 calories net every day at 200+ lbs and are not losing weight, you may be eating more than you think, but even if you were accidentally eating 1800 calories a day, at 200+ lbs you should be losing some weight after 5 weeks.

    I do not believe that 1300 calories a day is enough for a 200+ lbs person. But, whatever, you're a grown up.

    But, if you are weighing and logging every item of food and drink accurately and not loaded with sodium, then absolutely get a medical exam with labs. You could have a health condition. I literally could ~not~ lose weight at all until my PCOS was being treated, and even then, it took 6 months of birth control pills turning off my ovaries before I was able to shed any weight.
  • MstngSammy
    MstngSammy Posts: 436 Member
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    No weight loss???? Have you taken your measurements? That's where you will see it first.

    Also, look up TDEE



    Read this...
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/931670-bmr-and-tdee-explained-for-those-needing-a-guide



    Use this...

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/


    Forget using the automatic calorie counter on here.....unless you don't plan to log exercise.
  • SusanUW83
    SusanUW83 Posts: 152 Member
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    Hang in there. I'm 5' 0" started at 163 and am now down to around 126. I've been averaging just under 1200 the whole time and as I get closer to my goal, I'm staying around there since I weigh a lot less. I run or bike 30-50 min per day 5-6 days a week. I don't eat back my exercise most days -- so most people would say I eat too little but I've only hit plateaus when I eat more and exercise less for a few consecutive days. Most importantly I find that if I eat complex carbs more I feel more full by the end of the day regardless of my input. People tell you calories are calories but I find it makes a difference -- when I eat good stuff I feel less hungry. I plan for a couple of days over 1200 a week but still below my TDEE, and the rest are generally slightly below 1200.
  • azbluebird
    azbluebird Posts: 2
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    Don't give up! I just started about 2 weeks ago and I've been struggling with losing then gaining then losing the same 2 lbs since starting with MFP. I am learning a lot about my eating patterns and how my body responds to what I eat - not just the calories and assorted data but also the quality of the food.

    Like you, I am trying to eat healthier. When I switched to organic whole foods and completely stopped processed foods and artificial ingredients/flavors/preservatives my body reduced the excess water it was carrying. I had been bloated for so long I did not even know that I was bloated until the swelling reduced. What a difference in how I feel!

    I believe that God made the body and he made the perfect fuel for the body. The less we mess with the food God created for the body, the healthier the body. Since I've made that change, I feel better physically and I am managing stress better. I'm hoping that you, too, are feeling better physically even if the numbers on the scales aren't cooperating.

    CAUTION: Avoid artificial sweeteners - especially Aspartame! My experience with toxic levels of Aspartame (which had built up in my body) was eye-opening. My symptoms included: reduced range of motion, muscle weakness, difficulty standing/walking, exhaustion/fatigue, etc. Basically, I felt like I was 100 years old! I am not usually not prone to injury and I usually heal very quickly but when I was using aspartame, I injured both knees and both hands - with no improvement/healing for over 2 years! When I stopped the aspartame, the symptoms completely went away. My friend's husband was recently been diagnosed with dementia and she remembered my experience with aspartame so they stopped using aspartame and her husband's dementia symptoms completely went away. Apparently aspartame messes with the brain's neurotransmitters. From what I read, aspartame changes chemically when it reaches body temperature and the new chemical composition resembles flormaldahyde. Honestly, aspartame is dangerous! And it is in almost every sugar-free product on the market. I've switched to Stevia extract (which is an extract of a leaf - not something created in a laboratory). I'm also working toward adjusting my taste buds to appreciate less sweet foods. And if I feel a need something really sweet, I try a very small amount of organic raw honey or organic maple syrup - since it's the real thing, it truly satisfies the sweet craving.

    You may have already known this stuff but just in case you didn't, I'm hoping that it will help. Best wishes & God Bless You!
  • Tye9988
    Tye9988 Posts: 5 Member
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    Thank you guys so much. This is just what I needed, support! I am feeling good... Trying to incorporate more healthy calories and drink more water to stay full.
  • azbluebird
    azbluebird Posts: 2
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    I just remembered what helps me with plateaus. My experience has been that when I stay at the same calorie count for too long I tend to plateau. I can usually break the plateau by increasing my calorie intake for a day then going back onto the previous calorie count. I think it gets the body out of famine mode. Anyway, it seems to help if I do this once every week or two. I did this after my message to you and since that date, I've broken the plateau and am losing weight. :) Maybe this would help you too?

    PS - I don't know about you but the advertisement to the right of my typing this entry (right now) is a picture of a girl eating a giant cinnamon roll. What's that about? On a website for people who are trying to address weight issues? Maybe the website is running a test on the impact of visual cues for people trying to lose weight? Well, no problem! I want to lose the weight much more than I want to eat that cinnamon roll!

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