3 months, ZERO PROGRESS

Oh my gosh, you poor thing. How frustrating it is to try so hard at something and not get the results you want to. I was there too. I had my 3rd baby and couldn't lose weight. I tried all different things at the gym from running to boxing. I went to weight watchers and kept my calories low. I still lost nothing. So I dropped weight watchers and I saw a nutritionist. She tested my resting metabolism. When I sit around all day I only burn 1100/day. She told me to keep my calories around 1400-1600/day and exercise most days. She told me to focus on building muscle to increase my metabolism because muscle burns more calories than fat. With weight lifting 4 times a week and cardio 2x/week, a whole food non-processed diet, it has helped me lose but I am only losing one pound a week at best. I cheat my meals once a month. This has worked for me but, that is just me it isn't you. The folks on these forums only know what works for them. Go see a nutritionist. At least he/she will tell you if you are doing things right. Go see your doctor too. Many talk about thyroid issues but there are other issues too like food allergies and polycystic ovarian disease that could muck up your weight loss. I admire your ability to stick with this for so long. It's time you heard some new answers. Good Luck!

Odds are, if you're only taking in 1400-1600 calories a day, you aren't building any appreciable muscle. Muscle is hard to put on, and it takes a caloric surplus unless you are untrained or morbidly obese, but even those gains aren't sustained. You are maintaining the muscle mass you have through lifting while losing fat.

I am at this two weeks now, 7 lbs. lost. I am not really overweight, just trying to get into racing shape.

Be careful about your calories burnt during exercise, that could be very inaccurate.

I burn calories cycling, so I can still enjoy my meals, but stick 95% to the Paleo diet. Lots of protein, fruit, vegetables and avoid starch.

10 pages of discussion on someone complaining of lack of progress but has a closed diary and doesn't weigh her food.

This should have been closed on the first page.

RIGHT!?!!! smdh!!!!!:laugh:

Try having your cheat day be the day you go up to 1500, and the rest of the week stick to 1300. You have to create that deficit.

1500 is not a cheat day. 1500 is still a large deficit for the OP.

10 pages of discussion on someone complaining of lack of progress but has a closed diary and doesn't weigh her food.

This should have been closed on the first page.

Yup.

Then you get all the "Oh my poor dear, hang in there, please don't give up" Followed by same old advice. Lol.

OP already knows what she needs to do.

I tried and was called mean remember.

Can you afford a few months with a trainer? I had one for a bit and she pointed out some things I could change with my macros (too many carbs, not enough protein, etc), as well as patterns of eating I wouldn't have noticed or changed on my own.
She also had some challenging workouts I wouldn't have pushed myself to without her.
You have to be careful because some trainers can promote unhealthy habits or severe diets, but many can be a great help.
Expensive, but sometimes worth it.

Haha..nm after reading longer it looks like someone beat me to that advice on an earlier page! Well best of luck.

Scoobys calorie calculator asks for activity level right? Then it says pretty accurately how much on average you should be eating. On days you do a good workout you could eat some of the calories back.

Scooby is kind of cool. It says I should be eating over 1600 calories a day, which is interesting. I put in gain muscle, lose fat as my choice - with just lose fat, it says I should be at 1400. Pretty darn close in either direction to where I have been, but the breakdown is fascinating.

In case no one mentioned it, if you are choosing an accurate level of activity for you in the Scooby calculator then on TDEE you don't eat calories back at all.

The societal programmed obsession with scale weight diminishes the ultimate goal of being healthy, feeling better, looking in the mirror and being proud of what you have accomplished.

Throw away your scale become comfortable with your body as you progress along your transformation into a healthier you. If you could only walk a quarter mile when you started your journey, and now you can walk a mile, then who cares what the scale says? If you always took the elevator, and now you walk up five flights of stairs to your office, then who cares what the scale says? If you feel better, breath better, and your clothes are starting to fit better, then who cares what the scale says.

Focus on you, focus on you, and focus on YOU! Do not believe the façade of what society programs and projects as “beautiful.” You ARE beautiful!

Never surrender, never quit, never forget, and never compromise! Your goals are YOUR goals, and do not let the distractions of scale weight denigrate your path to a healthier happier you.

Cut out your cheat meals, period, exclamation mark! One cheat meal a week leads to small cheats throughout the week with all sorts of rationalization for sneaking in that bowl of Haagen-Daaz when no one is looking. If you want to change your life, eliminate all your bad habits. What you are doing is the equivalent of an alcoholic or drug addict saying that just one drink or fix won't hurt. A cheat meal is a lie, and you are just lying to yourself if you think one cheat meal a week won't hurt.

Remember, to lose one pound in a week, you must have a total calorie deficit of 3500 calories per week. Most likely, your are consuming back all your calorie deficits for the week in that one meal.

Exercise calorie counters are not 100% accurate, so don't rely on them completely. If you leave the gym covered in sweat, then you probably burned a few calories. If you leave the gym and your clothes are still dry, then work out harder next time so you will burn some calories.

I will not even go into the multitudes of "expert" advice in this thread concerning all the calorie systems, diet advice, etc. You have to find what works for you. You have to find the missing piece of the puzzle. One thing frequently forgotten in the equation is sleep. Sleep heals the body, and lack of sleep causes all sorts of metabolic problems.

It's probably your weekly cheat meal that is keeping you from losing