What am I doing wrong? Please help!!

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SutapaMukherji
SutapaMukherji Posts: 244 Member
So, I got the weighing scale today and guess what? I have lost only 0.5kg.

Here is the deal, I started hitting the gym since 10th of May,2013 which means I have had about 25 days of it. Most days I do 40-50 mins of cardio which includes 30 minutes of the treadmill, 20 minutes of stationary bike and another 5-10 minutes on the elliptical.

However, I started tracking my calories only since 20th of May, which means it has been 15 days now. MFP has set a goal of 1200 total cals for me which I follow most days, apart from the occasional weekend.

Inspite of working my a** off (I say that because it is my first time in the gym) and having controlled my diet, why am I not losing weight??
I feel so upset right now that I just want to give up. Its as if one of those success stories will never be mine..I will always be fat.

So here is what I want you people to do. Based on the above info and feel free to take a sneak peek into my diary, tell me what am I doing wrong? How much harder should I try? Don't I deserve to lose weight :(

For those of you, who are going to tell me about eating back exercise calories, I do eat back as much as I can. and about BF% and TDEE, I am really not sure how those work, so help is appreciated; but at the moment, I only want to lose weight and see the scales budge. That is my only aim.

Replies

  • kendrafallon
    kendrafallon Posts: 1,030 Member
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    Simply put, you're not eating enough. Either that or you're not logging everything you're eating and drinking accurately.

    To keep it simple and going with just what MFP settings you've used, you need to eat back your exercise calories. That's how MFP's targets work.

    Why are you aiming to lose weight fast? 0.5lb - 1lb or 0.25kg - 0.5kg is about right for a weekly loss target. Weight loss has nothing to do with what you deserve and it does take time to lose weight. It didn't all pile on overnight, so what makes you think it's going to disappear in a hurry?

    Keep going and don't be discouraged.
  • AdviDaddy
    AdviDaddy Posts: 207 Member
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    True. Don't expect miracles. That can only happen in a 5 minute song from Bollywood. We all experience such 'depressing moments' from time to time. Haha.. That's 'normal'. :P

    Its a life-style modification, not a short-cut route for freedom. So, let's 'earn' it. Keep eating right, keep working out. Enjoy the process and don't kill urself to reach ur goal.

    Good luck.
  • SutapaMukherji
    SutapaMukherji Posts: 244 Member
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    Thanks for the encouragement people
  • amitglinkedin
    amitglinkedin Posts: 223 Member
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    I started about a month back I exercise approx 3 times in a week..and I did lost 3 pounds quickly in first 2 weeks but since then...not much has been lost..probably muscles are build
  • ShubhaBansal
    ShubhaBansal Posts: 80 Member
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    Hi...Just saw your diary...Kindly make your breakfast bit heavy. and evenly distribute calories in meals than heavy dinner and lunch..Try snacking in between.
  • ppdes
    ppdes Posts: 83 Member
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    Cut the carbs. Your carb intake is way too high for your daily calorie goal. And protein intake is too low. You eat non-vegetarian food, so it will not be very difficult for you to improve protein intake. Watch your sugar too. Ideally the combination should be 40:30:30 of carbs , proteins and fats. But for Indian diet which is carb-loaded usually, this is very difficult to achive. Set a weekly goal of reducing carb intake by 5%. I achieved 1 kg weightloss just by changing food composition and I have not yet reached goal carb of 40%... (which was within first 2 weeks. After that I have stopped weighing myself, but I feel lighter for sure). Also try to restrict sugar intake to 24g per day. That's what is recommended by doctors. We easily reach this point first thing in the morning with tea-intake itself I suppose... so its not easy ...it needs to happen gradually.
    People who drastically lose weight within first few weeks are those who quit sodas, bad food choices. I suppose with Indian lifestyle, we mostly already eat home-made food and don't rely on sodas etc. So there will not be drastic changes . But if you try cutting carbs, which is probably the main vice of Indian food, you will definitely see results faster.
    Also start lifting heavy. Or do resistance training with atleast body weight such as surya namaskars, push-ups, pull-ups etc. You will see visible inch-loss, which may or may not be due to weightloss. It could be due to muscle build-up, which is what ultimately we are aiming at. The thin-lean look.
    Currently I am doing Jillian michael's 30 day shred. Which is circuit training mix including cardio-weights and abs. (I use bottles filled with water to substitute for weights - meaning its doable at home) And while I have not checked for weight, my stomach and overall body has shrunk a bit. I just reached mid-way. You can try that as well, its free on you-tube. Just 20 minutes every day. But extremely intense - kicks your *kitten*. And gets results too...

    Cheers and good luck
  • kendrafallon
    kendrafallon Posts: 1,030 Member
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    @ppdes you're suggesting a lot of changes to be made all at once. I know, I for one would struggle to make ALL your suggested changes in one go. It takes time to make the lifestyle changes you suggest - give the OP a chance!
  • ppdes
    ppdes Posts: 83 Member
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    @ppdes you're suggesting a lot of changes to be made all at once. I know, I for one would struggle to make ALL your suggested changes in one go. It takes time to make the lifestyle changes you suggest - give the OP a chance!

    Of course @Kendrafallon, anybody would struggle, myself included.
    I just summarised changes that probably would lead to visible weightloss effects. I mentioned as well, that carb cutting (including sugar) is difficult to achieve, but one can target a 5% cut per week which sounds reasonable...you need to fill that gap with protein rich food - so upping protein intake automatically gets taken care of... We all have to take baby steps to make lifestyle changes in order for them to be sustainable.. and I have personally struggled with most of these issues, still am struggling, but I can say after trying several ways that this one seems to be more logical and effective :-)

    Cheers
  • ppdes
    ppdes Posts: 83 Member
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    Actually come to think of it, - starting resistance training using body weight is not a very difficult thing at all. You can start with 1 suryanamaskar a day and gradually keep on adding to the quantity.
    Check a program called PLP (Push-ups, lunges and pull-ups) on Tnation, which talks about starting with 1 PLP and daily adding 1 to it. At the end of 60 days, people did 60 PLPs and saw amazing effects. But that sounds sort of outlandish at this point to me. Especially, Pull-ups. For someone starting resistance training, pull-ups is not an easy task. Especially women, who have weaker upper body. However, you definitely can do suryanamaskars, which are great form of exercise with proven benefits. Starting with 1 and keeping on adding 1 daily till such times that you can do it without substantial effort / difficulty...
  • kendrafallon
    kendrafallon Posts: 1,030 Member
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    Slow but steady.
  • Sadagopan84
    Sadagopan84 Posts: 28 Member
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    Hi,
    I joined this indian weight watch few weeks back. I dont know if this is a late reply but here goes. First thing i noticed from your post is that you do a way too much cardio. If you really want to lose weight and keep it off then do cardio 2 - 3 days a week. Running is good but not good way to lose weight. Do 3 days of weight training and 2-3 of cardio.

    Doing weight training will help you build muscles (not bulky) and help in increasing your metabolism. Read the below links to know more

    http://www.livestrong.com/article/438693-a-pound-of-fat-vs-a-pound-of-muscle/

    Also women in general think if they do weight they will become bulky like Arnold but the truth is women cannot build muscles as easily as men as they dont have the hormone to support muscle growth. To know more about weight training for women read the below link

    http://bodybuilding.about.com/od/womensfitnesstopics/a/womenmyths.htm

    Do post your results when you succeed in your goal.