Please help...why am I not losing any weight?
axoxmine
Posts: 9 Member
I'm wondering what else I can do to lose weight. I'm eating 1400-1500 calories a day and exercise about 3-5 times a week for about an hour to an hour and half. I do elliptical and circuit training. Every once in awhile I do treadmill for 15-20 mins. My weight has gone up and down for the past few months. I'm at 180 right now and I want to be 135-145. Please tell me what other ways I can do to lose this weight. Thanks!
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Replies
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Diary isn't open.0
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Height/weight?
Do you use a digital food scale?
Do you eat your exercise calories?
Cheat Meals?0 -
:flowerforyou: Calorie deficit the only thing that works. Good luck to ya!0
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Well I don't do too much heavy weight. When I'm on the circuit training I'm doing my whole body. A minute per machine and steps in between the machines. I don't use a food scale. When I log in my food and exercises, my net is less then my calorie goal. I have cheat days, but I still don't go over my calorie goal with no exercise. Is it because my net is not at my calorie goal?0
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Well I don't do too much heavy weight. When I'm on the circuit training I'm doing my whole body. A minute per machine and steps in between the machines. I don't use a food scale. When I log in my food and exercises, my net is a little more then my calorie goal. I have cheat days, but I still don't go over my calorie goal with no exercise. Is it because my net is not at my calorie goal?
If you don't use a food scale how do you measure your food? Are you using actual measures, or just estimating? If you are estimating, that is likely your problem. Serving sizes generally tend to be much smaller than you would guess, and I know my own experience is that what I think is the right amount is generally wrong, what I usually think is a serving, is actually 1.5 or more of a serving. This adds up pretty quickly.
This is not to mention the inaccuracy of using something meant for liquid or powder measures for solids like fruits, veggies, cereal, meat and the like. A food scale for solids is much more accurate which is why it was pretty much the best purchase I made in terms of training what I eat.0 -
I suggest playing around with MFP's "fitness goal" settings.......I JUST realized today that mine was set to lose 1.2 lbs per week bc they won't set a "net" caloric goal below 1200. I generally "cheat" one day a week, which explains why I have been losing less than a pound per week when for the last year I thought I had it set to lose 2 lbs per week. OOPS!!!!
Set your own net caloric daily goal, and look at the "lbs/week" adjust.0 -
I don't underestimate my servings when I log in my food. I don't put the correct amount or less because then I'm thinking I'm going to gain weight if I did because I don't use a food scale. But sometimes I don't need the food scale because I scan most my food.0
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So are you saying you scan the package and the info is automatically uploaded? What do you do if there's more than one serving in a package? If you're not measuring/weighing, how do you know you're only getting one serving?0
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Then I would change the amount or estimate still.0
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I also dont own a food scale. Although I realize my estimations may not be spot on, I know I am not underestimating by hundreds of calories that would cause me to not have a caloric deficit on a daily basis.
Generally speaking, to compensate for this, I make a habit of overestimating my food intake and underestimating calorie burn. that makes me feel as though there is a better balance in case my estimations are off.
I also have a hard time losing weight, with genetics working against me. Some advice I've received in the past is to switch it up. Try a more intense workout 1-2x a week to confuse your body, like a boodcamp or HIIT class.
I agree with other posters, it would be helpful to see your diary in order to see if your portion sizes and food choices could be holding you back, but just stay active, drink lots of water, and avoid starches after 3pm. Should give you a head start.
Good Luck!!0 -
OP you should open your diary if you want more specific ideas on where you might be going awry0
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Diary isn't open.0
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Thanks I like your comment. It's a lot more helpful. But I think that's one of the things I need to do too is switch up my workouts because I've been doing the same things for the past few months. And yes I do the same estimations like you.0
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bump
To read later. Having a similar problem.0 -
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Maybe you should change your workout routine. I would also invest in a food scale. How is your water intake? Do you get enough sleep?
Are you using a heart rate monitor?
In my experience you're either eating more than you think or burning less calories than you think.0 -
I had a lot of weight to lose so I hired a personal trainer. I keep my calories around 1200 but also keep my carbs around 65 grams. When I start to plateau she tweaks the carb intake some and that always seems to give me the push I need. I know the carb number is way under MFP recommended, but it has made a huge difference in my weight loss.
Good Luck!!!!0 -
I also dont own a food scale. Although I realize my estimations may not be spot on, I know I am not underestimating by hundreds of calories that would cause me to not have a caloric deficit on a daily basis.
Generally speaking, to compensate for this, I make a habit of overestimating my food intake and underestimating calorie burn. that makes me feel as though there is a better balance in case my estimations are off.
I also have a hard time losing weight, with genetics working against me. Some advice I've received in the past is to switch it up. Try a more intense workout 1-2x a week to confuse your body, like a boodcamp or HIIT class.
I agree with other posters, it would be helpful to see your diary in order to see if your portion sizes and food choices could be holding you back, but just stay active, drink lots of water, and avoid starches after 3pm. Should give you a head start.
Good Luck!!
what happens to starches after 3 pm ? and is that eastern time? mountain time? greenwich time?0 -
and avoid starches after 3pm
Please elaborate on this
@OP, if you don't use a scale you have no idea how much you are really eating. Plain and simple
Also would really help if you would open your diary0 -
I don't underestimate my servings when I log in my food. I don't put the correct amount or less because then I'm thinking I'm going to gain weight if I did because I don't use a food scale. But sometimes I don't need the food scale because I scan most my food.
So basically you're doing a WAG with the your portions, how much your consuming and the calories.
I don't understand the scanning (I understand what it means to scan) but what I don't understand is without a food scale and without measuring your food out how do you know how much you're consuming? For example if the package says "4 servings" and a serving is 4 ounces how do you know you're consuming just 4 ounces of that serving? With meat items, like chicken, how do you know what you're putting on your plate is 4 ounces? I measure my chicken out before I cook it and trust me. 4 ounces is a lot smaller than one would think. 2 tablespoons of peanut butter is 32 grams. Trust me when I say that when it's measured out it's a lot less on the spoon than one would think.
I honestly think you're eating more calories than you think you are because you're not weighing and measuring everything. And I mean EVERYTHING.
Get yourself a digital scale. They're not that expensive. I got this one:
http://www.amazon.com/EatSmart-Precision-Digital-Kitchen-Silver/dp/B001N07KUE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1390424728&sr=8-2&keywords=digital+food+scale
It wasn't that expensive and I use it all the time.0 -
I don't underestimate my servings when I log in my food. I don't put the correct amount or less because then I'm thinking I'm going to gain weight if I did because I don't use a food scale. But sometimes I don't need the food scale because I scan most my food.
So basically you're doing a WAG with the your portions, how much your consuming and the calories.
I don't understand the scanning (I understand what it means to scan) but what I don't understand is without a food scale and without measuring your food out how do you know how much you're consuming? For example if the package says "4 servings" and a serving is 4 ounces how do you know you're consuming just 4 ounces of that serving? With meat items, like chicken, how do you know what you're putting on your plate is 4 ounces? I measure my chicken out before I cook it and trust me. 4 ounces is a lot smaller than one would think. 2 tablespoons of peanut butter is 32 grams. Trust me when I say that when it's measured out it's a lot less on the spoon than one would think.
I honestly think you're eating more calories than you think you are because you're not weighing and measuring everything. And I mean EVERYTHING.
Get yourself a digital scale. They're not that expensive. I got this one:
http://www.amazon.com/EatSmart-Precision-Digital-Kitchen-Silver/dp/B001N07KUE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1390424728&sr=8-2&keywords=digital+food+scale
It wasn't that expensive and I use it all the time.
The truth. Weighing your food is essential, you can't trust your eye. This is the scale I use http://www.amazon.com/Ozeri-Professional-Digital-Kitchen-Tempered/dp/B003MSZBSI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1390425519&sr=8-2&keywords=ozeri+food+scale0 -
OK everyone I will think about getting the food scale. But as for my other question, what other ways besides changing up my exercise routine and getting a food scale, are there any other advice you can give me to help me lose this 40 pounds I'm trying to lose?
As for my diary, it is open. But since I eat asian food a lot, it's difficult to add those food in, but i do log in as much as I can for whatever I eat. And that's why I over estimate too.0 -
OK everyone I will think about getting the food scale. But as for my other question, what other ways besides changing up my exercise routine and getting a food scale, are there any other advice you can give me to help me lose this 40 pounds I'm trying to lose? As for my diary, it is open. But since I eat Asian food a lot, it's difficult to add those food in, but i do log in as much as I can for whatever I eat. And that's why I over estimate too.
My advice would be to limit the elliptical and add some weights (if you're not already doing so) with the circuit training.0 -
Has anyone dropped a link to the Sexypants thread in here yet? It's a lot of reading (and all of the linked posts are worth a read too) but it's packed with good information that should help answer a lot of your questions: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants0
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I use to estimate a lot too. I used the deck of cards, fist, thumb rule. It didn't work for me because my calorie count was was off. I switched to actually measuring with measuring cups and spoons and also going by small fruit and so on. It helped me keep my calorie count more accurate. I just recently, in the last month, bought a digital food scale. The difference it made in my calorie count. It is now more accurate and my weight is dropping. I would recommend measuring everything and not estimating. It is annoying but eventually becomes a habit. I fear by April I will be carrying a digital scale with me everywhere I go. My calories burned is estimated by my heart rate and duration. I know this isn't correct but hopefully it is close. Soon I will be getting a HRM to be more accurate and I am sure my weight will melt away. Good luck and happy loosing.0
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Well I do the same on the elliptical, but I added more weight on the circuit training.0
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Seems good to me. Stick with it and hopefully in a month you'll see a bigger improvement.0
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Log your water.
Get enough sleep.
Make sure you have more potassium than sodium.0 -
Yeah, I always forget to log in my water for some reason. But I drink my gym water bottle twice a day. It's 23.7 oz. I drink once at work and then refill and drink during gym, then probably half when I get home before bed.0
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Thanks! I'm still new to this so I'm trying different things. That's why I'm trying to get other advice from people, but everyone seems to lean towards food scale. But I will definitely look into that. As for right now, I'm going to switch up my routines and what I eat.0
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