Frustrated! Not losing weight or inches!! Help!

Hello Friends,

I am so frustrated! I switched things up to get away from so much cardio and started lifting a month ago. I still do cardio, just not nearly as much. I upped my calories after being told I wasn't eating enough and that could be my problem, but I'm still not losing anything, not even inches! I lift moderate/heavy 3 days a week for about 45mins each time followed by 15mins of cardio. I also do 45 mins of cardio twice a week. I do additional cardio on the weekend if I know I am going out so I don't go over my calories drastically. Oh and I am in a beginners class for Crossfit, and I do that 2-3 times a week for approx. 45mins.

Female
5'7"
CW 159
GW 145

Calories 1500/day

Any help would be appreciated. I am getting so discouraged and don't know what else to do. My wedding is this year and I really want to feel good in my dress!

Thanks

Open your diary.

Are you weighing all of your solid food and measuring all of your liquids? people tend to underestimate how many calories they are eating, I've done it myself. It's easy to do, even if you are measuring everything. Calculate your TDEE (http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/) and subtract 200-400 calories and use that as your goal for the day. Don't eat back exercise calories when doing that. After a month or so, measure and weigh and see what your results are and make adjustments in your calorie goals based on what you've achieved so far. It's very important to be accurate with your calories in, so get a good food scale and weigh everything!

Yup, agree with mccindy.

Also, because you just started lifting you might see some water and glycogen retention and depending on how little you were eating before you might see some added water retention due to an increase in calories.

With that being said, weighing, measuring, and logging is the key to the bank. Are you counting condiments? Cream in your coffee? All beverages?

I have a couple simple suggestions. Give up table salt and switch to Celtic Sea Salt and go Paleo. Eat eggs, fish, chicken, meat, plus fruits, non-starchy veggies plus sweet potatoes, and healthy fats like avocados and nuts and olive oil. Read the book It Starts With Food and do the Whole 30 to really simplify and get what The Paleo Diet is.

You don't have to do Paleo to lose, just sayin.

With so little weight to lose, you must set your goal to .5 lb. per week. The closer you are to goal, the more slowly you lose. Log everything you eat accurately & honestly. Find reliable database entries. (There's a lot of incorrect data in there.) Weigh your food. Log your exercise, and eat back your exercise calories for two weeks. If you're still not losing, eat back half your exercise calories.

Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Are you doing the Cross Fit classes on top of weight training 3x/week, plus the cardio? If so, that seems like a LOT of exercise to me! My body clung to weight when I was exercising a lot, 6-7 days a week. When I backed off a little, I lost 3 to 5 pounds.

Other than that, I would recommend cycling your calories (higher intake one day, lower the next), drinking more water, and mixing up what you eat in terms of food or macros. Hope that helps, and good luck!

other than beginning to deprive yourself, maybe you've simply reached the capability limit for your body. it sure doesn't sound like you can do any more exercise, and if you lose nutrients, you're going to get sick. the only thing I could possibly imagine is if you eat like bodybuilders...because it sounds like with all you're doing, you probably just have tiny little fat deposits in places where you want to be slim. The only way you can fix that is to do what bodybuilders do - completely remove fats from your diet and go completely lean, until your body has eaten up all the stored fat. You say you're worried about feeling good in your dress - I worry that your issue isn't the dress, but your own body image. Women tend to focus on the things we don't have, rather than the wonderful things we do. I hope you have plenty of self-love going on....stress can cause your body to hold onto things you don't want... good luck! and congratulations on your success! many of us aren't able to exercise because of injuries and would love to do even one day of your exhaustive plan. Celebrate!

other than beginning to deprive yourself, maybe you've simply reached the capability limit for your body. it sure doesn't sound like you can do any more exercise, and if you lose nutrients, you're going to get sick. the only thing I could possibly imagine is if you eat like bodybuilders...because it sounds like with all you're doing, you probably just have tiny little fat deposits in places where you want to be slim. The only way you can fix that is to do what bodybuilders do - completely remove fats from your diet and go completely lean, until your body has eaten up all the stored fat. You say you're worried about feeling good in your dress - I worry that your issue isn't the dress, but your own body image. Women tend to focus on the things we don't have, rather than the wonderful things we do. I hope you have plenty of self-love going on....stress can cause your body to hold onto things you don't want... good luck! and congratulations on your success! many of us aren't able to exercise because of injuries and would love to do even one day of your exhaustive plan. Celebrate!

Um, no.

At 5'7" and 159#, OP probably does have some weight she could lose, unless she's been body building consistently for some time and bulking, and is pretty solidly muscle. Hard to tell without pictures or measurements. Since she's asking for help, I'd say that's not the case. She's got room to go further, she just has to create a calorie deficit and continue her workouts. It confuses me when people say "you can't work out anymore than you already are". Why not? You can always work out more than you are,as long as you are fueling properly. Correct macros and a minor deficit for fat burn.

other than beginning to deprive yourself, maybe you've simply reached the capability limit for your body. it sure doesn't sound like you can do any more exercise, and if you lose nutrients, you're going to get sick. the only thing I could possibly imagine is if you eat like bodybuilders...because it sounds like with all you're doing, you probably just have tiny little fat deposits in places where you want to be slim. The only way you can fix that is to do what bodybuilders do - completely remove fats from your diet and go completely lean, until your body has eaten up all the stored fat. You say you're worried about feeling good in your dress - I worry that your issue isn't the dress, but your own body image. Women tend to focus on the things we don't have, rather than the wonderful things we do. I hope you have plenty of self-love going on....stress can cause your body to hold onto things you don't want... good luck! and congratulations on your success! many of us aren't able to exercise because of injuries and would love to do even one day of your exhaustive plan. Celebrate!

:huh: Ummmmm NO. :noway:

With so little weight to lose, you must set your goal to .5 lb. per week. The closer you are to goal, the more slowly you lose. Log everything you eat accurately & honestly. Find reliable database entries. (There's a lot of incorrect data in there.) Weigh your food. Log your exercise, and eat back your exercise calories for two weeks. If you're still not losing, eat back half your exercise calories.

Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Exactly.

With so little weight to lose, you must set your goal to .5 lb. per week. The closer you are to goal, the more slowly you lose. Log everything you eat accurately & honestly. Find reliable database entries. (There's a lot of incorrect data in there.) Weigh your food. Log your exercise, and eat back your exercise calories for two weeks. If you're still not losing, eat back half your exercise calories.

Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Per MFP, if I put sedentary (because I sit at a desk most of the day) and I put .5lb a week it gives me 1640, so then eat my exercise calories on top of that? I don't really know how many to eat with lifting...

If you put .5 and it's only been a month, that would only be a lb. With usual fluctuations and scale limitations, you might not see that lb on your weigh-ins. Add exercise and your muscles holding water, and you certainly might be fine the way you are.

My water weight from beginning lifting more seriously didn't go away for 8 weeks! I kept upping the difficulty

That's not to say that you shouldn't weigh your food, etc, but when losing weight slowly you do need to give it more time to see the trend line.

With so little weight to lose, you must set your goal to .5 lb. per week. The closer you are to goal, the more slowly you lose. Log everything you eat accurately & honestly. Find reliable database entries. (There's a lot of incorrect data in there.) Weigh your food. Log your exercise, and eat back your exercise calories for two weeks. If you're still not losing, eat back half your exercise calories.

Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Per MFP, if I put sedentary (because I sit at a desk most of the day) and I put .5lb a week it gives me 1640, so then eat my exercise calories on top of that? I don't really know how many to eat with lifting...

If you put .5 and it's only been a month, that would only be a lb. With usual fluctuations and scale limitations, you might not see that lb on your weigh-ins. Add exercise and your muscles holding water, and you certainly might be fine the way you are.

My water weight from beginning lifting more seriously didn't go away for 8 weeks! I kept upping the difficulty

That's not to say that you shouldn't weigh your food, etc, but when losing weight slowly you do need to give it more time to see the trend line.

8 weeks!? Holy cow! I'm too impatient! I want results now! Lol. At least some inches lost or something. I need something to keep me from an all out binge from depression! Lol

LOL. I lost inches before the 8 weeks were up! The scale just didn't like me much

Measure in a lot of spots, though. I take 3 measurements of my midsection, and one lost much faster than the other 2. And my legs lost weight from the knees up, and I only measure the very top, lol.