Exercising and eating what I think is pretty good no results

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bmarees
bmarees Posts: 8
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm 5'2 and was 160 lbs I was working out half assed and eating the same for like 7 months... I lost maybe 5 lbs and didn't really look any different. I've now been working out for a month and a half what seems pretty hard to me, 45 min-1 1/2 hrs. Cardio and light weights high reps(heart rate anywhere from 160-190) and eating a 1400 calorie diet of mostly plain chicken breast, steamed and raw veggies, light yogurt, 2% cheese squares, Fresh fruit, and some occasional Special K cereal or blue corn natural tortilla chips. I drink no soda no tea , nothing but water and have lost a whopping 0 lbs. (Actually gained 3) and lost a whopping 0 inches..( actually gained an inch) I have no freaking idea what to eat or think anymore. I'm working my butt off going to the gym 5 days a week and eating food that sucks. And actually getting WORSE. Please help I've tried GNC vitamins to help before. I've tried a 7 day cleanse before. (The last month 1/2 I've been doing nothing but clean eating and exercise)

AND I CANT LOSE A SINGLE LB OR INCH. Wth am I doing wrong?!
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  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
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    Do you weigh your solids and measure your liquids? Is Your diary accurate? Do you eat back exercise calories and if so what method do you use to determine how much your burs are and do you eat them all/a portion?
  • bmarees
    bmarees Posts: 8
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    I do not. I measure them out into serving portions that are pretty accurate and always record what I'm eating accurately as not to over-eat. Some days I eat back my exercise calories if I'm hungry sometimes I don't. But almost never go over my daily limit+what I've burned(which is supposedly calculated in here correct for what I need to be eating to lose weight) also I have no idea what nuts are.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    can you open your diary?

    If you are not weighing your food then you could be underestimating calories.

    Also, if you are using MFP for calories burned that you are probably overestimating burns as it tends to overestimate.
    I would suggest eating back only half of your exercise calories and see how that goes.

    Do you drink a lot of water? you could have water retention...
  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
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    Can you open your diary so those interested in helping can have a better idea of what's going on?
  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
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    can you open your diary?

    If you are not weighing your food then you could be underestimating calories.

    Also, if you are using MFP for calories burned that you are probably overestimating burns as it tends to overestimate.
    I would suggest eating back only half of your exercise calories and see how that goes.

    Do you drink a lot of water? you could have water retention...

    :tongue:
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Hope you got the idea that eating even less and exercising even harder is not the right direction then.

    Keep following MFP method, especially eating back exercise calories for the following.

    Lose most of the cardio, move the time to lifting, heavier with less reps. You need your body to have something hard to recover from.
    And then the next day only walk, and allow it to recover. Walking is very accurate in MFP, more than HRM if you hit the indicated speed with no incline.
    Any cardio is 30 min after the lifting, whatever you enjoy, at whatever intensity you can still do after having a good lifting workout.

    3 x weekly for both sets there.

    What you are doing now is asking your body to improve - by storing more glycogen for this cardio carb burning workout. That stores with water.

    You might have to measure many spots to see reduction. Just as you cannot spot reduce, you can't spot measure either.

    Is your goal loss set to 1.5 weekly, that's should be it max for now, but you'll need to move to 1 lb weekly to keep it reasonable.

    Think of it this way, you already blew through that much time with no positive results, what's the problem now purposely making wise choices to go slower.

    Or make unwise choices and the body forces slowness on you anyway.

    And until you have weighed some actual serving sizes, you have no idea how bad your accuracy is on logging by measuring only.
    Serving size and calories is by weight, measurements are there merely for convenience, and don't have to be accurate at all. "About 2 servings" can be up to 2.7 easily. And the package may even weigh more.
  • bmarees
    bmarees Posts: 8
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    I will try and open it up but have only started logging on here again recently so it won't show too much
  • bmarees
    bmarees Posts: 8
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    It should be open now
  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
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    Okay. Now without weighing and measuring your food it's really hard to say if your portions are acurate. Measuring out two tablespoons of peanutbutter for example may not be the 32grams it should be (In fact odds are it isn't.) And if you're off by even half a tablespoon that's 50 extra calories.

    Your cup of rice? Can vary wildly, depending on water absorption and packing of the cup. How can you be sure your chicken was four ounces either?

    Some people can get by without weighing and measuring but in this case, as you aren't losing weight, I would suggest investing in a food scale.
  • mike_ny
    mike_ny Posts: 351 Member
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    From your food description, it doesn't sound like you're getting enough fats. A common mistake people make is to try and eliminate as much fat as possible to lose weight, which isn't a balanced diet. They're called essential fatty acids because your body needs them and can't make enough on its own.

    So, try adding more fat into your diet. I found for me that the more fat I ate, the more success I had at weight loss. A lot of that for me was because fats take longer to digest so I could go longer without being as hungry and ended up eating less total calories for the whole day. I can eat carbs all day and still be hungry, so upping the fat and protein and cutting back on carbs worked wonders for me.
  • fitavalder
    fitavalder Posts: 3
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    I think that you are eating too low !
  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
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    I think that you are eating too low !

    Wut?
  • bmarees
    bmarees Posts: 8
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    I will definitely try to invest In a scale and might try tinkering around with the protein/carb/fat ratio. And as far as eating to low, it's the only thing I can do to keep myself from going out and putting back a giant pizza. As far as taste buds go I have the equivalent of a 5 yr olds. And eating plain chicken and veggies in the amount I do is almost all I can do to resist throwing up! Lol. Guess I'll have to suck it up! What is good as far as grains? And a carb? For bread? Low calorie, whole grain, whole wheat? I have no idea anymore I've been told everything is bad for me from one place or another.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    I will definitely try to invest In a scale and might try tinkering around with the protein/carb/fat ratio. And as far as eating to low, it's the only thing I can do to keep myself from going out and putting back a giant pizza. As far as taste buds go I have the equivalent of a 5 yr olds. And eating plain chicken and veggies in the amount I do is almost all I can do to resist throwing up! Lol. Guess I'll have to suck it up! What is good as far as grains? And a carb? For bread? Low calorie, whole grain, whole wheat? I have no idea anymore I've been told everything is bad for me from one place or another.

    First, I think you need to re-examine healthy eating. It does not mean just plain chicken and veggies all the time. My diary is open so feel free to browse it for ideas. I regularly eat chicken with a little barbecue sauce, steak, pork, fish, eggs, greek yogurt, rice, pasta, etc. I would suggest following the 80/20 rule..80% healthy/20% whatever you want = ice cream, cake, pizza, cookies, etc.

    Second - MFP gave you a goal of about 1400 a day, which I assume is a one pound per week loss for you? IF yes, then you can eat 1400 calories a day and you will still lose.

    Third - only eat back half of your exercise calories. So if MFP gives you a burn of 700, only eat back 350..

    Four - get a food scale and weigh/measure everything that you can….

    I think if you do these things you will start losing...

    good luck ...
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
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    Eat what makes you happy, just within portions that do not have you exceed your maintenance calories.
  • Galatea_Stone
    Galatea_Stone Posts: 2,037 Member
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    Target and Walmart both carry food scales. I got mine at Target for right around $20. Make sure you get one with gram weight as well as ounces. Almost all packaging has the serving size listed in gram weight if you look. That made all the difference with knowing how much I was eating.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    You did not log any food at all for the whole of February and the beginning of this month. Some of the days you did log are not complete or accurate. Start being consistent with your logging. Weigh your food where possible. Be consistent.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1175494-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    I think that you are eating too low !

    What makes you think that?
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
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    I think that you are eating too low !

    What makes you think that?

    Well, they want to fit in and be helpful obv's ;)

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