not losing weight :(

I'm not expert but from what I've learned is if you are eating at a deficit (which you are if you are really only eating 1200 calories) you cannot gain muscle mass. Your body is MAINTAINING more of your lean muscle mass when you are weight training while trying to lose weight, making more of your weight loss to come off as body fat. When you are only doing cardio for exercise, you are losing both body fat and lean muscle mass. You will lose weight more slowly when weight training, and with only 30 lbs to lose, I think about 1-1.5 lb/week is a reasonable goal. I don't know any more stats about you, age/weight/height, but I'm sure you could eat more than 1200 calories and still lose. I recommend figuring your tdee and follow that. I would read up on New Rules of Lifting for Women or Starting strength to get more info.

Also, make sure you are measuring ALL of your food, with a food scale. If you are not doing this, you are probably eating a lot more than you think.

feel free to add me if you'd like

Your trainer may be able to help you with how much/what to eat. When I was working with a trainer he was awesome with helping me with food as well.

@h7463
thank you for telling me this! I needed to hear that today
Going to keep going strong and hope for the best. I will not give up because I am tired of starting over. I really want a nice toned body this summer!!!!!

Um.... @h7463 is pretty much 100% wrong when it comes to muscle mass. You're not gaining muscle. Gaining muscle is extremely hard, takes hours and hours and hours of training, and a caloric surplus.....for guys. Gaining muscle is EXPONENTIALLY harder for women. It especially doesn't grow faster than fat is lost. That is absolutely preposterous.

If you truly are only eating 1200 calories plus working out, you're not gaining muscle.

KMasz's post is pretty much spot on.

What I do agree with is pictures and tape measures better log progress than the scale does when you're lifting.

Um.... @h7463 is pretty much 100% wrong when it comes to muscle mass. You're not gaining muscle. Gaining muscle is extremely hard, takes hours and hours and hours of training, and a caloric surplus.....for guys. Gaining muscle is EXPONENTIALLY harder for women. It especially doesn't grow faster than fat is lost. That is absolutely preposterous.

If you truly are only eating 1200 calories plus working out, you're not gaining muscle.

KMasz's post is pretty much spot on.

What I do agree with is pictures and tape measures better log progress than the scale does when you're lifting.

THIS. Women have to eat at a surplus and lift like a beast to gain muscle. It's ridiculously difficult for us to put on muscle. When you first start lifting you usually get some water retention, but that would be gone after two months.

Why not lift AND run? The lifting will help you hold on to the muscle you already have, and the running will help you lose fat. I don't understand why you think you have to do just one or the other.

@h7463
thank you for telling me this! I needed to hear that today
Going to keep going strong and hope for the best. I will not give up because I am tired of starting over. I really want a nice toned body this summer!!!!!

Um.... @h7463 is pretty much 100% wrong when it comes to muscle mass. You're not gaining muscle. Gaining muscle is extremely hard, takes hours and hours and hours of training, and a caloric surplus.....for guys. Gaining muscle is EXPONENTIALLY harder for women. It especially doesn't grow faster than fat is lost. That is absolutely preposterous.

If you truly are only eating 1200 calories plus working out, you're not gaining muscle.

KMasz's post is pretty much spot on.

What I do agree with is pictures and tape measures better log progress than the scale does when you're lifting.

So should I just quit and resume my cardio?

Why?

A) 1200 calories isn't enough for you if you're exercising on top of it.

If you're eating at a deficit you lose water, fat, and MUSCLE. If you only do steady state cardio in that deficit you will still lose muscle. That is why the scale moves so fast.

C) If you weight train in a deficit you work to maintain that muscle, so your loses are mostly just fat and water. That is why the scale moves so much slower (or not at all), but the inches drop off. This is where you will get definition across your body.

D) Why does it have to be strength training OR cardio?

E) If you truly only care about the number on the scale, then weight training probably isn't for you. If you can get past the scale, get your diet in check (more than 1200, you're probably netting more like 900) so you're properly fueling your body, and use the mirror or tape measure for progress, then lifting is for you.

I'm going to guess you're working out 3-5 hrs per week.

2159 = TDEE (what you need to maintain your weight)

1393 = BMR (what would sustain you in a coma)

1727 = TDEE -20% (what is normally accepted as a level for safe sustained weight loss).

EDIT: From here I'd recommend opening your diary to get more help from us. As you can see, if were eating 1200 calories a day you'd be losing weight.

Ummmmm.....you've totally lost me, but I may need your help in figuring out that for myself. :-)

Total Daily Energy Expenditure

I am so glad you posted all of this. I recently started running (I am training for a half marathon at the end of May) and I've started to do some strength training.....mostly just abs and arms about 3 days a week. I do use weights (8-10 pounds) when doing my arm exercises. When I started this I had about 5-10 pounds to lose and figured it would just drop off (I'm also counting calories...1200 on days I don't workout, about 1500 on days I do). I wasn't overly concerned with it because I figured the weight would just come off while I was training.

No luck.

I've now been on this program for nearly 12 weeks and haven't lost a pound. I do see some changes to my physique....but it's so frustrating to not see the scale move at all.

I've read through this entire post and will keep following it looking for any answers people share with you!!

One question, what is tdee???? I'm still learning!

If you're training for a half marathon, strength training for your lower body is just as, if not more important than your upper body. I'm also going to assume 8-10lb barbells are a bit light for you.

Are you doing any cardio? Weight lifting doesn't burn nearly as many calories as cardio, so if weight loss is your goal make sure you do cardio too. I wouldn't give up on the weighlifting, because it will give you the look you're likely seeking, but add cardio to it. I'd start with 20 mins, 5x a week. I'm pretty gradual with cardio since i have overuse injuries.

I'm short too, under 5'3, and it's very hard for us shorties to lose weight because we can't get much of deficit. I don't eat back my exercise calories which helps improve my weight loss rate. Also, since we have to keep our cals so low, make sure you're eating a ton of veggies and lean protein to get the best nutritional value while feeling full. The bigger deficit you can make the more wiggle room you'll have if you want to have a glass of wine with dinner or dessert.....I eat a cookie everyday. At least one... but I make sure I don't net over 1200 and I'm losing weight at a good pace and still able to go out to dinner if I want on the weekends, have a drink, etc.

Hello again... @RGv2 and a few others... Maybe I should elaborate a bit. I am a woman, 5'5", currently at 135 lbs, 16.5 % body fat, dress size 4. I have lived an active lifestyle pretty much all my life, never been overweight, and I jumped into lifting from zero to 100%. No little pink dumbbells here. So yes, out of my humble experience, I say, for a beginner lifter, the muscles will respond rather quickly, while the fat is not, especially in the first 3 months, IF you are performing to full extend of your current abilities, that is.
I'm 50 years old, lifting for 2 years now, and I had in fact gained 8 lbs of lean muscle mass in the first 3 months of training. At the same time, I dropped 10% of my body fat, coming down from 25% to 15%. I have archived my goals by trying to eat as clean as reasonably possible, training 6x per week (3 days heavy lifting, 2 days HIIT with hand weights, 1 day cardio only), and keeping my calorie intake depending on the intensity of my workouts in a range that never drops below my BMR of about 1250, (calculated simply with calorie intake-calories burnt, and eat some more to hit 1250). As far as my nutrition is concerned, I keep my macros at 30% carbs, 25% fat, and 45% protein.
BTW, I'm not competing, I'm doing this just for the fun of it. I do, however, understand, that my level of discipline and determination may be a bit above average for the casual gym rat...
If a program isn't working, keep a detailed log, don't estimate your food, measure it, don't estimate your workouts, get a heart rate monitor with calorie counter, get a fitness assessment, re-evaluate every couple weeks. For women: we're taking on water at certain times, keep this in mind when you step on the scale, especially the scales that measure body fat.