Why am I not losing?!

jeyloz
jeyloz Posts: 36
in Health and Weight Loss
Weight loss has always been a struggle for me, I've always yo-yo dieted and then gained more weight afterwards. Recently I finally decided enough is enough. For the past 3 weeks I've been eating a 1200 calorie diet, I'm pescetarian so I eat a lot of fish, vegetables and soya, I've tried not to be too carb heavy and to keep my diet balanced. I've recorded everything, I drink at least 2 litres of water a day, I don't touch fizzy drinks at all. I've been very careful with what I've consumed and kept treats to minimum of one a week. I've also completely changed my fitness lifestyle, I now go to the gym at least 3 times a week and burn 300kcal in cardio, followed by a 30min weight workout, I'm also training for a 5k run, so I'm doing Couch to 5k three times a week out in the open air. Last time I dieted I was losing approximately 1.5-2 lb a week and was extremely pleased with the progress, any loss at all was an achievement; but my new lifestyle change has left me with the same number on the scales for 3 weeks.
I'm 5'6", 23 years old, and weigh 220lbs.
I'm growing increasingly frustrated because I thought I had gone about it all the right way finally.

Any help would be great, cos frankly burning almost 2000 calories a week and eating healthy and seeing no loss totally sucks!
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Replies

  • 89nunu
    89nunu Posts: 1,082 Member
    first of all, are you eating back your exercise calories? Because you should! If you don't it is not keeping you from losing weight but it is healthier and more sustainable to do! If you do you might be overestimating your burn.

    Are you weighing your food? Chances are you eat more than you think

    Also, if the exercise regimen is new you might be storing water for muscle repair.
    Are you keeping measurements? Measurements are a better way of seeing progress! How are your clothes fitting?
  • NicksWTB
    NicksWTB Posts: 54 Member
    Hi

    I know exactly what you mean, and although I can't give you any advice as I 'm going through this too, I'd like to see if anyone can help you. You're not on your own, there are others going through the same as you are.

    I was researching a low carb diet, but I didn't know if that was the right way to go, or just stick with what I'm doing - which is the same as you, 1200 cals per day and working out 6 days out of 7 and eating a good healthy balanced diet.

    I hope that you get some good responses. I'm in total agreement with you - it really does suck!!!!

    Sorry I've not given you any good sound advice :-( but I'm sure it will come :-)
  • Vex3521
    Vex3521 Posts: 385 Member
    I guess first questions are how are you calculating your intake. And then with calories burned, is it off the gym machines or a hrm or otherwise? If you're under or over-estimating that would explain a stall. 1200 cals is not a lot really for as much working out as you're doing and I totally agree with 89nunu.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    first of all, are you eating back your exercise calories? Because you should! If you don't it is not keeping you from losing weight but it is healthier and more sustainable to do! If you do you might be overestimating your burn.

    Are you weighing your food? Chances are you eat more than you think

    Also, if the exercise regimen is new you might be storing water for muscle repair.
    Are you keeping measurements? Measurements are a better way of seeing progress! How are your clothes fitting?

    all of this!
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
    It might totally suck but you probably arent being honest - overestimating exerise/underestimating calorie intake.
  • Supertact
    Supertact Posts: 466 Member
    Eating more than you are burning. Simple as that.
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
    "Why am I not losing?"

    You put on weight because you are eating more calories than you should be.

    And now because you have decided that you are now going to try and change that, the same rules of science still apply.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    You're underestimating your food &/or overestimating your burns. Log everything you eat & drink accurately & honestly. Weigh your food. Find accurate database entries. (There's a lot of junk in there.) 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
  • Trukngrl
    Trukngrl Posts: 106 Member
    1200 is REALLY low for someone of 220lb even without going to the gym. If you are working out on top of that and not eating back those calories, or at least half (to compensate for over zealous burn counting), you can very well plateau since your body is craving more nutrients so as not to consume your muscles. Search 1200- you will see the list of evils that comes back associated with this magical number that lord knows where it came from or whom decided it was the end all be all goal of weight loss. You probably need to eat more - very counter intuitive to what you have been taught or absorbed.
  • lemur_lady
    lemur_lady Posts: 350 Member
    Are you weighing your food on a scale to make sure the calories are accurate? Are you eating back all the calories you burn through exercise? If not try and do so, it could make a big difference.

    I am at 229lbs and eating 2000 cals a day to lose weight, more on exercise days. If 1200 works for you then great but if I were you id up the calories just a little. No point in going hungry if you can eat more and still lose weight.
  • smyrnist
    smyrnist Posts: 9
    Hi, I also agree to measuring and logging what you consume every day but also maybe you should also check how your basal metabolic rate is also doing. If you have a hypothyroid or a very sedentary life; or your basal rate might have dropped badly due to the yo-yo diets you have mentioned in your post...

    There are some good and dependable articles on the web for how to speed up the metabolism.

    Good luck and best of all,
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,088 Member
    Are you 100% sure your weighing and measuring all your foods with an accurate scale????? And sometimes it takes time, when I first started it took weeks and weeks and weeks for the scale to move. But it finally did. Just don't give up and make sure your logging correctly
  • writergeek313
    writergeek313 Posts: 390 Member
    1200 is REALLY low for someone of 220lb even without going to the gym. If you are working out on top of that and not eating back those calories, or at least half (to compensate for over zealous burn counting), you can very well plateau since your body is craving more nutrients so as not to consume your muscles. Search 1200- you will see the list of evils that comes back associated with this magical number that lord knows where it came from or whom decided it was the end all be all goal of weight loss. You probably need to eat more - very counter intuitive to what you have been taught or absorbed.

    This x 1000. You're eating way too little. Check out this calculator: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ I entered your height, weight, age, and activity level, and it told me your BMR is 1808 and your daily calories should be either 1989 or 2242, depending on how active you are. Eating below your BMR isn't healthy. Your BMR is the number of calories your body would burn in a day even if you were in a coma or asleep for the whole day. Give yourself the fuel you need for your workouts and help your body function at its best!
  • wahmx3
    wahmx3 Posts: 633 Member
    totally agree, you need to eat more, your body is hanging onto every calorie you are taking in because you need more food.
    1200 is REALLY low for someone of 220lb even without going to the gym. If you are working out on top of that and not eating back those calories, or at least half (to compensate for over zealous burn counting), you can very well plateau since your body is craving more nutrients so as not to consume your muscles. Search 1200- you will see the list of evils that comes back associated with this magical number that lord knows where it came from or whom decided it was the end all be all goal of weight loss. You probably need to eat more - very counter intuitive to what you have been taught or absorbed.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    No one can know if you're really eating 1,200 calories unless you open your diary. If you're already underestimating your food then take the advice to eat even more, you'll start gaining.
  • eddiesmith1
    eddiesmith1 Posts: 1,550 Member
    you need to open the diary if you want constructive criticism. also you need to weigh everything that is not a liquid that passes you lips (you can measure most liquids with accuracy) it's the only thing that will tell you the accurate caloric intake. last as pointed out the calories burned are easily overstated so either eat back half of them or measure them more accurately with a HRM like a Fitbit

    As for the EAt more your bady is going into Starvation mode hanging on to every calorie that's utter BS starvation mode is a myth
    http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/starvation-mode/
  • dmenchac
    dmenchac Posts: 447 Member
    1200 is REALLY low for someone of 220lb even without going to the gym. If you are working out on top of that and not eating back those calories, or at least half (to compensate for over zealous burn counting), you can very well plateau since your body is craving more nutrients so as not to consume your muscles. Search 1200- you will see the list of evils that comes back associated with this magical number that lord knows where it came from or whom decided it was the end all be all goal of weight loss. You probably need to eat more - very counter intuitive to what you have been taught or absorbed.

    This x 1000. You're eating way too little. Check out this calculator: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ I entered your height, weight, age, and activity level, and it told me your BMR is 1808 and your daily calories should be either 1989 or 2242, depending on how active you are. Eating below your BMR isn't healthy. Your BMR is the number of calories your body would burn in a day even if you were in a coma or asleep for the whole day. Give yourself the fuel you need for your workouts and help your body function at its best!

    Eating below your BMR is perfectly fine. MFP suggests that I eat 500 calories below my BMR.
  • suenewberry81
    suenewberry81 Posts: 241 Member
    I'm 168lb I burn around 400 calories a day I've set my profile to 1500cals a day I eat most of my calories I burn and I lost 3lb
    A lot of people think if they eat really low calories they will lose weight, but that's not to case, you need to eat calories for your body to work,
    Make sure your calories your eating are correct and your burn calories are correct if yes then eat more calories xx
  • suenewberry81
    suenewberry81 Posts: 241 Member
    I don't think the starvation mode is fully a myth, if your body isn't getting the right amount of calories then you metabolism will slow right down which mean you won't lose any weight
  • suenewberry81
    suenewberry81 Posts: 241 Member
    Just read an article and it's not starvation, if you don't eat enough then yes you can still lose weight but not fuelling your body will make you lose muscle mass rather than fat,
    The more muscle you have the more calories you burn xx
  • Chickee8586
    Chickee8586 Posts: 155 Member
    you need to open the diary if you want constructive criticism. also you need to weigh everything that is not a liquid that passes you lips (you can measure most liquids with accuracy) it's the only thing that will tell you the accurate caloric intake. last as pointed out the calories burned are easily overstated so either eat back half of them or measure them more accurately with a HRM like a Fitbit

    As for the EAt more your bady is going into Starvation mode hanging on to every calorie that's utter BS starvation mode is a myth
    http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/starvation-mode/

    Thank you! Yes, there is a starvation mode. It happens when the body is deprived of just about all caloric intake over a period of time that is much longer than say 3-4 hours between meals. Will your metabolism slow slightly when you eat low calories over an extended period of time, yes absolutely. But nowhere near the actual "starvation mode". Will you have full energy if you don't eat enough calories? No. Will you get hungry? Yes. Will it sabotage your weight loss journey? No.
  • johnboy1229
    johnboy1229 Posts: 10
    It sounds like there is something with nutrition going on. What are you eating for your main meals and what do you eat before and after your workouts? Do you take any multivitamins or supplements? And, what other beverages do you drink daily? You mentioned that you have one treat per week, what is that treat? On your pie chart, what are your percentages of carbs, protein and fat? Check the percentages for the month, not daily. You could open your diary for a day so that others can see what your diet consists of. I'm certain that its nutritional balances.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    1200 is REALLY low for someone of 220lb even without going to the gym. If you are working out on top of that and not eating back those calories, or at least half (to compensate for over zealous burn counting), you can very well plateau since your body is craving more nutrients so as not to consume your muscles. Search 1200- you will see the list of evils that comes back associated with this magical number that lord knows where it came from or whom decided it was the end all be all goal of weight loss. You probably need to eat more - very counter intuitive to what you have been taught or absorbed.

    This x 1000. You're eating way too little. Check out this calculator: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ I entered your height, weight, age, and activity level, and it told me your BMR is 1808 and your daily calories should be either 1989 or 2242, depending on how active you are. Eating below your BMR isn't healthy. Your BMR is the number of calories your body would burn in a day even if you were in a coma or asleep for the whole day. Give yourself the fuel you need for your workouts and help your body function at its best!

    Eating below your BMR is perfectly fine. MFP suggests that I eat 500 calories below my BMR.

    eating 500 below TDEE is great, may have to around or slightly below BMR, but eating 500 cal below BMR unless you have 100+ lbs to lose would be far to aggressive of weight loss.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    I don't think the starvation mode is fully a myth, if your body isn't getting the right amount of calories then you metabolism will slow right down which mean you won't lose any weight

    Your metabolism will slow down slightly, so the deficit you think you have will be smaller than estimated, leading to slower weight loss, but weight loss would not stall if you are in a deficit. So if you think you are in a 1000 cal deficit, but your metabolism slowed down, not that deficit may only be 700-900 but you would still lose.
  • jeyloz
    jeyloz Posts: 36
    Thanks for all the replies, a lot for me to read through which is great!

    From all your suggestions I guess it could be not eating enough : /

    I'm definitely weighing all my foods right and tracking calories accurately, so I don't think that is the issue. Tracking the calories burnt I depend on the machines at the gym, they do have heart rate monitors and take all your stats, but I am planning on buying a proper heart rate monitor if any of you can recommend a good, reasonably priced one!

    It's great to get so many responses though, at least now I know what the possibilities are and can hopefully rectify it, I guess there is also the chance that I'm just being impatient and not giving my body time to adjust.
  • jeyloz
    jeyloz Posts: 36
    Forgot to mention I also recalculated my suggested calorie intake and it has gone up to 1480 instead of 1200. Would that many calories a day really make so much of a difference?!

    I probably seem completely clueless, I have been reading up on lots of weight loss info and healthy approaches, as that is what I'm aiming for; but the amount of contradicting information is ridiculous!
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
    The extra 280 calories a day can make a huge difference in the amount of nutrition you take in and how you feel about your eating plan. The goal should be to eat as many calories as you can and still lose weight, not to eat as few calories as physically possible. For significant, long-term weight loss, you're going to have to find a plan you can live with and thrive on for years. A lot of people try to go as aggressively low with their calories as they can stand in the beginning, but I can't imagine living on 1200 for a year or more without breaking.

    The other thing to remember is that the number on the scale is just one data point. You should also be measuring and taking pictures, because some weeks you'll lose inches but not pounds, and vice versa. Three weeks isn't a long time at all, so give it some more time.

    (Disclaimer: this is all contingent on accurate tracking! I know you've said you're confident in your tracking, but the most likely explanation is that you're underestimating your intake or overestimating your burn.)
  • Polarpaly05
    Polarpaly05 Posts: 74 Member
    I'm definitely weighing all my foods right and tracking calories accurately, so I don't think that is the issue. Tracking the calories burnt I depend on the machines at the gym, they do have heart rate monitors and take all your stats, but I am planning on buying a proper heart rate monitor if any of you can recommend a good, reasonably priced one!

    Polar H7. $50-$60 on Amazon. Bluetooth's into phone (Android and iPhone) so no watch needed. It doesn't sync to MFP, but it's not that big of a deal for me to just enter the number from one to the other.
  • jeyloz
    jeyloz Posts: 36
    I'm definitely weighing all my foods right and tracking calories accurately, so I don't think that is the issue. Tracking the calories burnt I depend on the machines at the gym, they do have heart rate monitors and take all your stats, but I am planning on buying a proper heart rate monitor if any of you can recommend a good, reasonably priced one!

    Polar H7. $50-$60 on Amazon. Bluetooth's into phone (Android and iPhone) so no watch needed. It doesn't sync to MFP, but it's not that big of a deal for me to just enter the number from one to the other.

    Thanks that's great!
  • sloth3toes
    sloth3toes Posts: 2,212 Member
    I guess there is also the chance that I'm just being impatient and not giving my body time to adjust.

    2 pages, and mostly arguing about the existence of 'starvation mode' :smile:

    Here's the first place to start Down-Arrow.png

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

    And I'll throw my ( worthless Canadian ) 2 cents in, and say.... It's been 3 weeks. If you've made a crapload of changes, give it a bit more time, before you make any more moves.

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