Why can't I lose?
SuziQGettinFit
Posts: 28
Does anyone have any answers for me? I stick to a strict 1200 calorie a day diet - making sure it's well rounded with plenty of protein. I walk an hour at least 4 times a week (more often 5-6 times a week). I can't lose anymore weight. Lost 12 lbs in 8 weeks, now nothing. So frustrating!
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Replies
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how tall are you? And how much do you weigh? How long have you not lost weight?0
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you are either over estimating burns and/or under estimating intake....
do you weigh your food? eat back all your exercise calories? Log accurately?0 -
you are either over estimating burns and/or under estimating intake....
do you weigh your food? eat back all your exercise calories? Log accurately?
This. If you truly want help, you need to give more info. Height, starting weight, etc. It also looks like you have lost 8 pounds according to your profile, so I am confused.0 -
Does anyone have any answers for me? I stick to a strict 1200 calorie a day diet - making sure it's well rounded with plenty of protein. I walk an hour at least 4 times a week (more often 5-6 times a week). I can't lose anymore weight. Lost 12 lbs in 8 weeks, now nothing. So frustrating!
Your walking might not be burning as many calories as you think. Roughly a 150lb person will burn 100 calories per mile walked. It is not just how long you walk it is the distance and speed of that walk that determines how many calories you burn. The larger that you are the more calories that you will burn during that hours walk. From you ticker (with only a total of about 25lbs to lose) I would assume that you are not in the obese range.0 -
Need a titch more info to figure this one out OP. Previous answers are valid and make sense... underestimating food and overestimating calorie burn is usually the culprit... sorry to ask the big question but.... do you use a food scale?0
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Thank you all so much for the advice. Yes I measure and weigh everything - especially protein. I usually have even less than the 1200 calories and I don't eat more when it says I have earned more with exercise. I spread my calories out through the day but stick to basically 3 meals. I have at least one meal per day of a protein shake - all organic with no gluten, sugar, dairy or soy. I'm not hungry and don't feel I need to eat any more at all. I don't ever have trouble with snacking - I have good willpower. To answer your questions, I am approximately 5'4" and right now weigh 174 - I started at around 186. I am 58 years old. I also have fibromyalgia and arthritis so I can't walk all that fast - and certainly not at an incline. But, like I said, I don't even take those calories burned into consideration.
Thank you all for your interest in my problem and for trying to help.:flowerforyou:0 -
Without knowing more, you might consider eating back a portion of your exercise calories (not all of them) and see if that gets things going. I find that if I am under my daily amount by as little as 200 calories, the weight loss slows to a crawl...
Good luck!0 -
Thank you. I have often wondered if it is because I'm not eating enough. But, like I said, I'm really not hungry and I don't want to start adding starchy or high fat foods in just to get my calorie count up. I will often add an apple or an orange at some point - but that's less than 100 calories. But I will try your suggestion and on days that I exercise, I will try eating a little bit more.0
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I hadn't changed my starting weight from a couple of years ago - I should of updated it when I started up again. I started at 186 lbs this time.0
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How long have you been stalled?0
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If you are not losing, you are not in a deficit. Don't measure food, weigh ALL your food!!0
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BMR = 1454 (this is the amount you need just for your body to function if you did nothing)
TDEE = 1972 (this is the amount where you would not gain or lose any weight, i.e. "maintenance")
20% cut = 1577
This is based on "lightly active, exercise 1-3 hours per week" setting.
To get calories up, eat peanut butter, add olive oil to salads or when you cook, add seeds/nuts to salads, use full fat dairy, etc.
When you don't eat enough, your body produces excess cortisol which prevents weight loss. Other stresses, lack of sleep, hormonal imbalances, also effect cortisol, and those are harder to control, but you can control your calorie intake.0 -
Start doing a more intense workout0
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BMR = 1454 (this is the amount you need just for your body to function if you did nothing)
TDEE = 1972 (this is the amount where you would not gain or lose any weight, i.e. "maintenance")
20% cut = 1577
This is based on "lightly active, exercise 1-3 hours per week" setting.
To get calories up, eat peanut butter, add olive oil to salads or when you cook, add seeds/nuts to salads, use full fat dairy, etc.
When you don't eat enough, your body produces excess cortisol which prevents weight loss. Other stresses, lack of sleep, hormonal imbalances, also effect cortisol, and those are harder to control, but you can control your calorie intake.
QFT0 -
Start doing a more intense workout
She has health issues which prevents her doing intense workouts.0 -
BMR = 1454 (this is the amount you need just for your body to function if you did nothing)
TDEE = 1972 (this is the amount where you would not gain or lose any weight, i.e. "maintenance")
20% cut = 1577
This is based on "lightly active, exercise 1-3 hours per week" setting.
To get calories up, eat peanut butter, add olive oil to salads or when you cook, add seeds/nuts to salads, use full fat dairy, etc.
When you don't eat enough, your body produces excess cortisol which prevents weight loss. Other stresses, lack of sleep, hormonal imbalances, also effect cortisol, and those are harder to control, but you can control your calorie intake.
This! You may be 'starving'0 -
BMR = 1454 (this is the amount you need just for your body to function if you did nothing)
TDEE = 1972 (this is the amount where you would not gain or lose any weight, i.e. "maintenance")
20% cut = 1577
This is based on "lightly active, exercise 1-3 hours per week" setting.
To get calories up, eat peanut butter, add olive oil to salads or when you cook, add seeds/nuts to salads, use full fat dairy, etc.
When you don't eat enough, your body produces excess cortisol which prevents weight loss. Other stresses, lack of sleep, hormonal imbalances, also effect cortisol, and those are harder to control, but you can control your calorie intake.
This! You may be 'starving'
Nobody has ever failed to lose weight by eating too little.0 -
BMR = 1454 (this is the amount you need just for your body to function if you did nothing)
TDEE = 1972 (this is the amount where you would not gain or lose any weight, i.e. "maintenance")
20% cut = 1577
This is based on "lightly active, exercise 1-3 hours per week" setting.
To get calories up, eat peanut butter, add olive oil to salads or when you cook, add seeds/nuts to salads, use full fat dairy, etc.
When you don't eat enough, your body produces excess cortisol which prevents weight loss. Other stresses, lack of sleep, hormonal imbalances, also effect cortisol, and those are harder to control, but you can control your calorie intake.
^^^ I second this ^^ I recently hit a plateau and had not lost anything for almost a month.. my body was holding on to everything, if your not eating enough, your body thinks that it is starving and will stop the weight from coming off. I upped my calorie intake this last week and lost 1.5 lbs., exactly where I wanted to be.0 -
Susan, aside from the walks, do you get much exercise in the general run of a day?
I lost nothing last week, despite exercising lots and eating under my calories. But except for when I was out for a jog or at bootcamp I was sat absolutely still at a desk for hours every day working on a PhD thesis. Most people have to move around during the day: walk to the station, pick kids up from school, move around the shop or office floor etc. If your daily life is very sedentary apart from the walks, maybe you could look at getting some more small amounts of exercise into it?
And I agree, try to eat the whole 1 200. Also watch invisible calories like milk in tea. If you have a few of those a day, it adds up.0 -
Who wants to lose lean muscle mass?BMR = 1454 (this is the amount you need just for your body to function if you did nothing)
TDEE = 1972 (this is the amount where you would not gain or lose any weight, i.e. "maintenance")
20% cut = 1577
This is based on "lightly active, exercise 1-3 hours per week" setting.
To get calories up, eat peanut butter, add olive oil to salads or when you cook, add seeds/nuts to salads, use full fat dairy, etc.
When you don't eat enough, your body produces excess cortisol which prevents weight loss. Other stresses, lack of sleep, hormonal imbalances, also effect cortisol, and those are harder to control, but you can control your calorie intake.
This! You may be 'starving'
Nobody has ever failed to lose weight by eating too little.0 -
BMR = 1454 (this is the amount you need just for your body to function if you did nothing)
TDEE = 1972 (this is the amount where you would not gain or lose any weight, i.e. "maintenance")
20% cut = 1577
This is based on "lightly active, exercise 1-3 hours per week" setting.
To get calories up, eat peanut butter, add olive oil to salads or when you cook, add seeds/nuts to salads, use full fat dairy, etc.
When you don't eat enough, your body produces excess cortisol which prevents weight loss. Other stresses, lack of sleep, hormonal imbalances, also effect cortisol, and those are harder to control, but you can control your calorie intake.
This! You may be 'starving'
Nobody has ever failed to lose weight by eating too little.
I have. When I was working out a lot and only eating 1200 a day...I wasn't eating enough. I kept doing that for 4-6 weeks and didn't lose anything until I started eating more and fueling my body properly.0 -
I'll admit I have my doubts about this whole cortisol thing people are claiming here. Your body can make a lot of wonderful adjustments and tweaks to its biochemistry but its not getting out of the laws of thermodynamics. The amount of calories just required to maintain your body temperature as well as heart and brain function make up like 90% of your BMR and that isn't changing just because of a hormonal change. Could hormonal change alter your BMR by a little bit, sure...but not by that much.
Your body is basically water. 1 Calorie is what is required to increase 1kg of water by 1 degree Celsius. Given that your body is about 14 degrees Celsius above room temp it takes a ton of calories just to maintain your body temperature. That isn't going to change based on your hormone levels. Same goes for basic neural activity and heartbeat. Might change a little but not a lot. I think people think their BMR changes as they lose weight because they have more muscle and that is more active and burns more calories but really I think you are just carrying around more mass that you have to maintain at temperature and that is what requires that extra energy. You lose fat you lose mass you lose the amount you have to maintain at temperature your BMR goes down.
The idea that you could somehow not lose weight by eating less than you should I don't think is true. You can harm yourself for sure, but not in that way. I agree that 1200 sounds too low based on your size and activity.0 -
I usually have even less than the 1200 calories and I don't eat more when it says I have earned more with exercise.
Have you considered following the MFP program the way it is designed to be used? You really might see better results. Eat all your 1200 calories and at least some of those exercise calories too. Can't complain something isn't working when you're not using it correctly.0 -
If you undereat you tend to retain more water in response especially to elevated ions such as sodium that is part of your intake. If you found that when you underrate you had a lot of issues with weight it very well may have been water retention.
If you have unexpected weight gain or can't seem to lose weight might look at your sodium intake as well, might just be water.0 -
If it's only been a week, don't worry about it! Weight loss is not a steady downward march - it wibbles and wobbles and flatlines, all hopefully with a gradual downward trend. Some weeks I gain a few ounces, other weeks I lose a few pounds.0
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Does anyone have any answers for me? I stick to a strict 1200 calorie a day diet - making sure it's well rounded with plenty of protein. I walk an hour at least 4 times a week (more often 5-6 times a week). I can't lose anymore weight. Lost 12 lbs in 8 weeks, now nothing. So frustrating!
Your walking might not be burning as many calories as you think. Roughly a 150lb person will burn 100 calories per mile walked. It is not just how long you walk it is the distance and speed of that walk that determines how many calories you burn. The larger that you are the more calories that you will burn during that hours walk. From you ticker (with only a total of about 25lbs to lose) I would assume that you are not in the obese range.
That and MFP values for calories burned walking are inflated using time walked rather than distance.. I use a HRM/pedometer and currently average 265 calories for 3.79 mi according to my pedometer. MFP will give a value over 800 some days based on the time it took to reach that 3.79 rather than the actual calories I burned. If I used MFP values, I would be greatly over estimating calories burned which if eating back those calories would be creating a surplus rather than a deficit.0 -
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Who wants to lose lean muscle mass?
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Me. When I was trying to be a competitive cyclist as a former volleyball/fencing/lifter.
Compared to other cyclists, my legs are normal or even underdeveloped. My arms and chest are much larger than normal. I got used to the idea that it would take a lot to atrophy and lose those "extra" muscles in my upper body. When I became a dad they came in handy to lug the kids around.0 -
Does anyone have any answers for me? I stick to a strict 1200 calorie a day diet - making sure it's well rounded with plenty of protein. I walk an hour at least 4 times a week (more often 5-6 times a week). I can't lose anymore weight. Lost 12 lbs in 8 weeks, now nothing. So frustrating!
Your walking might not be burning as many calories as you think. Roughly a 150lb person will burn 100 calories per mile walked. It is not just how long you walk it is the distance and speed of that walk that determines how many calories you burn. The larger that you are the more calories that you will burn during that hours walk. From you ticker (with only a total of about 25lbs to lose) I would assume that you are not in the obese range.
That and MFP values for calories burned walking are inflated using time walked rather than distance.. I use a HRM/pedometer and currently average 265 calories for 3.79 mi according to my pedometer. MFP will give a value over 800 some days based on the time it took to reach that 3.79 rather than the actual calories I burned. If I used MFP values, I would be greatly over estimating calories burned which if eating back those calories would be creating a surplus rather than a deficit.
She wasn't eating more for exercise.0 -
Hormones can be a key factor as you are 58, slower metabolism can be a factor too, you have to move more and eat less, as you noted you have health reasons that keep you from kick *kitten* cardio, I would find an anti-aging doctor , get you hormones checked out , menopause can reek havoc with your body's ability to lose weight.0
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Thanks again for meaning so well and trying to help a total stranger!0
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