not losing weight!!

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  • tk2222
    tk2222 Posts: 199 Member
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    Do you keep track of your period? I'm in a similar situation, but I'm pretty sure it's because my body is picking up water weight just due to monthly cycle. I'm familiar enough with it to know I'll plateau, even gain a little, for about 10 days, and then drop a lot of water weight quite quickly right after my period. I also mostly eyeball my food and I know i'm doing largely the same thing, feeling as hungry/not hungry, etc, when I'm not losing as when I am losing weight. Just give it a little more patience and don't freak out. :-)
  • GertrudeHorse
    GertrudeHorse Posts: 646 Member
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    hey,
    i get this sounds stupid but if you drink green tea before bed it may help(the drink is vile but try and get flavoured ones eg apple and pear flavour) because when you go to sleep you metabolism slows down drastically green tea helps the metabolism speed up or drink in the mornings to get the kick start needed
    i know that this may sound useless but i hope it works for you

    "this may sound useless" ... Yes, it does. For a very good reason. The advice you have given is quite silly. Drinking a caffeinated beverage right before going to bed is not a good idea for most people. And in any event it won't change your metabolism...at least not to a meaningful extent. The best thing you can do for your metabolism is to increase your lean muscle mass.

    Green tea can have less caffeine than normal tea or coffee and you can get decaffeinated. I've been drinking green tea for over 8 years now, I always have green tea before anything else in the morning, and I usually have a cup at night time as well as through out the day. It is full of antioxidants and is known for its benefits towards weight loss. Of Course lean muscle mass is a necessity also.

    Oh I definitely don't doubt that green tea is healthy and contains good anti-oxidants. I drink it a fair bit myself because it is delicious. However, a calorie deficit is needed for weight loss...green tea doesn't give you a deficit by magic. Perhaps if you are drinking green tea instead of eating food then it will help you create a deficit, but green tea alone won't help you lose weight.

    And you are correct, there is less caffeine than tea or coffee but it still has about 30mg per cup. Not great to drink right before bed IMO. Where do you get caffeine-free green tea? I have actually looked everywhere for it! I would be so excited to find some.
  • GiveMeCoffee
    GiveMeCoffee Posts: 3,556 Member
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    You aren't losing because you are not in a calorie deficit. Weigh your food, log your food. Obviously your eyeballing portions and tracking in your head isn't working.

    Edited to add: You post a thread asking why aren't I losing, so obviously something isn't right, you are given mostly good advice by people that have been successful maybe just maybe lose your I'm perfect attitude and accept that you might be doing something wrong.
  • carinaoreilly
    carinaoreilly Posts: 4 Member
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    You've listed about a hundred different ways of avoiding doing what MFP is for - logging what you eat and how much you exercise. You're not losing weight because you're eating more calories than you're using up - doesn't matter what magical teas you drink. You may think you're wonderful at eyeballing, but clearly you're eating more than you think, so how about not eyeballing and logging your food instead?

    There is no magic to losing weight, really. Special teas etc make very little difference. It's what goes in vs what's used up. If you think you're doing everything right but you're not losing weight, then you're not doing everything right - and that is most likely because you are measuring it wrongly.

    Sorry that this sounds harsh - but any replies that say anything different are just encouraging you to avoid the basic truth, which is that you're eating more than you're using up. Though in passing, I would suggest that you're not sleeping enough either - and you'd have a lot more energy if you did.
  • karenrich77
    karenrich77 Posts: 292 Member
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    I can't resist saying maybe it's time to get your eyes tested...

    I have had it proven again and again in my own situation that weighing and logging is the ONLY way to go :)

    My eyes were deceiving me and I was shocked when I started weighing food.

    Don't pass up the good advice, it worked for me once i realised :)
  • Cathalain
    Cathalain Posts: 424 Member
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    When I first started out, I "eyeballed", too. And I lost weight - but it was easy to do considering that I had so much to start with. ANY calorie restriction after years of uncontrolled consumption is going to make it fly off of you pretty quickly.

    I invested in a food scale (I use the Oxo Good Grips one, it's great) and recently began weighing EVERYTHING. I was shocked to realize that some of the things that I'd previously "guessed" at were actually incorrect. I was underestimating some things and overestimating others - this week I'd underestimated a piece of chicken by 2 ounces (which gave me a lot of calories BACK), while a baked potato was actually double the size that I'd estimated (and therefore double the calories). I've really woken up to the fact that using a scale is critical to success - especially as I get smaller, because my calorie allottment is getting smaller as well (I just lost 50 calories from last week's number, which is a good thing!).

    Your sodium levels also might be the culprit - I'm struggling with that right now, myself. Lots of sodium can produce water weight - and (for me, anyway) it takes days (sometimes WEEKS!) to get it off.
  • Manie12
    Manie12 Posts: 1
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    Perhaps, it's not how many calories, per se, but where those calories are coming from. Are you eating too many carbs, or sugar? You can account for them in you calorie count, but the effect that these foods have on your hormones and insulin (the fat storing hormone) is much different. 1200 calories of lean protein and veggies have a much different effect on the body than 1200 calories of processed foods (even "diet" foods) and grains.

    Switching up your workout routine might help as well, your body gets accustomed to your activity and sometimes a switch up can help.

    I wish you the best of luck, please don't give up. I have struggled with my weight my entire life and have empathy for your struggle.
  • Kst76
    Kst76 Posts: 935 Member
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    To lose weight it doesn't matter where you get your calories from. To your health yes, but not weight loss.
  • laserxeyes
    laserxeyes Posts: 10 Member
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    why are you so preoccupied with the tea lol......
  • bebeXchyM
    bebeXchyM Posts: 32 Member
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    With 1600kcal, u really shouldn't be cheating!
  • laserxeyes
    laserxeyes Posts: 10 Member
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    anyways, thanks guys for all your comments. a lot of you havent actually read what ive written, but a lot of you were helpful. i think ill start weighing my food, or if not that, just make my calorie goals lower again so that by any means i am eating less. i do a LOT of rounding up when i estimate foods, but obviously that hasn't helped anything. i still believe that because i am eating more fruits and vegetables, i am underestimating their calorie content more than i would prepared food, and they are what is keeping me at maintenance.

    and i will log more often. usually, when i do log, it's actually less than what i estimate for myself by about 100-200 calories, but i guess it's still good to do

    as for carb content, i also have become sensitive to carbs (due to disordered eating), so it's probable that im having insulin issues. so i will reduce those, even though i am only getting my carbs from healthy sources already

    it also might be exercise type. before i was doing an hour on the elliptical, which personally i dont find "healthy" because you do a singular motion, it's only cardio, and all you do is watch the timer instead of enjoy it, but perhaps it put me in a better fat-burning mode than my current dancing/biking. i feel like if i went back to elliptical use i would get results more easily

    the newly scarred muscle having more volume than older muscle was an interesting point as well

    a lot of you mentioned it was because i weighed more before. i dont believe it had an impact because im still near my highest weight (most i ever was was 220, now im 200, but i was losing weight estimating at like, 205)

    AND GUYS!! SHUT UP ABOUT THE TEA!!! i barely pay attention to the tea, i dont rely on it at all. it's just a little something extra i do. those of you who continue to talk about it didn't pay attention the rest of my details...
  • laserxeyes
    laserxeyes Posts: 10 Member
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    With 1600kcal, u really shouldn't be cheating!
    yeah kinda true
  • skrlec70
    skrlec70 Posts: 302 Member
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    I lost 95 pounds kept it off for 17 years now ( with the except of a 40 pound gain oops) 10 pounds crept in over 4 years , i tried the ol eyeballing technique you speak of, doesn't work this time around, nor does stariving myself, logging everything on here everyday, no matter what a pain in the *kitten* it is , is the only way to go.
    i don't care how smart you think you are about food clearly something isn't working for you.

    your 17 , i wish i had this at 17, work it , and it will work for you.

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