This is hopeless..... :(

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rvssnn
rvssnn Posts: 13 Member
in Motivation and Support
Hey guys,

What I have realized is that losing weight is hard. I love the exercise part but the food part is hard. It has been about a month and half since I started and I feel great, I see the inches coming off, but my weight hasn't changed. I exercise 6 days a week. I weight train twice a week with a trainer. We do full body circuits for an hour. The other four days I do cardio. My cardio consists of an hour of zumba and an hour of yoga or pilates. Usually pilates.... and yoga on days I feel lazy. I go hard when I work out...m and love it because you can only get better.

The problem is that I don't know what I am doing wrong. Mfp says I should eat about 1700 calories a day, and most days I have a deficit of at least 500 calories. Any advice or suggestions would be helpful. My food journal is online as well. I really want to lose weight...but I feel frustrated for sure.

Neha
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Replies

  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    Your deficit is already built into your MFP calorie goal.

    Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
  • youdontknowme9
    youdontknowme9 Posts: 73 Member
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    Muscle weighs more than fat.....as long as the inches are going down, you are doing great!

    Keep up the good work!
  • jaz050465
    jaz050465 Posts: 3,508 Member
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    Muscle weighs more than fat.....as long as the inches are going down, you are doing great!

    Keep up the good work!
    Disagree. You are NOT gaining that more muscle. Are you adding your ecercise on. That doesn't seem a lot of calories for that much exercise.
  • RBXChas
    RBXChas Posts: 2,708 Member
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    Your deficit is already built into your MFP calorie goal.

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

    ^This.

    1700 calories are your *net* for the day, but the above link will explain all.
  • RBXChas
    RBXChas Posts: 2,708 Member
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    Muscle weighs more than fat.....as long as the inches are going down, you are doing great!

    Keep up the good work!
    Disagree. You are NOT gaining that more muscle. Are you adding your ecercise on. That doesn't seem a lot of calories for that much exercise.

    Yeah, I agree with your disagreement. It takes a lot to build a pound of muscle, and it's not going to happen if you're eating at a deficit like that. OP does not appear to be eating back exercise calories, so she has anywhere from 1,000 to 2,500 calories remaining at the end of the day, depending on her activity.

    The sexypants link should help put her on the right path to, well, sexypants :)
  • rvssnn
    rvssnn Posts: 13 Member
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    This is confusing to me. Should I be eating back the calories that lose during the exercise? TBH 1700 is a lot. I feel like I am just eating throughout the day, which of course is good, but sometimes I fee like I am eating too much. I also think that MFP over exaggerates how much you lose when exercising. I mean I go hard during my weight training and Zumba, but it must be closer to 600 calories vs. the 900 it says. I am reading the post that you linked, but I am not understanding it.
  • jstout365
    jstout365 Posts: 1,686 Member
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    So you feel great and have lost inches and you think things will never happen? Well, it seems to be working, maybe not on the scale, but in general health and how you look. Break the idea that the scale is the only measure of success when you are introducing healthy lifestyle changes. For one, you are the only one who will know that number unless you tell someone or someone is standing behind you when you are on a scale. What you weigh doesn't necessarily translate into how you look.

    As for the no movement on the scale, you are doing a lot of activity that I'm guessing is relatively new. While getting used to new exercises, the body can retain water like a BEAST.....often masking weight loss until the water weight is reduced or the amount of weight loss begins to exceed the water gain. Chances are that you are getting close to the point where one or both of the above conditions are met and you may experience a big woosh of loss here in a week or two.

    I know that the scale weight is the primary goal around here, but think of your progress in other terms and build goals that don't involve that lying SOB. For instance, add x number of reps or weight to a particular lift you find difficult. Increase the intensity on the elliptical each week. Go down a size in jeans. You don't have to be stuck on what the scale says. It isn't easy moving away from that mindset, but it can help you appreciate the other things you are accomplishing while sticking with your program and plan. You are winning in this and the only way to lose at this point is to throw in the towel because something you step on isn't saying what you want it to.

    Be patient and stay the course. Read, read, read anything and everything you can to start to learn about all the factors that can go into this. Look for information backed by scientific studies and seek out people on MFP that appreciate a balanced approach who don't buy into the pseudo-science bs of crazy diets and magic pills.
  • rvssnn
    rvssnn Posts: 13 Member
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    So you feel great and have lost inches and you think things will never happen? Well, it seems to be working, maybe not on the scale, but in general health and how you look. Break the idea that the scale is the only measure of success when you are introducing healthy lifestyle changes. For one, you are the only one who will know that number unless you tell someone or someone is standing behind you when you are on a scale. What you weigh doesn't necessarily translate into how you look.

    As for the no movement on the scale, you are doing a lot of activity that I'm guessing is relatively new. While getting used to new exercises, the body can retain water like a BEAST.....often masking weight loss until the water weight is reduced or the amount of weight loss begins to exceed the water gain. Chances are that you are getting close to the point where one or both of the above conditions are met and you may experience a big woosh of loss here in a week or two.

    I know that the scale weight is the primary goal around here, but think of your progress in other terms and build goals that don't involve that lying SOB. For instance, add x number of reps or weight to a particular lift you find difficult. Increase the intensity on the elliptical each week. Go down a size in jeans. You don't have to be stuck on what the scale says. It isn't easy moving away from that mindset, but it can help you appreciate the other things you are accomplishing while sticking with your program and plan. You are winning in this and the only way to lose at this point is to throw in the towel because something you step on isn't saying what you want it to.

    Be patient and stay the course. Read, read, read anything and everything you can to start to learn about all the factors that can go into this. Look for information backed by scientific studies and seek out people on MFP that appreciate a balanced approach who don't buy into the pseudo-science bs of crazy diets and magic pills.

    This is such a nice thing to say. I really appreciate it. You are right, I do see the inches coming off, but I have also read that you see weight loss in at least 3 weeks, which makes me believe I am doing something wrong. And maybe you are right, I need to be patient. I won't stop working out, because it is really fun. I used to play tennis in high school, and ran track. I can workout hard. But I lost that once I started college and work. I read a lot of sources, but sometimes these sources conflict one another. It is hard to know what is the truth and what is myth.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
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    Your ticker says you've lost 8 pounds. That's a good amount for just a month and a half... :)
  • rvssnn
    rvssnn Posts: 13 Member
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    That was actually in January. I was doing hot yoga during that time, and eating really very little. I have been able to maintain that weight. But now I upped my workouts and increased my caloric intake, and nothing has changed. All I do is fluctuate up and down a pound when I check weekly.
  • socialdchic
    socialdchic Posts: 170 Member
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    I have been linked this post before and I did not understand it either, I am having the same issue of not losing hardly any weight and I am working hard and I cant seem to figure out what I am doing wrong either. I wish I had an answer but at least you are not the only one : /
    This is confusing to me. Should I be eating back the calories that lose during the exercise? TBH 1700 is a lot. I feel like I am just eating throughout the day, which of course is good, but sometimes I fee like I am eating too much. I also think that MFP over exaggerates how much you lose when exercising. I mean I go hard during my weight training and Zumba, but it must be closer to 600 calories vs. the 900 it says. I am reading the post that you linked, but I am not understanding it.
  • ThePersnicketyOtter
    ThePersnicketyOtter Posts: 147 Member
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    If you feel great and you're losing inches, why do you care what the scale says so much? If you're seeing inches come off, you're doing it right.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/another-look-at-metabolic-damage.html#more-9313

    It's water retention, read this to understand.
  • Keepcalmanddontblink
    Keepcalmanddontblink Posts: 718 Member
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    Muscle weighs more than fat.....as long as the inches are going down, you are doing great!

    Keep up the good work!
    A pound of muscle is the same weight as a pound of fat. Muscle however is denser, and takes up less space than fat. :) I listen to my tape measure over the scale. Its more trustworthy.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
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    If it has only been a few weeks since your weight plateaued, it could well be water retention, as tigersword just said.

    If it keeps on for more than another week, it's possibly logging errors:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think
  • larryc0923
    larryc0923 Posts: 557 Member
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    Your ticker says you've lost 8 pounds. That's a good amount for just a month and a half... :)
    This is right. You are losing at a 1.5 lb a week average. This is a good rate. This is the rate I lost at and after 1 year lost about 80 lbs. So just keep at it. Slow and steady wins this race.
  • rvssnn
    rvssnn Posts: 13 Member
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    Your ticker says you've lost 8 pounds. That's a good amount for just a month and a half... :)
    This is right. You are losing at a 1.5 lb a week average. This is a good rate. This is the rate I lost at and after 1 year lost about 80 lbs. So just keep at it. Slow and steady wins this race.

    Sorry, I just want to clarify. That was actually in January. I was doing hot yoga during that time, and eating really very little. I have been able to maintain that weight. But now I upped my workouts and increased my caloric intake, and nothing has changed. All I do is fluctuate up and down a pound when I check weekly.
  • RBXChas
    RBXChas Posts: 2,708 Member
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    Yes, eat back your exercise calories. MFP does overestimate a bit IMO, so eat back 2/3 or whatever you feel comfortable with eating back. I never eat back less than half, though I use a HRM, which isn't 100% accurate! either! but it's more conservative than MFP estimates.

    This link, instead, may help you to set your calories right and help you understand why eating back exercise calories is important. It helped it click for me (well, an earlier version of it did).

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet

    Edited because my ticker makes it look like I haven't lost that much. I lost over 100 lbs after my first baby in 2011 and was super fit. I had medical issues during my second pregnancy that caused me not to be able to exercise, and my eating went to *kitten*, so I have a lot to lose all over again. My baby is almost 11 months old, but I'm breastfeeding this time, which, contrary to popular belief, can cause your body to not let go of weight, even if you're doing everything "right" (and eating too little --> body stops producing milk). Just a clarification that my ticker belies my knowledge of successful, healthy weight loss :)
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
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    You need to be eating your exercises calories back.
  • rvssnn
    rvssnn Posts: 13 Member
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    Yes, eat back your exercise calories. MFP does overestimate a bit IMO, so eat back 2/3 or whatever you feel comfortable with eating back. I never eat back less than half, though I use a HRM, which isn't 100% accurate! either! but it's more conservative than MFP estimates.

    This link, instead, may help you to set your calories right and help you understand why eating back exercise calories is important. It helped it click for me (well, an earlier version of it did).

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet

    Edited because my ticker makes it look like I haven't lost that much. I lost over 100 lbs after my first baby in 2011 and was super fit. I had medical issues during my second pregnancy that caused me not to be able to exercise, and my eating went to *kitten*, so I have a lot to lose all over again. My baby is almost 11 months old, but I'm breastfeeding this time, which, contrary to popular belief, can cause your body to not let go of weight, even if you're doing everything "right" (and eating too little --> body stops producing milk). Just a clarification that my ticker belies my knowledge of successful, healthy weight loss :)

    Okay, so I see the post and I am in the process of calculating. I work in Finance and I love math, so I will definitely do this. But can you please explain why I should eat my calories back? Just the logic behind it, and not the math? I usually catch onto things pretty quickly, but this weight-loss stuff is hard.

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