losing fat but not on the scale?

Dalton1720
Dalton1720 Posts: 104
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been dieting since March 14th of this year and have lost about 12 pounds since April 13th, which I was really excited about! Sadly I havent lost any pounds since (according to my scale) and I was starting to feel discouraged, but then I looked at a picture I took that day, April 13th and took a new picture (last night) and I could see a big difference. So my question is, is it possible to be losing weight without actually dropping pounds?

Note: I only eat about 900 calories a day and burn from 200-500 at the gym. I'm only trying to lose about 10 more pounds.
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Replies

  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member

    Note: I only eat about 900 calories a day and burn from 200-500 at the gym. I'm only trying to lose about 10 more pounds.

    Okay before I address your question I cannot ignore this. You are apparently netting 500 calories a day. Do you realize how harmful and unhealthy that is. Your body is literally consuming itself, not just fat but muscle as well, to stay functional. Stop. This is the opposite of improving your health this is self-harm and it is disfunctional.
  • Dalton1720
    Dalton1720 Posts: 104
    Yes I'm starting to realize its been counter productive. I saw many weight loss stories on YouTube who claim it worked for them but I am becoming quite miserable. I will bump up my intake but I'm not sure to how much.
  • Keepcalmanddontblink
    Keepcalmanddontblink Posts: 718 Member
    You shouldn't be eating under 1200 calories, and that does not include working out. You should eat back most of your exercise calories and make sure your net is, at the very least, 1200.
    Also since you don't have a lot to lose, it may be harder to shake those last 10lb off. Just eat at a higher level and keep at it and it will come off.
  • Dalton1720
    Dalton1720 Posts: 104
    Thank you for the advice. Although I appear thinner my weight has stagnated so Im pretty sure its not working well.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    The following is oversimplified but I want to get a point across. Your muscle represents your ability to move exercise and function in a way that burns calories. If you starve yourself at 500 calories a day you will lose fat but you will also lose muscle. Muscle is very hard to put back on especially when youve lost a lot of it to the point of becoming weak. Once its gone it will be much MUCH more difficult for your body to burn calories in a way that will keep you from gaining fat. You are harming your body and setting yourself up for future weight gain in the form of fat that it will be very difficult to recover from.

    Dont just think about maybe upping your calories later, put your keyboard down go to the kitchen and eat something.
  • taylamaree_
    taylamaree_ Posts: 12
    The reason you've stagnated is because you aren't eating enough! I know that sounds silly but now your body is used to surviving on so little calories. You need to bump up your calories to at least your BMR and eat back your exercise calories for a few weeks to help 'reset' your metabolism. You may gain a little but in the long term it will help you lose fat and not fat/muscle. :-)
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    How did you get the idea to only net 500 calories a day? Do you just try to eat as little as you can will yourself to because that isnt what dieting is supposed to be. Sorry to harp on this but im trying to impress on you that this is not okay and not going to get you what you want...far from.
  • Dalton1720
    Dalton1720 Posts: 104
    Im really glad I posted this topic because I would have probably continued this way until I obviously couldn't anymore. It just became an obsession in a strange way to burn calories. I just had a spoonful of almond butter and am guilt free! Thanks for the realization! Hopefully I will go back to losing weight the way I did in the beginning. (:
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    The reason you've stagnated is because you aren't eating enough! I know that sounds silly but now your body is used to surviving on so little calories. You need to bump up your calories to at least your BMR and eat back your exercise calories for a few weeks to help 'reset' your metabolism. You may gain a little but in the long term it will help you lose fat and not fat/muscle. :-)

    No actually you cannot stop losing weight by eating too little that doesnt make sense. You can destroy your body though so dont do it.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Im really glad I posted this topic because I would have probably continued this way until I obviously couldn't anymore. It just became an obsession in a strange way to burn calories. I just had a spoonful of almond butter and am guilt free! Thanks for the realization! Hopefully I will go back to losing weight the way I did in the beginning. (:

    Just take care of yourself and if you are not sure how seek guidence from a doctor or nutritionist. Do your friends or family know how little you are eating? Can you turn to them for support?
  • Dalton1720
    Dalton1720 Posts: 104
    Like I said it became a bit of an obsession to burn as many calories as I could in a day. I eat all the right foods, lots of fruits and vegetables so I didn't see anything wrong with it until recently when I started feeling weak and my weight stagnated. I just wanted to get the weight off and then bump up my calories, but this obviously isn't working. Unfortunately by doing this I think I just set myself a few weeks back. :/
  • Dalton1720
    Dalton1720 Posts: 104
    They all know, but they don't understand how dieting works so they aren't to concerned, expect for my boyfriend who says Im to into it, which he's totally right. I don't feel I need any phycological help. Trust me, its a battle every day to not eat a good amount so I have no problem going back to it especially knowing its not doing anything for me.
    This is the girl who inspired me to go this route:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69kv4fv2Niw
    but it did work for her!
  • sbarella
    sbarella Posts: 713 Member
    Like I said it became a bit of an obsession to burn as many calories as I could in a day. I eat all the right foods, lots of fruits and vegetables so I didn't see anything wrong with it until recently when I started feeling weak and my weight stagnated. I just wanted to get the weight off and then bump up my calories, but this obviously isn't working. Unfortunately by doing this I think I just set myself a few weeks back. :/
    Learning a lesson is not setting yourself a few weeks back. You got some good advice from Aaron, I have nothing else to add :wink:
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Like I said it became a bit of an obsession to burn as many calories as I could in a day. I eat all the right foods, lots of fruits and vegetables so I didn't see anything wrong with it until recently when I started feeling weak and my weight stagnated. I just wanted to get the weight off and then bump up my calories, but this obviously isn't working. Unfortunately by doing this I think I just set myself a few weeks back. :/

    You need to lose the idea that there are magic healthy foods that if you eat those you are being healthy. What is healthy is eating sufficient calories to fuel your body while being at a slight deficit to your maintenance level to slowly lose fat over the period of a year. If you eat only 500 calories of "healthy food" it would honestly be healthier for you in reality to go eat some Mcdonalds hamburgers because at least then you would be getting sufficient macronutrients.

    I am not sure where you got your ideas about what it means to have a healthy relationship with food but your current beliefs are wrong and leading you down a dangerous path. I urge you to seek guidance from someone you can trust such as an eaying disorder counciler or a nutritionist.
  • patrick139
    patrick139 Posts: 18
    I'm going to chime in here a bit.

    most people in general confuse weight loss with fat loss, but they are 2 different things. Most people Want to lose fat, but they Merely aim to lose weight in general as opposed to fat loss. Hope that makes sense. You can easily drop pounds on the scale but from your body losing not just fat but other things such as muscle intake, proper fluids..etc as other posters here have mentioned.

    The Best way to achieve proper fat loss is Fitness+Nutrition. Always. The big problem with diets is people do them on a temporary measure but don't gain Good fitness/nutrition habits along the way. Instead of diets, you will want to aim for a nutrition lifestyle change. Make nutrition part of your everyday living. But along with that goes fitness. Because when you acheive fat Loss through fitness you gain all of the benefits along with it. (muscle tone, increased immune system, increased cardiovascular system, strength..etc).

    Everyone is right, if you not consuming enough calories (From proper foods) and then burning too many calories, it will have a negative impact on the body. So as you work towards consuming calories again, make sure you also get them from the right kinds of foods. Lean meats: chicken, Fish, Lean ground turkey, Whole grains, and Fruit.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    They all know, but they don't understand how dieting works so they aren't to concerned, expect for my boyfriend who says Im to into it, which he's totally right. I don't feel I need any phycological help. Trust me, its a battle every day to not eat a good amount so I have no problem going back to it especially knowing its not doing anything for me.
    This is the girl who inspired me to go this route:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69kv4fv2Niw
    but it did work for her!

    I think you misunerstand me. I am not saying you will not lose weight eating only 500 calories, no, you will lose a lot of weight. Thing I am saying is weight loss is not equal to being healthy or getting in shape. If you lose weight like that you are going to make yourself weak and sick. The scale will go down but isnt the point to be healthy feel good and look better? You dont get that eating 500 calories you get that eating 2200 calories and lifting weights and doing regular cardio.
  • Dalton1720
    Dalton1720 Posts: 104
    It wasn't that I thought it was the best and most healthy route to go. I just wanted the weight off fast and eating less and healthier foods is the first place most people go, i just became carried away with it, but my goal is results and i haven't seen any in almost 3 weeks due to my eating/exercising habits. I do look thinner, but not toned at all despite all this working out which was my goal in the first place. Thank you for your "tough love" though. I really needed to hear that. I will talk to a nutritionist to see what my next steps should be.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    I'm going to chime in here a bit.

    most people in general confuse weight loss with fat loss, but they are 2 different things. Most people Want to lose fat, but they Merely aim to lose weight in general as opposed to fat loss. Hope that makes sense. You can easily drop pounds on the scale but from your body losing not just fat but other things such as muscle intake, proper fluids..etc as other posters here have mentioned.

    The Best way to achieve proper fat loss is Fitness+Nutrition. Always. The big problem with diets is people do them on a temporary measure but don't gain Good fitness/nutrition habits along the way. Instead of diets, you will want to aim for a nutrition lifestyle change. Make nutrition part of your everyday living. But along with that goes fitness. Because when you acheive fat Loss through fitness you gain all of the benefits along with it. (muscle tone, increased immune system, increased cardiovascular system, strength..etc).

    Everyone is right, if you not consuming enough calories (From proper foods) and then burning too many calories, it will have a negative impact on the body. So as you work towards consuming calories again, make sure you also get them from the right kinds of foods. Lean meats: chicken, Fish, Lean ground turkey, Whole grains, and Fruit.

    This is good info. I think getting your calories from nutritious whole foods is more bonus points than necessary though. It is more important that you properly fuel your body than eat only certain types of food.
  • Dalton1720
    Dalton1720 Posts: 104
    You're absolutely right. (although the scale hasn't gone down in a while.) and that was my goal from the start. I just lost sight of what was important to my health and wellbeing and only thinking about looking good in that bathing suite, which isn't happening this way anyhow.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    It wasn't that I thought it was the best and most healthy route to go. I just wanted the weight off fast and eating less and healthier foods is the first place most people go, i just became carried away with it, but my goal is results and i haven't seen any in almost 3 weeks due to my eating/exercising habits. I do look thinner, but not toned at all despite all this working out which was my goal in the first place. Thank you for your "tough love" though. I really needed to hear that. I will talk to a nutritionist to see what my next steps should be.

    You are welcome and thank you for recognizing it as concern for your health and not getting defensive. What you are seeing is what you get on a crash diet which is thin but never toned . These are the types of diets people end up yo yoing on where yhe guy lose fat and muscle then later put the fat back on and be worse off than when they started. You actually want to eat a lot and fuel your body for your worrkouts to lose fat slowly while you build shape and tone muscle. You cant do that without food.
  • harphy
    harphy Posts: 290 Member
    Get your calories up for at least 400-500 and start lifting heavy.. My weight hasn't change for a month but I see great changes in BF. Clothes are getting really loose.
  • Dalton1720
    Dalton1720 Posts: 104
    Great advice! I will be returning to a normal amount of eating, but keeping my exercising routine the same. I think that should really help with this whole journey because there is no way I could do this for a long period of time.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Here OP read this. I am not saying you should do exactly this but it might open your eyes to a new way of approaching this and you might find inspiration from this girls story.
    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

    Tell me what you think of it.
  • Dalton1720
    Dalton1720 Posts: 104
    Her story had a LOT of similarities and was very inspiring. She looks great! I really enjoyed reading it. Although i don't think I could go full Palio, I love bread to much, but most pf her diet is pretty similar to what I eat now anyhow. She looks strong and healthy. Thats how I want to be. :) Thanks for that!
  • ragsibobs
    ragsibobs Posts: 22 Member
    I came across this article on my fitness pal. It's about eating too few calories and not loosing weight and about the importance of eating enough. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing
  • mcspiffy88
    mcspiffy88 Posts: 90 Member
    Stop listening to dumbasses on the internet, do some research. You cant live a healthy life on 500 cals.
  • 2013sk
    2013sk Posts: 1,318 Member
    Work out yout bmr + tdee!!

    Enjoy eating alot more calories and still lose weight!!

    Start lifting & get some definition & tone your muscles.... Your body will love you for it!!

    No longer will your body feel weak and tired on 500cals a day! maybe concentrate on photos & inches not so much the number on the scale! your so young..... Food is fuel : )
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Stop listening to dumbasses on the internet, do some research. You cant live a healthy life on 500 cals.

    Psssst....we are all just dumbasses on the internet too.
  • MelsAuntie
    MelsAuntie Posts: 2,833 Member
    ^^
  • Dalton1720
    Dalton1720 Posts: 104
    Just a quick update, I raised my calories to 1,300 and also make sure to replace my them after a workout. I feel better than ever and am very optimistic about this journey. Thank you for all your advice and support.

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