Unable to lose anything!

Hi OP,

I think in general you seem to be on the right track. But if I were you I would

1. count fruits and vegs into your calorie intake (some fruits, like bananas, could be up to 100 cals. It's good to keep them counted)
2. make sure you also count the 'cheat days' when you eat pizza or other stuff;
3. try hard to be patient i know it's difficult, but I can tell you from my own experience - I started out with a program similar to yours, (gym workouts 3x/week; 30 min DVDs on other days) and for 2 months I barely saw any weight loss at all. In fact my weight went up around 3 lbs. Then at around 2.5 months, the weight loss started coming. The pounds didn't come off super fast, but I saw significant changes in my body - my face, my arms, my core, etc. I have 'less' to lose to begin with (around 20-25 lbs) so it's normal that the scale won't move quickly.

One last thing - do you use a HRM or something similar to keep track of how many cals you burn? It's often easy to overestimate and then overeat afterwards.

Hang in there! You WILL see changes, as long as you stick to it. Change might even just be around the corner - it could happen in the next week or two. Keep going, you can do it!! :flowerforyou:

Open your diary.
If you are not losing, you are eating at maintenance. Either you are not tracking accurately enough, or you are already at a weight where going below is impossible without literally starving.
Also when tracking calories there is no such thing as not tracking fruit, or having days of not tracking. If you e.g. have a 300 calorie deficit per day, 3 servings of fruit could easily bring you at maintenance and you not even knowing it. Or 2 days per week of not tracking, could mean you eating back everything.

You have a small amount of weight to lose, which means you have to be much more accurate than I had to be when I had over 100 pounds to lose.

You've mentioned you aren't counting fruits and vegetables? Why those have calories. If I eat 3 bananas that's over 300 calories. If you aren't logging your pizza and chocolate so you don't know how much over for the week that is putting you, and if you were you would know how much you consume.

Log all your food (including fruits and vegetables, definitely the pizza or other things you eat when you relax) because if you aren't losing for months as you say then you are eating more than you think and are not in a calorie deficit.

Your diary isn't open so can't see specifics on your logging to check what entries you are picking when you do log.

I also haven;t been counting fruit or veg but not had more than 3 pieces of fruit a day (high in sugar).

The only thing I can think of is that 1 or 2 days a week I just relax and eat what I want (pizza, some chocolate)but surely what I consume in those days cannot effect me overall? Surely not months on end?

There is your answer right there...it apparently does...

you are at maintenance.

xxharleyquinnxx

You've already had a lot of good advice from other members, support is key to maintaining you're momentum. It is easy to get discouraged in the early stages.
With our clients we usually follow a process, to determine what your true habits are, exercise and diet, from this we can determine what the best diet strategy and exercise plan is to suit you. The information you have posted is all pretty general, but in your log, its best to enter everything, even alchohol intake (if any....no assumptions are made). The great thing about myfitnesspal is the barcode scanner which can find products and info even if your general search text finds nothing, use this feature its a big help is keeping an accurate log.
The next thing is to look at the carb, protein fat ratio of the foods you are currently enjoying. Dieting does not have to be all ryveta and rice cakes! that said you do have to make sure that the food you eat is correct for the exercise.
Many people get this all wrong, and this is easy as there is so much info flying around its hard to make sense of it all.
If you are doing low impact aerobics like a 30 minute DVD you should lean towards a higher fat than carb ratio as this is what your body will burn first. Carbs come in to equation later as you begin to do fast bursts or energy multiple time for a prolonged period, like a football player during a match. If you then look at a long distance marathon runner, they will burn mostly carbs.
The reasons are many, but basically carbs are a more long term thing and in the short term fat is easier to burn.
Protein and vitamins are important to repair the damage done if you train, but again during low impact aerobics then need for a high protein intake is reduced.
One thing which must be remembered, if you are high in carbs and high in protein and your work out is not sufficiently high to burn the carbs or use the protein, your body will store them for a later date.
The next thing you wil probably see if you modify your ratios will be that you do feel more energetic as fat is easier to burn, so your DVDs will become easier, this in turn will mean you do them more effectively, and you will begin to lose weight.
After a short period 2-3 weeks you may plateau again weight wise, this will be as you body begins to tone and burn fat, muscle weighs more than fat. Many people see very little weight reduction in this phase, but a great change in shape. This phase is the one my clients enjoy the most and in many ways the pressure is then off as far as looking at the scales.
I hope I have explained everything simply enough, sports science is involved as you may appreciate. If you need any more information on supplements or calorie logging, please feel free to message me.
Good luck and remember to be strong willed, if you want it, it will happen.

Regards

The only thing I can think of is that 1 or 2 days a week I just relax and eat what I want (pizza, some chocolate) but surely what I consume in those days cannot effect me overall? Surely not months on end?

xx

Number 1.
Weigh and measure everything you put in your mouth....do not guess at it.
Get a food scale and take the time to weigh and measure.
You are probably consuming more than you think.

Number 2.
On your cheat days it is quite possible to undermine a weeks worth of deficit....even more so if your are not sure what you are consuming during the week....so like I said above, you may be consuming more than you think.
Then you wind up going over on your cheat days.

I know 1 slice of pizza can be easily 450 calories.....

So in answer to your question...
Yes, you could be screwing yourself, if you are not being accurate with what you are eating.

Which is what it sounds like to me.