I can't loose weight

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I have no idea what's going on. I am 18 years old, I weight 188 lbs and I haven't been loosing weight since around March. When I was on a diet of 1335 and barley an exercise it seemed I lost more weight! So then I decided to take the advice of someone and up increase my exercising, which I did, I now exercise at the gym for almost two hours and burn roughly 900 calories (including the walk to the gym and back) and am currently on a diet of 1200 calories. But I haven't seen any change on the scale or in inches. So what's going on? Am I gaining muscele? Is it because I sleep sometimes only 7 hours a night? Is it because I'm stressed that i'm not losing anything. Please help i'm so confused :(

Replies

  • Tomboly1
    Tomboly1 Posts: 42
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    Are you eating back at least some of your exercise calories? If you aren't then your body is probably in starvation mode and you won't see the scale budge. It would be helpful if you would open up your diary so we can see what it going on!
  • gypsy_spirit
    gypsy_spirit Posts: 2,107 Member
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    I'm not sure why someone would tell you to start exercising more and eating less - but the outcome is that it's not working for you anymore.

    Start by reading the information in the ink below.


    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1175494-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
  • links_slayer
    links_slayer Posts: 1,151 Member
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    How are you calculating calories burned during exercise? You're probably not burning as many calories as you think.

    Do you use a kitchen scale to weigh your food? If not, you're likely under-estimating your intake.
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
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    I'm not sure why someone would tell you to start exercising more and eating less - but the outcome is that it's not working for you anymore.

    Start by reading the information in the ink below.


    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1175494-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    This...

    also, you may not be new, but here's some great info

    Read these:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here?hl=so+you're+new+here
  • Karissa_Clohan
    Karissa_Clohan Posts: 126 Member
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    Don't weight yourself when your muscles are sore (at least I've heard you shouldn't... not sure if broscience or not), drink enough water, and weigh everything you eat.

    If that doesn't help, increase the amount of calories you're eating and go from there. It appears that someone else has already included the link to Sexy Pants Guide, I highly recommend reading it.
  • Taymolly
    Taymolly Posts: 21 Member
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    The thing is, I wanna loose 10 lbs/month. So would it be good if I increased my calorie intake to 1600 calories a day and keep exercising the way I've been?
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
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    The thing is, I wanna loose 10 lbs/month. So would it be good if I increased my calorie intake to 1600 calories a day and keep exercising the way I've been?

    You need to set realistic goals. Weight loss isn't linear.

    We all would love to lose 10 lbs a month, but unless you have a lot to lose it isn't likely to happen. By a lot I mean, 75+ lbs.

    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal
    If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal
  • echofm1
    echofm1 Posts: 471 Member
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    Don't weight yourself when your muscles are sore (at least I've heard you shouldn't... not sure if broscience or not)

    Sore muscles hold water because they're repairing themselves, which is why they say not to weigh. Not broscience, just physiology.
    The thing is, I wanna loose 10 lbs/month. So would it be good if I increased my calorie intake to 1600 calories a day and keep exercising the way I've been?

    What's your height? And do you exercise 2 hours a week, or do you do 2 hours multiple times a week? Give us some insight on where you're getting the number 1600 from.

    Also, another important question: Do you eat back your calories burned during exercise? That's important to know to give you an accurate goal.

    Edit: Also, yeah. 10 pounds a month when you're 188 pounds isn't realistic. A better goal would be maybe 5-8 (8 being pretty speedy) pounds a month probably, depending on your height
  • sunshine1082
    sunshine1082 Posts: 85 Member
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    The thing is, I wanna loose 10 lbs/month. So would it be good if I increased my calorie intake to 1600 calories a day and keep exercising the way I've been?

    10 lbs a month is highly unrealistic unless you're extremely obese. Read through the links people provided for you, set a realistic and achievable goal for yourself, and accept that you're not going to lose weight as quickly as you'd like. When I first started losing weight last June, I wanted to lose about 37 pounds. It is now almost a year later, and I am 2 lbs from goal. I have never felt deprived or over exerted myself to get here. Believe me, you'll be much happier in the long run if you don't overdo it.
  • Taymolly
    Taymolly Posts: 21 Member
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    I workout 5x/week and I'm 5'6-5'7. And no I dont eat my calories back, 1200 calories is good for me, i'm not hungry I just eat low calorie foods like fish and meat. Also on Fridays I usually eat 2000 calories.
    But after every exercise my musceles are always sore because I push myself, so when could I weigh myself?
  • echofm1
    echofm1 Posts: 471 Member
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    I workout 5x/week and I'm 5'6-5'7. And no I dont eat my calories back, 1200 calories is good for me, i'm not hungry I just eat low calorie foods like fish and meat. Also on Fridays I usually eat 2000 calories.
    But after every exercise my musceles are always sore because I push myself, so when could I weigh myself?

    In that case I can pretty safely say that you're not eating enough, and you're probably sore so often because you're not getting enough nutrients to repair your muscles. Hunger is a notoriously unreliable method to determine if you're eating enough. According to the Scooby Workshop TDEE calculator, you could be losing even if you eat 2500 calories a day to lose 2-3 pounds a month, which is a safe amount. 2300 if you want to err on the safe side saying you exercise 5-6 hours a week and are 5'6".

    You're starving your body, and that's never a good idea.
  • Karissa_Clohan
    Karissa_Clohan Posts: 126 Member
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    Don't weight yourself when your muscles are sore (at least I've heard you shouldn't... not sure if broscience or not)

    Sore muscles hold water because they're repairing themselves, which is why they say not to weigh. Not broscience, just physiology.

    Thanks :)
  • rgilsenan1
    rgilsenan1 Posts: 6
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    THIS IS NOT BRO SCIENCE THIS IS REAL SCIENCE AND REAL HUMAN BEHAVIOR WHICH HAS BEEN STUDIED.

    Okay, 'Starvation mode' is almost a complete fallacy.
    Weight loss plateaus do happen but you don't need to do anything about them.
    If you are in a calorie deficit you can't maintain weight permanently even if you build muscle it's physically impossible.

    hormonal changes caused by extremely low calories can only effect your basal metabolic rate by up to around 200 calories. So it cannot be that which is causing this plateau. Weight loss plateaus happen because of homeostasis which is your body's natural function which is to maintain the internal environment of your body, which includes body mass. So when you lose weight your body will sometimes retain more water, which can be subcutaneous(looks like fat), or intramuscular(makes muscles look bigger). eventually your body accepts its weight loss and reestablishes homeostasis at it's new mass. this is why weight seem to shelve off in steps or even go up a little rather than being a constant trend. this happens more noticeably when you are closer to a health weight. It usually last up to around three weeks; but can be longer. Some things can increase water retention such as salt and not drinking enough water, drinking more water can reduce water weight as your body will not feel the need to retain it as much. March was only four weeks ago so this could be it. Stress could add to this a little by increasing cortisol levels but only a tiny bit.

    However it has also been studied that humans, when they are counting calories, tend to count inaccurately when losing weight so they eat more than they think. You may not be being totally honest with yourself about your calories. This inaccurate perception may be considerably worsened by the fact that your calorie goal is incredibly low. Probably not what you wanted to hear but people can and do successfully trick themselves all the time.

    Also so many bathroom scales are utter ****e and are so inaccurate especially if they are the analog (non digital) ones as the springs can soften, harden or even expand if they are in a room that gets warm, such as a bathroom. If you are serious invest in some good scales.

    You shouldn't go lower than 1800 at your weight if you want to not feel like crap. unless you use exercise to bring your net down a little.

    So what do you actually do in your position?

    Step 1: Wait!

    Give it another couple of weeks and make sure you don't cheat on your diet. it may just be water retention and it will sort its-self out.

    Don't change calories, don't cheat.



    Step 2: Water manipulation.

    Failing step one increase your water intake by about six to eight liters for about three days and keep your salt/sodium intake at a normal amount. Then reduce your water down to two liters or three to four on workout days (still quite a lot but that's good for weight loss). After one or two more days weigh yourself again in the morning on an empty stomach ideally after having a ****. (this is when you should always weigh yourself)

    Don't change calories, don't cheat.

    Step 3: Reassess.

    It's been three more weeks now if your weight hasn't changed then you either have a serious medical disorder (and i mean ****ing serious so see a doctor) or you are just not being careful and/or honest about your calories. So eat a 1800 net every day be careful don't cheat, and above all be Patient!

    Note:

    IT COULD BE A COMBINATION OF ALL THE ABOVE ISSUES BUT IF YOU FOLLOW THESE THREE STEPS AND YOU ARE HONEST WITH YOURSELF YOU WILL SORT IT OUT.


    This is super rare but some people sleep eat, like sleep walking but to the fridge, and they get fat as **** and don't know why. this is literally the most unlikely of all the real scientifically documented things that can cause your problem.
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
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    agn?
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
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    THIS IS NOT BRO SCIENCE THIS IS REAL SCIENCE AND REAL HUMAN BEHAVIOR WHICH HAS BEEN STUDIED.

    Okay, 'Starvation mode' is almost a complete fallacy.
    Weight loss plateaus do happen but you don't need to do anything about them.
    If you are in a calorie deficit you can't maintain weight permanently even if you build muscle it's physically impossible.

    hormonal changes caused by extremely low calories can only effect your basal metabolic rate by up to around 200 calories. So it cannot be that which is causing this plateau. Weight loss plateaus happen because of homeostasis which is your body's natural function which is to maintain the internal environment of your body, which includes body mass. So when you lose weight your body will sometimes retain more water, which can be subcutaneous(looks like fat), or intramuscular(makes muscles look bigger). eventually your body accepts its weight loss and reestablishes homeostasis at it's new mass. this is why weight seem to shelve off in steps or even go up a little rather than being a constant trend. this happens more noticeably when you are closer to a health weight. It usually last up to around three weeks; but can be longer. Some things can increase water retention such as salt and not drinking enough water, drinking more water can reduce water weight as your body will not feel the need to retain it as much. March was only four weeks ago so this could be it. Stress could add to this a little by increasing cortisol levels but only a tiny bit.

    However it has also been studied that humans, when they are counting calories, tend to count inaccurately when losing weight so they eat more than they think. You may not be being totally honest with yourself about your calories. This inaccurate perception may be considerably worsened by the fact that your calorie goal is incredibly low. Probably not what you wanted to hear but people can and do successfully trick themselves all the time.

    Also so many bathroom scales are utter ****e and are so inaccurate especially if they are the analog (non digital) ones as the springs can soften, harden or even expand if they are in a room that gets warm, such as a bathroom. If you are serious invest in some good scales.

    You shouldn't go lower than 1800 at your weight if you want to not feel like crap. unless you use exercise to bring your net down a little.

    So what do you actually do in your position?

    Step 1: Wait!

    Give it another couple of weeks and make sure you don't cheat on your diet. it may just be water retention and it will sort its-self out.

    Don't change calories, don't cheat.



    Step 2: Water manipulation.

    Failing step one increase your water intake by about six to eight liters for about three days and keep your salt/sodium intake at a normal amount. Then reduce your water down to two liters or three to four on workout days (still quite a lot but that's good for weight loss). After one or two more days weigh yourself again in the morning on an empty stomach ideally after having a ****. (this is when you should always weigh yourself)

    Don't change calories, don't cheat.

    Step 3: Reassess.

    It's been three more weeks now if your weight hasn't changed then you either have a serious medical disorder (and i mean ****ing serious so see a doctor) or you are just not being careful and/or honest about your calories. So eat a 1800 net every day be careful don't cheat, and above all be Patient!

    Note:

    IT COULD BE A COMBINATION OF ALL THE ABOVE ISSUES BUT IF YOU FOLLOW THESE THREE STEPS AND YOU ARE HONEST WITH YOURSELF YOU WILL SORT IT OUT.


    This is super rare but some people sleep eat, like sleep walking but to the fridge, and they get fat as **** and don't know why. this is literally the most unlikely of all the real scientifically documented things that can cause your problem.

    I don't think you care about this topic enough.
  • rgilsenan1
    rgilsenan1 Posts: 6
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    I don't think you care about this topic enough.

    I care, deeply and truly I do. Which is why I study human physiology and am truthful.

    This is a topic that I care enough about to write a very long response that covers all the bases and answers the question in depth. I want people to have the knowledge and understanding that allowed me to lose a quarter of my entire body mass safely.

    if i didn't care I wouldn't help
  • Taymolly
    Taymolly Posts: 21 Member
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    Okay, I'll bring my calorie intake up and see if that helps. Thank you everyone for your responses!
  • bridgie101
    bridgie101 Posts: 817 Member
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    march.... so you've had a month of sudden, brutal overexercising.

    you can chuck on HUGE amounts of water weight (not fat, water) when you shock your muscle system. When i worked on the orchard it happened all the time. I never lost weight for about 1 month after the change in tasks, when I might go from light work to severely heavy work, moving the orchard ladder 200 times a day, up and down it 200 times a day, flat out, 8 hrs, every day.

    didn't lose a thing no matter how little I ate.

    then when it would stop, I'd pee like a trooper and lose 4kg.

    Be kinder as they all say above, and more realistic, as they all say above. I'm forty four and only just working this out now. All my diets have been doomed to fail because I've been so self-abusive about them, wanting instant results.