I am not losing weight. What gives?

nickysduck2 · May 2014

I have been using the myfitnesspal website and mobile phone app to track my caloric intake and exercise since March 24th. I exercise an hour to 2 hours every day by walking and riding my exercise bike. I always stay within my daily caloric restriction and most days have calories left over that I can consume because I have exercised so much.Despite all this I am not seeing my scales go down. I have not measured my waist or body but do look slimmer and have been told by others that I look like I have lost weight yet the pounds are not budging. when can I expect to see the pounds come off? I only need to lose about 10-15 pounds.

SunshineKat613 · May 2014

I do not know when you can expect to see a difference on the scale but it's quite likely that as you're losing body fat you are gaining muscle, which weighs more than bodyfat. Espesially if you've just started exercising. I'd start measuring your waist, thighs, neck etc and use that to keep you motivated.

LizN63 · May 2014

Are you weighing and measuring everything you eat? It may be that you are eating more than you think.

Likewise are you sure your exercise burns are accurate? MFP tends to overestimate so to be honest I personally would only eat back half of those calories.

Try keeping measurements, you might be more motivated if you see the inch loss that other people are seeing :flowerforyou:

lisaabenjamin · May 2014

Some thoughts in no particular order:
- If you are looking and feeling slimmer and people are noticing then does it really matter that the scale hasn't budged?
- The less weight you have to lose the slower it will come off, just be patient! If you only have 10-15 lbs to lose then 0.5-1lb a week is plenty. Slow and steady wins the race.
- Do you religiously and accurately weigh and log everything you eat and drink? And do you use a heart rate monitor to measure your calorie burns during exercise? The most common reason for weight gain, or weight loss at a slower rate than we'd like, is because we either eat more than we think, or burn less than we think, or both.
- Do you drink enough water? Strange though it may seem the way to combat water retention is actually to drink more. This is especially true if you eat a lot of sodium in your diet.
- As someone else said, "muscle weighs more than fat" - this is almost accurate. Actually a pound of fat weighs exactly the same as a pound of muscle, but a pound of muscle is smaller. So, if you are losing inches but not pounds, then it could be that you are simply becoming leaner and stronger, yay!

heybales · May 2014

So you are trusting MFP's eating goal for non-exercise days, I'm betting blindly because most don't know where it comes from.

So why aren't you blindly following the goal on exercise days too?

If you think bigger deficit is better - why not just stop eating?

So the walking calorie burn is going to be very accurate, if you are indeed doing the speed indicated exactly. If you actually have hills, you are burning even more.
Many will say it's inflated, and it may be for your bike since no speed on that, but the walking entries are more accurate than HRM even.

With only 10-15 to lose, did you also select 2 lb weekly because you want it gone faster, or did you pick recommended 1 lb weekly.

If scales have not moved the entire time - no initial big water weight drop - then you are likely logging very badly. It would be hard to imagine overcoming the kind of deficit you are creating, but it could be possible if you wisely took the 1 lb weekly goal amount.

Otherwise, if you took the 2 lb weekly, and creating bigger deficit, with that little to lose - I'd say congrats, you just stressed your body out and it adapted to what you are currently eating at by reducing your other daily activity, and burning less than it could to slow down.

And sadly you aren't going to be gaining muscle eating in a deficit and doing that light type of exercise. You'll have to use everything you've got first before body feels the need to add more, but not in a deficit when it's already not getting enough.
The body's response to that type of workout is add more glycogen stores with attached water in the muscle, can gain 2-3 lbs that way total.

eldamiano · May 2014

Exercise doesnt lose weight. Calorie deficit = weight loss.

Arwen280804 · May 2014

Just a little comment, a lot of people say muscle weighs more than fat... but a pound of fat and a pound of muscle is still a pound lol

But yes, maybe measure and make sure you log accurately

scyian · May 2014

If you're not using one already, I'd recommend getting digital food scales. It helped kickstart my weightloss again as I found I was under estimating for a lot of foods.

nickysduck2 · May 2014

Thanks so much everyone! Lots of great tips here. I exercise every day 7 days a week. I drink nothing but water and lots of it. No sodas or sugary drinks at all. I do not like to drink my calories.I did'nt know how accurate the MFP calorie tracker was so It is my guess that with 200-500 leftover calories per day I am close to what I should be consuming.

I exercise hard when I work out and keep my heart rate up. There are lots of hills on my walks and I pedal hard on my exercise bike to raise my heart rate. I do not measure my food but eat small portions. I have a friend who had 25 pounds to lose and she did it but it took her several months to bust out of a plateau. She told me at first she lost 5 pounds and stayed there for like 3 months but she continued to workout and use MFP and then out of nowhere the weight just melted off. Im sticking with this and know it may take time but I will lose the weight!

Thanks again:)

12bfree · May 2014

It's physically impossible to be in a caloric deficit program and not loose weight and it takes a tremendous amount of effort to gain a pound of muscle. So, you may want to reassess your daily caloric requirements. If that seems accurate to you, then I would invest in a good food weight scale. Weighing food is far more precise than trying to use a measure. Also, water is the miracle diet drink.

heybales · May 2014

Thanks so much everyone! Lots of great tips here. I exercise every day 7 days a week. I drink nothing but water and lots of it. No sodas or sugary drinks at all. I do not like to drink my calories.I did'nt know how accurate the MFP calorie tracker was so It is my guess that with 200-500 leftover calories per day I am close to what I should be consuming.

I exercise hard when I work out and keep my heart rate up. There are lots of hills on my walks and I pedal hard on my exercise bike to raise my heart rate. I do not measure my food but eat small portions. I have a friend who had 25 pounds to lose and she did it but it took her several months to bust out of a plateau. She told me at first she lost 5 pounds and stayed there for like 3 months but she continued to workout and use MFP and then out of nowhere the weight just melted off. Im sticking with this and know it may take time but I will lose the weight!

Thanks again:)

Ohhh, so you don't even know how much you are eating then.

Well, if you are eating how much you always used to eat prior to doing exercise 7 days a week, then you should be losing weight.

If you know you are eating a lot less, and all that exercise is new - you should be losing a lot of weight.

Not sure how you figure you have 200-500 calories left each day when you eyeball your food logging, no measurements.

And you do realize your eating goal already has a deficit in it , right, exercise done and logged or no exercise done.

Just don't do this to yourself, it'll suck and make maintenance worse, and the potential to start a lifetime of yo-yo dieting, having a terrible relationship with food and your body.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/heybales/view/reduced-metabolism-tdee-beyond-expected-from-weight-loss-616251

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i_cmltmQ6A

I am not losing weight. What gives?

Replies

Categories