Scale hasn't budged for almost six weeks!
Taymolly
Posts: 21 Member
I really don't understand what I'm doing wrong. My weight is 181, and I have a calories budget of 1300. I workout 3-4 times a week, and I burn around 500 calories by doing 20 minutes on cardio, and 40 minutes doing strength and ab workouts. When I don't go to the gym, I walk the dog for an hour. My problem used to be that my body was in starvation mode (because I didn't know that when I burned the calories at the gym, I needed to consume them back). But now it's been almost two weeks of consuming my calories back from workouts and being strict on my diet and nothing has changed. I lost three inches around my waist, and I notice a difference in the mirror, and every week the weights I can lift go up - but the problem is the scale hasn't changed. I measure my weight on two different scales (the one and the gym and the electronic one at my house), they both say different numbers (5 lbs difference), but the numbers stay consistently the same! I don't know why I'm not losing weight, am I gaining muscle? But it's not like I'm trying to gain all this muscle if so, I'm a girl, I don't want to have huge muscular arms. Someone please help?
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Replies
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How accurate are you in calorie counting. Do you log every single piece of food you put in your mouth. Do you weigh everything before you log it?0
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I am. I log everything that I eat, and always check the calories on the labels of the food.0
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Most people underestimate calorie intake and overestimate calories burned from exercise. Let's pretend for a minute that you're being 100% accurate with both (which is impossible btw). In that case you just need to either increase your calorie deficit by about 100 calories a day and see how that affects your weight over the next month or so.
Also, just for future reference, the "starvation mode" that you referenced in your original post doesn't exist.0 -
You said that you notice the difference in the mirror and inches are coming off. Focus on this positive NSV and forget the number on the scale. Also, if you are lifting heavy, you may be replacing fat with muscle and this is why the scale isn't changing. I'm not an expert but I think adding some more cardio might help, like (HIIT).
Just ideas, I'm sure more experienced MFPers will have good ones too.0 -
Ok. I'm just going by what the machine at the gym tells me by how many calories I'm burning. I'll try to reduce my calories and see if that works, thanks!0
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No she is not replacing fat with muscle.You said that you notice the difference in the mirror and inches are coming off. Focus on this positive NSV and forget the number on the scale. Also, if you are lifting heavy, you may be replacing fat with muscle and this is why the scale isn't changing. I'm not an expert but I think adding some more cardio might help, like (HIIT).
Just ideas, I'm sure more experienced MFPers will have good ones too.
Haha, my thoughts exactly0 -
If you are losing inches, you are recomposing your body... This means that your weight is not going down BUT you are still losing fat. This should not be a concern... a tape measure is much more accurate than a scale anyway. Eventually, the scale will follow; for now, just know that what you are doing is working...0
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First measure our success by how your clothes feel and any notable muscle gains and apparent fat loss. As others stated ignore what the machines say, the MFP calories burned are pretty close, I have checked several with a Polar F7. Also ask close friends, take monthly photos in swimsuit, and compare.
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The machine at the gym gives you total calories not net calories. The machines also always over estimate. Take the lowest estimate you have seen for the activity you did and use that as a base.0
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1300 calories a day sounds very low. Your body still may be in starvation mode.0
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My thoughts as well.
No she is not replacing fat with muscle.You said that you notice the difference in the mirror and inches are coming off. Focus on this positive NSV and forget the number on the scale. Also, if you are lifting heavy, you may be replacing fat with muscle and this is why the scale isn't changing. I'm not an expert but I think adding some more cardio might help, like (HIIT).
Just ideas, I'm sure more experienced MFPers will have good ones too.
Haha, my thoughts exactly0 -
No. This is not accurate. Starvation mode does not happen just because someone eats a certain amount of calories, and those of us who are normal and overweight don't get it.1300 calories a day sounds very low. Your body still may be in starvation mode.0 -
There is no starvation mode in 99% of circumstances in which it's blamed... if I could remember that awesome website/blog post that someone posted here in the forums a few weeks ago, I would. It's a myth! If too few calories made you stay at the same weight, we wouldn't have anorexic people looking like skeletons! Drrrrr....0
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Open up your diary if you want specific help.0
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Double post0
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For what it's worth....
When you starve your body of calories you lose weight. That's called dieting (or starvation mode).
If you are logging your food at 1300 calories, write off 500 through exercise and eat them back - chances are, you only burned 200 calories and added 300 to your net calories (1600) - 300 more than you suspected. If you were trying to eat at a 300 calorie deficit then chances are you're eating at maintenance.
You may want to try only eating back half your burned calories for a couple weeks and see if that makes a difference.0 -
1300 calories a day sounds very low. Your body still may be in starvation mode.
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For what it's worth....
When you starve your body of calories you lose weight. That's called dieting (or starvation mode).
Dieting is not starvation mode, and you don't have to starve your body to lose weight.0 -
No, you're not in starvation mode. BUT, I also stalled out on my weight loss for about six weeks when I upped my calories and started weight lifting. I was also losing inches etc. my weight just wasn't changing any, however it started going down again about a week after I started panicking about it.
You have made some changes to your program that can cause things to slow down for a bit. I would say give it a bit more time before you go and change things yet again.0 -
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For what it's worth....
When you starve your body of calories you lose weight. That's called dieting (or starvation mode).
Dieting is not starvation mode, and you don't have to starve your body to lose weight.
You're starving it in the sense that you're not giving it enough calories that it needs to function throughout the day so it has to dig into stored fat to make up the difference. And you're right, dieting is not starvation mode because the so called "starvation mode" that supposedly causes people to not lose weight if they eat too few calories for a short period of time DOES NOT EXIST...0 -
For what it's worth....
When you starve your body of calories you lose weight. That's called dieting (or starvation mode).
Dieting is not starvation mode, and you don't have to starve your body to lose weight.
Please, explain to me how you can lose weight eating twice your daily calories? You can't. You lose weight cutting out calories.0 -
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Of course, to lose weight you need to at less than you burn, but, I've never looked at as "starving" my body. IFor what it's worth....
When you starve your body of calories you lose weight. That's called dieting (or starvation mode).
Dieting is not starvation mode, and you don't have to starve your body to lose weight.
Please, explain to me how you can lose weight eating twice your daily calories? You can't. You lose weight cutting out calories.0 -
I think everyone is giving great feedback. I also would say that 1300 is to few. I agree that you are replacing fat with muscle. I will also agree that you should take before and after pictures. Yes, open up your food diary for better advice.
Now…here is where I add something to the post.
(1) mind your drinks. A good deal of extra calories come from our non-water liquid intake.
(2) change up your cardio routine. I got the impression that you have been doing the same workouts. Time for something new. This will shock and rock your body.
For 7 weeks I have been at the same weight. However, I did eat out 2 days at a restaurant and I did go and eat tons of movie popcorn 4x.
I had to increase my workout routine and today I am 5LBs less.
Don't restrict you calories. You are already pretty low. And that is my 5 cents
Best,0 -
........ I lost three inches around my waist, and I notice a difference in the mirror, and every week the weights I can lift go up -
Sounds like you are doing great to me...but I am not an expert, but a beginner!
Patience and keep on what you are doing? 0 -
iI's doubtful she's gaining muscle, especially if she's been eating at a deficit. As for the workouts, you don't have to change up your routine at all to lose weight. All you have to do is eat less calories than you burn.I think everyone is giving great feedback. I also would say that 1300 is to few. I agree that you are replacing fat with muscle. I will also agree that you should take before and after pictures. Yes, open up your food diary for better advice.
Now…here is where I add something to the post.
(1) mind your drinks. A good deal of extra calories come from our non-water liquid intake.
(2) change up your cardio routine. I got the impression that you have been doing the same workouts. Time for something new. This will shock and rock your body.
For 7 weeks I have been at the same weight. However, I did eat out 2 days at a restaurant and I did go and eat tons of movie popcorn 4x.
I had to increase my workout routine and today I am 5LBs less.
Best,
If you were the same weight for seven weeks, that's because you were eating at maintenance, or perhaps retaining water from all the sodium in the wonderful movie popcorn (which I love).0 -
Ok, I'm really confused now. So I shouldn't eat my calories back that I burned while exercising? Or is it because I eat out, and eat popcorn at the movie theatre? Because I do cheat sometimes by doing that, but I work the amount of calories into my diet. Also, I posted a topic about why I wasn't losing weight around two weeks ago, and the response was I was burning too many calories (900 calories (walking to the gym burned 300, walking my dog burned around 150, and the activities I did at the gym burned the rest) and thus I was in starvation mode. About four people said this was the reason, so I believed their advice. But even toning down my exercise hasn't worked, so I'm just really getting frustrated. I do see a change in the mirror, but maybe it's just me wanting to believe something's changed....0
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Yeah this thread is really confusing0
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