I'm not losing weight

I'm really confused that I'm not losing weight. It's 17th day today, I started out at 59kg (168cm) and I'm still 59 kg!
I'm under 1200 kcal goal almost every day even without subtracting from exercise. (C 20%, F 35%, P 45%)
There have been 19 Activities during these 17 days, mainly cycling, including road cycling and stationary bike riding. 21 hours, calorie burn 5693 (Garmin).
I don't know what's going on....

Not discouraged but really really confused. Can anyone help me please? Thank you!

Replies

  • This can be a lot of things. To me, it sounds like you're not eating enough. The human body is very good at storing energy; once you get down to to low body fat percentages, it starts getting slightly harder to shed weight. For the amount of cardio you're doing, you probably need more carbs than 20% too.

    I'd plug your numbers in here and adjust your calories to match your activity level and see what happens: http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

    Sometimes, your body just hits a metabolic stall too. You could also try adding a re-feed day or two into your weekly routine to shock your system. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/sclark60.htm

    Make sure you're not just looking at the scale too; the mirror is your best friend here.
  • retrobyte
    retrobyte Posts: 169 Member
    Scales don't tell you how you look or feel. In the absence of accurate body composition tracking to measure if you're losing fat, gaining muscle, or vice versa, or both, it is far better to rely on the mirror, and how your clothes fit, to measure your progress.

    Looking at your pics, it would seem you're well on the right track anyway. Stick with things a bit longer and I'm sure you'll start to see the results you are after.
  • Oh, and, if you're primary source of exercise is baking / mainly cardio activities, try mixing in some strength training as well. Exercising in the anaerobic heart rate zone is going to assist with weight less compared to strictly cardio on it's own.
  • tiptoethruthetulips
    tiptoethruthetulips Posts: 3,371 Member
    At that weight and height (and given your profile pic) I wonder if you have sufficient excess body fat to lose??
  • PingyWingy
    PingyWingy Posts: 9 Member
    I'd plug your numbers in here and adjust your calories to match your activity level and see what happens: http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

    Thank you for your help and information. iifym gave me 143.3g carbs/day! Can that be right??? I've been doing < 60g lately.
    Weight lifting sounds like a good idea, that makes sense! Thank you so much!
  • PingyWingy
    PingyWingy Posts: 9 Member
    Thank you for encouraging me! I thought about whether I'm gaining muscles too, but then again I'm not doing any weight training. And I used to weight 7 pounds less. Sigh. I will stick to it though! :glasses:
  • PingyWingy
    PingyWingy Posts: 9 Member
    I really hope you are right! I just want to get back to the same time 2 years ago, I was 56 kg. 3 kg doesn't seem huge at all, but seems so difficult to drop. (Gaining it, on the other hand, is soooo easy.)
  • OllyJ_79
    OllyJ_79 Posts: 126 Member
    For your stats, your BMR is around 1270 calories a day, and judging by your activity your TDEE is going to be between 1800-1900 a day. If you are truly at a 500/cal a day deficit you would be loosing weight. Starvation mode, body holding onto fat etc are all myths and not based in science, so the most likely cause is that you are taking in more calories that you think.

    How are you measuring your food and drink? Are you logging consistently?
  • you are most welcome. 143c is probably about right for your weight, especially with how much cardio you're doing. <60g per day and you're going to be approaching ketosis (a metabolic state where your body starts processing essential fats for energy instead of carbohydrate by virtue of low glycogen levels).

    How's your energy level? Do you often feel tired, run down, etc? That's another sign you're not getting enough carb intake.

    Try a gradual increase if you're concerned - up your intake by 20g carbs every 3 days or so until you hit the 143 mark - that'll give your metabolism time to adjust. Then, wait at least 7-10 days to see the results, and you'll probably start losing again.

    Also, I would pick one set day a week and weigh yourself then. With the increased carbs, you may notice a small spike in weight; don't be freaked out by that, it's just water/glycogen weight.

    And lastly, definitely trust the mirror more than the scale. As an example, I didn't lose weight for 3 weeks once, when I used to average 1-2lbs/per week, and I was doing cycling every day + gym every single day doing intense weight lifting, etc. What was happening is I was losing fat around my thighs but putting it right back on in the form of muscle. (muscle is more dense than fat, so it weighs more on a volume/lb basis). It was actually kinda fun, I could visually see it happening in the mirror, even though the scale didn't budge.

    But I would definitely incorporate some weight lifting if you can. It's really easy for your body to get used to a lot of cardio, so mixing up your routine is important.
  • PingyWingy
    PingyWingy Posts: 9 Member
    For your stats, your BMR is around 1270 calories a day, and judging by your activity your TDEE is going to be between 1800-1900 a day. If you are truly at a 500/cal a day deficit you would be loosing weight...

    How are you measuring your food and drink? Are you logging consistently?

    That's what I think!
    I am logging my food consistently, even plan my meals in advance. Say for example, I would input 2 boiled eggs first and if I see the Fat is over budget, I would try 2 egg white... I'm not logging the coffee black or tea or diet coke that I'm drinking though.
    If the food I eat has the nutrition fact on the package, I would input it by myself. So I think I am logging it properly.
    To avoid the confusion of Chinese food that might have, I'm almost not eating Chinese food these days, maybe 3-4 times?
    Or am I eating the wrong food? Or I just need to be more patient....

    Thanks a lot anyway!
  • OllyJ_79
    OllyJ_79 Posts: 126 Member
    There is no such thing as right or wrong food..Its all just a vehicle to get energy into your body. No different from a battery. From a health perspective macros matter, but from a weight, its all calories in, calories out.

    How are you measuring the portions you eat?
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Thank you for encouraging me! I thought about whether I'm gaining muscles too, but then again I'm not doing any weight training. And I used to weight 7 pounds less. Sigh. I will stick to it though! :glasses:

    if you only want to lose 7lbs, why are you eating such a massive deficit?
  • PingyWingy
    PingyWingy Posts: 9 Member
    So is that massive already...? I'm not losing weight in this level of deficit, that's why I'm confused...
  • PingyWingy
    PingyWingy Posts: 9 Member
    I will stick to it and try to be more precise.
    Portions? I eat can tuna or toast or use tsp, or read the labels, etc. Try not to be complicated.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    I will stick to it and try to be more precise.
    Portions? I eat can tuna or toast or use tsp, or read the labels, etc. Try not to be complicated.

    scales.
  • PingyWingy
    PingyWingy Posts: 9 Member
    wow a whole lot to learn! I will bear in mind! Thanks!
  • OllyJ_79
    OllyJ_79 Posts: 126 Member
    I think the most likely cause is that you you aren't at a very large deficit. The only way to be accurate is to buy some scales, and weigh it all in grams. Guestimating how much of a portion you have eaten is simply not accurate enough. Its fine for vegetables, but for high density items like bread, meat, oils, cereal it just does not work
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    Looks like you started a pretty tough exercise regimen. That can contribute to water weight gain as your body repairs itself. This should resolve itself in about a month so you're so close. If you're eating at a deficit, the scale will catch up sooner or later