Why is it so hard for me to lose weight?

For some reason it is easy for me to gain weight( i do not eat a lot of food btw) and it is extremely hard for me to lose weight. I am 200 pounds and i need to get down to about 150-160.

I eat 1,400 caloriesa day because i wasn't losing at 1,800 calories. Do any of you know could be wrong? Am i not starting my weight loss the way i should?
«134

Replies

  • smarieallen85
    smarieallen85 Posts: 535 Member
    Are you measuring liquids, weighing solids, and logging every morsel you put in your mouth?
  • 6ftamazon
    6ftamazon Posts: 340 Member
    Same questions as the above poster....as well, can you open your diary?
  • Some people's genetics make it harder for them to lose weight/lose weight slower than other people or even gain weight easier, everyone's different. That being said there's measures you can take to help boost your metabolism & speed weight loss. You might try exercising a couple times a week, walking on a treadmill, hiking or adding caffeine into your diet (just make sure its zero calorie or black coffee)
  • onelov3
    onelov3 Posts: 37 Member
    If you are measuring (with a kitchen scale, not measuring spoons) every thing you put in your mouth, it is possible that you are dealing with hypothyroidism. Are you frequently tired, cold, or have thinning hair? Hypothyroidism is a common reason for weight gain, and people who often have the autoimmune disease have trouble losing.
  • I usually do not put my food up here because the app takes too long to upload when in on the go but i will start doing that soon
  • I drink up to 125 oz a day and i do not weight my food but i usually eat foods that will keep me full for a long time
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
    ... i do not weight my food...

    Unless you weigh your food, you really don't know how many calories you're eating. When I got a food scale, I also got a big shock about how much I was eating, vs. how much I thought I was eating.
  • I have my journal up for today...I didn't eat much at all because i was sleep almost all day because i had a head ace
  • A key thing in weight loss is what those calories are made of; i.e Carbohydrates, Fats, Protein (Macronutrients).

    If you eating more carbs than you should be and not burning them off so that you can move on to burn the fat, you will be forever struggling to lose the weight. You need to look at what your daily intake of macronutrients are and when you are eating them throughout the day.

    That way you can make the most out of the 1400kcals you have, believe me you can eat a hell of a lot of food with just 1400kcals, especially of the good stuff.

    Kyle Bonsor PT
    Personal Trainer & Motivational Speaker
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    A key thing in weight loss is what those calories are made of; i.e Carbohydrates, Fats, Protein (Macronutrients).

    If you eating more carbs than you should be and not burning them off so that you can move on to burn the fat, you will be forever struggling to lose the weight. You need to look at what your daily intake of macronutrients are and when you are eating them throughout the day.

    That way you can make the most out of the 1400kcals you have, believe me you can eat a hell of a lot of food with just 1400kcals, especially of the good stuff.


    Kyle Bonsor PT
    Personal Trainer & Motivational Speaker

    Nonsense - if she is eating under her calorie goal it doesn't matter what % is carbs or when she eats her macros :noway:

    A good balance is better for health but ultimately weight loss is calories in calories out.


    Op - if you do not weigh your foods you have no idea how much you are eating, start weighing and logging your food and you will see the weight start to shift. :flowerforyou:
  • Supertact
    Supertact Posts: 466 Member
    It's simple, you eat too much.
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    op - I looked at your diary - you need to weigh your food, a cup of something can vary dramatically in weight and therefore calories depending on how you pack it.

    Even small amounts can add up and stall your weight loss.

    Please read the threads posted above and buy some scales - give it 6 weeks then readjust based on your results.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    A key thing in weight loss is what those calories are made of; i.e Carbohydrates, Fats, Protein (Macronutrients).

    If you eating more carbs than you should be and not burning them off so that you can move on to burn the fat, you will be forever struggling to lose the weight. You need to look at what your daily intake of macronutrients are and when you are eating them throughout the day.

    That way you can make the most out of the 1400kcals you have, believe me you can eat a hell of a lot of food with just 1400kcals, especially of the good stuff.

    Message me in you want specific dietary advice.

    Kyle Bonsor PT
    Personal Trainer & Motivational Speaker
    Bonza Fitness Personal Training

    Nonsense - if she is eating under her calorie goal it doesn't matter what % is carbs or when she eats her macros :noway:

    A good balance is better for health but ultimately weight loss is calories in calories out.


    Op - if you do not weigh your foods you have no idea how much you are eating, start weighing and logging your food and you will see the weight start to shift. :flowerforyou:

    ^Yes this. You get a slight benefit from more protein in the form of TEF, but it's not enough to negate CICO (really it's just part of CICO)


    Also I'm pretty sure your signature isn't valid unless you put it in bold.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,993 Member
    3 main reasons people don't lose weight:

    They are eating more than they believe

    They are over estimating their physical burn

    They have a health or hormonal issue deterring it.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    3 main reasons people don't lose weight:

    They are eating more than they believe

    They are over estimating their physical burn

    They have a health or hormonal issue deterring it.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    ^see, bolded signature. Much more impressive.
  • jessilee119
    jessilee119 Posts: 444 Member
    ... i do not weight my food...

    Unless you weigh your food, you really don't know how many calories you're eating. When I got a food scale, I also got a big shock about how much I was eating, vs. how much I thought I was eating.

    Yes, this is something I need to start doing. I have a food scale but only really used it to weigh proteins such as chicken. I use measuring spoons, but they aren't as accurate as the scale either. My cottage cheese says that it has 6 half cup servings, but when I measure 1/2 cup (level) I only get a little over 4 servings out of it. I bet if I measured the calories by grams (which is also listed on the label) it would come to less than 1/2 cup per serving.

    Also, this has been brought up too, but what are you using for your food database? I had avocado yesterday and one entry said a 1/2 avocado was like 24 calories which seemed low (and was). This, again, goes back to the point of weighing. To say I ate 1/2 avocado is not precise...my avocado could be bigger or smaller than the one used when that entry was made by someone else. I adjusted my entry to use someone else's where the 1/2 avocado was over 100 calories. That's a difference of 80 calories that I could have miscalculated. Do that with every meal and it's that easy to be overestimating your calorie intake.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    Weigh your food.
    Log consistently & accurately.
    Be patient.
    Lose weight.
    Win.

    You're not losing weight because you don't weigh your food and you're not logging it consistently or accurately. You can say you don't eat alot, but that doesn't mean you're not eating alot of calories. Quantity =/= Quality. All food has different nutritional content. Small amounts of food can easily have alot of calories. It's not how little you eat that causes weight loss, it's how many calories you're eating. Buckle that down and you'll see some progress.

    Also, logging takes me, at most, 10 minutes a day. If I'm on the go, I simply use the mobile app to add my food. Otherwise, I log it when I get home.
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
    A key thing in weight loss is what those calories are made of; i.e Carbohydrates, Fats, Protein (Macronutrients).

    If you eating more carbs than you should be and not burning them off so that you can move on to burn the fat, you will be forever struggling to lose the weight. You need to look at what your daily intake of macronutrients are and when you are eating them throughout the day.

    That way you can make the most out of the 1400kcals you have, believe me you can eat a hell of a lot of food with just 1400kcals, especially of the good stuff.


    Kyle Bonsor PT
    Personal Trainer & Motivational Speaker

    Nonsense - if she is eating under her calorie goal it doesn't matter what % is carbs or when she eats her macros :noway:

    A good balance is better for health but ultimately weight loss is calories in calories out.


    Op - if you do not weigh your foods you have no idea how much you are eating, start weighing and logging your food and you will see the weight start to shift. :flowerforyou:
    This is some solid d[/b]ick OP.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    Gaining is easier for almost everyone than losing. You aren't alone there.

    See a doctor. Make sure you don't have some physical problem.

    If it's not physical, you have to keep eating less and exercising more.

    It's a lot of work and you have to do the work for a really long time.
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,371 Member
    Eating less than you were doesn't necessarily mean you are eating less than you need to maintain so I'm with the others advising you weigh and log everything you eat and drink. Only then can you start questioning other reasons for not losing. My money is on underestimation at the moment.
  • lindsey1979
    lindsey1979 Posts: 2,395 Member
    I agree with the posters that suggest you really need to weigh your food to know how much you're eating. That's the very first thing you need to know. It's really, really common to underestimate your calories -- it happens to nearly everyone. So, until you start doing that methodically and consistently, it will be really hard to drill down on other issues.

    If you get to a point where you're weighing/measuring everything and still not losing weight as expected (within a reasonable margin of error), then it's time to start digging deeper into other issues. Many people love to taut CICO as the end all be all, but for some people, the content of those calories will make a big difference in their weight loss and body composition. For some (like those that are insulin sensitive), more carbs will be better. For other (like those with insulin resistance), less carbs will be better because of the way their bodies metabolize glucose. A sufficient amount of protein is also important as that helps you maintain LBM in a caloric deficit -- so more of the weight you lose will be fat rather than muscle, which you want to keep as much as possible.

    Unfortunately, some people on this site refuse to acknowledge these differences. They refuse to acknowledge the importance of body composition in weight loss (the more muscle you lose, the more weight you will lose because it only takes 600-1700 calories to lose a lb of muscle whereas it takes 3500 calories to lose a lb of fat). They draw these arbitrary lines between weight loss and health -- but the type of body tissue you reduce will directly affect how much total weight you lose. So trying to maintain as much LBM and lose as much fat is important -- to both your health and the number on the scale. Plus, the more LBM you have, the higher your RMR -- another big issue in how big you CO part of the CICO equation is.

    Plus, there are other issues you could have -- 40% of US adults have insulin resistance at diabetic or prediabetic levels, so the amount of carbs may make a big difference to you. Or there are plenty of other issues out there -- thyroid, PCOS, etc. But, first start off with the food scale, get really accurate with your calories and then if things still aren't working, look deeper.
  • vjohn04
    vjohn04 Posts: 2,276 Member
    A key thing in weight loss is what those calories are made of; i.e Carbohydrates, Fats, Protein (Macronutrients).

    If you eating more carbs than you should be and not burning them off so that you can move on to burn the fat, you will be forever struggling to lose the weight. You need to look at what your daily intake of macronutrients are and when you are eating them throughout the day.

    That way you can make the most out of the 1400kcals you have, believe me you can eat a hell of a lot of food with just 1400kcals, especially of the good stuff.

    Kyle Bonsor PT
    Personal Trainer & Motivational Speaker


    LOLOLOLOL no.
  • danasings
    danasings Posts: 8,218 Member
    3 main reasons people don't lose weight:

    They are eating more than they believe

    They are over estimating their physical burn

    They have a health or hormonal issue deterring it.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    ^see, bolded signature. Much more impressive.

    Truth.

    Also, watch this:

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DJVjWPclrWVY
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    For some reason it is easy for me to gain weight( i do not eat a lot of food btw)...

    aQg6qaP.jpg
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    I agree with the posters that suggest you really need to weigh your food to know how much you're eating. That's the very first thing you need to know. It's really, really common to underestimate your calories -- it happens to nearly everyone. So, until you start doing that methodically and consistently, it will be really hard to drill down on other issues.

    If you get to a point where you're weighing/measuring everything and still not losing weight as expected (within a reasonable margin of error), then it's time to start digging deeper into other issues. Many people love to taut CICO as the end all be all, but for some people, the content of those calories will make a big difference in their weight loss and body composition. For some (like those that are insulin sensitive), more carbs will be better. For other (like those with insulin resistance), less carbs will be better because of the way their bodies metabolize glucose. A sufficient amount of protein is also important as that helps you maintain LBM in a caloric deficit -- so more of the weight you lose will be fat rather than muscle, which you want to keep as much as possible.

    Unfortunately, some people on this site refuse to acknowledge these differences. They refuse to acknowledge the importance of body composition in weight loss (the more muscle you lose, the more weight you will lose because it only takes 600-1700 calories to lose a lb of muscle whereas it takes 3500 calories to lose a lb of fat). They draw these arbitrary lines between weight loss and health -- but the type of body tissue you reduce will directly affect how much total weight you lose. So trying to maintain as much LBM and lose as much fat is important -- to both your health and the number on the scale. Plus, the more LBM you have, the higher your RMR -- another big issue in how big you CO part of the CICO equation is.

    Plus, there are other issues you could have -- 40% of US adults have insulin resistance at diabetic or prediabetic levels, so the amount of carbs may make a big difference to you. Or there are plenty of other issues out there -- thyroid, PCOS, etc. But, first start off with the food scale, get really accurate with your calories and then if things still aren't working, look deeper.


    While I love the passive aggressive "some people" part of this post the fact is that the op is not weighing or even logging her food.

    Until she does this it is FAR to early to be discussing if carbs are helping or hindering her weightloss.

    Some people don't bring up issues like that when an op admits to not logging as it clouds the issue, and can make losing weight seem much harder than it needs to be. It can cause people to focus on the wrong things instead of just trying to get the basics right - consistently logging and weighing food.

    This doesn't mean that some people deny different macros have an effect - in fact rarely see anyone state that macros are not important. What is does mean is that they want the op to get comfortable weighing and logging as that is where the basics lie. without doing these two things nothing else really matters.

    Until the op knows how much she is actually eating everything else is moot.


    Some people might have even suggested the op read the links posted that explain macros in a clear way that doesn't need repeating on this thread, but hey - why just post that you agree with most people on this thread that the op needs to log, when instead you can get a passive aggressive jab in at other forum users.
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,371 Member


    Until the op knows how much she is actually eating everything else is moot.


    Some people might have even suggested the op read the links posted that explain macros in a clear way that doesn't need repeating on this thread, but hey - why just post that you agree with most people on this thread that the op needs to log, when instead you can get a passive aggressive jab in at other forum users.

    Couldn't agree more. Way too many science lessons on these forums when a more common sense approach of 'just try following the instructions given by the site' is sometimes all that's needed.
  • lindsey1979
    lindsey1979 Posts: 2,395 Member
    I agree with the posters that suggest you really need to weigh your food to know how much you're eating. That's the very first thing you need to know. It's really, really common to underestimate your calories -- it happens to nearly everyone. So, until you start doing that methodically and consistently, it will be really hard to drill down on other issues.

    If you get to a point where you're weighing/measuring everything and still not losing weight as expected (within a reasonable margin of error), then it's time to start digging deeper into other issues. Many people love to taut CICO as the end all be all, but for some people, the content of those calories will make a big difference in their weight loss and body composition. For some (like those that are insulin sensitive), more carbs will be better. For other (like those with insulin resistance), less carbs will be better because of the way their bodies metabolize glucose. A sufficient amount of protein is also important as that helps you maintain LBM in a caloric deficit -- so more of the weight you lose will be fat rather than muscle, which you want to keep as much as possible.

    Unfortunately, some people on this site refuse to acknowledge these differences. They refuse to acknowledge the importance of body composition in weight loss (the more muscle you lose, the more weight you will lose because it only takes 600-1700 calories to lose a lb of muscle whereas it takes 3500 calories to lose a lb of fat). They draw these arbitrary lines between weight loss and health -- but the type of body tissue you reduce will directly affect how much total weight you lose. So trying to maintain as much LBM and lose as much fat is important -- to both your health and the number on the scale. Plus, the more LBM you have, the higher your RMR -- another big issue in how big you CO part of the CICO equation is.

    Plus, there are other issues you could have -- 40% of US adults have insulin resistance at diabetic or prediabetic levels, so the amount of carbs may make a big difference to you. Or there are plenty of other issues out there -- thyroid, PCOS, etc. But, first start off with the food scale, get really accurate with your calories and then if things still aren't working, look deeper.


    While I love the passive aggressive "some people" part of this post the fact is that the op is not weighing or even logging her food.

    Until she does this it is FAR to early to be discussing if carbs are helping or hindering her weightloss.

    Some people don't bring up issues like that when an op admits to not logging as it clouds the issue, and can make losing weight seem much harder than it needs to be. It can cause people to focus on the wrong things instead of just trying to get the basics right - consistently logging and weighing food.

    This doesn't mean that some people deny different macros have an effect - in fact rarely see anyone state that macros are not important. What is does mean is that they want the op to get comfortable weighing and logging as that is where the basics lie. without doing these two things nothing else really matters.

    Until the op knows how much she is actually eating everything else is moot.


    Some people might have even suggested the op read the links posted that explain macros in a clear way that doesn't need repeating on this thread, but hey - why just post that you agree with most people on this thread that the op needs to log, when instead you can get a passive aggressive jab in at other forum users.

    I'm not sure you understand what passive aggressive means. Some forum users do as I said -- it's just a statement -- and one with which I disagree.

    Disagreement isn't always a jab, passive-aggressive or otherwise, at you or any other forum users. You may want to adjust that chip on your shoulder so it's not quite so uncomfortable.
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    I agree with the posters that suggest you really need to weigh your food to know how much you're eating. That's the very first thing you need to know. It's really, really common to underestimate your calories -- it happens to nearly everyone. So, until you start doing that methodically and consistently, it will be really hard to drill down on other issues.

    If you get to a point where you're weighing/measuring everything and still not losing weight as expected (within a reasonable margin of error), then it's time to start digging deeper into other issues. Many people love to taut CICO as the end all be all, but for some people, the content of those calories will make a big difference in their weight loss and body composition. For some (like those that are insulin sensitive), more carbs will be better. For other (like those with insulin resistance), less carbs will be better because of the way their bodies metabolize glucose. A sufficient amount of protein is also important as that helps you maintain LBM in a caloric deficit -- so more of the weight you lose will be fat rather than muscle, which you want to keep as much as possible.

    Unfortunately, some people on this site refuse to acknowledge these differences. They refuse to acknowledge the importance of body composition in weight loss (the more muscle you lose, the more weight you will lose because it only takes 600-1700 calories to lose a lb of muscle whereas it takes 3500 calories to lose a lb of fat). They draw these arbitrary lines between weight loss and health -- but the type of body tissue you reduce will directly affect how much total weight you lose. So trying to maintain as much LBM and lose as much fat is important -- to both your health and the number on the scale. Plus, the more LBM you have, the higher your RMR -- another big issue in how big you CO part of the CICO equation is.

    Plus, there are other issues you could have -- 40% of US adults have insulin resistance at diabetic or prediabetic levels, so the amount of carbs may make a big difference to you. Or there are plenty of other issues out there -- thyroid, PCOS, etc. But, first start off with the food scale, get really accurate with your calories and then if things still aren't working, look deeper.


    While I love the passive aggressive "some people" part of this post the fact is that the op is not weighing or even logging her food.

    Until she does this it is FAR to early to be discussing if carbs are helping or hindering her weightloss.

    Some people don't bring up issues like that when an op admits to not logging as it clouds the issue, and can make losing weight seem much harder than it needs to be. It can cause people to focus on the wrong things instead of just trying to get the basics right - consistently logging and weighing food.

    This doesn't mean that some people deny different macros have an effect - in fact rarely see anyone state that macros are not important. What is does mean is that they want the op to get comfortable weighing and logging as that is where the basics lie. without doing these two things nothing else really matters.

    Until the op knows how much she is actually eating everything else is moot.


    Some people might have even suggested the op read the links posted that explain macros in a clear way that doesn't need repeating on this thread, but hey - why just post that you agree with most people on this thread that the op needs to log, when instead you can get a passive aggressive jab in at other forum users.

    I'm not sure you understand what passive aggressive means. Some forum users do as I said -- it's just a statement -- and one with which I disagree.

    Disagreement isn't always a jab, passive-aggressive or otherwise, at you or any other forum users. You may want to adjust that chip on your shoulder so it's not quite so uncomfortable.

    Of course it wasn't. But if it wasn't aimed at anyone on this thread why bring it up at all?

    I don't have a chip on my shoulder. Maybe you are actually looking in a mirror. :laugh: :laugh:

    I stand by my post 100%

    I'm unsurprised you won't admit to being passive aggressive as that is just your style.