Not losing weight as expected

Options
pandatorabbit
pandatorabbit Posts: 9
in Health and Weight Loss
Dear all,
I would be really thankful if some of you could share your views and suggestions on this. I am 27 yrs female, 5ft 1in and I was 200lbs in Sep 10th 2014. When I visited doctor for a general check up I was asked to lose weight and to reach a normal BMI.

My goal weight: 120lbs by Sep 2015 (may be too optimistic :p)
My calories intake: 1200/day (choosing fat free food, avoiding foods with high fructose corn syrups and starch, I usually don't eat sugars and desserts. I am a vegetarian and I don't eat eggs also)
My workout : Morning - 5 miles walk + 10 counts of Lat + 10 counts of Leg press
Evening - Task to burn 1000 calories ( tred+eliptical+zumba+weights)
Everyday I want to burn 1500 calories by workout and either I do it as 750ca in the morning and another 750ca in the evening or 500 in the morning and 1000ca in the evening.

My Problem: From sep 10th to Sep 29th I followed 1400 calorie diet and burnt 1000 calories each day by workouts. On sep 29th I was 187lbs from 200 lbs and I was very happy.

From Oct 1st to till now am doing 1200 calories diet and burning 1500 calories because at first I don't want to put my body in to stress and want to increase my stamina. Weight loss from Oct 1st to oct 11th is same 187 lbs. I have not lost any weight.

overall it feels great that I have lost 13 lbs in 4 weeks but the I haven't lost any weight in past ten days. I had my TOM on sep 25th to sep 29th. After that no change in weight. Also, it fluctuates so much between 187 to 190lbs. I mostly feel that am 190lbs not 187lbs ):

I sincerely thank all of you for your time in reading this and helping me.



«1

Replies

  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
    Options
    Well, weight loss isn't always linear. Not losing weight in 10 days is nothing to worry about.

    Secondly, your intake + your burns (which seem like they may be grossly over estimated. HRMs and machines only give you estimates) may not be accurate as well. Your intake also sounds way too low for someone your age, weight, and height. I suspect you are eating this, and then not eating your exercise calories back. MFP is designed for you to do that.

    I would recommend getting a food scale, upping your calories a bit (I suspect you have it at 2lbs/week. With your amount to lose this is healthy, but you most likely are not properly fueling your body with this intake. It's more suited for someone who is obese + not exercising), and perhaps cut your working out to once a day. You want to create a sustainable habit; not one that may burn you out. :)
  • MscGray
    MscGray Posts: 304 Member
    Options
    missiontofitness wrote: »
    Well, weight loss isn't always linear. Not losing weight in 10 days is nothing to worry about.

    Secondly, your intake + your burns (which seem like they may be grossly over estimated. HRMs and machines only give you estimates) may not be accurate as well. Your intake also sounds way too low for someone your age, weight, and height. I suspect you are eating this, and then not eating your exercise calories back. MFP is designed for you to do that.

    I would recommend getting a food scale, upping your calories a bit (I suspect you have it at 2lbs/week. With your amount to lose this is healthy, but you most likely are not properly fueling your body with this intake. It's more suited for someone who is obese + not exercising), and perhaps cut your working out to once a day. You want to create a sustainable habit; not one that may burn you out. :)

    this
    it would be really difficult to each that amount of calorie burns on a daily basis. You will burn yourself out especially if you are not eating back at least a portion of the exercise cals
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
    Options
    pandatorabbit wrote: »

    and burnt 1000 calories each day by workouts

    ...

    and burning 1500 calories

    No you didn't

  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
    Options
    Chief_Rocka wrote: »
    pandatorabbit wrote: »

    and burnt 1000 calories each day by workouts

    ...

    and burning 1500 calories

    No you didn't

    Could be close though. 200 lb gal, 5 miles per day, more workouts in the evening (duration unspecified)

    I'd agree to make sure OP that you're doing this at a sustainable pace. There doesn't have to be a clock on this - you're doing this for the rest of your life, not any target date or special event. Dig in, get comfortable, get a food scale and up your calories a bit as suggested earlier

    Your TOM weight should come off soon I think. Don't worry about it. Again, think Long term :)

  • Coolhandkid
    Coolhandkid Posts: 84 Member
    Options
    40% of your body mass in 1 year is ambitious. And can even cause problems. But its evident you are pushing yourself pretty hard too.

    Don't worry about a 10 day stretch. you might be holding water due to sodium intake, monthly variances in the female body, etc.

    Keep in mind this is a long term goal. The more people push themselves early the more likely injury and failure become. If you can manage this routine longterm rock on. But it seems like a big burden to carry for a long period.

    Lastly, don't be afraid of fat. Fear of fats are one of those things a lot of us learned as kids that ended up being completely wrong. Just eat the right kinds of fats. Nuts, olive oil, avocado should be a part of every healthy diet.
  • debrag12
    debrag12 Posts: 1,071 Member
    edited October 2014
    Options
    So that burn is exercise burn on top of everyday burn? You are netting negative calories. With eating 1200 calories and burning extra through execise you really should be eating some of these back to NET 1200 calories not NET - 300 (- daily burn)

    Calories in = 1200
    Calories out = daily burn + 1500 from exercise

    Or have I just read the OP wrong?
  • pandatorabbit
    pandatorabbit Posts: 9
    Options
    Hi all, thanks a lot for all your suggestions and it made me understand where iam going wrong.

    I still don't understand like how to create a calorie deficit in a healthy way? Can someone of u write on that?
  • pandatorabbit
    pandatorabbit Posts: 9
    Options
    Dear debrag12,
    I eat 1200 calories a day and burn 1500 calories each day. I use a pedometer to calculate the calories burnt. Am I doing it in a wrong way

    debrag12 wrote: »
    So that burn is exercise burn on top of everyday burn? You are netting negative calories. With eating 1200 calories and burning extra through execise you really should be eating some of these back to NET 1200 calories not NET - 300 (- daily burn)

    Calories in = 1200
    Calories out = daily burn + 1500 from exercise

    Or have I just read the OP wrong?

  • pandatorabbit
    pandatorabbit Posts: 9
    Options
    My daily burn by exercise is 1500, by body's activities is 2000. My intake is 1200. Yes I think am creating negative net. Is it unhealthy?
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
    Options
    pandatorabbit wrote: »
    My daily burn by exercise is 1500, by body's activities is 2000. My intake is 1200. Yes I think am creating negative net. Is it unhealthy?

    If you have a lot of available body fat, your body can dip into that to fuel your day. But consider some of the things mentioned. How much you're working out for example. If you're not taking the proper rest you might risk injury which will put you out of commission for a while and really stall your progress. But like the other poster said you may not be burning that much through exercise at all.

    A five mile walk in the morning seems like something you probably could do daily with no issues. What exactly are you doing in the evening, and how long?

    Also consider that in general you can eat more, say 1800-2000 calories and still lose, especially since you're exercising. One thing though with a lot of us who say we're doing 1200 calories is we may not be logging accurately and might actually be eating more

    Read these if you have not already:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1296011/calorie-counting-101/p1

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1
  • pandatorabbit
    pandatorabbit Posts: 9
    Options
    Hi, thanks for your valuable comments. For first few days I burnt 1000 calories bcos I wasn't able to walk long and workout more but now I could burn 1500 calories just by workouts alone eachday.
    Chief_Rocka wrote: »
    pandatorabbit wrote: »

    and burnt 1000 calories each day by workouts

    ...

    and burning 1500 calories

    No you didn't

  • pandatorabbit
    pandatorabbit Posts: 9
    Options
    Yeah that's true, I may not be eating exactly 1200 may be bit more.
    In the evening, my workouto are
    zumba for an hour - 400 ca
    Treadmill - 500 ca
    Cycle - 100 ca
    So a total of 1000 ca in the evening.

    Morning I walk with pedometer and it shows 500ca that is lost.

    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    pandatorabbit wrote: »
    My daily burn by exercise is 1500, by body's activities is 2000. My intake is 1200. Yes I think am creating negative net. Is it unhealthy?

    If you have a lot of available body fat, your body can dip into that to fuel your day. But consider some of the things mentioned. How much you're working out for example. If you're not taking the proper rest you might risk injury which will put you out of commission for a while and really stall your progress. But like the other poster said you may not be burning that much through exercise at all.

    A five mile walk in the morning seems like something you probably could do daily with no issues. What exactly are you doing in the evening, and how long?

    Also consider that in general you can eat more, say 1800-2000 calories and still lose, especially since you're exercising. One thing though with a lot of us who say we're doing 1200 calories is we may not be logging accurately and might actually be eating more

    Read these if you have not already:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1296011/calorie-counting-101/p1

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
    Options
    pandatorabbit wrote: »
    Yeah that's true, I may not be eating exactly 1200 may be bit more.
    In the evening, my workouto are
    zumba for an hour - 400 ca
    Treadmill - 500 ca
    Cycle - 100 ca
    So a total of 1000 ca in the evening.

    Morning I walk with pedometer and it shows 500ca that is lost.

    JaneiR36 wrote: »
    pandatorabbit wrote: »
    My daily burn by exercise is 1500, by body's activities is 2000. My intake is 1200. Yes I think am creating negative net. Is it unhealthy?

    If you have a lot of available body fat, your body can dip into that to fuel your day. But consider some of the things mentioned. How much you're working out for example. If you're not taking the proper rest you might risk injury which will put you out of commission for a while and really stall your progress. But like the other poster said you may not be burning that much through exercise at all.

    A five mile walk in the morning seems like something you probably could do daily with no issues. What exactly are you doing in the evening, and how long?

    Also consider that in general you can eat more, say 1800-2000 calories and still lose, especially since you're exercising. One thing though with a lot of us who say we're doing 1200 calories is we may not be logging accurately and might actually be eating more

    Read these if you have not already:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1296011/calorie-counting-101/p1

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

    To me those burns are actually quite possible. One thing I've used to cross check walking and running cals is:

    NET calories burned (considering that you would have burned something even though you were just sitting around watching tv):

    Running: .63 X distance (miles) X body weight (lbs)
    Walking: replace .63 with .3

    If you can sustain that level of exercise, more power to you girl :)
  • A_Dabauer
    A_Dabauer Posts: 212 Member
    Options
    When your doctor told you to lose weight did you discuss what lead you to becoming over weight? Did he run blood work? Test your thyroid, Test for PCOS, Test your Vitamin levels? I don't know what your former life looked like, or what happened in the Doctor's office. But regardless I think testing for contributing factors should have been done.

    Plus what the other people said :)
  • VeganMagpie
    VeganMagpie Posts: 24 Member
    Options
    pandatorabbit wrote: »
    Yeah that's true, I may not be eating exactly 1200 may be bit more.
    In the evening, my workouto are
    zumba for an hour - 400 ca
    Treadmill - 500 ca
    Cycle - 100 ca
    So a total of 1000 ca in the evening.

    Morning I walk with pedometer and it shows 500ca that is lost.


    What are you using to count how many calories lost in the evening through exercise? 1000 calories an evening seems like a lot to me. I weigh a similar amount, run 5K on a treadmill in ~35 min and don't burn anywhere near that many calories. Although, I could have it all wrong!
  • Cortneyrenee04
    Cortneyrenee04 Posts: 1,117 Member
    Options
    This is a lot of exercise to start all at once. Is this sustainable for you? I worry that you're not fueling these workouts- even if you're eating more than you think and burning less than you think (which sounds likely).

    I would definitely take a step back and see if this is something you can do long term. If it is, great! If not, you'll burn out and could end up totally derailed.

    You don't have to exercise this much (or at all) to lose weight. You just have to be at a calorie deficit. If you're eating 1200ish calories a day and truly burning 1500 calories, you're not eating enough to fuel your body or your brain. You don't need/want that much of a deficit.
  • dscottz247
    dscottz247 Posts: 3 Member
    Options
    This^^^

    @Cortneyrenee04 is absolutely right.
    pandatorabbit wrote: »
    Yeah that's true, I may not be eating exactly 1200 may be bit more.
    In the evening, my workouto are
    zumba for an hour - 400 ca
    Treadmill - 500 ca
    Cycle - 100 ca
    So a total of 1000 ca in the evening.

    Morning I walk with pedometer and it shows 500ca that is lost.

    Okay first off this is insanity...

    If you are 200lbs most likely you have not been exercising in recent years so why are you working out like you are training for the Olympics? You need to lose some weight not kill yourself. My advice would be to go back to the drawing board and reconsider your approach.

    This journey is about making long sustainable changes that will lead to a healthier life style. This is not a race to see how fast you can lose weight. If you choose the latter most likely you will end up right where you started.

    First to add actual advice... You need to start at a reasonable caloric intake for your body type. You want to eat as much as you can and still lose weight. You should start around maybe 1800-2000 calories and eat that consistently each day for a week or so and see what happens. If you don't lose weight then you need to reduce the calories by 50-100 and try again. If you are losing too fast over 2lbs a week then you need to up your calories by 50-100. You also need to weigh all of you food on a scale and that means everything! You can eat foods you like but the most important thing is to be consistent. Some weeks you may not lose weight but if weeks go by you want to be on a general downward trend. If you can not do this on your own you may need to hire a nutritionist.

    Also eating fat is not going to make you fat. It is a nutrient that we need to function on a daily basis. At bare minimum 20% of your diet should be from fat.

    Now back to the workouts...You need to reduce this massively. I would pick 1 thing you like the most and do that 3-4 times a week for 45mins that is all. Based on your stats you are going from relatively stagnant to working out hours a day. In what way does this make sense? Do people do marathons after never running before or do they start by running a few miles a day and work their way up? You need to start slow or you will burn yourself out.

    The weight you lost so far is probably all water weight and your body is in shock from what you have been doing. If you continue down the same road you will burn out and get nowhere. You need to make small changes that you can keep doing for a long time. Once you reach your goal the journey is not over this is something you need to do for the rest of your life.

    I know this sounds harsh but needs to be said. I want you to succeed and you can do it without going nuts. This process should be something you can do forever.
  • UmmSqueaky
    UmmSqueaky Posts: 715 Member
    Options
    It's totally doable. I'm the same height, started at 205 and will hit 80 lbs lost come my 1 year MFP anniversary on December 4th (baring natural disaster). It was doable for me because I worked hard, but I wasn't crazy. You're eating too little for the amount of exercise you'e doing. Your body will eventually crash, you'll get tired of restricting so much and you won't have the will power to continue to the end of the year.

    To lose 80 lbs in a year, you need to lose about 7 lbs a month. That requires dedication, not starvation and overexercising.

    Dial back on the exercise a bit and work your way up. You don't want to give yourself an exercise induced injury.

    Then try eating back half of your exercise calories.

    The goal here is to make changes you can do for the rest of your life. Can you really fit in such a crazy amount of exercise and so little food forever? I don't think so.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Options
    Are you trying to kill yourself?
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    Options
    I agree you should be eating more calories and dialing back on the exercise. What you're describing isn't terribly sustainable and you'll find yourself burning out before long. Also, you may run into other problems soon too, like losing your hair, skin looking gross, etc. You're just not giving your body enough calories.

    Invest in a food scale to make sure you're eating as much as you think you are, and then up those calories to an appropriate amount for someone your height/weight/age and activity/exercise. And instead of doing 3 workouts, just do 1... Zumba for an hour is more than sufficient daily exercise. Even walking everyday is enough. You don't have to kill yourself with exercise. If you overexercise, along with not fueling your body properly, you're leaving yourself prone to injury. You may not feel it now, but it can definitely happen.

    Your deficit is already built into your goal on MFP. If you're going to use MFP as intended, be honest with your daily activity level, and eat back at least half of your exercise calories. Even if you're eating those exercise calories, you still have your deficit built in, so you don't need to create an even larger deficit. Netting negative and low numbers is not the goal. the goal is to net your original MFP goal before exercise. So if your goal were to be 1400 calories, and you exercise 300 calories, you eat 1700 calories (1400+300) and you're netting 1400 calories (1700-300).

Categories