Help not losing any weight!

jramon06512
jramon06512 Posts: 5
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok I have been pretty unhappy with myself for a while now but back in September I decided I needed to start exercising and eating right again. I did well for about 2 weeks and then had a really busy couple of weeks after so I fell off. I started again about 3 weeks ago. I have been working out about 4 times a week with 15 min elliptical warm up and 30 min treadmill walk (I have an old ankle injury that flares up if I do too much on the treadmill) then usually focus on a muscle group like legs, arms, or core. So far I have seen inches coming off but the scale has not moved at all. I try to stay under 1000 calories a day. It’s actually pretty hard for me to even go over that because I’m so busy I stick with pre-prepared meals. Honestly I know they are not the best but I have no time to do meal prep. A lot of people say that they have a lot of sodium but I have been tracking all my food with MFP and I’m always under my sodium goal. I work about 60 hours a week and only have one day off a week….if that. I need some kind of advice to help start making the scale go down. Thanks for your help!

Replies

  • BlackTimber
    BlackTimber Posts: 230 Member
    Sometimes it takes a while for the numbers to start dropping, but inches are the most important anyway.
  • TrainerLB
    TrainerLB Posts: 42 Member
    In all honesty, I think you need to make a lifestyle change if you want to see real results. I'm sure you're working very hard, but the pre-prepared meals are super processed and high in chemicals like preservatives, hidden sugars and of course, sodium.

    Furthermore, when you're under so much stress your body starts secreting cortisol which makes you hungrier and less likely to lose weight. Coupled with your EXTREMELY low calorie intake, your body is probably fighting quite hard to NOT lose weight. 900 calories per day is generally considered the mark when the body goes into "starvation mode" and preserves every last resource.

    I would re-examine your schedule and figure out if there are simple ways to create time for meal planning like prepping days ahead or purchasing less processed but equally quick foods. What's stopping you from buying an apple, some cheese slices and Ryvita crackers?
  • jramon06512
    jramon06512 Posts: 5
    Yes I can see it in my clothes which is good but I just feel like some weight should be coming off. I have made a life style change as far as my eating. I use to be that I was so busy that I would just pick up fast food. Im at least proud to say that I have not ate fast food at all within the last 3 weeks. Its not as much stress as it is just constantly running around and I really dont get hungry which is part of the problem with eating more. Ive up'd my calories to about 1200 today and I feel like im stuffing my self with the small snacks. I do buy fruit, almonds, crackers and veggies however I use those more for snacks rather than big meals.
  • LoneWolf_70
    LoneWolf_70 Posts: 1,151 Member
    losing weight is a marathon, not a sprint. Eating under 1000 would not be recommended, but you need to be moving EVERY SINGLE DAY. No days off from "activity" and no days off from eating better.
  • Bretto
    Bretto Posts: 196 Member
    I would say try to get your calories to at least 1200. (I too am struggling getting mine to at least that). I have been buying pre-cooked grilled chicken from costco and adding 2 cups of veggies with it as part of my lunch. I then add a few nuts, and or greek yogurt.
    I am trying to make healthy choices without too much prep. I hit the gym as well and I too am not seeing the scale move. So I trying something different this week.....NO SCALE! Yep thats right. I am going to keep doing the healthy things I have been doing and not get on the scale for a week. I am going to focus on commitment and not expectations....You can do this! Keep Trudging forward.
  • Philp0718
    Philp0718 Posts: 136 Member
    Please go here: http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/ and find your BMR, that is the amount of calories your body needs just to function properly, it is NOT recommended to consistently eat below this level. Next find your TDEE, and there is your calorie range.

    For example: I am 25, 5"3, my BMR is 1382 and TDEE is 1961. I tend to eat around 1400 cals a day and have lost 20lbs since May.

    Yes, you want to drop weight, but please consider your health at the same time! :smile: Goodluck!
  • Coolhandkid
    Coolhandkid Posts: 84 Member
    You have been great for three weeks but that is simply not a set of habits conducive to long term health. Eat your BMR and celebrate your clothes fitting better, your increased health, etc and worry about the weight after a far longer period of time.

    Successful dieting is NOT about punishing yourself for a few weeks to lose a few pounds. Its about figuring out what your body needs and wants. Its about building healthy habits and implementing them long term.

    If you want a direct answer to your question, prepared meals will have massive amounts of sodium. Sodium makes you hold on to water weight. Drink more water to pass the sodium quicker and buy some simple natural healthy options and eat that instead.
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,059 Member
    Under 1,000 calories, there's your problem.
    You are not fueling your body properly with those calories for your workout. No wonder the weight isn't dropping off. Up your cals to a healthy amount, set your activity level on MFP, and keep exercising.
  • chicacherry666
    chicacherry666 Posts: 24
    You need calories otherwise you're more likely to have binge sessions try 1200-1400 calories as it is easier and enough to fuel your body and still lose a lot of weight :smile:
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
    jramon06512 wrote: »
    Yes I can see it in my clothes which is good but I just feel like some weight should be coming off. I have made a life style change as far as my eating. I use to be that I was so busy that I would just pick up fast food. Im at least proud to say that I have not ate fast food at all within the last 3 weeks. Its not as much stress as it is just constantly running around and I really dont get hungry which is part of the problem with eating more. Ive up'd my calories to about 1200 today and I feel like im stuffing my self with the small snacks. I do buy fruit, almonds, crackers and veggies however I use those more for snacks rather than big meals.

    1. Eat at a reasonable deficit and weigh/measure and record every single thing that goes into your body. That includes snacks. You're probably eating more than you realize. Make very sure that you know exactly how much you're really eating. Eating below 1200 calories is not a reasonable deficit unless you are extremely short.

    2. It has only been a few weeks. You need to give it more time.

    3. You won't see all of the results on the scale. You will see them with a tape measure, photos, and with the fit of your clothes.

    4. The reason for this is water retention. You will retain water every time your hormones go through normal monthly fluctuations, you eat a meal with more sodium than usual, or you increase or change your activities, especially when you begin or change up an exercise routine. Your muscles need the water to make repairs in the muscle tissue, and this is how muscles grow.



  • pander101
    pander101 Posts: 677 Member
    First off, up your calories. Second, drink more water if you think you're eating too much sodium, it will help off-set that. There is no such thing as 'starvation mode' its been debunked. You shouldn't be going below 1200 calories to ensure you get proper nutrients, so unless a DOCTOR tells you otherwise, make that your limit, not 1000. If you don't have a lot of weight to lose, you won't see a huge scale drop in just 3 weeks, so it also depends on how much you have to lose. Inches is good, keep track of that for now.
  • jayvee589
    jayvee589 Posts: 5 Member
    Sodium retains water--potassium excretes water. Look for foods you like that are higher in potassium than sodium ON THE FOOD LABEL (or from food lists online).
    I concur that pre-prepared food are generally high in sodium, some monstrously high!
    A fast weight loss in the first few weeks of training is usually mostly water... After which the body overcompensates and holds on to water as if your life depended on it ("homestasis"). Consequently google : "list of high potassium foods"--look around at the search results, especially the first three search results and pick which fresh foods you may incorporate within your day (google should have gotten you a list of fresh fruits and vegetables plus protein foods--have your pick!)... If you consume any medication for your kidneys or blood-pressure, check with your physician regarding what your sodium/potassium ratio should be.
    I also agree with the many other replies that when combining weight training and aerobics to a low calorie diet, how your clothes fit is more evident of a "shifting around" of your size and weight (loss of fat and water, build up of muscle tissue) than the numbers on a scale. How you look trumps how much you weigh in most people's eyes.
    Find ways to relax--to reduce cortizol, that "dastardly" stress hormone!
    I wish you great success!
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    edited October 2014
    Why would you focus on core? Core gets worked when you do compound lifts, although if absolutely necessary then it'd be beneficial to do core-targeted work while eating at a surplus because the muscles there are not going to be easily worked with a low rep range (unless you are quite out of shape and can only muster <6 reps). But abs do best with more reps. I have stopped doing abs altogether and I am just letting every other exercise hit them. I used to do abs 2-3x a week, or even just once, and I would do like 20+ reps because if I didn't do that much then I just didn't feel it at all. But it was also tiring me out overall because in a deficit it's hard to do high volume. You can't target your weight loss by doing ab work.

    Also, you might want to consider shortening your warm-up (and include dynamic warming up) to 5 minutes, maybe 10.. just enough to get your heart rate up and maybe get sweaty. And then move onto weights/strength training, and then if you have time/energy you can do a bit of cardio (either HIIT or lower intensity steady state, medium steady state would be fine too).

    Otherwise:
    1) your calorie goal is too low, and you may be undereating.. OR
    2) you are eating way more than you think you are because most of your food is prepackaged. I eat prepackaged but I always weigh it out and it's not the bulk of my meals most days.
    3) You are not weighing, maybe not measuring. Which can lead to improper logging.
    4) You are clearly not eating back your exercise calories... you need to be eating them back if using NEAT method. Which is MFP default.
    5) You are letting MFP determine your calorie intake. this is the wrong choice. Use websites like exrx.net or health-calc.com to calculate your needs, subtract 20% for a steady 1lb/week loss, and monitor for a month or two.
    6) IF you are being inconsistent with exercise and calorie restriction.. if course you won't see results. If you rely on exercise to create your deficit/increase it, then not being consistent while not adjusting your intake means you have a smaller deficit. If you are constantly switching from restriction to over-eating or just maintenance eating, then things will balance in such a way that you will not lose all that quickly.
    7) Some of the snacks you list are high calorie. So very easy to overeat them if you aren't weighing/tracking everything you eat like a hawk.

    Open up your food diary if you want even better suggestions from users.
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
    So really, you arent doing that much. You say you are 'trying' to stay under 1,000 calories per day. If you were coming anything close to this, you would be losing weight. It seems like you arent...
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    1000 calories a day?
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