What am I doing wrong??

foraMEthatiLOVE
foraMEthatiLOVE Posts: 63
edited September 27 in Health and Weight Loss
I am so discouraged.... Although I gave my all this past month on exercizing, I lost close to nothing of body fat percentage...I exercised 5 to 6x a week (including a bootcamp) and although I feel so energized and was able to improve on my push ups, crunches and running time, I feel so discouraged to see that my body seems exactly like before...Like I had done nothing... I'm not worried about my weight number, but my body fat percentage should have gone down, right? Help! Any advices?

Replies

  • Heatherbelle_87
    Heatherbelle_87 Posts: 1,078 Member
    Are you using one of the electronic body fat measurers or a caliper?

    Also building muscle isnt like straight fat loss, muscle takes longer to build
  • Chickabittie
    Chickabittie Posts: 272
    Did you take any before and after pics? That might help you see the changes that are happening in your body. You are obviously getting stronger, and any movement is good for the body. Keep it up!
  • RDH0513
    RDH0513 Posts: 245 Member
    Weight lifting will do wonders for body fat percentage.
  • foraMEthatiLOVE
    foraMEthatiLOVE Posts: 63
    My trainer from bootcamp measured me with an electronic one... After 1 month of training, I lost only 0.3% of body fat.
  • Shweedog
    Shweedog Posts: 883 Member
    Not if your caloric intake was not in line. Can't see your diary. You can exercise all you want but if you are eating more than you are burning you typically won't have a decrease in fat. I like this quote- "You can't out exercise a bad diet." Not saying that is what you are doing though. :)
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    I am so discouraged.... Although I gave my all this past month on exercizing, I lost close to nothing of body fat percentage...I exercised 5 to 6x a week (including a bootcamp) and although I feel so energized and was able to improve on my push ups, crunches and running time, I feel so discouraged to see that my body seems exactly like before...Like I had done nothing... I'm not worried about my weight number, but my body fat percentage should have gone down, right? Help! Any advices?

    BF% on scales are why off, even calipers are not 100% accurate, especially if you are not having it done by a trained professional. Also keep in mind that weight loss is 80% based on diet.
  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,171 Member
    Aww, try not to be discouraged. Muscle doesn't immediately replace fat, so while you've likely built some nice muscle, the body will try to hang onto that fat. Our bodies don't exactly understand basic math nor do they want to cooperate with our weight loss efforts. Hang in there! It'll happen.
  • foraMEthatiLOVE
    foraMEthatiLOVE Posts: 63
    I feel like my eating has been 80% good.... on weekends I have an occasional beer and some sweets, but I control my calories intake to where I do not go pass the 1500 calorie mark...
  • TerraGirl17
    TerraGirl17 Posts: 275 Member
    How are you measuring your body fat? I just had mine done at my gym and I couldn't believe it!! I am at 25.6% and whenever I have tried the calculators online or scales that are supposed to figure it out, I am always closer to 29%. I strongly recommend getting it done professionally if you haven't already. I think it's pretty impossible for a calculator on here to figure it out exactly right, I know for me I wasn't taking my measurements in the right spot and also when they did it at the gym they took measurements from a ton of different spots with the calipers. Hope this helps!!
  • jmafte
    jmafte Posts: 46
    I actually just posted on another topic about body fat calculators. Have a look at the article, it will help you realize how inaccurate most body fat tools are. http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=56830
  • Flyntiggr
    Flyntiggr Posts: 898 Member
    It took me a couple of months before my body fat % really started to drop. I work out 6-7 days a week and have a trainer 2 of them.
    Here are my numbers:

    Date Body Fat %
    Jan 4, 2011 37.9
    March 3, 2011 35.9 (2% lost in 2 months)
    March 31, 2011 33.6 (2% more lost in just 4 weeks)
    April 11, 2011 31.5 (another 2% in just 2 weeks)

    As you can see, I've been losing more body fat % in less time recently.... :)
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
    You have to be eating the right amount for your body and you have to be eating healthy foods. Eating refined sugar will result in a slow down of fat burning, eating too many carbs or fats will result in the storage of fat. Eating junk is just bad for your body all the way around. You also should experiment with different calorie goals and with eating exercise calories to find your optimal caloric intake. There is a point when your body will stop burning fat if you aren't eating enough. In my specific case, I won't lose weight if I eat fewer than 1400 net calories, so I always aim to meet my calorie goal, including eating all my exercise calories. Other people have different thresholds and can lose weight eating less. Figure out what number of calories works best for you.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    I feel like my eating has been 80% good.... on weekends I have an occasional beer and some sweets, but I control my calories intake to where I do not go pass the 1500 calorie mark...

    1500 may not be enough on the days you workout. Your body requires fuel, its possible that you actual lost muscle along with your fat. If you lost 3 lbs, 2 may have been from fat and 1 from muscle, which could be why your body fat % only changes slightly. To limit the amount of muscle you lose your caloric deficit should not be too large and you should eat a higher protein diet and lift fairly heavy weights. Otherwise you will lose muscle along with fat as you lose weight.
  • lesliefoste
    lesliefoste Posts: 137 Member
    My understanding is that the less fat you have, the harder it is to lose. Are you already at a good % of body fat? Sorry you're discouraged. What did you boot camp leader say?
  • bmontgomery87
    bmontgomery87 Posts: 1,260 Member
    Weight lifting will do wonders for body fat percentage.

    agreed
  • foraMEthatiLOVE
    foraMEthatiLOVE Posts: 63
    I was very discouraged since last Friday, when I saw my BF% loss, so I did not enter anything on my food log since then...I will start back tomorrow... and will make my food diary available.

    No, I did not take any pics before...I didn't think of that...good idea! I'll do that today and compare it to 1 month from now!
  • CindyPid
    CindyPid Posts: 1
    If you are increasing your running times and pushups, you are not doing anything wrong. You are helping your cardic health. I just joined this site but I had worked out regularly in the past and it does take a couple of months before you begin to see results. Muscle weighs more than fat. The scale may not tell you are getting results but your jeans will! Just hang in there!!
  • foraMEthatiLOVE
    foraMEthatiLOVE Posts: 63
    I feel like my eating has been 80% good.... on weekends I have an occasional beer and some sweets, but I control my calories intake to where I do not go pass the 1500 calorie mark...

    1500 may not be enough on the days you workout. Your body requires fuel, its possible that you actual lost muscle along with your fat. If you lost 3 lbs, 2 may have been from fat and 1 from muscle, which could be why your body fat % only changes slightly. To limit the amount of muscle you lose your caloric deficit should not be too large and you should eat a higher protein diet and lift fairly heavy weights. Otherwise you will lose muscle along with fat as you lose weight.


    Am I suppose to eat back the calories burned? Because I've trying to keep them at a 1200-1500 per day.
  • foraMEthatiLOVE
    foraMEthatiLOVE Posts: 63
    My understanding is that the less fat you have, the harder it is to lose. Are you already at a good % of body fat? Sorry you're discouraged. What did you boot camp leader say?

    So, here's my numbers now:

    Weight: 142
    BF%: 25
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    I feel like my eating has been 80% good.... on weekends I have an occasional beer and some sweets, but I control my calories intake to where I do not go pass the 1500 calorie mark...

    1500 may not be enough on the days you workout. Your body requires fuel, its possible that you actual lost muscle along with your fat. If you lost 3 lbs, 2 may have been from fat and 1 from muscle, which could be why your body fat % only changes slightly. To limit the amount of muscle you lose your caloric deficit should not be too large and you should eat a higher protein diet and lift fairly heavy weights. Otherwise you will lose muscle along with fat as you lose weight.


    Am I suppose to eat back the calories burned? Because I've trying to keep them at a 1200-1500 per day.

    Yes you should eat them back. MFP sets you up to lose your goal amount of weight without working out. So to lose your goal weight you must eat the calories back, it becomes even more important the less you have to lose. And with only 15 to go, your daily deficit should not be more than 250 (0.5 lbs/week goal)
  • rkquade
    rkquade Posts: 17
    If you're not already doign this, start measuring your arms, hips, thighs, and waist with a tape measure. When I was working with a training, we would measure my body fat with calipers and through a hand held device (the hand held is highly reliant on your daily water levels and can show higher % if you are dehydrated), and also take measurements. My body fat was already fairly low (around 19 to 20%) so I didn't see a huge change every 6 weeks, but the measurements showed my progress--increasing in the areas I desired a little more mass, like my arms, and decreasing in areas like my waist and thighs. It was a clinical center, so we occasionaly tested things like pushups, V02 Max, flexibility, and max weight to measure progress.

    Also, if you have access to a center that does hydrostatic weighing (I found one at my local university), this is one of the best measures for body fat. I had mine done around 18 months ago. At home on my Homedics scale I was around 21% to 22%, but the hydrostatic testing came out at 18%...way off. The guy conducting the test said home scales can show a 3 to 5% variance, which would be similar to the results of a hand held device.

    Just my two cents.....don't be discouraged! If you feel good, your clothes are fitting better, you are on the right track.
  • foraMEthatiLOVE
    foraMEthatiLOVE Posts: 63
    I actually just posted on another topic about body fat calculators. Have a look at the article, it will help you realize how inaccurate most body fat tools are. http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=56830

    Thanks a lot! Will check that out! :)
  • shonasteele
    shonasteele Posts: 473
    I wouldn't trust the measurements as they can be very inaccurate. You're obviously feeling better and able to do more and that is HUGE! So YAAAYYY for you!!! When you're body is ready it will start to shed it. You're working out a lot so make sure you're eating enough and your body doesn't think it's in stress/starvation mode. Also, how do your clothes feel? Any looser? Anything feeling more toned and less jiggly? Keep up the great work and try not to stress the numbers.
  • Flyntiggr
    Flyntiggr Posts: 898 Member
    My understanding is that the less fat you have, the harder it is to lose. Are you already at a good % of body fat? Sorry you're discouraged. What did you boot camp leader say?

    So, here's my numbers now:

    Weight: 142
    BF%: 25

    With a body fat already in the normal range for females, it is going to take longer for you to lose.
  • foraMEthatiLOVE
    foraMEthatiLOVE Posts: 63
    I feel like my eating has been 80% good.... on weekends I have an occasional beer and some sweets, but I control my calories intake to where I do not go pass the 1500 calorie mark...

    1500 may not be enough on the days you workout. Your body requires fuel, its possible that you actual lost muscle along with your fat. If you lost 3 lbs, 2 may have been from fat and 1 from muscle, which could be why your body fat % only changes slightly. To limit the amount of muscle you lose your caloric deficit should not be too large and you should eat a higher protein diet and lift fairly heavy weights. Otherwise you will lose muscle along with fat as you lose weight.


    Am I suppose to eat back the calories burned? Because I've trying to keep them at a 1200-1500 per day.

    Yes you should eat them back. MFP sets you up to lose your goal amount of weight without working out. So to lose your goal weight you must eat the calories back, it becomes even more important the less you have to lose. And with only 15 to go, your daily deficit should not be more than 250 (0.5 lbs/week goal)

    Got it! Will do that from now on!
  • foraMEthatiLOVE
    foraMEthatiLOVE Posts: 63
    It took me a couple of months before my body fat % really started to drop. I work out 6-7 days a week and have a trainer 2 of them.
    Here are my numbers:

    Date Body Fat %
    Jan 4, 2011 37.9
    March 3, 2011 35.9 (2% lost in 2 months)
    March 31, 2011 33.6 (2% more lost in just 4 weeks)
    April 11, 2011 31.5 (another 2% in just 2 weeks)

    As you can see, I've been losing more body fat % in less time recently.... :)


    Just 1 year ago, my BF% was at 20%... I've gained since then, but I'm trying to lower it back.
  • foraMEthatiLOVE
    foraMEthatiLOVE Posts: 63
    If you're not already doign this, start measuring your arms, hips, thighs, and waist with a tape measure. When I was working with a training, we would measure my body fat with calipers and through a hand held device (the hand held is highly reliant on your daily water levels and can show higher % if you are dehydrated), and also take measurements. My body fat was already fairly low (around 19 to 20%) so I didn't see a huge change every 6 weeks, but the measurements showed my progress--increasing in the areas I desired a little more mass, like my arms, and decreasing in areas like my waist and thighs. It was a clinical center, so we occasionaly tested things like pushups, V02 Max, flexibility, and max weight to measure progress.

    Also, if you have access to a center that does hydrostatic weighing (I found one at my local university), this is one of the best measures for body fat. I had mine done around 18 months ago. At home on my Homedics scale I was around 21% to 22%, but the hydrostatic testing came out at 18%...way off. The guy conducting the test said home scales can show a 3 to 5% variance, which would be similar to the results of a hand held device.

    Just my two cents.....don't be discouraged! If you feel good, your clothes are fitting better, you are on the right track.

    Thanks a lot! I'll start measuring my body with a tape and see if I can tell any difference!
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