Did a triathlon and lost NO weight!

DeeMeet · September 2014

Hi everyone, well I really am just starting to get sick of trying to lose weight, maybe someone on here can help?! In June this year I signed up for a triathlon in the hope that I would lose weight, I am aiming to lose 1.5 stone..trained for 2 months and nothing happened. I was told to up my calories, so I did, and lost about 3 pounds and that was it!! I worked so hard for this triathlon and nothing on my body seems to have changed even my clothes are the same size, in fact I weigh more now than I did when I started.

I have no idea what to do now, how to change or if there is actually something wrong with me!!

I feel that I have tried everything, my diet is good balanced between carbs/protein, there must be something that I am not doing right, the only thing I can think of is maybe I am eating at the wrong time of day or not enough during the day?

Was hoping that you all might some ideas?

Thanks for any advice x

turkeytrotter · October 2014

Could be a lot of things, but it is a short amount of time to be discouraged so quickly. If you want to friend me, I'll help you with some suggestions. I've been doing tri's for 4 years now and still weigh about the same, but I am not too far from mid-range for BMI. If I concentrate on my intake and exercise, I can lose weight, but really need to be diligent in keeping track of what I eat.

z_bra · October 2014

You aren't eating a deficit

happyfeetrebel1 · October 2014

As a general rule, if you're overweight and attempting to lose weight by creating a caloric deficit, UPPING that will not work.

You simply need to create a bigger deficit. It appears that you are probably intaking more than you think, Or, since you've been training, overestimating your burns. Or both.

Get a food scale for starters. Find a your BMR or TDEE and create a deficit and stick to it

Don't get discouraged, it takes time

fivethreeone · October 2014

Exercise doesn't make you lose weight. A calorie deficit makes you lose weight.

bwogilvie · October 2014

Congratulations on doing the triathlon!

As others have said, if you're not losing weight over a period of several months, you're not eating at a deficit. Possibilities:

1. You're underestimating calorie intake. This is VERY common. One study showed that even registered dietitians underestimated calories by over 200 per day; the control group by over 400 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12396160).

2. You're overestimating calorie burn from exercise. MFP's database, and many others, tend to overestimate many activities. It overestimates my cycling calories by 25-50%, compared with my Garmin Edge 800 cycle computer, which combines HRM data with speed and elevation change to estimate calories burnt.

3. You're overestimating your daily activity level outside of exercise.

I'd advise checking out these three pages:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819925-the-basics-don-t-complicate-it
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

After you've digested those, some of the other links on this page are useful:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833026-important-posts-to-read

Good luck!

forkofpower · October 2014

Weight loss is mostly diet. Exercise can allow you to lose quicker, or to eat more, but you won't lose weight no matter how much you're exercising if you're not in caloric deficit.

Eat less/track better, and then see if you lose.

DeeMeet · February 2015

Hi Everyone, thanks so much for your replies! I got so frustrated with food and exercise that I stopped using fitnesspal!! You have all given me some really good information

Thanks again.

elphie754 · February 2015

spidee76 wrote: »

Hi everyone, well I really am just starting to get sick of trying to lose weight, maybe someone on here can help?! In June this year I signed up for a triathlon in the hope that I would lose weight, I am aiming to lose 1.5 stone..trained for 2 months and nothing happened. I was told to up my calories, so I did, and lost about 3 pounds and that was it!! I worked so hard for this triathlon and nothing on my body seems to have changed even my clothes are the same size, in fact I weigh more now than I did when I started.

I have no idea what to do now, how to change or if there is actually something wrong with me!!

I feel that I have tried everything, my diet is good balanced between carbs/protein, there must be something that I am not doing right, the only thing I can think of is maybe I am eating at the wrong time of day or not enough during the day?

Was hoping that you all might some ideas?

Thanks for any advice x

Wow. Lots of "broscience" in there. If you are not losing weight, you are not in deficit. Do you weigh all of your food? If not, you are likely eating more than you think you are. Are you eating back your exercise calories? If so, you could be over estimating your burn and this if you eat back all of those cals, you no longer have a deficit.

Adding calories to your plan if you are not losing is not going to help. If you are not in a deficit now, adding more calories is not going to create a deficit.

The time of day you eat has absolutely no effect on weight loss.

pinkshoelaces · February 2015

You're definitely eating more than you think you are. The body fluctuates weight quite often, but if it's been two months and you've gained weight, it's down to how much you're eating. I'd definitely take a closer look at your intake; weigh everything and log everything as accurately as you can to see if you can find where you've made some mistakes. Don't eyeball portions or forget to log even the smallest thing you snacked on. This can add hundreds of calories to your daily intake without you knowing it.

Did a triathlon and lost NO weight!

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