Help! Why am I not losing?!

red2175
red2175 Posts: 10 Member
edited November 13 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi! I need some advice/input from someone. I have logged everything for the past 3 weeks, down to a Reesie's miniature I had the other day. Calorie goal for losing 2lb per week in about 1900, but I'm only eating about 1200. I go to Zumba class 5 days per week, sometimes 6 and I swim once a week continuously for about 2.5hr. I haven't lost anymore weight than I did in the first week. What am I doing wrong??

Replies

  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Can you open your diary?
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    edited March 2015
    Why are you only eating 1200 if your goal is 1900? And yes, open diary helps in offering advice.

    Edited to add: Your ticker shows you only have 34 lbs to lose - a 2lb week loss goal is too aggressive. One lb a week is more realistic, and sustainable. And again, if you're doing as much exercise as you stated in your first post, you should really be aiming for that 1900 target, not falling well short with the 1200.
  • Arliah
    Arliah Posts: 266 Member
    You're way too active for 1200 calories.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    Honestly, I've had my best success eating the right number of cals for my stats and activity level - the pounds, and even better - the INCHES just came right off when my body was properly fueled.

    If you're not losing, it could be any number of things - the initial weight dropped was mostly water weight, it's only been three weeks, your body is going through an adjustment to new activity and food intake, hormones, sodium, inaccurate logging/you're eating more than you think you are, and even eating too little - I've seen it happen to a lot people here, and experienced it myself to a certain extent. Under eating is not doing you any favors - it often causes a stall in weight loss for a time. It can certainly cause muscle loss along with any fat you might lose, but you'd rather keep the muscle, wouldn't you? The goal is to lose the fat, keep the lean muscle!

    My body happily sheds fat and inches and rocks the workouts when it is properly fueled, so do yours a favor and eat what you should! :smile: And again - if you make your diary public in your settings, it would be much easier to offer advice.
  • notnikkisixx
    notnikkisixx Posts: 375 Member
    AmyRhubarb wrote: »
    Honestly, I've had my best success eating the right number of cals for my stats and activity level - the pounds, and even better - the INCHES just came right off when my body was properly fueled.

    If you're not losing, it could be any number of things - the initial weight dropped was mostly water weight, it's only been three weeks, your body is going through an adjustment to new activity and food intake, hormones, sodium, inaccurate logging/you're eating more than you think you are, and even eating too little - I've seen it happen to a lot people here, and experienced it myself to a certain extent. Under eating is not doing you any favors - it often causes a stall in weight loss for a time. It can certainly cause muscle loss along with any fat you might lose, but you'd rather keep the muscle, wouldn't you? The goal is to lose the fat, keep the lean muscle!

    My body happily sheds fat and inches and rocks the workouts when it is properly fueled, so do yours a favor and eat what you should! :smile: And again - if you make your diary public in your settings, it would be much easier to offer advice.

    I agree with all of this! When I first started MFP almost 3 years ago I was eating 1200 calories a day....and only lost weight for a few weeks before things stalled. Now I'm eating 1400-1500 and losing at a nice (slow) steady pace.

    If you aren't losing, my best guess would be that you are either over-estimating your calorie burns or under-estimating your calorie intake...maybe both! Could you open up your diary so we can take a peek?
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    Patience may help, too. Several body processes can obfuscate fat loss temporarily. E.g. Muscular water retention for muscle repair following a new exercise regimen, water filling fat cells after the lipid is extracted, hydration with glycogen replenishment, and water retention from salt. Menstruating women especially may need 4 weeks for a clear perspective on whether something works or not. Many of us see no scale movement after 3 solid weeks of consistent efforts, then whoosh, 3 weeks worth of loss all in a day or 2. It takes patience and consistency, but if you are counting accurately, the math will work over a span of several weeks, not day by day.

    I also think 1200 sounds low. It takes some experimenting to find the sweet spot that gives you good energy while you're in a deficit. For me personally, eating too low has undesirable unintended consequences.
  • red2175
    red2175 Posts: 10 Member
    Okay maybe I'll up my calories then. I set a smaller goal which is why my page had 34lb to goal. I didn't want to get discouraged with such a high goal. I also know that weighing myself every day can drive me crazy so I'm going to try to stop that. Even when I log things, I tend to log on the higher end because I didn't want to miss anything. I'll try to figure out how to make the diary public. Thank you everyone for the input! I really appreciate it!
  • hearthwood
    hearthwood Posts: 794 Member
    edited March 2015
    Remember weight comes off slowly, and you sure didn't gain it all overnight. You said you lost weight during the 1st week, but I imagine that was extra water weight. I don't know how much you want to lose, but it's all in the math. Super Obese people can shred several pounds a week, simply because they're accustomed to consuming 4 to 7 thousand calories a day, and they get cut back to less than 1500. But even they slow down the more they lose.

    Also check your settings again. 1900 calories a day, and you're supposed to lose 2 pounds a week sounds unrealistic to me. Most women on this board are set at 1200 calories a day. Keep in mind, the only people who can be considered truly active are construction workers, who are on their feet all day long working at a physical job. Check your setting on that, and be realistic as to what catagory you fit into.

    Make sure to watch the calories you think you're burning thru exercise. Machines, devices and including MFP have a history of over estimating calories burned, to where you could easily be overeating your workouts. A good rule of thumb is to never eat back more than 1/2 of calories burned.

    Just stick with it, you'll get there. I learned to be happy with a 1/4 pound and ecstatic with a 1/2 pound loss a week. I am finally now at goal weight, I feel decades younger and won't stop logging in. I sure don't want to find that 25 pounds ever again.

    Good Luck, you can do this!
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