i just don't get it, why am i not seeing results.......

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ok, I had total hysterectomy surgury sept 9 2014, got the green light by DR to resume my life in full including exercise and diet oct 21 2014, 189 lbs I started tracking in fitness pal and didn't get results then I hired a trainer on nov 17/14 to get me started with a weight program slowly, obviously with abdominal surgery I had to be careful at first, but the sweat was pouring off. have been watching what I eat, mainly whole grains, cook my own food as I live out of town and restaurants aren't usually a problem, even then I usually order sweet potato fries as I love them! I drink the lemon water each day, I drink 4 L of water daily, fruit in the morning, veggies in the afternoon, I weight train 3 days a week now and off days doing HIIT for 20 mins and weekends tons of walking with the dog and housecleaning of course! I am set for 1500 cal a day, however I still have a hard time filling that some days, i'm not hungry, I force a few carrots here and there, I do protein shakes within half hour of my weight training for muscle recovery including flax or hemp with it for extra nutrition, I have been sleeping really well and feeling generally excellent since I started this. my problem is I haven't been able to loose weight, I am down a bit but I would like to see more results, my trainer says i'm doing great and keep it up, I understand I must make this a lifestyle and for the most part I eat this way anyways, my only vice is wine on occasion, we live in cottage country and are very social atmosphere, I combat that with drinking water between glasses of wine to keep hydrated. I do feel a bit stronger and tighter, but when I step on the scale - nada......what else can I do to help this along I want to be at my goal weight by summertime currently 181 lbs 5"11 45 years old non smoker
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help fitness pals.....
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Replies

  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
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    So you haven't lost weight since October last year, right? Are you weighing everything you eat with a digital scale? Are you eating back your exercise calories?

    Also making your diary public will make it easier for people to give specific advice.
  • fitkoc
    fitkoc Posts: 21 Member
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    correct, I use measuring cups to measure, I don't generally eat back calories as weight training isn't really measured in mfp, but the HIIT is, depends on the day, I try and mix it up a bit, I made my diary public...I appreciate your help!!!
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    fitkoc wrote: »
    correct, I use measuring cups to measure, I don't generally eat back calories as weight training isn't really measured in mfp, but the HIIT is, depends on the day, I try and mix it up a bit, I made my diary public...I appreciate your help!!!

    I personally had my weight loss take off when I stopped using measuring cups and began weighing. It turned out that I was eating way more than I thought of certain calorie-dense foods.
  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
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    fitkoc wrote: »
    correct, I use measuring cups to measure, I don't generally eat back calories as weight training isn't really measured in mfp, but the HIIT is, depends on the day, I try and mix it up a bit, I made my diary public...I appreciate your help!!!

    The measuring cups is probably the problem, depending on things like how you level it off and how tightly you pack the food you could be eating way more than you think. Definitely get a food scale! There's a video round here somewhere showing how different a cup of something and what that cup should be in grams is. I can't find it right now as YouTube is blocked here, but I'm sure someone else can link it.

    If you're eating back your exercise calories sometimes then that's probably fine. If you were eating them all back I was going to say to be careful not to overestimate, but eating some back is fine.
  • tar0809
    tar0809 Posts: 122 Member
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    Try taking your body measurements usually you will lose inches before losing lbs.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,239 Member
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    Sadly measuring cups for non liquids are pretty useless. A digital scale is very helpful in making sure you are not eating more than you think you are. I know what sold me on it was a tablespoon of peanut butter. I put the tablespoon on the scale, zeroed it out, filled it with a level tablespoon and returned it to the scale. It weighed a fair amount more, which when dealing with something calorie dense like peanut butter (or nut, or cheese, or butter) will over time result in calorie numbers being incorrect, usually higher than a person thinks.
  • fitkoc
    fitkoc Posts: 21 Member
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    so I need to measure and eat less then?
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
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    I would buy a food scale. You should only being measuring cups for liquids.
  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
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    fitkoc wrote: »
    so I need to measure and eat less then?

    You possibly don't need to eat less - when you start weighing things you may find that you were actually eating way more than you thought (do make sure to measure out what you would have eaten using cups then put it on the scale to see what you were actually eating).

    If it turns out you were actually pretty accurate with the cups then yeah, you should probably try reducing your calories a bit.
  • erockem
    erockem Posts: 278 Member
    edited March 2015
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    Start with a digital scale and toss the cups and spoons, you can be off by quite a bit.

    I just grabbed my Plain Quaker Instant Oats and standard cups that I used to used. I got them from Target or Walmart. 1 serving is 1/2 cup or 40 grams @ 150 calories. A level scoop turned out to be 48 grams or >174 calories. It's a little more than 16% more calories. If you're consuming 1,500 calories a day @ 16% more, that's 240 calories unrecorded. 240 calories * 7 days = 1,680 extra calories a week that you ate without realizing it.

    Try it yourself or check youtube, you may be suprised. I couldn't find the one I wanted, but this will give you the visual: https://youtube.com/watch?v=XpHykP6e_Uk


    I paid $7 for mine ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1311.R1.TR11.TRC1.A0.H0.Xdigital+kitch.TRS0&_nkw=digital+kitchen+scale&ghostText=&_sacat=0
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    edited March 2015
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    fitkoc wrote: »
    so I need to measure and eat less then?

    You need to measure your food so that you have an accurate understanding of what you are eating. Weighing your food will ensure you are actually eating at a deficit.

    Another question -- are the entries for "homemade" foods recipes that you created or are you choosing those from the database? I try to never use entries that others have made for foods I cook at home -- you can't know what they used or if they are truly accurate. Another thing -- you mentioned drinking wine (which is fine), but when I was looking through your diary I didn't see wine listed (Edit: never mind, I found it). Are you logging your alcohol?

    Edit: You seem to have a lot of entries that aren't very exact -- "1 slice" of cheesecake, 1 avocado (how big was it -- avocados come in different sizes and they're a very calorie dense food), "1 dish" of Chinese food for 300 calories. I understand that life can be crazy and we can't perfectly log everything, but you need to tighten up your logging before you can know if you are hitting a calorie deficit or not.
  • Manda_Vick
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    I agree with eating more than you think and burning less than you think. Sweet potato fries still aren't the best thing. Going out to eat you can easily eat 600 cals without even realizing it. I don't go out to eat for that reason. Try grilled pork tenderloin (4 oz is only 126 cals) cut your starch and your carbs. Try salmon, grilled chicken, and salads. It's really hard but you can do this! It's definitely a lifestyle change for sure. Someone told me that it's 10% what you burn and 90% of what you eat that helps you lose weight. Ever since I've had that mentality I've been losing. Good luck!
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,239 Member
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    fitkoc wrote: »
    so I need to measure and eat less then?

    You need to measure and make sure you are meeting your calorie goals. If you are measuring incorrectly and the 1400 calories you think you are eating is really say 1800 (completely made up numbers) because of incorrect measurements, then the issue is not your calorie goal, but the fact that you, unknowingly, are exceeding it. That means the first thing you need to do is make sure you are really eating the calories you think you are by measuring very carefully solids with a scale, and liquids with cups.
  • shreddedtrooper
    shreddedtrooper Posts: 107 Member
    edited March 2015
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    Rev'd above.

    Agree and wholeheartedly concur with transitioning to a food scale. You'll have greater control and then be able to be accurate in your logging.

    As I type this I realize that these are concepts/methods: scale vs.weight but in the end, "control".

    So after perusing your diary for about a week and a half back I notice your protein is ranging from lower to high, same with the fats. I could not locate any of the "wine" and I'm a Jacks Honey Whiskey man myself so it's easy to get lost and they do count. (Its there i'm sure :)) Alcohol counts CICO and all that goodness.

    My humble 2 cents: scale over cups.
    Track and provide intake appropriate to your needs/activity level.

    These are all variables, and the quicker you can start to eliminate some then the "solution" comes rather quickly. You have your activity down, but now what? Now the diet comes into play :)
    I'll leave with this from N.Cheadle Fitness " Guessing as to how much protein, carbohydrates & dietary fat your consuming means you'll ultimately be guessing as to how your results will turn out"

    Best of luck OP, you got this and you'll have plenty of info given to you!
  • fitkoc
    fitkoc Posts: 21 Member
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    tar0809 wrote: »
    Try taking your body measurements usually you will lose inches before losing lbs.

    I forgot to mention that I have lost
    beginning jan 30th
    chest 42 41.5
    waist 36.5 34.75
    bbutton 37 3/4 35.75
    hips 43.5 42
    glutes 44.25 43 3/4
    thights 23.5 23
    biceps 12.5 11.5
  • fitkoc
    fitkoc Posts: 21 Member
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    fitkoc wrote: »
    so I need to measure and eat less then?

    You need to measure your food so that you have an accurate understanding of what you are eating. Weighing your food will ensure you are actually eating at a deficit.

    Another question -- are the entries for "homemade" foods recipes that you created or are you choosing those from the database? I try to never use entries that others have made for foods I cook at home -- you can't know what they used or if they are truly accurate. Another thing -- you mentioned drinking wine (which is fine), but when I was looking through your diary I didn't see wine listed (Edit: never mind, I found it). Are you logging your alcohol?

    Edit: You seem to have a lot of entries that aren't very exact -- "1 slice" of cheesecake, 1 avocado (how big was it -- avocados come in different sizes and they're a very calorie dense food), "1 dish" of Chinese food for 300 calories. I understand that life can be crazy and we can't perfectly log everything, but you need to tighten up your logging before you can know if you are hitting a calorie deficit or not.

    yes I log it as a snack! lol and yes homemade was the closest I could find in mfp to my own creation
  • Sumiblue
    Sumiblue Posts: 1,597 Member
    edited March 2015
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    1500 calories seems very low calories for you. When I plug your numbers into the calculator on Scooby's site I get 1500 calories for your BMR. Seems to me like you are not properly fueling your body. I keep seeing this on MFP; people eating below their BMR. Am I incorrect or is this not something we want to do? I was doing this too, unfortunately, because MFP told me to eat 1200 calories. I do Stronglifts 5x5 3x a week and some cardio and was not losing. I did some research, used some online calculators to better determine what my BMR was and made sure to eat over it but still at a deficit. My weight began to slowly go down instead of bouncing up/down/up again like it had for months.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    fitkoc wrote: »
    fitkoc wrote: »
    so I need to measure and eat less then?

    You need to measure your food so that you have an accurate understanding of what you are eating. Weighing your food will ensure you are actually eating at a deficit.

    Another question -- are the entries for "homemade" foods recipes that you created or are you choosing those from the database? I try to never use entries that others have made for foods I cook at home -- you can't know what they used or if they are truly accurate. Another thing -- you mentioned drinking wine (which is fine), but when I was looking through your diary I didn't see wine listed (Edit: never mind, I found it). Are you logging your alcohol?

    Edit: You seem to have a lot of entries that aren't very exact -- "1 slice" of cheesecake, 1 avocado (how big was it -- avocados come in different sizes and they're a very calorie dense food), "1 dish" of Chinese food for 300 calories. I understand that life can be crazy and we can't perfectly log everything, but you need to tighten up your logging before you can know if you are hitting a calorie deficit or not.

    yes I log it as a snack! lol and yes homemade was the closest I could find in mfp to my own creation

    In order to understand how many calories you're eating, I would use the "Recipe" tool to input your recipe and then log that instead of someone else's entry. You can't know if the person who created that made it the way you did or not.
  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,195 Member
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    Depending on your build, you may already be at a good weight for your height.

    Do you really need to lose any weight?

    What goal weight would your doctors like to see you at?