Need help - really not losing

Everyone here is going to tell you the same thing: if you eat less than you burn, you'll lose weight in time. Either you're ingesting more calories than you think, or you're burning fewer than you think. Try very carefully tracking (measuring and recording everything) for a few weeks and you'll see results. It's not easy, but it's simple.

anapestic wrote: »

Everyone here is going to tell you the same thing: if you eat less than you burn, you'll lose weight in time. Either you're ingesting more calories than you think, or you're burning fewer than you think. Try very carefully tracking (measuring and recording everything) for a few weeks and you'll see results. It's not easy, but it's simple.

He's right. I'm sorry, but that's all there is to it. I ended up having to measure everything. I was 'guestimating' and I was off by about 1000 calories a day.

TheLegendaryBrandonHarris wrote: »

kamakazeekim wrote: »

Exercise actually burns way less than what most people think. 500 calories for a run is really really high! Get a food scale and measure EVERYTHING that passes your lips! Measuring cups are a poor form of gauging what you're eating.

Good luck!

I'm intrigued by the statement about the measuring cups being a poor form of gauging. Why?
This is the internet, thus this disclaimer lol: I am not disagreeing...I am seeking information and clarification. Thanks!

Brandon

Because there is no way to tell how full your cup is compared to the fullness of the cup for which the calorie count is given. My cup of strawberries may be dramatically different than your cup. Weight is the most accurate way to account for the portion size of solid foods because it removes this variability.

TheLegendaryBrandonHarris wrote: »

ok, ok, so you guys are weighing things like chips? Things with more bulk?
I can see where weighing would be a benefit. I use measuring cups because that's what I have, but it's for things like beans and rice and liquids, popcorn kernels, stuff like that.

I weigh all solids. I saw an immediate improvement. I was eating a lot more than I thought I was.

I will give you my two cents worth based on myself and my own realizations. The older I get, the harder it is to lose weight. Just a fact. In my mid-fifties I can't lose weight at the same rate I did at forty, even eating the same and exercising the same. My metabolism has slowed down due to muscle loss (and menopause) I am guessing. This may not happen to everyone but it is a factor for me. You may need to eat 10% less, exercise 10% more, and weight train to build muscle, which burns more calories, even at rest, in order to get the scale to move. I had to put away my scale at this point in my life, I gave that number way too much power over how my day was going to be on a daily basis. Now, I hang a pair of pants on my dresser, one size smaller than what I currently wear and try them on once a week. When they fit correctly, I know I have probably lost ten to twelve pounds or several inches and this is what I ultimately care about. Then I hang another smaller pair of jeans up. Should I really care how much I weigh if I can wear a size six? When I was 30 years old, I weighed about 105 pounds and wore a size 5. At age 40, with 10 years of running and weight training (and another baby), I weighed 125 but wore the same size jeans. Of course, this is just me and how my body works. Everyone is different and everyone's body works at a different rate. Regardless, good luck in your journey ~ I wish you the best!

You are probably losing muscle if your not maintaining healthy nutrients for your body on a long term basis and yo yo dieting can cause muscle loss. Also your body is a very efficient machine that will adjust and become more efficient at using the energy put into it with minimal loss. You should mix up your routine and do muscle building exercises. Running is really good for blasting calories but it also can make you lose muscle. Do low impact for longer periods to burn fat.

It doesn't matter if you eat the same food, you need to weigh all solids. There's a video on YouTube that shows how very off our eyes can be at determining portion. A trainer put two almost identical meals for one day side by side, yet there was over 1000 Cals difference. You should check it out because that could be what's slowing your loss.

Hi Claudette, and welcome to the forums!

cushygal wrote: »

I know how to lose weight, I have done it numerous times before.

The thing is, it sounds like you may not actually know how to lose weight.

Now, wait a second, before you get insulted or assume I'm attacking you, hear me out.

You said you've lost weight multiple times before. But, like most people who lose a lot of weight, you haven't had much success keeping it off.

This is nothing to be ashamed of. It's estimated that 90-95% of people who lose a lot of weight gain it back. But there's also mounting evidence as to why that is, which can give us some nuggets of wisdom on how to lose weight in such a way to prevent gaining it back.

You've mentioned two things that you've done in the past that are generally on the list of no-nos:

1. You focused on what you ate instead of how much -- trying to eat "less junk", etcetera. That works fine while you're doing it, but as you saw, it's incredibly difficult to sustain long term. And as soon as you give up on it, it's so easy to just go back to your old habits and see ye olde scale creep back up.

Instead: Try to focus on how much you're eating, by weighing and measuring what you eat and sticking to your calorie goal. Allow yourself a decent balance of "health" and "treat" food, and work in the foods you love into your plan. This way, you'll still lose the weight, but you'll be much more likely to keep it up indefinitely because you're not depriving yourself of anything.

2. You subscribed to one of those pre-packaged food solutions. Those are terrible for sustainable weight loss, because their entire business model is built upon repeat business. In other words, those businesses basically set you up to fail, re-gain the weight once you go back to eating regular food, and sign back up again, therefore paying them more money. Yep, pretty dismal, eh? But it's a multi-billion dollar business, so you're certainly not the first (and won't be the last) to go through that.

Instead: Learn to eat regular food -- both at home, and out at restaurants, friends, family, on the road -- and stay within your calorie goal. That way, you're not just being given the fish, so to speak, but you're also learning to fish. When you learn the skills necessary to stick to your calorie goal with regular food, you'll be much more likely to keep off the weight.

Beyond those two things, I agree with the other posters who've said that it will be harder to lose weight the third, fourth, fifth time, because your metabolism does decrease with age (happens to all of us) and because if you crash-diet, you lose lean muscle mass and when you regain weight, you're re-gaining fat, so your energy burn actually goes down. It's not great for your body, all that yo-yoing, and it has its effects.

The other thing you can do for yourself is to take up lifting weights or some form of strength training. No, it won't give you lots more calories the way cardio does (though I agree, you're probably overestimating your cardio burns), but it will help you retain more lean muscle as you lose, and be healthier, stronger and more toned once you do lose the weight.

Good luck! And welcome to doing this right, and doing it forever!

katieross1508 wrote: »

I would go see a naturopath and see what they can tell you !

No, no, no, don't go see a naturopath! Naturopathy is a load of quackery, to put it mildly.

This is also why asking for health advice on random internet forums is usually a terrible idea.

mamapeach910 wrote: »

DaniCanadian wrote: »

It doesn't matter if you eat the same food, you need to weigh all solids. There's a video on YouTube that shows how very off our eyes can be at determining portion. A trainer put two almost identical meals for one day side by side, yet there was over 1000 Cals difference. You should check it out because that could be what's slowing your loss.

This video?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjKPIcI51lU

Yes! I was in shock at how they look so similar to my eye but just the slight differences made such a huge caloric difference.

You may have weighed your food in the past, but that has no bearing now if you're not losing weight.

The only way to lose weight is to create a calorie deficit. To do that, you need to make sure that you have an accurate assessment of how many calories you need to eat to lose weight.

Have you calculated that amount in MFP?

The most common reason that people don't lose weight is that they are eating more than they think. This is usually due to errors in logging. The most frequent logging errors come about because people aren't properly assessing the amount of food they're eating. Get a food scale. Weigh ALL solids, including nut butters and condiments. Measure all caloric liquids. Verify that you select the correct data base entry when logging your food choice through either the packing or an independent website like the USDA or nutrtitiondata.self.com.

The second most common error comes about when people eat back too many exercise calories. I'm not familiar with how Fitbits works, but I think I've read it's possible to make an error where you're not subtracting calories you would have burned just ... living... from activity calories. Make sure that you're not overestimating those calorie burns. You can usually hunt around on the net for a typical range of burns to see how accurate they are. There's also a Fitbit users group on here that you can check with to see if you're doing things correctly.