the scale is not moving ?!?!?

elizabethcook5
elizabethcook5 Posts: 39 Member
edited November 2024 in Motivation and Support
I log everything I eat and I workout for almost an hr every day and I am loosing inches I think but the scale is not moving. Its easy to get discouraged. What can I do with my eating to help the weight to come off..thanks
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Replies

  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    How long have you been in a deficit?
  • slp51
    slp51 Posts: 201 Member
    It's possible you're gaining muscle while losing fat; therefore the scale won't budge but your body will be more toned and tight. Are your clothes looser?
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    slp51 wrote: »
    It's possible you're gaining muscle while losing fat; therefore the scale won't budge but your body will be more toned and tight. Are your clothes looser?

    That is extremely hard, and most of the time impossible to do in a calorie deficit. And even if she was a special snowflake, we don't know anything about her routine. If you're in a calorie deficit, even while lifting HEAVY, you should be losing fat, and the scale should be dropping.
  • elizabethcook5
    elizabethcook5 Posts: 39 Member
    I usually have a few hundred calories left over every day. I do need to adjust my eating and eat cleaner but that's a work in progress. I haven't been at this for too long but I've been trying to get more and more aware of what I'm eating and trying to workout harder. I do some running/ walking and insanity workout. I am limited due to some injuries and back issues I have but I try and am doing the best I can. I just get so discouraged with the fact the scale isn't moving.
  • elizabethcook5
    elizabethcook5 Posts: 39 Member
    I am definitly loosing fat I see it in the pics I take. I've only lost a total of 7 lbs but u can see the loss in the pics
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    elizabethcook5 wrote: »
    I usually have a few hundred calories left over every day. I do need to adjust my eating and eat cleaner but that's a work in progress. I haven't been at this for too long but I've been trying to get more and more aware of what I'm eating and trying to workout harder. I do some running/ walking and insanity workout. I am limited due to some injuries and back issues I have but I try and am doing the best I can. I just get so discouraged with the fact the scale isn't moving.

    As long as you are weighing your food on a food scale, and logging everything you eat (all oil, condiments, added sugar and cream to coffee, etc), and staying in a deficit-you should be seeing results. Though you didn't quite answer how long you have been in a deficit for. It can take a couple weeks to see the scale drop.

    Exercise is an added bonus, you don't need it to lose weight. Of course it is great for your health, and can allow you to eat a little more which is always nice.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    elizabethcook5 wrote: »
    I am definitly loosing fat I see it in the pics I take. I've only lost a total of 7 lbs but u can see the loss in the pics

    7 lbs is great. What is your height and weight? How long did it take you to lose 7 lbs?
  • purple44444
    purple44444 Posts: 48 Member
    I agree. I am trying to go to the gym several days a week for fitness, but I have seen weight loss when I don't exercise at all. It's about eating the right amount of calories.
  • elizabethcook5
    elizabethcook5 Posts: 39 Member
    I'm 5 5 and 257 I carry my weight well I just don't want to be that heavy anymore .. By carrying my weight well I mean no one would ever guess I am that heavy
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    purple44444 wrote: »
    I agree. I am trying to go to the gym several days a week for fitness, but I have seen weight loss when I don't exercise at all. It's about eating the right amount of calories.

    Hehe. Sometimes exercise can throw you off too! A lot of us tend to over estimate our burn (probably myself included). I've been doing a little test to see just how much I can eat with no cardio whatsoever.
  • elizabethcook5
    elizabethcook5 Posts: 39 Member
    I do log everything but I need to start weighing my food. That may help more
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    elizabethcook5 wrote: »
    I'm 5 5 and 257 I carry my weight well I just don't want to be that heavy anymore .. By carrying my weight well I mean no one would ever guess I am that heavy

    Well, carrying it well or not-you obviously want to lose and be closer to a healthy weight range if you're here. Great first step, and congrats on the 7 lb loss.
    elizabethcook5 wrote: »
    I do log everything but I need to start weighing my food. That may help more

    Yes. It can be the difference between a few hundred calories a day, at the end of the week, half of your deficit and then some can be wiped out if you've been eating a bit too much every day.
  • simplydelish2
    simplydelish2 Posts: 726 Member
    Your ticker says you want to gain 5 lbs....If you want to lose 5 lbs. you should be aiming for .5 per week.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    simplydelish2 wrote: »
    Your ticker says you want to gain 5 lbs....If you want to lose 5 lbs. you should be aiming for .5 per week.

    With her stats, 5'5" and 257, she can lose more than .5 lbs per week if she is comfortable with that.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    elizabethcook5 wrote: »
    I do log everything but I need to start weighing my food. That may help more

    This absolutely. Weighing is one of the most important things to do, especially when you arent losing.
    If you are eating back calorie burns and using MFP then limit it to between 25 and 50% of the number MFP gives. You have plenty of scope to lose, just have to get your numbers right so you are at deficit.

    Dont get discouraged, its a waste of time until at least you have checked you are doing all the basics right.
  • elizabethcook5
    elizabethcook5 Posts: 39 Member
    I've been able to loose weight in the past no problem obviously it always comes back on..this time its hard..maybe cause I'm older or I've had two kids. I also forgot to mention that I have a disorder that causes my leg to swell and maybe its making the scale not budge if I'm having a high swell day. I've lost lots of muscle mass in my leg so the swelling is hard to notice..its all a mess..ha. How do I get rid of water weight too..I wish I could post my pics but I don't know how
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    elizabethcook5 wrote: »
    I've been able to loose weight in the past no problem obviously it always comes back on..this time its hard..maybe cause I'm older or I've had two kids. I also forgot to mention that I have a disorder that causes my leg to swell and maybe its making the scale not budge if I'm having a high swell day. I've lost lots of muscle mass in my leg so the swelling is hard to notice..its all a mess..ha. How do I get rid of water weight too..I wish I could post my pics but I don't know how

    Ah, if you have a condition that causes swelling like that, holding on to water weight is definitely possible. Add that to water retention from new exercise and yeah...

    Don't let "being older" and having kids get in your way. It's still about calories in/calories out.

    If you want to post a pic go to were you see the little clipboard right about the text box, and attach it from wherever it is saved on your computer.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    You first need to establish whether you are at deficit or not. Hence the weighing and logging everything.
  • elizabethcook5
    elizabethcook5 Posts: 39 Member
    What can I do to get rid of the water retention
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    elizabethcook5 wrote: »
    What can I do to get rid of the water retention

    Drink more water, watch your sodium.

    Anyway, the main thing is-deficit. Even if you're retaining water you should see the scale budge if you're truly in a deficit.
  • elizabethcook5
    elizabethcook5 Posts: 39 Member
    So I will watch the scale for another week and if still no change then I will have to definitly check the food intake better. I need/ want to loose about 117 lbs total .. Ive got a long road ahead I can't allow myslef to get discouraged
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    elizabethcook5 wrote: »
    So I will watch the scale for another week and if still no change then I will have to definitly check the food intake better. I need/ want to loose about 117 lbs total .. Ive got a long road ahead I can't allow myslef to get discouraged

    You should just buy the food scale asap. They are like 15-20 bucks at any department store or place that sells kitchenware. You're going to need it eventually (when you get closer to goal, there is little room for error).
  • elizabethcook5
    elizabethcook5 Posts: 39 Member
    I have a food scale I will pull it out of retirement
  • elizabethcook5
    elizabethcook5 Posts: 39 Member
    I get confused too cause when I finish the logging entry for the day it tells me I could weigh this amount in 5 weeks but I don't see it with how its going now
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    elizabethcook5 wrote: »
    I get confused too cause when I finish the logging entry for the day it tells me I could weigh this amount in 5 weeks but I don't see it with how its going now

    It's not always accurate, and you're not in the deficit you think you are as you are not weighing your food. Weigh your food for a week or so, all solids should go on there. Meat, veg, pasta, peanut butter, and even semi-solid condiments like ketchup and mayonnaise. I even weigh my olive oil and cocoa powder.
  • elizabethcook5
    elizabethcook5 Posts: 39 Member
    How do I log it after its weighed
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    elizabethcook5 wrote: »
    How do I log it after its weighed

    Well, let's use the most simple example. Say you have room for a serving of pasta for dinner. Look at the box and see how many grams are in the 1/2 cup serving, or however many servings you have room for (it's usually about 200 calories), and weigh it out. You can use the barcode scanner to chose the exact brand you will be having. Enter however many grams you weighed out.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    If you want, look at my diary for last week (exclude Saturday and Sunday because I was out and did not weigh food). Everything is weighed down to the gram. It's pretty simple to input.
  • elizabethcook5
    elizabethcook5 Posts: 39 Member
    Its gonna be a work in progress for me. I will have to look and see and figure it out. Thank you. I just have a hard time fighting cravings but with exercising more and getting excited about doing that I have found I do not crave the bad stuff as much.. This is going to be such a long road
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    Play around with the app, and learn how to log accurately and weigh food. Once you do that...you can fit those "bad things" into your day properly, because there is no such thing as a bad food. A bad diet, perhaps. I eat dessert every single night. Chocolate every day.
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