Really need some advice and thoughts on why I'm not losing weight!!

breakyoface
breakyoface Posts: 160 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey everyone-
Ok so it's been a little over 400 days since I started this whole MFP thing and I started at 223 and am now at 139. So yes I've lost a lot of weight, and my goal is to get to 137 so that I can maintain between 135-140. I am 5'8 and 31yo and yes, I weigh and log EVERYTHING I eat.
I know 1lb isn't a huge deal..but it's been about a month and I keep staying between 138-140 and can't seem to get to 137.
I work out 5 days a week..3 days doing treadmill(polar heart rate says about 900 burn) and 2 days I do a Bop Harper workout video and then run up and down my stairs and that also is about a 900 cal burn on my heart rate monitor.
As for my calories..my goal was 1240-what MFP put me at and then I'd eat about 1800-2000 and then minus the workout my net would be about 900-1100 I guess.
My nutritionist wanted me to maintain at 1500 and workout the same but make sure my net for the day was 1500. Well, if I can't lose wight with a deficit, eating more to maintain seems like I would just gain weight, right!?!
Anyways, yesterday I decided to go to .5lb loss a week and out my cals at 1400..burn a little less cals..around 700, eat back 500 and then keep 200 just in case my heart rate monitor is completely off..and so this morning I gained a 1lb since yesterday.
AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH is all I can say.
Any thoughts of what I'm doing wrong...Like I said, I know it's 1lb(now more since I'm 139 and want to be 137) but after a month and still nothing, I'm just so frustrated! Help!!

and before you say it, I'm not going to stop drinking my Starbucks! lol
and also, if you see that I'm over my cals today..it's cause I haven't worked out yet and put in my real workout cals for the day.
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Replies

  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    Sounds like you're eating at maintenance not a deficit.
  • kbanzhaf
    kbanzhaf Posts: 601 Member
    You are spot on at a healthy BMI, and will be so anytime you are between 135 and 140. My advice is to not stress so much about a pound or two, but to make sure you remain active and enjoy your life. If there are parts of your body you aren't content with, try lifting weights to help tone. You are doing a wonderful job of maintenance right now, so I'd focus on that.
    You've done a fantastic job, and don't discount that by stressing over a pound or two. :-)
    Kaye
  • wkwebby
    wkwebby Posts: 807 Member
    How did you come by this number? Your height and weight seem to be in the low to normal category. Maybe your weight is what your body is trying to stay at with the amount of muscle that you have now? My goal weight was 135 as well and I'm 5'4". I'm 41 and the last time I was that weight was when I was in my late 20's. My trainer convinced me that with my new muscle mass there would be NO way I'd ever get to 135 unless I lost muscle tone. So my new target is 20-25% body fat composition (screw the scale). I'm at about 26% now and I weigh 147. Try getting to a body composition goal instead of a weight goal. Your body isn't the same from 400 days ago when you set that goal. Maybe it isn't realistic anymore. Something to think about. Good luck! :smiley:
  • girlviernes
    girlviernes Posts: 2,402 Member
    Is all this worth it for one pound? Truly, seriously?

    We don't even know where your body is going to sit most happily, you are already on the lowish side of normal and have lost a ton. How about writing out all the good things that have come from your weight loss. Health and shape benefits, improvements to your life. Weigh these against the additional pound. Will that get you an improvement in these areas?
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
    I was the same way trying to get to exactly 120. However this did not work. It seemed that my body wanted to settle at 123. I was not willing to eat even less because at that point I can't function well, and I'm already working out all I can, like you. So after several months of staying the same I said, all right, 123 it is then. Just stay at 123 and work on building more muscle and having less fat. I lost a bra cup size lol so obvs fat is coming off, too bad it's from there! You might end up doing the same thing.
  • TheLegendaryBrandonHarris
    TheLegendaryBrandonHarris Posts: 502 Member
    When I started accurately measuring my coffee creamer I found it was 140 calories more per day than I was guestimating.
    When I accurately measured the olive oil I cook with, I found I was consuming about 200 more per day than I had guestimated.
    Accurate measurements of ketchup and mayonnaise revealed another 90 calories per day.
    And I like a good bourbon drink. I was off by 100 calories per drink.

    You did say you log everything, and I believe you. However, if you are at 1500 calories per day, accurately measured, and you are exercising like you say, you should be losing weight.

    I am not trying to be offensive, but 9 times out of 10 the problem is with inaccuracy in measuring your calories.

    Best of luck to you!

    Brandon
  • breakyoface
    breakyoface Posts: 160 Member
    I don't cook with oils, I don't use mayo or ketchup, I don't drink alcohol..the only thing I drink that I don't make is the Starbucks..so I guess it could be off..but not that much off with how much I have left over of calories.
    SOOO..maybe my body wants to stay this way and maintain..but at over a 500 cal deficit a day it is maintaining..then at 1500, I would gain weight, right? and If at 900 after working out I am maintaining..then what do I need to eat a day, 500 to lose!?! lol..I sure hope not!
    Where is all this deficit going to if I have it but my weight wont move?!
    I don't know where I got the numbers from..for my height it says 126-160 so I thought why not 137!

    I'm already at an A cup from a D cup lol so I already lost from there!

    No, the stress isn't worth it..BUT..if I'm doing the work..where is the results?!!? I'm just as stubborn as this weight! :)

    But I am serious...
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
    You could try something like the Scooby workshop as an alternate method of accounting for calories eaten and burned.
  • breakyoface
    breakyoface Posts: 160 Member
    That says 1769 a day to lose weight at 3-5 days moderate exercise..which I'm more like 5-6 strenuous but just on the safe side I went a little lower, but I eat less than that and still nothing
  • breakyoface
    breakyoface Posts: 160 Member
    1969 with 5-6 days strenuous. That means you just eat that number a day and don't add in the exercise, right?
  • asilmegan34
    asilmegan34 Posts: 256 Member
    girlviernes wrote: »
    Is all this worth it for one pound? Truly, seriously?

    We don't even know where your body is going to sit most happily, you are already on the lowish side of normal and have lost a ton. How about writing out all the good things that have come from your weight loss. Health and shape benefits, improvements to your life. Weigh these against the additional pound. Will that get you an improvement in these areas?

    WSS
  • Emilia777
    Emilia777 Posts: 978 Member
    I’m confused. Are you eating back 100% of your exercise calories? And you say you burn 800-900 calories per day exercising?
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    vancurenmama wrote: »
    1969 with 5-6 days strenuous. That means you just eat that number a day and don't add in the exercise, right?

    yes.
  • Gska17
    Gska17 Posts: 752 Member
    (I just snooped on your profile. Go Cougs!)
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    edited May 2015
    What duration are these workouts?
    "3 days doing treadmill(polar heart rate says about 900 burn) and 2 days I do a Bop Harper workout video and then run up and down my stairs and that also is about a 900 cal burn on my heart rate monitor."

    If these are one hour workouts then I'm very dubious - that would take a very serious athlete to manage that.

    Have you kept the settings up to date in your HRM as you have lost weight?

  • kamakazeekim
    kamakazeekim Posts: 1,183 Member
    I'm much shorter...only 5'3 (on a good day lol) I don't eat back my exercise calories because everything I have ever seen always overestimates calories burned. Try only eating 1/2 to no exercise calories back and see if that makes a difference. BUT at your height I think you are at a perfect weight.
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    While I don't think you need to lose any weight, I really have to question your exercise burns. How long are your treadmill workouts and what exactly are you doing?
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    If you've been on here over a year and lost almost 100 pounds, surely you must know how this works by now.

    Of course, it's possible that after 400 days, you've gotten a little lax with your logging accuracy or with sticking to the plan. That's normal. Maybe you just need to re-focus on what you're doing.

    Also, it's possible that your body is just happier at a few pounds heavier than what you set as your goal weight. You're at a very healthy weight for your height and age.

  • mshapiro32937
    mshapiro32937 Posts: 5 Member
    You've made fantastic progress so I wouldn't be discouraged by a weight plateau. Part of the issue is that your daily baseline energy expenditure becomes lower as you lose weight - unless you offset that with muscle gains. Do you track your %body fat? You may be building more muscle mass from your exercise while continuing to lose fat. Also, at the weight that you are at now I would focus more on becoming more fit rather than just lighter on the scale. Try adding some weight training if you are doing mostly cardio. The added muscle mass will burn more calories even at "idle speed". Plus you will feel stronger, more energetic and in my opinion at least, fit looks better than thin!
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    If I had one pound to lose and it didn't seem to be going away, I think I would fast for a could of days, just to see it go away. But that's just me.
  • Emilia777
    Emilia777 Posts: 978 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    What duration are these workouts?
    "3 days doing treadmill(polar heart rate says about 900 burn) and 2 days I do a Bop Harper workout video and then run up and down my stairs and that also is about a 900 cal burn on my heart rate monitor."

    If these are one hour workouts then I'm very dubious - that would take a very serious athlete to manage that.

    Have you kept the settings up to date in your HRM as you have lost weight?

    Mhm. Those numbers sound way overestimated. I think you’re not losing more weight because you aren’t maintaining the deficit you think you are. Like others have said, though, you may want to consider looking into strength training and such at this point.
  • Emilia777
    Emilia777 Posts: 978 Member
    TimothyFish wrote: »
    If I had one pound to lose and it didn't seem to be going away, I think I would fast for a could of days, just to see it go away. But that's just me.

    Seriously? I think that’s a terrible idea. If you tighten up your deficit, you will lose the weight. There’s no need to not eat anything at all.
  • mdcoug
    mdcoug Posts: 397 Member
    GingerSka wrote: »
    (I just snooped on your profile. Go Cougs!)

    I have nothing constructive to add, other than a ditto to GingerSka!
  • weird_me2
    weird_me2 Posts: 716 Member
    You obviously know what you're doing, but to get that last pound or so off, you are probably going to have to be even more accurate than you were before. You've figured out maintenance, so you need to shave 125 calories per day for the next month to lose 1 pound or 250 calories for the next two weeks.

    Some areas where I can see room for improvement -
    -weigh your bananas/fruits/veggies, etc. when at home. Unless you are cutting off the excess amount, I doubt you ate 118 grams 3 days in a row. It may not be much, but it all adds up when you are this close.

    -no more quick adds - if you have the NI of what you ate, enter it. If you don't, try entering the ingredients or googling the item. It's not going to be exact, but it may be closer than what you had before.

    -the Starbucks and other foods prepared outside your house are not able to be controlled as you need it to be with this small of a deficit. If they put an extra shot of syrup, extra splash of milk or an extra bit of whipped cream on at Starbucks, you could easily have 25-50 calories more than listed. An extra squirt of butter flavoring at the movie theater can be an extra 100 calories.

    -even pre-portioned packaged foods have been known to be off, usually they are heavier than listed. You might try weighing your yogurts, cottage cheeses, etc. for a while just to make sure the calories are as exact as can be.

    -I don't know how often you eat canned soup, etc., but I saw one day where you logged 2 C progresso light soup - did you really eat 2 C worth or did you eat a can? Those labels are misleading because they are labelled as about 2 servings when in fact they are 2.2 servings if you compare the weight of a serving vs. the weight of a full can.

    All of the things I mentioned are generally small issues and don't matter a whole lot when you have a bigger deficit. When you have a small deficit, you have to make sure your food logging is 100% on point and that your exercise logging is also on point. If you are off 10 calories here, 25 there, etc., you could easily wipe out your expected deficit.

    I would personally aim to hit 1700 calories per day (gross, not net) for 2-4 weeks and see if that doesn't get you where you need to be. That should create enough of a deficit that you should see a small loss.
  • kikichewie
    kikichewie Posts: 276 Member
    edited May 2015
    Sounds to me like you are eating at maintenance bc you are significantly overestimating your exercise calories. Have you lowered your weight on your HRM? If it still thinks you weigh 200+, it will overestimate your burn. Also, if you are doing intervals, it will overestimate.
  • breakyoface
    breakyoface Posts: 160 Member
    weird_me2 wrote: »
    You obviously know what you're doing, but to get that last pound or so off, you are probably going to have to be even more accurate than you were before. You've figured out maintenance, so you need to shave 125 calories per day for the next month to lose 1 pound or 250 calories for the next two weeks.

    Some areas where I can see room for improvement -
    -weigh your bananas/fruits/veggies, etc. when at home. Unless you are cutting off the excess amount, I doubt you ate 118 grams 3 days in a row. It may not be much, but it all adds up when you are this close.

    -no more quick adds - if you have the NI of what you ate, enter it. If you don't, try entering the ingredients or googling the item. It's not going to be exact, but it may be closer than what you had before.

    -the Starbucks and other foods prepared outside your house are not able to be controlled as you need it to be with this small of a deficit. If they put an extra shot of syrup, extra splash of milk or an extra bit of whipped cream on at Starbucks, you could easily have 25-50 calories more than listed. An extra squirt of butter flavoring at the movie theater can be an extra 100 calories.

    -even pre-portioned packaged foods have been known to be off, usually they are heavier than listed. You might try weighing your yogurts, cottage cheeses, etc. for a while just to make sure the calories are as exact as can be.

    -I don't know how often you eat canned soup, etc., but I saw one day where you logged 2 C progresso light soup - did you really eat 2 C worth or did you eat a can? Those labels are misleading because they are labelled as about 2 servings when in fact they are 2.2 servings if you compare the weight of a serving vs. the weight of a full can.

    All of the things I mentioned are generally small issues and don't matter a whole lot when you have a bigger deficit. When you have a small deficit, you have to make sure your food logging is 100% on point and that your exercise logging is also on point. If you are off 10 calories here, 25 there, etc., you could easily wipe out your expected deficit.

    I would personally aim to hit 1700 calories per day (gross, not net) for 2-4 weeks and see if that doesn't get you where you need to be. That should create enough of a deficit that you should see a small loss.

    I weigh my bananas, most times they are less than what it says, I NEVER eat more than what I log, I measure out my soup..most times it's actually less. I don;t add butter to my popcorn and I ALWAYS over estimate on what I eat.
    I'm a food logging/weiging nazi..trust me. I am not laxing on anything just because I've lost weight. I am very strict and annoyingly so, just ask my husband! haha
  • breakyoface
    breakyoface Posts: 160 Member
    I wear the heart rate monitor every day. I've updated it. I never eat back all my exercise calories. I run for 74 minutes on the treadmill between 5.5-7.0. The treadmill says 1300, my heart rate monitor says 900 something and I always go by what MFP says, which is less than my monitor says. I also don't trust the monitor
  • breakyoface
    breakyoface Posts: 160 Member
    Also, when I do a quick add, it;s mostly when me and my husband have made something, and I add it after weighing, calculating and figuring out all the numbers, easier for me than making a recipe. It's a serious business! Goood thing my husband is a math guy cause I wouldn't be able to do it! haha
  • weird_me2
    weird_me2 Posts: 716 Member
    vancurenmama wrote: »
    Also, when I do a quick add, it;s mostly when me and my husband have made something, and I add it after weighing, calculating and figuring out all the numbers, easier for me than making a recipe. It's a serious business! Goood thing my husband is a math guy cause I wouldn't be able to do it! haha

    If you are that accurate with your food logging, then you now know what your maintenance is. From looking at your diary, it looks like you are getting right at goal on average, so you will need to reduce below maintenance to see any loss. If you cut just one Starbucks purchased drink per week you would probably see the 1 pound gone over the next couple of months. Or, if you reduce the size of your Starbucks drink, you will get the same benefit. Or, you can just find somewhere else to cut 150ish calories per day to lose a pound over the next month.
  • breakyoface
    breakyoface Posts: 160 Member
    I will try eating at 1700 a day, not counting in any exercise and see what happens. That's about 200-300 less a day about!

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