Beyond frustrated! Why am I not losing??
melcawi
Posts: 7 Member
I have been tracking faithfully for 38 days. I use a food scale and make sure that I eat my 1200 calories or less every day. I exercise four to five times a week. I do not eat all of those calories back. A couple weeks ago the scale dropped 2 pounds. But they are now back. I have never had such trouble losing weight before and am extremely frustrated. I am 5'5" and 160 and want to lose 20 pounds. I am female and 50 years old. Any help is appreciated!
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Replies
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so you have been netting under 1200 calories for 38 days? OR have you been doing this for longer?
can you open your diary?
Barring a medical condition, if you are not losing then you are eating more than you think.
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What kind of calories are you taking in? Cutting back on calories makes a huge difference but also making sure you're eating a full array of healthy calories of all your food groups can make a huge difference as well. When do you do your workouts? In the morning before you eat is a great time for cardio.
The 21 day fix from Beachbody has a really great and easy to follow workout/diet plan that has helped me more than anything else I've tried.-4 -
carlypie84 wrote: »What kind of calories are you taking in? Cutting back on calories makes a huge difference but also making sure you're eating a full array of healthy calories of all your food groups can make a huge difference as well. When do you do your workouts? In the morning before you eat is a great time for cardio.
The 21 day fix from Beachbody has a really great and easy to follow workout/diet plan that has helped me more than anything else I've tried.
No, and no.
If op is eating 1200 calories of ice cream and that is a deficit she will lose. Please stop with that nonsense.
And beach body is a scam.0 -
I started MFP 38 days ago. I am accurately tracking because I know it won't work if I am lying about my consumption. Some days are not nutritionally the best but still fall under the 1200 calorie mark. I have lost these 20 pounds a few times and know the importance of accuracy. My problem is maintaining weight loss. Except this time I can't lose anything.0
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I started MFP 38 days ago. I am accurately tracking because I know it won't work if I am lying about my consumption. Some days are not nutritionally the best but still fall under the 1200 calorie mark. I have lost these 20 pounds a few times and know the importance of accuracy. My problem is maintaining weight loss. Except this time I can't lose anything.
Again, can you open your food diary??0 -
At the risk of incurring the wrath of the hardcore CICO people
I had the same problems when I was super vigilant about staying around 1300 calories and working on regularly without eating calories back. I'd lose a tiny bit but nothing like what pure math showed I should. (And YES, CICO people, I weighed and recorded all my food!). Once I gave myself freedom to increase what I was eating my weight has started dropping. I now eat around 1600-1700 calories depending on how many calories my fitbit shows I burned that day (usually around 2000). Now I'm seeing progress. 0 -
At the risk of incurring the wrath of the hardcore CICO people I had the same problems when I was super vigilant about staying around 1300 calories and working on regularly without eating calories back. I'd lose a tiny bit but nothing like what pure math showed I should. (And YES, CICO people, I weighed and recorded all my food!). Once I gave myself freedom to increase what I was eating my weight has started dropping. I now eat around 1600-1700 calories depending on how many calories my fitbit shows I burned that day (usually around 2000). Now I'm seeing progress.
so you are the one person in the history of man that defies physics and eats above maintenance calories and loses weight?
More than likely you were not logging accurately.
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If op is eating 1200 calories of ice cream and that is a deficit she will lose. Please stop with that nonsense.
The previous poster was suggesting a balanced diet. 1200 calories of ice cream wont help bowel movements, skin condition, liver and kidney function, etc.
Please stop this nonsense that calories are all that matter - 1200 calories from a balanced diet are much better.
Agreed on the importance of accurate logging.0 -
granturismo wrote: »..
If op is eating 1200 calories of ice cream and that is a deficit she will lose. Please stop with that nonsense.
The previous poster was suggesting a balanced diet. 1200 calories of ice cream wont help bowel movements, skin condition, liver and kidney function, etc.
Please stop this nonsense that calories are all that matter - 1200 calories from a balanced diet are much better.
Agreed on the importance of accurate logging.
of course health is important, but truthfully, it is really a calorie is just a calorie be it a twinkie calorie or a broccoli calorie. it is a unit of energy
I do not see where balanced diet showed up0 -
granturismo wrote: »..
If op is eating 1200 calories of ice cream and that is a deficit she will lose. Please stop with that nonsense.
The previous poster was suggesting a balanced diet. 1200 calories of ice cream wont help bowel movements, skin condition, liver and kidney function, etc.
Please stop this nonsense that calories are all that matter - 1200 calories from a balanced diet are much better.
Agreed on the importance of accurate logging.
Hmmm, lets review. Here is what the poster said "What kind of calories are you taking in? Cutting back on calories makes a huge difference but also making sure you're eating a full array of healthy calories of all your food groups can make a huge difference as well."
no, actually that poster was saying that if you continue eating 1200 and just change the type of calories you are eating you will lose, which is nonsense. if 1200 is a deficit then one should lose weight whether it is 1200 calories of balanced food, 1200 calories of carrots, or 1200 calories of ice cream.
I was not suggesting a diet of 1200 calories of ice cream, it was a point made in jest.0 -
It is not difficult to measure and weigh food. I asked for suggestions because I have been accurately tracking what I eat. Surely others have had the same issue. If you have not, please don't assume I am eating too much.0
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It is not difficult to measure and weigh food. I asked for suggestions because I have been accurately tracking what I eat. Surely others have had the same issue. If you have not, please don't assume I am eating too much.
again, can you open your food diary? you could be using inaccurate MFP database entries and eating more than you think.
I hate to break it to you but if you are not losing you are eating too much. If you truly think that your logging is 100% accurate, then I suggest you go to a DR and get tested for a medical condition.0 -
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Hoping that flowchart above is the updated one from lemonlionheart. OP I feel you, I really do. Check out the chart above and see if it provides you with a path to answers.
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carlypie84 wrote: »What kind of calories are you taking in? Cutting back on calories makes a huge difference but also making sure you're eating a full array of healthy calories of all your food groups can make a huge difference as well. When do you do your workouts? In the morning before you eat is a great time for cardio.
The 21 day fix from Beachbody has a really great and easy to follow workout/diet plan that has helped me more than anything else I've tried.
No, and no.
If op is eating 1200 calories of ice cream and that is a deficit she will lose. Please stop with that nonsense.
And beach body is a scam.
Yes, agreed, Beach body is a SCAM!!!
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granturismo wrote: »..
If op is eating 1200 calories of ice cream and that is a deficit she will lose. Please stop with that nonsense.
The previous poster was suggesting a balanced diet. 1200 calories of ice cream wont help bowel movements, skin condition, liver and kidney function, etc.
Please stop this nonsense that calories are all that matter - 1200 calories from a balanced diet are much better.
Agreed on the importance of accurate logging.
Hmmm, lets review. Here is what the poster said "What kind of calories are you taking in? Cutting back on calories makes a huge difference but also making sure you're eating a full array of healthy calories of all your food groups can make a huge difference as well."
no, actually that poster was saying that if you continue eating 1200 and just change the type of calories you are eating you will lose, which is nonsense. if 1200 is a deficit then one should lose weight whether it is 1200 calories of balanced food, 1200 calories of carrots, or 1200 calories of ice cream.
I was not suggesting a diet of 1200 calories of ice cream, it was a point made in jest.
Just asking,
I thought what you ate did matter for weight loss because of fiber. I was always under the impression that if you ate foods higher in fiber that it would be beneficial for weight loss. Same as Protein will help build muscle.
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granturismo wrote: »..
If op is eating 1200 calories of ice cream and that is a deficit she will lose. Please stop with that nonsense.
The previous poster was suggesting a balanced diet. 1200 calories of ice cream wont help bowel movements, skin condition, liver and kidney function, etc.
Please stop this nonsense that calories are all that matter - 1200 calories from a balanced diet are much better.
Agreed on the importance of accurate logging.
Hmmm, lets review. Here is what the poster said "What kind of calories are you taking in? Cutting back on calories makes a huge difference but also making sure you're eating a full array of healthy calories of all your food groups can make a huge difference as well."
no, actually that poster was saying that if you continue eating 1200 and just change the type of calories you are eating you will lose, which is nonsense. if 1200 is a deficit then one should lose weight whether it is 1200 calories of balanced food, 1200 calories of carrots, or 1200 calories of ice cream.
I was not suggesting a diet of 1200 calories of ice cream, it was a point made in jest.
Just asking,
I thought what you ate did matter for weight loss because of fiber. I was always under the impression that if you ate foods higher in fiber that it would be beneficial for weight loss. Same as Protein will help build muscle.
if you are talking about TEF =Thematic Effect of Food - it has been shown to increase calorie burn slightly but the overall impact is negligible. Maybe an extra ten to twenty calories a day.
As far as protein, protein is recommended to help one maintain existing muscle mass when in a deficit. If you want to add new muscle you need to run a bulk and eat in a caloric surplus, and when you do that carbohydrate intake is actually more important than protein intake. The only caveat to this would be an untrained beginner who may be able to make some muscle gains in a calorie deficit.
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High fibre foods will keep you full longer than low/no fibre foods. This helps to keep your calorie intake lower as you don't require to eat as much to obtain that full feeling. The fibre also works to keep thing "moving" so to speak. As I understand it, protein doesn't actually build muscle but is essential for maintaining lean body mass while losing.0
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It is not difficult to measure and weigh food. I asked for suggestions because I have been accurately tracking what I eat. Surely others have had the same issue. If you have not, please don't assume I am eating too much.
The reason people are assuming this is because 99.9% of the time, once they open their diary, the MFP veterans find that they are measuring with cups rather than weight, assuming the serving size on the package is accurate, and/or using incorrect entries in the database.
As @ndj1979 said above, if you are logging accurately, eating less than 1200 cals per day, and not losing weight, you should go to the doctor because there would have to be a medical condition present. If you are willing to hear some criticism, opening your diary and letting folks see what they can find is really helpful.0 -
It has been shown, at least in mice, that an ISOCALORIC high carb or high fat diet increases fat gain (compared to ''normal'' diet), causes obesity (characterised by a low to mild state of chronic inflammation) and is correlated with insulin resistance among others. Yep a '' a calorie is a calorie'', no matter if it comes from carbs, proteins or fat ... Of course it's still a unit of energy ...But don't think that our bodies don't make the difference between the source of this calorie. Don't ignore the metabolic and inflammatory pathways involved, as well as the importance of our intestinal microbiota. Lots of articles on the subject on Pubmed web site among others. Don't expect me to argue on the subject, just a word from someone who has been working in a lab on inflammation and obesity0
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At the risk of incurring the wrath of the hardcore CICO people I had the same problems when I was super vigilant about staying around 1300 calories and working on regularly without eating calories back. I'd lose a tiny bit but nothing like what pure math showed I should. (And YES, CICO people, I weighed and recorded all my food!). Once I gave myself freedom to increase what I was eating my weight has started dropping. I now eat around 1600-1700 calories depending on how many calories my fitbit shows I burned that day (usually around 2000). Now I'm seeing progress.
so you are the one person in the history of man that defies physics and eats above maintenance calories and loses weight?
More than likely you were not logging accurately.
I plugged the OP's stats into Scoobys, and her TDEE for 3-5 hours of moderate exercise a week is 2094 cals a day. If she is doing 1-3 hours of light exercise, her maintenance is 1857 cals a day. Do you think she is eating more than 1857 a day? Also, since she only wants to lose 20 lbs, maybe the deficit shouldn't be so high? I would go with a 20% deficit, which would yield around 3 lbs a month. Patience and a healthy weight loss is the key.
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if you are talking about TEF =Thematic Effect of Food - it has been shown to increase calorie burn slightly but the overall impact is negligible. Maybe an extra ten to twenty calories a day.
As far as protein, protein is recommended to help one maintain existing muscle mass when in a deficit. If you want to add new muscle you need to run a bulk and eat in a caloric surplus, and when you do that carbohydrate intake is actually more important than protein intake. The only caveat to this would be an untrained beginner who may be able to make some muscle gains in a calorie deficit.
Good to know!
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You are likely not eating enough.0
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orchidee1987 wrote: »It has been shown, at least in mice, that an ISOCALORIC high carb or high fat diet increases fat gain (compared to ''normal'' diet), causes obesity (characterised by a low to mild state of chronic inflammation) and is correlated with insulin resistance among others. Yep a '' a calorie is a calorie'', no matter if it comes from carbs, proteins or fat ... Of course it's still a unit of energy ...But don't think that our bodies don't make the difference between the source of this calorie. Don't ignore the metabolic and inflammatory pathways involved, as well as the importance of our intestinal microbiota. Lots of articles on the subject on Pubmed web site among others. Don't expect me to argue on the subject, just a word from someone who has been working in a lab on inflammation and obesity
mice do not equal humans...
so you are saying that a high carb diet while in a calorie deficit leads to obesity?0 -
dennshah01 wrote: »At the risk of incurring the wrath of the hardcore CICO people I had the same problems when I was super vigilant about staying around 1300 calories and working on regularly without eating calories back. I'd lose a tiny bit but nothing like what pure math showed I should. (And YES, CICO people, I weighed and recorded all my food!). Once I gave myself freedom to increase what I was eating my weight has started dropping. I now eat around 1600-1700 calories depending on how many calories my fitbit shows I burned that day (usually around 2000). Now I'm seeing progress.
so you are the one person in the history of man that defies physics and eats above maintenance calories and loses weight?
More than likely you were not logging accurately.
I plugged the OP's stats into Scoobys, and her TDEE for 3-5 hours of moderate exercise a week is 2094 cals a day. If she is doing 1-3 hours of light exercise, her maintenance is 1857 cals a day. Do you think she is eating more than 1857 a day? Also, since she only wants to lose 20 lbs, maybe the deficit shouldn't be so high? I would go with a 20% deficit, which would yield around 3 lbs a month. Patience and a healthy weight loss is the key.
please re-read who I was replying to.
This reply was to another poster, no to the OP.
Finally, do you really think that if OP TDEE is 1857 that she is not losing weight on 1200. So your recommendation would be to eat more? So adding 587 calories a day is going to result in weight loss? Or is that not what you are saying?0 -
OP...what type of exercises are you doing.
At 1200 calories you should be losing about 1 1/2 lbs per week. If you are not losing (barring a medical condition) then maybe the problem is in the exercise burns.
I am 62...eat mainly close to 1400. I walk and do "light" resistance training. I don't eat any of those calories back because I don't think that I burn enough to worry about...I do those things for health. I lose about 6lbs a month. Maybe try not eating those calories back for a week and see if that makes the scale move.
I will say though...I have gone up to 3 weeks and not seen the scale move...then all of a sudden drop a significant amount of weight in a week.0 -
OP, we have similar stats. I am 55 years old, started at 148 pounds, only needed to lose 15 or so. I began at 1200 calories and IMMEDIATELY began losing 1 pound a week. I exercise 3-4 times a week and eat almost all of those calories back (although I am conservative about estimating the calorie burn). My loss has slowed a bit and has been up and down (i.e. not linear) but always trending down. I've lost 8 pounds so far. So, all I can assume is that there are discrepancies in your weighing/measuring/logging and maybe overestimating your calorie burn. As others have said, you have to be scrupulous about weighing and not take for granted the accuracy of nutritional labels.0
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