Why am I not losing any weight or body fat?
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OP - if you are not losing weight then you are eating more than you think you are.
Get a food scale and weight all your solid foods for three to four weeks, the results will be eye opening.
Do you eat back 100% of exercise calories? If yes, then you should only be eating back half of those, as calorie burned estimates tend to be wildly inaccurate on the high side.
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christopherjhudson1 wrote: »with all due respect you appear to have absolutely no idea what a low carb diet is - also counting calories is great for low fat diets like weight watchers but can be misleading when on a low carb diet. You need to decide what type of diet you are on and stick to it.
Your narrative contradicts itself constantly e.g. after saying you're on a low carb diet you then describe a breakfast so loaded with carbs that you've over-consumed carbs for the entire day and you haven't even left the breakfast table! How many carbs should you consume? Atkins says 20g per day when you start; Dr Clark's diet is 40g per day; the Drinking Man's Diet allows you 60g per day. Now compare those with the carb grams in the breakfast above. Make sure your myfitnesspal food diary displays carbs for the food you eat - I think you can change it is settings tab.
I think 6 days in the gym is counterproductive for you. Of course, exercise will make you more hungry and you are satisfying the hunger your exercising creates by consuming a diet loaded with carbs - which is just another name for sugar! BTW Soup and roll is full of flour = loaded with carbs, as is mashed potato, rice, sushi, chinese food (rice, noodles, batter, cornflour thickener, potato starch used as thickener, sugar in sweet n sour sauces). Also apple-beetroot-carrot, your favourite drink - you'd be hard pushed to find a 3 fruit/veggie combo that have more sugar in them, there's no way you can have that on a proper controlled low carb diet, sorry.
I guess you drink 3 litres of water because of all the gym work - cut down the gym, try drinking less - a proper low carb diet will cure you of water retention, you'll probably lose 7lbs in weight just from that! :-)
Get the low carb diet right first and then the gym may work for you - but until you do I see the exercise as making your problem worse. You train harder than we did in the Infantry and I never had a weight problem!
I realise much of what I say may seem contrary to the advice you receive from your trainer and other people - but let's be honest I've never seen anyone work so hard at achieving nothing, zero targets, so what have you got to lose?
Good luck whatever you decide to do.
Oh, one last point: "I'm losing hair, i'm breaking out in acne, my body doesn't seem to be cooperating" and "i'm fighting with my partner every single day about this - he wants me to be healthy and not overweight, and i need to try harder but i am trying so hard so hard"
Stress produces hormones that adversely affect your heart and body - so tell your partner you need encouragement and cuddles not endless criticism, otherwise dump the selfish **** :-)
You can ignore most of this
Low-carb is a way of eating that helps you achieve CI<CO..it does not work outside the scientific principle of CICO
A low carb diet is generally considered less than 100g carbs
Reducing calories burned (eg exercise) if she's happy with her exercise level just makes the equation harder, not easier...she has a rest day ...it's more than I would do but not of any great issue
Low carb may work for OP or may not ..she should decide for herself
Relationship advice, whilst well meant, is not appropriate ..0 -
KeairaSedai wrote: »I think that's probably honey and water drink ..so possibly a couple of teaspoons? I assume
But the breakfast itself is probably around 400 calories (who knows? How much oats, how prepared, how much bread what's on it?) plus lunch, snack and eating out each night
Even if you're not being accurate..
1 kiwi - 42 calories
1 banana (Average sized) - 124 calories (and if you ARE watching carbs, 30 grams of those)
1 boiled egg - 92 calories
1 teaspoon of honey - 25 calories, so assuming you have a few teaspoons in a drink, 75 calories
Total: 333 calories, BEFORE the oats or bread.
Lunch (usually stir fried vegetables and chicken breast or fish, so let's guess, I'm being generous)
Vegetables stir fried 1 cup - 60 calories
Small chicken breast of 3.5oz, also fried - 164 calories
Snack:
If soup (assuming a vegetable no cream soup, 1 cup) and small bun: 240 calories
Dinner, let's assume the salad, mashed potatoes and grilled fish:
Mashed potatoes 0.5 cup: 134 calories
Grilled fish, let's say a lean white fish, 4oz: 109 calories
Salad: 200 calories (well, this can vary between 15 calories and 300 calories based on ingredients and dressing)
Total 443 calories
Total for day: 1180
So yes, this keeps you below 1200 (if you have NO oats or bread for breakfast), but please take a look at the portions I've picked.. because chances are you are not eating as little as this. And my dinner is generous, too.. because eating out will be worse.
Please note these sample portion sizes are tiny
Much much smaller than a standard piece of chicken or fish and a restaurant serving you 4oz protein would be doubtful ...and nobody but nobody eats half a cup of mash (unless they are really controlling their calories well..and even then it's very disappointing
)
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You're not in a deficit.0
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Weigh your food - no way are you eating 1200 calories a day.0
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There is no way you're eating 1200 calories. I hope you read the answers here and take them on board because you're fooling yourself, and you're body is refusing to believe the lie. Oh and multiple pieces of fruit, oats or wholemeal bread at breakfast, a wholemeal roll for a snack, mashed potato at dinner, sushi... that's is nowhere near low carb. Not even close.0
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This may sound counterintuitive but it seems like you are not taking rest days. It may be the measurements sure, but if you do not let your body rest it cannot benefit from the "good" you are doing it.
I am not a believer in cutting out carbs - there are good carbs that can provide fuel for the day and for your work outs.
Are you enjoying any of the types of exercise you are doing? If you really want a lifestyle change it should be sustainable.
Also I would just bet you are in a heck of a lot better shape than you were before all this activity.
Perhaps one of these days you could do hatha yoga? It does wonders for inner calm.
If you dedicating all this time, you may want to see a trainer to get on a strength training regimen, or a nutritionist to help customize your diet.
I know for myself I had lost 20 pounds with barely a change in body fat percent, doing cycling, tennis and lots of cardio - but until I got on a good strength training routine I didn't see any change in body fat percentage. I am at about 15% from my last caliper test, down from 24% 5 years ago. I had a trainer show me a good workout and it really helped a lot. But I pay for it when I don't do proper rest days.
Good luck, sounds like you are doing great! Just be patient and agree with others your partner needs to be supportive of your journey.0 -
Your first step should not be worrying about your weight but finding a better and more supportive partner. No one should ever put up with a partner that is embarrassed of being seen with them.0
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irejuvenateme wrote: »This may sound counterintuitive but it seems like you are not taking rest days. It may be the measurements sure, but if you do not let your body rest it cannot benefit from the "good" you are doing it.
I am not a believer in cutting out carbs - there are good carbs that can provide fuel for the day and for your work outs.
Are you enjoying any of the types of exercise you are doing? If you really want a lifestyle change it should be sustainable.
Also I would just bet you are in a heck of a lot better shape than you were before all this activity.
Perhaps one of these days you could do hatha yoga? It does wonders for inner calm.
If you dedicating all this time, you may want to see a trainer to get on a strength training regimen, or a nutritionist to help customize your diet.
I know for myself I had lost 20 pounds with barely a change in body fat percent, doing cycling, tennis and lots of cardio - but until I got on a good strength training routine I didn't see any change in body fat percentage. I am at about 15% from my last caliper test, down from 24% 5 years ago. I had a trainer show me a good workout and it really helped a lot. But I pay for it when I don't do proper rest days.
Good luck, sounds like you are doing great! Just be patient and agree with others your partner needs to be supportive of your journey.
What? How is she doing great - the scale has not moved.
She's eating more than she thinks - end of. She need to weigh her food.0 -
Looking over your food intake it seems reasonable. The aerobic exercise gives you an addition 200 cal, the resistance will not use up a lot of calories. You need to watch that eating out, that may be your problem. I am counting every calorie that goes into my food trap yet when I go out it is so difficult to do the count. What I have done the last few times I went out to eat was to eat half of the food and take home the other half and weigh the individual parts and look up the calories. I was amazed how many calories I had eaten, yet looking at it in the dish it looked pretty much to be the amount I have been weighing at home. Also, look at your Sodium intake, especially if you eat a lot of Chinese food. You could be retaining water. The bottom line is get a good scale, weight watchers has a very good digital scale. Weigh as much of the food as possible and record everything you eat for awhile. Don't forget to take a day off from exercising, the body needs time to recuperate.0
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Exercise is for fitness. Diet is for weight loss. It sounds like you're focusing on adding more and more exercise without getting your food down. Get a food scale. Weigh everything, including your fruit.
Here's your calorie breakdown rounded to whole numbers
Breakfast:
- I avoid carbs except breakfast - have either oats or wholemeal bread 1/3 cup oats = 200 cal or 1 slice bread 150 cal
- 1 hard boil egg 100 calories
- 1 kiwi 40 cal
- 1 banana 100 cal
- 1 cup organic honey + warm water and lemon Honey 2 tbsp: 120 cals
Total: ~550 calories
Lunch:
- some days i'll have salad - hoping to make it 3 times a week Dressing? 100+ calories
- i avoid carbs - just have lightly stirfried vegetables with minimal oil and pinch of salt (i'm not big on salt) Veggies maybe 50 calories? Depending. Oil: 1 tbsp = 120 caloriesish
- either Chicken breast OR i'll usually have fish - i'm a fish lover 1 cup chicken no oil = 330 cal
Total: ~600 calories
Snack:
- apple 100 calories
- i am troubled by snacks because i have severe gastric problems and i'm advised to eat as often as i can and sometimes apples just make me feel so awful in the stomach
- so sometimes i'll have a bowl of soup and a small bread bun wholemeal Soup: 200 cal minimum, Bread Bun: 100 calories? minimum
Total: 300? calories
Dinner:
- i'll usually dine out with my partner - but i'll avoid carbs
- e.g. last night i had grilled fish with salad and mash potatoes (sometimes i reward myself a little when i have worked hard for the day) 1 cup mashed potatoes is 200-400 calories based on butter/cream content
- or Chinese dishes High calorie. Guessing 500+ per dish
- Sushi - my biggest weakness is sushi - raw fish A typical sushi roll is prepared with 1cup of rice = 240 calories.
Total: 300-1200 calories
You have no idea how much you're eating. Just guestimating your breakfast, lunch, and snack, I came up with 1,450 calories, with wild estimates based on what you're eating. You seem to have a very odd view of carbohydrates. Vegetables are carbohydrates. Apples are carbs. Small bread bun wholemeal is a carb. Most Chinese food has a ton of carbs (breading, veggies, sauces). Mashed potatoes are a carb. Rice is a carb. The good news is that carbs are fine, but your portion control/calorie counting is not.0 -
irejuvenateme wrote: »This may sound counterintuitive but it seems like you are not taking rest days. It may be the measurements sure, but if you do not let your body rest it cannot benefit from the "good" you are doing it.
Whilst this is certainly true in relation to gaining fitness (adequate recovery is necessary) it is not really relevant to the OP's principal concern - not losing any weight after 4 months (which is a long enough timeframe to discount things like fluid retention and so on.)The good news is that carbs are fine, but your portion control/calorie counting is not.
I find myself nodding in agreement with this so vigorously that I may have given myself whiplash...
I'm guessing if they OP gets a better handle on portion size generally she wouldn't have to make all that many changes to see her weight starting to go down.
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WOW, severe case of denial
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With that exercise load, I'd be focusing on quality carbs, not restricting them.
Rice and starchy root vegetables are your friends.0 -
accidentalpancake wrote: »With that exercise load, I'd be focusing on quality carbs, not restricting them.
Rice and starchy root vegetables are your friends.
No - a food scale is her friend.0 -
Iron_Feline wrote: »accidentalpancake wrote: »With that exercise load, I'd be focusing on quality carbs, not restricting them.
Rice and starchy root vegetables are your friends.
No - a food scale is her friend.
I didn't comment on that.
And plenty of people do just fine without one, since you brought it up. I agree the OP could use some help with portion recognition, but that has nothing to do with my comment.0 -
accidentalpancake wrote: »Iron_Feline wrote: »accidentalpancake wrote: »With that exercise load, I'd be focusing on quality carbs, not restricting them.
Rice and starchy root vegetables are your friends.
No - a food scale is her friend.
I didn't comment on that.
And plenty of people do just fine without one, since you brought it up. I agree the OP could use some help with portion recognition, but that has nothing to do with my comment.
lol - her question is about the fact that she has not lost a single pound in 4 months and you suggest adding some higher calorie foods to her diet.
Excellent advice. She's clearly eating enough calories - and that includes rice, your advice is pointless at best, opposite to her goals at worse.
She clearly isn't doing fine without one - so the fact that some people don't need them is again - pointless.0 -
I think it's important to customize your suggestions with an OP's details in mind. I don't know her height, but a short woman might only have 300 calories between their TDEE and BMR. Whereas a 37 yo male might have more than 1000 calories between his TDEE and BMR. When one has a 1000 calorie buffer, I think it _IS_ a bit easier to not use a scale and remain in a deficit.accidentalpancake wrote: »Iron_Feline wrote: »accidentalpancake wrote: »With that exercise load, I'd be focusing on quality carbs, not restricting them.
Rice and starchy root vegetables are your friends.
No - a food scale is her friend.
I didn't comment on that.
And plenty of people do just fine without one, since you brought it up. I agree the OP could use some help with portion recognition, but that has nothing to do with my comment.
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Invest in a food scale, weigh everything and log everything!! You are most assuredly eating more than you think.
If it was me, I would avoid the takeaway/eating out until you can get into a rhythm of consistent logging. Most "healthy" meals in restaurants still hit near 1000 calories per serving, as they are almost always oversized and prepared with a ton of hidden calories and fats.
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accidentalpancake wrote: »Iron_Feline wrote: »accidentalpancake wrote: »With that exercise load, I'd be focusing on quality carbs, not restricting them.
Rice and starchy root vegetables are your friends.
No - a food scale is her friend.
I didn't comment on that.
And plenty of people do just fine without one, since you brought it up. I agree the OP could use some help with portion recognition, but that has nothing to do with my comment.
as OP is not losing weight it is pretty obvious that she is not correctly estimating calories and would greatly benefit from using a food scale.0 -
I just wanted to say thank you for posting this OP, and also thanks for all the replies. I do think it is so, so easy to misjudge/ lie to yourself. I have lost all my weight before but regained it and am trying again. Reading all this is a really good reminder. I ate well for 3 weeks and then binged for 4 days and put the lot back on. This seemed outrageously unfair, but yes overeating for 4 days can and will put it all back on. Thanks for the kick up the bum ;-)0
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fightingformyhappiness wrote: »Thank you very much for your responses.
I do not take more than 1,200 calories a day, i only take sushi without rice hence sashimis on my once a week cheat day. I load up on a lot of apples and bananas and kiwis. when I know a certain food is too much, I'll be mindful n limit that. it's not that I don't know what I'm eating or just focused on that. I know exactly how many calories I eat a day, n never let myself go over. even on days I have events or activities that require me to gather socially n eat, I'll compensate back the next 2 days.
I have been doing this for the past 4 months and nothing. zero.
on a side note, the doctor who made that remark is my gynaecologist. I have pcos, and my consistent weight gain is a concern on my future for having a child.
I'm 86.2kg, 40% body fat, 165cm tall.
I'm always around 65kg which is acceptable n I'm happy hovering there.
I don't want to be skinny, please don't get me wrong. I want to be healthy again and I'm doing more than what I used to. I was bulimic when I was 17, and it was found out when I fainted at a gym one day. that is why I m mindful very mindful of the kind of food I eat n how much each time I take. I'm not giving excuses that what I'm doing is perfect. no. I'm trying to find out where I can be better at.
You have already a lot of good responses in this thread. I agree with what most people are saying, you are not creating a deficit. Your logging has to be inaccurate and you are eating more without realizing it. At your weight you would be losing weight on 1200 calories a day.
There is no need for cheat days if you eat within your calorie allowance. If you want a treat fit you can fit it in your day. Weigh everything and prelog as much as possible.0 -
Outside of the diet comments... you only work your abs... that's it... you might kill yourself but your training the *kitten* out of 6 little muscles... get on a strength program and start lifting some heavy *kitten* weights the abs will be developed during the process.0
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Adding some more "you're eating more than you think and you need to get a food scale" input.0
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Ugh. This is what I must have sounded like. I convinced myself that meal timing or a medical problem was what was killing me. Yep. I HOPED AND HOPED that there was something terribly wrong with me when I had my first bloodwork. Come on, underactive thyroid! Baby needs a new pair of shoes! Turns out it was the high end of normal, something the doc was worried about, but he reassured me that "It'll get better if you lose some weight!" What an *kitten* I was. I would rather be sick than responsible. Sheesh.
Anyway, proper calorie tracking is what's needed, not hours of exercise and food denial. If you do have a medical problem (doesn't hurt to be tested), get it under control.0 -
OP Most of the comments here have given you great advice regarding measuring the amount of calories you're taking in, but I don't think you're ready to hear it.
You don't have to answer me, but please think about this: You were very accurate in describing your exercises (to the second for planks, for instance), but much more generic when describing your food intake. Given that, where do you think the problem is likely to be?0 -
THIS is a brilliant example of how slight underestimations can add up very quickly.0 -
This goes back to it isnt that simple. OH yes it is thread.
OP when you revisit this thread then id suggest you take on board what the majority of people are telling you by re-examining your adherence to the basics namely accurate consumption and burn control. Everyone else can see for that period of time with that amount of effort then the sum total is that you are at maintenance.
Make the adjustments, create your consistent deficit, follow it for 4 weeks and you will lose.0 -
This might have been said already, but you say you eat out a lot for dinner. I know even if I'm careful often restaurants cook with things that are really fatty or high in calories. For instance you might think that veggie stirfry looks great but it might be chock-full of calories, fats and sugars. Same with your salads you eat- what kind of dressing and how much do you use? That could be a big part of your problem as well. I know I really want a huge glob of blue cheese on my salads and I have to resist that.
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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WGLwzbvx4S4
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY
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