Not losing pounds

leannedirwin
leannedirwin Posts: 14 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
What could be the reason I'm not losing weight I have one cheat day per week workout 4 times a week on a low carb high protein diet Cals per day 1200 to 1400

Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    If you open your diary, you may get more useful advice.

    Some possible causes: you are eating more than you think you are (i.e., you're not weighing your food, you're choosing generic entries from the database), your cheat day contains enough calories to wipe out your deficit, you've just started this plan and are being impatient.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member

    1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so, don't sweat it! Normal fluctuations happen and unfortunately sometimes we stall for a week or two even when we're doing everything right. Give your body some time to catch up with the changes you're making.

    2. If you aren't already, be sure that you're logging everything. Sometimes people forget about things like veggies, drinks, cooking oils, and condiments. For some people these can add up to enough to halt your weight loss progress.

    3. Consider buying a food scale if you don't already have one. They're about $10-$20 dollars in the US and easily found at places like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Measuring cups and spoons are great, but they do come with some degree of inaccuracy. A food scale will be more accurate, and for some people it makes a big difference.

    4. Logging accurately also means choosing accurate entries in the database. There are a lot of user-entered entries that are off. Double-check that you're using good entries and/or using the recipe builder instead of someone else's homemade entries.

    5. Recalculate your goals if you haven't lately. As you lose weight your body requires fewer calories to run. Be sure you update your goals every ten pounds or so.

    6. If you're eating back your exercise calories and you're relying on gym machine readouts or MFP's estimates, it might be best to eat back just 50-75% of those. Certain activities tend to be overestimated. If you're using an HRM or activity tracker, it might be a good idea to look into their accuracy and be sure that yours is calibrated properly.

    7. It might be best to cut any cheat days out for a few weeks and see what happens. Some people go way over their calorie needs without realizing it when they don't track and it can be enough to stall weight loss.

    8. If you weigh yourself frequently, consider using a program like trendweight to even out the fluctuations. You could be losing weight but just don't see it because of the daily ups and downs.

    9. Some people just burn fewer calories than the calculators predict. If you continue to have problems after 4-6 weeks, then it might be worth a trip to the doctor or a registered dietitian who can give you more specific advice.
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  • leannedirwin
    leannedirwin Posts: 14 Member
    I've always been able to maintain my weight with cheat days just all of a sudden finding it a lot harder it seemed to gain more after joining gym in March but even b4 tht wud do workout DVDs so frustrating
  • leannedirwin
    leannedirwin Posts: 14 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    If you open your diary, you may get more useful advice.

    Some possible causes: you are eating more than you think you are (i.e., you're not weighing your food, you're choosing generic entries from the database), your cheat day contains enough calories to wipe out your deficit, you've just started this plan and are being impatient.

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
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  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10012907/logging-accuracy-consistency-and-youre-probably-eating-more-than-you-think/p1
  • leannedirwin
    leannedirwin Posts: 14 Member
    When I'm logging through the week my food intake is under by at least 200 sat sun I'm not as strict and one of th days does tend to go ova I get weighed on Monday and seem to gain pounds at least 5 pounds so it's like I'm goin in a a vicious circle
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    The above posters have given you solid advice.
    May I just add that you may find eating under your calorie goal by 100 cal a day during the week and banking it for your cheat day could work.
    Track your cheat days for a few weeks just to see how much you are consuming.
    Work on a weekly calorie goal instead of a daily goal.

    Cheers, h.

  • pierportbeach
    pierportbeach Posts: 647 Member
    Hi! Are you eating enough protein ? I've heard recently that 30g per meal is a good benchmark otherwise it isn't enough. Also maybe you aren't eating enough if your diarykeeping is vigilant and you are usually under calories. Finally, if you are good today, eatIng and thinking healthily, and relaxed, don't worry about external validation through the scale. We can only focus on this moment. That's what I'm trying to do
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    You seem kind of fixated on the cheat day, but you're getting a lot of other advice above. Are you finding any of it useful? If not, would you be willing to open your diary or give us more information so that we can give you more specific advice?
  • pierportbeach
    pierportbeach Posts: 647 Member
    Oh and one more thing: a much better health indicator than weight is fat content. Maybe get yours done then recheck in a couple of months ?
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    leannedirwin wrote: »
    When I'm logging through the week my food intake is under by at least 200 sat sun I'm not as strict and one of th days does tend to go ova I get weighed on Monday and seem to gain pounds at least 5 pounds so it's like I'm goin in a a vicious circle

    When you are logging your food, are you weighing it? Are you using any generic entries from the database?

    Things like this are often logging errors. If you open your diary, you may get some helpful advice.
  • leannedirwin
    leannedirwin Posts: 14 Member
    Thankyous for the advice
  • Bshmerlie
    Bshmerlie Posts: 1,026 Member
    Eat less during the week so that you can go a little over on the weekends. I can lose on 1500 per day so I eat 1200 for 5 days and then 2000 for 2 days. What can I say...I like my weekends.
  • tincanonastring
    tincanonastring Posts: 3,944 Member
    edited August 2015
    pierportbeach wrote: »
    Hi! Are you eating enough protein ? I've heard recently that 30g per meal is a good benchmark otherwise it isn't enough. Also maybe you aren't eating enough if your diarykeeping is vigilant and you are usually under calories. Finally, if you are good today, eatIng and thinking healthily, and relaxed, don't worry about external validation through the scale. We can only focus on this moment. That's what I'm trying to do

    Where are you getting the 30g per meal of protein?
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    I don't "cheat", I eat under during the week and log a high day over the weekend-My weight is always going to be heavier on Monday because I ate a lot of food over the weekend, along with extra sodium. It goes back down by midweek. Maybe change your weigh in day. And log your cheat day.
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