Whats going wrong?
sheryl792
Posts: 19 Member
Trying to figure out what I am doing wrong to loose weight.
I've worked out my whole life, I am back after a bit of time off and am now 6 weeks in. I am trying to get back to a size 4 and lose 25lbs doing it. After 4 weeks I can see the change in my body toning and strengthening, I lost slightly over 2% body fat (calipers) and 6.5 inches overall.
In the last 2 weeks since measuring I have lost a little more.
However, I've lost only 7 lbs and the scale isnt budging.
I work out 6-7x/week
5am - 1 Hour (30 min elliptical, 30 min 21 Day Fit)
10am - 20 min walk moderate-fast paced (at least 3x/week)
6pm - Boot camp class 3x/week
Weight train - Legs, kettle bells, ect for 30
Food - 1200 calories
I'm using the 21 day program as a guide to make sure my portions and food types in line.
Morning - Protein Shake
Snack - 1/2 Ezeikiel muffin, 1tsp almond peanut butter
Lunch - Salad with grilled chicken
Snack - 1 cup fruit (watermellon/grapes/ect)
Snack - 1 cup greek yogurt, 1 tsp unsweetened coconut
Dinner - protien (chicken/steak/pork), vegatable and sometimes add in a starch carb (Potato)
I know I'm still doing ok because I can see changes but why are the pounds not coming off??
I've worked out my whole life, I am back after a bit of time off and am now 6 weeks in. I am trying to get back to a size 4 and lose 25lbs doing it. After 4 weeks I can see the change in my body toning and strengthening, I lost slightly over 2% body fat (calipers) and 6.5 inches overall.
In the last 2 weeks since measuring I have lost a little more.
However, I've lost only 7 lbs and the scale isnt budging.
I work out 6-7x/week
5am - 1 Hour (30 min elliptical, 30 min 21 Day Fit)
10am - 20 min walk moderate-fast paced (at least 3x/week)
6pm - Boot camp class 3x/week
Weight train - Legs, kettle bells, ect for 30
Food - 1200 calories
I'm using the 21 day program as a guide to make sure my portions and food types in line.
Morning - Protein Shake
Snack - 1/2 Ezeikiel muffin, 1tsp almond peanut butter
Lunch - Salad with grilled chicken
Snack - 1 cup fruit (watermellon/grapes/ect)
Snack - 1 cup greek yogurt, 1 tsp unsweetened coconut
Dinner - protien (chicken/steak/pork), vegatable and sometimes add in a starch carb (Potato)
I know I'm still doing ok because I can see changes but why are the pounds not coming off??
0
Replies
-
7 pounds in 6 weeks is good. Great even. I'm not seeing a problem.0
-
Like others have said, 7 lb in 6 weeks when you don't have that much to lose is great.0
-
Sounds like you are doing just fine. Though I would eat more than 1200 calories with that exercise program, but that's just me.0
-
Fantastic progress! Don't be so hard on yourself - you are losing at a great rate
0 -
Trying to figure out what I am doing wrong to loose weight.
I've worked out my whole life, I am back after a bit of time off and am now 6 weeks in. I am trying to get back to a size 4 and lose 25lbs doing it. After 4 weeks I can see the change in my body toning and strengthening, I lost slightly over 2% body fat (calipers) and 6.5 inches overall.
In the last 2 weeks since measuring I have lost a little more.
However, I've lost only 7 lbs and the scale isnt budging.
I work out 6-7x/week
5am - 1 Hour (30 min elliptical, 30 min 21 Day Fit)
10am - 20 min walk moderate-fast paced (at least 3x/week)
6pm - Boot camp class 3x/week
Weight train - Legs, kettle bells, ect for 30
Food - 1200 calories
I'm using the 21 day program as a guide to make sure my portions and food types in line.
Morning - Protein Shake
Snack - 1/2 Ezeikiel muffin, 1tsp almond peanut butter
Lunch - Salad with grilled chicken
Snack - 1 cup fruit (watermellon/grapes/ect)
Snack - 1 cup greek yogurt, 1 tsp unsweetened coconut
Dinner - protien (chicken/steak/pork), vegatable and sometimes add in a starch carb (Potato)
I know I'm still doing ok because I can see changes but why are the pounds not coming off??
But they are coming off? You've lost seven pounds in six weeks . . .
0 -
Over a pound a week? I'd be thrilled.0
-
As others have said, 7 pounds in 6 weeks is a healthy rate of loss. You didn't put it all on in 12 weeks so you cannot expect to take it all off in 12 weeks. However, looking at your sample foods, you might want to add a few more servings of fruits and vegetables (or a multivitamin temporarily while you are reducing calories) because good nutrition is as important as weight loss. Good luck.0
-
At my fastest, I was losing 1.1 pounds per week, and I had at least 45 to lose. 7 pounds in 6 weeks is great progress. Keep it up! If you're upset because there was no change over the last week, it's probably just water retention.0
-
Muscle weighs more than fat. The way it looks, you are building muscle. The scale won't necessarily show a loss, but your clothes will. Use that as your criteria. See how things fit and how many inches you're losing. You also might be over doing the exercise. My doctor told me one of the reasons I wasn't losing was because I am exercising too much. I cut back and have shown a weight loss.
0 -
Muscle weighs more than fat. The way it looks, you are building muscle. The scale won't necessarily show a loss, but your clothes will. Use that as your criteria. See how things fit and how many inches you're losing. You also might be over doing the exercise. My doctor told me one of the reasons I wasn't losing was because I am exercising too much. I cut back and have shown a weight loss.
Oh lawdy
0 -
Muscle weighs more than fat. The way it looks, you are building muscle. The scale won't necessarily show a loss, but your clothes will. Use that as your criteria. See how things fit and how many inches you're losing. You also might be over doing the exercise. My doctor told me one of the reasons I wasn't losing was because I am exercising too much. I cut back and have shown a weight loss.
Muscle gain while in a deficit is difficult and limited. It's generally limited to newbie gains, overfat beginner lifters, and returning lifters. The OP says she's been working out for years, which leads me to think that she's been lifting for awhile. She's also eating just 1200 calories per day. She's not going to be building enough muscle to slow down her weight loss (if any) at this point.0 -
I lost the 7 lbs in the first 2.5 weeks... most likely water weight, and nothing since.0
-
That is way too much volume and not enough food. Increase your calories so when you do plateau you can lower calories.0
-
maybe you are expecting too much?0
-
I increased everything to see if I'd see the scale would start dropping...
It appears my body is holding onto me
0 -
Are you weighing everything using a digital kitchen scale? When weighing isn't possible or appropriate are you using measuring cups/spoons but leveling them and refraining from jamming extra bites in? Are you logging using accurate entries in the MFP database (e.g., those that match USDA nutrition info or the nutrition info on food labels?)0
-
I'm not using a scale but I am measuring out items via the 21 day program. My food is pretty accurate for nutrition, I scan everything I can instead of selecting.
I don't cheat or sneak in food but if I was slightly over 1 cup of lettuce or fruit, ect, the added exercise should compensate for the calories since I'm in a deficit.... so I would think.0 -
Muscle weighs more than fat. The way it looks, you are building muscle. The scale won't necessarily show a loss, but your clothes will. Use that as your criteria. See how things fit and how many inches you're losing. You also might be over doing the exercise. My doctor told me one of the reasons I wasn't losing was because I am exercising too much. I cut back and have shown a weight loss.
Just to clarify, muscle does not weigh more than fat. 5 lbs of muscle is equal to 5 lbs of fat...they both weigh 5 lbs. The difference is that muscle is denser than fat, therefore you'd look leaner. Can we please get away from this false notion?
0 -
I'm not using a scale but I am measuring out items via the 21 day program. My food is pretty accurate for nutrition, I scan everything I can instead of selecting.
I don't cheat or sneak in food but if I was slightly over 1 cup of lettuce or fruit, ect, the added exercise should compensate for the calories since I'm in a deficit.... so I would think.
If you're not using a scale to weigh your food you're most likely not in a defecit. 1200 calories is a lot less than people think. Buy a food scale and start weighing. The less you have to lose the more you need to weigh as every little bit counts!
Edit- spelling is hard.0 -
I'm not using a scale but I am measuring out items via the 21 day program. My food is pretty accurate for nutrition, I scan everything I can instead of selecting.
I don't cheat or sneak in food but if I was slightly over 1 cup of lettuce or fruit, ect, the added exercise should compensate for the calories since I'm in a deficit.... so I would think.
I don't recognize this unit of measurement. Please elaborate.0 -
I increased everything to see if I'd see the scale would start dropping...
It appears my body is holding onto me
When you up exercise a lot of times you do retain water. It will go away, but you likely don't want to get too impatient and exercise super hard on 1200.
If you like podcasts at all, one I like is Sigma Nutrition (some are better than others, depending on the guest). One that might be relevant to you is this interview with Lyle McDonald: http://sigmanutrition.com/episode65/. It talks about some of the hormonal things that can make weight loss harder or slower sometimes when people don't have too much to lose and exercise like crazy on low calories.
Also, again, I really don't think you should be freaking out. At your weight 1 lb a week is really good. Better just to aim for that, on average, and not make yourself miserable. In the meantime, as you get more fit you'll look even better, regardless of the scale.0 -
Muscle weighs more than fat. The way it looks, you are building muscle. The scale won't necessarily show a loss, but your clothes will. Use that as your criteria. See how things fit and how many inches you're losing. You also might be over doing the exercise. My doctor told me one of the reasons I wasn't losing was because I am exercising too much. I cut back and have shown a weight loss.
Just to clarify, muscle does not weigh more than fat. 5 lbs of muscle is equal to 5 lbs of fat...they both weigh 5 lbs. The difference is that muscle is denser than fat, therefore you'd look leaner. Can we please get away from this false notion?
This false notion is almost a daily occurrence but all we can do is to keep pointing it out. 0 -
I lost the 7 lbs in the first 2.5 weeks... most likely water weight, and nothing since.
Well, since it hasn't returned and you've lost inches I would say it's not just water weight. It wouldn't hurt to start using a scale though, to make sure your calories logged are as accurate as possible.0 -
Muscle weighs more than fat. The way it looks, you are building muscle. The scale won't necessarily show a loss, but your clothes will. Use that as your criteria. See how things fit and how many inches you're losing. You also might be over doing the exercise. My doctor told me one of the reasons I wasn't losing was because I am exercising too much. I cut back and have shown a weight loss.
1 pound of chicken weighs the same as 1 pound of tomatoes, which weighs the same as 1 pound of bacon grease, which weighs the same as 1 pound of fat0 -
I'm not using a scale but I am measuring out items via the 21 day program.I don't recognize this unit of measurement. Please elaborate.
I am referring to the Beach Body 21 Day program.
They supply cups that represent a food category, based on your calorie level it outlines how many 'cups' you should have of each (fill up the cup). For example green (veggies) = 1 cup. I need to consume 3 green cups (veggies) during the day.
A scale isnt a bad idea, however using the beach body cup method I shouldn't be much over my target.
For example the protein cup = 2/3 cup or 5 oz
Yes ... Fat/Muscle weigh the same!!
Its not 7 lbs in 6 weeks... I'm still looking at it as 7lbs in 2 weeks and nothing since.
0 -
I'm not using a scale but I am measuring out items via the 21 day program.I don't recognize this unit of measurement. Please elaborate.
I am referring to the Beach Body 21 Day program.
They supply cups that represent a food category, based on your calorie level it outlines how many 'cups' you should have of each (fill up the cup). For example green (veggies) = 1 cup. I need to consume 3 green cups (veggies) during the day.
A scale isnt a bad idea, however using the beach body cup method I shouldn't be much over my target.
For example the protein cup = 2/3 cup or 5 oz
Yes ... Fat/Muscle weigh the same!!
Its not 7 lbs in 6 weeks... I'm still looking at it as 7lbs in 2 weeks and nothing since.
I've never used the 21 Day Fix containers, but if you take a look around the forums we see a lot of reports of people who switched to weighing their food and found that the containers were letting them overeat. It works great for some people, but they aren't any more accurate than measuring cups and spoons (which have their issues).0 -
I see that you use cups etc
You have to weigh all your solid food on a food scale. It will make a lot of difference in the amount of calories you "think" you consume.
At 1200 calorie intake you should lose weight even without exercise.
Look at this short eyeopener video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY
When you exercise and just start out you can fluctuate retain water etc. You have to be patient. But i am afraid when you only lost in the first week like you said, that your calorie intake is more than you think.
Happened to a lot of us
So start weighing all your food and dont use cups and spoons, that is not accurate
And forget about serving sizes of labels too...they are almost always off. Just at a Kellog's granola bar 33 gram is 150 calories..well the bar was 40 gram so 170 calories. Yesterday same with a Fiber One bar... good for 30 calories more.
Everything is not a lot you will say..cup of veggies, cup of fruit...so some calories here and there. But believe me it adds up. I tested it...i ate 273 calories more in one day by using cups, spoons and serving sizes.
The MFP data base has a lot of wrong entry's btw...i made all my own. Checked them and that are the only ones i use. Hassle to start with. But at least i have a totally ( in grams) own database/dairy, which has all the entry's checked. From labels or the USDA site.
Now i am on a 0.5 lbs loss a week....so my deficit is not big...273 calories not calculate is huge than.
So weigh your food. And when you weigh your food every single day and you exercise like you do. You WILL lose weight!
Good luck!
0 -
I'm not using a scale but I am measuring out items via the 21 day program.I don't recognize this unit of measurement. Please elaborate.
I am referring to the Beach Body 21 Day program.
They supply cups that represent a food category, based on your calorie level it outlines how many 'cups' you should have of each (fill up the cup). For example green (veggies) = 1 cup. I need to consume 3 green cups (veggies) during the day.
A scale isnt a bad idea, however using the beach body cup method I shouldn't be much over my target.
For example the protein cup = 2/3 cup or 5 oz
Yes ... Fat/Muscle weigh the same!!
Its not 7 lbs in 6 weeks... I'm still looking at it as 7lbs in 2 weeks and nothing since.
So lost some initial water weight as everyone does going in to a diet.
Likely extreme diet for you so more water weight.
Some fat too.
But now doing so much exercise while eating so little likely has body stressing out, retaining water from constantly elevated cortisol - could gain 20 lbs that way.
This could go on for many many weeks losing fat while gaining water.
Except when the body is that stressed out - usually losing more than just fat.
Since you are following the program - why are you adding more.
Suggest you follow the program to a T - don't do more thinking that's better.
And be honest with amount to eat - they have setup parameters too that establish what the eating levels are - so confirm you were honest, not trying to cut it low to make it faster.
I wouldn't even log food then - don't need to - that's the whole point of the program.
Oh - scanned entries aren't always most accurate, as manufacturer's change their nutrition labels all the time without changing the SKU - and plenty in MFP database or wrong.
0 -
I'm not using a scale but I am measuring out items via the 21 day program.I don't recognize this unit of measurement. Please elaborate.
I am referring to the Beach Body 21 Day program.
They supply cups that represent a food category, based on your calorie level it outlines how many 'cups' you should have of each (fill up the cup). For example green (veggies) = 1 cup. I need to consume 3 green cups (veggies) during the day.
A scale isnt a bad idea, however using the beach body cup method I shouldn't be much over my target.
For example the protein cup = 2/3 cup or 5 oz
Yes ... Fat/Muscle weigh the same!!
Its not 7 lbs in 6 weeks... I'm still looking at it as 7lbs in 2 weeks and nothing since.
Is that 2/3 cup of ground raw chicken, shredded cooked chicken, diced chicken, chicken tenders standing on end, chicken thighs, chicken breast? That kind of measuring has a lot of wiggle room, or room for error.0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.7K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.3K Health and Weight Loss
- 176K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.6K Fitness and Exercise
- 431 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8.1K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.8K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 1.2K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions