Why am I not losing any weight?

arinamargarina
arinamargarina Posts: 34 Member
edited September 2015 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello,

I'm 21, 173 cm and 59kg. I'm not severly overweight, but I should lose another 5kg.

I’ve been eating well and exercising moderately for almost a month now and there is absolutely no change in my body - if I’m being honest, I actually feel like I gained 1 kg or 2.

And if I’m being honest all the way, it’s true that I’ve still been eating a few cookies, peanuts and had a few beers here and there. But I didn’t think it would be a problem, since I reduced the usual amount I eat by A LOT and I still ate perfectly in the remaining time and went biking for at least 30-40 mins daily.

I'm usually active and I try to eat as healthily as I can, but sometimes I just indulge in HUGE meals for a week or two and BAM! - the weight is back on.

I'm not obsessed with my weight and try to be extraskinny, it's just that everybody tells me that I'm a little overweight it looks like I am.

Do you have any advice as to what I could eat for the next one or two weeks, in order to lose the 5kg, please?
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Replies

  • cthwaites
    cthwaites Posts: 1 Member
    Eating too little food/exercising lots actually lowers your metabolism. So when you binge, your body retains the fat. Consistency and moderation is key. It's ok to have a treat. Just not two weeks worth! Try and stay within your daily calorie allowance. If you end the day having eaten less it's not an excuse to eat more the next day. It just confuses your body. Good luck! Xx
  • sylviak555
    sylviak555 Posts: 16 Member
    What has worked for me is keeping track with MFP of every single thing that goes in my mouth. I was surprised with how many things I just pop in and don't think about. So when I wanted something I realized how it would sabotage my plan and thus stay away from those foods ie extra pasta , sweets etc. This program has made me actually think about food.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    Hello,

    I'm 21, 173 cm and 59kg. I'm not severly overweight, but I should lose another 5kg.

    I’ve been eating well and exercising moderately for almost a month now and there is absolutely no change in my body - if I’m being honest, I actually feel like I gained 1 kg or 2.

    And if I’m being honest all the way, it’s true that I’ve still been eating a few cookies, peanuts and had a few beers here and there. But I didn’t think it would be a problem, since I reduced the usual amount I eat by A LOT and I still ate perfectly in the remaining time and went biking for at least 30-40 mins daily.

    I'm usually active and I try to eat as healthily as I can, but sometimes I just indulge in HUGE meals for a week or two and BAM! - the weight is back on.

    I'm not obsessed with my weight and try to be extraskinny, it's just that everybody tells me that I'm a little overweight it looks like I am.

    Do you have any advice as to what I could eat for the next one or two weeks, in order to lose the 5kg, please?

    at 173 cm and 59 kg (5'8, 130 lbs for us Americans), it's highly unlikely you SHOULD lose another 5kg (11 lbs). That would put you fairly underweight.

    Perhaps you might consider adjusting your goals from a strict weight number goal to more of a body re-composition goal?
  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
    edited September 2015
    Well, first of all, you shouldn't try to lose 5kg. This would make you underweight.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    edited September 2015
    cthwaites wrote: »
    Eating too little food/exercising lots actually lowers your metabolism. So when you binge, your body retains the fat. Consistency and moderation is key. It's ok to have a treat. Just not two weeks worth! Try and stay within your daily calorie allowance. If you end the day having eaten less it's not an excuse to eat more the next day. It just confuses your body. Good luck! Xx

    Not actually true but it was a good try. The only reason metabolism would be lowered by undereating and overexercising is because you'd weigh less. When you binge your body stores the extra calories as fat, not all of the food.

    OP, if you aren't losing weight you aren't eating less calories than your body is burning on a regular basis. It's almost always that simple. I see information about what you're eating but not about how many calories. So, how many calories are you eating on a daily basis? Is that below the goal MFP has set for you? How are you verifying those calorie amounts? Are you weighing your food portions for accuracy? Are you eating back exercise calories? How are you verifying those?
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    i can tell by looking at your diary entries for today alone that you are not logging accurately.

    get a scale and learn to weigh and log correctly. you are eating more than you think.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    edited September 2015
    Looking through your diary I'm seeing a lot of skipped days and a lot of what we call "generic" entries (things like medium apple). If you want to get a handle on what you're eating and make sure you're eating little enough to lose weight you need to start logging your calories consistently and verifying their accuracy. This is especially true when you don't have a lot of weight to lose; it's harder to create the calorie deficit needed for weight loss so you need to be more accurate.
  • arinamargarina
    arinamargarina Posts: 34 Member
    @SueInAz - I eat a maximum of 1200 kcals a day. I'm not weighing, I'm just controlling my portions as well as I can and try to eat as little as it keeps me full.

    @callsitlikeiseeit - How can you tell?
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    @SueInAz - I eat a maximum of 1200 kcals a day. I'm not weighing, I'm just controlling my portions as well as I can and try to eat as little as it keeps me full.

    @callsitlikeiseeit - How can you tell?

    because its not weighed out. its .8 egg, 3 slices of ham, etc

  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
    edited September 2015
    @SueInAz - I eat a maximum of 1200 kcals a day. I'm not weighing, I'm just controlling my portions as well as I can and try to eat as little as it keeps me full.

    @callsitlikeiseeit - How can you tell?

    .
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    @SueInAz - I eat a maximum of 1200 kcals a day. I'm not weighing, I'm just controlling my portions as well as I can and try to eat as little as it keeps me full.

    @callsitlikeiseeit - How can you tell?

    because its not weighed out. its .8 egg, 3 slices of ham, etc

    If you aren't weighing your food to verify accuracy, and you are only logging 1 day in 4, how do you know you are only eating 1200 calories?
  • qubetha
    qubetha Posts: 83 Member
    OP is seeking to become underweight. I'm not comfortable with offering weight loss advice....
  • ultrahoon
    ultrahoon Posts: 467 Member
    edited September 2015
    You need to tighten up the logging a lot. Almost nothing is weighed, and there are large stretches with nothing entered. You really can't be sure of how many calories you're eating.

    Also you do not appear to be overweight.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    qubetha wrote: »
    OP is seeking to become underweight. I'm not comfortable with offering weight loss advice....

    Yep...I'm amazed people keep missing this important point.
  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
    ceoverturf wrote: »
    qubetha wrote: »
    OP is seeking to become underweight. I'm not comfortable with offering weight loss advice....

    Yep...I'm amazed people keep missing this important point.

    Sorry, I'm American and didn't do the conversion. My bad!
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    maidentl wrote: »
    ceoverturf wrote: »
    qubetha wrote: »
    OP is seeking to become underweight. I'm not comfortable with offering weight loss advice....

    Yep...I'm amazed people keep missing this important point.

    Sorry, I'm American and didn't do the conversion. My bad!

    I am too and did it and posted it up there ^^^ :)
  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
    ceoverturf wrote: »
    maidentl wrote: »
    ceoverturf wrote: »
    qubetha wrote: »
    OP is seeking to become underweight. I'm not comfortable with offering weight loss advice....

    Yep...I'm amazed people keep missing this important point.

    Sorry, I'm American and didn't do the conversion. My bad!

    I am too and did it and posted it up there ^^^ :)

    I swear on my cat that I never saw that post until just now. WEIRD! How did I miss it? Anyway, i went back and edited my other responses. Thank you for pointing it out!
  • lauries8888
    lauries8888 Posts: 70 Member
    I see a number of red flags in your posts, OP. Like the fact that you are 5'8" and 130 pounds, but want to lose 11 more pounds. And the fact that you say that you are eating a maximum of 1200 calories each day. And the fact that you have a tendency to binge. These are worrisome statements as it doesn't sound like you are learning/maintaining a healthy relationship with food.
  • janjunie
    janjunie Posts: 1,200 Member
    qubetha wrote: »
    OP is seeking to become underweight. I'm not comfortable with offering weight loss advice....

    I know, I'm surprised at how much advice op has already gotten when her goals are so clearly unhealthy.
  • arinamargarina
    arinamargarina Posts: 34 Member
    Getting underweight is not what I am trying to do.
    The 5kg is the flabby tummy, lovehandles and arm fat that I'm trying to lose. I see how by looking at the measuremeants it seems like I'm trying to become anorexic, but actually 55kg is the weight I've felt most comfortable at. When my stomach doesn't make 3 rolls when I bend. It's this kind of little amount of fat that I want to lose.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    Getting underweight is not what I am trying to do.
    The 5kg is the flabby tummy, lovehandles and arm fat that I'm trying to lose. I see how by looking at the measuremeants it seems like I'm trying to become anorexic, but actually 55kg is the weight I've felt most comfortable at. When my stomach doesn't make 3 rolls when I bend. It's this kind of little amount of fat that I want to lose.
    Perhaps what you really want to do then, is lower your body fat percentage rather than just lose more weight? Start strength training while eating at maintenance calories and you'll get firmer rather than thinner.
  • cmtigger
    cmtigger Posts: 1,450 Member
    Getting underweight is not what I am trying to do.
    The 5kg is the flabby tummy, lovehandles and arm fat that I'm trying to lose. I see how by looking at the measuremeants it seems like I'm trying to become anorexic, but actually 55kg is the weight I've felt most comfortable at. When my stomach doesn't make 3 rolls when I bend. It's this kind of little amount of fat that I want to lose.

    It sounds like you need to develop muscle and not so much loose weight. You need to start an exercise program.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    Getting underweight is not what I am trying to do.
    The 5kg is the flabby tummy, lovehandles and arm fat that I'm trying to lose. I see how by looking at the measuremeants it seems like I'm trying to become anorexic, but actually 55kg is the weight I've felt most comfortable at. When my stomach doesn't make 3 rolls when I bend. It's this kind of little amount of fat that I want to lose.

    You might want more of a recomposition program. Losing more weight isn't likely to give you the results you're describing here. Recomp might: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat

  • qubetha
    qubetha Posts: 83 Member
    Getting underweight is not what I am trying to do.
    The 5kg is the flabby tummy, lovehandles and arm fat that I'm trying to lose. I see how by looking at the measuremeants it seems like I'm trying to become anorexic, but actually 55kg is the weight I've felt most comfortable at. When my stomach doesn't make 3 rolls when I bend. It's this kind of little amount of fat that I want to lose.

    Even on a super fit person, a normal healthy stomach has rolls when they bend. You have an unrealistic impression of what it means to be fit and healthy. Even a healthy, super fit athlete still carries fat because that is a normal part of the human body. What you call "love handles" are your body's natural fat stores and required for a healthy existence. At your height and weight I highly doubt that you look flabby and even so, you should be dealing with this by building muscle (recomp if you must) not seeking to lose even more weight. The path you are headed down will lead you to nothing other than illness....

  • preeJAY
    preeJAY Posts: 46 Member
    Getting underweight is not what I am trying to do.
    The 5kg is the flabby tummy, lovehandles and arm fat that I'm trying to lose. I see how by looking at the measuremeants it seems like I'm trying to become anorexic, but actually 55kg is the weight I've felt most comfortable at. When my stomach doesn't make 3 rolls when I bend. It's this kind of little amount of fat that I want to lose.

    So you want to be tighter and firmer, not necessarily lighter.

    Simple. Lift heavy weights. Or any other kind of strength training, that will lower your fat percentage and reduce the rolls.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
    Getting underweight is not what I am trying to do.
    The 5kg is the flabby tummy, lovehandles and arm fat that I'm trying to lose. I see how by looking at the measuremeants it seems like I'm trying to become anorexic, but actually 55kg is the weight I've felt most comfortable at. When my stomach doesn't make 3 rolls when I bend. It's this kind of little amount of fat that I want to lose.

    You might want more of a recomposition program. Losing more weight isn't likely to give you the results you're describing here. Recomp might: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat

    QFT. Recomp is the way to go, not losing more weight.
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    edited September 2015
    Agreed with all the recomp/build muscle posts. These will tighten up the "loose" parts. If you were to only lose weight, there's no guarantee that those loose parts will become tight.

    Don't concentrate on the number on the scale.....ditch it.
  • vivelajackie
    vivelajackie Posts: 321 Member
    Agreeing. You're at a Healthy weight. Up your cals and take up a weightlifting regimine.
  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
    And the upside to all of this recomp advice, OP? You have plenty of calories to fit in your peanuts and beer! Seriously, this is the way to go. You'll be much happier with the end result.
  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
    qubetha wrote: »

    Even on a super fit person, a normal healthy stomach has rolls when they bend. You have an unrealistic impression of what it means to be fit and healthy. Even a healthy, super fit athlete still carries fat because that is a normal part of the human body. What you call "love handles" are your body's natural fat stores and required for a healthy existence. At your height and weight I highly doubt that you look flabby and even so, you should be dealing with this by building muscle (recomp if you must) not seeking to lose even more weight. The path you are headed down will lead you to nothing other than illness....

    OP, please listen to this advice.