struggling to lose weight
fitnessqueen91
Posts: 166 Member
I find it so hard to loose weight on the scales. I exercise a lot and eat a normal diet (I count calories strictly), but I don't notice much difference on the scale and my body likes to stay around 12st-12st 3lb. It's so frustrating. I'm 5"7.5. My mum tells me I've lost weight and I feel good but I should be lighter especially as my BMI is 26-26.5. I weighed today and I'm 12st 2.8lb 
. My period is due in a few days so I don't know if it's that and I know that you can retain water from exercise. I ran 3.6 miles the other day.
. My period is due in a few days so I don't know if it's that and I know that you can retain water from exercise. I ran 3.6 miles the other day. 0
Replies
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I also retain water from exercise. You ran and are close to your period so I would say that its a safe bet to say that your just retaining water. It happens, there's no reason to fret.
if you have problems seeing your progress on the scale , then I'd start to take measurements . write down your measurements (and the date because water weight can effect this also, my belly measures almost 2 inches larger during these times. ) for some that don't have a lot to lose, its easier to see the progress through measurements instead of scale numbers. I measure monthly.0 -
Your body only likes to stay around 12st to 12st3 because of your calorie balance.
Hard to dicipher what you are asking as there's a lot of "fluff" in your posting but not much in the way of hard facts like what exercise or far more crucially what your calorie goal is - but yes water fluctuations can mask fat loss. Comparing weight month on month is more useful.
Opening your diary would help, that's the first place to look if you aren't seeing results.0 -
Weigh foods
Log accurately
Stay within MFP calories, if not workout more to create a bigger deficit.
Problem solved.0 -
Buy a measuring tape. When I am not losing weight, on a deficit, I measure. Make sure you tighten up with logging and use a foodscale.0
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I eat around 1700-1900 cals a day plus I walk 15-20 miles a week on top of going to the gym 3-4 times a week and doing intense work outs. I need 2000-2100 cals to maintain my weight without exercise! restrictive diets aren't healthy. ive done very low calorie diets before and lost loads of weight but put it back on only to gain it because I was hungry all the time and couldn't maintain that kind of restrictive diet. also I don't think that weighing food is a healthy approach either, as it can lead to obsessive behaviours and eating disorders.0
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innerfatty91 wrote: »I eat around 1700-1900 cals a day plus I walk 15-20 miles a week on top of going to the gym 3-4 times a week and doing intense work outs. I need 2000-2100 cals to maintain my weight without exercise!
I disagree, If you're eating 1700-1900 calories per day, and not losing weight, then by definition, that is what is required to maintain your weight. To lose, you'll need to eat slightly less than that.
Though I would echo the advice repeated above...unless you are weighing and measuring your food ingredients and portions, you really aren't SURE you're eating 1700-1900. You're merely estimating.0 -
innerfatty91 wrote: »I eat around 1700-1900 cals a day plus I walk 15-20 miles a week on top of going to the gym 3-4 times a week and doing intense work outs. I need 2000-2100 cals to maintain my weight without exercise! restrictive diets aren't healthy. ive done very low calorie diets before and lost loads of weight but put it back on only to gain it because I was hungry all the time and couldn't maintain that kind of restrictive diet. also I don't think that weighing food is a healthy approach either, as it can lead to obsessive behaviours and eating disorders.
I understand if you've decided that weighing food isn't an healthy approach for YOU, but there are tons of people here who do it without having issues. You need to decide what is best for you and you know your tendency towards obsessive behavior better than a group of people on the internet. However, if you aren't weighing your food, you could be eating much more than you think you are. This is going to slow down your weight loss and it's something that you will have to factor into your decision.0 -
innerfatty91 wrote: »I eat around 1700-1900 cals a day plus I walk 15-20 miles a week on top of going to the gym 3-4 times a week and doing intense work outs. I need 2000-2100 cals to maintain my weight without exercise! restrictive diets aren't healthy. ive done very low calorie diets before and lost loads of weight but put it back on only to gain it because I was hungry all the time and couldn't maintain that kind of restrictive diet. also I don't think that weighing food is a healthy approach either, as it can lead to obsessive behaviours and eating disorders.
1900 *might* be your maintenance... All the online calculators are just estimates. And if you're not weighing your food, you have no idea if you're actually eating only 1900. We want you to be successful, but the tools are available for you to use. We can't use them for you. It's very, very likely you're underestimating your intake by 20% and overestimating your daily TDEE by 10-20%. This would mean no loss showing on the scales.0 -
ive been on strict low calorie diets of 1000-1200 calories and I wouldn't loose a pounds0
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people eat low calorie diets and still loose weight0
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im pretty sure as a very active person I don't maintain weight on what im eating. look I feel good and I see changes in the mirror, but not on the scale. im not going to obsess about every morsel of food. enjoy your crash diets and putting the weight back on. id rather lose it slowly than yoyo.0
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thorsmom01 wrote: »I also retain water from exercise. You ran and are close to your period so I would say that its a safe bet to say that your just retaining water. It happens, there's no reason to fret.
if you have problems seeing your progress on the scale , then I'd start to take measurements . write down your measurements (and the date because water weight can effect this also, my belly measures almost 2 inches larger during these times. ) for some that don't have a lot to lose, its easier to see the progress through measurements instead of scale numbers. I measure monthly.
thanks! your response was the only helpful and wise one.0 -
innerfatty91 wrote: »im pretty sure as a very active person I don't maintain weight on what im eating.
Your results indicate otherwise0 -
innerfatty91 wrote: »im pretty sure as a very active person I don't maintain weight on what im eating. look I feel good and I see changes in the mirror, but not on the scale. im not going to obsess about every morsel of food. enjoy your crash diets and putting the weight back on. id rather lose it slowly than yoyo.
Well, now you're just being insulting to people who are trying to help troubleshoot what might be happening. Why would I try to help someone who's going to turn around and throw *kitten* like this in my face.
If you're happy with the changes you're seeing, then great. Keep doing what you're doing. But you asked why your weight isn't going down and that's controlled by your calorie intake. No one here is suggesting a vlcd. They're suggesting that somewhere along the way one or more of your estimates are off. What you do with that information is up to you.0 -
Ah.... there's the issue! Not weighing foods. You're most probably eating more than you think.innerfatty91 wrote: »I eat around 1700-1900 cals a day plus I walk 15-20 miles a week on top of going to the gym 3-4 times a week and doing intense work outs. I need 2000-2100 cals to maintain my weight without exercise! restrictive diets aren't healthy. ive done very low calorie diets before and lost loads of weight but put it back on only to gain it because I was hungry all the time and couldn't maintain that kind of restrictive diet. also I don't think that weighing food is a healthy approach either, as it can lead to obsessive behaviours and eating disorders.
Has weighing been a problem for you in the past? Just asking, as many here used to just eyeball or measure portions and didn't lose any weight until they started to weigh their food....and they started losing again. I was one of them! Weighing gives a great insight as to how much you're eating. I was actually eating a few hundred calories more than what I thought I was and was close to or on maintenance until I started weighing my food. It doesn't take much time to weigh foods. I prepare a day ahead so that I stay on track.0 -
innerfatty91 wrote: »thorsmom01 wrote: »I also retain water from exercise. You ran and are close to your period so I would say that its a safe bet to say that your just retaining water. It happens, there's no reason to fret.
if you have problems seeing your progress on the scale , then I'd start to take measurements . write down your measurements (and the date because water weight can effect this also, my belly measures almost 2 inches larger during these times. ) for some that don't have a lot to lose, its easier to see the progress through measurements instead of scale numbers. I measure monthly.
thanks! your response was the only helpful and wise one.
Actually there was a ton of good advice from all the posters here.
Good luck on your weight loss.0 -
innerfatty91 wrote: »im pretty sure as a very active person I don't maintain weight on what im eating. look I feel good and I see changes in the mirror, but not on the scale. im not going to obsess about every morsel of food. enjoy your crash diets and putting the weight back on. id rather lose it slowly than yoyo.
You said you were frustrated because you were struggling to lose weight. People were trying to help you. Nobody is suggesting that you go on a crash diet.0 -
innerfatty91 wrote: »thorsmom01 wrote: »I also retain water from exercise. You ran and are close to your period so I would say that its a safe bet to say that your just retaining water. It happens, there's no reason to fret.
if you have problems seeing your progress on the scale , then I'd start to take measurements . write down your measurements (and the date because water weight can effect this also, my belly measures almost 2 inches larger during these times. ) for some that don't have a lot to lose, its easier to see the progress through measurements instead of scale numbers. I measure monthly.
thanks! your response was the only helpful and wise one.
Google the following term: "confirmation bias"0 -
Except in your first post you said you're stuck in 12st-12.3st.
So you are maintaining at your current intake. Options are to reassess your intake, increase your activity/exercise, or see a doctor to rule out any medical issues that could be a factor. I don't think anyone here has suggested you follow a 'crash diet'. Those were your words. The advise here was to improve logging accuracy.
If you are losing it slowly, then good. Over what time frame have you been stuck at 12-12.3? If just a few weeks maybe you need more patience. Water weight from a number of causes can hide weight loss. But if you've been at the same weight for months then you are eating at maintenance.innerfatty91 wrote: »im pretty sure as a very active person I don't maintain weight on what im eating. look I feel good and I see changes in the mirror, but not on the scale. im not going to obsess about every morsel of food. enjoy your crash diets and putting the weight back on. id rather lose it slowly than yoyo.
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StaciMarie1974 wrote: »Except in your first post you said you're stuck in 12st-12.3st.
So you are maintaining at your current intake. Options are to reassess your intake, increase your activity/exercise, or see a doctor to rule out any medical issues that could be a factor. I don't think anyone here has suggested you follow a 'crash diet'. Those were your words. The advise here was to improve logging accuracy.
If you are losing it slowly, then good. Over what time frame have you been stuck at 12-12.3? If just a few weeks maybe you need more patience. Water weight from a number of causes can hide weight loss. But if you've been at the same weight for months then you are eating at maintenance.innerfatty91 wrote: »im pretty sure as a very active person I don't maintain weight on what im eating. look I feel good and I see changes in the mirror, but not on the scale. im not going to obsess about every morsel of food. enjoy your crash diets and putting the weight back on. id rather lose it slowly than yoyo.
I haven't been at that weight for months but for the past two or so months I have. Maybe I'm just impatient and I expect quick results. I've struggled with binge eating but I'm getting better. Whenever I'm 12 and a half stone and over I loose weight quickly but then it seems to stabilise and I see small changes on the scale even if I feel better about myself and my body. Or I won't loose a pound and then the next time I step on the scale bam I've lost two or three pounds!0 -
I don't mean to be cranky. Been feeling very stressed and tired. I hate weighing myself so much. Maybe I should give it time. Maybe it's water retention, I don't know.0
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I get angry when people say I should weigh my food because for me that's obsessive behaviour and a bit OTT taking a weighing scale around with you. I don't want to go down the obsessing over every tiny morsel. I've done that and I was close to an eating disorder.0
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innerfatty91 wrote: »I get angry when people say I should weigh my food because for me that's obsessive behaviour and a bit OTT taking a weighing scale around with you. I don't want to go down the obsessing over every tiny morsel. I've done that and I was close to an eating disorder.
People suggested that you weigh your food. If you decide that isn't best for you, that's fine. But you should temper your frustration because you are forgoing a way that you can make your logging more accurate. You may be forgoing it for a really good reason, but it should help you understand why you may not be seeing consistent results.
People who are recovering from EDs may have slower progress because they're having to avoid strategies and tools that others can use. That doesn't mean they SHOULD use those, but it doesn't make sense to get angry when people suggest them. None of us knew, at the beginning of this thread, that you were in recovery. We made suggestions suitable for the average person.0 -
innerfatty91 wrote: »I get angry when people say I should weigh my food because for me that's obsessive behaviour and a bit OTT taking a weighing scale around with you. I don't want to go down the obsessing over every tiny morsel. I've done that and I was close to an eating disorder.
Have you talked to a professional about your food and emotional issues? Food should not cause emotions, it's just food. Us suggesting you weigh food -- something plenty of healthy individuals do to lose or maintain weight -- shouldn't make you angry. Sure, tell us it's not for you, but it's shouldn't make you "angry." If you get this defensive about food, you're very young, you have a long life ahead of you. It might be a happier life if you work through some of these issues and develop coping mechanisms for criticism and for times you hit roadblocks in life instead of snapping at people who are trying to help you.0 -
innerfatty91 wrote: »I get angry when people say I should weigh my food because for me that's obsessive behaviour and a bit OTT taking a weighing scale around with you. I don't want to go down the obsessing over every tiny morsel. I've done that and I was close to an eating disorder.
I don't carry my food scale around with me, but I do prep all my food and pre log it. If I know I am going to eat out, I do my research, check out a menu, and hopefully be able to see what the calorie counts are. Yes, sometimes I am not able to figure out calories when I eat out, but I do my best to estimate those and move on. I don't find my behavior to be obsessive, I am using a tool to teach myself how to eat mindfully.
Those tiny morsels add up.0 -
By all means don't weigh if that triggers disordered thinking around food. But you asked why the scale isn't budging and answer to this is generally that you are underestimating what you eat and/or overestimating what you burn.
Weighing your food is a way to be more accurate about your food intake. However, you can also look at your exercise burns - how are you calculating them? If you are going by the MFP database, many people suggest you just eat back 50% of the calories you earned from exercise.0 -
innerfatty91 wrote: »StaciMarie1974 wrote: »Except in your first post you said you're stuck in 12st-12.3st.
So you are maintaining at your current intake. Options are to reassess your intake, increase your activity/exercise, or see a doctor to rule out any medical issues that could be a factor. I don't think anyone here has suggested you follow a 'crash diet'. Those were your words. The advise here was to improve logging accuracy.
If you are losing it slowly, then good. Over what time frame have you been stuck at 12-12.3? If just a few weeks maybe you need more patience. Water weight from a number of causes can hide weight loss. But if you've been at the same weight for months then you are eating at maintenance.innerfatty91 wrote: »im pretty sure as a very active person I don't maintain weight on what im eating. look I feel good and I see changes in the mirror, but not on the scale. im not going to obsess about every morsel of food. enjoy your crash diets and putting the weight back on. id rather lose it slowly than yoyo.
I haven't been at that weight for months but for the past two or so months I have. Maybe I'm just impatient and I expect quick results. I've struggled with binge eating but I'm getting better. Whenever I'm 12 and a half stone and over I loose weight quickly but then it seems to stabilise and I see small changes on the scale even if I feel better about myself and my body. Or I won't loose a pound and then the next time I step on the scale bam I've lost two or three pounds!
What you're describing sounds like a perfectly normal pattern of weight loss. As you get closer to your goal weight the loss naturally slows down. Normal fluctuations and stalls become more apparent. For women, some of this will happen around our period and ovulation. But also exercise, stress, sleeping patterns, carbs, sodium, etc. can all cause little bumps and dips in our scale weight. Try to look at the bigger trends.0 -
I'm around your height and my TDEE is somewhere in the 1700-1900 range, as in... whenever I eat that much daily, I won't really lose much.
I also don't do much for workouts, though...0 -
innerfatty91 wrote: »I get angry when people say I should weigh my food because for me that's obsessive behaviour and a bit OTT taking a weighing scale around with you. I don't want to go down the obsessing over every tiny morsel. I've done that and I was close to an eating disorder.
Then that's fine and good that you know yourself. I've lost fine without weighing.
My body often "feels" skinnier beforr the loss shows up. Not sure why...
Sounds like you'll see loss soon. Don't be discouraged.0 -
Find your macros and eat based on those scales.0
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