Very discouraged, not sure what else to try

It's all about what you eat. Track your food. Weigh and measure.

Indeed... there is "watching what you eat" and then there is measuring / weighing everything that goes in your mouth!

Sometimes people only log food but not drinks... Sometimes people just "eyeball" portions (a real eye opener when you actually measure 30g of your breakfast cereal and realise that your "portion" was about 75g!)... Sometime people log a sandwich but "forget" about the butter... Sometimes people fry something and don't log the 125 cals of olive oil they liberally poured into the pan... It all adds up.

Vague terms like I watch what i eat are always a near certain indicator of a lack of accuracy. Quite a few people say things like that or that they 'eat clean', eat right, eat healthy, etc. As much as you feel your food watching abilities are on point, people are naturally biased towards underestimating what they're eating because basically we want to eat as much as we can.

Get yourself a food scale. Be honest. Weigh everything. Log it. No guesses or eyeballing portions.

If you are not losing, you are not in a caloric deficit.

I am surprised at the responses to jinggirl in the sense that folk are assuming she does not already do this. I know for a fact that in some cases although not that common, metabolism can change and you can be doing everything correct and still struggle. People such as my daughter with PCOS are one group for starters. She spent months eating fantastically healthily, going to the gym virtually every day; had a very active job. She lost 3 lbs in around 6 months! Nobody but nobody could say "you are consuming more than you are burning. If you're in calorie deficit you WILL lose weight." The interesting thing is that since she stopped trying so hard and went back to being 'average' in doing exercise and healthy eating, she did not put the weight back on; so it doesn't always add up.

I have just posted on my status that I am not sure it is worth carrying on due to hardly losing anything. I didn't eat that much before (child portions in a lot of meals); I normally eat healthily with the odd treats (who doesn't). Yet in 48 days I have only lost 1.75 lbs. Despite having disabilities I have increased my activity, logged and measured out meticulously to my husband's despair (not eating that until it has been weighed). I bought a Polar heart monitor and activity watch which tells me how much has been burned both in calories and 'fat burning' I am not drastically overweight - around 7-10 lbs, but it will not shift. Before menopause I could put a few pounds on and within a few days lose it again. It is possible there is some sort of metabolic issue with jinggirl, or menopause. I can really feel for her frustration as I am struggling too. For me I am feeling at the moment it is just not worth it. Might as well go back to not weighing out portions and not trying to fight the pain by exercising. Yet the stubbornness in me I guess makes me try and carry on for a bit longer. MFP tells me at the end of completing my diary I will be between 9st 3 and 9st 6 within 5 weeks. It has been saying that ever since I started!! I would be happy to be 9st 7 which would be 3lbs less than when I started.

How about we try and actually help jinngirl to determine if there is 1: a health condition that has developed that could have affected her metabolism? 2:there is any other information she hasn't given that would help get to the root of the cause? It is easy and quick to judge folk are guessing amounts etc; but in my experience, the ones who keep trying to lose weight and don't see much happening, are the ones who are the most meticulous in measuring and not cheating. Please don't think I am having a go, just trying to enable folk to see from 'outside the box' :-)

Most OPs who are aware of underlying health issues which may make it a little harder to lose weight (PCOS, thyroid, certain mental health medication...) will say so in their post. The fast is that the vast majority of people who are not losing weight continue to consume more than they burn and are not 'sick'.

cryptobrit wrote: »

How about we try and actually help jinngirl to determine if there is 1: a health condition that has developed that could have affected her metabolism? 2:there is any other information she hasn't given that would help get to the root of the cause?

We aren't doctors. We shouldn't be helping anyone self diagnose themselves. Clearly she has been to her doctor since she states her doctor told her to exercise more.

Yes....exercise more if you want to keep eating the calories you are eating. Loosing weight is a matter of eating a calorie deficit, as others have said. You would be surprised at times on how easily calories can stack up while you think you are watching what you eat.

The bottom line is start tracking what you eat and look at how many calories you are consuming. If you eat at a deficit and your weight is still going up, definitely mention it to your doctor. But it sounds like you have talked about it which probably means the issue is calorie consumption being too high.

It could be that you are not eating enough!
Otherwise maybe trying changing one of your activities for something different. I maintained the same weight for ages so adjusted some of my exercises - I still walk 5 miles but I tried walking at different speeds and the weight is on the move again.

Don't give up it will happen x

cside691 wrote: »

It could be that you are not eating enough!
Otherwise maybe trying changing one of your activities for something different. I maintained the same weight for ages so adjusted some of my exercises - I still walk 5 miles but I tried walking at different speeds and the weight is on the move again.

Don't give up it will happen x

I agree with you that she might not be eating enough... I was seriously undereating & gaining weight... It took me a couple of months to slowly increase my caloric intake to 1500 calories per day & then I lost 8lbs in 20 days... I used to workout pretty aggressively at the gym until it started making me seriously sick (from undereating)- I continued to gain weight & my body started breaking down... My body basically went into panic mode because I was burning tons of calories & eating an average of 600 calories a day... I'm still physically recovering from the huge strain I put on my body for years, but I'm making leaps & bounds of progress in my health...

Well I have done my Monday morning weigh in and put on another pound. This makes me only one pound under than when I started. My calories have been in deficit each week and in fact the last week even more so. Yes, I have weighed everything meticulously. I think there is definitely something in not eating enough, especially if upping the exercise. I have already posted on my status about thinking of going back to eating how I was before but keeping the exercising when possible. Maybe I would have more success?

rlicopoli wrote: »

I had the same problem. LA Weight Loss plan solved the problem. (not sure if they are still in business but their method can be googled). My issue wasn't with too many calories. It was with metabolism. The LA weightloss plan requires you to eat a certain amount throughout the day, including water intake. You should check it out if nothing else works. The plan actually had me eating more than I normally would.

Thank you rlicopoli, I shall have a Google:-)

Results start in the kitchen not a gym. You can workout as much as you want but if you don't eat right then workout won't matter.

I am 47 and have been doing MFP for 7 weeks now, strength & cardio with 1200 calories. I've only lost 2kg in that time, which is very frustrating, but on the other hand I feel fitter and I really do look a lot better. I have 4kg to go to reach the very top end of the healthy weight range for my height. Hang in there!