On paper, I'm doing everything right...so why aren't I losing weight?
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Struggling with this exact same issue. Thanks for posting.
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My take is you aren't eating enough. If you are eating an average of 1500 calories a day and exercising for an hour, plus walking 12,000 steps. Your body may not be getting the fuel it needs. I'd try eating 1/2 my exercise calories back and see if that jump starts the weight loss. I know it sounds counter-intuitive but it works for many people.
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Woman_on_Fire wrote: »snowflake930 wrote: »Are you weighing and measuring EVERYTHING that you eat and drink?
Yes, I weigh and measure absolutely everything I eat. I prepare all of my meals for the week using a digital scale. I do not measure beverages as I only drink no-cal drinks (water, black coffee and unsweetened tea only).
Not to nit-pick, but you have a lot of entries for solid foods that list the units in cups (Knorr shells, beets, mango), and you also have a lot of things like 1 apple, 1.5 grapefruit, etc. Fruit calories add up quickly, so you really should be tracking these kinds of things in grams.0 -
My take is you aren't eating enough. If you are eating an average of 1500 calories a day and exercising for an hour, plus walking 12,000 steps. Your body may not be getting the fuel it needs. I'd try eating 1/2 my exercise calories back and see if that jump starts the weight loss. I know it sounds counter-intuitive but it works for many people.
If she wasn't eating enough she's lose weight0 -
My take is you aren't eating enough. If you are eating an average of 1500 calories a day and exercising for an hour, plus walking 12,000 steps. Your body may not be getting the fuel it needs. I'd try eating 1/2 my exercise calories back and see if that jump starts the weight loss. I know it sounds counter-intuitive but it works for many people.
No, sorry. If she's not losing on what she's eating now, eating more will not boost weight loss. This is a myth.0 -
In the 23 days since Feb 16 (not counting today) you have 7 days in your food diary that are blank or logged incompletely. Of the remaining days, most that are logged completely show a total in the 1500-1600 range. So yes, you are at or around goal on those days but, most likely, your non-logged days exceed those amounts. I fail to see why it is so much more difficult to log foods on the weekends if they are the same things you eat during the week. In all likelihood you are not logging because you know you are going over calories and you don't want to see the evidence written down. You're eating too much to lose.0
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What you just described is physically impossible. You must be logging your calories in/out incorrectly. For most people, this is due to not measuring your food properly (weight/volume) and just guessing at the portions you're eating, and/or neglecting to log condiments like salad dressings or the butter you grease the pan with, etc.
It's possible that you are retaining water weight for some reason, but if you've been on a large deficit for 3 weeks, water weight shouldn't be keeping you at zero weight lost.
I see other people saying the same thing is happening to them, and I see people say this a lot.
People, what you are thinking is happening to you is literally physically impossible according to the laws of physics. You know that energy cannot be created or destroyed? By claiming you are at a deficit every day and not losing weight, you are claiming that your body moves without expending energy, or creates energy from nothing in order to move. You might as well claim you can walk through walls. Aside from maybe some extremely rare medical conditions, the issue must be that you are logging your food and exercise incorrectly. There is literally no other explanation, other than your body breaking the laws of physics, and that is not it.0 -
kimberlee_45 wrote: »I have been in the same boat as you. Remember that muscle weighs more than fat. Don't let the scale discourage you. If you feel better and your clothes are fitting looser, then you are doing everything right and you will start seeing the loss on the scale. Trust me, I know how frustrating this journey can be when this happens. Don't give up! You got this!
Please add me if you like.
The most amount of muscle ever recorded by professionals was 18 1/4 lbs, the most possible they estimate is 23lbs. The limiting rate of turnover in the muscle cells it is impossible to grow more than an ounce of new muscle each day (16oz in lb), the more years you train the less muscle you can gain per year. So at absolute max she could gain 2lbs a month of muscle mass with proper training which required pretty serious weight training regimen. And the whole muscle weighs more than fat is complete b.s., they weight the same, a lb is lb. However because muscle is denser than fat it will look different on a human body thus muscle appearing leaner.0 -
See my response above; it's common for people to jump into a strenuous exercise regimen and experience a lot of water retention at first. Plus, she's probably not at a large deficit, so it's entirely possible for the water retention to mask any weight loss for her right now.It's possible that you are retaining water weight for some reason, but if you've been on a large deficit for 3 weeks, water weight shouldn't be keeping you at zero weight lost.
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Ready2Rock206 wrote: »snowflake930 wrote: »kimberlee_45 wrote: »I have been in the same boat as you. Remember that muscle weighs more than fat. Don't let the scale discourage you. If you feel better and your clothes are fitting looser, then you are doing everything right and you will start seeing the loss on the scale. Trust me, I know how frustrating this journey can be when this happens. Don't give up! You got this!
Please add me if you like.
Seriously, muscle does not weigh more than fat. A pound is a pound, whether it is fat, muscle, feathers, lead.
And it is very hard to build muscle while eating in a deficit.
^^ Yes very true, for beginners and people who are obese it is easier to gain some muscle, but after a certain point you start losing muscle mass if you are not weight training and eating ton of protein (which at most with maintain muscle mass and not gain (unless you are a beginner and obese).0 -
People already have offered many good tips. In addition, I would ask: Are you getting an adequate amount of sleep? I have heard and I believe that a sufficient amount of sleep is as important to weight loss as diet and exercise.0
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Woman_on_Fire wrote: »snowflake930 wrote: »Are you weighing and measuring EVERYTHING that you eat and drink?
Yes, I weigh and measure absolutely everything I eat. I prepare all of my meals for the week using a digital scale. I do not measure beverages as I only drink no-cal drinks (water, black coffee and unsweetened tea only).
Not to nit-pick, but you have a lot of entries for solid foods that list the units in cups (Knorr shells, beets, mango), and you also have a lot of things like 1 apple, 1.5 grapefruit, etc. Fruit calories add up quickly, so you really should be tracking these kinds of things in grams.
Agreed. Do an experiment: take 5 apples that look about the same size and weigh them. If they're all the exact same weight I'll be super shocked! You may think you're weighing everything, but you're not. Using cups and teaspoons also isn't as accurate as you think. Take a week to weigh EVERYTHING that goes into your body, even if it's just a couple of grapes. EVERYTHING. Your scale is you best friend for a week. Focus on logging that way for a week and see where you're at. You will be surprised at what you've been missing.
Also, 3 weeks isn't a plateu. There are many things that can mask weight loss, including TOM/hormones. Weight loss isn't linear, and there will be times where the scale will stick in one place or go up a little for a few weeks, then you'll shed all of that and more the next week. Frustrating, but that's how it goes. One thing that helps your perception is to look at the TREND of your weight loss. MFP has a graph function that will plot all your entered weights on a graph. If you can draw a line from start to finish and it's going down, you're fine.0 -
Also, make sure you are choosing the correct entries form the database. Many of the entries are waaay off. You have to do some research on your own. For example, 6 oz of salmon is not 150 calories, it's closer to 300. One avocado is around 300 calories, or 150 calories for 100g. Getting the proper entry is critical.0
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You might be a monthly loser like me. You don't get extra credit for extra exercise unfortunately; sometimes all you get is swollen aggrieved muscles. All that exercise will increase your stamina and strength.
I suggest changing something and see if it has an effect. And you don't have to be 100% perfect all the time to see results. You just have to change SOMETHING. Like dropping 50 calories from your daily target.
Or you could change to intense exercise every other day to give your body time to recover.0 -
How much do you weigh and what is your height? How are you measuring your exercise? How are you measuring all your food?
The only accurate way to measure food is with a scale and measure liquids as well. The most accurate way to measure calorie burn is using a heart rate monitor with chest strap. Do not trust gym equipment estimates and fit bit can be inaccurate for many people. Just looking at your tyson chicken breast logged food the amount is always the same, chicken pieces never come in same sizes, your weight would vary which leads me to believe you are not using a scale to measure your food. Every little ounce counts and can be the difference between you losing and not losing weight. Same goes for a lot of the other foods you log they are all the same weight.
Your exercise calorie burns seem extremely high, unless you are extremely obese like I am and exercising for 2 and half hours of hard cord weight training/cardio then your calorie burns aren't right especially the one logged for yesterday of amount of 2,392! And your others are 1,000-1400. These kind of calories burns are pretty unusual, I will burn 1100 calories with my HRM if I do 45 mins of hard cord weight training (with heart rate range of 155-175, resting is 62) followed by hard core cardio for another 45mins (with heart rate range 165-185 from resting 62), and I weight 240lbs. Please describe what activity you are doing, you heart rate measurements, your weight, and duration.
Next...you didn't log Friday, Saturday or Sunday. You seem to skip weekend logging quite a bit. What are you eating on those days? You have to log every day! Every bit!0 -
Yes. Your exercise burns seem very high. What did you do to burn 2,392 calories0
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Woman_on_Fire wrote: »the scale HAS NOT MOVED in 3 weeks.
What does this mean? Are you weighing yourself once a week and you are seeing the exact same number on the scale once each week?
When you sample data infrequently, it can be harder to see patterns in the data.
If you sample data frequently (for example weighing daily) you can start to see trends, whether up, down or sideways.
For example:
Sunday, Day 1: 145
Monday, Day 2: 144.4
Tuesday, Day 3: 144.2
Wednesday, Day 4: 144.4
Thursday, Day 5: 144.2
Friday, Day 6: 144
Saturday, Day 7: 144.4
Sunday, Day 8: 145
Monday, Day 9: 144.2
Tuesday, Day 10: 144
Wednesday, Day 11: 144.2
Thursday, Day 12: 143.2
Friday, Day 13: 143.2
Saturday, Day 14: 144
Sunday, Day 15: 145
Monday, Day 16: 143.4
Tuesday, Day 17: 144.2
Wednesday, Day 18: 143
Thursday, Day 19: 142.6
Friday, Day 20: 142.6
Saturday, Day 21: 143
Sunday, Day 22: 145
You may think that no progress is being made, but the weights in this example are trending downward. It may be happening slowly, but it is happening.
Try using an app like HappyScales or a website like trendweight.com to track your trend line.0 -
Your logging this past Monday seems to be incomplete, as well as Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. You have a few other weekend gaps and weekday gaps. Your apple is 231 grams every single time you eat one. Your cherry tomatoes are always 100 grams. When you say you're "doing everything right" that's not really the truth. I'm not trying to be harsh to you, but I've seen that phrase on this forum a multitude of times and in the end, their diary always reflects the opposite of their claims. Be honest with yourself, invest in a food scale, and weigh and record everything you eat. You will see progress that way.
Edit: I see that you're saying you weigh everything. I can understand weighing out cherry tomatoes to 100 grams, but how are your apples 231 grams every single time? What about your entries in cups, ounces, etc?
^^ Yes her tyson chicken breast amounts are also all the same. What about the Fuji apple, logging .75 of it without any weight actually measured. Fuji apple weight can vary quite a bit. Or fuji applle 2 1/2'' diameter log. This is not measurements from a scale but an estimation. Or cucumber .5 cups of slices, that is not a proper way to measure food, it should be all in grams! Anything with measured with cup (except liquids) can be grossly under estimated, you have to measure on a scale with grams and ounces.0 -
MadeOfMagic wrote: »How much do you weigh and what is your height? How are you measuring your exercise? How are you measuring all your food?
The only accurate way to measure food is with a scale and measure liquids as well. The most accurate way to measure calorie burn is using a heart rate monitor with chest strap. Do not trust gym equipment estimates and fit bit can be inaccurate for many people. Just looking at your tyson chicken breast logged food the amount is always the same, chicken pieces never come in same sizes, your weight would vary which leads me to believe you are not using a scale to measure your food. Every little ounce counts and can be the difference between you losing and not losing weight. Same goes for a lot of the other foods you log they are all the same weight.
Your exercise calorie burns seem extremely high, unless you are extremely obese like I am and exercising for 2 and half hours of hard cord weight training/cardio then your calorie burns aren't right especially the one logged for yesterday of amount of 2,392! And your others are 1,000-1400. These kind of calories burns are pretty unusual, I will burn 1100 calories with my HRM if I do 45 mins of hard cord weight training (with heart rate range of 155-175, resting is 62) followed by hard core cardio for another 45mins (with heart rate range 165-185 from resting 62), and I weight 240lbs. Please describe what activity you are doing, you heart rate measurements, your weight, and duration.
Next...you didn't log Friday, Saturday or Sunday. You seem to skip weekend logging quite a bit. What are you eating on those days? You have to log every day! Every bit!
a chest strap HRM is not 100% accurate either and is only good for steady state cardio. its going to be off for other types of workouts.weight training also doesnt burn a crap load of calories either.0 -
First of all your logging is not accurate ( days missing)
Second you dont weigh EVERYTHING
You get far more calories than you think
Move away from a cup of fruit, a medium apple, 2 cookies, 2 large of some thing, 14 shrimps ( how big are they?)
And so on
Weigh your food on a food scale that will be an eye opener.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY
Dont use cups and spoons or serving sizes. It is inaccurate.
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