Why am I not losing weight!!!!!

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  • Owlie45
    Owlie45 Posts: 810 Member
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    paperpudding wrote: »
    CurlyCockney wrote: »
    kaitfin94 wrote: »
    So I've definitely been measuring everything out including oils and peanut butter and what not. I use the scanner in the app to get the food so I know it's the right ones. Sometimes the food I'm logging doesn't give me the option to put things into grams so I just see how many grams a serving is on the package and add it in that way. I'm trying to eat clean but I am also still on a deficit. I use a Fitbit hr to get a more accurate calorie burn count but I still try to eat only a tiny bit of exercise calories back. But I haven't been weighing things on my cheat meals so that could definitely be my problem. I'm 5'2 and only have ten pounds to lose so that could also be why?

    The scanner leads to the same MFP database as typing does, with the same possible errors.

    I don't understand this comment - scanning by bar code leads to the exact product one is scanning not a generic or broad range of products like typing in say, vanilla ice cream, would do.

    I scan all the time. Wrong calories for the correct package pop up all the time. I end up manually entering it then.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    OP, I only bring these up because I never used to weight this stuff, and I was shocked by how off my volume measurements of them were when I finally started doing it. Do you weigh on a food scale:

    Peanut butter
    Jam
    Canned tuna
    Nuts & seeds
    Protein powder
    Fruit
    Oats
    "Servings" of guacamole

    These are all calorie dense foods that might be throwing you off. Also I went back several days and saw no oil, butter, ketchup, beverages, sauce, etc. If you are using any of that, again they are calorie dense so make sure you measure and log.

    The only other thing I can offer is that if you have less than 20 lbs to lose, progress will be very slow and can be offset week to week by water weight fluctuations and that can be really frustrating so patience is key. And if you aren't accurately logging your cheat meal, that might be a problem as well. Hang in there, and good luck!
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
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    kimny72 wrote: »
    OP, I only bring these up because I never used to weight this stuff, and I was shocked by how off my volume measurements of them were when I finally started doing it. Do you weigh on a food scale:

    Peanut butter
    Jam
    Canned tuna
    Nuts & seeds
    Protein powder
    Fruit
    Oats
    "Servings" of guacamole

    These are all calorie dense foods that might be throwing you off. Also I went back several days and saw no oil, butter, ketchup, beverages, sauce, etc. If you are using any of that, again they are calorie dense so make sure you measure and log.

    The only other thing I can offer is that if you have less than 20 lbs to lose, progress will be very slow and can be offset week to week by water weight fluctuations and that can be really frustrating so patience is key. And if you aren't accurately logging your cheat meal, that might be a problem as well. Hang in there, and good luck!
    Definitely. Using spoons can easily tip the calories over, which is why I weigh butter, peanut butter, mayonnaise, oil. Actually, the only items I use measuring cups for is juice, stock, pop... basically any liquid with calories. Everything else, even fruit and veg gets weighed.

    Oh... Weigh pre-packaged and pre-weighed foods, too, like bread slices and eggs. In the database a large egg is 50g, but when you weigh th eggs in the carton, the weights of the eggs vary from 50-70g, and that's a big difference. Weigh cold-cuts/salami... Everything.

  • kaitfin94
    kaitfin94 Posts: 35 Member
    edited May 2016
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    Thanks for all the tips
  • alanlmarshall
    alanlmarshall Posts: 587 Member
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    Calimama123 wrote: »
    trollerskates wrote: »
    Start walking 1 hour a day. Not running! Keep your carbs clean. Sweet potatos, veggies.

    Why shouldn't she run?

    It makes the carbs unclean. #magic #broscience
  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,222 Member
    edited May 2016
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    Hi, I looked at your diary and to me it seems that the little deficit you're making is undone by the cheat days. Your logging seems fine to me. Maybe try to cut the cheat days and instead eat some time at a deficit then some time at maintenance (to be able to enjoy those extra calories and not get crazy) and so on. Don't go over maintenance. It's that you have so little to lose and you metabolise at such low calories now that it is very difficult to lose weight anyway.

    ETA: I'm at a healthy BMI too and I lose very slowly and almost never allow myself to go over maintenance. If I had cheat days I'd probably be stalled like you. This is just my opinion and it could be wrong.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
    edited May 2016
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    kaitfin94 wrote: »
    i know these kinds of posts are posted all the time and I've already seen the chart but!!! It's been six weeks and nothing is budging. The first week I started, I dropped a good four or five pounds and up until now that's been it. I went from hardly ever working out to working out 5 days a week (three weight lifting and two cardio) and I've been eating fairly clean with one not too crazy cheat meal a week. I keep my carbs around 100grams and I watch my sodium. I drink at least a gallon a day. So.... Is this normal and I need more patience? Or is there something weird going on? Also.... I weigh my food out religiously... So I know that's not the problem either!

    Bottom line: if you are not losing weight, you are supporting that by eating at maintenance. Your macro distribution, food type, etc.-none of that matters as to weight loss. What matters is eating less calories than you burn.

    Someone upstream mentioned that she looked at your diary and noted "cheat days" which could be killing your deficit. That can happen so easily!

    I see you weigh foods. Way to go!

    Do you measure your calorie liquids? Log everything you eat?

    Do you eat exercise calories back? If so, where do you get your burn numbers from?
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    trollerskates wrote: »
    Start walking 1 hour a day. Not running! Keep your carbs clean. Sweet potatos, veggies.

    I disagree with this. 100%.
  • MissusMoon
    MissusMoon Posts: 1,900 Member
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    I vote for a combinations of cheat days and weighing.

    Seriously, I see so many frustrated people that swear by cheat days one week (I have them regularly and I'm losing), and then complain about not losing the next week or two. OP-I am not calling you a complainer at all, I'm just sharing my personal observations in a general way. There are people that say they make them work, but I have a feeling those people are still being pretty great with their portion control on those cheat days.
  • MommyL2015
    MommyL2015 Posts: 1,411 Member
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    One "not too" crazy cheat meal can throw an entire week off. I have been successfully maintaining while doing this. I generally don't count on Sunday, while still being conscious about what I'm eating. I am a stickler for weighing as accurately as I can during the week and I have been maintaining since January. Get a scale and be as accurate as you can. If you are not losing and you are actively trying, you are eating more than you think.
  • VelvetMerkin
    VelvetMerkin Posts: 7 Member
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    Just looking back at your diary it does look like your cheat days are literally eliminating your deficit. Do you ever look at the net weekly calories found in the app? That will tell you your net calories over any given week week and I bet if you look back a few weeks you will see that you are pretty much breaking even.

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