Am I eating too MUCH?

It's enough to drive you crazy right!?! My scale budged a little in the very beginning but now it just seems stuck Almost 30 days in and I am getting very disappointed. Are you checking your inches? You may just be losing inches and not the "pounds"... and I am sure with all the work you do, you HAVE to be gaining muscle?

hey, i recently upped my calories as well and also thought i was eating too much, but i learned i was actually UNDER eating.

i'm also experiencing no results (in fact, i may have gained a couple pounds). so hopefully in two weeks, the scale will be lower now that i'm eating more (but still not as many as i burn). i was eating almost 1500-2000 below on some days

My only thought is this... if you've changed your goal to reflect your busy lifestyle, maybe you shouldn't count your exercise calories? That's the only thing I can think of. I'm no expert, but my lifestyle is set to "lightly active" because I work at an office but am on my feet much of the day. Therefore when I work out, I count those calories and eat most if not all back. If you have your lifestyle set to "highly active" already, it's accounting for the fact that you are burning some heavy calories already... so eating more of those exercise calories is giving you too many. This is just my theory, but maybe either reset to a lower activity level or just don't log those exercise calories. Good luck... you look amazing, by the way!!!

My only thought is this... if you've changed your goal to reflect your busy lifestyle, maybe you shouldn't count your exercise calories? That's the only thing I can think of. I'm no expert, but my lifestyle is set to "lightly active" because I work at an office but am on my feet much of the day. Therefore when I work out, I count those calories and eat most if not all back. If you have your lifestyle set to "highly active" already, it's accounting for the fact that you are burning some heavy calories already... so eating more of those exercise calories is giving you too many. This is just my theory, but maybe either reset to a lower activity level or just don't log those exercise calories. Good luck... you look amazing, by the way!!!

When you change the activity level, it only adds or subtracts 100 calories (for mine at least) Which doesn't compensate for her extreme burning.

I always eat at least 1200 calories and if I have a minimal burn day I try to be withing 200 calories.

Your food diary looks pretty good to me. The only thing I would suggest is lowering your sugar intake (try staying under 40 grams of added sugar, not fruit), and upping your fiber and protein intake.

Good luck!

I am not as active as you but I was pretty active plus workouts on top of it. Everyone kept telling me to eat more so I did and I zig zagged. After two months no change. I was so discouraged! So after seeing it countless times on here I changed my goal to lose half a pound and now only do two workouts a week. I don't weigh myself often but I put on a pair of jean shorts yesterday and after a week they are loose!
I have also read repeatedly how some people had to set their MFP goal to maintanience to lose any pounds. It may not be possible for you to workout less but I would try. I know how it sounds, its been pounded in our heads to lose weight we have to starve ourselves and then kill it at the gym.

I just wish I had listened to this earlier. Youmight have to tweak a little. Eat 100-200 over or maybe even less. I agree losing weight when theres not a lot left to lose is not as easy as "burn more than you consume".

Edit to say I did a 7 day zig zag but I've also read some people had better luck with a 3 day plan. Eat low for two days then have a really high day. Although with your amount of exercise you would really have to plan out your day to get all those calories in!

I've found the best way to lose weight is zig zagging your calories. I eat 1200 most days (I'm allowed 1650) but then I will treat myself twice a week with bad food that I don't count. Yet I lose weight. The weeks that I don't treat myself I don't lose weight. It's a delicate balance, because humans aren't supposed to eat the SAME thing every single day.

sorry no advice but daaaaaaamn i want your guns.
enough to make me do some several many tons of push ups. Bye.

Just experiment until you can break the plateau. Try cutting fat, try cutting carbs. Try adding 200 calories, try dropping 200 calories. Try the "zig-zag" thing. Weight loss is a science but it isn't an "exact" science.

I looked through your diary. Here's what I saw:
Decent quantity.
Horrible quality.

Remember that it's not just HOW MUCH you put into your body, but also WHAT you put in it. 200 calories of M&M's does not equate 200 calories of fruit, or a sweet potato, or something nutritious.
Rather than fretting over calories, focus on nixing all of that junk food. Do you really need a hot fudge sundae one day followed by a sonic milkshake followed by a candy bar followed by M&M's? No! None of that will help you reach your goals.

Just to be sure: I have the same problem. I eat junk food, but I'm working on switching to whole foods (whole fruit instead of fruit-flavored gummies, whole veggies instead of veggie chips, whole potatoes instead of french fries, whole chicken instead of chicken patties, etc.) Making this switch will increase your energy naturally and fill you with more self-satisfaction than 500 calories-worth of processed syrup and fat.

Good luck.

Hi! I think you look great, and I agree with what most of the other posts on here that you are probably gaining muscle, and that is why are you aren't losing the weight, but you are still getting rid of the fat. The only thing I would recommend is make sure you are drinking lots of water, and not skipping any meals. Good Luck!

Maybe you are losing inches instead of weight. I lose weight slowly but inches come off pretty quick.

Have you had your body fat checked?

You look great, I dream of looking like that.

Is there a reason you want to lose more?

Maybe if your body fat is measured it may be quite low and therefore would be difficult to lose any more weight.

First, can I just say WOW! Killer arms! Way to go!

I took a look at your food diary, I think your carbs are way high, several days your carbs are more than twice your protein intake. Maybe it's time to tweak your macros. I've been very successful following "The Zone" way of eating. It takes into account your lean muscle mass and body fat percentages, and the protein, fat, carb ratios allow for optimum fat burning and energy while sustaining lean muscle mass. Rather than calories to support your current BMR, the goal should be calories to support your "optimal/goal" BMR. I am not purchasing any of the zone foods, just eating regular foods and staying within the advised 40/30/30 ratio of carbs, protein and fat. I've been steadily losing just 2 lbs a week, but have really noticed results the most with the tape measure and body fat %. Check out zonediet.com for more info. Might be the change you need to beat this plateau. Good luck!