I cannot lose weight!

jstalt0525 wrote: »

I do use a food scale and the containers for the 21dayfix to make sure I don't overeat. I drink only water 100oz daily.

I can stuff a lot of food into a container, if I try hard enough. It's another way we can deceive ourselves. The food scale should be for all things. 1500-1700 plus exercise calories may be too much. How did you come up with those numbers? What is your height and weight? How are you determining your exercise calories? (again, the database is inaccurate for many people)

For reference: I'm 5'2" 185lb, 43, and can lose on 1700 cal/day (no exercise cals back) IF I swim for 60-90 minutes 5 times/week, plus lifting 2x/week, plus PT once per week, plus work (which has me on my feet for nearly 7 hours). If I'm not that active, I have to eat less to keep losing.

jstalt0525 wrote: »

Just started yesterday but would be willing to make my diary public if it will help. Don't know how to do it though. Lol

Go to 'Settings' at the top of the web page, then click on 'Diary Settings'. At the bottom of that page you can choose how visible you want your diary to be.

@nutmegoreo spelled everything out nicely and I don't have a lot to add to that! I especially agree with the last two - you need to be patient and give the process time, don't start changing things after a week or two because you think it's not working. And there will be times you stumble and fall, so you need to realise that it's not going to ruin everything and you just pick yourself up and get back on track as soon as you can. (Not "on Monday"... now, today, next meal! )

There are many different ways of eating, and the low-carb style mentioned by @tnevin225 is just one of them - it works for some people, others find it really difficult to give up carbs. If the idea appeals to you, give it a try for a few weeks and see how you feel! If it doesn't sound like it's for you, then that's okay - there are plenty of ways to eat less without cutting out any food groups.

I think that the most important thing is to get a food scale, if you don't already have one, and weigh or measure everything. It's really easy to underestimate how much we're eating, and if you really haven't lost any weight then I'm afraid you haven't been in a calorie deficit and have most likely been eating more than you think. (This is not to imply that people are inherently 'greedy' or anything, just that a large number of us are really bad at estimating portions!) Weighing your food is an eye-opening experience.

Finally, I'd add that you should take photos and measurements as an additional way to gauge progress, because the scale doesn't always cooperate! Having other ways to see that things are changing, like losing an inch on your hips or a shirt fitting more comfortably, is a great motivator when it seems like your weight isn't budging.

Good luck, and stick with it - it will work, if you get your calories in line and give it time.

I do triathlons and have done the insantity workwork programme but i don't train to loose weight i train to gain fitness and improved health. If your goal is to loose weight then this is a matter of calorie counting. If you consume fewer calories than you burn you will you will loose weight. I'm sure you already know this and other members have mentioned it to.

If in your experience this isn't true or somehow it doesn't work then i think their is something else going on. Whatever the cause is you can loose weight, stay honest with yourself, if you have a bad day log everything anyway and feel good. Good luck!

p.s - i've always found that MFP overestimates the number of calories burnt during exercise. I could be wrong but i've always observed the notion that 30mins of vigorous cardio (where you're sweating) will burn about 250 cals. This has always worked for me and in the past three months i have lost 22Ibs

@jstalt0525 , I will add my "welcome" and my endorsement of the effectiveness of this site. The USDA has a database of nutrition values for all manner of food items. You can find it with a search either on google or using the Search function in these discussions. That is a gold standard of nutrition information. Another gold standard is maintained at http://nutritiondata.self.com/ , but it's chock full of pop-ups and I don't use it much. If you don't know about tdeecalculator.net , now you do. Another sick useful site is scoobysworkshop.com .

One of the most awesome threads ever on this site is http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10247171/carbs-and-fats-are-cheap-heres-a-guide-to-getting-your-proteins-worth-fiber-also/p1 .

You can find accurate food database listings, it takes some time and diligence but it is worth the effort.

When you think you're in the groove, you can dive into the maelstrom of the recipe tool. The only way to make it work right is to copy-paste from the USDA database, remembering to remove commas.

I could have called the recipe tool a *kitten*, which is what happens when you try to describe your feelings about it.

The community here is the best resource offered.

I have lost 58 lb since January 25, mostly by getting into and staying in a calorie deficit for consecutive weeks between single day or meal or hour excursions from it, which I'm trying to make rarer and less severe.

Not sure if someone mentioned this but also track what you drink. Juices, milk, alcohol, anything with calories... I found I was drinking a lot more calories than I'd assumed. Hope that's helpful. Good luck to you!