Not losing weight... Of course
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Titaggg
Posts: 9 Member
Hello everyone, I'm new to the forum but I've been using MFP for several months now.
I've never been overweight but I wanted to lose abdominal fat and get fit.
I got a couple more kilos in the last few years because I started a sedentary job, so at the end of April I decided to get in shape.
I started running 3 times per week and doing workouts on the other days. (Like squats, abs, lounges and then HIIT workouts I found on the internet).
I lost those 3 or 4 kilos I gained, but I still had a lot of belly fat, muffin tops and flabby booty.
Some details. I calculated my BMR is 1400 kcal. I eat, using MFP, less than 1200 kcal when I don't exercise. I always underestimate the calories I burn during the exercise. I always overestimate calories when I put them into MFP.
I'm pretty sure I'm experiencing a caloric deficit every day.
I'm 5,9 feet tall and I weigh 145,5 lb. (183 cm and 66 kg) I'm 27 years old and female.
I've been like that for over two months by now. I understand I lost some fat, but I keep weighing the SAME!!! It's been a month I kept increasing the workout difficulty and decreasing calories intake, but my weigh is still the same!
I sleep enough, 8 to 10 hours per night. I eat healthy. A lot of vegetables, I drink a lot, I eat omega 3 from chia seeds and proteins from meat... Whatever all the "weight tips" say.
Today, after three months, I couldn't stand it anymore and I ate like crazy more than 400 kcal of dried fruit. I hadn't been suffering that much from the diet, but the lack of visible results (after the first month) made me feel terrible. Now I feel even worse.
I know I'm not fat and everybody keeps telling me I'm just fine, but I have a lot of fat.
I don't want to give up, but today I feel really frustrated and I'm being honest with myself. What else can I do?
Thank you all in advance for listening to me.
Tita
I've never been overweight but I wanted to lose abdominal fat and get fit.
I got a couple more kilos in the last few years because I started a sedentary job, so at the end of April I decided to get in shape.
I started running 3 times per week and doing workouts on the other days. (Like squats, abs, lounges and then HIIT workouts I found on the internet).
I lost those 3 or 4 kilos I gained, but I still had a lot of belly fat, muffin tops and flabby booty.
Some details. I calculated my BMR is 1400 kcal. I eat, using MFP, less than 1200 kcal when I don't exercise. I always underestimate the calories I burn during the exercise. I always overestimate calories when I put them into MFP.
I'm pretty sure I'm experiencing a caloric deficit every day.
I'm 5,9 feet tall and I weigh 145,5 lb. (183 cm and 66 kg) I'm 27 years old and female.
I've been like that for over two months by now. I understand I lost some fat, but I keep weighing the SAME!!! It's been a month I kept increasing the workout difficulty and decreasing calories intake, but my weigh is still the same!
I sleep enough, 8 to 10 hours per night. I eat healthy. A lot of vegetables, I drink a lot, I eat omega 3 from chia seeds and proteins from meat... Whatever all the "weight tips" say.
Today, after three months, I couldn't stand it anymore and I ate like crazy more than 400 kcal of dried fruit. I hadn't been suffering that much from the diet, but the lack of visible results (after the first month) made me feel terrible. Now I feel even worse.
I know I'm not fat and everybody keeps telling me I'm just fine, but I have a lot of fat.
I don't want to give up, but today I feel really frustrated and I'm being honest with myself. What else can I do?
Thank you all in advance for listening to me.
Tita
1
Replies
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How tight is your logging? There's no magic going on so you're either eating more or exercising less.
You're probably in the middle of BMI so it's tough to lose the last few pounds2 -
Usually when people don't lose as they expect, it's due to errors measuring calories in or calories out. If you open your diary, you may get some more specific help.1
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Many will tell you you're over-estimating your food.
I will say that your BMI is in the lower half of the normal BMI range.
Eat at maintenance and add strength training till eventually your fat disappears (re-composition).
You can attempt doing this while eating what you're eating now. Or you can reverse diet in search of a more sustainable higher maintenance level.6 -
If you weigh all your food and you're sure that you're eating at a deficit, you might want to go to your doctor to make sure you don't have any medical issues preventing you from losing weight. I would say that increasing your exercise would make you retain water but it's strange that you haven't been losing any weight for so long. Like janejellyroll said, open your diary so people can help better
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you cannot spot reduce belly fat or fat anywhere. it comes off where it wants when it wants to.if your BMR is 1400 you need to eat over that,that is what your body burns just by being alive and functioning.at 5'9 you should be able to eat more than 1200 and lose(you should not be eating under 1200). if you have a lot of fat and not a lot of weight to lose(which sounds like you dont) look into a progressive lifting program such as strong lifts 5x5,new rules of lifting for women,new rules of lifting,(there are many others) and eat at maintenance while doing this. it takes a while to do this(its called a recomp) but will help change how your body looks. or eat in a smaller deficit while doing the same thing.
you dont need to lose more weigh most likely.its not about what you eat but about how much,and its very possible you are eating more than you think if you havent lost weight,otherwise eating less than 1200(which you should not be doing) should show some weight loss, if you are weighing food,logging properly and working out and not losing weight you can always have the dr do some blood work to see if anything is off.0 -
There are mistakes that people commonly make that cause them to not lose weight that we might be able to spot if you change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings
At 5'9" you should be losing weight on 1200 calories.
However, sounds what you really want to do is a body recomposition. Hopefully someone will be along soon with tips and links for that.0 -
FYI: Body recomp takes a long time. Sometimes years depending on how hard you go at it. I spend 90 minutes a day exercising (we're talking near max effort for most of that 90 minutes) and have done that for the last year six days a week. I've only been at maintenance for about 3 months. I managed to drop to about 13% body fat, but stalled after that at maintenance. I know if I want to go lower on body fat I'll have to reduce calorie intake again and just don't want to do it at the moment. In the meantime I keep trying to build muscle but I also have a midsection that doesn't make me all that happy. You can feel my abdominal muscles but they are sometimes difficult to see because there's a slight layer of fat/loose skin over them. It'll be like that for a long time, and may never be perfect, you just have to accept it and move on unless you want to intervene with surgical options. If I were you I'd increase exercise, increase protein, add in weight training or body weight training, and keep working on recomp. The only way to loose the fat around the midsection is to loose fat all over since you can't spot reduce. To do that it's probably going to take a lot of effort (which likely will need to include cardio and some form of weight training). Just don't give up, it may take a lot of time and effort but it'll be worth it.
FYI: I'm 6'2" tall with a large frame and average around 2500 calories a day sometimes more on days I work out, and sometimes less (around 2000) on my rest days and maintain my target weight. So if you're truly overestimating your food intake and underestimating your exercise then something may be wrong. Instead of over or under estimating things for a while, try being as accurate as possible and see where it gets you. Sometimes it's too easy to make excuses when estimating. I find myself not adding things in because they are low calorie or because I have a huge deficit at the end of the day, but if I go back and add all the little stuff up I might not have had that deficit. Just a thought.1 -
Thank you so much for all your replies!
My diary is now public, but most of it is in Italian!
I'm pretty sure I've been logging EVERYTHING for the past month and, as I said, always overestimating (meaning that, if I was sure that pasta weighed 100 grams, I wrote 120 grams.) Instead, I underestimated the exercise because I wasn't sure on how many calories I actually burned, as it depends from person to person, am I correct?
I'm also positive I don't have any health issue, as I lost the pounds in excess without a lot of work. As many of you said, my BMI is ok, so probably this is the tough part, when I want to show muscles and get rid of that last stubborn fat.
I will also listen to your advice and increase my strenght training. I didn't actually have ANY muscles at all when I started this (I couldn't even jog for 30 seconds without dying). I spent all my life on the couch and I always hated sports... But now it has changed, I can say I almost like it and I'm seeing results, if not in the mirror or on the balance, at least in my strenght and endurance.
I'm afraid my bodyweight training at home won't be enough soon.
Do you agree or do you have some tips about body recomposition, or what kind of exercises are best for me and how many times per week should I train?
I read in some places that doing HIIT more than 3 times a week is pointless. Also Cardio is frowned upon because of that muscle loss. I kept doing both just for that caloric deficit's sake, but maybe I'm just wasting time I could use to achieve my goals in a better way.
Thank you again for your advice!!!
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You don't have a lot of fat to lose, but you want to tone up. Take a look at what your eating, specifically carbs and sugars (sugars from all sources including fruits). Find a macro calculator and determine how much of each macro you should be eating. Keep your total sugar consumption under the recommendation MFP gave you.0
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I know people are sick of seeing this chart, but I'll post it anyway as the answer usually lies within it.
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You are going to have a hard time growing muscles at a large deficit and if it leads you to non compliance you may actually average less of a deficit than you would by choosing a more sustainable deficit level.
In any case, as I previously stated, you are already at a fairly low bodyweight for your height so losing weight may not be the perfect answer.
As logged on many days you are not hitting calories or protein targets.
Consistently hitting the ~2.2g of protein per kg of body weight mark may not be a terrible idea.
Unless you have some insulin issues some sugar when training is not going to hurt you. Arguably it might help you if consumed together with protein around the time of exercise.
Someone above has linked to some pretty good programs in terms of strength training.
You may really want to explore the concept of reverse dieting and slowly (50 or 100 cal at a time for the duration of a week) increase your calories. (regardless of macros).0 -
It doesn't sound like you want to lose weight, it sounds like you want to look more toned.
The only way to become more toned is to pick up something heavy. Running will not make you toned. Squats will make you toned if you are lifting heavy. Think lots of sets (5+ sets), lots of weight, low reps. You should not be able to do more then 5 reps in a row, otherwise the weight is too light and you need to increase it. Add deadlifts, pushups, modified pull-ups or inverted rows (http://shreddedbyscience.com/mastering-the-pull-up/). Look up men's workouts because (most) women's are too easy and won't make you strong.
A pound of muscle and a pound of fat weigh the same but look very different in your clothes. Also, muscle is more metabolically active then fat, meaning you will burn more calories just sitting around if you are more muscular. (http://www.dangerandplay.com/2012/09/27/5-pounds-of-fat-v-5-pounds-of-muscle/)
You will not look like a body builder, women do not have enough testosterone to look like a dude. The women that do look like men are taking anabolic steroids.
Here is some pictures of body fat distributions on women: http://www.healthynaturalcures.org/choose-body-shape-learn-much-fat/
And if you are lifting heavy, you will need to eat more to support muscle synthesis and growth. But you want to eat rich sources of nutrition such as plain greek yogurt, cottage cheese, chicken/salmon, veggies, fruit, plenty of water, and healthy fats like nuts.0 -
It doesn't sound like you want to lose weight, it sounds like you want to look more toned.
The only way to become more toned is to pick up something heavy. Running will not make you toned. Squats will make you toned if you are lifting heavy. Think lots of sets (5+ sets), lots of weight, low reps. You should not be able to do more then 5 reps in a row, otherwise the weight is too light and you need to increase it. Add deadlifts, pushups, modified pull-ups or inverted rows (http://shreddedbyscience.com/mastering-the-pull-up/). Look up men's workouts because (most) women's are too easy and won't make you strong.
A pound of muscle and a pound of fat weigh the same but look very different in your clothes. Also, muscle is more metabolically active then fat, meaning you will burn more calories just sitting around if you are more muscular. (http://www.dangerandplay.com/2012/09/27/5-pounds-of-fat-v-5-pounds-of-muscle/)
You will not look like a body builder, women do not have enough testosterone to look like a dude. The women that do look like men are taking anabolic steroids.
Here is some pictures of body fat distributions on women: http://www.healthynaturalcures.org/choose-body-shape-learn-much-fat/
And if you are lifting heavy, you will need to eat more to support muscle synthesis and growth. But you want to eat rich sources of nutrition such as plain greek yogurt, cottage cheese, chicken/salmon, veggies, fruit, plenty of water, and healthy fats like nuts.It doesn't sound like you want to lose weight, it sounds like you want to look more toned.
The only way to become more toned is to pick up something heavy. Running will not make you toned. Squats will make you toned if you are lifting heavy. Think lots of sets (5+ sets), lots of weight, low reps. You should not be able to do more then 5 reps in a row, otherwise the weight is too light and you need to increase it. Add deadlifts, pushups, modified pull-ups or inverted rows (http://shreddedbyscience.com/mastering-the-pull-up/). Look up men's workouts because (most) women's are too easy and won't make you strong.
A pound of muscle and a pound of fat weigh the same but look very different in your clothes. Also, muscle is more metabolically active then fat, meaning you will burn more calories just sitting around if you are more muscular. (http://www.dangerandplay.com/2012/09/27/5-pounds-of-fat-v-5-pounds-of-muscle/)
You will not look like a body builder, women do not have enough testosterone to look like a dude. The women that do look like men are taking anabolic steroids.
Here is some pictures of body fat distributions on women: http://www.healthynaturalcures.org/choose-body-shape-learn-much-fat/
And if you are lifting heavy, you will need to eat more to support muscle synthesis and growth. But you want to eat rich sources of nutrition such as plain greek yogurt, cottage cheese, chicken/salmon, veggies, fruit, plenty of water, and healthy fats like nuts.
running can get you toned(look leaner) how many runners do you know who look fat or not toned? as for lifting heavy low reps vs light weight high reps,it all depends on what she wants from lifting. one is for strength and the other is for gains as for 5+ sets,thats not needed either unless you are doing a progressive lifting program such as 5x5 lifts.sure heavy weights are better. but you have to start somewhere0 -
beatyfamily1 wrote: »You don't have a lot of fat to lose, but you want to tone up. Take a look at what your eating, specifically carbs and sugars (sugars from all sources including fruits). Find a macro calculator and determine how much of each macro you should be eating. Keep your total sugar consumption under the recommendation MFP gave you.
what is keeping sugar/carbs under a certain amount going to accomplish? Ive eaten plenty of carbs and sugar while lifting and still lose plenty of fat. it didnt make a difference in my weight loss or lifting.2 -
You may really want to explore the concept of reverse dieting and slowly (50 or 100 cal at a time for the duration of a week) increase your calories. (regardless of macros).
+50 to +100 one week. then another +50 to +100 for another week. Though you are starting so low you might need to go a bit faster than that.
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I'm afraid my bodyweight training at home won't be enough soon.
Do you agree or do you have some tips about body recomposition, or what kind of exercises are best for me and how many times per week should I train?
I read in some places that doing HIIT more than 3 times a week is pointless. Also Cardio is frowned upon because of that muscle loss. I kept doing both just for that caloric deficit's sake, but maybe I'm just wasting time I could use to achieve my goals in a better way.
You'd be surprised how you can change up body weight training to increase the difficulty. Try doing things at a decline, such as decline sit ups, decline push ups, or weighted pull ups, etc. You can go very far with body weight training, I've been doing it for months and have not scratched the surface of what can be accomplished. Having said that.. I have back issues which stop me from being able to lift weight over a certain amount, and certainly keeps me from putting any direct weight on my lower spine much beyond body weight. If your back is strong, I'd start including weight training 2-3 times a week but I wouldn't stop the body weight training. Maybe mix it up throughout the week, but keep up both.
As far as cardio (coupled with a calorie deficit), for me anyway, it's the only way to loose fat. I've tried stopping it and focusing on strength training and although that is beneficial for my muscles it does nothing for my body fat. The only thing that seems to force my body to burn that away is cardio or endurance training. So I work out six days a week in the mornings fasted with only a pre-workout and some amino's during the training session. It's allowed me to stay at around 13-14% body fat without any extra effort, but I will probably have to go on a serious calorie cut to drop down to around 10% body fat. If you keep your protein levels where they are I wouldn't assume that you'd lose muscle while cutting fat at a deficit.
Just some thoughts.
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Since you don't have much to lose, you'll need to really make sure your calorie intake/output is on point. I recommend a food scale and a BUNCH of patience.
I'd also recommend heavy lifting. Since you can't spot reduce stomach fat and it's ALWAYS the last place you lose it, the lifting will help firm things up and it's good for you!
Cardio tends to make it so you can eat more (increases the calories you can eat with out gaining) but lifting tends to help everything look better.0 -
You have a BMI of 21. You don't want to lose weight. Concentrate on healthy eating and toning muscle.0
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I do not know why nobody recommends Sprint training. Yes it's difficult but dammit you will look fine!! I'm telling you, I do it because my metabolism has slowed down. Do some research, it does not have to be running. You can't sprint on the bike, or even in the pool. Whatever you are doing, be sure to go flat out as hard as you can for a full 8 secs. In the beginning you may not be able to do this more than 1 time, however over time with proper protein intake and KINETIC stretching, you will develop muscle and lose fat due to this after burner effect that sprinting seems to cause ( your body will increase its calorie burn for up to weeks after 1 good session. However, don't over due it, proper rest is just as important. Trust me I want to hit the gym ever day, but if my muscles are screaming for mercy than ice and rest are more important. Also, 8 - 10 hours sleep might be too much, you don't burn ad many calories
in your sleep. Try a little less 7.5 is my perfect amount but everyoneis diff.0
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