Cannot lose weight even though I stay within my calorie goal

bhatiak
bhatiak Posts: 14
edited September 29 in Health and Weight Loss
Help please. I am always within my calorie goal - (1200 + exercise cals) for the day but I cannot lose any weight. And I put on very easily. I exercise for an hour almost every day - walk, jazzercise, treadmill etc but it is not working. My diary is open. Any responses will be appreciated. Thanks

Replies

  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
    how are you calculating your exercise calories? estimation or hrm? what types of food are you eating, processed or whole foods?
  • dls06
    dls06 Posts: 6,774 Member
    open your diary so we can see what you have been eating and make suggestions
  • pitbullmama
    pitbullmama Posts: 454 Member
    your diary is not open. would love to help
  • welloiledmachine
    welloiledmachine Posts: 1,147 Member
    Can't see your diary.
  • bhatiak
    bhatiak Posts: 14
    Sorry ... My diary is open now.
  • bhatiak
    bhatiak Posts: 14
    I use the exercise calories from MFP. I eat mostly unprocessed food and whole grains.
  • welloiledmachine
    welloiledmachine Posts: 1,147 Member
    It looks to me that you need to up your protein and you need to try and combine complex carbs and protein in the same meal. For me, I eat 5 small meals a day and each of those meals contain complex carbs, protein and fat. This keeps your energy levels high, boosts your metabolism which helps to lose weight. It didn't look like you are logging your water. I hope you are getting plenty of that. You also might want to track your sodium too.

    Oh yeah, one more thing. Strength training is key. Weightlifting burns fat.
  • bhatiak
    bhatiak Posts: 14
    Also, I am only 10 lbs over weight for my height and aiming to lose about 5 lbs ... it is so hard to lose any.
  • pitbullmama
    pitbullmama Posts: 454 Member
    So how long have you been tracking? Some times it takes a while before you see the scale start to move. What I am seeing is lots of sugar. Maybe making an effort to cut that back may help.
  • bhatiak
    bhatiak Posts: 14
    What do you eat to combine complex carbs, protein and fat in a meal? Also, I eat mostly vegetarian food. Thanks
  • bhatiak
    bhatiak Posts: 14
    Have been tracking for almost two months. My sugar is mostly from fruits and yogurt.
  • pitbullmama
    pitbullmama Posts: 454 Member
    Thats the thing I can't stand about low fat/ no fat yogurts. They always compensate for the fat by adding extra sugars or articficial sweeteners. Yuck. I would rather have a plain greek style yogurt and add my own fruit. More filling, less sugar.
  • bhatiak
    bhatiak Posts: 14
    Ok .. I can try that ... plain yogurt ... thanks
  • welloiledmachine
    welloiledmachine Posts: 1,147 Member
    What do you eat to combine complex carbs, protein and fat in a meal? Also, I eat mostly vegetarian food. Thanks
    Since you have so little to lose, you need to focus only on .5 lb per week.
    Not sure I can help you if you are a vegetarian as I eat fish, chicken, tuna, and lean red meat....most hamburger.
    There is protein powder, but that's a personal preference.
    For example, I will eat a bowl of shredded wheat for carbs and then a half cup of greek yogurt for protein with some peanut butter for fat in it. Carbs, protein and fat.
    I will also do oatmeal with egg whites. Different variations there.
    I'll do chicken breast with whole wheat pasta/rice or sweet potato. Veggies too. Not sure if this will help.
  • bhatiak
    bhatiak Posts: 14
    I can try some of these things ... Thanks
  • welloiledmachine
    welloiledmachine Posts: 1,147 Member
    Just a little tip.

    Important facts about protein....

    Protein is the building block of muscle. Protein provides the essential support that your body needs to gain muscle and lose fat. It is the right tool to guarantee that your muscle building and fat loss processes are as "profitable" as possible.
    Protein is harder for your body to digest than fat or carbohydrates. It requires more energy for your body to digest protein. Therefore, you burn more calories with protein.

    This means that if two people eat 2000 calories per day, the one with a higher protein intake will have a higher metabolism.

    Protein Fact: Protein helps suppress your appetite. This causes you to eat less calories overall, which contributes to weight loss. Because of protein's ability to help maintain muscle, you should burn fat at a faster rate than muscle.

    No nutrient is more important than protein for building and maintaining muscle.

    Even tho you don't eat meat, there are other great sources of protein.
  • jagh09
    jagh09 Posts: 555 Member
    Are you drinking your water? I didn't see any tracked in your diary. Drinking water is really important to the weight loss process.
  • TXHunny84
    TXHunny84 Posts: 503 Member
    I'm in the same boat.... I only need to lose 15 pounds and if I put my NET calories over 1200 then I gain??.... I should be able to eat closer to my 1750 daily calories to maintain but...if I ate 1700 I'd gain pounds!!! It's awful!
  • bhatiak
    bhatiak Posts: 14
    That is very helpful ... I can eat more lentils, beans, soya, eggs to add more proteins in my diet. Thanks
  • bhatiak
    bhatiak Posts: 14
    I think I drink 4-5 glasses of water and 3-4 cups of tea or coffee
  • RatherBeInTheShire
    RatherBeInTheShire Posts: 561 Member
    1200 calories is way too low. As a woman, you are not supposed to eat under 1300 (and that's pushing it) but 1400 is what i've mainly heard. I started at 1300 and couldn't lose.. I bumped it up to 1600 and lost 7 pounds the first month. You have to remember if your body thinks it's starving, it's NOT going to shed any weight!
  • TourThePast
    TourThePast Posts: 1,753 Member
    Your profile is closed, so I can't see what height or even what gender you are, so it's impossible to even start to guess what's going on.

    If you're male you need to be eating at least 1500 calories a day. If you are lighter than average, you will not be burning anywhere near the calories you think you are for exercise - some of those are logged at nearly ten calories per minute which you'd only burn doing extremely intense exercise if, for instance, you were a normal sized woman.
  • pkpzp228
    pkpzp228 Posts: 146 Member
    It's been mentioned but I'd like to reiterate the importance of protein, just from initial inspection 200+ grams of carbs and 50- grams of protein is completely out of sorts IMO. I know MFP is what gives the initial proportions and yes these proportions can be effective, especially when someone is working in a weight loss range where merely having a calorie deficit will suffice. For someone who's a bit lower in body fat (10-15 to lose) eating 200+ carbs and 50- protein is like carb loading prior to an event... or a consistent elite athletic diet.


    My suggestion is move your percentages to around 40/40/20 (p/c/f) give your body some time at those levels to adjust, then re-evaluate your energy levels, if you're dragging *kitten* everyday and starting to feel sick you need more cals if you're bonking during every exercise session you need more carbs. When you're down to around 10-15 pounds to go, things like anaerobic threshold begin to play a larger role in your ability to lose fat and providing the right proportions of carbs at the right times begins to be important as well.
  • sleepytexan
    sleepytexan Posts: 3,138 Member
    You are eating too little. You need to get right up to the calories required; don't leave even 100 cals remaining in green; it's actually better to go over a bit into red.

    Read the first post here:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/196502-for-the-people-who-work-out-like-crazy-and-are-not-losing?hl=for+people+who+work+out+like+crazy

    blessings.
  • bhatiak
    bhatiak Posts: 14
    Actually, I am eating around 1400 calories every day
  • bhatiak
    bhatiak Posts: 14
    I opened my profile ... Thanks
  • bhatiak
    bhatiak Posts: 14
    You even eat all your exercise calories ... I am above my 1200, close to 1400 but exercise adds to about 300 or so every day.
  • bhatiak
    bhatiak Posts: 14
    Good article ... will change my eating habits ... thanks so much
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