Cardio

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flyer6648
flyer6648 Posts: 2 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
For several days (7+), I have been burning well in excess of my daily calorie requirement expecting to shed some pounds. Each day when I complete my diary, it says at this pace you will weight xxx in 5 weeks, which is much lower than my current weight. However, I'm not losing any weight.

Replies

  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
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    It's only been a week, it can take time to start moving.

    Are you weighing your food?
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    Here's a great flowchart that helps explain a lot when people aren't losing weight.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10179969/weight-loss-flow-chart-2-0/p1
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited September 2016
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    Follow the flow chart! And it has only been 7+ days...

    Also that 5 weeks message is not very accurate for a lot of people. some it is, most its not. A person would need to eat those exact number of calories and do that exact calorie burn for 5 weeks straight to test it out..
  • silverfiend
    silverfiend Posts: 329 Member
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    You need to give yourself more time. Secondly, that "you would weigh XXX in 5 weeks" is total BS, just ignore it.
  • wilsoncl6
    wilsoncl6 Posts: 1,280 Member
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    Most likely you aren't actually eating that much less calories than you think you are, or you're retaining a lot of water weight. That much activity can cause the body to pump the muscles full of fluid for recovery purposes and the muscle fibers retain it, especially if you're eating a diet higher in sodium. Try drinking a lot of water and make sure you are calculating your calorie intake accurately. Additionally, if you don't have a large amount of weight to lose, it may take a little time for you to start to see some movement on the scale and even then it might not be a massive change. Have patience, you didn't gain the weight overnight, you're not going to lose it overnight either.
  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
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    Exercise is good for you and a week is a really short amount of time. After you have made changes (like adding exercise) give your body time to get over the shock and give it several weeks. Than if nothing moves tweak something, add more cardio, or drop a 100 calories or reduce carbs and watch what happens. I bought a Wi Fi logging scale and enjoy looking at the graphs. When I did I realized that my weekend overeating was undoing my progress during the week. I adjusted and started losing consistently.
  • AllanMisner
    AllanMisner Posts: 4,140 Member
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    Body weight is comprised of three things: 1) Lean mass, 2) Water, and 3) body fat. So, weight on the scale is not the best indicator that you're losing fat. I prefer body measurements, which MFP lets you track as well.

    The calorie in/calorie out is just an estimate (on both sides). Just because you have a number doesn't mean that's exactly the number, and being off just a 100-200 calories a day can make a difference. If you're measuring and tracking properly, you're collecting data. After a few weeks, check back in with that and tweak as needed. Maybe your metabolism isn't quite as robust as it should be and you need fewer calories. You won't know until you work it for a while.

    And please, focus on the food for fat loss. It makes no sense to me for people to kill themselves on cardio just so they can eat more. Do cardio if you enjoy it and like the fitness benefits. But don't think you can exercise yourself out of bad food choices. That seldom works.

    Allan Misner
    NASM Certified Personal Trainer,
    Host of the 40+ Fitness Podcast
  • chapiano
    chapiano Posts: 331 Member
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    Keep at it but don't weigh yourself for 2 weeks (I only weigh myself once every 4 weeks) that way you see much better results
  • wilsoncl6
    wilsoncl6 Posts: 1,280 Member
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    Awe, you mean I've been doing it all wrong? I shouldn't do cardio to eat more? Well, I like cardio but I will up the intensity of a session just because I know that I will have the ability to eat more throughout the day and it doesn't necessarily mean that I'll want to chow down on Oreo cookies, just that I might want to have an extra steak or be able to enjoy a dinner roll or two. I don't think it's bad for someone to do cardio to be able to eat more. Whatever works for them, as long as they set themselves up for the long term.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
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    AllanMisner wrote: »
    And please, focus on the food for fat loss. It makes no sense to me for people to kill themselves on cardio just so they can eat more.

    Hey, calm down! Nobody is talking about suicide here.

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