I'm still not losing weight
Cryren8972
Posts: 142 Member
I started June 3 at 209 lbs. I now weigh 198 as of this morning.
I have been staying between 1200-1500 calories and 20-30g of carbs daily. I've cut WAY down on dairy.
I'm busting it out at the gym.
I don't understand. I'm not giving up, I just need an answer. SOMETHING has to work.
I have been staying between 1200-1500 calories and 20-30g of carbs daily. I've cut WAY down on dairy.
I'm busting it out at the gym.
I don't understand. I'm not giving up, I just need an answer. SOMETHING has to work.
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Have you measured? Are your clothes feeling better? The scale is not the best way to measure your progress! it's a lying b! the tape measure is my best friend and encourages me with the truth while the scale only plays with my emotions lol6
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Have you measured? Are your clothes feeling better? The scale is not the best way to measure your progress! it's a lying b! the tape measure is my best friend and encourages me with the truth while the scale only plays with my emotions lol
What she said! To me measuring is a better way to see your progress. Especially if you are hitting the gym. You could be losing fat but gaining muscle.4 -
Are you sure you're not eating too little? How often are you at the gym and what are you doing? If you do not eat enough while killing yourself at the gym, you won't lose faster. It's counter intuitive, but that's generally how it works.3
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I'm currently doing an 8 week challenge at the gym. We took measurements last week and will take them again next week.
I know I shouldn't put a ton of emphasis on the scales, but a girl can't weigh close to 200 lbs forever, right? lol
As for not eating enough calories...that honestly is about all I can shove in, in a day. Doing low carb, I'm just not that hungry. I'm trying to make sure I get adequate protein, while keeping my carbs low, and getting in healthy fats.0 -
A new weight program will hold onto water weight. I bet that is part of it.
A few years ago I was doing P90X workouts, which are fairly intense and tend to be over 60minuts per day. I then had a back injury and had to stop all exercise completely. Within about two weeks of stopping, I suddenly lost 10 lbs.... while eating the same and without the equivalent of a few hundred calories burned in exercise.
I agree with the others about measuring and taking pictures. Do it every month and I am sure you'll see a difference.6 -
Are you sure you're not eating too little? How often are you at the gym and what are you doing? If you do not eat enough while killing yourself at the gym, you won't lose faster. It's counter intuitive, but that's generally how it works.
Does this still hold true when fat adapted? I thought once burning fat that a caloric deficit, even a big one, was fine when there was a lot to lose as the body would burn stored fat for fuel.1 -
Just asking...
How do you know you "stay between" 1200-1500 daily?
Your food diary is open.
It shows many days of 800 calories or less.
Some of those are 200-400 calories.
There are ~18 days of ~100 days with no entries at all.
My food diary shows logging breaks also.
I even logged elsewhere one week.
Logging is a PIA sometimes.
Some people are good at estimating.
I never was.
Just asking.
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And...11 pounds in 15 weeks is pretty darn good! Kudos for that
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Cryren8972 wrote: »I'm trying to make sure I get adequate protein, while keeping my carbs low, and getting in healthy fats.
This could be a signal that an adjustment is in order. You should focus on getting adequate fats while keeping carbs low. Too much protein can be a problem in a LCHF diet in terms of staying in ketosis(if that's your goal) and ultimately tamper with fat loss.
I also agree that you may be a bit too low in calorie count. Add 1/3 cup(a handful) of peanuts a day to add 330 cals instantly Tasty source of fat and fiber.
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Too low a calorie count signals the body that is is going into starvation mode and must conserve what it has. Counterproductive for your health, as well.0
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I immediately put on weight whenever I exercise. And it tends to stick around for me.
I just started lifting last week and Ive been up 5 pounds since the first day. It's never dipped back down at all.
Is working out a new thing too? Could be hiding weight loss in muscle inflammation...3 -
Are you sure you're not eating too little? How often are you at the gym and what are you doing? If you do not eat enough while killing yourself at the gym, you won't lose faster. It's counter intuitive, but that's generally how it works.
Does this still hold true when fat adapted? I thought once burning fat that a caloric deficit, even a big one, was fine when there was a lot to lose as the body would burn stored fat for fuel.
Eating at a deficit stresses the body.
Exercise stresses the body.
Stress creates cortisol, and you're not likely to lose much unless you force it under those circumstances and that's a bad idea.
If you're going to exercise, you need to eat enough food. Try eating at what your ideal weights maintenance calories would be. Not the lowest weight that's considered normal for you, but a weight that's in the middle or high end of the ideal weight range.1 -
Also want to add, that 11 pounds in 15 weeks is certainly good loss.2
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Just asking...
How do you know you "stay between" 1200-1500 daily?
Your food diary is open.
It shows many days of 800 calories or less.
Some of those are 200-400 calories.
There are ~18 days of ~100 days with no entries at all.
My food diary shows logging breaks also.
I even logged elsewhere one week.
Logging is a PIA sometimes.
Some people are good at estimating.
I never was.
Just asking.
On the days that you don't see logging, I've typically logged those foods before and know about what I ate.
If I have a question, I log to make sure I'm still staying in the ballpark.
I was only eating about 800-1000 calories a day...before starting an exercise program. I didn't want to work out with my caloric intake being that low.1 -
And...11 pounds in 15 weeks is pretty darn good! Kudos for that
Thank you! However, the first 7 lbs happened the first week. lol.
It's just stubbornly hanging on since then. I expected a little bit of an issue when I started working out...but not for it to be this stubborn. Others in the class are losing already, and they're in the same exercise program. I guess my body just loves hanging on to water and weight.1 -
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There are a lot of foods in your diary that look like generic serving size entries from MFP - actual servings rarely fall precisely in line with the serving size suggested on the package. You also have things listed by volume that are not really precisely measurable by volume. I suspect you may be eating more than you think you are - particularly since you mentioned that you often don't log because you've eaten the foods before and know what you ate. That suggests to me that your food measuring techniques may not be very precise.
No big deal. I didn't weigh things for the first 30-ish pounds because I'm historically pretty good at estimating, and I was losing at the rate I planned to lose. But when you are trying to figure out why you don't seem to be losing weight, measuring accuracy becomes suspect #1.5 -
@Cryren8972 -
First, as @_tierachanel and @genmon00 observe, your finky scale is NOT your reliable life companion. (By way of heinous understatement..) Get a divorce, or if possible an annulment, asap!
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10415166/scale-why-should-i-dump-thee-let-me-count-the-ways
Second, as @neohdiver suggests, like kids and election promises, calories are hard to keep track of.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10412095/gastropod-the-end-of-the-calorie
Thrid, as @nvmomketo has experienced, weight training can lead to H20 retention.
Finally --- if you keep losing at your present weight, your body will hit your goal with fewer stretch seams, skin snakes and other unwanted badges of your successful experiment. Hooray!8 -
@Cryren8972 -
skin snakes and other unwanted badges of your successful experiment. Hooray!
...Tiger stripes, they're called tiger stripes...
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Shadowmf023 wrote: »@Cryren8972 -
skin snakes and other unwanted badges of your successful experiment. Hooray!
...Tiger stripes, they're called tiger stripes...
RoaaaaAAAR!! Yes, ma'am! Clarification? I assume that's for the critters formerly known as stretch marks, not the 3-D flesh folds, si?1 -
Shadowmf023 wrote: »@Cryren8972 -
skin snakes and other unwanted badges of your successful experiment. Hooray!
...Tiger stripes, they're called tiger stripes...
RoaaaaAAAR!! Yes, ma'am! Clarification? I assume that's for the critters formerly known as stretch marks, not the 3-D flesh folds, si?
Yes. Stretch marks. I have loads. Lol. They're my battlescars.
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Shadowmf023 wrote: »@Cryren8972 -
skin snakes and other unwanted badges of your successful experiment. Hooray!
...Tiger stripes, they're called tiger stripes...
I love this!!!!0 -
There are a lot of foods in your diary that look like generic serving size entries from MFP - actual servings rarely fall precisely in line with the serving size suggested on the package. You also have things listed by volume that are not really precisely measurable by volume. I suspect you may be eating more than you think you are - particularly since you mentioned that you often don't log because you've eaten the foods before and know what you ate. That suggests to me that your food measuring techniques may not be very precise.
No big deal. I didn't weigh things for the first 30-ish pounds because I'm historically pretty good at estimating, and I was losing at the rate I planned to lose. But when you are trying to figure out why you don't seem to be losing weight, measuring accuracy becomes suspect #1.
I've been on some sort of diet for 3 years now, and using MFP through most of that. The serving sizes are accurate. I weigh, and portion food regularly. If it says a cup of broccoli, that's because I put a cup of broccoli on my plate. I have obsessed over this, honestly.
I'm actually getting really tired of weighing, measuring, logging, with no weight drop. If I were seeing results, it would be worth the obsession. I started low carb because it was the ONE diet I hadn't tried. I've lost sizes, so I suppose I shouldn't complain, but I can't see being a nice size at 200 lbs...lol, and that's where my body is stubbornly stuck.
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I get frustrated trying to explain this issue. I've tried telling the doctor, and everyone's assumption is that I am eating too much.
The last time I lost weight, I could only do it by dropping to 600-900 calories a day, but I couldn't maintain that...obviously. I KNOW that's all I ate because I can tell you what I ate every day.
I'm honestly baffled. I know my thyroid is OK, but I'm beginning to wonder if I have problems with other hormones....0 -
Cryren8972 wrote: »There are a lot of foods in your diary that look like generic serving size entries from MFP - actual servings rarely fall precisely in line with the serving size suggested on the package. You also have things listed by volume that are not really precisely measurable by volume. I suspect you may be eating more than you think you are - particularly since you mentioned that you often don't log because you've eaten the foods before and know what you ate. That suggests to me that your food measuring techniques may not be very precise.
No big deal. I didn't weigh things for the first 30-ish pounds because I'm historically pretty good at estimating, and I was losing at the rate I planned to lose. But when you are trying to figure out why you don't seem to be losing weight, measuring accuracy becomes suspect #1.
I've been on some sort of diet for 3 years now, and using MFP through most of that. The serving sizes are accurate. I weigh, and portion food regularly. If it says a cup of broccoli, that's because I put a cup of broccoli on my plate. I have obsessed over this, honestly.
I'm actually getting really tired of weighing, measuring, logging, with no weight drop. If I were seeing results, it would be worth the obsession. I started low carb because it was the ONE diet I hadn't tried. I've lost sizes, so I suppose I shouldn't complain, but I can't see being a nice size at 200 lbs...lol, and that's where my body is stubbornly stuck.
Broccoli isn't something that's measured by cups. Use ounces or grams. Cups are for liquid. Though I don't think that's where you will find any issue with calories consumed because it would be such a small amount, but that's a logging inaccuracy and it could also exist on more calorie heavy foods and WILL matter then.
Biggest issue is with the last 2 bolded statements.
"If I were seeing results"...
and
"I've lost sizes"...
Honey, you ARE seeing results. You just think the scale is more important than overall health. I understand that 200 pounds isn't going to be your final healthy weight... that you don't see 200 pound, thin women walking around. But it may not be as far off as you're thinking either. I don't think you said how tall you are...??? But even using BMI as a standard will give you a range of weight to be in.
You're so focused on the scale number going down and obsessive food preoccupation to appreciate what you've achieved. YOU'VE LOST SIZES without losing a whole lot of weight. I think that suggests that you've done very well at preserving muscle in the process.
You can continue cutting calories to force scale weight loss, most likely at the cost of lean body mass, if you want, but that would be unfortunate. Or you can trust in your food choices, eat the right things to bring yourself to the continually smaller, healthier version of you that will be impossible not to achieve if you feed your body right and stay consistent and don't throw in bad food hurdles along the way.
And let go of the idea that a lower scale weight is the ultimate goal.
GIVE YOURSELF SOME CREDIT FOR WHAT YOU HAVE ACHIEVED AND STOP DE-VALUING IT JUST BECAUSE THE SCALE SEEMS CONTRARY.
YOU ARE DOING IT RIGHT. YOU ARE GETTING SMALLER. THERE IS NO MYSTERY TO SOLVE. THATS WHY YOU CANT FIND THE ANSWER.
IN 1 year I have lost no scale weight and I didn't exercise and I even stopped logging food half way through, BUT, I've went down a full size in pants and look very different from the same weight a year ago.
This picture does show a small weight difference but I'm back up to 140 now and have been for a while. My weight runs up and down in a 4-8 pound fluctuation all the time. That's what's normal for me. But, I've gotten smaller.
If I hadn't, I would be convinced I was failing. The scale has not only zero value as a measure for me but it's actually able to suggest I'm going the opposite way.
Many people believe this only applies when you're close to goal weight but how can it be a good measurement just because someone has more to lose if it's unable to show my progress at all and actually suggest I'm going the wrong way? How can it be so different? How can anyone want to solely use and focus on that form of measure when it's so inconsistent and allow it to cause them to dissect and obsess about everything so desperately?
PLEASE, focus on the fact that you are smaller and are able to workout effectively and hopefully have noticed other benefits as well. Give yourself a pat on the back and try to stop feeling like you're failing.
YOU'RE SUCCEEDING!3 -
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Amen. 2
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Can you explain what you mean and give us some research? My understanding is if we deprive ourselves of enough calories for long enough, that is exactly what will happen.
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I've been hearing that the idea of "starvation mode" isn't scientifically sound. I don't have any sources though. If there's anything documentation of this, I'd love to read it!
I also am taking a little time to try to find information as well.. to the Googles!0
