Help

Justinrenna1
Justinrenna1 Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Over the past two years I've worked outside doing hardscaping. Very active work. I thought I would lose weight. I did a little at first but stopped, and even gained back. So I started to watch what I ate. Little results. I noticed I was toning up, and in better shape, which inspired me to hit the gym. No change. I've now added at home aerobics, yoga, and stretching exercise. I watch what I eat, and work hard 5-6 days a week 11 hrs a day. Little change to my weight, my waist does not change. I'm in best shape of my life, but can't drop the flab. What's the deal?

Replies

  • kathrynjean_
    kathrynjean_ Posts: 428 Member
    When you say that you're watching what you're eating, what do you mean by that? If you want to lose weight, you need to take in fewer calories than you burn. Have you been logging your food?

    When you set up MFP, what daily calorie allowance did it give you? How many calories do you eat on average per day?
  • GauchoMark
    GauchoMark Posts: 1,804 Member
    You absolutely can't outwork a "bad" diet, for the most part. If you aren't losing fat like you would like, you simply need to cut calories a little more.

    I can tell you from experience that you can stall your progress for an entire week in one day of overeating. Alcohol is also an easy way to stall your progress.

    With as much activity as you are getting, and the fact that you say you are "toning up" but not losing weight, I'd say that you are currently eating at about maintenance calories. Cut about 500 calories from where you are now and you should lose about 1 lb/week.
  • Justinrenna1
    Justinrenna1 Posts: 4 Member
    I mean I don't eat junk food and, and am mindful of caloric intake.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    Justinrenna1 wrote: »
    I mean I don't eat junk food and, and am mindful of caloric intake.

    are you in a calorie deficit everyday? You can still eat things you classify as junk, and you can stil eat too many healthy foods too.. But at the end of the day you need to be in a calorie deficit regardless of the types of foods you consume..

    Not losing weight means eating to maintain or pretty close to it (deficit is very very small)..
  • KKishaA
    KKishaA Posts: 160 Member
    Justinrenna1 wrote: »
    I mean I don't eat junk food and, and am mindful of caloric intake.

    I wish just being "mindful" about calorie intake was enough but for thr majority of us, it is not. My experience is that it is easy to underestimate how many calories you consume while over estimating how much you burn.

    Like a precious poster said, the fact is if you aren't losing weight, then you aren't creating a deficit. So either add more activity or consume less calories. Period.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    Justinrenna1 wrote: »
    I mean I don't eat junk food and, and am mindful of caloric intake.

    What is "mindful"? Are you writing down your food in a food log? If not, I encourage you to do so. Even if you don't want to count calories by weighing/measuring food using tools like a scale or measuring cup, writing down every bite you take can help you see just how much you are eating. Once you've been doing that for awhile, cut down on what you're eating. For example, if you see yourself writing down "2 servings potatoes", cut out one serving. If you eat 3 eggs for breakfast on the regular, eat 2 eggs. Little changes add up.

Categories