Feeling discouraged

april3888
april3888 Posts: 40 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I don't know what I'm doing wrong. For 5 weeks now I have been exercising 5x a week (cardio & strength) for 30 minutes AND tracking my food Mon-Fri and haven't lost even 0.5lb. I never go over my calories.
I weigh all my food, eat only whole grains, low carb/fat most days. A few yrs ago I followed mfp and exercised and lost 10lbs. I had no scale and just went by serving sizes and wasn't near as strict as I am now. What gives!?
The only thing I struggle with is sugar in my coffee. That is 2-3tsp a day. Besides that I stay away from sugary things.

Anyone have tips? Im not overweight by any means, but I have a few lbs I want to lose and tone up. Im not seeing any progress. Its defeating. I guess I could lower my calorie goal even right now its only like 1500.

Replies

  • tuckerrj
    tuckerrj Posts: 1,453 Member
    tracking Monday thru Friday probably ain't enough. I can gain back every bit I've lost from Monday to Friday, by "letting go" on the weekends.
  • devon7118
    devon7118 Posts: 8 Member
    It has to be 7 days a week or it's nothing. You can gain everything back and more by two days of eating whatever you want. Try tracking every day for a few weeks and see what happens.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    Track your food on weekends.
  • neldabg
    neldabg Posts: 1,452 Member
    edited October 2016
    april3888 wrote: »
    I don't know what I'm doing wrong. For 5 weeks now I have been exercising 5x a week (cardio & strength) for 30 minutes AND tracking my food Mon-Fri and haven't lost even 0.5lb. I never go over my calories.
    I weigh all my food, eat only whole grains, low carb/fat most days. A few yrs ago I followed mfp and exercised and lost 10lbs. I had no scale and just went by serving sizes and wasn't near as strict as I am now. What gives!?
    The only thing I struggle with is sugar in my coffee. That is 2-3tsp a day. Besides that I stay away from sugary things.

    Anyone have tips? Im not overweight by any means, but I have a few lbs I want to lose and tone up. Im not seeing any progress. Its defeating. I guess I could lower my calorie goal even right now its only like 1500.

    That bolded part sticks out to me the most. Start logging just as diligently on the weekends. There are so many people who wipe out their deficit on weekends by not logging. If it's been five weeks, can you *really* still claim that there's no way you may be eating more than you think on weekends?
    Also, while those types of food do indeed help with satiety and thus may keep you from overeating, always remember that in terms of weight loss, your body does not care. Take in more energy or just as much energy than you burn, and that weight will not come off, no matter what the food source.
  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
    Do you not eat any calories on Saturday and Sunday?
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited October 2016
    I agree that your diet is 24/7. So without further ado, you are just now using a food scale and was guestimating before? How long have you using the scale?

    Sugar in the coffee or eating anything sweet and yummy is not gonna effect anything unless you are over your calories and keeps you out a calorie deficit.

    Perhaps now that you are using the food scale, the calorie intake will now be as close to the 1500 you thought you were consuming before and things will start to move. Do this every day and give your new efforts a min of 4 weeks. You may need adjustment period for your body to adapt to getting less calories than before, after that you will start trending down ward..

    Patience will be your best friend from now and into the future.. :)
  • sllm1
    sllm1 Posts: 2,130 Member
    Tracking Monday through Friday can easily be undone on Saturday and Sunday. It's SO easy to negate a deficit, especially in two days.
  • Bee_Le
    Bee_Le Posts: 48 Member
    Is there a reason you're not tracking on weekends? Splurging? Just be accountable and accurate even if you eat poorly, then you can see the reasons for your results. Anyhow, good luck on your journey.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    I was maintaining a weight of 270+ even before I started using MFP, without even pretending to count calories or care about exercise, and every M-F I was in a calorie deficit and every S-S I was in a big surplus.
  • april3888
    april3888 Posts: 40 Member
    crzycatlady1 wrote: »
    Do you not eat any calories on Saturday and Sunday?

    I don't log on weekends. I don't usually overindulge either. I just don't log.
  • april3888
    april3888 Posts: 40 Member
    AnTruong2 wrote: »
    Is there a reason you're not tracking on weekends? Splurging? Just be accountable and accurate even if you eat poorly, then you can see the reasons for your results. Anyhow, good luck on your journey.


    Mainly just because last time i used mfp and lost 10lbs I always gave myself the weekend off and it wasn't an issue. Im not sure why it would be now.
  • april3888
    april3888 Posts: 40 Member
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    I agree that your diet is 24/7. So without further ado, you are just now using a food scale and was guestimating before? How long have you using the scale?

    Sugar in the coffee or eating anything sweet and yummy is not gonna effect anything unless you are over your calories and keeps you out a calorie deficit.

    Perhaps now that you are using the food scale, the calorie intake will now be as close to the 1500 you thought you were consuming before and things will start to move. Do this every day and give your new efforts a min of 4 weeks. You may need adjustment period for your body to adapt to getting less calories than before, after that you will start trending down ward..

    Patience will be your best friend from now and into the future.. :)

    I've been using the food scale for the whole 5 weeks
  • april3888
    april3888 Posts: 40 Member
    neldabg wrote: »
    april3888 wrote: »
    I don't know what I'm doing wrong. For 5 weeks now I have been exercising 5x a week (cardio & strength) for 30 minutes AND tracking my food Mon-Fri and haven't lost even 0.5lb. I never go over my calories.
    I weigh all my food, eat only whole grains, low carb/fat most days. A few yrs ago I followed mfp and exercised and lost 10lbs. I had no scale and just went by serving sizes and wasn't near as strict as I am now. What gives!?
    The only thing I struggle with is sugar in my coffee. That is 2-3tsp a day. Besides that I stay away from sugary things.

    Anyone have tips? Im not overweight by any means, but I have a few lbs I want to lose and tone up. Im not seeing any progress. Its defeating. I guess I could lower my calorie goal even right now its only like 1500.

    That bolded part sticks out to me the most. Start logging just as diligently on the weekends. There are so many people who wipe out their deficit on weekends by not logging. If it's been five weeks, can you *really* still claim that there's no way you may be eating more than you think on weekends?
    Also, while those types of food do indeed help with satiety and thus may keep you from overeating, always remember that in terms of weight loss, your body does not care. Take in more energy or just as much energy than you burn, and that weight will not come off, no matter what the food source.

    I always go over calories on weekends no doubt about that BUT I just don't get why that was okay before and I lost weight but now it's not working the same. I just hate not giving myself at least 1 day of freedom from constant logging.
  • ladymiseryali
    ladymiseryali Posts: 2,555 Member
    april3888 wrote: »
    AnTruong2 wrote: »
    Is there a reason you're not tracking on weekends? Splurging? Just be accountable and accurate even if you eat poorly, then you can see the reasons for your results. Anyhow, good luck on your journey.


    Mainly just because last time i used mfp and lost 10lbs I always gave myself the weekend off and it wasn't an issue. Im not sure why it would be now.

    It's an issue if you're eating more than you're burning. You need to log and be consistent.
  • april3888
    april3888 Posts: 40 Member
    Thanks for the suggestions everyone
  • april3888
    april3888 Posts: 40 Member
    ladymiseryali wrote: »
    april3888 wrote: »
    AnTruong2 wrote: »
    Is there a reason you're not tracking on weekends? Splurging? Just be accountable and accurate even if you eat poorly, then you can see the reasons for your results. Anyhow, good luck on your journey.


    Mainly just because last time i used mfp and lost 10lbs I always gave myself the weekend off and it wasn't an issue. Im not sure why it would be now.

    It's an issue if you're eating more than you're burning. You need to log and be consistent.

    True, but I never eat back my exercise calories.
    Guess I just have to suck it up and do it
  • chandraminick
    chandraminick Posts: 452 Member
    Everything I've read so far is exactly what I would have said too about tracking on the weekends. 3500 calories is equivalenr to a pound. If you eat 1500 calories a day and you need 2000, you are only in a deficit of 3500 by the end of the week. That means you would lose only one pound a wee, but if you over eat calories Saturday and Sunday, you've already blown the 3500 calories you burned.

Categories