5 months of no results
czechwolf52
Posts: 194 Member
Ok, this may be a bit long but I'll try to keep this as concise as possible.
I started using MFP 2.5 years ago and had great results. I went from 160 to 130. After I graduated from college and moved back home by weight has been slowly creeping up. I'm currently around 148 and I absolutely hate it. I hate how I look, feel less confident, and feel like everybody is judging my weight. I've been overweight since I was about 9 and I'm tired of it.
Since June Ive really been trying hard to lose weight. I invested in a personal trainer for about 2 months and I started lifting weights for the first time. I didn't lose any weight but I contributed that to lifting for the first time. At the time I was eating about 1300 because my trainer suggested it. Now I'm trying to eat about 1400-1500 a day becaus I didn't feel good eating that little. I still work out about 3-4 days a week for about an hour each time. But I always seem to be gaining and losing the same 2 pounds. Can anybody help me?
Quick stats
24, female
5'2, 148 "larger" frame
Food scale is my best friend.
Work outs include 20 minutes of cardio and 40 minutes of weight lifting
After every 3 workouts I do a cardio day
I exercise with a friend so we can keep each other accountable
I started using MFP 2.5 years ago and had great results. I went from 160 to 130. After I graduated from college and moved back home by weight has been slowly creeping up. I'm currently around 148 and I absolutely hate it. I hate how I look, feel less confident, and feel like everybody is judging my weight. I've been overweight since I was about 9 and I'm tired of it.
Since June Ive really been trying hard to lose weight. I invested in a personal trainer for about 2 months and I started lifting weights for the first time. I didn't lose any weight but I contributed that to lifting for the first time. At the time I was eating about 1300 because my trainer suggested it. Now I'm trying to eat about 1400-1500 a day becaus I didn't feel good eating that little. I still work out about 3-4 days a week for about an hour each time. But I always seem to be gaining and losing the same 2 pounds. Can anybody help me?
Quick stats
24, female
5'2, 148 "larger" frame
Food scale is my best friend.
Work outs include 20 minutes of cardio and 40 minutes of weight lifting
After every 3 workouts I do a cardio day
I exercise with a friend so we can keep each other accountable
2
Replies
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Weight lifting doesn't burn a lot of calories. You're not doing much cardio at all. 1500 with your stats is awfully close to maintenance. You're petite and sadly the calories to lose and maintain aren't all that high.
If you your'e not able to come down to 1200 or 1300, I would suggest increasing your cardio. It's still going to be slow going with your stats and intake.8 -
Can you open your diary?2
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Do you eat back exercise calories? Try eating exactly 1500 calories a day but not eating back any exercise calories at all. I have better luck with that. You're short though so you may need to go lower in calories but start with 1500 and see how it goes for 1 month first. If no loss then drop to 1450 or 1400.
Make sure you're getting enough protein every day, especially since you are active, lifting weights, and in a calorie deficit. 100 grams a day is what I aim for (I'm 5'4" female 35 years old, workout 5 days a week). You may need a little more or a little less than that depending on your individual stats. But this is very important. You can check your macros in your food diary with the "nutrition" button at the bottom. Just out of curiosity what are you averaging right now for daily protein intake in grams?? Getting adequate protein was a total game changer for me.
Try to get plenty of sleep and reduce stress. Also don't eat foods that you have a sensitivity to- refined grains and alcohol make me bloat up and slow my metabolism big time.
Otherwise keep doing what you're doing. The exercise sounds good. You could try different forms of cardio to increase the intensity - like sprint intervals, or plyometric body weight exercises, or the stair climber - what do you do for cardio right now?0 -
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While weight lifting CAN burn a lot of calories, it depends on your intensity. Also, muscle burns more calories than fat, so keep lifting!1
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courtneyfabulous wrote: »Also don't eat foods that you have a sensitivity to- refined grains and alcohol make me bloat up and slow my metabolism big time.
No.12 -
MissusMoon wrote: »courtneyfabulous wrote: »Also don't eat foods that you have a sensitivity to- refined grains and alcohol make me bloat up and slow my metabolism big time.
No.
There's actually scientific reasons that alcohol does actually have a negative effect on metabolism and increases storage of calories as body fat. The gluten thing is probably just bloat but bloat & inflammation can cause the body to carry several pounds of weight as water retention.
It never hurts to clean up the diet when your goal is weight loss, especially is someone is struggling.2 -
courtneyfabulous wrote: »MissusMoon wrote: »courtneyfabulous wrote: »Also don't eat foods that you have a sensitivity to- refined grains and alcohol make me bloat up and slow my metabolism big time.
No.
There's actually scientific reasons that alcohol does actually have a negative effect on metabolism and increases storage of calories as body fat. The gluten thing is probably just bloat but bloat & inflammation can cause the body to carry several pounds of weight as water retention.
It never hurts to clean up the diet when your goal is weight loss, especially is someone is struggling.
Yet, we don't even know if OP is accurately logging and 'portioning' her food.
And, we don't know if OP has any sensitivities.
Also, can you post some studies on alcohol vs metabolism?6 -
Honestly with your stats I think you need to reduce your intake. What does MFP give you if you set to .5 a week?0
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courtneyfabulous wrote: »MissusMoon wrote: »courtneyfabulous wrote: »Also don't eat foods that you have a sensitivity to- refined grains and alcohol make me bloat up and slow my metabolism big time.
No.
There's actually scientific reasons that alcohol does actually have a negative effect on metabolism and increases storage of calories as body fat. The gluten thing is probably just bloat but bloat & inflammation can cause the body to carry several pounds of weight as water retention.
It never hurts to clean up the diet when your goal is weight loss, especially is someone is struggling.
The science is that the body will metabolise alcohol as a priority but the calorie is still king so unless everything else you ate that day puts you in a surplus, everything else will be metabolised as normal causing no mystical storage of excess fat that doesn't exist.
And water bloat is pretty much irrelevant unless you'd rather not feel bloated, as it isn't fat, which is all we should really be concerned with when it comes to "weight" loss.14 -
cerise_noir wrote: »courtneyfabulous wrote: »MissusMoon wrote: »courtneyfabulous wrote: »Also don't eat foods that you have a sensitivity to- refined grains and alcohol make me bloat up and slow my metabolism big time.
No.
There's actually scientific reasons that alcohol does actually have a negative effect on metabolism and increases storage of calories as body fat. The gluten thing is probably just bloat but bloat & inflammation can cause the body to carry several pounds of weight as water retention.
It never hurts to clean up the diet when your goal is weight loss, especially is someone is struggling.
Yet, we don't even know if OP is accurately logging and 'portioning' her food.
And, we don't know if OP has any sensitivities.
Also, can you post some studies on alcohol vs metabolism?
Op stated that her food scale is her best friend - so I assume that means she is weighing all her food?
I only said she should avoid any foods that she has sensitivities too- if she doesn't have any that's great. If she does that might be something she might want to look into.
I'm not going to spend the time looking for studies but alcohol changes the way your body burns fat and causes fat storage rather than fat burning from food consumed while alcohol is in the system. It also lowers testosterone which is an important hormone for weight loss. It also causes bloat in lots of people which doesn't really have to do with metabolism but will cause weight gain on the scale. It's also a toxin which puts more stress on the body and stress causes weight gain... need I go on?2 -
What I'd like to know most is if OP is eating 1400 to 1500 calories PLUS eating back exercise calories or just 1400-1500 total?0
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I don't really drink alcohol since I don't know the calories in it, I typically have about 2 drinks a month. I keep my calorie drinking to a minimum. I try to get at least 100 grams of protein a day, so protein is not an issue. I weigh almost everything I eat in grams so I know how much I'm having.
Throughout the day I also try to keep active, I have a fitbit and try to get 10k steps a day. I walk my dog several times a day, walking during my lunch break, and even walk in place while I'm at home to get in my steps. Most days my fit bit has me burning about 2100 calories, I know it's an estimate but I should still be losing weight even if it was off.
My weight lifting routine is also fairly intense. I've been increasing my weights as I've been doing my workouts. I only have a limited time to workout so I'm very intense during my workouts.0 -
czechwolf52 wrote: »I don't really drink alcohol since I don't know the calories in it, I typically have about 2 drinks a month. I keep my calorie drinking to a minimum. I try to get at least 100 grams of protein a day, so protein is not an issue. I weigh almost everything I eat in grams so I know how much I'm having.
Throughout the day I also try to keep active, I have a fitbit and try to get 10k steps a day. I walk my dog several times a day, walking during my lunch break, and even walk in place while I'm at home to get in my steps. Most days my fit bit has me burning about 2100 calories, I know it's an estimate but I should still be losing weight even if it was off.
My weight lifting routine is also fairly intense. I've been increasing my weights as I've been doing my workouts. I only have a limited time to workout so I'm very intense during my workouts.
Well that eliminates a lot of possible factors, that's good. So how many calories TOTAL are you eating every day?0 -
Again I would stick with one specific goal and not change it day to day based on exercise- and according to you TDEE & BMR based on your stats you should be losing weight if you are eating a total of 1400 or 1500 calories a day. You could safely drop it to 1375 and see if that is a better goal for you to achieve fat loss.0
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Total I mean, not after subtracting exercise. Do you log exercise into myfitnesspal?0
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czechwolf52 wrote: »I don't really drink alcohol since I don't know the calories in it, I typically have about 2 drinks a month. I keep my calorie drinking to a minimum. I try to get at least 100 grams of protein a day, so protein is not an issue. I weigh almost everything I eat in grams so I know how much I'm having.
Throughout the day I also try to keep active, I have a fitbit and try to get 10k steps a day. I walk my dog several times a day, walking during my lunch break, and even walk in place while I'm at home to get in my steps. Most days my fit bit has me burning about 2100 calories, I know it's an estimate but I should still be losing weight even if it was off.
My weight lifting routine is also fairly intense. I've been increasing my weights as I've been doing my workouts. I only have a limited time to workout so I'm very intense during my workouts.
This thread is already too complicated. When you gave your height, weight and intake it was already obvious. HRM burns on your fitbit during strength training are going to be way, way over-estimated.
It's simple math. You're eating at maintenance. With 70 minutes of cardio seven days per week/15-18K steps per day, and weight training with elevated heart rate, I'm eking out about 1.5lb per week per week loss eating less than you are. I've got six inches of height and forty plus pounds on ya, too. This isn't a humble brag, I'm pointing out...it's in the math.
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MissusMoon wrote: »czechwolf52 wrote: »I don't really drink alcohol since I don't know the calories in it, I typically have about 2 drinks a month. I keep my calorie drinking to a minimum. I try to get at least 100 grams of protein a day, so protein is not an issue. I weigh almost everything I eat in grams so I know how much I'm having.
Throughout the day I also try to keep active, I have a fitbit and try to get 10k steps a day. I walk my dog several times a day, walking during my lunch break, and even walk in place while I'm at home to get in my steps. Most days my fit bit has me burning about 2100 calories, I know it's an estimate but I should still be losing weight even if it was off.
My weight lifting routine is also fairly intense. I've been increasing my weights as I've been doing my workouts. I only have a limited time to workout so I'm very intense during my workouts.
This thread is already too complicated. When you gave your height, weight and intake it was already obvious. HRM burns on your fitbit during strength training are going to be way, way over-estimated.
It's simple math. You're eating at maintenance. With 70 minutes of cardio seven days per week/15-18K steps per day, and weight training with elevated heart rate, I'm eking out about 1.5lb per week per week loss eating less than you are. I've got six inches of height and forty plus pounds on ya, too. This isn't a humble brag, I'm pointing out...it's in the math.
Dang girl!
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Yeah most likely daily calorie goal set too high or eating back too much exercise calories. I honestly wish people would just throw away their fit bits.. it always way overestimates calories.1
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courtneyfabulous wrote: »Yeah most likely daily calorie goal set too high or eating back too much exercise calories. I honestly wish people would just throw away their fit bits.. it always way overestimates calories.
My fitness tracker (Garmin) is spot on. Other people on these forums report theirs to also be spot on. But we must exercise common sense and know that if we're not losing over months then we need to use those real world results and tweak as necessary.7 -
I don't eat exercise calories back, I eat about 1400-1500 total calories every day.0
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My fitbit is pretty much spot on for my totally calories including exercise. My exercise is pretty much just walking 10,000-13,000 steps per day. I eat every calorie it give me.3
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czechwolf52 wrote: »I don't eat exercise calories back, I eat about 1400-1500 total calories every day.
Hmm then it seems that's your maintenance calories and to lose weight you'll need to drop it down lower.0 -
Or exercise more0
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As others have said, you are eating at maintenance. Remember, these numbers are all just a guideline. It doesn't mean they are set in stone. If you are weighing food and not eating exercise calories back, your maintenance level is unfortunately less than projected. Rather than decreasing your intake, I second the idea of adding in some cardio about 3-4 times a week and see how the numbers turn out.5
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courtneyfabulous wrote: »Yeah most likely daily calorie goal set too high or eating back too much exercise calories. I honestly wish people would just throw away their fit bits.. it always way overestimates calories.
My Fitbit One is spot on for me. I've had a fitbit since the company started so I've played around with it a lot and found it to be very accurate for me.3 -
@czechwolf52 , you received a couple requests to make your diary public for review, and should consider doing so.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings2 -
Diary is still closed...
Can't even give a reasonable explanation or conclusion for someone that has been dieting for 5 months and no results without reviewing the diary..1 -
Eat less or move more. It really isn't hard.5
This discussion has been closed.
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