4 months working out and eating clean - no weight loss
kaylaincali
Posts: 3 Member
Hi Yall! I am really losing my motivation....
I'm 5'2 , 27 years old, and 165 lbs. I have been working out , both weight training, and cardio for the past 4 months and I haven't lost any weight. My measurements have not changed.
I train at the gym at least 4 days a week, usually twice a day.
I track my food (clean eating) on this app, and track my calories (1200-1400), and macros (newly switched to higher protein). I don't have health insurance or else I would have had tests done, but that is next on my to do list.
Has anyone experienced this? How do you stay motivated. It's really starting to hurt my self esteem.
Thank you for any advice!
I'm 5'2 , 27 years old, and 165 lbs. I have been working out , both weight training, and cardio for the past 4 months and I haven't lost any weight. My measurements have not changed.
I train at the gym at least 4 days a week, usually twice a day.
I track my food (clean eating) on this app, and track my calories (1200-1400), and macros (newly switched to higher protein). I don't have health insurance or else I would have had tests done, but that is next on my to do list.
Has anyone experienced this? How do you stay motivated. It's really starting to hurt my self esteem.
Thank you for any advice!
0
Replies
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You aren't creating a calorie deficit.6
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1200 calories a day isn't a deficit?2
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Girl if you aren't losing weight or slimming down by doing all of that then something might actually be wrong with you internally. I would talk to a doc about it. I'm sure they can tell you what's wrong or what to do.5
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I would start with going over your logging. There are several ways that inaccuracies can slip in. Weighing food is more accurate than measuring cups and typically way more accurate than eyeballing. The database has many inaccurate entries, which can throw off the logging. If you are using packaged foods, the serving sizes are often inaccurate. For example, the pyrogies I eat, package says I serving, 5 for 200g. Those 5 are usually well over 200g, so without weighing, I would be underestimating a fair amount. If you are cooking a lot of your own stuff, make sure you are using your own recipe, there is no way to know what the creator of each entry had put into their recipe, which makes it inaccurate, for your recipe.12
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Are you eating back your exercise calories? If so, you may be overestimating your calories burned and wiping out your deficit.
If not, how are you measuring your food? Are you weighing out solids? At 1200 calories you should absolutely be losing weight, so it seems that if you aren't, then you must be eating more than 1200 calories per day. (And I'm not trying to be harsh or accusatory by suggesting that the problem may be with your logging. I started with very close to your stats - 28, 5 foot even, ~155 pounds and I'm losing a little more than a pound a week at 1200 calories with only a bit of exercise. So while everyone is different, the laws of physics still apply, and at your stats, 1200 calories should put you at a pretty good calorie deficit.)4 -
Depends how many calories you used to eat before2
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Are you eating back your exercise calories? If so, you may be overestimating your calories burned and wiping out your deficit.
If not, how are you measuring your food? Are you weighing out solids? At 1200 calories you should absolutely be losing weight, so it seems that if you aren't, then you must be eating more than 1200 calories per day. (And I'm not trying to be harsh or accusatory by suggesting that the problem may be with your logging. I started with very close to your stats - 28, 5 foot even, ~155 pounds and I'm losing a little more than a pound a week at 1200 calories with only a bit of exercise. So while everyone is different, the laws of physics still apply, and at your stats, 1200 calories should put you at a pretty good calorie deficit.)
Generally, I am not eating back the calories I burn. If I've had a hard workout, and I feel depleted I might eat and extra 200 calories (1400 total). Most of my food I cook myself. No added sugar, limited dairy, no gluten, limited caffeine. I do weigh it on a food scale, although I need to upgrade to a digital scale.
I work freelance so I put all my time into doing this right, and I've gotten no results
I'm worried maybe I'm not consuming enough calories? Or my hormones are off? I was hoping someone out there had been through something similar0 -
If you're eating 1200 and your exercise is say 500 calories burned in a day, then your NET calories is 700. And it's likely why you're not losing because with so little energy, your metabolic rate adapts to utilizing 700 calories for NORMAL FUNCTION.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Obviously, you can't be eating less than your BMR plus burning extra calories and not lose weight. You aren't sleeping all day, so your calories burned has to be more than 1200. That means it is your calorie intake that is too high. Weighing your food doesn't seem to be working for you. Maybe try buying some food that is packaged single serving if only for a couple of weeks. Just trust the label and keep your intake to 1200. If you start to see weight loss (I expect you will) then you've been using the scales wrong.2
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Would be sensible to make your food diary public as that's most likely where the clue to your problem lies.
Digital scales are ridiculously inexpensive.
Suggest you get some a.s.a.p. and make a fresh start with your logging including double checking the food items you select from the database - there's plenty of horrendously wrong entries in there!
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There definitely may be a medical issue here. That said, you should look at 1) the accuracy of your logging (are you eating out a lot? That is always impossible to log accurately) 2) has anything else changed? I know you said measurements didn't move but does your body feel better and stronger? I GAINED weight and my butt got bigger, but body scans showed it was just muscle build. 3) whats your deal with cheat days? you can totally blow a week of 1200 calories if you have a day where you're knocking back cocktails and chips. 4) How hard are you training? Sometimes we train too hard and you can actually push yourself out of a fat burning zone. I had VO2 Max testing done and it turns out I burn fat between 137-147 BPM. That is basically a light jog for me or brisk uphill walk. You could be overtraining. 5)When are you eating? I'd try having only protein pre-workout and your carbs right after a workout. 6) You may be eating too few calories and stressing your body.
Sounds like you are incredibly disciplined since I know I could NEVER hang in there at that low of an intake!1 -
suzannesimmons3 wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »Obviously, you can't be eating less than your BMR plus burning extra calories and not lose weight. You aren't sleeping all day, so your calories burned has to be more than 1200. That means it is your calorie intake that is too high. Weighing your food doesn't seem to be working for you. Maybe try buying some food that is packaged single serving if only for a couple of weeks. Just trust the label and keep your intake to 1200. If you start to see weight loss (I expect you will) then you've been using the scales wrong.
By law companies can add extra up to 10% to the pack....just because it says a weight doesn't mean it actually weighs that.
(Sorry for the log post warning)
Even with an under-estimation of 10% the fact op isn't eating up all of the calories she burned off I think she would still lose weight.
I'm the same height as her and I would go off the food labels to eat at 1200 calories often, 1300 calories, or even 1500 (I tend to play with the numbers depending on my goal) knowing it does under-estimate the actual calorie number and have still been losing weight. I started off a little bigger than her 188 pounds and I'm down to 155 pounds as of today. I also do workout, but I eat back at least half of the calories I burned off.
I don't use a digital food scale to weigh my food either, or even measuring cups. Digital scales, measuring cups, are all tools to help one have more accurate numbers. Measuring cups for liquids and digital food scale for solids. They're super helpful if one isn't losing the weight and could help with the accuracy with these two tools. However, it's not a requirement to lose weight So I do think she can lose weight if she choose to use the labels and continue with her workout routine and if she wants she can eat at half of her burned calories back. Using a digital food scale would help her have more accurate numbers as well (at the end of the day it may not be 100% accurate when using the recipe builder)
Currently, either one of two things is occurring either op is eating more calories than she thinks thus not creating a deficit tracking with the food she is making or she has an underlying medical problem that I think she should get some help with. She has 3 solutions she can try:
A. Get a digital food scale
B. Try using food labels for 2 weeks and see if she has any changes
C. Go to a doctor to see what's going on
Op, free clinics do exist if you don't have health insurance not sure what country you live in, but I suggest seeing one is nearby, or if you're a student reaching out and seeing the resources that are available to you as a student. Good luck on your journey!6 -
You're probably eating too much, and using inaccurate entries or something.6
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Thyroid or thyroid medicine can cause this, or several other medicines. Good luck1
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Are you having cheat meals or days? As a fellow short girl 5'0 I know it is harder for us to create a very big deficit and cheat meals, or cheat days especially, can completely negate any deficit you created during the week. I started tracking cals again about 6wks ago and have dropped 12 lbs (obviously some water weight early on and expect it to slow a bit) by eating around 1200 cals and riding my exercise bike for 30-90min/ 5 days a week (usually 60min), but I'm really good about weighing everything in my power and NOT having cheat days where I track nothing;) SW 152 CW 139.8 GW 110? Feel free to add me for some short support;)1
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kaylaincali wrote: »Are you eating back your exercise calories? If so, you may be overestimating your calories burned and wiping out your deficit.
If not, how are you measuring your food? Are you weighing out solids? At 1200 calories you should absolutely be losing weight, so it seems that if you aren't, then you must be eating more than 1200 calories per day. (And I'm not trying to be harsh or accusatory by suggesting that the problem may be with your logging. I started with very close to your stats - 28, 5 foot even, ~155 pounds and I'm losing a little more than a pound a week at 1200 calories with only a bit of exercise. So while everyone is different, the laws of physics still apply, and at your stats, 1200 calories should put you at a pretty good calorie deficit.)
Generally, I am not eating back the calories I burn. If I've had a hard workout, and I feel depleted I might eat and extra 200 calories (1400 total). Most of my food I cook myself. No added sugar, limited dairy, no gluten, limited caffeine. I do weigh it on a food scale, although I need to upgrade to a digital scale.
I work freelance so I put all my time into doing this right, and I've gotten no results
I'm worried maybe I'm not consuming enough calories? Or my hormones are off? I was hoping someone out there had been through something similar
None of this has anything to do with weight loss, (or 'clean' eating, which is an arbitrary term with no defined meaning).
Get the digital food scale and then focus on being super accurate with your logging for a couple weeks. If nothing changes then it's probably time for a doctor visit.
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RMSchmidt17 wrote: »There definitely may be a medical issue here. That said, you should look at 1) the accuracy of your logging (are you eating out a lot? That is always impossible to log accurately) 2) has anything else changed? I know you said measurements didn't move but does your body feel better and stronger? I GAINED weight and my butt got bigger, but body scans showed it was just muscle build. 3) whats your deal with cheat days? you can totally blow a week of 1200 calories if you have a day where you're knocking back cocktails and chips. 4) How hard are you training? Sometimes we train too hard and you can actually push yourself out of a fat burning zone. I had VO2 Max testing done and it turns out I burn fat between 137-147 BPM. That is basically a light jog for me or brisk uphill walk. You could be overtraining. 5)When are you eating? I'd try having only protein pre-workout and your carbs right after a workout. 6) You may be eating too few calories and stressing your body.
Sounds like you are incredibly disciplined since I know I could NEVER hang in there at that low of an intake!
building muscle and losing weight is hard ,building muscle for a woman alone is hard even in a surplus. I doubt she is building enough muscle for the scale to not move in 4 months. exercise gives a bigger deficit and if she isnt eating any of those calories back its not due to being out of the "fat burning zone" ,you burn fat in a deficit,exercise just makes a bigger deficit.
fat burning zones should only be used for people who are training for something.for those of us who are not those zones are basically worthless,since you can lose fat without exercise and just eat in a deficit.But,exercise is good for your body. if she were eating too few calories she would lose weight and she definitely would NOT gain muscle.something is off somewhere,it could be her scale,she could be logging things wrong,the part of the cheat wiping out her deficit could be it, or its a health issue.2 -
nutmegoreo wrote: »I would start with going over your logging. There are several ways that inaccuracies can slip in. Weighing food is more accurate than measuring cups and typically way more accurate than eyeballing. The database has many inaccurate entries, which can throw off the logging. If you are using packaged foods, the serving sizes are often inaccurate. For example, the pyrogies I eat, package says I serving, 5 for 200g. Those 5 are usually well over 200g, so without weighing, I would be underestimating a fair amount. If you are cooking a lot of your own stuff, make sure you are using your own recipe, there is no way to know what the creator of each entry had put into their recipe, which makes it inaccurate, for your recipe.
This.3 -
kaylaincali wrote: »1200 calories a day isn't a deficit?
Be sure you measure everything correctly.1 -
1
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Yes, on a food scale. It's the most accurate way. Also important to choose correct database entries since the database is full of errors.kiiibbb112253 wrote: »kaylaincali wrote: »1200 calories a day isn't a deficit?
Be sure you measure everything correctly.
3
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