Exercising but not losing weight; help!?

1. Weight loss might be slow. What is your height / weight / goal loss per week? 1200 is the minimum MFP will recommend for women. If you do not have much to lose it may be hard to lose at a rate you have chosen.

2. When / how often do you weigh yourself? Drinking can throw mine right out of whack for a few days, and a salty day can make it bounce right up, or a day with a lot of exercise can sometimes make it wobble. It might be worth taking some measurements, and waiting a fair chunk of time before taking them again and weighing yourself again.

3. Already mentioned things about weighing food to be more accurate with your calorie tracking.

I second those that say get a food scale and weigh everything. I was shocked at how wrong some serving sizes are and how many extra calories I was eating just following the labels. Once you start weighing solid foods and measuring liquids, you'll see for yourself. Stay accountable and track everything that goes in your mouth - ESPECIALLY the alcohol. That's laden with calories, unfortunately

Side note...i wish i could do pushups My legs are beast mode but my arms are like soggy noodles. Boobs always got in the way and id get unbalanced and frustrated so i never go far training upper body XD

1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so, don't sweat it! Normal fluctuations happen and unfortunately sometimes we stall for a week or two even when we're doing everything right. Give your body some time to catch up with the changes you're making.

2. If you aren't already, be sure that you're logging everything. Sometimes people forget about things like veggies, drinks, cooking oils, and condiments. For some people these can add up to enough to halt your weight loss progress.

3. Consider buying a food scale if you don't already have one. They're about $10-$20 dollars in the US and easily found at places like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Measuring cups and spoons are great, but they do come with some degree of inaccuracy. A food scale will be more accurate, and for some people it makes a big difference.

4. Logging accurately also means choosing accurate entries in the database. There are a lot of user-entered entries that are off. Double-check that you're using good entries and/or using the recipe builder instead of someone else's homemade entries.

5. Recalculate your goals if you haven't lately. As you lose weight your body requires fewer calories to run. Be sure you update your goals every ten pounds or so.

6. If you're eating back your exercise calories and you're relying on gym machine readouts or MFP's estimates, it might be best to eat back just 50-75% of those. Certain activities tend to be overestimated. If you're using an HRM or activity tracker, it might be a good idea to look into their accuracy and be sure that yours is calibrated properly.

7. If you're taking any cheat days that go over your calorie limits, it might be best to cut them out for a few weeks and see what happens. Some people go way over their calorie needs without realizing it when they don't track.

8. If you weigh yourself frequently, consider using a program like trendweight to even out the fluctuations. You could be losing weight but just don't see it because of the daily ups and downs.

9. Some people just burn fewer calories than the calculators predict. If you continue to have problems after 4-6 weeks, then it might be worth a trip to the doctor or a registered dietitian who can give you more specific advice.

Just as a slightly separate thing to mention - it may be difficult to hit 2lbs per week loss even as an average over time, because that would mean a ~7000cal deficit per week, or ~1000 per day which would be difficult to hit at your height / weight. I hope your scale starts budging soon obviously, but it may be good to shift your expectations a little when it does start moving. 2lbs per week is a fast loss!

ritzvin wrote: »

Mizuki1991 wrote: »

Im 5'0 and hoping to lose 2 lbs a week, the goal is 120, I have 60 lbs to lose I have noticed that my arms look less flabby since I've been doing a lot of pushups

At 5'0" & 180 lbs, 1200 net calories is probably closer to an estimated 1 lb/week. (MFP will default to a minimum of 1200 if the goal loss rate is too high).

This is probably true. To get a feel for what your weight loss will be, set your goal to maintenance and see what MFP gives you. Know that 500 cals per day is about 1 lb lost per week. If 2 lbs per week (which may be aggressive) takes you below 1200, MFP will give you 1200.

But that isn't why you aren't losing but other posters have covered that well already (although the chart isn't here yet).

I hear you. I've been tracking my food and exercising pretty hard for the better part of 6 months. And I've fluctuated a pound or two. No real weight loss (and no, my clothes don't fit any better... although I'm definitely stronger and faster). In the past, the weight came off as long as I put in the work, but the last year has not been the same for me. I thought I had a good handle on exercise and nutrition but I went to a nutritionist and a trainer to see if maybe I was sabotaging myself somehow. The trainer's workouts were easier than I had been doing on my own and the nutritionist wanted me to eat more calories, more carbs (whole grains like quinoa, barley, farro, etc) but otherwise, was really happy with my eating. Still nothing and it's been three months since I started going to the nutritionist.

Today I'm going to the doctor because the trainer and nutritionist are both weary there may be something else hormonal going on. If you truly are doing the hard work and after a couple months aren't seeing a difference, you may want to consider the same.

Tacklewasher wrote: »

JaydedMiss wrote: »

Tacklewasher wrote: »

ritzvin wrote: »

Mizuki1991 wrote: »

Im 5'0 and hoping to lose 2 lbs a week, the goal is 120, I have 60 lbs to lose I have noticed that my arms look less flabby since I've been doing a lot of pushups

At 5'0" & 180 lbs, 1200 net calories is probably closer to an estimated 1 lb/week. (MFP will default to a minimum of 1200 if the goal loss rate is too high).

This is probably true. To get a feel for what your weight loss will be, set your goal to maintenance and see what MFP gives you. Know that 500 cals per day is about 1 lb lost per week. If 2 lbs per week (which may be aggressive) takes you below 1200, MFP will give you 1200.

But that isn't why you aren't losing but other posters have covered that well already (although the chart isn't here yet).

I hate that stupid chart >.>

Damn thing won't show for me. Crap

My chart bookmark is broken as well. Waiting for someone to post it so I can resave it.

Mizuki1991 wrote: »

So I've been eating low calories, only drinking (alcohol) once a week (instead of every day like I used to), drunking nore water and green tea, and making sure I do cardio at least 4 times a week and some form of strength exorcise every day. I haven't lost any weight and it's been like 3 weeks. Is that normal? What am I doing wrong?

Is the exercise regimen new? If so, you are likely retaining water from that. Give it more time!

Honestly people may hate me for this but you might be eating too little if you're under 1200 a day. Also yes get a food scale you can get them at Walmart for 10-15$. Its more accurate also don't eat back all your exercise calories only 25-50% of them tops because your calories burned are an estimate. But after 3 weeks you should've at least lost 2-3lbs how often do you weigh in? I do it everyday people think its dumb but I get to watch how I fluctuate if I do it every week what if that day I fluctuated a normal 2lbs I'll be discouraged. It helps me stick to my plan for the day. Usually not losing weight is as simple as over estimating or under estimating. Its trial and error. Like me I lost 40lbs with never havug a food scale because I am a cook I can size things really well with my eyes but I have bought one for my last few lbs to help out. But you'll get there just keep trying and once it starts you'll feel better.

ericatoday wrote: »

Honestly people may hate me for this but you might be eating too little if you're under 1200 a day. Also yes get a food scale you can get them at Walmart for 10-15$. Its more accurate also don't eat back all your exercise calories only 25-50% of them tops because your calories burned are an estimate. But after 3 weeks you should've at least lost 2-3lbs how often do you weigh in? I do it everyday people think its dumb but I get to watch how I fluctuate if I do it every week what if that day I fluctuated a normal 2lbs I'll be discouraged. It helps me stick to my plan for the day. Usually not losing weight is as simple as over estimating or under estimating. Its trial and error. Like me I lost 40lbs with never havug a food scale because I am a cook I can size things really well with my eyes but I have bought one for my last few lbs to help out. But you'll get there just keep trying and once it starts you'll feel better.

no. eating too little is never the reason as to why someone is not losing weight.

ericatoday wrote: »

Honestly people may hate me for this but you might be eating too little if you're under 1200 a day. Also yes get a food scale you can get them at Walmart for 10-15$. Its more accurate also don't eat back all your exercise calories only 25-50% of them tops because your calories burned are an estimate. But after 3 weeks you should've at least lost 2-3lbs how often do you weigh in? I do it everyday people think its dumb but I get to watch how I fluctuate if I do it every week what if that day I fluctuated a normal 2lbs I'll be discouraged. It helps me stick to my plan for the day. Usually not losing weight is as simple as over estimating or under estimating. Its trial and error. Like me I lost 40lbs with never havug a food scale because I am a cook I can size things really well with my eyes but I have bought one for my last few lbs to help out. But you'll get there just keep trying and once it starts you'll feel better.

No one has gained or maintained weight eating too few calories, but yes, OP should change her loss rate to 1lb per week as she has less than 75lbs to lose.