Why am I not losing weight?
wally2wiki
Posts: 36 Member
In September 2016. I started at 330lbs. My goal was 265. I consumed about 120 grams of protein. I barely worked out or did cardio.
Fast forward to May 2017 I'm down to 305, but I haven't lost a pound since then.
In May, I just started working out regularly and doing cardio about 2-3x per week.
For some reason my weight won't budge. I cut out all high density carbs such as rice and pasta. The only carbs I eat are potatoes and oatmeal...and the occasional snack.
So how do resume weight loss? Should I increase my workout and cardio to 5x a week? Should I eat 1gram of protein per pound of body weight? Or should I reduce my calories further?
Fast forward to May 2017 I'm down to 305, but I haven't lost a pound since then.
In May, I just started working out regularly and doing cardio about 2-3x per week.
For some reason my weight won't budge. I cut out all high density carbs such as rice and pasta. The only carbs I eat are potatoes and oatmeal...and the occasional snack.
So how do resume weight loss? Should I increase my workout and cardio to 5x a week? Should I eat 1gram of protein per pound of body weight? Or should I reduce my calories further?
2
Replies
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You mention protein, but not calories.... Do you have a calorie goal for weight loss and are you tracking/logging everything you ingest by weighing all solids on a food scale and measuring all liquids?
Calories are what matters for weight loss, not a certain amount of protein or exercise.15 -
Introducing a new exercise routine can cause water to be retained for muscles. The only thing that is important in weight loss is eating less calories than you consume. Use the calorie counter meticulously: calculate your daily needs through a TDEE calculator, track everything you eat/drink and you will lose weight, period.1
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If you haven't lost since May then you are eating at maintenance.
Drop your calories down by 500 a day17 -
For the weight loss that you've achieved so far you would have been in a deficit of around 400 calories per day roughly. To lose weight you need a deficit, it doesn't really matter whether how much protein/carbs you're having if you're not in a deficit, you can also lose weight without exercise, whilst these things matter for a healthy lifestyle they don't have a huge impact on weight loss, weight loss is mostly about what you're doing in the kitchen.
Do you have a food scale? If you're not weighing your food it's very easy to underestimate how much you're eating.
Are you eating back exercise calories, if so, how are you determining your calorie burn? MFP's database and machine readings can be overestimated.
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you mention a lot of things that don't matter for weight loss and you don't mention what does matter - a calorie deficit. are you eating at a deficit? are you weighing everything you eat?7
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For some reason my weight won't budge.
The problem is most likely in your diary - which is private.9 -
Why are you trying to lose weight by increasing protein? People increase protein to increase muscle gain, not weight loss.0
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skymningen wrote: »Why are you trying to lose weight by increasing protein? People increase protein to increase muscle gain, not weight loss.
Not entirely true, when you're losing weight you need to ensure you're getting adequate protein, it can help to maintain muscle as well as build it. When you're losing weight you lose muscle as well as fat.9 -
wally2wiki wrote: »In September 2016. I started at 330lbs. My goal was 265. I consumed about 120 grams of protein. I barely worked out or did cardio.
Fast forward to May 2017 I'm down to 305, but I haven't lost a pound since then.
In May, I just started working out regularly and doing cardio about 2-3x per week.
For some reason my weight won't budge. I cut out all high density carbs such as rice and pasta. The only carbs I eat are potatoes and oatmeal...and the occasional snack.
So how do resume weight loss? Should I increase my workout and cardio to 5x a week? Should I eat 1gram of protein per pound of body weight? Or should I reduce my calories further?
My bad I forgot to add something. My. Calorie deficit was 2300 per day. That's what I have been at since September till now1 -
wally2wiki wrote: »wally2wiki wrote: »In September 2016. I started at 330lbs. My goal was 265. I consumed about 120 grams of protein. I barely worked out or did cardio.
Fast forward to May 2017 I'm down to 305, but I haven't lost a pound since then.
In May, I just started working out regularly and doing cardio about 2-3x per week.
For some reason my weight won't budge. I cut out all high density carbs such as rice and pasta. The only carbs I eat are potatoes and oatmeal...and the occasional snack.
So how do resume weight loss? Should I increase my workout and cardio to 5x a week? Should I eat 1gram of protein per pound of body weight? Or should I reduce my calories further?
My bad I forgot to add something. My. Calorie deficit was 2300 per day. That's what I have been at since September till now
That can't be your deficit. That's what you're eating right?
You diary is closed....but a "deficit" that high would be very unhealthy AND you would likely be down 140 pounds by now....3 -
wally2wiki wrote: »wally2wiki wrote: »In September 2016. I started at 330lbs. My goal was 265. I consumed about 120 grams of protein. I barely worked out or did cardio.
Fast forward to May 2017 I'm down to 305, but I haven't lost a pound since then.
In May, I just started working out regularly and doing cardio about 2-3x per week.
For some reason my weight won't budge. I cut out all high density carbs such as rice and pasta. The only carbs I eat are potatoes and oatmeal...and the occasional snack.
So how do resume weight loss? Should I increase my workout and cardio to 5x a week? Should I eat 1gram of protein per pound of body weight? Or should I reduce my calories further?
My bad I forgot to add something. My. Calorie deficit was 2300 per day. That's what I have been at since September till now
Your deficit, or your intake?
How are you determining that you're eating that amount of calories? Weighing/measuring appropriately, or eyeballing/guesstimating?2 -
skymningen wrote: »Why are you trying to lose weight by increasing protein? People increase protein to increase muscle gain, not weight loss.
Maybe the OP is considering the Atkins diet, a diet of nothing but protein and water. Apparently it works, if you can manage to endure it for any period of time, but the consequences of consuming nothing but protein might be a bit difficult to live with. Running a calorie deficit definitely sounds more sustainable.7 -
cut out the potatoes and the oatmeal, in other words no starches. Set your macros to 10% carb, 50% fat and 40% protein. Also, go to a keto friendly FB group. trust me...try this for 2 weeks and get back to me. I think you will find that this will work well for you.45
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lindak1961 wrote: »cut out the potatoes and the oatmeal, in other words no starches. Set your macros to 10% carb, 50% fat and 40% protein. Also, go to a keto friendly FB group. trust me...try this for 2 weeks and get back to me. I think you will find that this will work well for you.
Keto is not necessary for weight loss. It may seemingly work "well" initially as you'll lose a lot of water weight from eating minimal carbs.9 -
Oops0
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The fact that you stopped losing at the exact same time you added cardio suggest that you are doing something called compensatory behavior - in other words, you felt hungrier, so you found a way to consume more calories, or stopped doing other daily activities as much. Many weight loss studies have noticed this effect. Some people in the studies mysteriously fail to lose weight or even put on weight with added exercise, but closer observation reveals it's because they changed something else about their lifestyle at the same time.
If you are not logging your food, log literally everything. 2300 calories seems to be maintenance for you now, you are going to have to cut. And watch out for the "I worked out I'm not walking upstairs to get that magazine, the heck with it" syndrome.14 -
How do you track your food? Log every meal, snack, bite everyday? Log sometimes, some days? How often do you use a food scale? How often do you eat food prepared by others?
Making your own food and weighing everything on a food scale is the best way to keep your accuracy high. To not lose any weight at all in 2 months when you're at 305 now, though, suggests there is a good bit of error in your logging.4 -
rheddmobile wrote: »The fact that you stopped losing at the exact same time you added cardio suggest that you are doing something called compensatory behavior - in other words, you felt hungrier, so you found a way to consume more calories, or stopped doing other daily activities as much. Many weight loss studies have noticed this effect. Some people in the studies mysteriously fail to lose weight or even put on weight with added exercise, but closer observation reveals it's because they changed something else about their lifestyle at the same time.
If you are not logging your food, log literally everything. 2300 calories seems to be maintenance for you now, you are going to have to cut. And watch out for the "I worked out I'm not walking upstairs to get that magazine, the heck with it" syndrome.
It's highly doubtful 2300 is maintenance. We don't know the OP's height or age, but at 305 pounds he would easily surpass that amount as his BMR (what the body burns just to live). What he believes is 2300 is not, depending on his logging accuracy.5 -
lindak1961 wrote: »cut out the potatoes and the oatmeal, in other words no starches. Set your macros to 10% carb, 50% fat and 40% protein. Also, go to a keto friendly FB group. trust me...try this for 2 weeks and get back to me. I think you will find that this will work well for you.
This. I did not lose weight for years and I was doing everything "right". Cut out carbs and sugar - bam - 15 lbs in a month!
24 -
DharmainHeels wrote: »lindak1961 wrote: »cut out the potatoes and the oatmeal, in other words no starches. Set your macros to 10% carb, 50% fat and 40% protein. Also, go to a keto friendly FB group. trust me...try this for 2 weeks and get back to me. I think you will find that this will work well for you.
This. I did not lose weight for years and I was doing everything "right". Cut out carbs and sugar - bam - 15 lbs in a month!
You will lose a lot of water weight initially by cutting carbs but that still doesn't solve anything in the long term. It is more likely that you weren't doing everything "right"8 -
Guys thanks for the responses. I am eating 2300 calories a day now. But, I have plateaued long ago since May. No, I am not on an Atkins diet.0
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wally2wiki wrote: »Guys thanks for the responses. I am eating 2300 calories a day now. But, I have plateaued long ago since May. No, I am not on an Atkins diet.
How are you determining the 2300 calories? A food scale? Measuring cups? Eyeballing portions?5 -
I am 30 and 6'10
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wally2wiki wrote: »Guys thanks for the responses. I am eating 2300 calories a day now. But, I have plateaued long ago since May. No, I am not on an Atkins diet.
Then the next- and only important- question is, how are you tracking your calories?4 -
Well, I plan out my diet. I calculate my daily intake to about 2300/day. I eat "roughly" the same meals every day- and same amount--but I don't calorie count anymore.
By eating the same meals and amount every day--I track my calories.1 -
Nope, nope, nope. Absolutely not necessary.lindak1961 wrote: »cut out the potatoes and the oatmeal, in other words no starches. Set your macros to 10% carb, 50% fat and 40% protein. Also, go to a keto friendly FB group. trust me...try this for 2 weeks and get back to me. I think you will find that this will work well for you.
Carbs don't cause one to maintain or gain; thus is a calories game.
Keto isn't magic.
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wally2wiki wrote: »Well, I plan out my diet. I calculate my daily intake to about 2300/day. I eat "roughly" the same meals every day- and same amount--but I don't calorie count anymore.
By eating the same meals and amount every day--I track my calories.
So you're eyeballing and guesstimating. You've increased activity and without accurately logging you've probably got a lot of calorie creep happening.
Long story short, you're eating a lot more than you think. Get a food scale. Use it. Log your food every day. Guarantee you'll start losing again.22 -
lindak1961 wrote: »cut out the potatoes and the oatmeal, in other words no starches. Set your macros to 10% carb, 50% fat and 40% protein. Also, go to a keto friendly FB group. trust me...try this for 2 weeks and get back to me. I think you will find that this will work well for you.
nope, nope, nope..
you can eat starches and lose weight..you can eliminate starches and gain weight..
what matters is being in a calorie deficit.8 -
wally2wiki wrote: »Well, I plan out my diet. I calculate my daily intake to about 2300/day. I eat "roughly" the same meals every day- and same amount--but I don't calorie count anymore.
By eating the same meals and amount every day--I track my calories.
Yep. That would be the problem.
I have been at the same weight for a year after having lost about 35 lbs. I knew I had gotten sloppy with my logging, and inconsistent when it came to hitting my calorie goal. The last few weeks I've committed to *total* accuracy in my logging. Every gram of every single bite every day. No more rounding, or "roughly" estimating my intake. Scale's moving again.15
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