Why am I not losing weight?

abbierumbach9787
abbierumbach9787 Posts: 11 Member
edited November 20 in Health and Weight Loss
For the past ten weeks, I've been working to lose weight. Average 1400 calories a day and I workout for an hr a day 5 days a week. I do not eat my exercise calories. I have lost 3lbs and can't seem to lose anymore. I don't eat gluten, dairy or sweets. What more can I do? Any suggestions??
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Replies

  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,839 Member
    Make sure you are measuring BY WEIGHT everything you put in your mouth. Also, make sure 1400 is the right number of calories for you. Most of us consume more than we think we do until we get a digital scale and start weighing our food. You don't need to cut out dairy or sweets or gluten to lose weight. All you need to do is consume fewer calories than you expend.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    Tighten up your logging. This means any of the following: make sure EVERYTHING that passes your lips gets logged; weighing all foods on a scale and measuring all liquids in cups/spoons; double-checking the accuracy of the items you log; utilizing the recipe builder over "homemade" or "generic" entries in the database; and being mindful of the exercise calories you burn and (should be) eat back.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    For the past ten weeks, I've been working to lose weight. Average 1400 calories a day and I workout for an hr a day 5 days a week. I do not eat my exercise calories. I have lost 3lbs and can't seem to lose anymore. I don't eat gluten, dairy or sweets. What more can I do? Any suggestions??

    When did you last see downward movement on the scale?
  • abbierumbach9787
    abbierumbach9787 Posts: 11 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    For the past ten weeks, I've been working to lose weight. Average 1400 calories a day and I workout for an hr a day 5 days a week. I do not eat my exercise calories. I have lost 3lbs and can't seem to lose anymore. I don't eat gluten, dairy or sweets. What more can I do? Any suggestions??

    When did you last see downward movement on the scale?

    Maybe 3 weeks ago? I'm pretty diligent about weighing out the food & portions...
  • dragon_girl26
    dragon_girl26 Posts: 2,187 Member
    edited July 2017
    Another question: what is your current height/weight and how much weight are you trying to lose? If you have very little to lose (10-20lb or less), the weight will come off slower.
  • cavia
    cavia Posts: 457 Member
    Can you make your food diary public?
  • abbierumbach9787
    abbierumbach9787 Posts: 11 Member
    Another question: what is your current height/weight and how much weight are you trying to lose? If you have very little to lose (10-20lb range), the weight will come off slower.
    Another question: what is your current height/weight and how much weight are you trying to lose? If you have very little to lose (10-20lb or less), the weight will come off slower.
    Another question: what is your current height/weight and how much weight are you trying to lose? If you have very little to lose (10-20lb or less), the weight will come off slower.
    Another question: what is your current height/weight and how much weight are you trying to lose? If you have very little to lose (10-20lb or less), the weight will come off slower.
    Another question: what is your current height/weight and how much weight are you trying to lose? If you have very little to lose (10-20lb or less), the weight will come off slower.
    Another question: what is your current height/weight and how much weight are you trying to lose? If you have very little to lose (10-20lb or less), the weight will come off slower.

    5'3. 170 Age 38.
    I should mention I have lost 14 total inches - which is great but I'd like to see the scale move!
  • abbierumbach9787
    abbierumbach9787 Posts: 11 Member
    cavia wrote: »
    Can you make your food diary public?

    Sure! Changing settings now. Of course, I do have some bad days where I slip (like last night) but my logs are 100% honest, always.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    Do you actually weigh your Sunbutter and PB2?
    You don't weigh your fruits or vegetables.
    The Dominos calories look a little off.
    Do you measure out your dressing?
    Do you weigh the nuts you eat?

    Some of your calorie burns were a bit high, but you don't eat back most of those anyway so it's not a big deal.
  • abbierumbach9787
    abbierumbach9787 Posts: 11 Member
    If you've lost 14 inches, then you ARE losing fat and gaining muscle. That's why the scale hasn't budged. Why did you seem to scoff at the previous commenter who suggested that? One would expect you to be gaining muscle working out as much as you are.

    I didn't scoff? Did I? If I did, I apologize - I'm new here. So you think it is muscle gain - that's good news!
  • abbierumbach9787
    abbierumbach9787 Posts: 11 Member
    usmcmp wrote: »
    Do you actually weigh your Sunbutter and PB2?
    You don't weigh your fruits or vegetables.
    The Dominos calories look a little off.
    Do you measure out your dressing?
    Do you weigh the nuts you eat?

    Some of your calorie burns were a bit high, but you don't eat back most of those anyway so it's not a big deal.

    Measure absolutely everything! Just packed up my scale for vacation this week :)
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    usmcmp wrote: »
    Do you actually weigh your Sunbutter and PB2?
    You don't weigh your fruits or vegetables.
    The Dominos calories look a little off.
    Do you measure out your dressing?
    Do you weigh the nuts you eat?

    Some of your calorie burns were a bit high, but you don't eat back most of those anyway so it's not a big deal.

    Measure absolutely everything! Just packed up my scale for vacation this week :)

    Then the fast food or restaurant meals you are getting are not close to the estimated calories. Unfortunately restaurants and fast food places cannot create perfect standards across the country and can be off by hundreds of calories. We like to think they are relatively close, but they just aren't.

    You may be one of those who needs to not eat out in order to lose weight if you weigh all your oils, nuts, and fruits. It can't hurt to also have blood work done.
  • cavia
    cavia Posts: 457 Member
    I took a look through a couple weeks in June and then this last week. It doesn't look to me like you are *weighing* your food items. You have repeating entries that are always identical. Are you weighing things to the exact same oz every time you have them? Fast food/meals out are always going to be off. I see a lot of room where you can tighten up your logging to get the scale moving down for you again.
  • abbierumbach9787
    abbierumbach9787 Posts: 11 Member
    usmcmp wrote: »
    usmcmp wrote: »
    Do you actually weigh your Sunbutter and PB2?
    You don't weigh your fruits or vegetables.
    The Dominos calories look a little off.
    Do you measure out your dressing?
    Do you weigh the nuts you eat?

    Some of your calorie burns were a bit high, but you don't eat back most of those anyway so it's not a big deal.

    Measure absolutely everything! Just packed up my scale for vacation this week :)

    Then the fast food or restaurant meals you are getting are not close to the estimated calories. Unfortunately restaurants and fast food places cannot create perfect standards across the country and can be off by hundreds of calories. We like to think they are relatively close, but they just aren't.

    You may be one of those who needs to not eat out in order to lose weight if you weigh all your oils, nuts, and fruits. It can't hurt to also have blood work done.

    I don't feel like I eat out a lot - but maybe I do! I'll need to take a look back at that. Thanks!
  • abbierumbach9787
    abbierumbach9787 Posts: 11 Member
    cavia wrote: »
    I took a look through a couple weeks in June and then this last week. It doesn't look to me like you are *weighing* your food items. You have repeating entries that are always identical. Are you weighing things to the exact same oz every time you have them? Fast food/meals out are always going to be off. I see a lot of room where you can tighten up your logging to get the scale moving down for you again.

    Repeating entries - I always measure out my sunbutter, my turkey and shakes. Those are the main repeaters that I can think of off hand, which I know are measured. How else can I tighten it up? Thanks!!
  • edlanglais5
    edlanglais5 Posts: 172 Member
    Honestly? If you're losing THAT many inches...
    Screw the scale and research your body fat measurements. Just my very humble opinion.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    If you've lost 14 inches, then you ARE losing fat and gaining muscle. That's why the scale hasn't budged. Why did you seem to scoff at the previous commenter who suggested that? One would expect you to be gaining muscle working out as much as you are.

    doesnt mean its muscle gain. losing inches means losing fat and for the scale not to budge she would have to gain equal amounts of muscle for fat lost and it doesnt work that way.it would be really hard to gain that much muscle unless eating in a surplus and it would take awhile to do, not to mention if she was eating in a surplus she would not be losing fat she would be gaining it too.
  • abbierumbach9787
    abbierumbach9787 Posts: 11 Member
    If you've lost 14 inches, then you ARE losing fat and gaining muscle. That's why the scale hasn't budged. Why did you seem to scoff at the previous commenter who suggested that? One would expect you to be gaining muscle working out as much as you are.

    doesnt mean its muscle gain. losing inches means losing fat and for the scale not to budge she would have to gain equal amounts of muscle for fat lost and it doesnt work that way.it would be really hard to gain that much muscle unless eating in a surplus and it would take awhile to do, not to mention if she was eating in a surplus she would not be losing fat she would be gaining it too.

    Ok. Makes sense - then why isn't my scale moving even with a big inch loss? How is that explained?
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    If you've lost 14 inches, then you ARE losing fat and gaining muscle. That's why the scale hasn't budged. Why did you seem to scoff at the previous commenter who suggested that? One would expect you to be gaining muscle working out as much as you are.

    doesnt mean its muscle gain. losing inches means losing fat and for the scale not to budge she would have to gain equal amounts of muscle for fat lost and it doesnt work that way.it would be really hard to gain that much muscle unless eating in a surplus and it would take awhile to do, not to mention if she was eating in a surplus she would not be losing fat she would be gaining it too.

    Ok. Makes sense - then why isn't my scale moving even with a big inch loss? How is that explained?

    I'm not sure that there's any scientific proof of it, but it is said that sometimes our fat cells will fill with water temporarily and at some point will release the water resulting in a scale drop. The water takes up less space than the fat while weighing a similar amount as the fat. The rapid drop in weight is often called a "whoosh" and is commonly seen after your fat starts to feel more squishy.
  • Blitzia
    Blitzia Posts: 205 Member
    If you've lost 14 inches, then you ARE losing fat and gaining muscle. That's why the scale hasn't budged. Why did you seem to scoff at the previous commenter who suggested that? One would expect you to be gaining muscle working out as much as you are.

    doesnt mean its muscle gain. losing inches means losing fat and for the scale not to budge she would have to gain equal amounts of muscle for fat lost and it doesnt work that way.it would be really hard to gain that much muscle unless eating in a surplus and it would take awhile to do, not to mention if she was eating in a surplus she would not be losing fat she would be gaining it too.

    Ok. Makes sense - then why isn't my scale moving even with a big inch loss? How is that explained?

    I second the guess of water weight. If it's only been 3 weeks since the scale changed, that could be water weight fluctuations masking your true weight loss. Time of the month can also really make your weight fluctuate so unfortunately it sometimes takes a full cycle to actually see how much weight you're losing. If you haven't already, I recommend recording your weight in an app like Libra. I downloaded it when I was feeling like my weight was stuck, but it calculated the trend for me and it turns out that I was losing, it was just slower than I thought. (And that reminds me of another question: is your weight EXACTLY the same every day or some days up or down a pound?)
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,943 Member
    usmcmp wrote: »
    If you've lost 14 inches, then you ARE losing fat and gaining muscle. That's why the scale hasn't budged. Why did you seem to scoff at the previous commenter who suggested that? One would expect you to be gaining muscle working out as much as you are.

    doesnt mean its muscle gain. losing inches means losing fat and for the scale not to budge she would have to gain equal amounts of muscle for fat lost and it doesnt work that way.it would be really hard to gain that much muscle unless eating in a surplus and it would take awhile to do, not to mention if she was eating in a surplus she would not be losing fat she would be gaining it too.

    Ok. Makes sense - then why isn't my scale moving even with a big inch loss? How is that explained?

    I'm not sure that there's any scientific proof of it, but it is said that sometimes our fat cells will fill with water temporarily and at some point will release the water resulting in a scale drop. The water takes up less space than the fat while weighing a similar amount as the fat. The rapid drop in weight is often called a "whoosh" and is commonly seen after your fat starts to feel more squishy.

    I'm a whoosher. Not much happens for a while, and then I have a night or two where I have to go to the bathroom once or twice, and every morning after that I'm lighter and it kind of stays like that until the next whoosh.
  • abbierumbach9787
    abbierumbach9787 Posts: 11 Member
    Blitzia wrote: »
    If you've lost 14 inches, then you ARE losing fat and gaining muscle. That's why the scale hasn't budged. Why did you seem to scoff at the previous commenter who suggested that? One would expect you to be gaining muscle working out as much as you are.

    doesnt mean its muscle gain. losing inches means losing fat and for the scale not to budge she would have to gain equal amounts of muscle for fat lost and it doesnt work that way.it would be really hard to gain that much muscle unless eating in a surplus and it would take awhile to do, not to mention if she was eating in a surplus she would not be losing fat she would be gaining it too.

    Ok. Makes sense - then why isn't my scale moving even with a big inch loss? How is that explained?

    I second the guess of water weight. If it's only been 3 weeks since the scale changed, that could be water weight fluctuations masking your true weight loss. Time of the month can also really make your weight fluctuate so unfortunately it sometimes takes a full cycle to actually see how much weight you're losing. If you haven't already, I recommend recording your weight in an app like Libra. I downloaded it when I was feeling like my weight was stuck, but it calculated the trend for me and it turns out that I was losing, it was just slower than I thought. (And that reminds me of another question: is your weight EXACTLY the same every day or some days up or down a pound?)

    Sometimes up a pound/down a pound.
  • evileen99
    evileen99 Posts: 1,564 Member
    cavia wrote: »
    I took a look through a couple weeks in June and then this last week. It doesn't look to me like you are *weighing* your food items. You have repeating entries that are always identical. Are you weighing things to the exact same oz every time you have them? Fast food/meals out are always going to be off. I see a lot of room where you can tighten up your logging to get the scale moving down for you again.

    Repeating entries - I always measure out my sunbutter, my turkey and shakes. Those are the main repeaters that I can think of off hand, which I know are measured. How else can I tighten it up? Thanks!!

    Are you weighing or measuring your sunbutter? If measuring, you could be off by many calories.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    edited July 2017
    If you've lost 14 inches, then you ARE losing fat and gaining muscle. That's why the scale hasn't budged. Why did you seem to scoff at the previous commenter who suggested that? One would expect you to be gaining muscle working out as much as you are.

    doesnt mean its muscle gain. losing inches means losing fat and for the scale not to budge she would have to gain equal amounts of muscle for fat lost and it doesnt work that way.it would be really hard to gain that much muscle unless eating in a surplus and it would take awhile to do, not to mention if she was eating in a surplus she would not be losing fat she would be gaining it too.

    Ok. Makes sense - then why isn't my scale moving even with a big inch loss? How is that explained?

    it just happens that way sometimes, when I first started losing weight I was losing inches like crazy and the scale wasnt budging. even now the scale has only moved 0.4 lb in the last month, before that it didnt move at all for 3 months. Im losing fat in areas I cant really measure but the scale isnt moving much if at all most of the time. I know its not muscle because Im in a deficit most days.I go months without the scale moving but the fat is coming off. I only have 20+ lbs to lose too so its a lot slower.
  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,244 Member
    Why aren't you earing gluten, dairy and sugar?
This discussion has been closed.