Low cal, exercise, and no lost weight.
falstarr67
Posts: 6 Member
I'm 5'5 and 200 lbs, and I've finally decided I'm not going to tip the scale over that direction any more. I've successfully dieted in the past, but I was a little younger and my metabolism a little better.
I log what I'm eating, and am generally a very number oriented person. I'm sticking mostly to protein- boiled eggs, low skim mozz sticks- for snacks, and veggies and chicken breasts for the rest of the day. I hit the gym for 400-500 cal workouts (cardio and some strength) four days a week and work in a light sedentary environment- lots of standing, not a lot of lifting. Usually without calculating in exercise I skirt around 1200 or less calories a day logged.
I haven't lost any weight and I don't feel any trimmer. It's only been about 2.5 weeks, but I usually at least see some water weight loss or -something- .
It's very hard to believe that I could be undereating. I feel full, I feel rested, and I am already doing better with stamina and resistance training. What the heck. Tell me I'm not the only one, and please offer anecdotes or suggestions to help me out here.
I log what I'm eating, and am generally a very number oriented person. I'm sticking mostly to protein- boiled eggs, low skim mozz sticks- for snacks, and veggies and chicken breasts for the rest of the day. I hit the gym for 400-500 cal workouts (cardio and some strength) four days a week and work in a light sedentary environment- lots of standing, not a lot of lifting. Usually without calculating in exercise I skirt around 1200 or less calories a day logged.
I haven't lost any weight and I don't feel any trimmer. It's only been about 2.5 weeks, but I usually at least see some water weight loss or -something- .
It's very hard to believe that I could be undereating. I feel full, I feel rested, and I am already doing better with stamina and resistance training. What the heck. Tell me I'm not the only one, and please offer anecdotes or suggestions to help me out here.
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Replies
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Have you tried a macro calculator? I am doing a ketogenic diet and I restrict carbs to 20 net a day. I have been losing slowly but steadily. My goal was to address high blood sugar. If you have dieted before where you restricted severely the body can ratchet down the metabolism where it won't burn fat efficiently. You might try getting more of the calories from fat to encourage fat burning. There are some good videos on youtube about fasting for weight loss. I like Dr. Fung, he talks about diabetes and weight loss and fasting. Good luck. Don't get discouraged.47
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gorditalindaz wrote: »Have you tried a macro calculator? I am doing a ketogenic diet and I restrict carbs to 20 net a day. I have been losing slowly but steadily. My goal was to address high blood sugar. If you have dieted before where you restricted severely the body can ratchet down the metabolism where it won't burn fat efficiently. You might try getting more of the calories from fat to encourage fat burning. There are some good videos on youtube about fasting for weight loss. I like Dr. Fung, he talks about diabetes and weight loss and fasting. Good luck. Don't get discouraged.
Nope and nope.
OP, how are you logging? Are you measuring everything on a scale or eyeballing? A little over two weeks is still early especially if your exercise is relatively new, water retention can mask weight loss. But when weight isn't going down the first thing to look at is logging. Weighing everything accurately can really make a difference.22 -
I'm mostly going by serving sizes and 'rounding up' because I figure it's better to be under than over. I've used cups for measurement but I haven't weighed anything yet. Most of what I've been eating has been greens or packaged by weight, aside from the chicken.
I can't even find a set of bathroom scales I trust to be accurate- I wouldn't know what the variance in diet scales would be or what brand would be the best to trust.
I'm sort of a 'slash and burn' person with food and can get very calorie restrictive.5 -
gorditalindaz wrote: »Have you tried a macro calculator? I am doing a ketogenic diet and I restrict carbs to 20 net a day. I have been losing slowly but steadily. My goal was to address high blood sugar. If you have dieted before where you restricted severely the body can ratchet down the metabolism where it won't burn fat efficiently. You might try getting more of the calories from fat to encourage fat burning. There are some good videos on youtube about fasting for weight loss. I like Dr. Fung, he talks about diabetes and weight loss and fasting. Good luck. Don't get discouraged.
I probably should incorporate avocado in my diet somewhere, but at this point I think fats I'm getting from yolks and salad nuts would be enough. I did try keto, but it didn't work as well for me. I enjoy fruit too much.3 -
You're eating more than you think.
You mentioned that you may not be eating enough and that could be the reason you're not losing, but that is a myth. If you're eating fewer calories than you need to maintain, you will lose weight.
Get a kitchen scale, weigh your food. Log everything. Stick to your goal as closely as possible. Be honest with your numbers. The weight will fall off.30 -
You're eating more than you think.
You mentioned that you may not be eating enough and that could be the reason you're not losing, but that is a myth. If you're eating fewer calories than you need to maintain, you will lose weight.
Get a kitchen scale, weigh your food. Log everything. Stick to your goal as closely as possible. Be honest with your numbers. The weight will fall off.
I suppose part of my concern is that I also want to be eating enough to lose more fat than muscle, particularly since I'm doing workouts with weight training and strength training. I know I could handle going very low calorie, I'm just concerned it would set me back in the muscle department more than I'd like.4 -
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.23 -
I have a generic food scale from walmart. I use to measure with measuring cups or by eyeballing. I also assumed that if a package said 1 scoope was x grams or 1 serving quest bar for example was x grams that sometimes the item weighed more. I also notice and i wish i still had the pic that the peanut butter per tablespoon was more than when i weighed it out to 28 grams so that affected my calories as well for example. New exercise can cause you to hold on to water weight as well9
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Also take body measurements. You may not see anything on the scale as you progress but you might see something there!
+1 for Dianne, I love her advice. I've got one of her threads starred.7 -
1200 is too little for a 200 pound person. Try eating more.10
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Hormones, water weight, possibly eating too much, have you been less regular since restricting? These are all things to consider. I have been in a steep deficit for 8 days and have gained 5 pounds BUT, I use a food scale. So now I can deduce a)I got my period b)I'm also constipated. The food scale helps narrow things down when you get stuck (or think you're stuck).7
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You may have your body convinced not to lose any weight. All protein might cause that. I would try adding some complex carbs. Try steel cut oats at breakfast. I use 1/4 cup dry + 3/4 cup water and microwave 8 min in a big glass bowl since it can rise as it boils. 150 calories. If you are doing cardio, carbs are good. If you go 0 carbs, your body thinks you are starving so it shuts down.38
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I did look at scales today, and if they all seem fairly accurate I'll just grab one. I was just going to do some brand research since every bathroom scale I've used shows a different result every thirty seconds.happyauntie2015 wrote: »I have a generic food scale from walmart. I use to measure with measuring cups or by eyeballing. I also assumed that if a package said 1 scoope was x grams or 1 serving quest bar for example was x grams that sometimes the item weighed more. I also notice and i wish i still had the pic that the peanut butter per tablespoon was more than when i weighed it out to 28 grams so that affected my calories as well for example. New exercise can cause you to hold on to water weight as well
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gorditalindaz wrote: »Have you tried a macro calculator? I am doing a ketogenic diet and I restrict carbs to 20 net a day. I have been losing slowly but steadily. My goal was to address high blood sugar. If you have dieted before where you restricted severely the body can ratchet down the metabolism where it won't burn fat efficiently. You might try getting more of the calories from fat to encourage fat burning. There are some good videos on youtube about fasting for weight loss. I like Dr. Fung, he talks about diabetes and weight loss and fasting. Good luck. Don't get discouraged.
Yes I agree. Have a look at www.dietdoctor.com and Dr Fung's blog at https://idmprogram.com/blog/
I'm about the same height and weight and have a yo-yo diet history. I've completely ruined my metabolism and keto is the thing that works for me. If you are willing to try low calorie diets, maybe be willing to try keto for a month. If it doesn't work you can always go back to what is familiar for you.
35 -
I started my journey over 50 days ago and have had very positive results. My routine is as follows :
1. Drink at least 2L of water per day,
2. Drink my coffee black,
3. Weigh/Log every single meal (I also watch my macros),
4. Weightlifting (Started 3 times / week, now I'm at 4)
5. I only eat back half my exercise calories,
6. Realise that this is a slow process, my goal is set for 12 months from start, thus I have about 10 months left to go
I'll be posting to the forums later this week a more detailed breakdown and description of my journey.
Hit me up if you want to chat further.7 -
falstarr67 wrote: »
I did look at scales today, and if they all seem fairly accurate I'll just grab one. I was just going to do some brand research since every bathroom scale I've used shows a different result every thirty seconds.happyauntie2015 wrote: »I have a generic food scale from walmart. I use to measure with measuring cups or by eyeballing. I also assumed that if a package said 1 scoope was x grams or 1 serving quest bar for example was x grams that sometimes the item weighed more. I also notice and i wish i still had the pic that the peanut butter per tablespoon was more than when i weighed it out to 28 grams so that affected my calories as well for example. New exercise can cause you to hold on to water weight as well
1) Any food scale will be more accurate than eyeballing and going by serving sizes.
2) Ignore the woo about Fung. He's a crackpot who is a complete laughingstock amongst reputable, evidence-based researchers. And keto, while it works for some to help with dietary compliance/adherence, does not create any faster or more efficient weight loss than any other diet of equivalent calories. There is tons of legitimate scientific research proving that there is no "metabolic advantage" to a ketogenic diet.31 -
Water can do weird things, I've gone three weeks with no loss on scales, then down 2 kg in three days, yes weigh your food, check what you should be eating to lose no.more than 2 pds a week, then trust the process, weight loss is not linear4
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Prepackaged foods are almost always waaay off, when it comes to the amount of servings n the package.. when u get a food scale, take one of ur prepackaged foods and weigh it, then compare that weight to what the package says it weighs...7
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You may have your body convinced not to lose any weight. All protein might cause that. I would try adding some complex carbs. Try steel cut oats at breakfast. I use 1/4 cup dry + 3/4 cup water and microwave 8 min in a big glass bowl since it can rise as it boils. 150 calories. If you are doing cardio, carbs are good. If you go 0 carbs, your body thinks you are starving so it shuts down.
Sorry but this is complete nonsense. All protein doesn't convince your body of anything. Steel cut oats have no magical properties. Your body doesn't ever "think" it's starving.18 -
falstarr67 wrote: »
I did look at scales today, and if they all seem fairly accurate I'll just grab one. I was just going to do some brand research since every bathroom scale I've used shows a different result every thirty seconds.happyauntie2015 wrote: »I have a generic food scale from walmart. I use to measure with measuring cups or by eyeballing. I also assumed that if a package said 1 scoope was x grams or 1 serving quest bar for example was x grams that sometimes the item weighed more. I also notice and i wish i still had the pic that the peanut butter per tablespoon was more than when i weighed it out to 28 grams so that affected my calories as well for example. New exercise can cause you to hold on to water weight as well
FYI, when measuring food, people are talking about a kitchen scale.1 -
First, I'd agree about getting a food scale, but I would questions why someone who is working out would try and eat 1200 calories. That is overly aggressive and will more than likely add stress to your body and increase cortisol levels causing more water retention.
And since you just started to weight train, you are going to store additional water to repair your muscles.10 -
You may have your body convinced not to lose any weight. All protein might cause that. I would try adding some complex carbs. Try steel cut oats at breakfast. I use 1/4 cup dry + 3/4 cup water and microwave 8 min in a big glass bowl since it can rise as it boils. 150 calories. If you are doing cardio, carbs are good. If you go 0 carbs, your body thinks you are starving so it shuts down.
Yeah, no. That's called dying.11 -
SkimFlatWhiteNoSugar wrote: »gorditalindaz wrote: »Have you tried a macro calculator? I am doing a ketogenic diet and I restrict carbs to 20 net a day. I have been losing slowly but steadily. My goal was to address high blood sugar. If you have dieted before where you restricted severely the body can ratchet down the metabolism where it won't burn fat efficiently. You might try getting more of the calories from fat to encourage fat burning. There are some good videos on youtube about fasting for weight loss. I like Dr. Fung, he talks about diabetes and weight loss and fasting. Good luck. Don't get discouraged.
Yes I agree. Have a look at www.dietdoctor.com and Dr Fung's blog at https://idmprogram.com/blog/
I'm about the same height and weight and have a yo-yo diet history. I've completely ruined my metabolism and keto is the thing that works for me. If you are willing to try low calorie diets, maybe be willing to try keto for a month. If it doesn't work you can always go back to what is familiar for you.
You might want to search "Dr Fung" here in the forums. It's a interesting read.5 -
You may have your body convinced not to lose any weight. All protein might cause that. I would try adding some complex carbs. Try steel cut oats at breakfast. I use 1/4 cup dry + 3/4 cup water and microwave 8 min in a big glass bowl since it can rise as it boils. 150 calories. If you are doing cardio, carbs are good. If you go 0 carbs, your body thinks you are starving so it shuts down.
Sorry but this is complete nonsense. All protein doesn't convince your body of anything. Steel cut oats have no magical properties. Your body doesn't ever "think" it's starving.
It's not magic. It's the carbs and the balance. You do a ton of cardio with no carbs and your body goes into starvation mode. And if you really like protein, the steel cut oats have more protein than other carb foods.29 -
You may have your body convinced not to lose any weight. All protein might cause that. I would try adding some complex carbs. Try steel cut oats at breakfast. I use 1/4 cup dry + 3/4 cup water and microwave 8 min in a big glass bowl since it can rise as it boils. 150 calories. If you are doing cardio, carbs are good. If you go 0 carbs, your body thinks you are starving so it shuts down.
Sorry but this is complete nonsense. All protein doesn't convince your body of anything. Steel cut oats have no magical properties. Your body doesn't ever "think" it's starving.
It's not magic. It's the carbs and the balance. You do a ton of cardio with no carbs and your body goes into starvation mode. And if you really like protein, the steel cut oats have more protein than other carb foods.
Starvation mode isn't a thing in this context.12 -
You may have your body convinced not to lose any weight. All protein might cause that. I would try adding some complex carbs. Try steel cut oats at breakfast. I use 1/4 cup dry + 3/4 cup water and microwave 8 min in a big glass bowl since it can rise as it boils. 150 calories. If you are doing cardio, carbs are good. If you go 0 carbs, your body thinks you are starving so it shuts down.
Sorry but this is complete nonsense. All protein doesn't convince your body of anything. Steel cut oats have no magical properties. Your body doesn't ever "think" it's starving.
It's not magic. It's the carbs and the balance. You do a ton of cardio with no carbs and your body goes into starvation mode. And if you really like protein, the steel cut oats have more protein than other carb foods.
Nope. You cannot escape death from starvation by doing cardio and avoiding carbs. Think about this logically - people really do DIE from starvation every day. Silly them, all they needed to live was an elliptical machine!
Also, if this were true, no one would ever lose weight on the keto diet.8 -
They are eating 1200 calories a day and doing 500 calorie workouts, all while eating nothing but protein. I would add carbs, but that's me.
Probably worth googling for more qualified advice than the "experts" here, including myself.
https://healthylivinghowto.com/why-youre-not-losing-weight-on-a-low-carb-diet/#_edn9
3. Your low-carb diet and high-intensity exercise are not compatible
Crossfit, Alpha, P90X, and other high-intensity training programs require glucose, or glycogen.
In my opinion, combining a high-intensity training program, with a very low-carb diet, leads to chronically elevated cortisol levels. You feel depleted, and over time, your exercise performance will drop while your scale weight will not.
Even for a well-trained athlete, who can handle high-intensity training, a low-carb diet increases cortisol and suppresses testosterone production. For someone who is not adapted to this kind of training, the metabolic effects could be even worse.[ix]
If you don’t manage your cortisol levels, you’ll have a hard time losing weight. You also risk problems with your thyroid function and immune system.
A low-carb diet is effective with low-intensity, aerobic, or endurance exercise. You could even use more of a bodybuilding-type of strength training program, with heavy weights and plenty of rest between sets. But if you want to take part in Boot Camp, it’s best to include some extra carbs to support your training. Or, change your training to complement your low-carb diet.16 -
You may have your body convinced not to lose any weight. All protein might cause that. I would try adding some complex carbs. Try steel cut oats at breakfast. I use 1/4 cup dry + 3/4 cup water and microwave 8 min in a big glass bowl since it can rise as it boils. 150 calories. If you are doing cardio, carbs are good. If you go 0 carbs, your body thinks you are starving so it shuts down.
Sorry but this is complete nonsense. All protein doesn't convince your body of anything. Steel cut oats have no magical properties. Your body doesn't ever "think" it's starving.
It's not magic. It's the carbs and the balance. You do a ton of cardio with no carbs and your body goes into starvation mode. And if you really like protein, the steel cut oats have more protein than other carb foods.
Again, sorry but that is all nonsense.10
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