Why am i not losing weight?

ghouser1129 · February 2018

Hi all,
I am an intermediate to advanced weight trainer and put on 10 lbs over the holidays and stopped working out. I have been back at eating well (lower carb and high protein) and working out 5 days a week and have not seen much, if any, weight loss. I know muscle weighs more than fat, but thought I would also see reduction in weight along with the muscle tone/gain.

Thanks!

JeromeBarry1 · February 2018

Weigh the food you eat. Log accurately. Stay within a reasonable calorie deficit (don't try to lose more than 1% of your body weight per week). Be patient.

diannethegeek · February 2018

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.

steveko89 · February 2018

How long have you been "back at it"? I know that when I stop lifting for a week (did so recently due to a minor injury) I ended up dropping weight (~2-2.5lbs) very quickly only to have it come right back as soon as I started up again. My thinking as that the glycogen stores maintain that extra weight when I'm lifting consistently (MWF, full body) as the time between workouts isn't enough for them to fully deplete before their stressed again; so I'm effectively always retaining an extra 2lbs or so. If that's also the case for you, a lack of scale movement may be from that? Essentially, you really gained 12lbs of fat/weight but lost 2lb of water, at this point maybe you've just traded actual weight and water getting back in the gym.

ghouser1129 · February 2018

steveko89 wrote: »

How long have you been "back at it"? I know that when I stop lifting for a week (did so recently due to a minor injury) I ended up dropping weight (~2-2.5lbs) very quickly only to have it come right back as soon as I started up again. My thinking as that the glycogen stores maintain that extra weight when I'm lifting consistently (MWF, full body) as the time between workouts isn't enough for them to fully deplete before their stressed again; so I'm effectively always retaining an extra 2lbs or so. If that's also the case for you, a lack of scale movement may be from that? Essentially, you really gained 12lbs of fat/weight but lost 2lb of water, at this point maybe you've just traded actual weight and water getting back in the gym.

I have been back consistently lifting for 3 weeks now and lift full body 3 days a week. I have done the same thing previously and usually get back to my ideal weight of 185-190 relatively easy. I know age is part of it, but my knees are bad and the extra weight is bringing back the knee pain.

100_PROOF_ · February 2018

Are you weighing and measuring all your foods? Are you logging them accurate? How many calories are you eating?

ghouser1129 · February 2018

I am weighing and measuring my foods and logging them accurately. Per the app, I am supposed to be taking in 1800 calories per day and I average around 1300 intake. I lift 3 days a week and do 45 minutes of cardio 2 times a week. I am hoping that by keeping this up, I should see at least 1 lb a week in loss to my goal of 190lb (or even better 185 due to my knee issues).

kimny72 · February 2018

You are eating more than you think. I'm sorry if this is blunt, but there is no way a grown man with your stats is eating only 1300 calories, working out, and not losing weight. Even small women can lose weight at such a low number.

There are some very common logging mistakes we all make when starting out. This post gives a great in depth overview:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

In short: Use a food scale for all solids, at least for a couple of weeks. Double check the entries you are using in the database are accurate, and make sure you aren't missing calories by not logging beverages, condiments, fruit, etc.

The good news is that if it is a logging/calorie issue, it will be easy to fix. Good luck!

JeromeBarry1 · February 2018

@ghouser1129 Please go to Food > Settings > Diary Settings > Diary Sharing to make your diary public.
You're asking for help, and sharing your diary is your part of the helpfulness.

steveko89 · February 2018

ghouser1129 wrote: »

I am weighing and measuring my foods and logging them accurately. Per the app, I am supposed to be taking in 1800 calories per day and I average around 1300 intake. I lift 3 days a week and do 45 minutes of cardio 2 times a week. I am hoping that by keeping this up, I should see at least 1 lb a week in loss to my goal of 190lb (or even better 185 due to my knee issues).

This might be a case where less is more; cutting your calories less may better support sustained weight loss by stressing your system less and fuel your workouts better. Consuming 1300 seems like too big of a deficit for your size and activity level. I'm a little lighter than you (6'1" 172lbs) and lift in the same scheme, would also classify myself as an "intermediate" lifter, and my TDEE is right around 2400, and I aim for no lower than 1750 when cutting. I read a study (that I can't find ATM) that cited 1.3lbs/week as the most aggressive loss rate to minimize muscle loss when losing weight, which lead me to the 650 cal/day deficit (650 * 7/3500 = 1.3). I used a spreadsheet I found on reddit to back-calculate my TDEE but I've found TDEECalculator.net set to "lightly active" matches that perfectly (for me, YMMV but I think it's probably a good place to start). Might try that, putting in your age and height with your weight, and go from there.

steveko89 · February 2018

steveko89 wrote: »

ghouser1129 wrote: »

I am weighing and measuring my foods and logging them accurately. Per the app, I am supposed to be taking in 1800 calories per day and I average around 1300 intake. I lift 3 days a week and do 45 minutes of cardio 2 times a week. I am hoping that by keeping this up, I should see at least 1 lb a week in loss to my goal of 190lb (or even better 185 due to my knee issues).

This might be a case where less is more; cutting your calories less may better support sustained weight loss by stressing your system less and fuel your workouts better. Consuming 1300 seems like too big of a deficit for your size and activity level. I'm a little lighter than you (6'1" 172lbs) and lift in the same scheme, would also classify myself as an "intermediate" lifter, and my TDEE is right around 2400, and I aim for no lower than 1750 when cutting. I read a study (that I can't find ATM) that cited 1.3lbs/week as the most aggressive loss rate to minimize muscle loss when losing weight, which lead me to the 650 cal/day deficit (650 * 7/3500 = 1.3). I used a spreadsheet I found on reddit to back-calculate my TDEE but I've found TDEECalculator.net set to "lightly active" matches that perfectly (for me, YMMV but I think it's probably a good place to start). Might try that, putting in your age and height with your weight, and go from there.

***Above assumes your logging is dialed in like you say

kstar0327 · February 2018

until i started measuring & weighing my food i didn't see any changes

CharlieBeansmomTracey · February 2018

measuring cups are really inaccurate for solids and semi solids. so all of those things should be weighed on a scale in grams. also meats should be weighed raw, and rice,pasta, and so on weighed dry as well.peanut butter is also something that needs to be weighed in grams and not in spoons. its very easy to eat more than you think if you arent accurate,I learned that the hard way when I started gaining weight back because I was using measuring cups. once I started using a scale it started coming off again.I weigh everything including packaged food because it can be off by up to 20%

ghouser1129 · February 2018

Thanks all. I am now weighing all of my food so hopefully I can see the difference. It is the 1st time I have ever wanted or needed to use anything for tracking of my weight, so this is all new to me.

ghouser1129 · February 2018

JeromeBarry1 wrote: »

@ghouser1129 Please go to Food > Settings > Diary Settings > Diary Sharing to make your diary public.
You're asking for help, and sharing your diary is your part of the helpfulness.

Just Shared it publically

Why am i not losing weight?

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