can't lose weight?

kaighgurl9
kaighgurl9 Posts: 5 Member
edited November 25 in Health and Weight Loss
I am a 21 year old female who weighs 170 lbs. I work out for about an hour six days a week and eat a healthy diet. I eat around 1,500 calories per day (recording everything, I promise), but I have lost no weight. How could this be?

Replies

  • kaighgurl9
    kaighgurl9 Posts: 5 Member
    @MichelleSilverleaf I have been at this for over a month now. I have always eaten healthy, but I have been doing a hard calorie count for five weeks. I have gained about a pound since mid-January.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    Food scale.
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,753 Member
    Sounds like you know your intake, drop your intake by 100 calories per day.
  • kaighgurl9
    kaighgurl9 Posts: 5 Member
    @Lesscookies1 I eat yogurt in the morning (weighed) along with a protein bar and half a banana, chicken which is from the dining hall nutrition website, and broccoli. Sometimes I'll eat an ounce or two of eggs. That's about it. and I occasionally eat peanut butter with jelly. And string cheese. I don't have much to weigh.
  • Lesscookies1
    Lesscookies1 Posts: 250 Member
    kaighgurl9 wrote: »
    @Lesscookies1 I eat yogurt in the morning (weighed) along with a protein bar and half a banana, chicken which is from the dining hall nutrition website, and broccoli. Sometimes I'll eat an ounce or two of eggs. That's about it. and I occasionally eat peanut butter with jelly. And string cheese. I don't have much to weigh.

    Have you been trying this for less than 3 weeks or more? One of the users gave a flow diagram That is amazing.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    kaighgurl9 wrote: »
    @Lesscookies1 I have been counting calories strictly for 5 weeks now. @DevilsFan1 I am only eating 1,500 calories per day..... I am not sure how much less I can eat... I work out every day.

    Have you been through the steps on the flowchart yet? I know if you use a screen reader type program you might not see it, so I just want to check that you've covered everything in it.
  • Lesscookies1
    Lesscookies1 Posts: 250 Member
    edited February 2018
    tvnz1ryhbdr8.jpg

    I'm not sure if the OP saw this amazing chart that Tiny Dancer posted, so I'm going to copy it here for the OP.

    I think we've all told her she's eating more calories than she thinks, and she doesn't use a food scale to measure her full intake, and relies on food labels that can underestimate calories, so Op if you want change you're going to have to change what you're doing now and try something new. It's not like you have something to lose except for weight that is. Good luck!!
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,944 Member
    I did manage to lose weight with canteen food, which had completely illogical calorie/macro information. The cooked rice contained a massive amount of fat according to the macros, yet the chef said they don't put fat into the rice. Of course all pieces of meat have different sizes, and many curries available there various amounts of fat, depending on how much food was still in the tray. The only way to make sure I was losing weight was to take two portions of food: one in plastic cups that I would later weigh, and one for eating. Then repeat the weighing every few weeks, as portion creep is very common.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    You say you 'eat around 1500 cals', unless you are weighing your food and logging every single thing you eat then you can't be sure. How long is it since you started trying to lose?
  • lucerorojo
    lucerorojo Posts: 790 Member
    I wouldn't trust at all the calories info on dining hall food. Who knows if the cooks are even aware of what is published? And when they dish it out they can be random.
  • Silentpadna
    Silentpadna Posts: 1,306 Member
    edited February 2018
    kaighgurl9 wrote: »
    @Lesscookies1 I have been counting calories strictly for 5 weeks now. @DevilsFan1 I am only eating 1,500 calories per day..... I am not sure how much less I can eat... I work out every day.

    Lots of context still needed here.

    First, you can't be strictly counting calories if the foods you eat are not weighed. It may or may not be a good educated guess.

    Second, what is you height? Your goal weight?

    Third, you've given no context to what or how vigorous your workouts are so it's hard to tell what that means (hint: it's a much smaller component to losing weight than your intake).

    Lastly, you seem to be avoiding the very best advice given in this thread - using a food scale.

    There are gazillion threads just like this where people make the same claims as the ones you're making (please understand that this is not a personal dig at you). There are half a gazillion original posters who do not take the scale advice seriously. Be part of the other half! The food scale is, by far, your best friend with respect to weight loss goals, weight gain goals, and especially weight maintenance goals.
  • acorsaut89
    acorsaut89 Posts: 1,147 Member
    edited February 2018
    kaighgurl9 wrote: »
    @Lesscookies1 I eat yogurt in the morning (weighed) along with a protein bar and half a banana, chicken which is from the dining hall nutrition website, and broccoli. Sometimes I'll eat an ounce or two of eggs. That's about it. and I occasionally eat peanut butter with jelly. And string cheese. I don't have much to weigh.

    This does not equal 1,500 calories . . . unless you're eating PB with a spoon and like 4 chicken breasts. Although protein bars can be surprisingly high in calories, depending on what you eat.

    Either way, you're not losing because you're eating more than you burn - it's really that simple. It's not "because starvation mode", you're inaccurately guessing how much you're eating, or how much you're burning, or both.

    My guess is it's the last one in that list. A good food scale will be your very best friend in weight loss.

    ETA: food into "good food scale" lol I can't type properly.
  • acorsaut89
    acorsaut89 Posts: 1,147 Member
    edited February 2018
    kaighgurl9 wrote: »
    @MichelleSilverleaf I have been at this for over a month now. I have always eaten healthy, but I have been doing a hard calorie count for five weeks. I have gained about a pound since mid-January.

    Can anyone tell me what a hard calorie count is? To me it sounds code for some kind of disordered eating . . . but maybe I'm reading too much into it.

    Also, OP, if you've gained a pound since January you're over eating . . . by 3,500 calories if you've really gained a pound.

    As a woman, though, and at 21 I'm going to assume you're still well within your years of getting your period. I can go up as much as 5lbs the week before my period . . . hormones are crazy sometimes. If you've really gained a pound, then that's all the proof you need: you're eating more than you think you are, and you're gaining. It's very simple.
  • In the event that you are exhausted, experience the ill effects of PMS, encounter sporadic menstrual cycles, think that it is difficult to get more fit, feel discouraged or on edge, you may have a hormonal unevenness. Best to see a nutritionist or specialist who can bolster you and propose certain tests that will affirm this so you can make proper move.
This discussion has been closed.