Not losing weight

cghughes1971
cghughes1971 Posts: 4 Member
in Motivation and Support
I’m am getting very frustrated as I’m not seeing the scale move. Not even a half of a pound. I am on goal with my calories. I am working out. I have never had a problem losing a pound to a pound and a half each week before. I am working out more, but my pants are not fitting much better. I have only lost 5.6 lbs. since January 1...

I need some encouragement, or pointers what I am doing wrong!

Replies

  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This content has been removed.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    How long has it been since you lost weight? How much do you have to lose?
  • nanapapa121794
    nanapapa121794 Posts: 18 Member
    One day at a time and i do believe in the Serenity prayer. I"m also a very slow loser and it's frustrating.. But of course i can't do any activity due to physical limitations. So it means less calories for me and finding ways to stay comfortably full.
  • cghughes1971
    cghughes1971 Posts: 4 Member
    Malibu, I have about 15 more pounds to lose. I want to lose 20-25, and I’ve lost 5. I haven’t lost any weight in 2 weeks. One week I actually gained weight and only lost .6 the next.

    I increased my calories per MFP to reflect 1 pound a week instead of 1.5. Even with their calorie recommendations I’m not losing steadily. The MFP thing at the end of the day that says ‘if you are like this everyday you would weigh XxX in 5 weeks ‘ is hogwash, and frustrating to see.

    I did a fat dunk test last week that shows how much fat you have compared to lean muscle mass. They recommended I need to eat even more than MFP gives me. I eat enough, and I’m not overeating. I don’t know what gives!
  • ssurvivor
    ssurvivor Posts: 142 Member
    How are your measurements? When you don't have that much to lose, you may be simply changing your body shape: losing fat while gaining muscle. If you're doing everything as you've reported, then you should see the scale move a bit more soon. As someone else said. Be patient.
  • W8WarI
    W8WarI Posts: 567 Member
    edited February 2018
    cghughes1971 wrote: »
    Malibu, I have about 15 more pounds to lose. I want to lose 20-25, and I’ve lost 5. I haven’t lost any weight in 2 weeks. One week I actually gained weight and only lost .6 the next.

    I increased my calories per MFP to reflect 1 pound a week instead of 1.5. Even with their calorie recommendations I’m not losing steadily. The MFP thing at the end of the day that says ‘if you are like this everyday you would weigh XxX in 5 weeks ‘ is hogwash, and frustrating to see.

    I did a fat dunk test last week that shows how much fat you have compared to lean muscle mass. They recommended I need to eat even more than MFP gives me. I eat enough, and I’m not overeating. I don’t know what gives!

    Are you, using a food scale?

    The 5 weeks' if you ate, the same thing/amount everyday!

    Sodium, starting a new exercise, increasing duration/intensity of a current exercise, menstrual cycle, etcetera, all cause water weight gain so the day to day/week to week scale weights'll rarely be accurate! Compare every 4 weeks, worth of weights instead!
  • mabearof6
    mabearof6 Posts: 684 Member
    5.6 lbs since Jan 1 is pretty good weight loss to me. Weight doesn't just pour off at a steady rate.... It is hard being patient. When was the last time you recorded a loss? You mentioned you increased exercise. The increase in exercise can cause water retention.

    As far as your eating goes....are you weighing everything you eat, including prepackaged foods? It's the best way to truly track how much you are eating. Hang in there!
  • ladyhusker39
    ladyhusker39 Posts: 1,406 Member
    Acem24 wrote: »
    Hey there! I would like to share some tips hoepfully they helped you like they helped me.

    1. No flour products
    2. No dairy products after lunch
    3. Minimise dairy intake like cheeses
    4. Only eat oats , rice or grains for one meal out of the day and don't go over board
    5. Set your my fitness pal to your goal weight the tell it you want to lose 10 more pounds and see how much calories it gives you and that is probably a more realistical way to see how much calories you should really eat. This app tells me to eat way more than I really should so I'm always under eating.
    6. No sweets
    7. No sodas
    8. Snack on fruit but not after dinner to help keep down unwanted sugar.
    9. Have a good day and help these little tips help.

    I call woo BINGO!

    I have done every single thing on this list you say not to do and not done the things you say to do. I lost 35 lbs with no problem.

    Not a single thing on this list is required to lose weight and many will most likely result in frustration and discouragement as they're unnecessarily restrictive.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    @cghughes1971

    A food scale is going to be your best friend to lose those last 15 pounds. Weigh everything, log everything, no skipping, cheating, or forgetting.

    As for not losing weight for a week, then only losing .6, was your period during that time? I don’t lose during ovulation, and I actually gain 2-3 pounds right before my period and they come back off afterwards.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    edited February 2018
    Acem24 wrote: »
    Hey there! I would like to share some tips hoepfully they helped you like they helped me.

    1. No flour products
    2. No dairy products after lunch
    3. Minimise dairy intake like cheeses
    4. Only eat oats , rice or grains for one meal out of the day and don't go over board
    5. Set your my fitness pal to your goal weight the tell it you want to lose 10 more pounds and see how much calories it gives you and that is probably a more realistical way to see how much calories you should really eat. This app tells me to eat way more than I really should so I'm always under eating.
    6. No sweets
    7. No sodas
    8. Snack on fruit but not after dinner to help keep down unwanted sugar.
    9. Have a good day and help these little tips help.

    And please ignore all of this. So unnecessary! And number 5 is downright wrong/potentially dangerous, depending on how low that would drop someone calories.
  • gamerbabe14
    gamerbabe14 Posts: 876 Member
    Acem24 wrote: »
    Hey there! I would like to share some tips hoepfully they helped you like they helped me.

    1. No flour products
    2. No dairy products after lunch
    3. Minimise dairy intake like cheeses
    4. Only eat oats , rice or grains for one meal out of the day and don't go over board
    5. Set your my fitness pal to your goal weight the tell it you want to lose 10 more pounds and see how much calories it gives you and that is probably a more realistical way to see how much calories you should really eat. This app tells me to eat way more than I really should so I'm always under eating.
    6. No sweets
    7. No sodas
    8. Snack on fruit but not after dinner to help keep down unwanted sugar.
    9. Have a good day and help these little tips help.

    Totally unnecessary for weight loss.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    Grazypants wrote: »
    I cant know enough to tell what is going on but these are some things That have helped me in the past
    1. Muscle weighs more than fat. Try looking at peoples before and after pictures where they actually weight more but look slimmer because of muscle gain. Take progress photos of yourself to see if it’s all visual changes rather than weight. It may be hard but putting away the scale and aiming for visual results can be much more fulfilling and encourage better form.
    2. Stress. The body will retain water or extra weight if you are too stressed on a daily basis. Try incorporating relaxing techniques or eliminating or at least managing stress where you can
    3. Environment/quality of air. Many people living in moldy homes for example have reported having trouble losing weight. This puts the body into physiological stress and reacts the same as in #3; holding onto weight as a defense mechanism. I have mold in my apartment under the carpets, wasn’t able to drop a single lb even with 1hr workouts a day, then I just started taking walks outside instead for 30 mins; significantly less strenuous and I really think the fresh air helped because after just one week I lost 4lbs.
    4. Sleep. Again, lack of sleep will put the body into physiological stress, and will not function at full capacity. This is probably one of my favorite things that I discovered, and getting more sleep improves more than just ability to lose weight. You feel happier, you’ll have increased brain activity, obviously more energy, etc. some days I need to just take that hour I put aside for workouts and just take a nap instead. Plus, you can’t overeat if you’re sleeping ;)

    2 and 4...yes, those can affect weight loss. 1...it's extremely difficult to gain muscle in a calorie deficit, so that's not happening. 3...yeah, no
  • 88olds
    88olds Posts: 4,532 Member
    I hate that thing where MFP says where you should be at some point in the future. It’s carp. It does a huge disservice to people here.

    As I read your thread there are a couple of things you should take away.

    One is, a two week stall is not a reason to change your program.

    Second, if you are aiming for a high level of fitness in terms of weigh and body composition, you are working on tight margins. And you need to do your own research. Study science journals, not the media regurgitation. Media is loaded with disinformation click bait. Lots of disinformation in this thread. You need to know for yourself what to do.

    Keep working.

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