Not Losing Weight!!!
sflonglaw
Posts: 9 Member
Hi All, I am looking for advice. I am 45 years old (about to turn 46). I weigh 132.5 lbs, 5'4 and have been trying for the last 3 weeks to lose weight to get to my initial goal of 126 lbs and then my next goal of 120 lbs. I typed in my info into the NHI and Precision Nutrition Tracker and it told me I should be down to 128 lbs by now (what a joke, and I realized not to trust that tracker as it told me to eat way too much I think). I started at 135.6 three weeks ago and am now at 132.5 so I have lost a few pounds but all of this was via week one and the last two weeks I have lost NOTHING! I am so frustrated as I tracked all of my calories via My Fitness Pal and only ate 8,400 calories last week and I worked out 6 days last week from anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour each time (doing pretty hard Turbo Jam or Circuits). I have no idea what the problem is so I presume somehow MFP isn't tracking my calories very well. I am going to try dropping my calories even more to around 1,000 calories per day and then also underestimate my calorie burn by at least 20%. I am so frustrated though as I have been trying so hard, have foregone going out to many dinners and events with my friends, etc. I drink only water all day (I barely drink alcohol and don't drink my calories) and I stop eating around 4:00 in the afternoon. I eat mostly organic too. Any ideas?? I figure I may as well eat whatever the heck I want at this point since my weight was almost the same when I wasn't dieting and when I wasn't exercising. Also, I have a desk job so I am not active beyond the workouts I do. Thanks!
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Replies
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Also, MFP tells me every day that in 5 weeks, I will weigh 118-120 lbs! What a friggin joke! I will be lucky if I weigh 130 lbs in 5 weeks at the rate I am going.1
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Three pounds in three weeks is actually on track. It’s not an overnight thing. Best of luck to you !13
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I haven't lost anything in the past two weeks so I don't really think the first three pounds count for much as it was probably water weight.2
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are you weighing everything that goes into your gob? get a scale if not. i also dont know if i would drop to 1k a day. i would be more patient. with so little to lose it will likely take longer.6
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I haven't lost anything in the past two weeks so I don't really think the first three pounds count for much as it was probably water weight.
In three weeks you have lost an average of 1 pound per week. The first pounds you lost do count, they are still lost aren't they? Be patient its been a couple of weeks.
A calorie deficit=fat loss, if you are 100% accurate with your logging and food intake. Changes you make should be trended over 4 weeks. Give it a couple more weeks, perhaps go back to your weighing and logging of your food and exercise calories if you are eating some of these back to look for what might be keeping you out of a deficit.3 -
You can be doing everything perfectly and still have weeks where you don't seem to lose anything. Often you may be down a pound or even two, but because of water weight fluctuations this is easily hidden, which is why several weeks later you might then seem to lose several pounds all at once. I've gone whole months without moving more than a pound or two, even when I was exercising regularly and eating well within an amount that should have had me losing 1-2 pounds a week.
My mantra is... "weight loss is weird." Really, you just have to keep at it, and make sure you are logging everything (weigh it all if you have to). I generally don't worry too much unless it's been more than a month and I haven't lost anything at all, but generally, it sorts itself out after a bit. I wouldn't drop your calories anymore, as 1200 is really about the lowest anyone should need and it's not healthy to do less (unless supervised by a doctor), especially if you are exercising regularly. Otherwise you won't be eating enough to properly fuel your body.9 -
You don't have much to lose, so weight loss is going to take some time. Make sure you're logging everything as accurately as possible (if you don't have one yet, you may want to invest in a food scale) and don't expect to see much more than half a pound a week loss.6
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How are you calculating what calories you are consuming, and how are you calculating your exercise calories? Errors here can make a big difference.
As everyone else has said, it is 3 lbs in 3 weeks which is still good. You may find that in a couple of weeks you drop several more pounds all in one go, and although it doesn't make sense, that's the way weight-loss goes. Weight loss is not linear, no matter how much we want it to be.1 -
I calculate it based on the package or look up the food based on MFP. I realize it can be off which is why I was thinking of getting my calories closer to 1,000 per day, per the tracker, as in reality it may actually be 1,200 due to errors. I also was just going to ignore exercise calories and not add them back. I guess I don’t understand why MFP shows me losing 2 lbs a week? What a joke. Maybe I could do that when I was 18. Not now.9
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I calculate it based on the package or look up the food based on MFP. I realize it can be off which is why I was thinking of getting my calories closer to 1,000 per day, per the tracker, as in reality it may actually be 1,200 due to errors. I also was just going to ignore exercise calories and not add them back. I guess I don’t understand why MFP shows me losing 2 lbs a week? What a joke. Maybe I could do that when I was 18. Not now.
Did you choose 2 pounds per week rate of loss? At your stats the most you can expect is .5-.6 ish per week.
Don't lower your calories under 1200, that would be a bad idea, instead invest in a food scale, weigh your food and then log it. Your weight loss will happen, it can be masked by water weight/fluctuation, but the scale will catch up to your changes as long as you are consistent.
Maybe download you a weight trending app.7 -
Trackers can be off on the estimated calorie burn, especially if they are not HR ones. You could try eating just 50% bacj 75% of your exercise calories plus your 1200 as your baseline and see how you get on.
Apps for measuring your calories, how do you measure what you are eating, are you using cups to measure volume, or are you weighing it, or just estimating?0 -
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I calculate it based on the package or look up the food based on MFP. I realize it can be off which is why I was thinking of getting my calories closer to 1,000 per day, per the tracker, as in reality it may actually be 1,200 due to errors. I also was just going to ignore exercise calories and not add them back. I guess I don’t understand why MFP shows me losing 2 lbs a week? What a joke. Maybe I could do that when I was 18. Not now.
Was 2 pounds a week your goal? Seriously, don't go by the "if every day was like today" nonsense.
1 pound a week is a 500 calorie deficit from your current TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). But your TDEE is a guess. Log exercise, that number is also a guess. Then you log food. A digital food scale is most accurate, but everything else is a guess.
Slow or moderate weight loss is GOOD when you are this close to goal. Fast weight loss is often at the expense of a larger % of lean muscle loss. If you want to target fat loss, 1/2 pound a week is a reasonable goal.5 -
Thank you everyone. I do have a scale and measure and weigh everything at home. I eat out once a week so that of course is an estimate but I try to use the largest calorie count for what the food says and even then I add a couple hundred calories to the meal just in case. I guess I’m just frustrated as I’m a numbers person (tax attorney and accountant) so I guess I relied on these trackers that told me I’d lose 1.5-2 lbs per week. Per everyone’s comments I see that I’m only going to lose .5 lbs per week. If I’d known that sooner I wouldn’t be so frustrated.0
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I calculate it based on the package or look up the food based on MFP. I realize it can be off which is why I was thinking of getting my calories closer to 1,000 per day, per the tracker, as in reality it may actually be 1,200 due to errors. I also was just going to ignore exercise calories and not add them back. I guess I don’t understand why MFP shows me losing 2 lbs a week? What a joke. Maybe I could do that when I was 18. Not now.
No, you chose 2 lbs/wk as your weight loss goal. MFP only calculates the numbers based on what you tell it you want to do. It has a floor of 1200 calories that it won't allow you to go because it's considered unhealthy to go lower than that on a regular basis.You don't have enough calories or weight to lose to support such an aggressive deficit.
The problem here is your expectations. You're doing fine but you don't think so and your threatening to "eat whatever the heck you want". How exactly is that going to help you achieve your goal?
What's needed here is some patience and maybe a little better understanding of how weight loss works over time.
I really hope you keep at it and don't give up. It will be worth it. All the best.6 -
Well I was kidding when I said I was going to eat whatever I wanted. I don’t plan on doing that. I guess I just wanted to know why the tracker wasn’t working. As noted, I tracked it in the NHI tracker and it tells you what you should be losing every week based on age, height, activity and calories. It’s way off.0
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Well I was kidding when I said I was going to eat whatever I wanted. I don’t plan on doing that. I guess I just wanted to know why the tracker wasn’t working. As noted, I tracked it in the NHI tracker and it tells you what you should be losing every week based on age, height, activity and calories. It’s way off.
Check out the “Success” boards. The tracker works just fine.6 -
Try this experiment. Go to the MFP set up and select 1/2 lb a week loss. Then set it at 1 lb a week. The set it at 2 lbs a week. Your number will be 1200 every time because you are starting at a low weight and the absolute min is 1200. If you want to know what 2 lbs a week looks like, subtract 750 cals from the number you get at 1/2 lb a week and you’ll see why you can’t lose 2 lbs a week.7
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I worked out 6 days last week from anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour each time (doing pretty hard Turbo Jam or Circuits).
Does this represent an increased level of exercise for you? If so, it's possible your muscles are training up and probably growing a bit. This will cause an increase in muscle weight, which is of course a good thing, even if it makes the scale look unfriendly. Pounds are not always the best indicator. How do your clothes fit?
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Try this experiment. Go to the MFP set up and select 1/2 lb a week loss. Then set it at 1 lb a week. The set it at 2 lbs a week. Your number will be 1200 every time because you are starting at a low weight and the absolute min is 1200. If you want to know what 2 lbs a week looks like, subtract 750 cals from the number you get at 1/2 lb a week and you’ll see why you can’t lose 2 lbs a week.
^ This is the issue right here.
Running OP's stats through Scooby's Calorie Calculator, it gives a TDEE (at sedentary) of 1479 calories. To lose 2 pounds a week requires a 1000 calorie deficit, which would leave her eating 479 calories per day (obviously a bad idea for numerous reasons). Even losing 1 pound a week (500 calorie deficit) will leave her at an intake of 979 calories per day (which is still a bad idea for numerous reasons).
A deficit set up for 1/2 lb./week loss would be 250 calories per day, putting her at a more reasonable 1229 (plus eating some of her exercise calories back, to give her a little more leeway). With the proviso, of course, that she log accurately, monitor her progress and make adjustments as necessary, because calculators are rarely exact in their numbers.
Since MFP bottoms out at 1200 calories, you can put in any figure you want and it's going to say 1200 calories because it won't drop to an intake level of 479 or 979 calories per day for the 1 or 2 lb. loss rates.
[ETA:] And yes - if OP recently started/increased her exercise program, water/glycogen retention in the muscles could be masking weight loss (common occurrence) - as could hormonal issues associated with her menstrual cycle, since she's only been tracking for 3 weeks at this point.12 -
Try this experiment. Go to the MFP set up and select 1/2 lb a week loss. Then set it at 1 lb a week. The set it at 2 lbs a week. Your number will be 1200 every time because you are starting at a low weight and the absolute min is 1200. If you want to know what 2 lbs a week looks like, subtract 750 cals from the number you get at 1/2 lb a week and you’ll see why you can’t lose 2 lbs a week.
^ This is the issue right here.
Running OP's stats through Scooby's Calorie Calculator, it gives a TDEE (at sedentary) of 1479 calories. To lose 2 pounds a week requires a 1000 calorie deficit, which would leave her eating 479 calories per day (obviously a bad idea for numerous reasons). Even losing 1 pound a week (500 calorie deficit) will leave her at an intake of 979 calories per day (which is still a bad idea for numerous reasons).
A deficit set up for 1/2 lb./week loss would be 250 calories per day, putting her at a more reasonable 1229 (plus eating some of her exercise calories back, to give her a little more leeway). With the proviso, of course, that she log accurately, monitor her progress and make adjustments as necessary, because calculators are rarely exact in their numbers.
Since MFP bottoms out at 1200 calories, you can put in any figure you want and it's going to say 1200 calories because it won't drop to an intake level of 479 or 979 calories per day for the 1 or 2 lb. loss rates.
[ETA:] And yes - if OP recently started/increased her exercise program, water/glycogen retention in the muscles could be masking weight loss (common occurrence) - as could hormonal issues associated with her menstrual cycle, since she's only been tracking for 3 weeks at this point.
This is so very helpful. I can see how I won’t be able to lose more than 1/2 to 1 lb (max) a week unless I completely starve myself. I did go from not working out for months to working out like a fiend so hopefully some is muscle weight. Does anyone know how long it takes to get past that initial water retention for the working out? My clothes fit a little better but nothing major.
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Try this experiment. Go to the MFP set up and select 1/2 lb a week loss. Then set it at 1 lb a week. The set it at 2 lbs a week. Your number will be 1200 every time because you are starting at a low weight and the absolute min is 1200. If you want to know what 2 lbs a week looks like, subtract 750 cals from the number you get at 1/2 lb a week and you’ll see why you can’t lose 2 lbs a week.
^ This is the issue right here.
Running OP's stats through Scooby's Calorie Calculator, it gives a TDEE (at sedentary) of 1479 calories. To lose 2 pounds a week requires a 1000 calorie deficit, which would leave her eating 479 calories per day (obviously a bad idea for numerous reasons). Even losing 1 pound a week (500 calorie deficit) will leave her at an intake of 979 calories per day (which is still a bad idea for numerous reasons).
A deficit set up for 1/2 lb./week loss would be 250 calories per day, putting her at a more reasonable 1229 (plus eating some of her exercise calories back, to give her a little more leeway). With the proviso, of course, that she log accurately, monitor her progress and make adjustments as necessary, because calculators are rarely exact in their numbers.
Since MFP bottoms out at 1200 calories, you can put in any figure you want and it's going to say 1200 calories because it won't drop to an intake level of 479 or 979 calories per day for the 1 or 2 lb. loss rates.
[ETA:] And yes - if OP recently started/increased her exercise program, water/glycogen retention in the muscles could be masking weight loss (common occurrence) - as could hormonal issues associated with her menstrual cycle, since she's only been tracking for 3 weeks at this point.
This is so very helpful. I can see how I won’t be able to lose more than 1/2 to 1 lb (max) a week unless I completely starve myself. I did go from not working out for months to working out like a fiend so hopefully some is muscle weight. Does anyone know how long it takes to get past that initial water retention for the working out? My clothes fit a little better but nothing major.
Re: getting past the initial water retention. Assuming you continue to challenge your muscles, the water retention doesn't go away, but eventually you lose enough body mass to overtake the extra water weight.
Think of it this way, since you're a numbers person. Assume your normal water weight is in the range of X to X plus or minus 6 lbs. Add in the water needed for muscle repair and now your water weight is in the range of X minus 1 lbs to X plus 11 lbs (specific numbers are examples; your mileage may vary).
If your calorie deficit is geared to a half pound loss a week (because you're already at the lower end of a healthy weight for your height), it could take a couple of months for your fat loss to be noticeable because of the water weight gain. I'm not saying it will take that long -- your water needs for muscle repair could be less.1 -
I can understand your frustration.
I am 5'2" and 53, so have a low TDEE (without exercise, it's in the 1450 ish range). I have quite a bit to lose, but the 1200 minimum means that without exercise I have a very minimum deficit. While you will see many people in here saying calories in and calories out you should focus on calories in, seek to increase my deficit with exercise as well. I eat back some, but not all my exercise calories. I try to take it to a 500 - 750 deficit but not more than 1,000. Listen to your body.
It's not worth trying to create higher deficits due to the potential health cost. I had higher deficits for a while (before coming onto here) and it made my hair thinner and more brittle, and its still recovering.1 -
The first week on most diets for most people results in a drop of water weight. After that you may see what appears to be a stall as you regain water and lose fat. 3 pounds in three weeks is about right for the small amount you have to lose. Muscle takes a long time to build. Ask any of the body builders on this site. They also say you can't build muscle if you are in a deficit. I have no idea if that's true but I see that on here alot. Good luck.2
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