cant lose weight!

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kimgab1
kimgab1 Posts: 11 Member
edited December 2018 in Motivation and Support
I am a 53 Year old woman and i started dieting Sept 5 and i have only lost 7 lbs!! i eat 1200 calories or less and exercise 90 minutes 6 days a week. I have gained 2 lbs and it seems like i cant lose those or ANY more weight. I weigh 165 right now. I got done to 163. i want to weigh 140. Why cant i lose weight if i am eating 1200 calories or less and exercising!!!
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  • 88olds
    88olds Posts: 4,477 Member
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    Do you use a food scale whenever possible? Measure all liquids with calories?
    How many calorie counting gray areas do you encounter in a week? Do you keep a food diary?
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    This^

    Also - 7 pounds may be a little slow......but it's not nothing. With 23 pounds to lose you should be trying for at most, 1 pound a week. When you get close (like 15 pounds to lose) you want to dial it back to 1/2 pound a week.

    Learn to ignore the "I gained 2 pounds overnight" type situations. That's just water weight which fluctuates for many reasons.....higher sodium, sore muscles, and waste cycle.
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
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    agree with the above:
    - Food scale. x1000
    - log all intake (food and liquid with calories) and ensure to carefully select what entry you pick as they are user created and some are incorrect.
    - your weight fluctuates day to day. and "increase of two pounds'" is likely just temporary water retention. that happens for a long list of reaons. time of the month for females, eating fattier-salter (even within goal calories). It's temporary. I HIGHLY recommend a weight tending app, it has really helped me relax about increases that happen as I know the tend is going in the right direction and the water retention weight will just go away with time and not impact my actual weight loss.
  • kimgab1
    kimgab1 Posts: 11 Member
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    i keep a food diary and try not to eat anything if i dont know the calories it has in it. i have a food scale but i dont seem to use it much because everyyhing i eat is listed in MFP.
    I have just had these 2 extra lbs. for over 2 weeks. i dont want to go over my 1200 calories. most days i dont even eat the extra calories i get back from exercising.
  • nightangelstars
    nightangelstars Posts: 337 Member
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    Luv2eatSweets wrote: »
    I understand your frustration. I was going through exactly the same feelings. This may sound silly, but after months of not seeing the scale move I made a decision. I knew that I was feeling better with the foods I was consuming, so I just stopped weighing myself. I continued weighing my foods on a daily basis. I made a choice to like myself better and not be staying awake at night kicking myself for eating that piece of cheesecake. Truth be told I wasn't eating enough. My sleep patterns improved once I increased my calories. I also tried that stupid 1200 calories a day. Jeez I must have been driving everyone around me crazy. I upped my calories by a few hundred. Once my clothes started to loosen a little, I then weighed myself. I'm 58 next week. I started my new eating lifestyle when I was 53. I choose not to say I'm on a diet. My starting weight was 165lbs. My current weight is 118lbs. I know everyone is different, but what worked for me is simply by not stressing out about it. I wish you the very best.

    ^^ This. I know it's frustrating when you watch the scale and it feels like it's not budging, but I agree with the commenters who say 7 lbs in 2 months isn't nothing. That's almost exactly on track with 1 lb a week, and I'll add here that research shows that the slower you lose the weight (and the more you adopt the mindset of Luv2eatSweets - not a diet, but a lifestyle, and with permission to "cheat" here and there) the more likely you are to keep it off for good rather than getting caught in the cycle of yo-yo dieting. One pound a week seems to be about the magic number for this, depending on how close you are to a healthy BMI.

    Seriously, give yourself a break. You're doing a great job!
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    TavistockToad wrote: »
    kimgab1 wrote: »
    i keep a food diary and try not to eat anything if i dont know the calories it has in it. i have a food scale but i dont seem to use it much because everyyhing i eat is listed in MFP.
    I have just had these 2 extra lbs. for over 2 weeks. i dont want to go over my 1200 calories. most days i dont even eat the extra calories i get back from exercising.

    How do you know how big the portions are that you're eating?

    This^

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    No such thing as can't in my vocabulary :smiley:
    You have lost, it's just slower than you would have liked.
    The others have already gave you pointers - start using a food scale, it's eye opening. Oh and have patience, it takes a lot longer than we ever think to lose but stick with the CICO, it works :smile:
  • kimgab1
    kimgab1 Posts: 11 Member
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    so, its been about a month with no weight loss . im not gaining either (yay!)...its just frustrating because im eating 1200 calories, working out 90 minutes every day! im hungry all the time! It just seems i should be losing weight. I dont want to give up but WTH?!!
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
    edited December 2018
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    Use your food scale. Check out this thread...

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1

    And reference your 2 lb gain, read this article...

    http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
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    kimgab1 wrote: »
    so, its been about a month with no weight loss . im not gaining either (yay!)...its just frustrating because im eating 1200 calories, working out 90 minutes every day! im hungry all the time! It just seems i should be losing weight. I dont want to give up but WTH?!!

    food scale. 100% try a food scale for all things for 2 weeks and then see.
  • RelCanonical
    RelCanonical Posts: 3,882 Member
    edited December 2018
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    .
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    kimgab1 wrote: »
    so, its been about a month with no weight loss . im not gaining either (yay!)...its just frustrating because im eating 1200 calories, working out 90 minutes every day! im hungry all the time! It just seems i should be losing weight. I dont want to give up but WTH?!!

    Have you actually started using your food scale though?
  • Running2Fit
    Running2Fit Posts: 702 Member
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    RelCanonical wrote: »
    kimgab1 wrote: »
    so, its been about a month with no weight loss . im not gaining either (yay!)...its just frustrating because im eating 1200 calories, working out 90 minutes every day! im hungry all the time! It just seems i should be losing weight. I dont want to give up but WTH?!!

    Even things that are pre-packaged need to be weighed, at least a first until you can judge the accuracy of the numbers they're listing. Manufacturers tend to err on the side of more when it comes to food (putting more in than what's listed on the packaging) because people will definitely feel like they're getting ripped off if they're shorted. For us, though, that means that we may be eating more than we think if we're just going by the packaging and not weighing the food. Some companies are more accurate than others, so once you get an idea, you can continue to use that without having to weigh every single time.

    This isn’t necessarily true. Maybe if you have your weight loss goal set to 0.5 lb a week so your deficit is really small or you eat a lot of pre-packaged foods but I’ve lost 24 lbs so far and never weigh pre-packaged foods. More power to you if you do but you don’t have to to lose weight.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
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    kimgab1 wrote: »
    so, its been about a month with no weight loss . im not gaining either (yay!)...its just frustrating because im eating 1200 calories, working out 90 minutes every day! im hungry all the time! It just seems i should be losing weight. I dont want to give up but WTH?!!

    As you get closer to goal--20 lbs or less, you have to be very precise, hence the digital food scale. Try it, what have you got to lose? Except 20 lbs.
  • RAinWA
    RAinWA Posts: 1,980 Member
    edited December 2018
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    Running2Fit wrote: »
    RelCanonical wrote: »
    kimgab1 wrote: »
    so, its been about a month with no weight loss . im not gaining either (yay!)...its just frustrating because im eating 1200 calories, working out 90 minutes every day! im hungry all the time! It just seems i should be losing weight. I dont want to give up but WTH?!!

    Even things that are pre-packaged need to be weighed, at least a first until you can judge the accuracy of the numbers they're listing. Manufacturers tend to err on the side of more when it comes to food (putting more in than what's listed on the packaging) because people will definitely feel like they're getting ripped off if they're shorted. For us, though, that means that we may be eating more than we think if we're just going by the packaging and not weighing the food. Some companies are more accurate than others, so once you get an idea, you can continue to use that without having to weigh every single time.

    This isn’t necessarily true. Maybe if you have your weight loss goal set to 0.5 lb a week so your deficit is really small or you eat a lot of pre-packaged foods but I’ve lost 24 lbs so far and never weigh pre-packaged foods. More power to you if you do but you don’t have to to lose weight.

    Or you are like the OP and aren't losing and can't figure out why. Weighing pre-packaged food might help.

    Edited for clarity.

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