Doing everything right but not losing
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atasteofgrace wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »atasteofgrace wrote: »
I had seen that online which is why I wanted to check with everyone here to get opinions. I had taken two months off of exercising completely and about 4 since doing this frequency. Do you think 3 weeks is normal for no weight loss and at some point it will just drop off? Seems crazy but plausible.quiksylver296 wrote: »Is the exercise new to you? New exercise causes the muscles to retain water to repair themselves. This water often masks any fat loss you've got going on.
http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/
If you are certain you are creating a calorie deficit, yes.
Yes I'm certain I am weighing everything and using the heart rate monitor to calculate my burns. Speaking of which I'm going to do the Santa Monica Stairs now. So I hope it is all right and I lose soon! Thanks so much:)
But you're not. Or more to the point even if you are weighing everything you're not logging the weights so you really have no idea how much your actually eating. Unless you're logging everything and logging it accurately there is no way you can be sure you're eating in a calorie deficit.
Looking through your diary I notice a few things that really stand out
- Very few entries are logged by the gram. Everything is 1tbs or 2 slices or 1 cup and even the things that are logged in grams are logged so that the calories or weights are perfectly round numbers. When you're weighing and measuring you'll rarely get exactly 120cal or 200cals. rather you'll see 123cals or 213cals and things will rarely weigh 170g even they'll be 174g. The rounded numbers indicate that you're adjusting the serving to fit your calories.
- There are entire days practically untracked. There are a few days that consist of nothing but a couple of quick adds and perhaps a snack. There is absolutely no telling how many calories you actually ate that day, if your deficit is small enough then even 1 or 2 day like this can cancel out the other days. You need to track everything you eat, every day. It's the only way to be sure.
- Some entries just seem unrealistic. A few times for breakfast you've logged 2 slices of bread and that's all. Is that really all you had for breakfast? 2 dry slices of bread, no toppings? no spreads? I also notice that I haven't seen one drink logged. Can you honestly say that not a single drink besides water has passed your lips?
For the next 3 or 4 weeks be super strict:
- No quick adds at all.
- Log everything to the gram. No slices, no serves, no teaspoons, no cups. Be accurate. If it's 142g then log 142g not 140g. Nothing passes your lips unless it's been weighed and logged.
- Make sure you log everything. If you put a scrape of butter on your bread, weigh it and log it. If you add a bit of ketchup on the side, weigh it and log it. To keep myself honest I created a 0 calorie food item called 'skip meal' which I use to indicate that I have consciously not eaten anything for that meal (I sometimes skip lunch). This way there are no 'blank' meals in my diary and if I see one i know that I've been slack in my logging and my calories aren't accurate.
Once you have a few weeks of genuine, accurate calorie data you'll be in a much better position.
G'luck.12 -
Heart rate monitors aren't overly accurate for calories burned. It gives a good estimate but not 100% accurate so don't rely on it too much.
Your diary is loose, too many quick adds, not enough weighing. I weigh the milk I put in my tea, that's how accurate you need to be. I'd say you're eating more than you think.5 -
Are you sure your calories are calculated correctly? 1200 seems really low1
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I'm not a nutritionist or anything but from all my research (I've done way too much over the years lol) you are eating way too little calories, especially if you are exercising too! I had a look on your diary and you eat very minuscule portions.
If you are 50-60lbs over weight you should be eating WAAAAYYY more. Leave the exercise and focus on your food. Try to isolate where you are going wrong and go from there. My wife wasn't losing weight, one of the coaches at our local gym suggested adding a protein shake in the mix to up her calories. 3-4 days later...she starts losing weight!
Try upping your calories to 1.5k a day and see how you do?
PS. I never calculate my exercise calories into my calorie budget, unless I do a major session and know I've burnt too many lol.13 -
One thing in your original post caught my eye and made me wonder... You said something about cheat days. Are you doing this regularly? If you are "cheating" are you counting the calories or are you having a free for all? You can easily erase any progress you have through the week by having a full on cheat day where you eat whatever you want. If you only meant that you eat to maintenance then the deficit for the week should still give you a loss but if you are just eating everything and anything then you may be sabotaging yourself. The other thing that I thought might be a problem is using a HR monitor to calculate calories. Some say they are not accurate. Try cutting back your exercise calories as suggested and you may have better luck. Last but not least is make sure you are logging EVERYTHING. That means a bite here and there, veggies, fruit etc. If none of that works I would see your doctor.8
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I'm not a nutritionist or anything but from all my research (I've done way too much over the years lol) you are eating way too little calories, especially if you are exercising too! I had a look on your diary and you eat very minuscule portions.
If you are 50-60lbs over weight you should be eating WAAAAYYY more. Leave the exercise and focus on your food. Try to isolate where you are going wrong and go from there. My wife wasn't losing weight, one of the coaches at our local gym suggested adding a protein shake in the mix to up her calories. 3-4 days later...she starts losing weight!
Try upping your calories to 1.5k a day and see how you do?
PS. I never calculate my exercise calories into my calorie budget, unless I do a major session and know I've burnt too many lol.
eating too little calories will not stop you from losing weight. if you eat too little and exercise on top of it you will lose lean mass including muscle and fat. I agree OP is eating too little but that has nothing to do with not being able to lose weight ,if that were the case those whom are anorexic, in starving 3rd workd countries and so on would stop losing weight. it doesnt work that way. when your body doesnt get enough calories to fuel it it will turn to lean mass,muscle(including organs) and fat. it will use whatever it can to produce energy4 -
I've actually done this program with success three times. It is IMHO neurotic to weigh milk and what not. A tablespoon is close enough. I measure everything that is reasonable to be measured and weigh the rest. The quick adds are items from the health food store for 90% that have a label on them. The rest is eating out and I find the highest calorie option and use that.atasteofgrace wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »atasteofgrace wrote: »
I had seen that online which is why I wanted to check with everyone here to get opinions. I had taken two months off of exercising completely and about 4 since doing this frequency. Do you think 3 weeks is normal for no weight loss and at some point it will just drop off? Seems crazy but plausible.quiksylver296 wrote: »Is the exercise new to you? New exercise causes the muscles to retain water to repair themselves. This water often masks any fat loss you've got going on.
http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/
If you are certain you are creating a calorie deficit, yes.
Yes I'm certain I am weighing everything and using the heart rate monitor to calculate my burns. Speaking of which I'm going to do the Santa Monica Stairs now. So I hope it is all right and I lose soon! Thanks so much:)
But you're not. Or more to the point even if you are weighing everything you're not logging the weights so you really have no idea how much your actually eating. Unless you're logging everything and logging it accurately there is no way you can be sure you're eating in a calorie deficit.
Looking through your diary I notice a few things that really stand out
- Very few entries are logged by the gram. Everything is 1tbs or 2 slices or 1 cup and even the things that are logged in grams are logged so that the calories or weights are perfectly round numbers. When you're weighing and measuring you'll rarely get exactly 120cal or 200cals. rather you'll see 123cals or 213cals and things will rarely weigh 170g even they'll be 174g. The rounded numbers indicate that you're adjusting the serving to fit your calories.
- There are entire days practically untracked. There are a few days that consist of nothing but a couple of quick adds and perhaps a snack. There is absolutely no telling how many calories you actually ate that day, if your deficit is small enough then even 1 or 2 day like this can cancel out the other days. You need to track everything you eat, every day. It's the only way to be sure.
- Some entries just seem unrealistic. A few times for breakfast you've logged 2 slices of bread and that's all. Is that really all you had for breakfast? 2 dry slices of bread, no toppings? no spreads? I also notice that I haven't seen one drink logged. Can you honestly say that not a single drink besides water has passed your lips?
For the next 3 or 4 weeks be super strict:
- No quick adds at all.
- Log everything to the gram. No slices, no serves, no teaspoons, no cups. Be accurate. If it's 142g then log 142g not 140g. Nothing passes your lips unless it's been weighed and logged.
- Make sure you log everything. If you put a scrape of butter on your bread, weigh it and log it. If you add a bit of ketchup on the side, weigh it and log it. To keep myself honest I created a 0 calorie food item called 'skip meal' which I use to indicate that I have consciously not eaten anything for that meal (I sometimes skip lunch). This way there are no 'blank' meals in my diary and if I see one i know that I've been slack in my logging and my calories aren't accurate.
Once you have a few weeks of genuine, accurate calorie data you'll be in a much better position.
G'luck.3 -
cheryldumais wrote: »One thing in your original post caught my eye and made me wonder... You said something about cheat days. Are you doing this regularly? If you are "cheating" are you counting the calories or are you having a free for all? You can easily erase any progress you have through the week by having a full on cheat day where you eat whatever you want. If you only meant that you eat to maintenance then the deficit for the week should still give you a loss but if you are just eating everything and anything then you may be sabotaging yourself. The other thing that I thought might be a problem is using a HR monitor to calculate calories. Some say they are not accurate. Try cutting back your exercise calories as suggested and you may have better luck. Last but not least is make sure you are logging EVERYTHING. That means a bite here and there, veggies, fruit etc. If none of that works I would see your doctor.
All of this worked before though. I think it might just be something with exercise and my body retaining water. The cheat day it was only one day in 3 weeks time and I didn't eat my exercise calories back for 4 days to offset it. I found the highest calorie versions of the meal I ordered and went with that.0 -
I'm not a nutritionist or anything but from all my research (I've done way too much over the years lol) you are eating way too little calories, especially if you are exercising too! I had a look on your diary and you eat very minuscule portions.
If you are 50-60lbs over weight you should be eating WAAAAYYY more. Leave the exercise and focus on your food. Try to isolate where you are going wrong and go from there. My wife wasn't losing weight, one of the coaches at our local gym suggested adding a protein shake in the mix to up her calories. 3-4 days later...she starts losing weight!
Try upping your calories to 1.5k a day and see how you do?
PS. I never calculate my exercise calories into my calorie budget, unless I do a major session and know I've burnt too many lol.
Thanks yeah I'm going to try and include my exercise calories this week. That will put me between 1600-1700 a day0 -
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TrishSeren wrote: »Heart rate monitors aren't overly accurate for calories burned. It gives a good estimate but not 100% accurate so don't rely on it too much.
Your diary is loose, too many quick adds, not enough weighing. I weigh the milk I put in my tea, that's how accurate you need to be. I'd say you're eating more than you think.
I count the milk by measuring it then whatever is left for the final cup is just one cup. I'm not going to weight milk I've lost weight doing this before and I've never weighed milk, seems a bit neurotic. I think I'm very accurate with my calories and even if I were a little off I still should be losing a pound a week.4 -
atasteofgrace wrote: »
I've actually done this program with success three times. It is IMHO neurotic to weigh milk and what not. A tablespoon is close enough. I measure everything that is reasonable to be measured and weigh the rest. The quick adds are items from the health food store for 90% that have a label on them. The rest is eating out and I find the highest calorie option and use that.atasteofgrace wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »atasteofgrace wrote: »
I had seen that online which is why I wanted to check with everyone here to get opinions. I had taken two months off of exercising completely and about 4 since doing this frequency. Do you think 3 weeks is normal for no weight loss and at some point it will just drop off? Seems crazy but plausible.quiksylver296 wrote: »Is the exercise new to you? New exercise causes the muscles to retain water to repair themselves. This water often masks any fat loss you've got going on.
http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/
If you are certain you are creating a calorie deficit, yes.
Yes I'm certain I am weighing everything and using the heart rate monitor to calculate my burns. Speaking of which I'm going to do the Santa Monica Stairs now. So I hope it is all right and I lose soon! Thanks so much:)
But you're not. Or more to the point even if you are weighing everything you're not logging the weights so you really have no idea how much your actually eating. Unless you're logging everything and logging it accurately there is no way you can be sure you're eating in a calorie deficit.
Looking through your diary I notice a few things that really stand out
- Very few entries are logged by the gram. Everything is 1tbs or 2 slices or 1 cup and even the things that are logged in grams are logged so that the calories or weights are perfectly round numbers. When you're weighing and measuring you'll rarely get exactly 120cal or 200cals. rather you'll see 123cals or 213cals and things will rarely weigh 170g even they'll be 174g. The rounded numbers indicate that you're adjusting the serving to fit your calories.
- There are entire days practically untracked. There are a few days that consist of nothing but a couple of quick adds and perhaps a snack. There is absolutely no telling how many calories you actually ate that day, if your deficit is small enough then even 1 or 2 day like this can cancel out the other days. You need to track everything you eat, every day. It's the only way to be sure.
- Some entries just seem unrealistic. A few times for breakfast you've logged 2 slices of bread and that's all. Is that really all you had for breakfast? 2 dry slices of bread, no toppings? no spreads? I also notice that I haven't seen one drink logged. Can you honestly say that not a single drink besides water has passed your lips?
For the next 3 or 4 weeks be super strict:
- No quick adds at all.
- Log everything to the gram. No slices, no serves, no teaspoons, no cups. Be accurate. If it's 142g then log 142g not 140g. Nothing passes your lips unless it's been weighed and logged.
- Make sure you log everything. If you put a scrape of butter on your bread, weigh it and log it. If you add a bit of ketchup on the side, weigh it and log it. To keep myself honest I created a 0 calorie food item called 'skip meal' which I use to indicate that I have consciously not eaten anything for that meal (I sometimes skip lunch). This way there are no 'blank' meals in my diary and if I see one i know that I've been slack in my logging and my calories aren't accurate.
Once you have a few weeks of genuine, accurate calorie data you'll be in a much better position.
G'luck.
Fair enough. You've gotta do what you think is right but I'll leave you with one last thought.
If tablespoons are close enough, measuring is fine and quick adds are accurate, why has your weight loss stalled?10 -
atasteofgrace wrote: »
you are supposed to eat back your exercise calories. your net is supposed to be 1200. if you arent losing anything and its been 6 weeks(a true plateau is 6-8 weeks) then you are eating more than you think Ive been there done that and its really easy to do especially now with food labels changing ALL the time and portions are able to be off by up to 20% per serving.I lost weight before without trying and then when I had to lose it again I lost some doing it the same way and gained back half of what I lost. I came here and started weighing everything. I too thought what I was doing was good enough. Turns out I was wrong and it does make a difference.3 -
It was a month of exercising before I started to lose anything. I was so disheartened, and then one day, finally, the scales moved. I exercised, I ate right, I calorie counted, and nothing moved for weeks. I'm 9 weeks in now and I've lost about 5 kilos. if you take out the 4 weeks nothing moved, I've lost a steady kilo a week since. Slow and steady wins the race. It's not a marathon, and more importantly, everyone is different, some will just drop those kilos right away, others, it will take time. Sounds like you're in the second category. Whats important is you don't give up your goal. Eat well, exercise well, don't over do anything or do anything extreme and in time you'll see the results.1
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Yes I'm certain I am weighing everything and using the heart rate monitor to calculate my burns. Speaking of which I'm going to do the Santa Monica Stairs now. So I hope it is all right and I lose soon! Thanks so much:)
I've actually done this program with success three times. It is IMHO neurotic to weigh milk and what not. A tablespoon is close enough. I measure everything that is reasonable to be measured and weigh the rest. The quick adds are items from the health food store for 90% that have a label on them. The rest is eating out and I find the highest calorie option and use that. [/quote]
OK, so here's my .02 cent's worth of advice. Let's accept that you have done this successfully before - then you know that a calorie deficit is required to lose weight. If you see weighing strictly as "neurotic" then ok, not judging - so what metric can you use to monitor progress? It will have to be the bathroom scale.
If the scale isn't moving after a few weeks, then you know the answer - you're eating too much *kitten* food. Don't look for internet woo to explain away the simple truth that you are not in a deficit. That said, don't go nuts.
Weight loss and management shouldn't be maddening - especially if you are to sustain the loss into maintenance. Cut back your calories by a bit and monitor the scale. I find a trending app really useful. Stick to the habits and behaviors that lead to success - and success will follow. Eventually...3 -
A perspective question, and like @garystrickland357 I'm not judging either.
When you say weighing everything would be 'neurotic', do you weigh yourself every day? And, knowing that weight loss is not only not linear, but prone to fluctuations due to fluid changes that are larger per day than your weight loss goal for the week........which is more neurotic? Weighing your food and trusting the food scale? Or weighing yourself every day, knowing that a particular day's reading could be the opposite direction of what you expect, even if you are 'doing everything right'?
One mantra I've begun to live by in this process is this: trust the food scale far more than the bathroom scale. If you are not really sure of your intake, you cannot be sure of your deficit. The food scale gives data that is far more relevant in the short term.
If this lasts for longer, like maybe 3-4 weeks longer, it will be time to troubleshoot. The process always works. Always. When it appears not to, there will be a legitimate reason. 80% or more of the time, it can be taken care with more careful intake control.2
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