Seriously exasperating...
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mikmurphy
Posts: 57 Member
I have been cutting calories and working out for 2 months now. I have lost NO weight, I actually gained a pound recently! None of my measurements have changed either. I get enough sleep, I am not stressed. I drink nothing but 1 cup of morning coffee and then water all day. I'm 5'7" and have been averaging 1485 to 1685 calories during the weeks. I raised my calories thinking I wasn't eating enough at one point. I do 30-45 minutes cardio at least 3x a week, strength training at least 2x per week. I bought a Fitbit and make sure to stay in my cardio heart rate zones. I am working on getting my protein up but it's hard to do when you can barely eat, and don't eat meat every day.
I wouldn't think a 48 year old woman couldn't gain pounds of muscle in 2 months, so what am I doing or not doing? This is so frustrating. I cry at least once a week hidden in a bathroom over this. Jeez.
I wouldn't think a 48 year old woman couldn't gain pounds of muscle in 2 months, so what am I doing or not doing? This is so frustrating. I cry at least once a week hidden in a bathroom over this. Jeez.
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Replies
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how much do you have to lose?
have you been eating those calories for two months or tending towards them?
are you using a food scale for all foods? careful when choosing entries?
has the exercise been stable for two months? new or increased exercise can lead to water retention masking weight loss?4 -
How many actual food and drink calories do you intake on average every day?
(MFP data, minimum of 28 consecutive fully logged days without any days missing or under-logged even if some meals are "best effort guesses" from pictures or what have you)
How many calories on average does your Fitbit say you spend a day during the same time frame (Fitbit dashboard, https://www.fitbit.com/settings/data/export)?
What was your weight trend change in that time frame (www.trendweight.com)
How often do you weight yourself? Where? How?
... and.... sorry you're having such a hard time!
How much are you trying to lose BTW? How far are you from the normal weight range?2 -
Food scale! Your kitchens best friend.1
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My net calorie average for the 2 months is 1471. My Fitbit is too new to get a report yet I think. My weight trend on Libra is 0.0 for April. I started and ended at 172.6. I went up to 174 during the month. I weigh probably every other day or more. I need to lose 25 lbs to put myself at 30% body fat. I'm at 39% right now. So I'm obese.
I started cardio on March 19th and slowly ramped it up to longer sessions. I started weights (just the machines for now) on April 15th. I lift as heavy as I can with small reps, and two sets for each exercise.
I don't have much I can weigh really. Do you weigh teaspoons of mayonnaise and mustard? Or salad mix? I overestimate all my veggies just to be safe. The rest of my food is prepackaged dinners, cheese, veggie burgers and such. I measure all my liquids for protein shakes. I'm working hard to get my protein macro up but it's hard for me.
The only think I can think of is I'm eating too much? I really would like to gain muscle. Or is my exercise with the weights considered new?0 -
It took me over 4 weeks to lose the water retention from weight lifting. Give it a bit more time.2
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You're eating more calories than you think. Prepackaged meals tend to be pretty high calorie and cheese is extremely high calorie. Are you weighing that? Are you logging everything?
If you open up your diary it'll be easier to offer advice.2 -
I checked and it's open, or set for public sharing. I do the Lean Cuisine, and Healthy Choice meals mostly, maybe I could add 100 calorie to each for a margin of error? Its barely any food to begin with though. The cheese slices I get for my veggie burgers are Sargento's ultra thin 45 cal slices. I do eat string cheese here and there. Should I weigh that?
Maybe this is water weight from the lifting I suppose. If I don't drop anything in another week I suppose I have to go to under 1400 calories?0 -
I'm not usually on the "weigh everything or you will fail doom doom" train, but since you're in a stall it's worth really digging in and double checking everything. Mayo, cheese, veggie burgers, asparagus, buns, whey protein, almonds, eggs, popcorn, string cheese, everything. I would do it for a week or two just to be sure.
I have to say, it's rare that I go back a month in someone's diary and find every day has been logged, so kudos for sticking with it.
How much are you trying to lose? I didn't see it mentioned so far. Is it possible you're close to goal and just losing slowly?
Are you using a weight trending program like Libra, Happy Scale, or Trend weight? You mention three or four changes to your routine in the last two months and you're always going to see weight fluctuations when you change things. It might be worth seeing a trend line.
But yeah, in the long run you're either burning less than the calculators predict, eating more than your log shows (usually through those sneaky inaccuracies), or haven't been patient enough. If it persists, cutting calories and/or getting checked out by a doc are your next steps.3 -
Check your sodium intake. It’s amazing how quickly that adds up especially when eating packaged food. If I go significantly over for the week (>2000 mg), I do not lose weight.3
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My net calorie average for the 2 months is 1471. My Fitbit is too new to get a report yet I think. My weight trend on Libra is 0.0 for April. I started and ended at 172.6. I went up to 174 during the month. I weigh probably every other day or more. I need to lose 25 lbs to put myself at 30% body fat. I'm at 39% right now. So I'm obese.
I started cardio on March 19th and slowly ramped it up to longer sessions. I started weights (just the machines for now) on April 15th. I lift as heavy as I can with small reps, and two sets for each exercise.
I don't have much I can weigh really. Do you weigh teaspoons of mayonnaise and mustard? Or salad mix? I overestimate all my veggies just to be safe. The rest of my food is prepackaged dinners, cheese, veggie burgers and such. I measure all my liquids for protein shakes. I'm working hard to get my protein macro up but it's hard for me.
The only think I can think of is I'm eating too much? I really would like to gain muscle. Or is my exercise with the weights considered new?
Wait, net calories are 1471? What are your gross calories? Because my first guess would be overestimating exercise burn. Fitbits are not always accurate.
No need to weigh mustard, but I do weigh mayonnaise because a “teaspoon” by which I mean what fits in a normal teaspoon is actually about 4 teaspoons’ worth by weight, and mayo has enough calories for it to matter. Fats are high calorie density and do need to be weighed, at least if you are having trouble losing.3 -
rheddmobile wrote: »
Wait, net calories are 1471? What are your gross calories? Because my first guess would be overestimating exercise burn. Fitbits are not always accurate.
No need to weigh mustard, but I do weigh mayonnaise because a “teaspoon” by which I mean what fits in a normal teaspoon is actually about 4 teaspoons’ worth by weight, and mayo has enough calories for it to matter. Fats are high calorie density and do need to be weighed, at least if you are having trouble losing.
Holy cow! Mayo is off by that much?! I will definitely weigh it!
My gross calorie average is 1575. I probably eat back too many exercise calories. But I am SO hungry a lot of the time.
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diannethegeek wrote: »I'm not usually on the "weigh everything or you will fail doom doom" train, but since you're in a stall it's worth really digging in and double checking everything. Mayo, cheese, veggie burgers, asparagus, buns, whey protein, almonds, eggs, popcorn, string cheese, everything. I would do it for a week or two just to be sure.
I have to say, it's rare that I go back a month in someone's diary and find every day has been logged, so kudos for sticking with it.
How much are you trying to lose? I didn't see it mentioned so far. Is it possible you're close to goal and just losing slowly?
Are you using a weight trending program like Libra, Happy Scale, or Trend weight? You mention three or four changes to your routine in the last two months and you're always going to see weight fluctuations when you change things. It might be worth seeing a trend line.
But yeah, in the long run you're either burning less than the calculators predict, eating more than your log shows (usually through those sneaky inaccuracies), or haven't been patient enough. If it persists, cutting calories and/or getting checked out by a doc are your next steps.
I am going to start weighing EVERYTHING! I suspect I am eating too late as well as calories sneaking in. I log everyday, even my great pizza fail awhile ago lol. I've been here since 2011 I think? I've lost the same 25 lbs like 3x now. I need to stick with it this time since I'm headed to 50 years old!0 -
diannethegeek wrote: »I'm not usually on the "weigh everything or you will fail doom doom" train, but since you're in a stall it's worth really digging in and double checking everything. Mayo, cheese, veggie burgers, asparagus, buns, whey protein, almonds, eggs, popcorn, string cheese, everything. I would do it for a week or two just to be sure.
I have to say, it's rare that I go back a month in someone's diary and find every day has been logged, so kudos for sticking with it.
How much are you trying to lose? I didn't see it mentioned so far. Is it possible you're close to goal and just losing slowly?
Are you using a weight trending program like Libra, Happy Scale, or Trend weight? You mention three or four changes to your routine in the last two months and you're always going to see weight fluctuations when you change things. It might be worth seeing a trend line.
But yeah, in the long run you're either burning less than the calculators predict, eating more than your log shows (usually through those sneaky inaccuracies), or haven't been patient enough. If it persists, cutting calories and/or getting checked out by a doc are your next steps.
I am going to start weighing EVERYTHING! I suspect I am eating too late as well as calories sneaking in. I log everyday, even my great pizza fail awhile ago lol. I've been here since 2011 I think? I've lost the same 25 lbs like 3x now. I need to stick with it this time since I'm headed to 50 years old!
Timing makes no difference, unless you're eating late enough that you "forget" - intentionally or otherwise - to log those calories. But if extra calories are sneaking in, they could be contributing to your problems. If you like to have a snack before bed, save some calories for it.
Do you enjoy all the exercise you're doing? If not, then slow it down, especially if it's making you more hungry. And try only eating 50% of your exercise calories until you get the accuracy dialed in a bit.
Do you like to feel full? You could try filling up more on low calorie veggies or something, to help with that feeling.
But definitely weigh everything, including all the prepacked stuff and the more calorific condiments. Listed weights can be way off on packaged things (usually higher), and that can greatly affect the amount of calories you're actually eating.
Finally, try to have patience and stick with it. A trending app will help, but it can also take time for things to settle down and for you to notice a difference. Exercise and hormones can cause water retention, as can sodium, and that can mask fat loss too.
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Your sodium intake plus exercise plus being a woman make water retention potential major concerns here. Your fat % from the scales is neither here nor there. I would trust BMI before trusting bio-impedance scales
Mayo is definitely worth weighing. Mustard not as much though I personally use the USDA yellow mustard per 100g entry as opposed to the 0 Cal for half or one teaspoon that the box says. Same for ketchup. Plus a lot of these items have loads of sodium.
Glad to hear you're using Libra. Your calories most certainly don't sound excessive... so I would wait it out especially if you're hungry all the time. You're not going to win by becoming even more hungry.
But I would definitely tweak what I eat. Having had lean cuisines I can most certainly vouch that something similar to boiled baby potatoes, green beans and carrots, and say shredded rotisserie chicken (or a frozen fish fillet, or shrimp, or a veggie sausage or burger or tofu or saitan if leaning that way) in a mustard lemon or 0% yogurt based sauce would be more filling for the same calories and just as easily microwaved from frozen or refrigerated containers--well at least for me ;-)
Also please WEIGH your protein powder--a "scoop" can be anything. And make sure you're not inadvertently using a mass gainer... ask me what I discovered I bought by mistake one time before returning it unopened!
Others have covered exercise and feeling hungry.
But you may also want to be patient and note how you're FEELING and LOOKING.
We just had a thread where a lady lost like 8lbs in a year. Ah. Here it is: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10741640/a-year-on-maintenance#latest <-- not bad for "just" 8 lbs!4 -
the FDA gives packaged foods a 20 percent margin of error in the calorie count. this is why calorie counting never worked for me.. I think I was always off the few hundred calories it took to lose. I use food rules..works best for me..1
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elisa123gal wrote: »the FDA gives packaged foods a 20 percent margin of error in the calorie count. this is why calorie counting never worked for me.. I think I was always off the few hundred calories it took to lose. I use food rules..works best for me..
It wouldn't have been the "calorie counting" not working as such... it would have been the "not checking the weights of the things inside the packaging and thus logging an incorrect amount of calories" that didn't work.
What do you mean by "food rules"?
(Whatever actually works for you is fine, everyone finds their own method - just pointing out that in your described case it wasn't the actual concept of counting calories that was a problem.)3 -
Water is your friend ...0
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elisa123gal wrote: »the FDA gives packaged foods a 20 percent margin of error in the calorie count. this is why calorie counting never worked for me.. I think I was always off the few hundred calories it took to lose. I use food rules..works best for me..
It wouldn't have been the "calorie counting" not working as such... it would have been the "not checking the weights of the things inside the packaging and thus logging an incorrect amount of calories" that didn't work.
What do you mean by "food rules"?
(Whatever actually works for you is fine, everyone finds their own method - just pointing out that in your described case it wasn't the actual concept of counting calories that was a problem.)
I eat a Whole Foods diet.. meaning I don't eat any packaged foods...I make everything from scratch ..with the exception of a few things.. like rice noodles..and canned tomato paste and tomatoes. I also cut out all sodium..and I use No salt added canned tomatoes. I eat six times a day, pairing lean protein with vegetables.. fruit...and I have complex carbs almost each meal. I love the way I eat.. it is basically healthy.. I drink a lot of water too. Eating this way.. I think more about what I can eat instead of what I can't.
I lost all my weight easily ...after years of counting calories and losing and regaining the same ten pounds and burning out... it just did not work at all for me.1
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