Why am I not losing weight?

kyragoode6308
kyragoode6308 Posts: 7 Member
in Motivation and Support
For the first few months of my journey I was losing weight pretty consistently, but for the past nearly two months I have not lost any weight, and in the past two weeks I have gained nearly a pound and a half back. I also have not lost anything in my measurements. I eat under my calories nearly every day, I go to the gym around 5 times a week, and I drink a lot of water. Could anyone help me out? I’m feeling really upset right now.

Replies

  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    Do you use a food scale to weigh everything and log it all religiously? No skipping, cheating or forgetting?
  • kandiboggs
    kandiboggs Posts: 6 Member
    edited May 2019
    Make sure to use food scale to weigh everything. I found that I was way underestimating portions.
  • Ldenzel
    Ldenzel Posts: 91 Member
    Have you updated your weight loss goals in MFP so it can recalculate your calories needed? I update mine every 10-15 pounds lost.
  • Scottgriesser
    Scottgriesser Posts: 172 Member
    It is always annoying to be told you are doing something wrong, but that is almost assuredly the case here.

    Whether your target is wrong, or your logging is wrong, something isn't right. Weight loss isn't linear, but if nothing has changed in 2 months, then you are either pregnant or have incorrect numbers somewhere.

    Do you use a food scale for solids?
    Do you measure liquids?
    What is your caloric target and what is your bmr?
    What are you doing at the gym?
    What are you using to track calorie burn at the gym?
    Are you eating those calories back?

    There are more factors than the above that can be contributing, but I'd venture a guess the problem lies in one of these.
  • kyragoode6308
    kyragoode6308 Posts: 7 Member

    No I don’t use a food scale for solids I calculate the calories that are on the label and the only liquid that I drink is water so I don’t see a need to measure it, my caloric target is 1200 and I don’t know what bmr means, when I track my calories at the gym it tells me how many calories I burn if I’m doing the elliptical or treadmill and then any kind of weight training I just use MFP, and no I don’t eat them back.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    edited May 2019
    kyragoode6308 wrote: »
    No I don’t use a food scale for solids I calculate the calories that are on the label and the only liquid that I drink is water so I don’t see a need to measure it, my caloric target is 1200 and I don’t know what bmr means, when I track my calories at the gym it tells me how many calories I burn if I’m doing the elliptical or treadmill and then any kind of weight training I just use MFP, and no I don’t eat them back.

    Then I'm 99.9999874% certain you are eating more than you think you are. That's not a dig at you. Most people are not good at eyeballing portions, me included.

    Check out the video in this thread. It may change your mind, re the bolded.

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

    And @sarahlucindac addresses your question really well in this thread.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10697068/how-i-stopped-kidding-myself/p1
  • smoofinator
    smoofinator Posts: 635 Member
    kyragoode6308 wrote: »
    No I don’t use a food scale for solids I calculate the calories that are on the label and the only liquid that I drink is water so I don’t see a need to measure it, my caloric target is 1200 and I don’t know what bmr means, when I track my calories at the gym it tells me how many calories I burn if I’m doing the elliptical or treadmill and then any kind of weight training I just use MFP, and no I don’t eat them back.

    Liquids aren't just beverages. Do you measure and log any cooking oils you use? Condiments? Don't think of liquids simply in terms of beverages.
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,979 Member
    kyragoode6308 wrote: »
    No I don’t use a food scale for solids I calculate the calories that are on the label and the only liquid that I drink is water so I don’t see a need to measure it, my caloric target is 1200 and I don’t know what bmr means, when I track my calories at the gym it tells me how many calories I burn if I’m doing the elliptical or treadmill and then any kind of weight training I just use MFP, and no I don’t eat them back.

    I ate something an hour ago that was 1.68 times the serving size on the package. It adds up.

    Being off in logging is the most common error and, by far, the easiest to fix. If I were having issues, I would be happy if this was the cause.
  • Scottgriesser
    Scottgriesser Posts: 172 Member
    The gym equipment calorie burns are almost always 20-40% higher than they actually are. So we've found at least 2 things that are messing up your numbers. You should absolutely be eating back at least some of your exercise calories, but if you aren't and you are still gaining weight then I'm betting that your intake estimates are grossly inaccurate.

    Start weighing them.

    BMR is basal metabolic rate. Caloric burn by just existing. Mine (roughly) is around 2300. So if I ate 2300 calories in a day I would sit at the same weight. A lb is roughly 3500 calories so if I wanted to lose a lb a week I'd have to reduce my daily intake by 500 (3500/7).
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 6,000 Member
    kyragoode6308 wrote: »
    No I don’t use a food scale for solids I calculate the calories that are on the label and the only liquid that I drink is water so I don’t see a need to measure it, my caloric target is 1200 and I don’t know what bmr means, when I track my calories at the gym it tells me how many calories I burn if I’m doing the elliptical or treadmill and then any kind of weight training I just use MFP, and no I don’t eat them back.

    Using a food scale to track and learn proper portions at least in the beginning is key. People generally tend to underestimate what they eat and overestimate what they expend.

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