Feeling discouraged/Not seeing results
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Gaabey
Posts: 2 Member
Details About me:
Female
Age: 33
Height: 5’2
Current weight: 163 Goal weight: 126
Calorie intake: 1406
So I started working out and eating clean 6/12. I exercise 4-5 days a week 60-120mins per day (4 days cardio and 3 days strength training). Plus I have 2yr old and 11month old that keep me busy all day long. I burn at least 500 calories or more after each exercise. I try to meet my calorie intake most days but sometimes I don’t. I drink 72-80oz of water dairy. I don’t eat out, I don’t eat bread or pasta. I even gave up drinking coffee every morning because I like to put cream n lots of sugar in my coffee. I weigh myself every Sunday morning before I eat breakfast. Since starting this journey I have not lost anything or gained, but I am losing body fat. I started with body fat of 43% and I’m down to 36%. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Should I quit lifting weight and just do cardio? Someone help please!
Thank you!
Female
Age: 33
Height: 5’2
Current weight: 163 Goal weight: 126
Calorie intake: 1406
So I started working out and eating clean 6/12. I exercise 4-5 days a week 60-120mins per day (4 days cardio and 3 days strength training). Plus I have 2yr old and 11month old that keep me busy all day long. I burn at least 500 calories or more after each exercise. I try to meet my calorie intake most days but sometimes I don’t. I drink 72-80oz of water dairy. I don’t eat out, I don’t eat bread or pasta. I even gave up drinking coffee every morning because I like to put cream n lots of sugar in my coffee. I weigh myself every Sunday morning before I eat breakfast. Since starting this journey I have not lost anything or gained, but I am losing body fat. I started with body fat of 43% and I’m down to 36%. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Should I quit lifting weight and just do cardio? Someone help please!
Thank you!
5
Replies
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Details About me:
Female
Age: 33
Height: 5’2
Current weight: 163 Goal weight: 126
Calorie intake: 1406
So I started working out and eating clean 6/12. I exercise 4-5 days a week 60-120mins per day (4 days cardio and 3 days strength training). Plus I have 2yr old and 11month old that keep me busy all day long. I burn at least 500 calories or more after each exercise. I try to meet my calorie intake most days but sometimes I don’t. I drink 72-80oz of water dairy. I don’t eat out, I don’t eat bread or pasta. I even gave up drinking coffee every morning because I like to put cream n lots of sugar in my coffee. I weigh myself every Sunday morning before I eat breakfast. Since starting this journey I have not lost anything or gained, but I am losing body fat. I started with body fat of 43% and I’m down to 36%. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Should I quit lifting weight and just do cardio? Someone help please!
Thank you!
Sounds like your eating habits are very strict. That usually is a good way to lose patience with a weight loss effort. If you ate things you enjoyed you might find this to be more sustainable.
Are you eating back a portion of your exercise calories? If not, you may be eating too little which would also hinder your ability to sustain this effort.
Are you using a food scale and weighing your food? If not, you may be eating more than you think. It is also important to log your food accurately which can mean wading through a lot of inaccurate MFP db entries.
So you started on 6/12 with a lot of vigorous new exercise. This is likely causing you to retain water which is masking your fat loss. It happens to A LOT of people. It is no big deal and if you can be patient you will see your weight drop to a new low assuming you have been in a deficit this entire time.
Here are some things for you to read:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1
http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/12 -
Details About me:
Female
Age: 33
Height: 5’2
Current weight: 163 Goal weight: 126
Calorie intake: 1406
So I started working out and eating clean 6/12. I exercise 4-5 days a week 60-120mins per day (4 days cardio and 3 days strength training). Plus I have 2yr old and 11month old that keep me busy all day long. I burn at least 500 calories or more after each exercise. I try to meet my calorie intake most days but sometimes I don’t. I drink 72-80oz of water dairy. I don’t eat out, I don’t eat bread or pasta. I even gave up drinking coffee every morning because I like to put cream n lots of sugar in my coffee. I weigh myself every Sunday morning before I eat breakfast. Since starting this journey I have not lost anything or gained, but I am losing body fat. I started with body fat of 43% and I’m down to 36%. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Should I quit lifting weight and just do cardio? Someone help please!
Thank you!
How is this being measured?8 -
Agree with everything Novus said above. Added/increased exercise can lead to water retention that takes time to release and hides progress.
but also, eating clean doesn't help weight loss directly. how are you measuring your calories? (food scale? for everything?)8 -
Are you measuring your inches as well as your weight? If you have lost inches from waist / bust / thighs etc. then you are getting something right. As asked above, how is your body fat being measured?2
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Details About me:
Female
Age: 33
Height: 5’2
Current weight: 163 Goal weight: 126
Calorie intake: 1406
So I started working out and eating clean 6/12. I exercise 4-5 days a week 60-120mins per day (4 days cardio and 3 days strength training). Plus I have 2yr old and 11month old that keep me busy all day long. I burn at least 500 calories or more after each exercise. I try to meet my calorie intake most days but sometimes I don’t. I drink 72-80oz of water dairy. I don’t eat out, I don’t eat bread or pasta. I even gave up drinking coffee every morning because I like to put cream n lots of sugar in my coffee. I weigh myself every Sunday morning before I eat breakfast. Since starting this journey I have not lost anything or gained, but I am losing body fat. I started with body fat of 43% and I’m down to 36%. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Should I quit lifting weight and just do cardio? Someone help please!
Thank you!
you seem to be focusing more on things that don't matter (i.e. eating "clean", no bread or pasta) than what does (i.e. a calorie deficit). are you weighing all your food to ensure you are eating the amount you think you are??14 -
Looks like you are eating at maintenance. You may be over estimating calories burned via exercise or underestimating calories consumed. I second using a digital food scale for everything. Even (especially) peanut butter.1
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It hasn't been a full month yet. You're of pre-menopausal age, so I'm going to bet you're pre-menopausal. You just started a new exercise program. All of that suggests you're looking at some confounding water-weight effects.
Truly, pretty much no one can accurately evaluate their loss rate in less than a month, and for pre-menopausal women, you have to at minimum be comparing the same point in two different menstrual cycles . . . though new exercise could even make that timespan murky.
Others are right: You didn't say how you're monitoring your food intake (eyeball, food scale, something else?), nor do you mention that you are or aren't eating back exercise calories. You're probably relying on a home scale for those bodyfat numbers, and those are notoriously inaccurate. You're focusing on several things that may be nice energy-wise, health-wise or nutrition-wise (like eating clean, reducing bread & pasta, etc.), but that really don't matter when it comes to weight loss (calories matter, for weight loss). You haven't said how you're estimating exercise calories. For an hour of exercise, at 163 pounds, 500 is a fairly big number: An hour of very vigorous cardio might get you to 500, but I'm doubtful. An hour of strength training definitely wouldn't. (I've been about your current weight, and very active, so I have some experience estimating at that size.) You're only weighing yourself once a week (which is fine, but leaves open the possibility that you're randomly catching misleading points in weight fluctuations).
I'm sorry if this all sounds harsh, not where I'm coming from at all: Try to think of me as your cranky fussbudget old internet Auntie (because I'm old enough) who wants you to see you accomplish your goals.
Right now, IMO, the main issue is that you haven't been at this long enough - given the totality of your circumstances - to know whether you're really losing fat or not. (Unless your food logging is way off, you probably are.) Give it another 2-3 weeks, at least. Meanwhile, read some of the links offered above to make sure your food logging is as accurate as is practical for you. Take some measurements (bust, waist, hips (maybe even a couple of points on hips), thighs/calves, upper and lower arms). Take some "before" pictures, wearing a two piece bathing suit or close-fitting shorts and a sports bra, or something like that (front, back and side view).
Then stick with it for another month, if you're able. Best wishes!5 -
It hasn't been a full month yet. You're of pre-menopausal age, so I'm going to bet you're pre-menopausal. You just started a new exercise program. All of that suggests you're looking at some confounding water-weight effects.
Truly, pretty much no one can accurately evaluate their loss rate in less than a month, and for pre-menopausal women, you have to at minimum be comparing the same point in two different menstrual cycles . . . though new exercise could even make that timespan murky.
Others are right: You didn't say how you're monitoring your food intake (eyeball, food scale, something else?), nor do you mention that you are or aren't eating back exercise calories. You're probably relying on a home scale for those bodyfat numbers, and those are notoriously inaccurate. You're focusing on several things that may be nice energy-wise, health-wise or nutrition-wise (like eating clean, reducing bread & pasta, etc.), but that really don't matter when it comes to weight loss (calories matter, for weight loss). You haven't said how you're estimating exercise calories. For an hour of exercise, at 163 pounds, 500 is a fairly big number: An hour of very vigorous cardio might get you to 500, but I'm doubtful. An hour of strength training definitely wouldn't. (I've been about your current weight, and very active, so I have some experience estimating at that size.) You're only weighing yourself once a week (which is fine, but leaves open the possibility that you're randomly catching misleading points in weight fluctuations).
I'm sorry if this all sounds harsh, not where I'm coming from at all: Try to think of me as your cranky fussbudget old internet Auntie (because I'm old enough) who wants you to see you accomplish your goals.
Right now, IMO, the main issue is that you haven't been at this long enough - given the totality of your circumstances - to know whether you're really losing fat or not. (Unless your food logging is way off, you probably are.) Give it another 2-3 weeks, at least. Meanwhile, read some of the links offered above to make sure your food logging is as accurate as is practical for you. Take some measurements (bust, waist, hips (maybe even a couple of points on hips), thighs/calves, upper and lower arms). Take some "before" pictures, wearing a two piece bathing suit or close-fitting shorts and a sports bra, or something like that (front, back and side view).
Then stick with it for another month, if you're able. Best wishes!It hasn't been a full month yet. You're of pre-menopausal age, so I'm going to bet you're pre-menopausal. You just started a new exercise program. All of that suggests you're looking at some confounding water-weight effects.
Truly, pretty much no one can accurately evaluate their loss rate in less than a month, and for pre-menopausal women, you have to at minimum be comparing the same point in two different menstrual cycles . . . though new exercise could even make that timespan murky.
Others are right: You didn't say how you're monitoring your food intake (eyeball, food scale, something else?), nor do you mention that you are or aren't eating back exercise calories. You're probably relying on a home scale for those bodyfat numbers, and those are notoriously inaccurate. You're focusing on several things that may be nice energy-wise, health-wise or nutrition-wise (like eating clean, reducing bread & pasta, etc.), but that really don't matter when it comes to weight loss (calories matter, for weight loss). You haven't said how you're estimating exercise calories. For an hour of exercise, at 163 pounds, 500 is a fairly big number: An hour of very vigorous cardio might get you to 500, but I'm doubtful. An hour of strength training definitely wouldn't. (I've been about your current weight, and very active, so I have some experience estimating at that size.) You're only weighing yourself once a week (which is fine, but leaves open the possibility that you're randomly catching misleading points in weight fluctuations).
I'm sorry if this all sounds harsh, not where I'm coming from at all: Try to think of me as your cranky fussbudget old internet Auntie (because I'm old enough) who wants you to see you accomplish your goals.
Right now, IMO, the main issue is that you haven't been at this long enough - given the totality of your circumstances - to know whether you're really losing fat or not. (Unless your food logging is way off, you probably are.) Give it another 2-3 weeks, at least. Meanwhile, read some of the links offered above to make sure your food logging is as accurate as is practical for you. Take some measurements (bust, waist, hips (maybe even a couple of points on hips), thighs/calves, upper and lower arms). Take some "before" pictures, wearing a two piece bathing suit or close-fitting shorts and a sports bra, or something like that (front, back and side view).
Then stick with it for another month, if you're able. Best wishes!
She is 33 yrs old
2 -
Yes. Pre-menopausal age. As in Before. She is unlikely to have gone through menopause, or to be, therefore, post-menopausal.
5 -
And therefore most likely PRE menopausal - i.e. before menopause. And thus will have hormonal fluctuations also affecting her weight along with everything else that Ann and others have mentioned.5 -
OP, don't give up. It can often take a while to see results, and for all the reasons others have mentioned you may have some water retention masking any fat loss. It early days yet.
Please do read the threads that Novus linked, and have patience. This doesn't have to be torture, but it's not always easy. ("Simple", but not "easy" - they're not the same!
) Don't cut out everything you love to eat if you don't have to, try to make room for a small treat to look forward to every day or two.
Remember that if you give up you'll never reach your goal, so it's better to find ways to make it easier for you to stay the course for as long as it takes. There's lots of good advice in the replies here, and I hope you'll take some of it on board! (Especially the part about weighing and logging accurately. It really is a game changer.) 3 -
I totally agree with @Sue SueDio whose previous reply made me question my own identity when the message I had just composed didn't match the profile picture I was expecting - and I'd like to thank her for doing the hard work of typing it all out.3
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autumnblade75 wrote: »
I
Yes. Pre-menopausal age. As in Before. She is unlikely to have gone through menopause, or to be, therefore, post-menopausal.
Yup.
Pre-menopausal: Still in regular menstrual cycles.
Peri-menopausal: On the way out of regular cycles, on the way into menopause, anything can happen.
Post-menopausal (or menopausal): All done with that kind of weirdness, on to other kinds.
OP is probably pre-menopausal, at 33. I am post-menopausal at 63. Changes the probabilities about water weight fluctuation.2 -
What @AnnPT77 said - I’m seeing a lot about everything you’re doing BUT the important part, which is how you are calculating the calories of the food you take in. If you aren’t losing as expected, you need to be weighing and logging everything.7
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autumnblade75 wrote: »I totally agree with @SueSueDio whose previous reply made me question my own identity when the message I had just composed didn't match the profile picture I was expecting - and I'd like to thank her for doing the hard work of typing it all out.
Heh... yeah, we were obviously typing at the same time! Made me look twice too, when I refreshed the page... 1 -
Thank you all for replies and encouragements. I am going to avoid weight myself often, focus on weighing my food accurately and continue to workout.
And yes I’m premenopausal lol. My period just came back 2 months ago after I stopped breastfeeding my 11month old.
Thank you thank you everyone! 😀3 -
autumnblade75 wrote: »
I
Yes. Pre-menopausal age. As in Before. She is unlikely to have gone through menopause, or to be, therefore, post-menopausal.
Yup.
Pre-menopausal: Still in regular menstrual cycles.
Peri-menopausal: On the way out of regular cycles, on the way into menopause, anything can happen.
Post-menopausal (or menopausal): All done with that kind of weirdness, on to other kinds.
OP is probably pre-menopausal, at 33. I am post-menopausal at 63. Changes the probabilities about water weight fluctuation.
Got it. And actually I was confusing it with Peri Menopause. My bad.2 -
If you aren't using a food scale--this is probably where you are going wrong. You might be eating more than you think you are.3
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