Can't seem to lose weight

amiemalik14
amiemalik14 Posts: 10 Member
in Motivation and Support
Hi,

I've been trying to lose weight since January. I've cut back to 1600 calories a day and exercise 6 days a week for at least half an hour (mostly 40 mins though, and an hour on my days off work). I monitor every calorie I consume so I know I'm not going over without realising it but I've only lost 4 pounds in 3 months. I had expected to have lost almost a stone at this point as I've been consistent with my diet and exercise yet I'm not actually seeing any results. My measurements around my waist, hips, arms ect are also the same so I know it's not due to building muscle either. I didn't exercise at all pretty much and ate way over 2000 calories a day before so it's a big lifestyle change I've made.

I'm feeling so frustrated because I'm trying hard and I've stopped drinking alcohol or anything other than water yet nothing seems to be working. I've also been to the doctor's recently for another issue and they did a blood count and everything came back normal so I'm fairly certain I don't have any sort of health issue stopping me from losing weight. Does anyone else have any other possible explanation? I'm 22 as well so I don't think it's an age thing either. Thanks

Replies

  • goal06082021
    goal06082021 Posts: 2,130 Member
    Hey, 4 lbs is still progress! It's not a race, you actually don't want to drop weight as fast as possible.

    What are your stats? (Age, sex, height, current weight) 1600 is probably creating a deficit for you, but depending on how you arrived at that number and what your stats are, it might be a smaller deficit than you think. Less likely but still possible is that 1600 is too low, but you don't mention feeling like absolute dogsh*t all the time, so probably not.

    Do you weigh your food with a food scale, and are you double-checking to make sure your diary entries are accurate? There is an astonishing amount of bad data in the database - it's mostly crowdsourced and there are no moderators, and people in multiple countries have been contributing to it for over a decade. I usually check whole foods against the USDA and packaged foods against the label in my hand; recipes and serving sizes change over time, nutrition reporting changes over time and varies between countries, and someone 10 years ago might have just entered the wrong number somewhere.
  • amiemalik14
    amiemalik14 Posts: 10 Member
    So I'm a female age 21 who currently weights 157 pounds. I check the labels on everything I eat down to spices and seasonings added to foods I cook and weigh it to make sure it is the correct amount of calories logged each day. so I'm not sure what's going on
  • goal06082021
    goal06082021 Posts: 2,130 Member
    OK. You didn't specify how tall you are, but working out 6 days a week is still a lot. 1600 may in fact be too low. Are you eating back your exercise calories, so your net intake is 1600, or is your gross intake 1600? To be clear, you should be eating your exercise calories and netting 1600 cal/day, that is how MFP is meant to work - so if you're eating your exercise calories back, how are you estimating those?

    If you've recently ramped up the intensity of your workouts, or started doing something new or different, you may be retaining water which can mask fat loss. You've already been to the doctor, but maybe call them and ask if they checked your thyroid levels when they did that bloodwork, and if not, ask about getting that checked.
  • wunderkindking
    wunderkindking Posts: 1,615 Member
    At 157, you're not hugely overweight unless you're super short. At that, sadly, you're probably not going to see some of those fast, dramatic, losses anymore and what is there is, yeah, going to easily be covered in water retention and food in transit.
  • amiemalik14
    amiemalik14 Posts: 10 Member
    goal06082021 wrote: »
    OK. You didn't specify how tall you are, but working out 6 days a week is still a lot. 1600 may in fact be too low. Are you eating back your exercise calories, so your net intake is 1600, or is your gross intake 1600? To be clear, you should be eating your exercise calories and netting 1600 cal/day, that is how MFP is meant to work - so if you're eating your exercise calories back, how are you estimating those?

    If you've recently ramped up the intensity of your workouts, or started doing something new or different, you may be retaining water which can mask fat loss. You've already been to the doctor, but maybe call them and ask if they checked your thyroid levels when they did that bloodwork, and if not, ask about getting that checked.

    I don't 100% remember the phone call but I'm about 90% sure that they said my thyroid levels were normal. I eat 1600 calories a day total (sometimes I do go over that but only by about 100 calories at most) and I'm 5ft 6
  • amiemalik14
    amiemalik14 Posts: 10 Member
    wunderkindking wrote: »
    At 157, you're not hugely overweight unless you're super short. At that, sadly, you're probably not going to see some of those fast, dramatic, losses anymore and what is there is, yeah, going to easily be covered in water retention and food in transit.

    See I'm not really looking for fast weight loss and I was prepared to only lose a pound every two weeks at most. But the fact I've only lost 4 pounds after almost 3 months of dieting and exercising when most other people of similar ages can lose about 3 times that in the same timeframe. I've came off of birth control and anxiety medications at the start of the year as well in an effort to lose weight as I thought that was maybe what was causing my weight to stagnate but even after that I'm not losing anything.
  • verdenlola
    verdenlola Posts: 17 Member
    Cutting calories, leaving out foods like red meat and overdoing the exercises doesn't lead to sustainable weight loss. You should try balancing your meals not cutting them. It is a longer road but at least from my perspective it's better to take a little more time and make it sustainable rather then losing it quickly and having to lose it all over again. Let me know if you need any help on your paths, feel free to message me. Don't give up, there is always a way. :smiley:
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    amiemalik14 wrote: »
    wunderkindking wrote: »
    At 157, you're not hugely overweight unless you're super short. At that, sadly, you're probably not going to see some of those fast, dramatic, losses anymore and what is there is, yeah, going to easily be covered in water retention and food in transit.

    See I'm not really looking for fast weight loss and I was prepared to only lose a pound every two weeks at most. But the fact I've only lost 4 pounds after almost 3 months of dieting and exercising when most other people of similar ages can lose about 3 times that in the same timeframe. I've came off of birth control and anxiety medications at the start of the year as well in an effort to lose weight as I thought that was maybe what was causing my weight to stagnate but even after that I'm not losing anything.

    This is going to take time--you don't have that much to lose. You'll need patience. The "people of similar ages lose 3x as fast as me" is a problem. You do not compare yourself to anyone else. The last 25 lbs is usually slow going and it's not a good idea to cut your calories too low. Losing .5 lbs a week is right. Good luck.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    verdenlola wrote: »
    Cutting calories, leaving out foods like red meat and overdoing the exercises doesn't lead to sustainable weight loss. You should try balancing your meals not cutting them. It is a longer road but at least from my perspective it's better to take a little more time and make it sustainable rather then losing it quickly and having to lose it all over again. Let me know if you need any help on your paths, feel free to message me. Don't give up, there is always a way. :smiley:

    I'm very curious. I've seen several of your posts asking for private messages to give "tips" and "there's always a way"etc... Why don't you share with the rest of us?
  • amiemalik14
    amiemalik14 Posts: 10 Member
    snowflake954 wrote: »
    verdenlola wrote: »
    Cutting calories, leaving out foods like red meat and overdoing the exercises doesn't lead to sustainable weight loss. You should try balancing your meals not cutting them. It is a longer road but at least from my perspective it's better to take a little more time and make it sustainable rather then losing it quickly and having to lose it all over again. Let me know if you need any help on your paths, feel free to message me. Don't give up, there is always a way. :smiley:

    I'm very curious. I've seen several of your posts asking for private messages to give "tips" and "there's always a way"etc... Why don't you share with the rest of us?

    Sorry I'm not really sure what you mean, this is the first time I've posted on here so you must be mixing me up with someone else lol
  • amiemalik14
    amiemalik14 Posts: 10 Member
    verdenlola wrote: »
    Cutting calories, leaving out foods like red meat and overdoing the exercises doesn't lead to sustainable weight loss. You should try balancing your meals not cutting them. It is a longer road but at least from my perspective it's better to take a little more time and make it sustainable rather then losing it quickly and having to lose it all over again. Let me know if you need any help on your paths, feel free to message me. Don't give up, there is always a way. :smiley:

    I've never really been a red meat eater so it's not really something I've eliminated from my diet. It's just frustrating as I weighed myself today and I seem to just keep climbing up the scales and can't get any lower than 154 pounds even though I'm doing everything in my power to try and lose weight. It's just a bit demoralising to be honest and makes me want to give up. If I'm always doing the right things to try and be healthy and I'm still overweight it begins to look a bit pointless
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    amiemalik14 wrote: »
    snowflake954 wrote: »
    verdenlola wrote: »
    Cutting calories, leaving out foods like red meat and overdoing the exercises doesn't lead to sustainable weight loss. You should try balancing your meals not cutting them. It is a longer road but at least from my perspective it's better to take a little more time and make it sustainable rather then losing it quickly and having to lose it all over again. Let me know if you need any help on your paths, feel free to message me. Don't give up, there is always a way. :smiley:

    I'm very curious. I've seen several of your posts asking for private messages to give "tips" and "there's always a way"etc... Why don't you share with the rest of us?

    Sorry I'm not really sure what you mean, this is the first time I've posted on here so you must be mixing me up with someone else lol

    If you look at the quote above, this question was not for you but for @verdendola.
  • chocolate_owl
    chocolate_owl Posts: 1,695 Member
    What's your activity level outside of your 40 minutes of purposeful exercise? If you sit on your butt the rest of the day, your TDEE is probably only 1750 calories. So if you're eating 1600 calories plus your exercise calories, you might only be netting a 150 calorie deficit. It would take you over 3 weeks to lose a pound on that deficit. Also, how are you feeling? I get pretty lethargic in a deficit and stop fidgeting as much, find excuses to not get off the couch, etc., so think about if your activity level has dropped since you started eating less.

    For reference, I'm 32, 5'5, 160 lbs, get 6000-8000 steps a day, and I'm eating ~1400 calories to lose .75 lbs/week.
  • amiemalik14
    amiemalik14 Posts: 10 Member
    chocolate_owl wrote: »
    What's your activity level outside of your 40 minutes of purposeful exercise? If you sit on your butt the rest of the day, your TDEE is probably only 1750 calories. So if you're eating 1600 calories plus your exercise calories, you might only be netting a 150 calorie deficit. It would take you over 3 weeks to lose a pound on that deficit. Also, how are you feeling? I get pretty lethargic in a deficit and stop fidgeting as much, find excuses to not get off the couch, etc., so think about if your activity level has dropped since you started eating less.

    For reference, I'm 32, 5'5, 160 lbs, get 6000-8000 steps a day, and I'm eating ~1400 calories to lose .75 lbs/week.

    My maintenance calories are coming out at 2300 so since I keep to 1600 a day it means I'm a deficit of 600 per day, that should be enough to lose a pound a week or at the very minimum a pound every 2 weeks surely?
  • chocolate_owl
    chocolate_owl Posts: 1,695 Member
    amiemalik14 wrote: »
    chocolate_owl wrote: »
    What's your activity level outside of your 40 minutes of purposeful exercise? If you sit on your butt the rest of the day, your TDEE is probably only 1750 calories. So if you're eating 1600 calories plus your exercise calories, you might only be netting a 150 calorie deficit. It would take you over 3 weeks to lose a pound on that deficit. Also, how are you feeling? I get pretty lethargic in a deficit and stop fidgeting as much, find excuses to not get off the couch, etc., so think about if your activity level has dropped since you started eating less.

    For reference, I'm 32, 5'5, 160 lbs, get 6000-8000 steps a day, and I'm eating ~1400 calories to lose .75 lbs/week.

    My maintenance calories are coming out at 2300 so since I keep to 1600 a day it means I'm a deficit of 600 per day, that should be enough to lose a pound a week or at the very minimum a pound every 2 weeks surely?

    Assuming 2300 is really your maintenance. How did you arrive at that number?
  • amiemalik14
    amiemalik14 Posts: 10 Member
    chocolate_owl wrote: »
    amiemalik14 wrote: »
    chocolate_owl wrote: »
    What's your activity level outside of your 40 minutes of purposeful exercise? If you sit on your butt the rest of the day, your TDEE is probably only 1750 calories. So if you're eating 1600 calories plus your exercise calories, you might only be netting a 150 calorie deficit. It would take you over 3 weeks to lose a pound on that deficit. Also, how are you feeling? I get pretty lethargic in a deficit and stop fidgeting as much, find excuses to not get off the couch, etc., so think about if your activity level has dropped since you started eating less.

    For reference, I'm 32, 5'5, 160 lbs, get 6000-8000 steps a day, and I'm eating ~1400 calories to lose .75 lbs/week.

    My maintenance calories are coming out at 2300 so since I keep to 1600 a day it means I'm a deficit of 600 per day, that should be enough to lose a pound a week or at the very minimum a pound every 2 weeks surely?

    Assuming 2300 is really your maintenance. How did you arrive at that number?

    I used the calculation method I found online. It was 2288 to be specific but even with that I should still be losing more weight than I am
  • GummiMundi
    GummiMundi Posts: 396 Member
    snowflake954 wrote: »
    verdenlola wrote: »
    Cutting calories, leaving out foods like red meat and overdoing the exercises doesn't lead to sustainable weight loss. You should try balancing your meals not cutting them. It is a longer road but at least from my perspective it's better to take a little more time and make it sustainable rather then losing it quickly and having to lose it all over again. Let me know if you need any help on your paths, feel free to message me. Don't give up, there is always a way. :smiley:

    I'm very curious. I've seen several of your posts asking for private messages to give "tips" and "there's always a way"etc... Why don't you share with the rest of us?

    I've wondered that myself, too. I could be wrong, of course, but it strikes me as trying to sell something. :neutral:
  • LtHammerhead
    LtHammerhead Posts: 33 Member
    I was having a similar issue and incorporated some fasting..and it all took off. Right on a lb/week, same eating and exercise load as I was doing.

    Also how is your sleep and stress?
  • amiemalik14
    amiemalik14 Posts: 10 Member
    LtHammerhead wrote: »
    I was having a similar issue and incorporated some fasting..and it all took off. Right on a lb/week, same eating and exercise load as I was doing.

    Also how is your sleep and stress?

    Idk if I could do fasting personally. I need regular food throughout the day otherwise I can't focus properly. I sleep at least 7 hours most nights and I'm not really stressed either so I don't think that would be a contributing factor. I've also put on another 4 pounds since last night which I'm beyond baffled by so I genuinely don't know what else I can do other than increase my exercise to everyday and lower calories further
  • Redordeadhead
    Redordeadhead Posts: 1,188 Member
    amiemalik14 wrote: »
    chocolate_owl wrote: »
    amiemalik14 wrote: »
    chocolate_owl wrote: »
    What's your activity level outside of your 40 minutes of purposeful exercise? If you sit on your butt the rest of the day, your TDEE is probably only 1750 calories. So if you're eating 1600 calories plus your exercise calories, you might only be netting a 150 calorie deficit. It would take you over 3 weeks to lose a pound on that deficit. Also, how are you feeling? I get pretty lethargic in a deficit and stop fidgeting as much, find excuses to not get off the couch, etc., so think about if your activity level has dropped since you started eating less.

    For reference, I'm 32, 5'5, 160 lbs, get 6000-8000 steps a day, and I'm eating ~1400 calories to lose .75 lbs/week.

    My maintenance calories are coming out at 2300 so since I keep to 1600 a day it means I'm a deficit of 600 per day, that should be enough to lose a pound a week or at the very minimum a pound every 2 weeks surely?

    Assuming 2300 is really your maintenance. How did you arrive at that number?

    I used the calculation method I found online. It was 2288 to be specific but even with that I should still be losing more weight than I am

    Which method online?
    What does MFP give you as a calorie goal if you enter "lose 1lb per week"?

    Maybe if you make your food diary public, some of the experienced MFP members here can also give you more tailored advice.
  • amiemalik14
    amiemalik14 Posts: 10 Member
    Update, the scales still aren't budging but I've been taking pictures of myself once a month to see if I notice any changes and my waist seems to be a fair bit smaller than it was last month and my figure looks more hourglass-like than it was. I don't think my waist measurement has changed though so it could be fat redistribution due to the types of exercises I've been doing? I'm not sure
  • queanmum
    queanmum Posts: 28 Member
    edited March 2021
    When I added 20 gm of protein daily in a smoothie to get me closer to what MFP says I should have, the "scale moved." I have lost 1 lb a week since then like I planned. MFP has me at 1280 cal/day. I'm 65, 5' 3", diabetic and apple shaped. I ride a stationary bike daily for 30 min at moderate speed. I do 4 arm toning exercises and squats for "strength training" 3 to 4 days a week. MFP is the best thing I've ever tried. Being diabetic, I learned to weigh, measure, and pay attention to "serving size" a long time ago. Staying within my MFP calorie limit, getting close to the amount of protein MFP says I should have, and riding my "bike" are working! Answer the questions on MFP profile and do what it says. You'll do great! One more thing, I try not to go over 1200 mg of sodium when the plan says 2300. Better for my heart, kidneys, etc.
  • nanastaci2020
    nanastaci2020 Posts: 1,072 Member
    edited March 2021
    First, if you don't already: use a food scale for anything solid. Nutrition labels often have data for 'cups' and 'grams'. Like shredded cheese may say 1 serving = 110 calories for 1/4 cup (28 grams). What they don't tell you: is the 1/4 cup of a solid item does not necessarily 'fit' in a measuring cup to the 1/4 cup line! Same for tablespoons. If it is not a liquid, then don't rely on cups or spoons. Use a scale. But if you go by weight, you know exactly what you have.

    Second, how often do you make your own food? Food made by others (family, friends, restaurants) results in some estimation on your part. If you're not happy with your rate of loss, try to make more of your own food.

    Online calculators for TDEE are a starting point, but they are not perfect. Your TDEE could be lower than the calculators indicate. You have lost ~4 pounds in 3 months, so that means you are making progress. The short answer is to improve logging accuracy, decrease your calories ~100-150 daily, and look for ways to increase movement/calorie burns.

  • xxzenabxx
    xxzenabxx Posts: 948 Member
    When did you start exercising? If you’ve been doing any sort of resistance training and you’re a newbie you could’ve built some muscle and that’s caused a spike in the scale weight. That’s a possibility. You said you’re on track with your food but just double check everything. Also what are your workouts like and what is your activity level outside of working out. What are your energy levels like as well?
    To me it seems like you’re making great progress and you just need to stop being obsessed with the scale when you have such less weight to lose. I mean I’m 5’ 4” and 165lbs and losing the last 20ish lbs and I’ve accepted that it’s going to take me a year. Are you using a weight trending app? That REALLY helped me to see a trend and not get upset over small fluctuations.

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