HELP ! Not losing weight

Hello so last year Iost about 45 lbs pretty quickly and I decided to take a break to let my body adapt.This summer I started calorie counting again to lose my last 18 lbs.I had a few episodes of overeating but really nothing crazy.I don’t own a scale,I just want to see progress in the mirror and by how my clothes fit.And let me tell you : nothing changed.Absolutely nothing and it’s so depressing.Before you ask YES I count calories correctly,I have a food scale.My TDEE should be 2000 calories,and I’m doing calorie cycling : eating 1200-1600 calories most of the time.My goal is to have a weekly deficit of 5000 calories.How is this possible ? What’s wrong with me ?

Replies

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    There are mistakes that people commonly make that cause them to not lose weight that we might be able to spot if you change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings
  • brojustno
    brojustno Posts: 9 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    There are mistakes that people commonly make that cause them to not lose weight that we might be able to spot if you change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings
    recently I’m not usingMFP but Lose It so I don’t have recent food logs
  • brojustno
    brojustno Posts: 9 Member
    How do you know that you lost the first 45 lbs that you lost quickly if you don’t own a scale?
    Is there a reason why you don’t want to buy a scale? Unless you find it traumatizing or see it leading to disordered eating I find regular weighing helps keep things in perspective - especially with a slow and steady weight loss and then maintenance. If you don’t have a scale you won’t really see a few pounds difference.

    If you have less weight to lose the progress will be slower and the changes in how you look in the mirror/how clothes fit may also vary during your weight loss for different body types and amounts lost. Exercise may help you if your goals are really to look better and not actually scale oriented. Finally if you are having episodes of overeating and doing “calorie cycling” maybe you should just eat at a calorie level that is definitely below your burn rate (how did you determine it is 2000 btw?) and is still comfortable to exist on so that you aren’t reacting to feeling deprived by overeating.
    Weighted at doctor appointment.Also back when I had a scale I maintained on 2000 calories when moderately active.I already exercise 3 hours a day I can’t do more

  • brojustno
    brojustno Posts: 9 Member
    WAIT !! I forgot to mention that I'm eating 2g of dried seaweed a day to get micronutrients but seaweed is really high in sodium and I def don't drink enough,sodium is probably the culprit then? Plus,I tend to retain water very easily
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    @brojustno : It appears that you don't want to monitor your bodyweight yourself. You may have very good reasons for doing this, so just keep going. But, you should follow suit and ignore your body weight fully in that case. Eat on a program, exercise, and leave the rest to nature. Focus on different goals, such as how far you can run, etc. That is certainly a strategy for a happy life.

    If you really want to use bodyweight as a useful metric, I think you need to weigh daily, right after you wake up and use the toilet in minimal dress. It bounces around normally by a pound or more, and you have to watch the trend over a week or so to get a resolution of less than a lb. It can take some will power not to weigh obsessively, and maybe that's what you're trying to avoid. It is a helpful metric, however, which can be used to fine tune your diet.

    Best of luck!
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    brojustno wrote: »
    Hello so last year Iost about 45 lbs pretty quickly and I decided to take a break to let my body adapt.This summer I started calorie counting again to lose my last 18 lbs.I had a few episodes of overeating but really nothing crazy.I don’t own a scale,I just want to see progress in the mirror and by how my clothes fit.And let me tell you : nothing changed.Absolutely nothing and it’s so depressing.Before you ask YES I count calories correctly,I have a food scale.My TDEE should be 2000 calories,and I’m doing calorie cycling : eating 1200-1600 calories most of the time.My goal is to have a weekly deficit of 5000 calories.How is this possible ? What’s wrong with me ?
    brojustno wrote: »
    WAIT !! I forgot to mention that I'm eating 2g of dried seaweed a day to get micronutrients but seaweed is really high in sodium and I def don't drink enough,sodium is probably the culprit then? Plus,I tend to retain water very easily

    For how many weeks or months have you had a weekly deficit of 5000 calories?

    Sodium can definitely cause short term spikes, but over time if you are maintaining the same level of sodium consumption it would cease to be a factor.

    If you've had a weekly deficit of 5000 calories for 2-3 months and have been higher sodium all that time, your jeans should be looser by now despite the sodium.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    brojustno wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    There are mistakes that people commonly make that cause them to not lose weight that we might be able to spot if you change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings
    recently I’m not usingMFP but Lose It so I don’t have recent food logs

    If you log here for a week we would be more able to help you.
  • brojustno
    brojustno Posts: 9 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    brojustno wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    There are mistakes that people commonly make that cause them to not lose weight that we might be able to spot if you change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings
    recently I’m not usingMFP but Lose It so I don’t have recent food logs

    If you log here for a week we would be more able to help you.
    Okay.I just transferred meals and calories to MFP,so you’ll be able to see last week’s meals.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    brojustno wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    brojustno wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    There are mistakes that people commonly make that cause them to not lose weight that we might be able to spot if you change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings
    recently I’m not usingMFP but Lose It so I don’t have recent food logs

    If you log here for a week we would be more able to help you.
    Okay.I just transferred meals and calories to MFP,so you’ll be able to see last week’s meals.

    Thanks! On Sunday, I see a lot of "1 serving" but am going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that these are YOUR entries that you weighed out :wink:

    Nothing is jumping out at me. I have to run. Maybe someone else will take a look.