why am i not losing?

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Hi guys, i've been using mfp for over three weeks and i'm not losing! just yo yo ing around the same 3 or 4 pounds! I exercise about three times a week and eat about 1200 cals per day (although i've gone over a few days just to see if that helps?!?!) ... what am i doing wrong? help!!!
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Replies

  • cpayne111
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    you may want to check your thyroid!
  • missymoo53
    missymoo53 Posts: 9 Member
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    Hope you get some good advice because I am the same stayed the same for the past couple of weeks !!!
  • camolas
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    Are you eating the proper nutrients in the correct quantities? And if so, how often do you eat them? You should eat light meals over the course of the day with no more than 2/2 and a half hours between each meal.
  • Greenwellj
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    That is how I was. I had to go really stricked and cut out most grains and Definately no white flour and no sugar.
  • p125153
    p125153 Posts: 1 Member
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    I can't see your food diary, where can I find it?
  • BeautyFromPain
    BeautyFromPain Posts: 4,952 Member
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    if you opened your diary it would be a lot easier for us to recognise where the problem is at :)
  • Lets_Do_It
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    Well, it depends on what kind of calories you are eating. If you are eating fast food calories, it's mostly fatty calories and not good nutritional ones. And you must always stay under, i understand, some days just happen, but you must stay under. Always ask yourself, "Is this candy bar worth 350 calories?" You just gotta keep up with your calorie goal and exercise goal. Oh, have you measured yourself? You may have put on muscle and your weight stayed the same!
  • jerryboydjr
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    Put weight aside just for a moment. Now, ask yourself as you dress if your cloths fit any differently. Eveyone's body is different and will show weight lose differetnly. If you were a person of minimal musle and are exercising now perhaps you are adding musle as you lose fat - and musle weights more. Again, the question should be if your cloths are fitting any differently. If they are stay the course and in time you will see the weight drop. if not, I would suspect your exercise needs to be increased (higher heart rate) and you may be not countin all your calories - or counting them incorrectly.
  • SergeantSunshine_reused
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    Are you eating the proper nutrients in the correct quantities? And if so, how often do you eat them? You should eat light meals over the course of the day with no more than 2/2 and a half hours between each meal.

    Dont listen to this lol Completely false
  • Shausil82
    Shausil82 Posts: 218 Member
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    I had the same problem for the first few weeks I joined this site. Have you measured inches? Thats where I was seeing my progress first, then I started to lose pounds. Experiment a little with your exercising. What I did is more cardio. Then when I noticed my weight loss on the scale, I started doing some strength training a few times a week as well.
  • riskqueen
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    Hey! I had the same issue when I first joined MFP. I was religiously eating 1200 calories for over a month and no change on the scale. Then I lost 3 lbs and gained it back immediately. I upped my workout intensity and actually started eating 1300-1400 calories and now I've started losing. Don't give up!! It takes longer for some of us for see results.
  • Judyann5
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    I am having the same prolbem but keep trying because the weight will come off . Have you taking measurements because the seems to be the first sign of weight lost.
  • ChitownFoodie
    ChitownFoodie Posts: 1,562 Member
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    Can't see your diary, so I have no clue what you are eating or how much working out you are doing.
  • MrBrown72
    MrBrown72 Posts: 407 Member
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    It depends on a lot of factors.
    What are you eating? While watching calories is great if all your calories are made up of lard or doughnuts that may be a factor.

    Are you eating enough calories? Too little can be as bad as too much.
    Is "about three times a week" the same as Three Times a Week? How long are you exercising? At least 30 minutes? Perhaps longer sets of exercise, 30 minutes of cardio at least 3 times a week, and adding something else to the exercise mix will help.

    when you exercise are you getting your heart rate up high enough. Not enough effort can be a major issue. often we don't realize that we're not pushing as hard as we think we are. Invest in a heart rate monitor and see what it says.

    Has it been long enough to see a difference? Three weeks isn't that long in the grand scheme of things and there is not instant fix. How long did it take to put the weight on?

    Most importantly, don't give up. Learn more, try harder, and keep trying. You'll get there, just perhaps not this week.
  • mewhisler
    mewhisler Posts: 37 Member
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    I am going through the same thing! So, I'll look at the responses and hopefully we can start losing together!
  • MissMaryMac33
    MissMaryMac33 Posts: 1,433 Member
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    Since your diary is not open and we have no clue how tall/weight you are ..or how much you have to lose -- all of these response are "guesses".

    For most people though, 1200 is still too low-- unless you're very tiny or have over 70lbs to lose.
    If you have less than 30 to lose, you should choose "lose 1/2 lb" week --- but people think choosing 2lbs is the way to go -- and its really not.

    Maybe you can provide some more info about yourself and open your diary you can get better answers :)
  • chuluotababe
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    I can't see your food diary so I can't offer any real suggestions. Some of the most common reasons (seen on the message boards):

    Are you eating back your exercise calories?
    Are you drinking enough water?
    What is your sodium intake like?
    What time of the month is it for you?
    How much time in between your last meal and bedtime? How many carbs at that meal?
    Are you eating a lot of whole foods or a small amount of junky, processed foods?

    Have you taken measurements of your arms, waist, hips, and thighs? You may be losing inches but not pounds. Sometimes the scale isn't the best indicator of weight loss. What about getting a body fat analysis? If you are losing body fat but not pounds I wouldn't worry about it.

    If you are doing all the right things and find that you are not losing body fat, not losing inches, not losing pounds - you may need to visit your doctor for a physical. My cousin has a hard time losing weight because of thyroid problems. My old roommate had a terrible time losing weight until she was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). After getting on the right medications and eating for her PCOS, the weight literally melted off of her.

    Most importantly, this is a lifestyle change. You are doing this for health and wellness... not just for the scale. Don't give up!
  • Eleisabelle
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    Your body is adjusting to what you're doing. Be patient and let it do what it needs to do.

    Things you might want to consider:

    1) How intense is your exercise, and how long are you exercising? You might want to increase the intensity or the frequency. When I first started losing weight, I was only walking--but it was fast walking, five days per week for one hour each day. When things slowed down, I converted to the Couch to 5K running program. Now I'm doing a combination of running at increased speed and distance, with intervals, and days of circuit and strength training in between run days, plus yoga as many days per week as possible, so I'm exercising six days per week. And even then, I plateaued and am working on breaking that for the last 5 or so pounds I want to lose.

    2) Are you keeping accurate track of your calories? Make sure you're not sneaking in anything that you're not counting. That stuff adds up! But yes, you could also not be eating enough. You need to account for your exercise in the food you eat. Also avoid empty calories from "white" foods--sugar, white flour, white rice. Go for the brown counterparts, the whole grains, etc. Make sure that every calorie you do eat counts nutritionally so that your body doesn't go into any kind of stress load.

    3) Are you eating a lot of salt? You might be losing, but retaining water. And sometimes when you first start changing your habits, your body retains water anyway as it adjusts to your new diet/exercise routines, which can hide any real weight loss.

    Use different measures to determine what is really going on. Do your clothes fit better? Are you losing inches? Do your arms/thighs/neck/face look less flabby? There are other measures of real weight loss besides the scale.

    Most of all, be patient. Losing weight takes time--it took time to gain it, right?

    Look at it as getting fit and healthy instead of losing weight, and you'll do great. Don't give up!
  • goforkissy
    goforkissy Posts: 157 Member
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    I was the same. I kept watching the scale day after day looking for some kind of weight change. Turns out I lost inches before I lost pounds. I should have started measuring myself first before getting on the scale, but hind sight is 20/20 right? I have been on MFP for about 2 months now and have a lost a total of 10 pounds, BUT, i have lost over 5 inches on my waist! It takes time, but you will see the difference. I also started eating smaller meals more frequently during the day. This helped my metabolism to keep going.

    Good luck!
  • chuluotababe
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    One more thing. When you are exercising... are you keeping your heart rate in the fat burning zone? See the article below.

    http://www.livestrong.com/article/208307-how-to-calculate-heart-rate-for-fat-burn/