im not losing weight and its been over 7 months :(

I have the same problem Im up and down around 82kg and im on 1200 cal a day. I don't think I'm cheating with my diet and I religiously log everything I eat. I'm walking on average 7km a day with some as high as 30km but I can't get under 80kg. I'm 178cm tall I've lost just over 20kg but can't budge this next 20kg which has been doing this now for nearly a year. I alternate weight training as well as 1-2 cardio at the gym as well as the walking. But I'm starting to think I need to change my serving sizes or go back on to the Dukan diet and straight protein as this is when I lost the weight. All help appreciated. PS I turn 50 at the end of the month. I also have a mirena and suffer from chronic anaemia.

Sorry to be harsh, but if you are eating under 1400 cals a day for the last 7 months then you would be losing weight. Even if you were sleeping at night and just sitting in a chair all day.

Are you being totally honest about your food and exercise?

Beer, wine, milk, snacks???

The only person you will fool is yourself ;-)

Exactly what I was going to say. From what I've read, the quality of your calories effects the quality of your weight loss, but the quantity of calories dictates the quantity of weight loss, so I think even with processed foods, you should be able to lose weight with that. Most likely you are mis-counting something. Get a HRM and a food scale and keep trying. (Unless, of course, its a doctor problem)

Unless you have a medical issue, regardless of how tall you are or whether or not exercise is part of the equation, you should be losing at a pretty decent clip at only 1400 calories per day.

Do you weigh (all of) your food? I can estimate that I've eaten a 'medium' banana and log it as 105 calories, but if I weigh it and it's 197 grams I'll know it's actually 175 calories. If this happens multiple times per day, you can easily see where the error lies.

Your weight can not have remained stagnant for 7 months on only 1400 calories per day - if there is no medical issue, the most likely culprit is that you're consuming more calories than you think you are. Swap out what you can for whole foods and invest in a $20 food scale.

Ditto again.

One of my favorite foods especially when I first started out is steamed brown rice. I got a mini rice cooker at walgreens for $9.99. I would mix 1/4 to 1/2 cup of brown rice with an equal portion of natural plain or vanilla yogurt (no high fructose corn syrup) and then fresh or frozen strawberries, blueberries or whatevs. For the non sweet version, I used salsa, pepper jack, and bell peppers and other veggies instead of yogurt and fruit. Good Luck!! Keep Trying! :0)

I have a pretty hectic schedule most weeks - I've tried preplanning meals and buying fresh foods but inevitably my schedule changes and the food ends up spoiling. So I buy frozen now. I add mixed berries to my yogurt in the morning with some bran. Quick, easy and yummy. Some whole grain toast with frozen veggies and a piece of chicken makes a good meal for dinner.

It's not always easy but it can be done! Pick one thing a week to change in your diet and see where you are in a month or so. this is, of course, if your problem isn't medical.

Looks like you've already got tons of advice and help but I thought hey, I'll chime in too!

Agreed, procesed food = not good.

Stick with natural foods, that you make.
Try an egg with a few egg whites and maybe some oatmeal in the mornings.
Veggie omlet, 1 piece of ww toast, etc.

Snacks: 1 small apple and 1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese,

Dinners: Chicken, mushrooms, peppers, onion, garlic, some nice spices (watch the sodium) 1/4 cup brown rice, maybe some spinach, sweet potato is also good, green beans.

Those 100g yogourt cups are great.

Also, I bought a scale 4 months ago - the BEST thing I could have done, there is no guessing. Everything I eat is measured.
I know exactly what goes in my body.

Also, looking at your meals, eat more often. I eat 6 times a day. Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack.
Good foods, smaller portions!
Good luck, you can do it!!!

have you had your thiroid checked? that could be a contributing factor....

just what I was thinking!

Umm. Ok so for a long time I mean months my favorite machine was the elliptical and I have a trainer that works with me on weights once a week . Recently I started the c25k so now on the treadmill for 3 out of 5 days a week the other two days ill do strength


Also just an add about two weeks ago my gym shut down to remodel for 10 days . In those ten days I lost 2 pounds (didn't work out at all ) but now that I'm working out again (this is when I started the c25k) I have gained those 2 pounds back . Not cool -_-

If you lost weight while not exercising for a week, it may be that you really aren't eating enough. You may be underestimating how much you burn, thereby accidentally cutting too many calories per week. Ideally, many on MFP say just stay above 1200 net per week or only lose 2 lbs per week. I think cutting 15-20% of calories per week is really the most effective for steady and long term weight loss.

What type of exercise are you doing. Even if you elminate the processed food, there is still a question if you eat enough. 1400 is not that many calories. The two plateaus i have beaten have been from increasing my calories.

I don't doubt your expertise on the subject, but I wonder if she suddenly cuts back on calorie intake, in theory, this should make her lose weight for short term, right? Then we could discuss that infamous "starvation mode"...

Her body isn't necessarily in starvation mode but your body does hold onto fat and calories when you are not getting enough. I can almost guarentee that it's not a thyroid (if it is, then kick me in the butt, lol) but a combination from processed foods and not eating enough. This is also one of the reason why when I was only eating 1800 calories and doing p90x where I was burning 500-900 calories per session, after 3 months I didn't lose. So what did I do? I added natural foods in place of pre packaged foods, I upped my calories to 2600 and actually started a workout program that was less intense than p90x. The result another 5 lbs, 3% body fat decrease and 6" off my waist/hips/abs.

Also keep in mind, that a 20 year old naturally has a higher metabolism than a 30 year old. A younger body tends to have greater muscle mass than an equivalent 30 or 40 year old. So if you take a 5'5" girl who is 20 and weighs 209, their BMR is estimated at 1776 vs the same girl at 30 and their estimated BMR is 1727 (according to Fat2Fit.com). As you age, your body tends to lose body fat (something liek 8% over 10 years from the reading I have seen). So if a person burns about 1800 calories by doing nothing but sleeping for 24 hours, what do you think the chance of losing weight are off of 1400 calories of very process foods? If you do some basic calculations utilizing TDEE (or the amount of energy expended through out the day) you will see a different story, see below:

BMR = 1776
Sedentary : 1776 * 1.2 = 2130
Lightly Active: 1776 *1.375 = 2441
Moderately Active: 1776 * 1.55 = 2752
Very Active:1776 * 1.725 = 3063

Now, to understand weight lose, you would have to add a deficit (probably 500 for 1 lb a week). So if her life was sedentary (with no workouts), you would aim for 1630 calories a day. Now add in the exercise calories (so if you average a burn of 400 calories per session) you are talking 2030 calories a day.

The second option (the one I have utlized to get down to 10.5% body fat is by factoring in my exercing into my TDEE so I don't have to worry about catching up at 10 pm at night. Since i workout 5-6 days a week, I consider myself moderately active. using this logic, then you would be at 2252 calories (similar as above) and still lose weight. But even if you are moderately active and shoot for 2 lbs a week that only puts you at 1752 calories a day. Still more than she is averaging. I honestly think it's a combination of both under eating and poor food choices.


Just this mans opinion, take it if you like. I fyou want more info let me know.

Lemon