Why am i not loosing??

i'm having the same problem and reacting in the same way to it (i.e. exercising more and more , beating myself up). the bottom line is it HAS to be diet.
I decided for me its picking bits here and there (really adds on calories) and some other issues. for me I loosen up in the weekends (which in my mind start Friday) so really half the week I am not nearly as controlled as I am during the week which cancels out my hard work.
it takes such consistency its amazing how easy it is to eat an extra 300 calories in bits here and here wtihout knowing. I'm beginning to think exercise less but focus so much on food. you can break your diet once in a week but any more than that you probably won't lose.

I'm sad that you came here looking for advice but then deny that any of the suggestions have validity. Well, it sounds like things are working for you and you're happy with the status quo then, right? If not, please be open to the help people are trying to give you. Sometimes just a few tweaks work wonders and, since we're all different, you never know what tip will help you.

I had a problem like this before.... I kept turtling my weight. It could be due to lack of sleep, even sleep cycle changes. Or since your exercising more, your cal. intake needs to increase. Also, if your drinking ice cold water, you don't burn a much cals. vs. drinking temp. room water. I hope this somewhat helps. This is what my trainer once told me.

How long have you been doing this?

It took me awhile before weight started coming off.

MFP needs a like button.

I'm sad that you came here looking for advice but then deny that any of the suggestions have validity. Well, it sounds like things are working for you and you're happy with the status quo then, right? If not, please be open to the help people are trying to give you. Sometimes just a few tweaks work wonders and, since we're all different, you never know what tip will help you.

If you have nothing nice to say, then don't say anything at all..

Listen - no one here was nasty to you, no one was taking jabs at you, and the quoted post here was VERY nice to you... simply put, please be open to the help people are trying to give you. And YES, sometimes just a few tweaks work wonders - not all tweaks will work for everyone because we are all different...

And with all due respect, you had McDonalds foods more than one given time. If you document the processed versions of food without dedicating the type to using your MFP account to actually log the real foods you claim to have consumed, then you are actually jeopardizing yourself....

I looked at several pages of your log - and yes, you eat alot of processed foods, alot of high fat, high simple carb, high sodium foods - youre not eating 90% healthy at all. Im talking from 14 years experience working in the Healthcare industry, youre not eating well at all for yourself.

If you cant admit to the fact that you do turn to fast food more than you do, you will continue to jeopardize yourself. If you continue to consume foods with high sugars/high bad fats/high simple carbs/high sodium, you will continue to jeopardize yourself. Youre not eating consistently, just like I previously mentioned, and just like others have mentioned as well. You would benefit GREATLY by doing better meal planning and sticking to the times you have your MFP account set up. The more healthier, balanced meals you spread out (go for 200-250 calories per meal), with REAL food and not junk, you will do yourself much better....

Someone recommended going to a Nutritionist - I 100% agree with that. You would definitely benefit with learning how certain foods affect the body, how all the processed 'garbage' out there is in fact, counterproductive to weight loss, the fact that eating on a consistent schedule is beneficial for optimal physical and mental functioning using real foods...

Youre either in this 100%, or youre not. 10% of what we do on MFP is the mere logging of what we ate. The other 90% is all up to you to make better food choices and Im not seeing that right now for you.


Seriously, you really need to be thankful for everyone here who has been EXTREMELY kind.... there have been other threads where people like yourself would be attacked, cut down, made fun of, and accused of being stupid (Ive seen this) for making several bad food choices and then bite you back because your OP said "why am I not losing".....

Im very pleased to see everyone here being genuinely helpful and kind - youre just not acknowledging that at all.... That unfortunately is a problem YOU have to deal with on your own, if you dont want anyone's help....

We can see the truth, do you?

^ THIS

Also, I would recommend a Registered Dietitian (RD) instead of a nutritionist because they have the formal medical training and schooling to help you assess and create a plan designed specifically for you. Good luck!

In our area, RD's and Nutritionists are the same - they both have to hold an RD.. we even have them in our grocery stores doing tours! Its actually quite cool!

In our area, RD's and Nutritionists are the same - they both have to hold an RD.. we even have them in our grocery stores doing tours! Its actually quite cool!

JEALOUS!! Yeah, just FYI for everyone else though, not every nutritionist holds an RD, so make sure you check....=D

Thats why my post said "In my area".... I never said it was everywhere....

Eat your net 1200 cals. Enjoy them. ****, drink them if you have to. One night I had vodka for supper. If you're stuffed and it's late at night have peanut butter. It's a quick way to get calories. If you still can't eat them, cut your workouts in half.

I have a pal who does zumba (latin dance workouts) twice a week and he burns something crazy like 750 cals in an hour and those days he STILL has to eat 1200 because the week he didn't he gained half a pound. Shooooo...

If your net dips below 1200 your body is gonna hold onto fat like you're hibernating or something. Don't ask me why it works, it just does. I only know what I've experienced and what my pals have.

And then go get a pedicure and have a dip in a hot tub. You're doing a great job! PROUD OF YOU. :flowerforyou:

I'm sad that you came here looking for advice but then deny that any of the suggestions have validity. Well, it sounds like things are working for you and you're happy with the status quo then, right? If not, please be open to the help people are trying to give you. Sometimes just a few tweaks work wonders and, since we're all different, you never know what tip will help you.

If you have nothing nice to say, then don't say anything at all..

Listen - no one here was nasty to you, no one was taking jabs at you, and the quoted post here was VERY nice to you... simply put, please be open to the help people are trying to give you. And YES, sometimes just a few tweaks work wonders - not all tweaks will work for everyone because we are all different...

And with all due respect, you had McDonalds foods more than one given time. If you document the processed versions of food without dedicating the type to using your MFP account to actually log the real foods you claim to have consumed, then you are actually jeopardizing yourself....

I looked at several pages of your log - and yes, you eat alot of processed foods, alot of high fat, high simple carb, high sodium foods - youre not eating 90% healthy at all. Im talking from 14 years experience working in the Healthcare industry, youre not eating well at all for yourself.

If you cant admit to the fact that you do turn to fast food more than you do, you will continue to jeopardize yourself. If you continue to consume foods with high sugars/high bad fats/high simple carbs/high sodium, you will continue to jeopardize yourself. Youre not eating consistently, just like I previously mentioned, and just like others have mentioned as well. You would benefit GREATLY by doing better meal planning and sticking to the times you have your MFP account set up. The more healthier, balanced meals you spread out (go for 200-250 calories per meal), with REAL food and not junk, you will do yourself much better....

Someone recommended going to a Nutritionist - I 100% agree with that. You would definitely benefit with learning how certain foods affect the body, how all the processed 'garbage' out there is in fact, counterproductive to weight loss, the fact that eating on a consistent schedule is beneficial for optimal physical and mental functioning using real foods...

Youre either in this 100%, or youre not. 10% of what we do on MFP is the mere logging of what we ate. The other 90% is all up to you to make better food choices and Im not seeing that right now for you.


Seriously, you really need to be thankful for everyone here who has been EXTREMELY kind.... there have been other threads where people like yourself would be attacked, cut down, made fun of, and accused of being stupid (Ive seen this) for making several bad food choices and then bite you back because your OP said "why am I not losing".....

Im very pleased to see everyone here being genuinely helpful and kind - youre just not acknowledging that at all.... That unfortunately is a problem YOU have to deal with on your own, if you dont want anyone's help....

We can see the truth, do you?

aaaand the prize for the best post of the thread is... :flowerforyou:

"
I want you to consider a common female client. She's a woman about 5'5" and 185 pounds. A combination of a mostly sedentary lifestyle, quick-fix, processed foods and consistent excessively low calories has resulted in an incredibly stubborn fat loss scenario. Not only has it created a stubborn fat loss scenario but her ability to add body fat is remarkably strong.

Most would believe there is simply no possible way she could be 185 pounds eating mostly low calories. While it's true the average obese American created their own obesity by being a huge over consumer, a sedentary glutton if you will, many are able to maintain their level of obesity with the following formula in very precise ratios: starvation + binges + sedentary lifestyle.

An initial review of this woman's calories indicates she is just above starvation level in the 400-700 per day range. The food choices are mostly protein in this case (low-carb is all the rage you know) and there are virtually no vegetables or fruits to speak of.

Five or six days per week the calories remain low in this range, however, there are nighttime binges from time to time and weekend binges where carbs loaded with fat (doughnuts, rolls, cookies, pizza etc.) are consumed.

So while the calories are very low the majority of the time, there are one to two days per week where this isn't always the case. Even so, the nighttime binges and weekend slack offs don't amount to what you might presume would be thousands of extra calories, thus explaining the 185-pound body weight.

Very few foods are prepared from home. There are lots of fast foods being consumed. Convenience and taste rule.

I must say. Early on in my coaching and teaching career this woman was a real head scratcher for me. Isn't it calories in and calories out? Even if she's not active she's starving!

How in the heck does she stay at 185 eating an average, including all binges, of maybe 750 calories per day? She's frustrated beyond belief. She sees her friends and coworkers eating more and weighing less. Is she simply unlucky? Is everyone else blessed? And what in the world is she supposed to do to fix this, if it can be fixed?


Why Is She Not Losing Weight?


First, let me tell you why she's not losing weight. Then I'll tell you what she has to do to fix the situation. With a chronic (months and months) intake of less than 1000 calories per day and a 185-pound body weight her metabolism is suffering greatly. It's running cool, not hot. It's basically running at a snail's pace.

Think of it this way. Her metabolism has matched itself to her intake. She could, indeed, lose body fat but she's in that gray area where she is eating too few calories but not quite at the concentration-camp level yet.

If she were to consume 100-300 calories per day her body would have virtually no choice but to begin liberating stored body fat. This is NOT the solution. It's unhealthy and, in fact, quite stupid.


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Not only has her metabolism matched her intake, her body has maximized production of enzymes that are designed to help store any additional calories as fat. Anytime additional, immediately-unnecessary calories are consumed the enzymes are there and waiting to store the additional calories as fat. Her body is starved nutritionally and it has one thing on its mind - survival.

Being mostly sedentary, her metabolism (hormones play a large role here) can do a pretty good job of keeping things slow enough so that the pathetically low calories she's consuming are just enough to maintain.

But since certain enzymes are elevated, waiting for more calories so more bodyfat can be stored, every nighttime binge or weekend mini-feast will contribute to fat stores.

So on the days she's not bingeing her body does not lose fat, or if it does, it's very little. And on the few days or times she does binge a bit her body is quite efficient at storing fat. So, while she may lose a smidge of fat from starving it is quickly replaced with every binge.

Remember, these binges aren't a gluttonous 4000-calorie feast. Oh no, a binge might be 4-5 cookies worth about 500-700 calories. Nevertheless, since the binge foods are mostly carbs and fat it's very easy for the enzymes to shuttle the dietary fat into stored body fat. It's what they were designed to do.


So, What's The Solution?


Well then, now that we presumably know some valid reasons why she's not seeing a scale change and definitely no body fat change how do we fix her? We have to do something she's going to freak out over.

We have to get her eating more. Not only do we have to get her eating more but more of the right, whole foods need to be eaten. Foods lower in fat that aren't as easily STORED as body fat have to be consumed. And we have to warn her.

A Discouraging Start


We have to warn her that since she's been sedentarily living on protein with binges of carbs and fats she is likely to see a weight gain right away. It's true.
Once we begin really feeding her body with nutritious carbohydrates so she can become more active, her glycogen-depleted body will hang on to some of those carbohydrates (in skeletal muscle and liver) so she has stored energy for activity.

When her body hangs on to those carbohydrates it has no choice but to hang on to more water too. For every gram of glycogen (stored carbs) she stores she'll hang on to three grams of water.

This is not a negative response by the body but it will be interpreted by her as quite negative when she steps on the scale.

It's quite likely she'll see a five to seven pound weight gain when she really starts eating properly again. This weight gain will remain for one to three weeks before it starts moving in the other direction.

For argument's sake let's assume my Calorie Calculator and Goal Setter at Club Lifestyle suggests a 1500-calorie per day average in week one for a one-pound loss per week. First, she is going to freak out about this many calories.

For months she's been eating less than 1000 and usually around 400-700 in one to three feedings total per day. To her 1500 calories is a ton of food. And if she even begins to eat less fast and packaged-foods it will be a ton of food.

There is no doubt whatsoever that she will resist the increase. This resistance may take one to three weeks to overcome. During this period no weight loss will occur. She is too fat already in her mind and believes it will only hurt her to increase her food intake.

I mean, after all, isn't that how she got fat to begin with? In her early stages of fat gain this was probably true. She overconsumed. But as I've said already, that's not why she's staying heavy.

In addition to a freaked-out mindset about adding more food to her already overfat body she will simply find that it's all but impossible to eat four or more times per day.

She's just not hungry at first. Makes sense when you think about it. Why would she be hungry three hours after eating a 300-calorie, balanced breakfast? Her body is used to 400-700 calories per day!

So, even though she gets a plan and begins using my nutrition analyzer to log foods and meals she finds after having a balanced breakfast of 250 calories she couldn't force herself to eat meal number two on time.

It'll take several more days of realizing what is going on and being one-hundred percent honest and diligent with her logging and planning before she begins to eat her meals as planned no matter what - even if she's not hungry.

By now two to four weeks have passed and the only thing she's seen on the scale is it going up--not very encouraging if I say so myself.

Raising The Grade


After the first two to four weeks have passed she's probably beginning to consume her meals as planned although not quite like an "A" student yet. That is coming. She feels better because she's working out and is more active.
And she feels like she has more energy throughout the day because she's feeding her body more calories and the right kinds of calories.

She has finally begun eating the right kinds of fast foods (low in fat, moderate in protein) and less packaged food overall. She is making more meals from home and taking them to work for lunch rather than always grabbing something quick from a vending machine or the break room that always has some treat another employee brought in.

After another two weeks or so she's moved from a "B" grade to more consistent "A"s. She's planning her days one day ahead in the Nutrition Analyzer; she's consuming fresh veggies and fruits on a daily basis.

Her calories are almost ALWAYS in line with what is recommended by my Lean Account and she has seen her first signs of the scale moving in the right direction.

She is now dropping from 190 pounds (her high after reintroducing food and carbohydrates again) to 189.3! "Progress at last!" she says. In actuality, the entire process was progress. But that's not how she saw it in the beginning.






With a total of two to four weeks of increased caloric intake behind her and eating more consistently the right kinds of foods her metabolism has truly begun to rebound.

She didn't kill it as she thought. She only wounded it. And since our metabolisms are like kids (they are quite resilient) and she doesn't have thyroid issues or diabetes or any known wrench that could be thrown into the spokes of fat loss, she will begin, for the first time in months or years, to see results that make sense and that one would expect of someone who is active (30-60 minutes five or more days per week) and consuming a caloric intake of 1300-1500 calories per day.


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Avoiding Sabotage


This process is in no way easy. I think you can see a plethora of ways it could be screwed up, sabotaged, given up on too early and so forth.
A key to success for this very common woman (men too) is not giving up too soon, having faith in the fix, and moving sooner rather than later to the increased, quality food intake.

It's going to take effort to overcome the mental hurdles of eating more food as well as the increase in scale weight that is going to occur in weeks one to three or so. It's disheartening, however, to charge hard down the weight-loss field only to get to the one-yard line and decide it's time to quit.



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Many don't realize they only had one more yard to go and they'd have had a touchdown. You gotta hang in there with this plan. It's going to take some time for the glycogen levels to be replenished and level out. It's going to take some time for mental adjustments to occur.
It's going to take some time before hunger signals are restored to anything close to normal. It's going to take time for the metabolism to rebound and not be in its protective mode.

Giving A Stubborn Body The Message


In certain, very stubborn cases, it may be necessary to eat at a eucaloric (maintenance) or hypercaloric (over maintenance) level for a few weeks to ensure the metabolism does get the signal that everything is alright and you aren't going to kill the body.
Remember, your body could care less about your desire for fat loss. It just wants to survive.


Some Take-Home Points



The most common cause of obesity is Americans are sedentary overeaters/drinkers. Nothing in this article should be construed as to say that under eating is the root cause of obesity. It's not.

It IS common for many men and women to be under eating with sporadic binges as I described here. This creates a perfect environment for continued obesity even if total caloric intake is quite low on average.

Low-carb followers or "starvers" WILL see the scale go up when calories are consumed at reasonable levels again and carbohydrates are reintroduced. Live with it. Deal with it. It's going to happen. 98% of the gain will be water.

The time it takes for mental acceptance and other adjustments to occur will vary but one should expect a two to four week window for these things to take place. Being forewarned with an article like this may speed this process up some.

Once the right types of foods are consumed and the right caloric intake is consumed and the right ratios of carbohydrates, proteins and fats are consumed on a consistent basis, then, and only then, will metabolism begin to be restored and the key to fat loss be inserted into the lock with a noticeable drop in the scale resulting.
This may take an additional two to four weeks to occur. Your metabolism is never dead or broken for good. But it may take several weeks of proper eating and activity for it to be restored.


From day one, until the first, noticeable drop in the scale occurs may be four to six weeks--maybe one to two weeks longer. Those who give up on the one-yard line will never see the scale drop as will occur when intelligent persistence and consistency over time are adhered to. "

Wow! the time i had mcdonalds every1 picks it out.. i said i honestly was logging & only 90% eating healthy.
i went from eating 6000 calories a day (not cooking 1 thing all mcdonalds!) to now eating mcdonals once or twice in a whole week.
as i said no one is perfect..
Maybe it was wrong to post this now, seeing as this last weekend i had my engagement party, anniversary and another party out..
i think ive done a amzing job, im not ashamed of eating maccas once or twice.

also some foods i cant be bothered logging correctly such as easy mac i made myself. i weighed it but logged it as the easy mac..

You came to the forums asking for advice as to why you aren't losing weight. People are trying to help you see that your "diet" isn't as healthy or as nutritious as it could be. Ask around and most people will tell you that losing weight is 80% diet and 20% exercise and that you can not replace an unhealthy diet with working out. What that means is... working out for 3 hours a day (which is, in my opinion, quite excessive) isn't going to make up for poor food choices. If I were you, I would concentrate on getting the diet side of things under control and then fit in the exercising.

It seems to me that you are trying to justify your food choices and you are trying to convince us (and yourself) that you're making healthy choices 90% of the time when in reality? You aren't. Eating a lot of processed foods or fast food isn't eating healthy 90% of the time. No one here is trying to say they are perfect - but you are kidding yourself. You're sticking your head in the sand, using exercise as an excuse to eat whatever you want to eat and then wondering why this isn't working. Changing your eating habits is one of the hardest things about this journey. If you want to be successful at this - you MUST admit to yourself that you aren't eating as well as you can, be willing to change and DO IT.

Unfortunately the OP is failing to realize that most of us viewed several pages of her food logs - not 'just' the weekend log... and unfortunately she has chosen multiple times, fast food, processed prepackaged food, Lindt chocolate came up several times, missing meals, skipping meals... and the fact that this thread has been VERY nice to her, no maliciousness in their posts at all - definitely better than some of the other similar posts I see when people post asking for help.... it was actually refreshing to see this post not slam the OP.... but, unfortunately dealing with reality is something the OP really needs to work on in addition to the poor eating choices made.... and you put it very well in your post!

and, as others have said, its hard to provide comment on your nutrition unless you make your food diary public. I have found that I do best when I focus on lean protein, healthy fats and carbs with low glycemic index values. When I eat more bread products and processed foods with lots of sodium, I don't do so well.

good luck to you on your journey.

She did make it available last night, but you would see the things that most of us have seen.....

and, as others have said, its hard to provide comment on your nutrition unless you make your food diary public. I have found that I do best when I focus on lean protein, healthy fats and carbs with low glycemic index values. When I eat more bread products and processed foods with lots of sodium, I don't do so well.

good luck to you on your journey.

She did make it available last night, but you would see the things that most of us have seen.....

ahhhh...this is what I get for being late to the party. I noticed the diary wasn't public today and only read some of the page 1 comments. my bad on that. but I still stand by my comments regarding the excessive exercise.

No 'bad' - lol! You are right though about the excessive exercise.. the human body can only handle so much.... Ive worked with Osteopaths before who have educated patients on that subject... the impact on bones, joints and such, its astronomical over time!