I am not losing! Any advice?

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I have been trying to lose about 5lbs since the beginning of February. I started out with a primarily vegetarian diet and exercising a 1/2hr a day 5 days a week, hoping that I would drop the weight quickly. When that didn't work, I added back lean meat and fish and cut out most processed foods and ALL refined sugar and upped my exercise to 1/2hr-1hr 5-6 days a week. My exercises vary, but I usually rotate circuit training, yoga, jogging, walking, and strength training. My daily caloric intake is about 1300-1400 calories a day. A typical days meals are:

Breakfast: 1pk Plain instant oatmeal w/a dash of cinnamon

Lunch: 1cup non fat Greek yogurt with 1/4cup unsweetened frozen blueberries
10 baby carrots with 2Tbsp hummus
1 1/2 cups steamed Broccoli (or other steamed veggie)

Dinner: 4oz baked chicken breast
2 stalks celery with 1/4 cup 1% cottage cheese
1 tomato med size
8 pieces of steamed asparagus

Snacks: A piece of fruit (apple, orange, half a grapefruit, etc...), pistachios, 1 Tbsp organic peanut butter, buttered popcorn, unsweetened almond milk with 2 Tbsp sugar free chocolate syrup (I don't eat all of these in one day, maybe 2 or 3 at most)



I don't know what I am doing wrong! Should I up my exercise? Decrease my calories? Unfortunately, I did not take measurements when I began, so I have no starting point to compare my current measurements to. Also, I quit smoking at the end of January... Could that be affecting my metabolism? I am completely frustrated because prior to February, I was a couch potato, ate candy, pizza, pasta, ice cream, and all of those things and not only have I not lost weight, but I have put on a pound! I'd like to lose about 5lbs by mid June.

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  • rmarie1017
    rmarie1017 Posts: 58 Member
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    Anybody?
  • gadawg0528
    gadawg0528 Posts: 4
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    what is your suggested calorie intake? Are you eating back your exercise calories? Water intake daily?
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
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    That's some healthy food you've got going on there. How is your balance between carbs, fat, and protein?

    Go back through the setup wizard and set it up for a half-pound a week of weight loss. If you're 5 pounds from goal, that's probably about as fast as you're going to get with healthy weight loss. How many calories are you SUPPOSED to be eating, according to the site? And are you eating back your exercise calories?

    However, if you're feeling really good and can support all of your workouts without fatigue, then simply lower your calories a bit (250-500 a day which will give you a half-pound to a pound a week), just watch for fatigue, make sure you are getting the nutrients you need to support your lifting.

    But if you've got strength training going on - how serious? Dumbell and core work, or heavier "work-to-fatigue" stuff? If you are doing any significant amount of strength, you're ripping and building muscle, which means you are probably retaining some fluids for the muscles to heal up and strengthen and you're adding lean muscle mass, probably at about the rate you're burning off fat. The good news is that your body fat percentage, which is the important measurement (weight is just basically a convenient-to-measure substitute), is going down, and you're going to look AWESOME and have more muscle to burn calories long-term.

    The bad news is that the scale may not change anytime soon.

    Oversimplification: Cardio is the way to faster weight loss and better endurance, strength is the way to lower bodyfat and better calorie-burning capacity.
  • natini
    natini Posts: 347 Member
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    Dont decrease your calories! With all of your exercise it does not look like you are eating enough. MFP gives you low goals so you will eat back the exercise. You may want to increase your activity level and recalculate.
  • A_New_Horizon
    A_New_Horizon Posts: 1,555 Member
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    My suggestion is to eat more - I know it sounds backwards, but it is important. Your body needs food to fuel especially if you are doing alot of exericising. If you aren't doing it, start eating back your workout calories - give your body a few weeks to adjust to it. It won't happen over night, usually take 3 to 4 weeks to adjust to the new calories. Also, make sure you are getting enough water.
  • babz1013
    babz1013 Posts: 2
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    Try adding a protein shake with no cards, no sugar and lots of protein (15-30g). Also, you may want to look at a site that i order my protein drinks, bars, oatmeal from, its called mydietshopz. it is the same products used by all the diet places (slim for life etc).
    I drink the kiwi melon, pink lemondade and a few others. it seems, this is the only way to lose for me. drink 64 oz of water daily.
  • lorihalsted
    lorihalsted Posts: 326 Member
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    My suggestion is to eat more - I know it sounds backwards, but it is important. Your body needs food to fuel especially if you are doing alot of exericising. If you aren't doing it, start eating back your workout calories - give your body a few weeks to adjust to it. It won't happen over night, usually take 3 to 4 weeks to adjust to the new calories. Also, make sure you are getting enough water.

    This....and make sure you drink enough water. For years I was working out too hard and eating about 1200 calories a day and couldn't lose a single pound. I upped my calories and actually decreased my working out and starting losing. Good luck!!!!
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    It appears you are not eating enough. On a day you burn 500 cals and you only eat 1300, that is like eating 800 (1300-500) and not exercising, which is not enough fuel. With so little weight to lose you should set your goal to lose 0.5lbs/week and eat back the cals you burn from exercise, or at least most of them, most likely this will have you eating in the 1500-2000 calorie range to lose that amount of weight.

    It also looks like your protein is quite low. MFP's recommendation is very low, I would suggest no less than 90 grams of protein/day, preferably more, which on a 1500 cal/day diet would be a minimum of 25%. MFP defaults to 15%.
  • slikfish
    slikfish Posts: 9 Member
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    Give it time. Your metabolism definitely slows down for a while after quitting smoking.
  • jnerdin
    jnerdin Posts: 39 Member
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    I can't imagine anyone not losing weight if they are actually doing everything you described. You don't know me, so there's no point getting mad at me, but I have to ask whether or not you're really being truthful with yourself in your entries of calories consumed and exercise done. MFP is a pretty reliable calculator and predictor of weight loss, but it is only as good as the information it receives. It sounds like you know what you should be doing though. Good luck.
  • kennie2
    kennie2 Posts: 1,171 Member
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    eat at your brm or at least 90% of it, eat back 2/3 of your exercise calories back and drink plenty of water :)
    cut out artifical sugar and white carbs :)
  • cari4jc1
    cari4jc1 Posts: 233
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    I would suggest going back through all the set up questions and see what it gives you as a calorie suggestion. I have been having the same exact problem for months only I have a lot more weight to lose. I eat a mostly clean diet and was only eating about 1200-1300 calories a day and exercising 30-60 minutes 4 times a week and I wasn't losing anything. I got on this site and posted a couple questions and I was told to eat more. I ended up updating my goals and my calorie suggestion went up to 1530! So far this week I have lost 3 pounds. It sounds crazy, but if you're working too hard and not eating enough calories then your body goes into starvation mode and will hold onto everything.

    I also agree that you might want to put your goal to .5 pound a week.

    Hope that all helps! :)
  • mommymeg2
    mommymeg2 Posts: 145 Member
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    I'd say you need to eat more.
  • rmarie1017
    rmarie1017 Posts: 58 Member
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    I'm not entirely sure about the carb/protein/fat ratio, but I think it's somewhere around 40/30/30. According to this site, I should be eating 1220 calories a day. On a different calorie counting site, I should be eating 1635 calories a day (which is what I was using before today.) So according to this website, I am eating over, but according to the other, I am eating under. I try to drink my 8 glasses of water a day, but am not always successful. In addition to the water, I am drinking 2 - 4 cups of decaf green tea.

    No serious strength training going on. Core work and dumbells mostly and usually no more than two days a week.

    Also, I'm really sorry if this is a dumb question, but what does it mean to eat your exercise calories?
  • trcymre
    trcymre Posts: 2
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    on your eating habits. You're eating the right foods and taking in the right amt of calories to lose that 5 lbs, but there are so many other factors involved. To find these factors you need to understand how your body loses weight. There are questionairres out there that can help you decide. If you don't have any thyroid issues going on that is keeping you from losing the weight, check your other hormones. Lower estrogen levels and other glands can produce weight causing things or keep you at a plateau. (such as your cortisol levels when you stress) As you get older, these hormones imbalance and make it virtually impossible to lose those five pounds.
    Also, you want to make sure that you are not exhausting yourself and then not replenishing your body with proteins and electrolytes within 30 min of exercise. This can also cause a negative result on your weight. Drinking plenty of fluids is a must to weight loss as well because it is a key factor of digestion. In addition, you mentioned you used to be a couch potato before you started exercising. Two things about this. first, you need to remember that you have shocked your body into a new lifestyle and it may take some time to level out and operate at the level you have shot up to. Second, your digestive system has to adjust to all new foods now and that takes at least a month.
    If you have not yet done a cleansing detox for your body, you will need to do that for sure. Your pipes have been gummed up for years and now that your eating healthy and exercising, your bowels need to get rid of the sludge that has accumulated in order to get that food moving quickly through the track. This will also help you to absorb the minerals and vitamins your body is taking in. To jumpstart your weight loss, do a safe cleanse program and lay off the vitamins and heavy foods for at least a week so your body can detox without added stress. Whatever cleansing program you use needs to be all natural without starving yourself and should also include a colon cleansing. TAKE PROBIOTICS in conjunction with your colon cleanse so the good bacteria is replaced. During this time, take a break from heavy exercise and just relax and let your body do its thing. Once your cleanse is complete, you will notice a huge difference in your exercising and how you feel.
    Now, take an inventory of the way you are eating. Calorie counting is good, but did you know that having an allergy to a food can actually cause you to gain weight? I had an allergy to dairy products for years before i found out by a blood test that my body was rebelling everytime i hit the chocolate milk and ice cream. Also, please remember that the combination of food and the timing of your eating can have a detrimental affect on weight loss. For instance, eating whole wheat bread is good, and eating a lean peice of meat is good. but did you know that eating them together actually is BAD? Try to eat carbs with veggies and your lean meats with fruits and veggies, but stay away from mixing carbs with meat. If your eating 30 min before you hit the sack, it doesn't matter if it's grapes or a bowl of cereal, you are not going to lose the weight. Always eat at least 2 hours before bedtime and try to take a light walk after you eat. if you get hungry before bed...DRINK liquid like unsweet tea or some milk to coat your stomach. It is also important to stay away from carbs especially refined carbs and fat in the evening. For dinner, stick to meat and sauteed veggies or fruits, that way when your metabolism is at it's lowest, you have the upper hand in the digestion and fat burning game. Eat your carbs in the morning to get you going:)
    Hope this helps you. I have tried to give every scenario i can think of. ONE MORE THING...remember that muscle weighs more than fat!!! the scale is not always the best indicator of weight loss. Take some measurements to get a base line and you will see the difference.
  • rmarie1017
    rmarie1017 Posts: 58 Member
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    Also, I am eating zero artificial sugar and white carbs and in regards to possibly not being truthful about my calorie intake, I am as truthful as I can possibly be. I am even counting a stick of gum. If I am unsure about the portion size, I overestimate the calories. No offense taken, by the way. I would be wondering the same thing. I don't want to cheat myself.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    what does it mean to eat your exercise calories

    It means your MFP food intake goal increases by the calories you log as exercise, ie you eat back the calories you spent on exercise as extra food.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I'm not entirely sure about the carb/protein/fat ratio, but I think it's somewhere around 40/30/30. According to this site, I should be eating 1220 calories a day. On a different calorie counting site, I should be eating 1635 calories a day (which is what I was using before today.) So according to this website, I am eating over, but according to the other, I am eating under. I try to drink my 8 glasses of water a day, but am not always successful. In addition to the water, I am drinking 2 - 4 cups of decaf green tea.

    No serious strength training going on. Core work and dumbells mostly and usually no more than two days a week.

    Also, I'm really sorry if this is a dumb question, but what does it mean to eat your exercise calories?

    You are not over eating according to this site as your 1220 cals is before exercise, if you burn 300 cals that puts you up to 1520, and you are only eating 1300-1400, so you are under-eating based on MFP as well. Not to mention your should change your goal to 0.5lbs loss/week and this will give you 250-750 more caloires depending on what you current goal is.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    eat at your brm or at least 90% of it, eat back 2/3 of your exercise calories back and drink plenty of water :)
    cut out artifical sugar and white carbs :)

    with the amount she has to lose I would suggest her net intake be at or above BMR and no reason to cut out white carbs if they fit into your daily macros and lifestyle. There are healthier alternatives, but this is not necessary to lose weight or be healthy.
  • rmarie1017
    rmarie1017 Posts: 58 Member
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    Thank you everyone for the suggestions. I think I will increase my calories and see what happens.