Why no weight loss?
barbcouperus
Posts: 49 Member
Hi all,
I'm writing because I am so frustrated!
I've always had a hard time losing weight, and I've done almost all of the diet tricks (Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, LA Weight Loss, GI diet etc etc), until I finally decided that I would do it the old fashioned way...exercise and eat well. I write down everything I eat and always under my calorie goal, I rarely eat my exercise calories and I can not lose weight anymore! My heaviest was 220 lbs, I'm down to 198 and have been here for 6+ years and I am not happy . I'm 5'9", 37 year old female. Healthy, no thyroid conditions, I exercise 5 days a week (3 days of cardio, 2 days of strength training). I joined MFP in January 2012 when I was at 203, I did get down to 197, but now my weight seems to be levelling off at 198. I watch the balance of carbs to protein, track fats, sugars, etc and I cook 99% of my own food, I weigh my food and measure my portions. I give myself the weekends off for tracking, but I don't binge. I just let myself have a glass of wine or beer with my dinner, the rest of my food is within reason.
According to the BMI scale, an ideal weight for my height is the 145-169 range...but I'm not using this as even a goal at this point, I've targeted 175 as a healthy weight for me. I do put on muscle fairly easily, so I'm not using just the scale as an indicator. I'm tracking measurements and there's been no change there either. No inches lost and only 5-6 lbs (depends on the day) since JANUARY is a powerful de-motivator.
WHAT am I doing wrong. My doctor can find no medical reason for the lack of success.
Please help.
I'm writing because I am so frustrated!
I've always had a hard time losing weight, and I've done almost all of the diet tricks (Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, LA Weight Loss, GI diet etc etc), until I finally decided that I would do it the old fashioned way...exercise and eat well. I write down everything I eat and always under my calorie goal, I rarely eat my exercise calories and I can not lose weight anymore! My heaviest was 220 lbs, I'm down to 198 and have been here for 6+ years and I am not happy . I'm 5'9", 37 year old female. Healthy, no thyroid conditions, I exercise 5 days a week (3 days of cardio, 2 days of strength training). I joined MFP in January 2012 when I was at 203, I did get down to 197, but now my weight seems to be levelling off at 198. I watch the balance of carbs to protein, track fats, sugars, etc and I cook 99% of my own food, I weigh my food and measure my portions. I give myself the weekends off for tracking, but I don't binge. I just let myself have a glass of wine or beer with my dinner, the rest of my food is within reason.
According to the BMI scale, an ideal weight for my height is the 145-169 range...but I'm not using this as even a goal at this point, I've targeted 175 as a healthy weight for me. I do put on muscle fairly easily, so I'm not using just the scale as an indicator. I'm tracking measurements and there's been no change there either. No inches lost and only 5-6 lbs (depends on the day) since JANUARY is a powerful de-motivator.
WHAT am I doing wrong. My doctor can find no medical reason for the lack of success.
Please help.
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Replies
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don't know - your diary's private.0
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How do I make it public?0
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found the settings..it should be public now...0
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try changing the 1% milk to fat free.... thats all i can say lolfound the settings..it should be public now...0 -
i think your weekends may be killing you.. 3500 calories is a pound and if you just eat around 1000 extra calories those 2 days and then drink another 500 calories on those days which is very easy to do. that's your 1lb that you could have lost. your diet during the week looks decent.. you may try dropping your calories by 100 but i wouldn't do much more than that. also you didn't mention anything about working out.0
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You really need to track your weekend calories. I baked a key lime pie for fathers day so I pre-entered it so I could work my day around that. When I know I'm going to drink wine, I pre-enter that as well so I can budget for it. Logging food is not work, it's a tool to help you. If you skip the free for all days lol, then you don't know why you lost no weight that week.
I would recommend tracking your sugar as well. Try not having carbs at every meal. It could be that you're underestimating your food calories and over estimating your exercise calories. Do you use a heart rate monitor when you exercise?
It could be that since you're not eating your exercise calories, your body goes into starvation mode because you're not eating enough. I looked at last Tuesday and you ate less than 1200 calories! Your body needs a minimum of 1200 calories or your metabolism will slow.
Pork has a lot of cholesterol, try not to have that more than once a week.0 -
How intense are your workouts? Are you pushing yourself to the absolute muscle aching maximum? How's your water intake? Are you drinking half your weight in oz per day? If not.. that could cause problems! Try increasing your water intake!0
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Have you tried increasing your calories? Your body could be in starvation mode if your not eating your exercise calories.
You might try increasing your exercise time, intensity, or workout routine to get you out of the plateau. I was reading an article a few days ago about how your body memorizes a workout and learns how to run off fewer calories if you don't change the workout up.
How much water are you drinking? This is often preached but check out this article to why you need water for weight loss. http://www.caloriesperhour.com/tutorial_water.php
Are you accurately measuring and counting calories? Is everything wrote down? Make sure your portions are correct.0 -
Quit drinking alcoholic beverages.
Just stop totally.
Let's see how that helps in 3 months.0 -
A quick glance at your diary shows you're eating way too many carbs and hardly any protein. You need meat at at least two meals. You need a balance on your plate of carbs, fat and protein. Beyond that, we'd have to know more about your situation.0
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your goal may be too high try revising it see if it changes you might just be eating way too much0
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Have you tried Medifast? It's awesome!0
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I looked at your diary and your protein looks low and you should log your weekends. When I quit losing weight at one point I lowered my calories by a few hundred and then started losing again.0
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You might want to derease your carbs and increase your protein. Avoid alcohol because that turns into sugar :-)
Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter0 -
u clearly need to eat more0
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I would suggest you read up on keto/low-carb diets and see how it works. It might be the diet for u. This type of diet would have u restrict your carb intake and increase your protein intake. By restricting your carb intake, you will force your body to burn up your body fat for fuel. It is possible that u may be eating too much carbs. Be careful though, low carbs causes some people to be dizzy or woozy.0
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try talking to a nutritionist. I found it very helpful.0
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Confused. Again.0
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Log your weekends... those calories do count.
Try to eat the calories set for you. While you don't want to over eat, you also don't want to under eat.
You don't have to do low carb unless you have a medical reason for it. Most people are fine without doing any sort of low carb diet.
I would try to increase your protein.0 -
I. Try eating back your exercise calories, or at least the bigger part of them, MFP already substracts the necessary amount.
II. As suggested by the others, try getting a HRM. Kickboxing is an intense sport, but sometimes MFP's estimations are over the top.
III. Caffeine and alcohol might be problematic, although I don't know how much of that you take in every day exactly. Alcohol can be especially bad for the muscles, even if it's just one glass of vodka.
IV. As mentioned before: log the weekends.
V. Try fixing more on strength? I only saw push-ups and kick boxing in the entries I looked at, you might want to try lifting or something similar. Every pound of muscles burns addition calories.
VI. I read something about your doctor not knowing what the problem is, but did you get checked for allergies? Perhaps you don't react well to some of the things you eat....
That's all I can think of right now~0 -
I think the weekends might be your Achilles heal. I too like a drink but I'm always mindful to include it into my calorific intake for that day. For example one weekend I had a bottle of wine with the intention of having a takeaway. However after I had drunk the wine and input it in MFP I found that I couldn't eat the takeaway and still achieve my daily target. My solution was to forgo the takeaway. I was hungry but my Cal limit for that day was still within bounds. Unfortunately sacrifice and discipline is the key.0
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Listen to your body. I find it helpful to use something like the Wii fit that you can weigh every day and it will track it for you. Look at patterns over time as you try different things. Increase your food a little and give it several weeks to a month. Any difference in average weight over time? Or try decreasing. Pick a tactic, but just pick one and be patient so you can see if it is working. Then revise as needed by changing up that tactic or choosing a new one until you find what your body responds to. By testing your body, you'll learn to listen to it and find out what works for you and not anyone else. It takes patience, but it will be great in the long run.
And hydrate. half of body weight in oz. I wasn't doing that and I regret it!0 -
I have had several plateaus during my 54 pound loss.... It can be very frustrating when the numbers just don't add up. I have had my RMR tested, all of my hormones levels, etc...sometimes there isn't an answer. I do know this is what has worked for me....I got a bodymedia and it has helped me a ton....I eat 5-7 serving of fruits and veggies a day and try to limit fruit to one or two servings a day. I drink a gallon of water a day. I eat 2-3 servings a day of comlex carbs like sprouted bread, quinoa or similar up until lunch and then I stop for the day (normally)....I make sure I get close to 70 grams of fat and I try to make it healthy fat. I also eat my lean body mass in protein which is close to 150 grams a day for me. I am not always perfect...but i try. The thing that really helps me is to keep my sodium at or below 1800 and my potassium as close to 3500 as possible. I don't hardly ever drink anymore or eat out....it is almost impossible to know what that restaurant is putting in your food no matter what they claim. I have weeks where I don't see anything but gains and then the next week or so I will have a big loss. Try not to get discouraged or to weigh yourself too often....it makes me want to throw in the towel. The weekends used to ruin it for me....once I stopped drinking and cheating all weekend, it really changed. I still have fun...I just know that I have to kill it in the gym if I want that glass of wine or whatever it may be. There is no cheat meal for me....it has to fit in my macros.0
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So frustrating! Looking through a few weeks of entries in your food and exercise diaries I would suggest getting more and more vigorous cardio like the hill intervals you were doing on the treadmill (I wouldn't consider the dog walking cardio - it is more of bonus exercise) and flip flopping your protein and carb ratios. If you are getting more lean protein at every meal and limit your carbs to high fiber veggies and fruits (the tortillas and orzo should probably go) it may be enough to move the needle.
I also agree with other posters that you need to be drinking more water and really watching the alcohol. As others have pointed out, being good all week won't help if you blow the weekends. For anyone trying to lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle - figuring out how to have a social life and not derail your progress is critical.
Good luck - whatever you do, don't give up - your health is too important!0 -
There is so much different (and conflicting) advice on this thread I was almost reluctant to post.
All I would say is three things.
1). Always log. No matter how bad it is
2). Watch the carbs - too many figures in the red
3). Be careful of overestimating excercise calories unless you're using a HRM
Good luck :-)0 -
really? I'm not hungry with what I've been eating...do I force myself to eat more?u clearly need to eat more0 -
thanks for your comments...I. Try eating back your exercise calories, or at least the bigger part of them, MFP already substracts the necessary amount.
II. As suggested by the others, try getting a HRM. Kickboxing is an intense sport, but sometimes MFP's estimations are over the top.
III. Caffeine and alcohol might be problematic, although I don't know how much of that you take in every day exactly. Alcohol can be especially bad for the muscles, even if it's just one glass of vodka.
IV. As mentioned before: log the weekends.
V. Try fixing more on strength? I only saw push-ups and kick boxing in the entries I looked at, you might want to try lifting or something similar. Every pound of muscles burns addition calories.
VI. I read something about your doctor not knowing what the problem is, but did you get checked for allergies? Perhaps you don't react well to some of the things you eat....
That's all I can think of right now~
re: lifting...I lift weights 2 x per week, but don't log them because they don't show calories burned, so I didn't think it was useful to do so? And the alcohol is never during the week, just a glass or two of wine or beer on Saturday nights. and coffee is only one a day...0 -
probably not eating enough. period. Every time I've hit plateaus I've had to up my calories. try upping to 1600-1700 a day.
and don't eat starchy carbs in the evening.0 -
thanks everyone...
this is the consensus I get from all the comments:
1-eat less carbs
2-eat more protein
3-eat more of my exercise calories back
4-get an HR monitor
5-track the weekends too
I'll keep plugging away and try and get this thing right. :drinker:0 -
if youre good with excell, make a spreadsheet that shows you waht you should lose in a week based on bmr, exercise, eating, etc...and keep your net around where MFP says it should be. One of the big things is seeing that you're only supposed to lose .4 pounds based on your week, and knowing you're on track helps0
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