week three - still no progress?

I've been working out pretty hardcore and following MFP's calorie goals for three weeks now.

I'm 19, female, I weigh 148, 5'7" and am trying to slim down and get some muscle toning.

I eat the amount of calories MFP tells me to (1200, also eating back workout calories).

I do thirty minutes of cardio 6 days a week, pilates for an hour 6 days a week, and I walk for an hour 3 days of the week.

I'm just wondering why the scale hasn't budged from 148?

any help would be much welcomed. thanks!
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Replies

  • dawnp1833
    dawnp1833 Posts: 264 Member
    Did you take your measurements before you started? Do you see a difference in the mirror? When I went from doing nothing to exercising, the pounds didn't fall off like I hoped, but the inches did.
  • Wpbarr
    Wpbarr Posts: 142 Member
    Swap the pilates for strength training and the scale will start moving pretty quickly, but not as fast as the shrinking tape measure.
  • tlc12078
    tlc12078 Posts: 334 Member
    Try to switch it up a bit.
  • fhsjewfro
    fhsjewfro Posts: 101 Member
    you should be noticing some kind of progress with your body if you arent seeing much movement on the scale

    i would definitely recommend lifting heavy three times a week and taking out all that cardio. you dont need all that to lose weight, technically you do not need cardio at all to lose weight. All cardio does is burn cals which means you ultimately get to eat more throughout the day, and thats about it.

    cut back the cardio, lift heavy three times a week, and let your body recover more
  • absolutely none of it has changed, sadly.
  • i can't lift light. lol
  • wrecktechno
    wrecktechno Posts: 145 Member
    You gotta start somewhere. Get a PT for a couple sessions to show you how to do it (or ideally once a week or fortnight to keep you on track and constantly give you new weights to do).

    Open your diary so we can see what you're eating.
    When you do cardio, are you working hard? and are you using a heart rate monitor to confirm the calories you are burning
  • i do different parts of my body every night; back, shoulders, arm, core, inner thighs, outer thighs, calves, all of it.

    pilates is good for me because i'm not strong enough to really life weights effectively. so i use my body weight instead of big chunks of metal.

    and i feel that pilates is just as good as "strength training" such as pushups and situps because i DO pushups and what could be called a variation of situps.
  • You gotta start somewhere. Get a PT for a couple sessions to show you how to do it (or ideally once a week or fortnight to keep you on track and constantly give you new weights to do).

    Open your diary so we can see what you're eating.
    When you do cardio, are you working hard? and are you using a heart rate monitor to confirm the calories you are burning

    PT as in personal trainer? yeah, i don't have money for that. lol.
    i do try to work as hard as possible. and i do not have a monitor.

    also, the thing about what i eat is i'm at home right now for the summer, so my mom does all the food planning and while she DOES try to keep my diet in mind, she also has to prepare food for the other three members of my family. so it probably isn't always as good as it should be.
  • kris4chloe
    kris4chloe Posts: 245 Member
    would love to be able to see your diary, that helps.

    also it might be more beneficial to try to figure out the amount of calories you need based on your activity level and not eat back exercise calories based on a 1200 calorie diet.

    usually your overestimating your calories burned

    or your underestimating the calories consumed

    or a combination of both
  • would love to be able to see your diary, that helps.

    also it might be more beneficial to try to figure out the amount of calories you need based on your activity level and not eat back exercise calories based on a 1200 calorie diet.

    usually your overestimating your calories burned

    or your underestimating the calories consumed

    or a combination of both


    i just made it public, if you would like to take a look.
  • sunny_yogi
    sunny_yogi Posts: 19
    Swap the pilates for strength training and the scale will start moving pretty quickly, but not as fast as the shrinking tape measure.

    Pilates *is* a form of strength training.... just using one's own body weight.
  • Swap the pilates for strength training and the scale will start moving pretty quickly, but not as fast as the shrinking tape measure.

    Pilates *is* a form of strength training.... just using one's own body weight.

    thank you for saying that. :D
  • ishtar13
    ishtar13 Posts: 528 Member
    1. You're at a healthy BMI, if on the high end, so you may not lose fast at all because you don't have much to lose.

    2. Overestimating calorie burn. It's really high on a couple of days.

    3. Are you actually weighing and measuring your food? because some of that seems a bit off. Like, the other day you had a sandwich that was one piece of bologna, one slice of cheese, ketchup, and horseradish mustard? One piece of meat and one slice of cheese?

    and

    4. Patience. It takes time, and lots of people don't see much change at first. If you really are doing well over 1,000 cals of exercise most days and this is new for you, then you might be holding onto some water and such as your body gets used to the change.

    What kind of exercise are you doing?

    ETA: I just saw that you're doing pilates. That makes me really doubt the calorie burn estimation.
  • 1. You're at a healthy BMI, if on the high end, so you may not lose fast at all because you don't have much to lose.

    2. Overestimating calorie burn. It's really high on a couple of days.

    3. Are you actually weighing and measuring your food? because some of that seems a bit off. Like, the other day you had a sandwich that was one piece of bologna, one slice of cheese, ketchup, and horseradish mustard? One piece of meat and one slice of cheese?

    and

    4. Patience. It takes time, and lots of people don't see much change at first. If you really are doing well over 1,000 cals of exercise most days and this is new for you, then you might be holding onto some water and such as your body gets used to the change.

    What kind of exercise are you doing?

    well i figured like the walking was too high, but i usually eat like 500 less calories than what they advise me eat, which is lower than the goal but doesn't give me the message about undereating, so i figured that was okay.

    and yeah, it was one piece of meat and one piece of cheese, lol. i don't go very crazy with my sandwiches.

    i'm doing walking for an hour three days a week, thirty minutes a day for six days i do cardio (burpees, jogging in place, jumping jacks, squat jumps, etc.) and for an hour six days a week i do pilates.

    if you want to see exactly what i'm doing, i get videos from the BlogilatesTV channel on youtube, the pilates and the cardio videos. i actually have most of her videos because i do a different routine every night working different parts of my body.



    ALSO, they're putting all the videos on weighttrainning.com with the proper calorie burn information, i'm just waiting to join until they have all or at least most of the videos up, because i literally do almost all of her videos.
  • d4rkn3ss06
    d4rkn3ss06 Posts: 57
    1. You're at a healthy BMI, if on the high end, so you may not lose fast at all because you don't have much to lose.

    2. Overestimating calorie burn. It's really high on a couple of days.

    3. Are you actually weighing and measuring your food? because some of that seems a bit off. Like, the other day you had a sandwich that was one piece of bologna, one slice of cheese, ketchup, and horseradish mustard? One piece of meat and one slice of cheese?

    and

    4. Patience. It takes time, and lots of people don't see much change at first. If you really are doing well over 1,000 cals of exercise most days and this is new for you, then you might be holding onto some water and such as your body gets used to the change.

    What kind of exercise are you doing?

    ETA: I just saw that you're doing pilates. That makes me really doubt the calorie burn estimation.

    ^^ Agree with the over estimation of calorie burn! Are you just using the MFP generic calorie burn for your exercise? It tends to over or under estimate (but it usually is over estimating!) i would suggest getting a heart rate monitor and use that to find a more accurate calorie burn for your work outs!
    I suggest you measure your self and see if there is any change there! For a lot of women you first start to see the change in measurements than in the scale. Good luck!!

    on a side note you and your BF look adorable together!! :)
  • 1. You're at a healthy BMI, if on the high end, so you may not lose fast at all because you don't have much to lose.

    2. Overestimating calorie burn. It's really high on a couple of days.

    3. Are you actually weighing and measuring your food? because some of that seems a bit off. Like, the other day you had a sandwich that was one piece of bologna, one slice of cheese, ketchup, and horseradish mustard? One piece of meat and one slice of cheese?

    and

    4. Patience. It takes time, and lots of people don't see much change at first. If you really are doing well over 1,000 cals of exercise most days and this is new for you, then you might be holding onto some water and such as your body gets used to the change.

    What kind of exercise are you doing?

    ETA: I just saw that you're doing pilates. That makes me really doubt the calorie burn estimation.

    ^^ Agree with the over estimation of calorie burn! Are you just using the MFP generic calorie burn for your exercise? It tends to over or under estimate (but it usually is over estimating!) i would suggest getting a heart rate monitor and use that to find a more accurate calorie burn for your work outs!
    I suggest you measure your self and see if there is any change there! For a lot of women you first start to see the change in measurements than in the scale. Good luck!!

    on a side note you and your BF look adorable together!! :)

    where do you buy the monitors? i don't know much about them. and i have done measurements, but they haven't changed since i started, so i haven't updated them since the first time i logged them.

    and thank you! :D


    yet another edit...

    for my pilates, i put heavy calisthenics because Cassey, the woman who makes the videos recommended using this site to help track progress and said to either use advanced pilates or calisthenics. i used the heavy category because the site explained it as pushups and sit ups, and seeing as i do pushups and (what i think is a variation of) sit ups, i thought that would be the right category. i could be wrong about that.
  • Muscle weighs significantly more than fat. So chances are you're losing the "fat weight" and replacing it with muscle wieght. Its not about the number on the scale when you're trying to tone your body. If you feel stronger and are happier with what you look like in the mirror, the number is just a fact. So in reality you're getting there on your goal, your scale just doesn't show it.
  • d4rkn3ss06
    d4rkn3ss06 Posts: 57
    1. You're at a healthy BMI, if on the high end, so you may not lose fast at all because you don't have much to lose.

    2. Overestimating calorie burn. It's really high on a couple of days.

    3. Are you actually weighing and measuring your food? because some of that seems a bit off. Like, the other day you had a sandwich that was one piece of bologna, one slice of cheese, ketchup, and horseradish mustard? One piece of meat and one slice of cheese?

    and

    4. Patience. It takes time, and lots of people don't see much change at first. If you really are doing well over 1,000 cals of exercise most days and this is new for you, then you might be holding onto some water and such as your body gets used to the change.

    What kind of exercise are you doing?

    ETA: I just saw that you're doing pilates. That makes me really doubt the calorie burn estimation.

    ^^ Agree with the over estimation of calorie burn! Are you just using the MFP generic calorie burn for your exercise? It tends to over or under estimate (but it usually is over estimating!) i would suggest getting a heart rate monitor and use that to find a more accurate calorie burn for your work outs!
    I suggest you measure your self and see if there is any change there! For a lot of women you first start to see the change in measurements than in the scale. Good luck!!

    on a side note you and your BF look adorable together!! :)

    where do you buy the monitors? i don't know much about them. and i have done measurements, but they haven't changed since i started, so i haven't updated them since the first time i logged them.

    and thank you! :D


    yet another edit...

    for my pilates, i put heavy calisthenics because Cassey, the woman who makes the videos recommended using this site to help track progress and said to either use advanced pilates or calisthenics. i used the heavy category because the site explained it as pushups and sit ups, and seeing as i do pushups and (what i think is a variation of) sit ups, i thought that would be the right category. i could be wrong about that.

    I got mine online on Amazon.http://www.amazon.com/Polar-Heart-Monitor-Watch-Silver/dp/B001U0OFDC/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1340602255&sr=8-6&keywords=heart+rate+monitor Here is a link to one i think this is the same one that i got but Im not sure i dont have it on me at the moment. I got mine for about $70 which might be pricy but i love it and it has lasted! Im sure you can find a cheaper one if you need too! But it is worth the investment! :)
  • ishtar13
    ishtar13 Posts: 528 Member
    Are you taking a rest day?
  • Are you taking a rest day?

    i don't work out on saturday.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    The same reason you can't spot reduce, you may not be measuring the spots that are actually losing fat.

    You are putting a tremendous load on your body and asking it to improve - and that improvement does not have weight loss as a side effect.
    You are storing more energy, glucose and water, because you are asking your body to do more exercise.
    You are retaining water in muscle that is being torn and trying to repair.

    So several reasons you would be gaining weight from all these workouts.
    That is probably balancing out fat you are losing in areas you are not measuring.

    Everyday at full steam will just cause a workout plateau too, since you aren't allowing your body to actually have a chance to repair and recovery from what you are giving it.
  • monyango
    monyango Posts: 166
    I'm shocked with what you are doing that you wouldn't be losing inches at least. That's odd. My best guess is that you are overestimating your calories burned but I dunno. Perhaps you just don't have that much to lose!
  • When I started I only did cardio every day. I don't eat back my exercise calories but a lot of people do. That is up to you. I have lost consistently doing this. I have since moved on to Zumba, 30DS and now I'm doing Insanity. I have not done weights, not yet, I want to lose more fat first before that.

    The less you have to lose, the harder it is. You aren't "overweight" so you won't see instant results like those of us who started out overweight or even obese. Keep in mind that you are definitely being healthier.

    Someone mentioned weighing food. I do that also. I do not always eat good but I weigh and portion out accordingly. I just got an HRM from heartratemonitors.com. I feel that I am more accurately getting my calories burned that way...MFP and other sites seem to overestimate burned calories. If you are overestimating and then eating back those calories it could be why you aren't seeing the results you want.

    Good Luck to you. Your profile pic is adorable! :)
  • The same reason you can't spot reduce, you may not be measuring the spots that are actually losing fat.

    You are putting a tremendous load on your body and asking it to improve - and that improvement does not have weight loss as a side effect.
    You are storing more energy, glucose and water, because you are asking your body to do more exercise.
    You are retaining water in muscle that is being torn and trying to repair.

    So several reasons you would be gaining weight from all these workouts.
    That is probably balancing out fat you are losing in areas you are not measuring.

    Everyday at full steam will just cause a workout plateau too, since you aren't allowing your body to actually have a chance to repair and recovery from what you are giving it.

    all the people i asked around me said i should be trying to work out every day, but they're just teenagers and young adults, like myself. should i be resting more?
  • Anayalata
    Anayalata Posts: 391 Member
    #1. You're not overweight and a female so losing fat won't be easy.

    #2. You're working out A LOT and very often.

    Even if you are overestimating your calorie burn like other suggested, you're still under-eating. 1200 calories a day when you only have a few pounds to lose is NOT enough.

    Doing a quick check of your daily calorie burn based on the information you provided, your maintenance level is 2500 calories~
    On Saturday you ate 800. The days before that you ate under 1800, some even close to 1200.

    I'd say no less than 2000 calories every day if you plan on maintaining your current activity level.

    But then again, I'm just another idiot roaming the forums.
  • #1. You're not overweight and a female so losing fat won't be easy.

    #2. You're working out A LOT and very often.

    Even if you are overestimating your calorie burn like other suggested, you're still under-eating. 1200 calories a day when you only have a few pounds to lose is NOT enough.

    Doing a quick check of your daily calorie burn based on the information you provided, your maintenance level is 2500 calories~
    On Saturday you ate 800. The days before that you ate under 1800, some even close to 1200.

    I'd say no less than 2000 calories every day if you plan on maintaining your current activity level.

    But then again, I'm just another idiot roaming the forums.

    i do try to eat back those workout calories, if that changes anything. it might not. lol
  • When I started I only did cardio every day. I don't eat back my exercise calories but a lot of people do. That is up to you. I have lost consistently doing this. I have since moved on to Zumba, 30DS and now I'm doing Insanity. I have not done weights, not yet, I want to lose more fat first before that.

    The less you have to lose, the harder it is. You aren't "overweight" so you won't see instant results like those of us who started out overweight or even obese. Keep in mind that you are definitely being healthier.

    Someone mentioned weighing food. I do that also. I do not always eat good but I weigh and portion out accordingly. I just got an HRM from heartratemonitors.com. I feel that I am more accurately getting my calories burned that way...MFP and other sites seem to overestimate burned calories. If you are overestimating and then eating back those calories it could be why you aren't seeing the results you want.

    Good Luck to you. Your profile pic is adorable! :)

    i've thought about just doing cardio, but i kinda wanted to get in the habit of this stuff, so i decided to do it all. haha.
    as far as eating goes, i tend to eat what i want just within the calorie limit that was given me, just to keep me from binging on my favorite things.

    heart monitors seem to be so expensive, but i think i might have found one at walmart for about 30 dollars, which doesn't seem too bad. so if i can save up some money i'll be investing in it.

    and thanks so much!
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    The same reason you can't spot reduce, you may not be measuring the spots that are actually losing fat.

    You are putting a tremendous load on your body and asking it to improve - and that improvement does not have weight loss as a side effect.
    You are storing more energy, glucose and water, because you are asking your body to do more exercise.
    You are retaining water in muscle that is being torn and trying to repair.

    So several reasons you would be gaining weight from all these workouts.
    That is probably balancing out fat you are losing in areas you are not measuring.

    Everyday at full steam will just cause a workout plateau too, since you aren't allowing your body to actually have a chance to repair and recovery from what you are giving it.

    all the people i asked around me said i should be trying to work out every day, but they're just teenagers and young adults, like myself. should i be resting more?

    Yes. It will take you longer to get to that state as teenager, but your low eating should make it happen faster too. So balance there with older folks.

    If not a true rest day, at least a day that is much less stressful, so body has a chance to rebuild stronger. That's why you workout usually, for improvement. If the body can't, all you are getting is increased stress and related hormones, and more calorie burn.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    When I started I only did cardio every day. I don't eat back my exercise calories but a lot of people do. That is up to you. I have lost consistently doing this. I have since moved on to Zumba, 30DS and now I'm doing Insanity. I have not done weights, not yet, I want to lose more fat first before that.

    The less you have to lose, the harder it is. You aren't "overweight" so you won't see instant results like those of us who started out overweight or even obese. Keep in mind that you are definitely being healthier.

    Someone mentioned weighing food. I do that also. I do not always eat good but I weigh and portion out accordingly. I just got an HRM from heartratemonitors.com. I feel that I am more accurately getting my calories burned that way...MFP and other sites seem to overestimate burned calories. If you are overestimating and then eating back those calories it could be why you aren't seeing the results you want.

    Good Luck to you. Your profile pic is adorable! :)

    i've thought about just doing cardio, but i kinda wanted to get in the habit of this stuff, so i decided to do it all. haha.
    as far as eating goes, i tend to eat what i want just within the calorie limit that was given me, just to keep me from binging on my favorite things.

    heart monitors seem to be so expensive, but i think i might have found one at walmart for about 30 dollars, which doesn't seem too bad. so if i can save up some money i'll be investing in it.

    and thanks so much!

    Don't waste your money on cheap HRM for the purpose of calorie burn. It won't be anywhere near accurate as possible anyway.
    And lack of features will probably aggravate you anyway.