why am i not losing weight? PLEASE help!!!

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mcherri
mcherri Posts: 22 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
its been about 3 weeks now since i started mfp, and i have done everything that i'm supposed to do.... i never go over my calories, i work out literally every day, i eat the calories i burn too... maybe i shoulldnt?? also i'm eating much healthier than i used to. i just don't know what im doing wrong!!! i just got on the scale and i've gained a pound back.... i started at 138 then a week ago i weighed in at an even 136 and thought that was great, so im back up to an even 137... i don't understand why in 3 weeks i've only lost one pound.... in fact, i've lost less than a pound because when i started i rounded up!!! what the hell is going on?????

can someone pleaase help me with this? bbecause i am really about to give up...
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Replies

  • dzvinka82
    dzvinka82 Posts: 33
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    It took me 6 weeks before I lost any weight. Stick with it, and you will see results!
  • LianaG1115
    LianaG1115 Posts: 453 Member
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    I don't know why either I've hit a plateau too so I changed my intake of calories around and it seems its still at a plateau so I'm changing my exercise, I hope it works!q
  • davlaur
    davlaur Posts: 34
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    Maybe you should your full calorie intake each day
  • kris4chloe
    kris4chloe Posts: 245 Member
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    how tall are you? if you are taller then you may be at goal and dont need to lose, if you are shorter then that is not the case. need more info.

    how many calories, how much exercise. could be that you are not eating enough for your activity and your body is holding on, or it could be that you are miscalculating what you are eating.

    what about your measurements? sometimes our bodies will not show a loss on the scale but inches go down due to increased exercise, particularly weight training.

    really need more info. :)
  • shorty35565
    shorty35565 Posts: 1,425 Member
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    Have u been takin measurements as well? A lot of times u can lose inches, but no weight. The scale isn't the only way to measure success.
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
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    You don't weigh much. If you're at a healthy BMI it's all got to be tracked closely. I would skip the 'eating back' stuff. What deficit are you trying to eat at? If it's 500/day, you're about on track. It takes a while to shake out to a 1 lb/week average.

    If your exercise routine or intensity is new, that messes with the scale.
  • stroud62455
    stroud62455 Posts: 4
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    Hi there!

    I do understand waht you are going through becuase I was there myslef! Here is what I discovered. I exercised each day, thought I was eating correctly, and watched my intake of sugars and fats religiously! Guess what? I did not lose the weight. Why? Becuase i was still consuming too many carbs! Now that I have that under control, the weight disappeared! It was just that simple for me. Take a look at the foods you eat and you will see that carbs are hidden in everything. Be sure to keep the good carbs, but try and eliminate the bad ones! Hope this helps you!
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
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    Sometimes people or the database overestimate calories burned. Try eating no more than 1/2 your exercise calories back.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    You have started working out everyday.

    Diet is for weight loss.
    Exercise is for body improvement and heart health, and may or may not support weight loss.

    Since you are asking your body to improve, many of those first changes are storing more glucose for energy you are asking your body to do - that is weight gain.

    Just keep steady, at some point you won't be placing such a load on your body for improvement, and weight will drop.

    In the meantime, measure the sizes of all your limbs and hips/torso/chest - because that is where you will see improvement first since you are exercising so much now.
  • Norinella
    Norinella Posts: 31
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    My nutritionist recommended NOT eating the exercise calories back when I plateau. It is really really hard. But maybe you should try that.
    Do you eat breakfast? I never used to eat before I exercised, and now I know it is important. Your body needs to wake up and start burning calories right away, even if it is only a few crackers. I vary it. Sometimes a half a granola bar, half a banana, or half a hard-boiled egg.
  • islandnutshel
    islandnutshel Posts: 1,143 Member
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    You don't weigh much. If you're at a healthy BMI it's all got to be tracked closely. I would skip the 'eating back' stuff. What deficit are you trying to eat at? If it's 500/day, you're about on track. It takes a while to shake out to a 1 lb/week average.

    If your exercise routine or intensity is new, that messes with the scale.

    The above is prob correct. There is a lack of information when your diary is closed, but unless you are realy short you are close to your goal weight. So your calorie deficit won't be that high because MFP won't let you eat below 1200, and that's a good thing. So if your calorie defficit is set at say 500, then you can safely leave uneaten as much as 500 exercise calories.
    And take measurements. You need results you can measure, so cloths fitting better, smaller measurments and feeling healthy are all great indicators that your work is paying off.
  • dvisser1
    dvisser1 Posts: 788 Member
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    What is your height? Height, age and body composition play a lot into how your body will react. 137 lbs is not very heavy unless you're fairly short. Also, if you have only started exercising significantly since starting on MFP 3 weeks ago then your body is toning / trying to build lean muscle mass, which will cause you to retain some extra water.

    As already suggested, get a soft tape measure (like sold for about $1 with sewing supplies in Walmart or wherever) and take measurements. The scale is a very poor judge of health and fitness, body weight is only one part of it. (look at my profile pic for reference. I'm 6'2" and it was taken at 230 lbs, which is the bottom end of obese per BMI. Do I look obese? If weight was all I cared about, I'd think I was obese even though I'm clearly not.)

    Progress pics are also a good way to track. You see yourself everyday and the changes are gradual so you may not notice all the changes until you look at a picture of you from a month ago.
  • 101hellokittys
    101hellokittys Posts: 32
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    maybe you accidentally put maintain your weight rather than lose weight. so you should check that. also, you don't weigh much.
  • germaic
    germaic Posts: 19 Member
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    Don't give up, it seems that I won't lose weight and then a few pounds will drop off. If you are new to exercising then you are probably replacing fat with muscle and muscle weighs more then fat, that's why all of the personal trainers don't suggest getting on the scale when you first begin. Instead of relying on the scale so much, monitor how your clothes are fitting, they may be starting to loosen up some and that is a sign you are losing fat! Keep up the good work, you'll see results.
  • mcherri
    mcherri Posts: 22 Member
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    to everyone that asked..... i am short, i'm 5'2", i'm 22 years old, anddd is chunky a body type, not sure what mine is, and im at 1200 calories... i usually eat around 1500 though after the gym and i do only cardio stuff there. i do the elliptical for 30 minutes as fast as i can for that amt of time, and then i walk as fast as i can for an hour on the treadmill uphill. and my clothes arent' fitting any differently so far. i keep looking at myself, and i don't look any different. i thought abouit taking some measurements, but in 3 weeks do you really think stuff has shrunk any? i dont know... i guess maybe i should try not eating everything i burn off at the gym, but i'm always so hungry at 1200.... this is really the first diet i've been on ever and it's really a shock to my system because i used to eat soooooooo much food, like big southern meals every meal of the day every day and up until about a year ago, i didn't go over 108 and that was a good weight for me, i guess i carry my weight poorly, bc i see other girls at 108 and i think they're about to die.. anyways, i gained 30 pounds in like a matter of months it seemed like... i don't know what happened, i guess i'm just getting older...anyways, i've been going off the machines at the gym, it takes my weight and then spits out calories burned, so i'm sure it's not all that accurate for everyone, but i assumed since i've just started working out, it would be a fair estimate.

    you know, my sister has a hypothyroid condition... is that genetic? could that explain sudden weightgain like i've had in the past year or so?
  • mcherri
    mcherri Posts: 22 Member
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    oh! also! i'm on a medication that makes me crave sweet things obsessively, so i know my diet is a little carb heavy, but literallly if all i could eat was sugar all day, i would still crave for more at night. ive cut back on my sugar intake tremendously, and i eat a lot of fruit now, i wonder if that's preventing me from losing weight though....
  • ise311
    ise311 Posts: 107 Member
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    I'm at the same problem too. Didn't eat much everyday, still exercise sometimes, but it just wont go down.
  • HHackney
    HHackney Posts: 9
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    Don't let a lack of scale results get you down. When I first started changing my lifestyle to something less couch obsessed and more healthy I gained 10 pounds before any weight started coming off. Luckily I had a personal trainer at the time (He came free with my gym membership) who told me to ignore the scale and instead focus on my measurements. He was right, I was losing inches in huge quantities! And after I kept at it pounds started melting off quickly too.

    But you mentioned that you are on medication too. Some medicines can cause all sorts of things that can effect your weight. Weigh yourself the same time every day (like after you pee in the morning) You could be fluctuating 1-3 pounds depending on how ....ahem....full...you are in the morning.
  • yourenotmine
    yourenotmine Posts: 645 Member
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    If you really gained 30 pounds over just a few months with no dietary or lifestyle changes, that's likely medically significant. You should talk to your doctor about it.

    Did you say you're exercising that much every day? An hour and a half is a lot to do with no rest days, and I would think a lot even with rest, if you weren't already doing a lot of activity. Along with the decrease in food, your body probably doesn't know what's going on all of a sudden. Give it a minute. I know it's hard, but try to measure yourself and enjoy some fitness goals and other non-scale type benefits.
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
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    this is really the first diet i've been on ever and it's really a shock to my system because i used to eat soooooooo much food, like big southern meals every meal of the day every day and up until about a year ago.. anyways, i gained 30 pounds in like a matter of months it seemed like... i don't know what happened, i guess i'm just getting older...anyways, i've been going off the machines at the gym, it takes my weight and then spits out calories burned, so i'm sure it's not all that accurate for everyone, but i assumed since i've just started working out, it would be a fair estimate.

    you know, my sister has a hypothyroid condition... is that genetic? could that explain sudden weightgain like i've had in the past year or so?

    I don't know about hypo but 30 lbs. in a year is quite a bit but not impossible with eating big Southern meals every meal of the day every day. About a half pound a week, or 250 calories extra per day. Hypo could make you suddenly burn that much less, maybe? It's likely you started moving less and/or eating more, too.

    Seriously, don't base your diet decisions on gym machines' calorie estimates.

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