7 Weeks and ZERO weight lost even from the first week. SO LOST.

[CheyenneAttalie]

Hello all,

I'm at a complete loss on how to continue forward.

I have an active job, i work both night and day shifts for 12 hours, i hit the gym 4-5 times a week on top of that. At first i was eating 1200 cal, slowly up to 1600. I do 45-60 min of weight training, break a sweat, very little breaks in between exercises. Mainly my break consists of the time it takes to move to a new machine or switch out weights/positions. I do cardio or HIIT 3x a week and walk or light cardio all but one day a week(true rest day). 

I'm 23, 5'5", 138lb.
I roughly walk 12k steps a day, i eat VERY healthy. 

Average meals always look like this:

Breakfast:
6 egg whites, 2 slices turkey bacon, 2 pieces of sprouted toast w/ cream cheese.

or

2 egg whites 1 whole egg, chicken sausage, 2 slices turkey bacon

Lunch:

4oz of lean meat(i eat ground turkey,chicken, or fish) 1-1/2 cups of veggie, one fruit (apple, banana, or orange, avocado etc.) healthy carb, like beans.

Dinner: Same as lunch no fruit, no carb besides a veggie.

Snacks: protein bar, fruit, veggies, tuna, harvest snaps baked snap peas, cashews etc.

Everything i eat is at least 90% organic, if not its non gmo, no hormones, nitrates, antibiotics etc. All non startchy veggies, no cooking in butter, if i do cook with oil i measure it out. I own many food scales and i measure EVERY gram. I take Vitamin B,D, flaxseed, fiber, omega-3, and a multi vitamin everyday to ensure i'm getting nutrients and minerals.

I have lost weight before following this same routine. I stopped going to the gym and logging food when i gained about 13lbs after being on depo, but i was so set in my ways of eating i never stopped eating healthy. i want to be down to 120lb. I have been logging my weight for 7+ weeks, but NO WEIGHT LOSS, none! Even at the beginning when i logged cals and hit the gym, from the first week on nothing has budged.. Whats happening? I burn around 2500 on average, rest days maybe 2100, very active days 2800-3000. The only thing i noticed was my shoulder/delts being more visible. I havent lost much muscle if any, My clothes pretty much fit the same, except pants, still tight, i'm so frustrated.

Thanks 🙂

[Dominique]

First off, your current weight puts you at BMI 23.0, right in the middle of the normal weight range, so you’re not in a bad place to begin with.

The primary driver of weight loss are calories. You can eat all the healthy, organic, non-GMO food you want, if you are not in a caloric deficit, you won’t lose weight. If you have seven consecutive weeks of eating a certain quantity of food and having a given overall activity level, and you haven’t lost nor gain any weight, then you know that intake is your maintenance level for your current activity, regardless of what your Fitbit says about burned calories. 2500-3000 calories sound very high for you (using this online calculator, you would burn 2625 calories at the "extreme" activity level, which would be a lot more than an average of 12k steps). If you really want to lose weight, you must eat less while moving the same, or move more while eating the same. It looks like you’re already quite active, so the former option is probably more realistic. OTOH, 1200-1600 sounds very low given your activity level. Are you a permanent dieter?

Another thing that comes to mind is sleep and stress management. Working long shifts (especially with night shifts) makes getting proper / sufficient sleep more difficult, which in turn has a negative impact on weight loss (increased appetite, elevated cortisol etc.). Make sure you are able to recover properly from your workouts. Maybe you’re overreaching and should consider doing less rather than more, goven your current job/schedule. 

[CheyenneAttalie]

Yes, i know i'm within range but i'm much happier and comfortable at 120lb-125lb. Especially with my trip to hawaii this year.

Yeah, my goal each day is to hit 2500 cal per day, and like i said i work 12 hour shifts where i'm on my feet all day and lifting 15-20lbs for a few hours then at the gym for 60-120 mins a day. I try to burn a lot of calories because i like to eat! hahaha
I follow calculations of many different calculators for BMR, and TDEE, they label me between 1500-1750. Its hard to guess where my BMR is, i have a lot more muscle than most, and its hard to explain my activity level to these online calculators. I always underestimate for them just in case.
I eat healthy as more of a mindset, i dont just want to be fit, i want to be healthy inside and out its a lifestyle. I average 12k-15k at work without the gym.

I do try and get 7-8 hours of sleep, that leaves little to no social time, but i find time on days off. I have a fear that my hormones are screwed up from the constant switching from nights and days, i'm trying to balance them. Not really sure what's up with my body this time around.

[GershonSurge]

@CheyenneAttalie,

Nice summary of your situation. 

I agree with @Dominique that your weight is fine. Of course, you can determine that better by a visual examination.

I've never seen the calorie equation violated with any type of diet. Anecdotally, I'm convinced the body goes into a starvation mode if a person reduces their calories too much, but I haven't seen any reliable research to prove this. This doesn't seem to be your situation.

You seem to have fallen victim to the myth that you need a lot of protein. Ninety five percent laborers who work 12 hours a day only need 5% of their calories from protein. Ten percent covers 99.9%. Twelve to thirteen percent covers virtually everyone, including those who are building muscle. If a person gets most of their protein from animal products, any more causes cancer to grow.

Fat serves no useful function except to cause fat cells to grow. You didn't post your macros, but I'm guessing it's 30 to 40%. Anything more than about 8% is excess. If you don't burn it off as you eat it, the excess will go to fat cells and cause you to crave more food.

Your diet is low in complex carbs. The important thing about vegetables of all kinds is they contain vital nutrients along with the synergistic nutrients we need to make them work well in our body. Anytime a person eats excess fat or protein, they are missing out on essential nutrients only contained in vegetables. 

You can take supplements, but it's like taking nitro without the glycerin. Supplements are often harmful if a vitamin is ingested in isolation from the other nutrients contained in the natural foods. 

There is only one way of eating that has been proven in many peer reviewed studies to prevent, arrest, or reverse the top 15 causes of death in most people. That is a whole food, plant based diet. 

1. No animal products - The ratio of animal products eaten to vegetable products eaten cuts through all the other markers to predict the onset of degenerative diseases. The fewer animal products a person eats, the healthier they get. This relationship goes down to virtually zero.

2. No added vegetable oils - they are simply fat we don't need. They accelerate the growth of cancer for those who eat animal products.

3. Eat food as close as possible to its natural state. Frozen vegetables are nutritionally fine. I find them expensive and tasteless.

4. Starches should be the main source of calories. Potatoes, rice, whole grains, esp. oatmeal, lentils, corn, etc. 

It's important to understand carbs, even refined sugar that causes other problems, cannot be converted to fat except in tiny amounts. It will give a person more energy so they are motivated to exercise more, be converted to heat, or reduce the appetite so they aren't consumed.

Don't take my word for any of this. Given the information you've given, I'm certain you have studied a lot. I suggest reading  The China Study, Revised and Expanded Edition: The most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss, and Long-Term Health. You will find references for my claims in this book. 

You will find out about the over 350 peer reviewed articles and studies Dr. Campbell wrote and their implications for the healthiest way of eating. Your weight will naturally drop without calorie counting to a set point that is right for you. It will likely be somewhere between the bottom and top of the Met Life recommendation, which contains a 5 pound allowance for clothes.

Muscles will grow with virtually any type of diet as long as the resistance training is done. The same for aerobic capacity. The one exception I found in my reading is "strongmen" from the 1800's who starved themselves to be skinny. 

[Baltoscott]

Hi @CheyenneAttalie -- agreeing with @Dominique that regardless of what fitbit and your food logging says, you probably are not really at a 1000 calorie daily deficit or you would be losing weight.  (I notice you don't mention what you drink.  No alcohol, coffee drinks, soda, juices etc over the past seven weeks?).  

I think shift work is really hard to deal with because it is hard to trust your hunger cues.  And if you are trying to lose weight, you'll be hungry some of the time. In your situation, with meal times changing a lot, maybe you are hungry most of the time.  In that state, the accuracy of food logging really drops.

My suggestion would be to drop the snacks and move from three to four (maybe five) meals a day.  Plan the fourth (or fourth and fifth) meal like you do with the other three, and try to give yourself 3-4 hours (or more) between meals so that you learn what is real hunger is (as opposed to grabbing a cereal bar or a bag of nuts whenever you have time or kind of feel hungry).  What you are eating sounds pretty good to me, except I would add another 2 cups of veggies to each meal. That won't add much in the way of calories but it is delicious, good for your, and will up the bulk which helps with hunger. 

And even though it probably doesn't make sense to you at this point, once you get away from snacks for a month or so you might consider upping the total calories at bit.  I suggest this because I think your food logging will improve with scheduled meals and more veggies, and that you will only be adding back in some of the calories that are probably not getting recorded now because of snacks.  And, if your food logging really is already as accurate as you think, eating a bit more will move your metabolism from what may be near starvation mode due to chronically under-eating to something closer to normal.

[CheyenneAttalie]

Yeah, I’ve alwata been cautious about how taking what my Fitbit says into account. That’s why I stick to 1500-1600, shooting for a -500 cal deficit.

all I drink is water, and a cup of ginger or green tea 2-3x a week and maybe 1 cup of coffee a week. Don’t like soda, or juice, and I quit drinking energy drinks about 4 months ago.

yes it is a struggle but I always weigh out my food and bring it to work, I never have anything more to eat so I can’t over eat. I prep my meals the day before my work week, day of I fill in blanks of macros with tuna, fruit, bars etc. 

I eat veggies with every meal including breakfast, but I will definitely add more because I do love veggies!! 🙂

i will give more meals a shot! Thank you for the advice!

[CheyenneAttalie]

I’ve done a ton of research as well on “starvation mode” but like you I can’t find proof. Unfortunately it’s an industry like anything else and handing out the truth to weight loss produces no money.

i like to stick to higher protein because I lift weights a lot, at a heavy weight and intense regimen. Plus I feel less cravings for sweets and more full after a meal.

ive looked into the cons of meat vs plant protein but I feel with my schedule and lifestyle its hard to find substitutes.

Mom interested in it for sure, I eat a ton of veggies, go for almond or coconut milk when I need milk, no dairy, and plant based protein bars/shakes.

my macros are about like this:

fat:30%

carbs: 30%

protein: 40%

ive been slowly adding more carbs into my diet, I’ve noticed my body needs complex carbs to feel more energy, and improve my attitude. Unfortunately(maybe not too much of a bad thing though) my body is highly sensitive to simple carbs so sometimes I get bored of brown rice, sweet potatoes, oats, etc and I skip them for apples with nut butter, carrots and hummus or a serving of almonds or cashews.

i will look Into some of those studies, thank you!

[emili]

you already have so much good advice here that I am not sure you need another voice in the conversation but for what its worth... even if you are that active and even if you eat healthy doesn't mean you are eating below maintenance. I would reduce your calorie intake and see what happens. I know for me if I ate 1600 calories every day, burning around 2000 every day, I would not lose. I would stay at current weight which is what I do now. When I was losing, I made adjustments every week to ensure the scale kept moving. you are also not big to begin with so your metabolism and calorie expenditure is slower.. you have to adjust for that.

[CheyenneAttalie]

I will definitely take all the help i can get, i have done so much research for so many years not only for myself but because i just find it interesting! I love to see people's opinions, perhaps i may have overlooked a detail or misunderstood something!

Problem with that is that's where my issue started, i was eating 1100-1200, 1300 MAX for the first 6 weeks. Only the last week or so did i up my intake( sorry for not saying that originally, i have so many factors i forget some!) Someone recommended i try upping intake because i'm not fueling my body enough. I work a 12 hour laborious job and still hit the gym, plus twice a day on days off. I have to be burning more than others in my frame/age group. I've tried 1200, 1500, and 1700. Should i try calorie cycling? 

[Daves_Not_Here]

@CheyenneAttalie - very interesting conversation, thanks for starting it.  Of all the challenges that people discuss here, the case of people who cannot lose weight in spite of a sustained calorie deficit is the most puzzling to me.  In a lot of those cases, people don't carefully track their eating, so I assume they underestimate their intake.  But in your case, you have been measuring rigorously, so I can't make sense of it.  Seems like a violation of the laws of physics.

Couple of tentative thoughts:  you've been so active and fit for a long time that I suspect you already have a relatively low body-fat percentage.  To go from 138 to 120 will be a 13% overall reduction in weight.  It seems that cannot all come solely from your already low body fat -- you will need to lose muscle.  But it seems your gym activity will maintain or build muscle.  

Also, being as fit as you are, I would guess your body is very efficient during exercise and you (or Fitbit) could be overestimating your calorie burn.  And with your reduced calorie intake, is it possible that your BMR is significantly reduced?

You are probably familiar with Dr. Jason Fung -- https://youtu.be/nwE4D8Xe8JA -- he contends that fasting (versus calorie restriction) tends to increase metabolism while sparing muscle.  Fasting seems incompatible with your exercise regimen, but I'd suggest that if what you are doing is not working, then maybe a drastic change would be worth trying.

My personal anecdotes:  my weight loss accelerated when I reduced my daily exercise to 15 minutes of very light "wake-up" activity.  The two people I know who went from overweight to rail thin did it with fasting -- to maintain, one eats keto and the other eats plant-based.

[HansenAD]

Hello, it sounds like you are gaining muscle which weighs more than fat.  Have you tried measuring yourself?