Discouraged. What am I doing wrong?

[KimShea]

Feeling really frustrated.  I got my fitbit on my birthday - Dec 2.  I've been doing well on tracking steps and food on MFP, but I'm not seeing the scale move at all.  It feels like why should I bother with all this effort if I'm not going to get any results?!

On 12/2 I weighed 177 on my old scale.

12/30 I used the Aria scale I bought the night before and weiged 178.4 and fat percent 39.6%

Fluctuated around since then but today's numbers: 179, fat % 39.9%.

I really don't get it.  I've been logging all my food with a couple excptions where I may have forgotten.  I've been getting 10K steps in.Yesterday I had perfect little green circles in everything - 15K steps, 5.78 miles, burned 2450 calories, and the real kicker, I forced myself to go up my dang stairs 26 times, which nearly killed me.  106 active minutes.  and ate 1455 calories. 

Steps in last week or so:

Saturday 5047 (I don't do as well on weekends)

Sunday 6568

Monday 7419

Tuesday 11215

Wednesday 10614

Thursday 15254

I feel like I need to lower carbs, but now I keep reading that's no longer what you're supposed to do.

Is walking and going up and down stairs and trying to eat right just not enough?

Trying to find a positive - until this week my weekly average weight was going down, albeit by a fraction of a pound each week.

According to the dashboard, it looks like my resting heart rate is dropping.  High was around 83, and today it's 76.  It's been gradually dropping.

When I started at the beginning of December I was literally limping around with blisters all over my feet at the end of each day.  Today, I can do the 10 or 15 K and feel pretty decent. 

So those I think are good things.

What is working for everyone?  I need some ideas!

[awood08]

I'm pretty sure you started at the same weight as me, and you are about the same as me now. Seems like we've been on the same path. I'm stalling too now, and I can't help but think our bodies need a reset. I was eating 3 meals a day with 2 snacks. Now I'm doing 5 small meals a day with a lot more protein and fat. Low fat and calorie was great in the beginning but now as my body is converting more into muscle as opposed to loosing fat it seems like taking in the extra protein and fat and going easy on the carbs and sodium seems to help me better.

Don't get down, don't feel like you shouldn't bother with the effort. You've come so far already, and this is NORMAL. It happens to a lot of us.

I'd suggest changing up your eating style. If you are a 3 meal a day person, then throw in some snacks. As you lose the weight, your body burns less calories naturally and your metabolism needs a constant boost.

[Mrthekla]

Don't beat yourself up, you've achieved some positives already. Getting more active, as evidenced by your lowered resting heart rate is having a positive impact on your cardiovascular health. This greatly reduces your risk factors for many health issues. So, congratulate yourself on that!

Losing weight can be tricky. I'm not big on the fad diets, they all lack in one way or another. I've been focusing on tracking my choices, and trying to find some balance. The first couple of weeks I noticed I eat too much too often. Like 2 or 3 days a week I was getting more calories than I burned. The sources were pretty easy to identify (booze, oreos and ice cream!). 

The next couple of weeks I focused on limiting the sugars. Note I said limiting, not eliminating. I like my booze, oreos and ice cream. Not going to live without them. But, I need to be realistic and say I can't compensate by burning that many extra calories through excercise. I'm curently working on getting my protien intake up and carbs a bit lower, which happened pretty quickly as I reduced the sugars. 

I'm eating 2200 calories a day, and targeting 50% carbs, 25% protein and 25% fat. I burn about 2600 per day, so even if I'm off a little on my calorie counts, I don't fret too much. If I want to have a 'fun' friday night with dinner out and some wine, I'll cut carbs a bit on Wednesday, Thursday and hit the gym pretty hard on Saturday. 

So far I've dropped about 10lbs in a month. I got a little 'grumpy' around week 3, but that seems to be passing now. I hear it's pretty normal to those who are fairly new to weight loss. The good news is I haven't had major sugar cravings. I believe that's because I still eat what I want, I'm just making a lot from scratch and controlling portions and proportions to achieve my dietary mix. Breakfast and lunch seem to be the easiest places for me to compensate for dinner. I like having foodie dinners. I'm fine with a protein shake or oatmeal with some mix ins for breakfast and a good salad for lunch. Nuts, cheese, avacados and chicken in the salads make them very satisfying. Every good salad needs some protein and fat otherwise you get hungry again too soon.

Good luck! you are on the right path. Remember to pat yourself on the back for the good things and not beat yourself up about the scale. Just adjust and keep going! 

[maygan33]

you are likely at a plateu...you need to trick your body and speed your metobolism..Ive lived a low carb lifestyle that seems to work for me,but it has to be just that because if I go off I gain rapidly!It sucks sometimes because I really love bread!lol...Lately Ive noticed a change ...Ive been snacking on nuts periodically through the day and that seems to supress my hunger so i dont eat more during meals.also I am really bad at drinking enough water but because the nuts are salty i seem to crave it more hence it causes me to drink more !which ultimately flushes away those calories! Its all in changing it up and tricking your body! If you get in an everyday routine...your body gets use to it and basically stays still or gives up...You have to treat your body as it is like a different adventure everyday which will keep your mind active as well because you will constantly be spontaneous! which spikes endorphins which also help you to reach your goal...dont focus so much on your weight and start focusing on your changes in your lifestyle and how you feel!

[Annie-NH]

You have noticed your resting heart rate dropping and you are up to walking 10k-15k steps without limping. These are good things. 

Depending on how much your activity has changed and what condition your body was in, many changes have taken place.

You are more active and working those muscles, if you are building muscle up and losing body fat the scale may not reflect it, but you should notice how your clothes fit- no longer tight or binding, button up easier, getting baggy.

Since those muscles are expecting to work more they need to keep themselves cool and will store water to do that so the scale might not reflect the change in body compostion, but your clothes should.

As far as your eating goes: are you taking in too much sodium so your body is holding water ?
Are you eating a healthy balanced diet with enough protein so your body doesn't think it is starving?

Are you drinking enough water to flush out excess salt?

My body doesn't handle carbs well and  I loose best when I eliminate potatoes, pasta, rice, bread. 

I eat lean protein and lots of greens, plus fat free sugar free yogurts. 

[Raviv]

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@KimShea wrote:

I feel like I need to lower carbs, but now I keep reading that's no longer what you're supposed to do.

Is walking and going up and down stairs and trying to eat right just not enough?

---

If you think lowering carbs might help, it's worth a try.  There's nothing inherently wrong with eating fewer grams of carbs as long as your calorie intake stays the same.  Just a note that lowering them significantly can bring on headaches, lethargy and even bad breath for a couple of weeks or so, but it's all temporary.

As far as walking and stairs and eating right being enough - it depends.  I will say that exercise is important, but most of our success or failure is made in the kitchen or the drive-thru.  Make sure you're accurately measuring your food, which does mean weighing them, not eyeballing it or using measuring cups.

[BigElephant]

It looked like you are doing the right things on the exercise and keep it up.

Something that actually worked for me is the way that I eat. 

I used to love sugary food and fried food.  I completely cut down on that.

No more ice scream, candies, cookies, etc... I even remove those "processed food" from my diet.  I eat most of the natural food.

You can go online to do calculation on your BMR, but it looks like 1455 should be the right amount.  I don't think you want to eat any less than that.  Eating not enough of calories will have negative effects.

The other things that you want to try is to make sure that you have plenty of rest as your body needs time for resting.  You also want to make sure that you drink a lot of waters.

One thing about exercise is that you can try to do more of muscle tone building.  Muscle burns more calories than fat.  The goal is to reduce the fat % since size of fat is bigger than muscle with same weight.

I started in Oct 2015 at 193 with 22% fat and now it is 177 with 17% fat by doing the above.

Keep it up.  Don't lose hope.  You will get there!!!

[clo]

Can you list your daily calories for the week also?

[emili]

are you sure that eating  1400 calories is the right number for you to lose weight? I realize you are burning calories through movement and it should be OK, but two months in seems too soon for a slow down. Maybe it would help if you brought math into this. so you figure out your BMR- then you figure out your deficit and calorie loss through activity. whatever is left gets filled with protein calories, carbs, fats, etc. But you do the math. So every calorie gets counted through measurement and weight. I am positive you will see results. Probably up to a pound a week depending on your deficit. there is a ton of information out there for how to create a healthy deficit and how to develop a healthy meal plan. just please please please use a credible source. much success to you!