Not Losing Weight

[SunsetRunner]

Good afternoon!

I've been going at this by myself, but I finally decided to stop in and see what others may say.

In the past (while I was in college), I was very active, but a couple of years ago I got a full-time job, marriage and all the fun responsibilities, so I stopped working out like I used to (7 days a week, with breaks only if I had a cold).

I've been bringing myself back into it, but the weight doesn't seem to be coming off. It's frustrating! I only weight myself once a week on a Monday, to log it before I start the week off. For the past 3 of those, I barely saw any change, apart from 2 pounds initially.

Hence, a question of how accurate is FitBit tracking. I tend to presume it's not AWFULLY accurate, in terms of calorie burn during exercise, but what about other aspects?

I work out 6 days a week for 1.5 hours (intensive circuit for 30 minutes & elliptical for 30 minutes before and after that), my average calorie intake for a day is around 1500, which is a comfortable range for me, and allows me the benefit of eating a bit more on the weekends, when I want to have a meal out with family, for example.

Still, the fact that the weight isn't coming off is frustrating. What could be an issue? Just looking for feedback from people who've been through the process.

My averages / day:

Steps - 12000

Floors - 7

Miles - 5.2

Calorie Burn - 4000

Active Minutes - 125

Stats:

Height - 6ft

Weight, atm: 262lbs

To note after all that: I do have a lot of muscle. I did close combat martial arts for a while, so I have absolutely zero issue with exercise in terms of intensity (it's hard as hell, but my body can manage it still). Obviously, it's not perfect and I want to die after each workout, but I don't feel like I'm working at max capacity, yet.

I don't feel restricted with food, either, but I am wondering if FitBit tracks calories well. I eat almost the same thing every day though, and it's fine accourding to MyFitnessPal, as well.

Any ideas?

[Baltoscott]

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@Kayco wrote:

I have an add in for the weighing section of your post.

I was doing some research as I was seeing little-to-no change on the scale on my weekly weigh-ins. Sometimes I would be thrilling if I was down that 1lb, but other weeks I would have a crazy fluctuation (For ex would weigh 153 one day and 161 next week) even if I weighed myself the same time each time.

I thought, "Man, I'm putting in all of this work and it doesn't seem to be working"

So I looked up some info:

If you would like to keep track of your weight, it is suggested you weigh yourself the same time every day and keep a log (like a graph) in a journal and put a little dot as to where you weigh.

I set mine up with my goal at the bottom and about 10 lbs passed where I am now so my verticle axis would be 140-170 and my horizontal would be the days of the week.

This allows you to see the natural fluctuations your body goes through (alcohol consumption, what kind of meal you had before bed, bloating, etc) while still being able to see an avg weight per week.

For example, my first week of tracking looked like this: June 27 - 157 June 28 - 156.2 June 29 - 156 June 30 - 156 July 1 - 155.4 July 2 - 158 July 3 - 155.7 July 4 - 155.4 July 5- 155 July 6 - 156 July 7 - 154 July 8 - 154

After your week, you find the average.

Regardless of fluctuations (which are always going to happen) you should see a decrease week to week if you keep up the cal deficit.

It is happening, your body just needs time to adjust.

Also, try not to stress! Cortisol levels never helped no one!!!!!

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Good advice @Kayco.

I think weekly or moving averages of daily weigh-ins are a much better indicator of progress or 'true' weight than the once/week or occasional weigh-ins.  I know a lot of people fear the scale when they are trying to lose weight and can find daily changes hard to handle mentally, but focusing on the weekly or moving average evens out the fluctuations and makes the metric more useful. 

The only thing I would add to your post is that if you log your daily weigh-ins in your fitbit app, it will calculate weekly averages for you.  Trendweight (link in my signature) is a website you can link to your fitbit account that is a little more sophisticated in calculating averages; and "Happy Scale" is an iPhone app that will do the same.  

[SunsetRunner]

I am about 5'10, just turned 50, weigh around 220 and I was 247 about 2 1/2 months ago. I have dropped 27 pounds and here is how I did it. My goal is to get under 200 pounds by the end of the year which seems I am on track.

1. I stopped drinking cokes and literally shut down all sugar in take, read the labels on everything you buy, this really helps. Drink water, water and more water. 

2. I went to Academy and bought some new work out clothes, don't go cheap on the shoes, I highly recommend Brooks which are fantastic to walk in.. Recently to include my purchase of a Fitbit,,, all of this should help motivate you to exercise.

3. I started off by walking about a mile a day in the evening with out any supplements, do not get a Gym membership, waste of money in the beginning.. I am up to 2 to 3 miles a day and I walk in the afternoon to get a good sweat going now that I can handle it.  

4. Do not shock your system by completely cutting carbs, slowly work into it, give yourself a week or two to eliminate your bad eating habits. What I mean by this, don't starve yourself, but also don't eat a cheese burger. Eat salads with Chicken in them, eat a burger with out the bun and cheese. Always order water when going out to eat. Chicken is a really good source of protein, not fried, stay away from all fried foods. 

5. Don't weigh yourself everyday and especially before you go to bed, do it in the morning because this motivates you versus keeping you up all night.

6. Buy a nice cruiser type bicycle and ride on the weekends, find a nice bike trail or park to ride on, stay away from the highway spandex crew and their 1000 dollar bikes, not ready for that yet and I don't think I will ever be, lol. 

7. Don't give up!! if it doesn't start coming off right away, at your height and weight you are going to have to work through the water weight first, then the excess weight comes next. Try to stay away from carb counting the first month and just eat sensible, we all know what is bad for us, just apply common sense versus carb counting. 

8. It didn't happen for me the first 2 weeks and then it just started to vanish and I didn't even realize it until my Family whom I haven't seen in a few months could tell the difference, that will also motivate you with all the positive comments. 

9. GOOD LUCK! Hope this helps from some one who is fighting the urges every day.  

[marydoll74]

I can't loose weight I just bought myself skipping ropes. Hoping it will help. Not much time to exercise with busy scedual. On feet for over 14 hours a.day. Don't eat bread or potatoes or pasta.Cahill keep adding weight. I do have interactive thyroid

[Dominique]

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@marydoll74 wrote:

I can't loose weight I just bought myself skipping ropes. Hoping it will help. Not much time to exercise with busy scedual. On feet for over 14 hours a.day. Don't eat bread or potatoes or pasta.Cahill keep adding weight. I do have interactive thyroid

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If your two jobs keep you on your feet 14+ hours a day, failure to lose weight is not caused by lack of exercise. You should pay attention to your diet, though the items you are refraining from eating (bread, potatoes, pasta) should not be a problem for someone with a high activity level. Also make sure you’re getting enough quality sleep and are keeping stress under control (not easy when juggling with two jobs). Was your slow thyroid diagnosed by a doctor, and if so, were you prescribed medication for it? 

My rope skipping hero is Floyd Mayweather 

[marydoll74]

Hi thanks. Yes. I basically only way meat. Veg and salad. Yes doctor diagnosis under thyroid. And medication 100 mg thyroxin.

[Baltoscott]

Hi @marydoll74 

Your thyroid may make it harder for you than some of the rest of us, but if you are continuing to gain weight over time (daily change isn't meaningful because of changes in water weight, but increases in your weekly or monthly averages of daily weigh-ins indicate real weight increase). 

Meal planning (prep and take your meals to work with you) might help ensure you are not eating more than your body burns.  Yes, it is easy to overeat bread/potatoes/pasta and that is part of why it is popular to avoid them, but it is easy to overeat other things too.  Two of the best ways to be better about how many calories you are really eating is to log as you eat, or plan your and log meals at the beginning of the day and don't eat or drink any calories not in your budget.  

It takes time.  Keep at it, makes little changes that you can build into your life without noticing, and you'll see results.

[litlepick]

Once you are medicated thyroid levels are brought to normal, and low thyroid is no longer a factor in weight loss. Any failure to lose weight (body fat) is caused by excess consumption of calories in relation to your calorie needs.

Its easy to over consume calories, meat is typically higher in calories then starchy foods.
for example
one cup of ground beef is 500 calories
one cup of chicken is 400 calories
one cup of cooked pasta is 200 calories
one cup of cooked potato is 200 calories
one cup of cooked rice is 200 calories
one cup of cubed bread is 100 calories

[Kelvin15]

Hello the best solution now is to find a weight loss product that can fit into your responsibilities meaning even if you are not exercising, using diet watchers and all others you still loose weight.

I would be recommending this it's fast because it controls your appetite, blocks and burn fat and also boost your metabolism.

Hope it works for you and others.

Moderator edit: word choice 

[embie]

Start tracking your macros, not calories.    Check out the Faster Way to Fat Loss program.  Best program that I have tried and it really works.

[embie]

Maybe you are exercising too much and your body has adrenal fatigue.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @embie nice to see you around. I would like to know more information about what is adrenal fatigue. Do you have an article that we can check to read more about it?

Thanks!