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?

[Dominique]

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@Dschneier wrote:

Unless you're replacing an hour of cardio with an hour of weight training (and I don't mean the ten reps and stand around for three minutes resting variety), you're burning more calories with cardio. 

It's all about heart rate and not either mysterious or complicated. 

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Yes, aerobic exercise typically burns more calories than anaerobic exercise (e.g. resistance training). However, burning calories isn’t the only benefit of physical activity. Physical activity also has positive effects on things like blood pressure, insuline sensitivity, lipids, lean mass retention etc.

Let’s take 4 hypothetical persons of the same age, gender and size: A, B, C and D. Their baseline energy expenditure is 2500 calories. They would burn 500 calories per hour doing cardio training and 250 calories per hour doing weight training.

A is totally sedentary (performs no formal exercise, whether cardio or weights) and eats 2000 calories.

B performs one hour of cardio, doesn’t lift weights and eats 2500 calories.

C performs one hour of weight lifting, no cardio and eats 2250 calories.

D performs 45 minutes of cardio, 45 minutes of weight lifting and eats 2562 calories.

All will achieve the same caloric deficit (500 calories) and therefore lose the same amount of weight. However, they will not achieve the same outcomes in terms of health, fitness and body composition.

Most people would probably agree A will see the least favourable outcome and will leave significant benefits on the table by not performing physical activity.

D, OTOH, would probably see the most overall improvements, but she’s also dedicating more time to her exercising. There’s no such thing as a free lunch.

As to B vs. C, one can argue which approach is best. If time is the main constraint, B can burn the same amount of calories in half the time. Or can exercise for the same amount of time as C, but gets to eat 250 more calories for the same deficit. C, OTOH, is likely to preserve more lean mass than B.

Summa summarum: not all caloric deficits are created equal. Just like not all diets are created equal, even if they translate in the same deficits.  

[SunsetRunner]

I'm all for the *absolute* science of things, and the break down by the numbers, etc. But there's also another factor. Everyone responds differently to diet, and exercise. My bodies response to cardio isn't what I expected. It hindered my weight loss, but gave me a lot of conditioning. Weight lifting made my body respond much more to weight loss.

Also, there's effort too. Someone could do 30 minutes of cardio, one putting more effort into it than the other. The 30 minutes is relative, as the effort you put into your cardio (or weight lifting) makes the real difference.

I'm no expert, but there are so many factors involved it's hard to say what exactly what will work from one person to another. Yes, there are some absolutes, but too many various conditions to  make any program work the same for all people.

Again, I'm no expert.

[bourby]

everybody is different. some ppl will find weights will work better  than cardio for weight loss and some will prefer cardio. both have benefits everybody can use

if you focus on the weight or the calories tho, you can miss alot of whats worth celebrating.

i was doing big walks pushing 50 kilo of kids and pram. my max heart rate dropped from 179 to 115 for the same walk. i no longer get angina. my skin is better as fat is removed from around vital organs.

muscles are starting to pop out. i can pop the pecs. clothes are smaller. there' s more motivation. and its still hard to lose weight. 

these changes can go un noticed if you focus on weight but they are all huge changes. dont just be weight conscious. focus on feeling good. you can weigh over 100 kilo and have an awsome body and be super fit and still fail every bmi test even when ripped.

[SunsetRunner]

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@bourby wrote:

everybody is different. some ppl will find weights will work better  than cardio for weight loss and some will prefer cardio. both have benefits everybody can use

if you focus on the weight or the calories tho, you can miss alot of whats worth celebrating.

i was doing big walks pushing 50 kilo of kids and pram. my max heart rate dropped from 179 to 115 for the same walk. i no longer get angina. my skin is better as fat is removed from around vital organs.

muscles are starting to pop out. i can pop the pecs. clothes are smaller. there' s more motivation. and its still hard to lose weight. 

these changes can go un noticed if you focus on weight but they are all huge changes. dont just be weight conscious. focus on feeling good. you can weigh over 100 kilo and have an awsome body and be super fit and still fail every bmi test even when ripped.

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Exactly! This past month, I went down a notch on my belt. But I lost very little weight. These noon-weight loss-victories are awesome  :-).

I'm also down a pant size and shirt size. 🙂

[YJK]

Thanks for your message. Happy for your results 🙂

[JeffGushue]

I just spent the last 12 weeks using the fitbit app to support weight loss.  I achieved my goal, but would not have had I depended on the in/out differential fitbit prescribed.  I just did my data analysis and determined that the required differential between calories consumed and calories burned was 215% of what science suggests.  Manage the gap, and you will see results..but you have to give it time, and be truthful with yourself, stay positive and realize your body will adapt to lower intake and you will plateau.

[YJK]

Hi Jeff,
Thanks a lot for your thoughtful reply. I will certainly give it a try.Yvonne

[Eagle59]

The composition of your foods make a huge difference on how effectively your body burns calories for fuel. May I recommend something that I am doing and it has made a huge difference in my life. The weight is coming off fast.

https://draxe.com/hub/keto-diet/

[Dominique]

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wrote:

The composition of your foods make a huge difference on how effectively your body burns calories for fuel. May I recommend something that I am doing and it has made a huge difference in my life. The weight is coming off fast.

https://draxe.com/hub/keto-diet/

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"Food composition" usually refers to the actual source/quality of the foods you eat: for instance, do your carbs come from donuts or whole rice, do your fats come from ice-cream or olive oil. You appear to refer to the ketogenic diet, which is more about a certain ratio of macronutrients (high fat, moderate protein, low carb) rather than food composition. AFAIK, the ketogenic diet doesn’t really care whether fats from bacon or olive oil: its premise is that all fats are good, with perhaps the exception of transfats.

There’s nothing magical about the ketogenic diet: if/when it works for weight loss, it’s because it manages to put you in the caloric deficit needed for weight loss, not because of "fuel efficiency". Because of the high fat content, and because fat is highly satiating, a ketogenic diet tends to make you less hungry, even when in a relatively high deficit. Because of the very low  carb content, it tends to be well-suited for folks that are insulin resistant, which is often the case for people who carry a lot of extra weight.

Glad to hear you found an approach that worked for you. It may not necessarily work for everyone else, however.

[YJK]

Thank you, Eagle 59

[Trumpy]

Well done for getting back into the gym that's great.

What I noticed is that you have a huge deficit (calories in - calories burned) and I would be concerned that you are not eating enough calories. Everyone has said log your food and it is so important.

I couldn't work out why I wasn't losing weight recently - I started logging my food - turns out I was eating less than 1200 calories a day. I have an relatively active job and burn 2600 ish a day for me it was too big a deficit. I only have a deficit of 500-1000 a day now and I struggled to get those extra calories in but have lost 10lb so far.

Everyone is different  - check your sodium intake isnt too high (fluid retention) and also remember your muscles will hold onto a lot of water while they recover - you only have 1 rest day a week. Try different things like increasing your calories if the fitbit app says you are below target, taking an extra rest day for a week or two. I assume you are drinking a lot of fluid. Make sure you absolutely log and weigh everything.

Good luck!

[Eagle59]

If you weigh daily you should average the 7 days and compare against the following 7 day average. That helps to normalize the swings in weight. Also, avoid snacking between meals so you can keep insulin levels in body lower. You can't lose very much weight at all with high insulin levels. It is best to eat the meals in a 6-8 hour window per day and fast the remaining hours until the next day. This will result in significant weight loss.

[YJK]

Thank you, much appreciated!

[CMThurman]

Noom has been a GREAT addition to my Fitbit.  I had the fitbit for 3 years without a loss, but the accountability brought with the use of Noom has yeilded great results.  The first 2 weeks are free, try it and see if it helps with you.  I was in the same situation with the strong muscles.  Noom is grouping of people trying to lose weight and working with via text the group to inspire and persevere to food group consciousness has been wonderful to me!

[secureinthelord]

Consider if you may not be getting enough recovery sleep? Which is the deep sleep. and this over time may cause inflammation which will be aggravated by hormones.If your tracker tracks sleep in the sensitive mode and has a heart monitor you may be sleep deprived and that is not good for muscle recovery. You may need to add a day of relaxation movement and stretching.I don't like this type of exercise because my brain wants tons of dopamine, but in the end my muscles appreciate it.

[Dan97]

You have to start controlling your sugar (Hiden sugar). spikes of sugar with each meal you eat will increase your insulin. This hormone is responsible for allowing nutrition and minerals to enter your cells, also insulin decides which type of energy your body is using. If you are eating 5 meals a day, insulin will almost always be present as your body is running on glucose(sugar). When you will run out of sugar your insulin will drop down, your sugar level will go down and then your body will start producing ketones which are produced to break fat into energy in our bodies. And then you body will start running on your stored fat.

Eating excess amount of carbs(sugars) also causes insulin resistance which has a massive impact on our weight loss.

What I would do:

Reduce carbs to 5% a day,  eat carbs with low glycemic index only as they don't spike your insulin.

Keep consumption on fat very hight 65% to 80% - Healthy Fats

Proteins  10% to 20%

Stop eating 5 meals a day, this is old fashion way of eating introduced in around 1950s, since then we observed massive grow in obesity worldwide. 

Eat one or 2 meals a day, no snacking! give your self eating window of for example 6 hours. Fast for 19h and eat all your calories in this 6 hour window.

Research Ketogenic diet and Intermittent Fasting

Regards,

Daniel 

[Dominique]

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@Dan97 wrote:

Stop eating 5 meals a day, this is old fashion way of eating introduced in around 1950s, since then we observed massive grow in obesity worldwide. 

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I’m not sure where you got that from: in most western cultures, the traditional norm for eating has been three meals a day, breakfast, lunch, dinner. Five meals a day was more something encountered in the marginal subculture of bodybuilders (a population affected neither by obesity, not by insulin resistance). And the obesity epidemics really started in the 1980’s, so if it were caused by a higher meal frequency introduced in the 1950’s, it would have been after a very long delay.

There is this idea that insulin is the villain involved with carbs in a conspiracy to make you fat. In reality, insulin resistance is caused by high body fatness, not carbs, nor eating frequently. And high body fatness is caused by overeating calories: a large part of these calories may be contributed by carbs, and may also be consumed over many meals, but excess calories are the fundamental cause.

A low-carb diet and/or intermittent fasting may be the right approach to reverse the process for some people: reduce body fat and - as a result - insulin sensitivity. However, these dietary approaches aren’t the only ones that will work: any other approach that creates an adequate caloric deficit will work.

[viexon]

I'm finding it extremely frustrating, I get on average 10,000 steps per day with at least 12 flights of stairs and around 60 active minutes. 
I've been eating 1200 calories for 4 months and with an hour exercise everyday and lost 7kg in 4 months. Going from a BMI of 33 to a BMI of 30.8.

I weigh my food, calibrated my food scale and my body scale. I really shouldn't eat less than I am and I don't really have extra time or energy to do 2 hours of exercise a day. 
I have gone down a pant size, and my scale is giving me lower body fat percentages than I started but I'm just not losing anywhere near expected considering how consistent I am with my food. 

[bourby]

so what you are saying is you have dropped a pants size, your bmi is lower, your fat percentage is lower and you are fitter after 4 months. 

thats well done.

you might not have lost what you expected but you should celebrate the changes you have done.

[Dan97]

Could you wright some more information about your daily meal plan? What you
eat? How often? And what is your current weight and height?

Remember that your body will try to adjust your metabolism, losing fat is
survival process, so your body tries to avoid it 🙂 less calories, often
equal lower metabolism if diet is not right.

This is old fashioned to mainly focus on calories in and calories out.
100kcla of kale will have different metabolic rate then 100kcla of chocolate

Correcting bad eating habits is a key.