Please help. Question about weight Loss

[LonnieLee]

Hi everyone!

On my fitbit premium, it says I should be losing 3.8lbs a week according to my food intake and calorie burn and I thought so too. But I'm only losing anywhere from 1/2 a pound to 2 pounds a week. I don't get it. I workout 5-6 days a week. I did 4 rounds of 21 day fix and now I'm doing 21 day fix Extreme. I've even ramped up my exercise. I do cardio eveyday for 45 minutes or more after my 30 minutes of strength training. I really don't get it and it's so frustrating! I don't eat out and on the random occasion that I do, I log it. I don't eat processed for. I cook all of my food. Can someone please help me? Maybe you know something I don't. The only thing I can think of is that my calories eaten are always under what they should be at the end of the day. I'm just so frustrated. I started working out and eating right at the end of December. I think I should've progressed with my weight loss a lot more than I have. I should be half way to my goal by now. When I started, fitbit said I should reach my goal around July 14th, and now is says July 25th. My plan intensity is set to hard. Am I just going to look in the mirror one random day and see a significant amout of weight loss, or step on the scale and see a magic number or something? I'm at a loss! Please, any advice would greatly be appreciated.

Thank you!

[DominicJ]

3.8lbs a week is a lot.

A lb of fat contains 3500calories, you would be under eating by 1900 calories per day to lose 4lbs per week.

Logging food and *accuratly* logging food are very different things, and its a great deal harder to accuratly log stuff you cooked than came out of a packet.

I say this as someone who as confidently entered 30g of cheese and weighed it to find its 90g., that teaspoon glug of oil actualy two tablespoons ect.

[NevrGiveUpSmart]

1/2 pound to 2 pound per  week loss is healthy and sustainable. It comes down to calories in and calories out and water retention [sodium intake] get you physician's review on thyroid etc. Work Smart.. don't go below 1200 calories per day. Get your fluids. Healthy oil [2 teaspoods per day] . Never, Never, never give up.

[PamelaHazelton]

The system can only report based on your input. So your input is likely incorrect.

I will say, though, that using such extreme measures is not only unhealthy, it sets you up to put weight right back on after you're done losing. Please don't be so hard on yourself.

[Heybales]

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@LonnieLee wrote:

Hi everyone!

On my fitbit premium, it says I should be losing 3.8lbs a week according to my food intake and calorie burn and I thought so too. But I'm only losing anywhere from 1/2 a pound to 2 pounds a week. I don't get it. I workout 5-6 days a week. I did 4 rounds of 21 day fix and now I'm doing 21 day fix Extreme. I've even ramped up my exercise. I do cardio eveyday for 45 minutes or more after my 30 minutes of strength training. I really don't get it and it's so frustrating! I don't eat out and on the random occasion that I do, I log it. I don't eat processed for. I cook all of my food. Can someone please help me? Maybe you know something I don't. The only thing I can think of is that my calories eaten are always under what they should be at the end of the day. I'm just so frustrated. I started working out and eating right at the end of December. I think I should've progressed with my weight loss a lot more than I have. I should be half way to my goal by now. When I started, fitbit said I should reach my goal around July 14th, and now is says July 25th. My plan intensity is set to hard. Am I just going to look in the mirror one random day and see a significant amout of weight loss, or step on the scale and see a magic number or something? I'm at a loss! Please, any advice would greatly be appreciated.

Thank you!

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But you aren't "eating right" - you are missing an already aggressive eating goal by a huge amount.

You willing to miss your goal weight by that big % too and say that's close enough?

A goal is something you reach, not miss.

Rethink this - if bigger deficit is better for faster weight loss - why don't you just stop eating and get it done with even faster?

Whatever reasons you think of, there are probably more you aren't even aware of, and they will still happen.

If this was just recent, it could be blamed on this huge stress on your body causing constantly elevated cortisol levels and retaining water.

But since you've been doing this for awhile, you've probably stressed your body out too much and it's adapted - by slowing down to stop the craziness.

Your workouts daily are probably not nearly as effective as they could be, with so little recovery from eating so little.

So hopefully you see the method you've attempted isn't working, time to follow the program and meet your goals.

If you can't, lighten up on the exercise.

Diet is for weight loss - if done right just fat loss, if done wrong includes muscle mass loss.

Exercise is for heart health and body changes - if done right supports just fat loss, if done wrong encourages muscle loss. Side effect is almost always weight gain.

Only thing exercise does for diet is make you burn more daily, so that when you eat less, it might be enough to adhere to the diet. Compared to eating less with no exercise, might be so low you'd binge.

And exercise improvement to the body doesn't come during the workout, but during the recovery. And recovery is hampered in a diet already.

Exercise if done right tears the body down.

It's the rest for recovery and repair that allows it to be built back up, stronger if diet allows.

Where is your rest? And 1 day weekly after day after day of attempted intense is not adequate rest.

[LonnieLee]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I was always thin until I had my second daughter in 2005. I gained 90 pounds while pregnant with her and after she was born I gained more weight and shot up to my heaviest which was, 301.2 pounds! it's taken me this long to get most of it off and I still have about 60 more pounds to go before I reach my long term goal of 135 pounds. My short term goal is 160 pounds. Anyway, with that being said, I'm scared to up my calories because I'm scared to death of putting the weight back on. It is so hard to get off! I'm going to up my calories to 1200 a day. It's going to be hard for me because like I said, I'm scared. But after reading your responses, and doing some reading online, I realize that I'm eating unhealthy. 

I assure you that I am entering my food amounts properly. Everything that goes into my mouth is measured and weighed, everything. I always log everything even if it's a cheat meal or snack. So fitbit is giving me the correct information because everything I enter is exactly what I'm putting into my mouth, nothing more, nothing less. 

[Heybales]

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@LonnieLee wrote:

Thank you everyone for your replies. I was always thin until I had my second daughter in 2005. I gained 90 pounds while pregnant with her and after she was born I gained more weight and shot up to my heaviest which was, 301.2 pounds! it's taken me this long to get most of it off and I still have about 60 more pounds to go before I reach my long term goal of 135 pounds. My short term goal is 160 pounds. Anyway, with that being said, I'm scared to up my calories because I'm scared to death of putting the weight back on. It is so hard to get off! I'm going to up my calories to 1200 a day. It's going to be hard for me because like I said, I'm scared. But after reading your responses, and doing some reading online, I realize that I'm eating unhealthy. 

I assure you that I am entering my food amounts properly. Everything that goes into my mouth is measured and weighed, everything. I always log everything even if it's a cheat meal or snack. So fitbit is giving me the correct information because everything I enter is exactly what I'm putting into my mouth, nothing more, nothing less. 

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For fear of the gain, always do the math. Fat is not fast, gaining or losing for that matter.

If you ate 100 more than true maintenance, not diet level, but maintenance level, on a daily basis - it would take 35 days to slowly put on 1 lb.

That's all. Reread that.

Anything faster or more is just water weight. Which you would have gained anyway as soon as you went in to maintenance.

But that's a scary low level for that much remaining. How low of eating were you planning on doing, or how much constant exercise to compensate?

[AmandaL]

1200 calories a day is only enough if you're not burning any additional calories through exercise.  I had a similar problem until I saw a nutritionist who flat out told me if I'm going to run and do weight training 5-6 times a week, then I need to be eating between 1400-1600 calories a day.  You need fuel to make the workouts worth it.  As soon as I added more calories (all healthy, whole foods) the weight started to drop off much quicker.

[James_R]

I'm inclined to agree with Heybales on this one. 

I would say that 1200 calories per day is very low for a woman, especially if you're doing that much excercise (which in itself is far in excess of anything I'd recommend). To put it in context, in relative terms your inake vs burn ratio is more severe than my own when "cutting" (dropping below maintenance intake to redefine and tone). 

Fat takes a fair while to burn off, and a good diet is essential in achieving that goal. Again, to put it in perspective I'm on 3000-4000 calories per day since I'm "bulking" but because I choose my diet carefully my body fat percentage climbs very slowly (it's worth it to build muscle). 

Do reconsider your excercise regime though. Especially hitting cardio and resistance on the same day, and so frequently - it's a lot of stress on your body. Dropping the weight and getting fit isn't about punishing yourself, if you eat and train smart you'll enjoy the journey and hit your goal. 

Just remember though, we all have to start somewhere. Don't be discouraged by slow progress or the odd backslide, if you're determined to achieve, you'll adapt and succeed. 

[PamelaHazelton]

What everyone said, and one other key point:

Happiness comes from your outlook. I get that you're not happy with your weight, but you should find happiness in many other things and people, including your children, who shouldn't see you feeling this way. Take your time. Nothing happens overnight. And find happiness in the many things around you. Hey, did you know that lack of stress and frequent laughing are also great for weight loss? 

🙂

[Deyadissa]

I say do what works for you. I eat only 900 calories a day and eat twice a day instead of 3. I've lost 30 pounds and dropped from 26% to 18% body fat in three months and I only lost 4 pounds in muscle; not because I'm starving myself but because I am completely inactive. I don't even walk the 10,000 a day, I walk maybe 2,000 a day. It's got to the point where I don't even need to track my food, because adding calories is very easy to do on your own.

I don't have cravings for food anymore, my body is used to the low caloric intake. It's all about willpower. I'm not on some fad diet either, I'm just simply eating less. Has anyone been pulled of survivor for malnutrition complaications? Because they eat less than 1000 calories a day in rice/cocunuts and go through the entire month just fine.

Losing weight and gaining it back is unhealthy, not losing it too fast.

It's all genetics, I'm losing weight because I have good genetics. Not everyone has genetics that can make them lose weight as easily as someone else. And just because you're overweight doesn't mean your unhealthy, someone who is overweight can perform better in sports and have better health then someone who is normal weight.

[LedMatrix]

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@Deyadissa wrote:

I say do what works for you. I eat only 900 calories a day and eat twice a day instead of 3. I've lost 30 pounds and dropped from 26% to 18% body fat in three months and I only lost 4 pounds in muscle; not because I'm starving myself but because I am completely inactive. 

And just because you're overweight doesn't mean your unhealthy, someone who is overweight can perform better in sports and have better health then someone who is normal weight.

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You can lose weight, be skinny and still be extremely unhealthy. If that's what you want, follow Deyadissa's routine.

[I-train-hard]

I would take this advice given by LedMatrix, into your hart.

Think, think and ..

Choose wisely. My advise - move your behind, built muscle, love the way you would look! 

[emili]

@LonnieLee- as you can see no shortage of opinion. So here is one more... I think you should go back to the beginning and start again. Somewhere along the way things got screwy and you need a reset. Apply science to this. Its math and biology. Math is calories, biology is nutrition and movement. Figure out how many calories based on your measurements and level of activity today you need to just survive. Figure out based on existing data how many calories you will burn at a reasonable workout regime. Then do the math to see how much you can eat to lose, stay the same or gain. Once you know the number, do the nutrition. How many complex carbs do you need, protein, fats, nutrients etc. Do a pie chart- draw in foods that are easily available into your pie chart with amounts. Then weigh and eat. You will more than likely be cooking separate meals family and yours- I do and have been for almost two years. Then move on to workouts. You need a little cardio everyday, you need strength training every other day. Everything in moderation. You need a rest day that involves a light walk and maybe mopping. Do it for two weeks and see how it goes. If you are losing- yay. Staying the same- adjust slightly. Gaining - adjust more. Good luck!!!

[emili]

@LedMatrix- what was it you were saying about advice..;)