Tried for one year and I can't lose weight. Need HELP!

[Lashaquan2]

In 2014 I started a Gold's Gym Membership. I had a personal trainer and I would meet him once a week and work out there by myself twice a week. At this time I wasn't dieting, just working out. At the end of our 6 week training I gained 3 pounds. 😞

In 2015 I started doing the yoga classes. After that didn't help me lose weight I did cycle. Although I felt better when doing cycle I still didn't lose weight. I increased doing cycle to 3 times a week starting October 2015 through April 2016 and I lost nothing!!!!!!!! I changed my eating habits starting in April of 2016 and I stop eating past 6pm. I have changed gyms and now do boot camp 3 times a week for 1 hour in addition to running a mile in the morning and after work every day. I lost 5 pounds when starting boot camp but then gained to back a month later. 

I am an active person. I have a desk job but every 2 hours I get up and walk a 1/2 mile to a 1 mile. I have 2 dogs that I walk three times a day. I enjoy hiking ( up to 7 mile hikes), bowling, and riding my bike. I don't know what has changed in my lifestyle to cause the weight gain and why it is so hard to get it off! 

I have always been a healthy eater. I enjoy vegetables and fruit and incorporate it them in my diet. I rarely ear out and cook 80% of my meals. The other 20% of my meals are dinner with friends and family. I stopped weighing myself because I get frustrated that I am not seeing results. For some reason, I decided to weigh myself today only to find out I have gained another 5 pounds. I NEED HELP! 

My weight is unhealthy and I am taking measures to change but I am not seeing results. Technically, I have been trying to lose weight for 2 years with no results. I am headed to the gym later on today but I am close to quiting because it isn't helping. At this point, I think I'd see the same results by sitting around eating and watching TV all day. I think I've tried everything so any suggestions are welcomed!

[MakMak]

@Lashaquan2, I moved your post to the manage weight discussion board, you should be able to get better help here!

[WendyB]

Gym really has nothing to do with it.

Are you weighting and measuring everything?

[SAS1]

Try seeing a good doctor. You may have Diebetic tendencies. It takes a special blood work test to find it. Ask. The medicines you take may affect diet and exercise too. Portion control for food intake is important. Try using Weight Watchers. I didn't loose until I learned new diet tools. They are a fairly good program. Sometimes work insurance will help with the cost.

[Dominique]

If you wear your Fitbit 24/7 (recommended), it should give you a good estimate of your total energy expenditure each day. You need to adjust your intake accordingly. Weight loss is a numbers game. Being active and exercising is good, eating healthy is also good, but in the end, you need to create a caloric deficit (your total intake must be smaller than your total expenditure). How big the deficit is depends on how much weight you want to lose, and how fast.

Based on the description of what you have been doing, your focus should be on portion control and identifying the caloric content of the foods you’re eating. Some healthy foods are surprisingly high in calories, eg. avocados, nuts etc. Your activity level and lifestyle appear to be in check, you need to pay more attention to the nutrition side.

As to what has changed, one thing that affects all of us is ageing: with each year that passes, our BMR (basal metabolic rate) goes down, slowly, but surely. If you keep eating the same, you will put on weight. You can check it yourself with an online calculator such as this one. For instance, when I started with Fitbit three years ago, my calculated BMR was 1583. If I had stayed at the same weight, it would now be 1568. Since I’ve lost 12 kg during that time, it’s now only 1448. I must eat less to maintain my current weight, all things being equal. The good thing about becoming more active is it allows you to eat more.

[Lashaquan2]

I use my fitbit app to log my food. I typically eat less than what is reccommended up there which is 1860 calories per day. I don't know what it is.

[Lashaquan2]

I've been to the doctor and I am not diabetic, bordeline diabetic nor does this run in my family. I do not take any medication besides the occassional benadryl for my allergies. Even when I get sick my doctor works with me on alternatives to medicines. I don't like taking them unless it is completely necesary due to the side effects of most of them.

[Lashaquan2]

I do wear my fitbit alot. Some days I take it off just to let me wrist breath but 90% of the time it's on. Thanks for the tip. I feel like I am controlling my portions just because I log everything into my fitbit app but it doesn't hurt to take a closer look at what I am consuming.

---

@Dominique wrote:

If you wear your Fitbit 24/7 (recommended), it should give you a good estimate of your total energy expenditure each day. You need to adjust your intake accordingly. Weight loss is a numbers game. Being active and exercising is good, eating healthy is also good, but in the end, you need to create a caloric deficit (your total intake must be smaller than your total expenditure). How big the deficit is depends on how much weight you want to lose, and how fast.

Based on the description of what you have been doing, your focus should be on portion control and identifying the caloric content of the foods you’re eating. Some healthy foods are surprisingly high in calories, eg. avocados, nuts etc. Your activity level and lifestyle appear to be in check, you need to pay more attention to the nutrition side.

As to what has changed, one thing that affects all of us is ageing: with each year that passes, our BMR (basal metabolic rate) goes down, slowly, but surely. If you keep eating the same, you will put on weight. You can check it yourself with an online calculator such as this one. For instance, when I started with Fitbit three years ago, my calculated BMR was 1583. If I had stayed at the same weight, it would now be 1568. Since I’ve lost 12 kg during that time, it’s now only 1448. I must eat less to maintain my current weight, all things being equal. The good thing about becoming more active is it allows you to eat more.

---

---

@Dominique wrote:

If you wear your Fitbit 24/7 (recommended), it should give you a good estimate of your total energy expenditure each day. You need to adjust your intake accordingly. Weight loss is a numbers game. Being active and exercising is good, eating healthy is also good, but in the end, you need to create a caloric deficit (your total intake must be smaller than your total expenditure). How big the deficit is depends on how much weight you want to lose, and how fast.

Based on the description of what you have been doing, your focus should be on portion control and identifying the caloric content of the foods you’re eating. Some healthy foods are surprisingly high in calories, eg. avocados, nuts etc. Your activity level and lifestyle appear to be in check, you need to pay more attention to the nutrition side.

As to what has changed, one thing that affects all of us is ageing: with each year that passes, our BMR (basal metabolic rate) goes down, slowly, but surely. If you keep eating the same, you will put on weight. You can check it yourself with an online calculator such as this one. For instance, when I started with Fitbit three years ago, my calculated BMR was 1583. If I had stayed at the same weight, it would now be 1568. Since I’ve lost 12 kg during that time, it’s now only 1448. I must eat less to maintain my current weight, all things being equal. The good thing about becoming more active is it allows you to eat more.

---

[AndyDandyPandy]

You didn't state your age, height or weight so I can't tell how overweight you are. Maybe you are already a healthy person from what you describe on your post but maybe you want to get thinner? Your lifestyle as you explained is very healthy with that many active daily activities. If you aren't that heavy it's going to be harder to shed those pounds. Other than that if you are already eating low fat, low sugar, low sodium and just enough carb and count your calories daily and still not losing weight then it might be time to see the doctor. One reason why I don't like doctors is they will only tell me what I already know "Eat healthy, low sugar, low salt, not too much meat, watch the carb, exercise, etc". I don't go to them unless I'm dying. But like i said, we don't know your age height weight so we can't tell. Maybe you are fit and healthy but you want to be super thin. 

But what I like to suggest to people is as long as you know without a guilt that you are doing the right thing; being active; eating right; counting calories; living healthy then just ignore the rest. I don't think anyone would feel like a blob if they follow those rules. 

I'll tell you how much I do and still won't lose weight(I am losing fat, not weight). That's why it feels so slow to shed those pounds. 

7days a week 10k+ steps a day. 5+ mile per day distance, 1500 calories counted

Aerobic/Anaerobic 6-7 days a week for 2 hrs a day. Even though some week I didn't lose a single lb, I feel greater than the week before because I feel stronger physically and mentally, I feel myself got lighter, stomach got flatter, tight clothes getting looser, easier to do my usual exercise routine and best of all, because I didn't quit. 

Sometime we want results too quickly and when it is not met we get frustrated but that's no reason to quit being healthy. Take before and after picture monthly to see a difference. From what you're telling us your lifestyle is healthy so keep it up and don't pick up bad habits because the scale won't go down. Also remember that it takes 1 month of hard work and healthy eating(count calories) to see a small result but those month will add up and you will see the big picture later. Be healthy and stay healthy my friend.

[SunsetRunner]

It's highly likely you are eating more calories than you think. You mention a lot about your exercising, but nothing about how many calories you are actually eating. All the exercise is the world won't help you unless you have your diet in check. "Heathly" can mean many different things to different people. Technically, you could lose weight on the worst diet in the world and still lose weight as long as you are eating at a deficit. Not that you should though. Weighing your food with a food scale and measuing foods, including foods like condiments, will help you get an idea of how much you are actually eating.

I'm the complete opposite when it comes to exercise. I exercise when I feel like it. There are times when I exercise quite often and there are times when I don't exercise at all, but as long as I'm eating at a deficit, I will still lose weight no matter how much or lack of exercising I do. The point is you need to work on your diet before anything else to see any weight loss results. It's easy to blow all those calories burned when you don't actually know how much you are eating.

[SunsetRunner]

You might want to consider a keto diet, it is definitely not for everyone and I would strongly suggest discussing it with your doctor first. For me it definitely helped me drop about 15 pounds and a few inches of my waist in just a couple of months. You can read more about it at http://eatingacademy.com
It is an interesting read and suggests that this whole notion of calories in vs calories out may be a bit off. Unless you exercise like an Olympic athelete most of your calorie expenditure in a day is just your base metabolic rate. The problem with calorie counting is that figuring out what your actual base metabolic rate is not an easy thing to actually figure out and it can change significantly based on many factors.
Starving yourself through calorie restriction will definitely cause the body to reduce its base metabolic rates in an effort to conserve energy. Although you may lose weight initially, as soon as you resume eating more again the weight comes right back on again and usually faster than before. During the calorie restriction phase the body basically sets the stage to store away any excess calories it can, once you start eating more again this storage mode is still in place and helps cause the weight gain.
This is how people get into those yo-yo effects.

[Dominique]

---

@SunsetRunner wrote:
You might want to consider a keto diet, it is definitely not for everyone

---

As @Lashaquan2 said she had a family, switching to a ketogenic diet would mean she would have to cook different meals for herself and her family (even Peter Attia – the Eating Academy guy – doesn’t impose his diet on his family). And eating a ketogenic diet pretty much excludes eating out with friends.

[SunsetRunner]

I don't argue that point at all. It is one of many possible reasons why a
keto diet might not be feasible or desirable for her.

I only offer it as a possible solution that she might consider. It may be
enough to even try just carb reduction without going into full ketosis.
Then again that might not fit well for her either.

I don't know all of her specific details and I am just offering a
suggestion and my personal anecdotal experience as a basis for suggesting
it.

Ultimately the decision is hers to make. She asked for help this is my
suggestion, nothing more.

Andrew Meyer

[emili]

@Lashaquan2- I am with @Dominique. I think if you focus on counting actual calorie intake you will be surprised by how much more you are eating than you think. But whatever you decide, don't quit your activity. As women we need it to protect our bones and keep things where they need to be 😉

[Kati50]

How frustrating!  Are you close to menopause age?  That can do a number on your body, weight, and metabolism.  Also, have you ever had your thyroid checked?  If it's out of whack,it can affect your ability to lose weight.  HTH!