Why am I not losing weight?

[Ninavous]

I've been doing a very strict routine. I don't eat garbage, every day I have around a 1000 calorie deficit. I do twenty minutes of cardio and then strength training every weekday, weekends I have off. At my weekly standpoint, Fitbit told me I had a net - 7000 calorie deficit for last week. This has been around the same for a month. I feel stronger, I don't think I look different at all (but that's just because I believe I'm fat all the time) and I'm sore for a few days but then I'm good. I don't know what I'm doing wrong... The only possibility I've come to the conclusion to is that my college education causes me so much stress I can't lose weight. Opinions? Thoughts? I

[TARALeigh]

I would say the reason you are not losing weight is 2 things, both related to strength training.  One, when you build muscle that adds body weight, but lean body weight which takes up way less space so you are less fat, more lean and much smaller at the same weight and it raises your metabolism. The other thing I've experienced with weight training is when I first start or "up" my weights I see the scale bump up a bit.  This is due to the muscles that you worked holding water until they heal.  You can try to negate both of these issues on the scale by eating lower carb, higher protein...however this will just create diuretic effect that would cause you not to hold as much water.  If you upped your carbs again, the scale will pop back up for the amount of water you are holding.  It is not fat.  At some point, your muscle gains will slow down and you will see the fat loss pretty rapid on the scale.  Hang in there.

[mlaccs]

I am speaking only for me.  The Science here is just not solid.  When I started my weight loss plan a five mile walk gave me credit for a 1,000 calorie burn.  I was tired at the end of that walk. 

Today I am 30 pounds lighter.  The same walk still says I burned 1,000 calories but I feel much better at the end of the walk.

My weight loss has stalled and I think it is in large part do to the fact my body is not burning as many calories as it used to for the same activities as it is just more effecient.  I am not happy with this as an answer but it makes more sense than the other options.

[Dominique]

Your profile shows you started with Fitbit on February 21, that’s only 17 days so far. Quite a short time, in other words. What is your current BMI? You say "you believe you’re fat", but maybe you don’t have that much to lose. If you are normal weight, or close to it, losing is harder. Just give it some time and don’t stress too much about it. Get some Fitbit friends, participate in challenges (if you have the Fitbit app on your smartphone).

[Ninavous]

I started halfway through January, and my cousin bought me a fitbit so I could keep a closer check of what I was doing to my body. My current BMI is 32, I weigh 200 pounds and am 5'6". I feel healthier, but I don't look any different and that's the real frustrating part.

[mlaccs]

---

@Ninavous wrote:

My current BMI is 32, I weigh 200 pounds and am 5'6". I feel healthier, but I don't look any different and that's the real frustrating part.

---

TIME ..... you will start to see your clothes fit better as you get in better shape.  But you have to give it time and stay with a positive program. 

[Dominique]

OK, you seem to be doing all the right things in terms of exercise, so I would look at the nutrition side, which is the most important. "Not eating garbage" is not sufficient, you need to have your calories in control. Even if you say you have a deficit of around 1000 calories, it’s easy to underestimate your intake. I’m sure you will get help from people who have been successful losing large amounts of weight.

[MeadeRubenstein]

I agree with Dominique - it takes time, be patient.  I usually tell people that it takes 6-8 weeks to see any changes - and the biggest indicator is how your clothes fit.  Make sure you're properly tracking your meals (most people count less than 1/2 their daily caloric intake) - a bag of almonds, a glass of soda, etc. could easily offset 20 minutes of cardio (depending on the cardio).

NEVER give up - reduce one bad eating habit every 2-3 weeks and try to get to 45 minutes to 1 hour of training daily (if you have time to watch TV, you have time do to some body weight exercises).  

Be FOCUSED - if your goal is weight loss, the biggest factor is eating - cardio/strength training get you healthy - a good diet helps you reduce weight (there's an old saying that you can't our run a bad diet).  Track (really track down to each m&m) everything you eat and drink - and reduce one bad item every few weeks.

RELAX - it'll take time - taking off weight usually takes as much time as it took to put on the weight - its not easy BUT its the best thing you can do to enjoy a healthy life.

[penguin0905]

---

@Ninavous wrote:
I started halfway through January, and my cousin bought me a fitbit so I could keep a closer check of what I was doing to my body. My current BMI is 32, I weigh 200 pounds and am 5'6". I feel healthier, but I don't look any different and that's the real frustrating part.

---

Have you tried measuring yourself or taking photos to document the differences? While the scale may not change, it may be that you're losing inches or toning up.

[emili]

Hi @Ninavous- I would have to venture a guess that your nutrition is off and your numbers aren't quite right. Barring medical issues, if you have less going in than out, you should be losing weight. All the scary stories of starvation and plateau are really just stories if you are eating good food, with a normal deficit and you count your calories. This means measuring and weighing everything. And logging everything. If you do it for one day- you will shocked and amazed how much more you are eating than you thought you were. Good luck with your journey, let us know how you are doing...

[Stinkyfish97]

Keep in mind this. Dieting is not about starving yourself. Food is the fuel our system needs to operate and function correctly. Simply starving ourselves would be like depriving a car of fuel and then stomping on the gas. But guess what our bodies self regulate unlike a car which relies on you and your action to stomp on the gas pedal.

When you starve yourslf your metabilism is concious of this starvation and basically what happens is it percieves this as we are running out of fuel for our car, it will ease up on the gas pedal no matter how hard you are excersising it will slow down. You will not burn calories as effectively because of this. So your metabilism slows down when you starve yourself. Keep in mind this, if you have been pretty inactive it takes a while for your metabilsim to get going and you have to eat the right kinds of foods for it to get out of that slow inactive state. There is no on off switch or gas pedal that you control like a car for your metabilsim. Your metabilsim regulates itself. That is not to say we do not have any control of our metabilsim. The types of fuels we put in our bodies can help our metabilism speed up or slowdown. The crux of your problem may be what your diet consists of. Changes to your diet should be long term goals not short term goals like losing weight. Weight is easy to lose honestly, if you work at it, changes to your lifestyle to keep the weight off is much more difficult. When people diet for the purpose of losing weight, I have done this a many times, once they reach that weight goal they tend to relax on their diets. Usually because they are on some kind of diet that is neither filling nor satisfying. Many of these diets make us give up things we just cannot give up long term. Once the short term goal of losing say 30lbs is completed we end up throwing away the diet as well. 

So I suggest not looking at dieting because you need to lose say 30lbs, make dieting the long term goal and make 30lbs the short term goal. Do not stop once you lose the weight. Keep finding and seeking out better fuels for our bodies. 

[bcalvanese]

---

@Ninavous wrote:
I've been doing a very strict routine. I don't eat garbage, every day I have around a 1000 calorie deficit. I do twenty minutes of cardio and then strength training every weekday, weekends I have off. At my weekly standpoint, Fitbit told me I had a net - 7000 calorie deficit for last week. This has been around the same for a month. I feel stronger, I don't think I look different at all (but that's just because I believe I'm fat all the time) and I'm sore for a few days but then I'm good. I don't know what I'm doing wrong... The only possibility I've come to the conclusion to is that my college education causes me so much stress I can't lose weight. Opinions? Thoughts? I

---

From this explination you should be losing 2 lbs. per week.

There are only 2 reasons (unless you have a thyroid condition).

1. You are consuming more calories than you think you are.

2. You are burning less calories than you think you are.

Or it could be a combination of the two.

Depending on how overweight you are, you may want to consider a slower pace like 1 lb. per week (500 calories less per day), and maybe up your steady state cardio to 30 to 60 minutes.

Also, on a side note, you mention doing 20 minutes of cardio which is fine. But if you are trying to increase your cardio, you are just making it to the threshold of a minimum training effect. It takes about 20 minutes to get to the point where you actually start improving your cardio level. Kinda like racing to just before the finish line and then stopping. An extra 10 minutes would yeald a much better result if you are in fact trying to improve your cardio.

I think you are on the right track and maybe double check you calories input/output. I always leave at least 500 calories for grazing (things i nibble on throughout the day but dont log), and I power walk at least once a day for 30 to 120 minutes.

[Ankinha]

You are creating too much stress for your body. I would suggest lowering your deficit to 500, rather than 1,000. Make sure to actually get some proper plant fat in there too. You're body is like an engine and think about a car, e. g. it can't function without oil. Stick to avocado, nuts, good quality oils (olive oil for example).

I've counted calories for years and believe me it sucks. I've lost 6KG last year and aim to do another 3KG this year, but the closer I get to my goal the harder it gets. Also food should still be fun and all the counting and weighing certainly takes it away. For me a 500 deficit was a struggle and on only 1,000 I would've fainted. You didn't become overweight over night, so set a realstic goal to lose it. The slower you lose it you should hopefully also be able to keep it off. For exercise I can't recommend www.fitnessblender.com enough. They do proper workout programmes. Best of luck!

[Dominique]

---

@Ankinha wrote:

You're body is like an engine and think about a car, e. g. it can't function without oil. Stick to avocado, nuts, good quality oils (olive oil for example).

---

Carrying on with the car metaphor, I would add fish oil to the list 

Fish oil has a number of health benefits, one of them being acting as a lubricant for joints.

[Ankinha]

Yes I forgot that. Very good point!

Sent from my iPhone

[Jonothan]

I am really struggling to eat enough calories to hit my 'correct' zone to lose weight, I need to add about 1000 calories to my daily diet.  I am a shade under 25 stone and this is why I got a fitbit as I need more control.  The problem is my body is used to what I eat now and I really dont feel hungry eating what I am eating.  I dont really dont want to eat some 'junk' food just to hit my calorie intake level.  So I will spend this weekend reading what people are saying on here and try to construct a proper diet 🙂

[emili]

Excellent plan!

[MelanieP]

I'm having the same problem. I go to martial arts one hour per week since June 2015, i go to the gym and lift heavy 2x's week (and often aerobically) since January, and I have just added 30 mins cardio a few times/week. I generally eat really clean. I am about 10-15 pounds above where I want to be, and the weight is just not budging.

[MeadeRubenstein]

There's no doubt that losing weight is a very tough thing to do - but it is all a numbers game, calories burned have to be more than calories consumed.  An hour martial arts class could burn 300-400 calories, that's about a bag of M&M's....walking a mile is less burn than that.

If your primary goal is weight loss, then 90% of your focus has to be on diet - track EVERYTHING (most people who track, actually put in 50% of what they eat BUT they argue that they're tracking everything).  Every bagel, piece of candy from the office candy dish, every beer, every little bite of pizza, every extra piece of bread with dinner, every teaspoon of sugar in your coffee needs to be tracked - if you do that for two weeks you'll see why there's a problem.  Once you understand your real intake - select one item, something that's not good for you and something that you won't miss a lot and cut it out or replace it with something better.  Do that 3-4 times in the next 2-3 months and you'll see your weight dropping.  Its a life style change and not a short term fix.

Best of luck

[MelanieP]

I don't eat candy or junk  (less than once/month, if ever). My diet is very clean and has been for years with only occasional cheats. If we get a pizza (1-2x's month), we get it loaded with veggies and I will eat one slice with a small salad.

It just seems like 18 months ago, after some big stressors (death, family member ill, etc) with a lot of overeating and working too much, and not exercising much at all, I gained weight that now won't budge where it used to fly off doing less exercise than I do now.  I am in late stages of peri-menopause, but have not kicked into full on cessation. Could that have anything to do with it?

In addition to the exercises I listed, in the warmer months I kayak vigorously and for miles several days/week, climb mountains, and do yardkwork at two properties. I drop a pound or two, but that is it. My doctor says my weight is still within a normal range and that I am really healthy, but I am at the higher end of that weight range now, and ready to tip over it, where I used to float in the middle to low end. I now weigh 140. I want to get back to the 125-130 range. I'm 5'4"

I had been using the LoseIt! app to track eating and it said on most days I still had room to eat more. I don't track every day, but my diet has been fairly consistent since I took an interest in nutrition in 1987.

I also make most of my own food. I belong to a CSA and eat organic locally grown produce year round, and veggies at pretty much every meal. My diet is predominantly fruits, veggies, organic grass fed meats and free range poultry and eggs, beans, nuts, seeds, whole grains. I rarely, if ever eat sweets or candy. I tend to crave salt, so have been eating air popped popcorn with a dash of salt. Or if the craving is real bad I pop a few olives. I do drink wine on occasion (maybe 2x's week and 1-2 glasses). I don't each much dairy, and when I do, for the most part it is low fat. Dining out, I will order a lean protein, drop any starch (I also don't eat white flour and have not for decades) and load up on extra veggies. We dine out 1x/week or less.

I wondered if I tipped a curve or something where now it is harder to take it off. I am going to track calories again, but it seemed futile before. My overall calorie consumption according to the app was between 1200-1800 calories/day.