Why am I not losing weight??????????

Hi. I am 32, weigh 191 lbs and finally become committed to losing weight 3 1/2 weeks ago. I started at 197, cut my calories to 1000-1200 daily(very healthy with the right amounts of protein, carbs, fats with fruits & vegs), walking 3 miles 6x/week and drinking 50-100 o. of water daily. For the first 2 weeks I was seeing a steady drop of about .4 lbs a day. (Yes I am weighing myself everyday). Then I was so excited about getting to the 180's that over last weekend I dropped by calories to about 650 on Sat. & Sunday and ever since I have bounced between 190.2 and 191.2 and still doing everything else the same as above. So could I be in a starvation mode, but wouldn't this changed by now since it's been over 1 1/2 weeks. Yesterday I ate 1310 calories and I gained .4 lbs!!! I am committed and will continue, but I need to see results, even if it is .2 to .4 lbs a day. What am I doing wrong and how can I improve. Thank you for any advice.

Wed. Aug 1, 11:06pm

I think it takes a couple of weeks for your body to rebound from starvation mode, but I could be wrong. I weigh daily too so I understand where you are coming from, but maybe take a day or two off. You could also be retaining water. I'm sure others will give you better advice, but hang in there!

Wednesday, August 01, 2007, 11:12 PM

Okay-relax a little. That's all you have to do. Don't worry if you see a .2 or .4 gain if you know you ate under a certain amount of calories. Odds are the food you ate the day before had a bit of sodium in it or you haven't enough of a bm, or still have food that needs to be digested.

don't be in such a rush to lose the weight or you will get discouraged and give up. You CAN do this but slow and steady wins the race-remember that!! I bet if you check in with us in another week you will be able to tell us you are under 190!!! Patience my dear!! Keep going!!

Wednesday, August 01, 2007, 11:20 PM

Try to remember that as you increase exercise also your body tends to retain a little more water than usual to cope. This will balance out after a short time. your body has coping mechanisms that take time to readjust.

Wednesday, August 01, 2007, 11:25 PM

Yes, relax. The problem with most scales is they only show a drop in total weight. They don't differentiate between water loss, fat loss and muscle loss. Maybe you should try using a measuring tape to measure your success more than the scale.

Thursday, August 02, 2007, 12:52 AM

You can do it!

So far, everyone looks like they gave great advice. I've worked at a couple popular dieting places. Everyone has a different body type, so a lot of this is learning about your body and what works for you and it's a process. You will make mistakes and that's ok as long as you keep on going. Some people lose more inches as opposed to weight, so measuring yourself accurately is important. Also, weighing yourself daily may drive you bonkers -but if you do like doing that, you may consider buying one of those top of the line scales. They're pricey but they break down where you've gained weight. For example if you're looking at water weight or not, etc. Muscle does weigh more, so you may as the other supporter wrote, have gained a little muscle. I suggest to try to be consistent with your plan and your calorie level, that way you can catch patterns and adjust accordingly. Being prepared is key! Cut up or purchase bags of carrots, radishes and veggies. Hot teas are nice and you can add a little Stevia (calorie free sweetener that is actually really good for you, check it out on the internet) to it. Lots of water and not going over board on salt foods helps as well. You don't have to go crazy, a short walk daily goes a long way. Even if its only 10 or 15 minutes to start! You can always add more time and hand weights later. Pilates or yoga is fun, provided you find a class that jives with you (there's so many styles out there), most of all, experiment and have fun! Obviously logging is great, it works for me and so many! Hope this helped! You can do it!

Thursday, August 02, 2007, 3:25 AM

I'm surprised no has commented on the fact that you are eating only 650 calories on saturday and sunday. I'm sure you know that is not healthy so I'm not going to lecture you on that.

You need to eat more and exercise more intensely if you want to lose weight.

Thursday, August 02, 2007, 5:22 AM

I've read that as you first begin an exercise program, you'll actually retain water so it's best to weigh yourself a month later from your initial start (read this in Bob Greene's book). Also, like the previous poster said, don't cut your calories down to 650 or even 1000-1200. This should be a lifestyle change. You'll never be able to handle this long-term and eventually gain it back. Also, you're going to eventually set yourself up where your body will eventually store fat. How much did you eat before? Cut that by 500 or so and you'll still be able to lose a pound a week and more since you exercise.

Thursday, August 02, 2007, 5:31 AM

Your calorie intake is WAY too low. I'm surprised nobody said anything 1000-1200 is too low. You should be eating between 1200 - 1500 and burning off about 300-500 to lose weight every day. You can't deprive your body of food (meaning eating less than 1200 a day) or it will hang on to all the fat it can, and sacrifice muscle. You need to lift weights and do cardio. But most importantly up your claorie intake.

Thursday, August 02, 2007, 7:55 AM

Reasons

1. calorie intake is too low on the weekend, your body is holding onto the fat.
2. change your exercise a bit, if you can't jog a bit, the carry some light weights, if you are going to the gym, then do a diff machine.
3. you are also building some muscle if you have gone from no exercise to walking 6 times / wk. muscle weighs more than fat
4. try to get some protein into your diet in the morning, via powder mix or another source.

I faced similar frustration to you and this broke me through my plateau

Thursday, August 02, 2007, 9:32 AM

I think hormones have SO much to do with female weight - loss (or lack thereof) Stick with it and keep doing what is healthy.

Thursday, August 02, 2007, 9:58 AM

you can't seriously expect to lose weight overnight or even in a matter of weeks. you certainly didn't pack them on so quickly. take a deep breath and keep on keepin' on. your body hasn't fully adjusted to any new routine yet because there hasn't yet been a routine develpoed. you're changing the amount of calories very quickly and not allowing your body time to adjust and reset it's signals to your brain. it may take a year to lose 30 or 40 pounds, but they'll still be lost in 2 years. best of luck!

Thursday, August 02, 2007, 10:21 AM

when you restrict your caloric intake by that much (650 is way too low and 1000-1200 cals is good for a later goal for now stick with 1300-1500 cals), you lower your base metabolic rate (BMR). what this means is that your body thinks that you're starving and works more efficiently by burning less energy. this is what allowed cavemen to survive through winters when there wasn't much too eat. the problem is that yes, you are intaking a lot less calories, but you're body's metabolism is slowing down so much that you're not burning many additional calories, which is a shame because you BMR determines how many calories you burn just by living in one day (i.e. not lifiting a finger). what is much more effective is (as suggested above by 7:55am) eating more calories but then using excercise to burn off calories. not only is this better for your cardiovascular system, but it builds muscles which increase the number of calories you burn. for each additional pound of muscle, you burn an extra 50 calories than you would normally without that extra pound.

in addition, any weight that you do lose this way will include loss of muscle which again makes you burn less calories and makes it easier to gain the weight back. hope this helps.

Thursday, August 02, 2007, 10:25 AM

Eat!

Thursday, August 02, 2007, 10:38 AM

10:21 poster

You most certainly CAN expect to lose weight "overnight". I started Peer Trainer about 12 weeks ago and I have lost weight every week without fail and would dare say there have only been less than 5 days total where I have lost nothing. Aim high and stick with it OP, if I can do it, you can too! (and I'm about your weight!)

Thursday, August 02, 2007, 3:15 PM

to 315

you: 12 weeks
OP: 3.5 weeks

no wonder you are finding success. you waited and kept on keeping on. if the OP gives it some time, she, too, will find success.

Thursday, August 02, 2007, 3:37 PM

Actually in the first 3.5 weeks for me I only lost 4 lbs, so the OP started out doing better than me. My point was that she CAN expect to lose weight everyday, I did and so can she; she' already off to a better start : ) Don't give up OP, stick with it, it'll happen.

Thursday, August 02, 2007, 6:12 PM

6:12-- 4 pounds in 3.5 weeks is still really good progress. The thing is, is that you can't expect to "see" weight loss everyday b/c weight fluctuates. In the first month, you'll see water fluctuations.

Thursday, August 02, 2007, 9:26 PM

You HAVE to eat at least 1200 calories a day

If you don't, your metabolism shuts down and throws you into starvation mode. Less is not more. You have to feed the furnace to keep the fire burning.

Thursday, August 02, 2007, 11:33 PM

From OP

Thank you ALL for your comments, I have sinced bought a high dollar scale, tape measure and scale to weigh my foods. I have eaten about 1300-1400 calories a day within the last 2 days and have stayed around 191 still. (At least I'm not gaining:) This Sunday will be 2 weeks that I have not seen a drop in my weightloss, I hope by then I see a little something...

My husband told me to have a "fat" day today, so we'll see what happens by the end of this weekend.

Last night I was so discouraged since I am trying sooo hard, but I am hanging in there. Thank you again for all of your advice and you all have helped. Hopefully I will see some changes next week, if not, I'll be back asking for more advice!!!!

Friday, August 03, 2007, 9:13 AM

Sounds like you're getting on the right track now. Don't veer from the path, keep your goal in front of you. Remember if the body isn't getting enough fuel, it will conserve what it has in fat storage. Eat at least 10 times your body weight in calories. For example, if you're at 175 you should be eating at least 1750 calories/day.

Checkout Mistress Krista's site. It's jam packed full of great info and you'll laugh when you read it! http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/index.php

Friday, August 03, 2007, 9:27 AM

Thanks for all of the great info posted. I'm not the OP, but was hovering between 1000 - 1200 calories per day. I will get my cals up a bit too. Thank you!!

Friday, August 03, 2007, 5:09 PM

tips

First you need to know your bodyfat %, and you will see exactly how much mucle and how much fat you have. Then 650 kcal a day is extremely low and unhealthy, and you say you are eating 1200kcal/day, but many people "forget" to count some food items (fruits, or almonds, or cofee). Something is messed up could be you nutrition or your exercice program.

Thursday, October 29, 2009, 2:38 AM

You definitely need to eat more than 650 calories a day - you are bringing down your metabolism and your body is going to starvation mode so it will immediately attempt to store everything you put into your body. Don't worry it will stop doing this after a couple days! You can't expect yourself to lose weight every day - don't put that much pressure on yourself. Instead gage how much you have lost in a week. For me daily weighing myself keeps me on track, but I only truly value the week's average and ending number.

Ways that I have found that are helpful to lose weight:
- eat low fat and high fiber small meals and snacks (fruit, veggies)
- portion control
- drink water
- don't eat late
- excercise - even if it's just walking for 30 minutes
- sleep at least 7-8 hours a night

Link

Thursday, October 29, 2009, 9:20 AM

why you are not losing weight

new article by Joshua Wayne suggests that one big reason is that it is simply not a priority in your life. This article takes you through a process where you can identify where weight loss is as a priority for you.

Link

Sunday, March 28, 2010, 12:52 PM

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