why are the scales not moving??
01-19-2011, 07:54 AM
#11
Super Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 4,083
Mai has a good point. I can't lose at all on 1000 calories a day, but I lost steadily on 1300. It may be that you aren't eating enough and your body has slowed down its metabolism to compensate. This is true for some but not others, though. Also, take a look at your pie (protein-carb-fat) chart and make sure you're pretty well balanced there.
01-19-2011, 08:03 AM
#12
FitDay Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 38
Don't despair
Hey there,
I was in the same boat until just this week, this is my 3rd week in to my new healthy lifestyle. I was really disappointed i was not seeing any result for my efforts. yes i felt great and my body felt tighter but the scales wasn't having any of it. So I didn't panic or lose hope rather I made some changes to my diet. Brought my daily cals intake from 1400 up to 1800 (yes up) and tried to eat more regularly rather than going the whole workday without eating which i was doing. I too have heard that eating too few cals can put your body into starvation mode. Think of your metabolism as a fire- you've got to keep refueling it to keep it burning if you don't feed it enough and often enough it goes out.
I also up'd my protein intake as i am a veggie and really wasn't getting enough despite eating lots of meat substitutes and egg whites. I now try to balance my meals out to 30% fat, 30% protein, 40% carbs (similar to The Zone).
Hey presto this week I've lost 5lbs and 5% body fat. Fingers crossed this continues.
Have you used the tools on the weight goal tab? I recommend setting yourself a realistic weight loss goal & time scale. The tools will help you determine how restrictive you should be with your calorie deficit (burned - eaten)
Hope this helps.
I was in the same boat until just this week, this is my 3rd week in to my new healthy lifestyle. I was really disappointed i was not seeing any result for my efforts. yes i felt great and my body felt tighter but the scales wasn't having any of it. So I didn't panic or lose hope rather I made some changes to my diet. Brought my daily cals intake from 1400 up to 1800 (yes up) and tried to eat more regularly rather than going the whole workday without eating which i was doing. I too have heard that eating too few cals can put your body into starvation mode. Think of your metabolism as a fire- you've got to keep refueling it to keep it burning if you don't feed it enough and often enough it goes out.
I also up'd my protein intake as i am a veggie and really wasn't getting enough despite eating lots of meat substitutes and egg whites. I now try to balance my meals out to 30% fat, 30% protein, 40% carbs (similar to The Zone).
Hey presto this week I've lost 5lbs and 5% body fat. Fingers crossed this continues.
Have you used the tools on the weight goal tab? I recommend setting yourself a realistic weight loss goal & time scale. The tools will help you determine how restrictive you should be with your calorie deficit (burned - eaten)
Hope this helps.
Last edited by bettmrr; 01-19-2011 at 08:08 AM.
01-19-2011, 01:03 PM
#13
FitDay Premium Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 41
I'm thinking a lot like bettmrr. In fact, my posts a few months ago are sooo similar to yours!
My doc suggested that I change what I was eating. I started to juice vegetables several times a week. Here are the main things she suggested and the weight is now coming off:
1. Juice vegetables (make like a smoothie/but NO dairy) several days a week.
2. Eat vegetables at every meal. Eat LOTS of vegetables.
3. Eat protein throughout the day...small portions..3-4 ounces
4. Drink water throughout the day.
5. Eliminate sugar, dairy and bread.
(Feta cheese is ok)
6. Very healthy, fat free crackers in tiny portions is ok. (1/2 a cracker) and a total of one cracker can be enjoyed daily.
An ocassional 1/2 sweet potato is also ok. Same with tiny amounts of brown rice or whole wheat pasta...but these three things are not to be eaten often.
7. Have fruit for dessert or snack.
8. Greatly limit alcohol.
9. Eat nuts (with the exception of peanuts) in small portions several times a week. Use as a snack.
10. Moderate exercise. Increase only as appropriate.
I've been doing the above. This entailed a slight increase in calories. It ended up being much closer to what Fit Day recommended. The scale is FINALLY moving downward!
Don't know if any of this makes sense to you or is helpful. Sending good thoughts for success.
My doc suggested that I change what I was eating. I started to juice vegetables several times a week. Here are the main things she suggested and the weight is now coming off:
1. Juice vegetables (make like a smoothie/but NO dairy) several days a week.
2. Eat vegetables at every meal. Eat LOTS of vegetables.
3. Eat protein throughout the day...small portions..3-4 ounces
4. Drink water throughout the day.
5. Eliminate sugar, dairy and bread.
(Feta cheese is ok)
6. Very healthy, fat free crackers in tiny portions is ok. (1/2 a cracker) and a total of one cracker can be enjoyed daily.
An ocassional 1/2 sweet potato is also ok. Same with tiny amounts of brown rice or whole wheat pasta...but these three things are not to be eaten often.
7. Have fruit for dessert or snack.
8. Greatly limit alcohol.
9. Eat nuts (with the exception of peanuts) in small portions several times a week. Use as a snack.
10. Moderate exercise. Increase only as appropriate.
I've been doing the above. This entailed a slight increase in calories. It ended up being much closer to what Fit Day recommended. The scale is FINALLY moving downward!
Don't know if any of this makes sense to you or is helpful. Sending good thoughts for success.
Last edited by AAFlaca; 01-19-2011 at 01:14 PM.
01-19-2011, 02:35 PM
#14
Super Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 2,225
I'm looking at all the responses and thinking... simpler is better. There's no fine tuning to be done here. Your body's not 'starving'; you'd have to be eating half the calories you're eating to even think of being 'starving.'
So forget eating more - IF YOU'RE COMFORTABLE eating what you are currently eating.
Then be brutally honest with yourself about faithfully only eating the prepackaged meals. They say they are so many calories? Then believe them.
If you're drinking enough, the color of your urine (a regular, light color) will show it. If you're NOT drinking enough, your urine will get darker and that is not good. Also, you'd be thirsty, I'm guessing. Pre-packaged meals are not known to be particularly low in sodium so you're probably drinking water just because you get thirsty in that case, anyway.
Eating the calories you're eating, you don't even have to knock yourself out exercising to lose weight. You WILL lose weight. So I'm going to go out on a limb here and say your scales are wrong, you're weighing yourself too often and getting all stressed out about the numbers, and in fact, you're losing weight comfortably at the rate your body wants to.
You have a time clock and you're impatient that x pounds don't fall of in y time? Good luck with your mind telling your body about that. Relax about it. You already said your clothes feel better. So feel good about that. Continue what you're doing, stop being in a hurry. Be faithful to the food diary accuracy and you'll be fine. There's no fine tuning necessary, no magic fixes. Calories in and calories out - it's not anything miraculous that happens. So take your time and relax.
So forget eating more - IF YOU'RE COMFORTABLE eating what you are currently eating.
Then be brutally honest with yourself about faithfully only eating the prepackaged meals. They say they are so many calories? Then believe them.
If you're drinking enough, the color of your urine (a regular, light color) will show it. If you're NOT drinking enough, your urine will get darker and that is not good. Also, you'd be thirsty, I'm guessing. Pre-packaged meals are not known to be particularly low in sodium so you're probably drinking water just because you get thirsty in that case, anyway.
Eating the calories you're eating, you don't even have to knock yourself out exercising to lose weight. You WILL lose weight. So I'm going to go out on a limb here and say your scales are wrong, you're weighing yourself too often and getting all stressed out about the numbers, and in fact, you're losing weight comfortably at the rate your body wants to.
You have a time clock and you're impatient that x pounds don't fall of in y time? Good luck with your mind telling your body about that. Relax about it. You already said your clothes feel better. So feel good about that. Continue what you're doing, stop being in a hurry. Be faithful to the food diary accuracy and you'll be fine. There's no fine tuning necessary, no magic fixes. Calories in and calories out - it's not anything miraculous that happens. So take your time and relax.
01-19-2011, 09:06 PM
#15
FitDay Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 38
Hey There,
At the risk of sounding over sensitive (truely I am not) I just wanted to clarify that by saying 'Hey Presto' I wasn't suggesting there was anything magical about what I have changed just that I am finally beginning to see some results as it seemed like it wasn't going to happen as I'm sure the Original poster may be feeling. These few changes are working for me so far and are more in line with the guidance given by the fitday tools. (Also I must say that 1800 cals is my maximum allowance, I usually tend to hit in at around 1600)
No, its not rocket science but can feel confusing when your doing all the right things and nothing is happening.
As others have said hang in there it will all come good.
At the risk of sounding over sensitive (truely I am not) I just wanted to clarify that by saying 'Hey Presto' I wasn't suggesting there was anything magical about what I have changed just that I am finally beginning to see some results as it seemed like it wasn't going to happen as I'm sure the Original poster may be feeling. These few changes are working for me so far and are more in line with the guidance given by the fitday tools. (Also I must say that 1800 cals is my maximum allowance, I usually tend to hit in at around 1600)
No, its not rocket science but can feel confusing when your doing all the right things and nothing is happening.
As others have said hang in there it will all come good.
Last edited by bettmrr; 01-19-2011 at 09:11 PM.
01-20-2011, 03:55 AM
#16
Super Moderator
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 1,138
im eating pre packaged meals with the calories on them so that should be right, maybe my body is just putting up a bit of a fight at the minute and clinging on to the blubber.
i will not quit, I feel smaller and my clothes are looser, but no actual weight loss..I suppose its all a bit of a "dark art" and i should stop over analyzing, if my body is shrinking does actually loosing weight matter, may be that will come in time???
i will not quit, I feel smaller and my clothes are looser, but no actual weight loss..I suppose its all a bit of a "dark art" and i should stop over analyzing, if my body is shrinking does actually loosing weight matter, may be that will come in time???
IMO, the problem with a prepackaged food plan is that it is a diet. What happens when you stop the meal plan? What are the macros averaging per day?
01-20-2011, 08:00 PM
#17
FitDay Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 90
Another factor to consider is the nature of your exercise. It's possible that you have been losing fat and gaining some lean muscle. Since muscle is denser than fat you can become leaner without losing any weight.
That's what I'm doing:- I'm currently eating better and exercising harder than I've ever done but I've barely lost any actual weight. I'm stronger, leaner and more toned than I've ever been but not much lighter.
Do you keep track of your body fat %? If that's going down without you losing any weight then that indicates that you're building lean muscle. Don't worry... you won't suddenly bulk up into a bodybuilder because that takes a huge amount of determined effort. Lean and toned muscle is a great thing to build.
That's what I'm doing:- I'm currently eating better and exercising harder than I've ever done but I've barely lost any actual weight. I'm stronger, leaner and more toned than I've ever been but not much lighter.
Do you keep track of your body fat %? If that's going down without you losing any weight then that indicates that you're building lean muscle. Don't worry... you won't suddenly bulk up into a bodybuilder because that takes a huge amount of determined effort. Lean and toned muscle is a great thing to build.
01-20-2011, 08:45 PM
#18
FitDay Premium Member
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 2,621
I'm looking at all the responses and thinking... simpler is better. There's no fine tuning to be done here. Your body's not 'starving'; you'd have to be eating half the calories you're eating to even think of being 'starving.'
So forget eating more - IF YOU'RE COMFORTABLE eating what you are currently eating.
Then be brutally honest with yourself about faithfully only eating the prepackaged meals. They say they are so many calories? Then believe them.
If you're drinking enough, the color of your urine (a regular, light color) will show it. If you're NOT drinking enough, your urine will get darker and that is not good. Also, you'd be thirsty, I'm guessing. Pre-packaged meals are not known to be particularly low in sodium so you're probably drinking water just because you get thirsty in that case, anyway.
Eating the calories you're eating, you don't even have to knock yourself out exercising to lose weight. You WILL lose weight. So I'm going to go out on a limb here and say your scales are wrong, you're weighing yourself too often and getting all stressed out about the numbers, and in fact, you're losing weight comfortably at the rate your body wants to.
You have a time clock and you're impatient that x pounds don't fall of in y time? Good luck with your mind telling your body about that. Relax about it. You already said your clothes feel better. So feel good about that. Continue what you're doing, stop being in a hurry. Be faithful to the food diary accuracy and you'll be fine. There's no fine tuning necessary, no magic fixes. Calories in and calories out - it's not anything miraculous that happens. So take your time and relax.
So forget eating more - IF YOU'RE COMFORTABLE eating what you are currently eating.
Then be brutally honest with yourself about faithfully only eating the prepackaged meals. They say they are so many calories? Then believe them.
If you're drinking enough, the color of your urine (a regular, light color) will show it. If you're NOT drinking enough, your urine will get darker and that is not good. Also, you'd be thirsty, I'm guessing. Pre-packaged meals are not known to be particularly low in sodium so you're probably drinking water just because you get thirsty in that case, anyway.
Eating the calories you're eating, you don't even have to knock yourself out exercising to lose weight. You WILL lose weight. So I'm going to go out on a limb here and say your scales are wrong, you're weighing yourself too often and getting all stressed out about the numbers, and in fact, you're losing weight comfortably at the rate your body wants to.
You have a time clock and you're impatient that x pounds don't fall of in y time? Good luck with your mind telling your body about that. Relax about it. You already said your clothes feel better. So feel good about that. Continue what you're doing, stop being in a hurry. Be faithful to the food diary accuracy and you'll be fine. There's no fine tuning necessary, no magic fixes. Calories in and calories out - it's not anything miraculous that happens. So take your time and relax.
Regards,
Michael
01-21-2011, 02:44 AM
#19
FitDay Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 1
My wife and I started seeing a dietician three months ago and she is constantly on our case about making sure our caloric intake is high enough. She says your body needs fuel to burn calories.
You (being female) should be consuming 1600-1700 calories a day with complex (good) carbs making up about 60-70% of your total and the rest protein and (good) fat.
And like someone else said, start cooking from scratch and throw the processed stuff away.
Of course exercising is a must which you are doing.
Good luck!
01-21-2011, 05:15 AM
#20
FitDay Premium Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: DC
Posts: 76
How are your clothes fitting though?
I would worry less about the scale and more about how your clothes are feeling. Better yet, do tape measurements to gauge progress as well if you can't get a body fat measurement once or twice a month at the gym. As you can see, my weight has plateaued at 197, but I can tell I'm still losing body fat and getting healthier. That's the more important thing.
