weight loss mystery? possible medical issue?

[DDDD]

I have been thin/athletic my entire life. However by my late twenties I had stopped exercising regularly and was smoking. I quit smoking 1.5 years ago and right afterwards I gained some weight (as expected) I have also been a vegetarian for the past 3-4 years. I eat 3-4 meals a day and a healthy snack. I also drink a lot of clean water (2Litres+ per day)

13 months ago I started to go to the gym again. I was 32 years old, 6ft tall and weighed 210lbs (with a high body fat %). I started a routine of going three times a week: 1 hour of weights and 1 hour of moderate cardio.

I have also been watching my calorie intake and the types of foods I eat.

A year later I have lost ZERO lbs! In fact I am about 215 lbs now.

This past two weeks I started an even stricter plan: every single piece of food I eat or drink is logged, measured and calories accounted for. I have been limiting myself to 1800 calories a day as part of a schedule to lose 2lbs per week. I also increased my workouts to 4 days a week.

After two weeks I should have lost 4lbs but I have lost NOTHING!

I am definitely way stronger than when I began (and I can lift more weights than the average guy in the gym) and my cardio is great. I am just completely baffled as to why I am not losing weight.

Is it possible there could be a medical problem I am not considering?? e.g. an issue with my liver not metabolising fat? water retention?

 

[Karky]

are you a man or a woman? 1800 kcals a week.. any idea what you ate before you started logging? was it more or less?

 

[DDDD]

I'm a guy (should have posted that before).

The daily calorie limit I have set if 1800 calories. I am definitely eating less than before and avoiding some crucial food products that I was previously unaware were so high in calories (i.e. mayonaise, kraft dinner, cheese etc.).

My typical snack these days is a bunch of carrots, celery or other raw veggies/fruit.

Portion size of meals is much smaller too. On days that I exercise I know that I can take in more calories and this is accounted for.

I do not feel like I am starving on my new plan, just making smarter choices, eating slower and snacking on more appropriate foods. I am also exercising more intensely.

Any clues?

Also if it helps, I have an athletic body type and used to be a pretty elite athlete when I was younger (used to be a competitive swimmer and would train 6 times a week, sometimes twice a day). I have always been a big eater but had a metabolism to match. I am sure that now I am older my metabolism has slowed down but after a year of regular exercise I would have thought something would change.

 

[stangelj]

Well, certainly if you are now stronger than the average guy in the gym, you have gained a fair bit of muscle mass which means you've lost an equal amount of fat (by weight), with the net effect that you weigh the same. So you've made great progress. You may just need to give your current routine more time as you may not see progress in just 2 weeks.

Also, how much and what kind of cardio are you doing? You may want to up your cardio and try high intensity interval training to really rev things up a notch.

 

[DDDD]

yeah I am sure I have gained a lot of muscle and that feels good but it is obviously frustrating to see that it is still beneath a lot of fat.

I also assume that my target weight should be around 185 for my size so it feels like I am still a long ways off that goal.


For cardio I do an hour each time 4x week. I usually do variations on ellyptical machine and keep my HR around 125 (in between fat burning and cardio workout). There was a while that I was doing intervals of 2:30 slow and then 30second sprints, repeating for an entire hour. I was not convinced that it was a superior workout but I could be wrong.

I actually really enjoy cardio and use it as a time to get my head straight, read books, watch movies or listen to music. I always sweat a lot and end up drinking about a litre of water during the session.

 

[Chillen]

I have been thin/athletic my entire life. However by my late twenties I had stopped exercising regularly and was smoking. I quit smoking 1.5 years ago and right afterwards I gained some weight (as expected) I have also been a vegetarian for the past 3-4 years. I eat 3-4 meals a day and a healthy snack. I also drink a lot of clean water (2Litres+ per day)

Understood.

13 months ago I started to go to the gym again. I was 32 years old, 6ft tall and weighed 210lbs (with a high body fat %). I started a routine of going three times a week: 1 hour of weights and 1 hour of moderate cardio.

One hour of weights and aerobic activity in true honesty, doesn't tell me a thing.

Expand and be more specific. I could do an hour of weights and aerobic activity, and not lose any fat/weight as well.

I have also been watching my calorie intake and the types of foods I eat.

Expand on this as well. This also doesn't tell us anything. Write in generalities, you will get a general answer.

What do you mean "watching your calories?"

Lay out your calorie allotment and macro nutrient properties for this time period (protein, carbohydrates, and fats).

A year later I have lost ZERO lbs! In fact I am about 215 lbs now.

I am going to be brutally honest: I simply do not buy this on face value. Unless you are some super-metabolic wonder (then you should be examined by scientists), something just doesn't sound right.

And, I am point more to lifestyle habits, then to the possibility of a rare medical condition.

The other item I take issue with, is you doing the same thing with the same results for an entire year.

You heard the old adage: "repeating the same things; expecting different results"?

You mean to tell me, that in a matter of a few weeks/months, that it didn't strike you as odd? And, you didn't take any action, at any point, during this entire year (seeing something wasn't right, and changing your nutritional properties, training approach, and see a doctor to get examined)?

I am thumping on the value on why this doesn't pass the common sense test. I mean this is good way, but......being direct and forward as a friend should be (at times).

This past two weeks I started an even stricter plan: every single piece of food I eat or drink is logged, measured and calories accounted for. I have been limiting myself to 1800 calories a day as part of a schedule to lose 2lbs per week. I also increased my workouts to 4 days a week.

After two weeks I should have lost 4lbs but I have lost NOTHING!

Again, what are you doing in this workout, 4 days per week?

What do you do for a living?

Tell me how you accounted/tracked/logged every morsel of food and drink, among your lifestyle, I would be interested in this, because I have A LOT of experience in doing this (especially at the beginnings of my fitness quests). Additionally, I would interested in hearing "how" you measured your food at work and at home.

Lay out your macro nutrient properties for this time period (protein, carbohydrates, and fats), since you were so thorough, you should have these.

For some reason some people get the idea, that if they cut 500c for 7 days, they will lose a pound of fat: It rarely works on like this in an imperfect world (sometimes its more sometimes less, dependent). But, yes logging enables adjustments to feedback, and this is one reason I do it to this day.

Yes, one pound of fat has 3500 calories, and you have to burn this to lose this amount, but its rare (post newbie gains/losses), that it turns out this way; especially when you consider metabolic adaptions, and hormonal changes (good and bad) that takes place, and how the body (can) partition weight loss distribution.

Is it possible there could be a medical problem I am not considering?? e.g. an issue with my liver not metabolising fat? water retention?

I can't sweat the feeling that we are not being told everything. True, it is "possible" you could have a medical condition of some kind. If you think so, get yourself checked out, and get this questions answered one way or the other, so you can start working things out for yourself.

I thinks its remote you do, but on the outside chance, you may.

Answer my questions. I will check by later.

Peace and success to you.


Chillen

 

[DDDD]

Expand and be more specific. I could do an hour of weights and aerobic activity, and not lose any fat/weight as well.

3 day cycle:
day 1: chest and biceps
day 2: back and tricep
day 3: legs and shoulders

I had these routines set by personal trainers at a well respected gym. Mostly it would be 3-4 sets on each exercise, 8-12 reps. I do supersets for biceps and triceps. I could give even more details if it means anything. I usually push myself pretty hard and I try to make increases in weights every 3-4 weeks.

What do you mean "watching your calories?"

As a vegetarian I had to become a lot more careful about what I am %100 confident I am getting adequate nutrition but I am healthy (afaik). I also try to look up the calorie content per servings of most foods I eat (either on a product label or looking it up online). I have been getting more in to this as time goes on.
I am still on a quest to find better protein source for me. I have stopped eating Tofu due to the fact it is well reported to have super high estrogen levels. I stick to eggs, milk, beans, lentils and nuts. For a while I was having whey based protein shakes after workouts but it was giving me a ton of gas and my stomach was upset daily.

Lay out your calorie allotment and macro nutrient properties for this time period (protein, carbohydrates, and fats).

very very approximately %15 fat, %60 carbs, %25 protein.

And, I am point more to lifestyle habits, then to the possibility of a rare medical condition.

hehe I am trying to be really honest with my logs these days. The only thing I could think is that in some circumstances I am not accurately guessing the weight or size of something. My next step is to use measuring cups and scales on everything (not permanently but just to gain a more accurate frame of reference). I cook the majority of my foods so I usually have a reasonable sense of what's going on.

The other item I take issue with, is you doing the same thing with the same results for an entire year.
You heard the old adage: "repeating the same things; expecting different results"?

very true. There are have been variations in the workout and I am constantly trying new foods. It is one of those things where I kept thinking next week things were going to improve and then time slips by.

Again, what are you doing in this workout, 4 days per week?

as mentioned above the three day cycle and then on the 4th day is just cardio. I also do 10 minutes of ab exercises after the weights.

What do you do for a living?

engineer. Lot's of sitting at a computer but I am pretty active person in general (always going on errands by foot). I don't drive so I walk or take public transit everywhere.

Tell me how you accounted/tracked/logged every morsel of food and drink, among your lifestyle, I would be interested in this, because I have A LOT of experience in doing this (especially at the beginnings of my fitness quests). Additionally, I would interested in hearing "how" you measured your food at work and at home.

I started using a program on my iphone called "Lose it!" It has a relatively large database of foods, ingredients, and brand name products all with calorie values based on portion size. It also keeps track of nutrional information. You can also set weight loss goals based on age/weight and speed of loss. The program determined that I needed a budget of 1800 calories a day in order to lose 2 lbs a week. I decided to give it a go! I would say that so far I am definitely eating a lot less as a result so maybe at this point it is a matter of giving it more of a chance and over the past year I was simply consuming too much food.

Lay out your macro nutrient properties for this time period (protein, carbohydrates, and fats), since you were so thorough, you should have these.

See the values above. These were determined by the program. I am thinking my protein amount is far too low and carbs way too high.

I can't sweat the feeling that we are not being told everything. True, it is "possible" you could have a medical condition of some kind. If you think so, get yourself checked out, and get this questions answered one way or the other, so you can start working things out for yourself.

I have not had a checkup in years and years (I live in Vancouver Canada and it is almost impossible to get a family doctor). I am going to go get a general checkup (which I should be doing anyways).

Peace and success to you.

thanks, I appreciate the time you have taken and I understand you are playing devil's advocate here.