Why am I not losing weight?

E

erdbeere2

New member
Hi all! I was wondering if you guys had any ideas about why I'm not losing weight!

It's so frustrating! I'm 25, and would like to lose about 15 pounds (now I'm 140). For the past 3 weeks, I havent been ingesting more than 1300 calories a day, and for my job, I'm walking around all day. I weighed myself for the first time in three weeks now, and I've lost mabe about 2 pounds!

What could I be doing wrong? Does it just pick up after a while?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

C
 
Hi, and welcome :)

It could be several things. One, you might be eating more than you think you are (I'm not accusing you of anything, a lot of people mismeasure or estimate, it's nothing personal) and thus not be in a calorie deficit. Two, you might be eating too little and slowing your metabolism (you need to calculate an appropriate calorie intake for you- use a search engine, look for BMR calculator, and then use a formula such as the Harris Benedict Formula to work out your maintenance calories- then reduce those by no more than 1000 per day, and never reduce below 1200 calories a day if you're female, or 1800 if you're male).

Three, yes, weight loss isn't necessarily as predictable as we'd like it to be. I didn't lose any weight for a couple of weeks calorie counting, and bang, I started to lose a kilo a week (I'd projected a loss of a pound, or about half a kilogram, a week), which has been the case for three weeks running.

Four, what's your nutrition like? Things like excessive sodium intake could cause your body to retain lots of water and therefore you won't lose as much on the scales. (Are your clothes fitting differently?)

Finally, do you really need to lose weight? I don't know because I don't have your stats (so again, nothing personal), but the less weight you need to use (BMI is a useful although not foolproof guide to this), the harder/ slower it is to lose weight.

Just some things to think about.
 
It does sounds strange that you are not losing weight on the details you've given.

It could be any of the ideas that Amy has given.

I suggest starting a weight loss diary and listing all your food in detail, including how much of each. how many tsp of sugar, whether your milk is low fat or full cream, list everything.


That way its easy for you to check back and also if you want to show a doctor if the problem persists then its easy to do so.

INsulin resistance seems an unlikely explanation. But having your glucose tested is not a bad idea as well as your thyroid function. As you are so young still its more likely to be something to do with your calorie intake than one of these explanations but it wouldnt' hurt to have a check up with the doctor if things dont' improve.
 
Yep, im with the above. You are kidding yourself about the portion sizes probably or the calorie content. Don't stress it, everyone does it though, its one of the one main things you need to check and re-check.
2lb isnt to bad though, that sounds like a safe decent amount of weight loss to me! the less you have to loose, the slower you loose it remember also :)
 
thanks everyone for the tips. the only thing i can think is that im miscalculating (i used an online calorie counter and perhaps i wasnt putting in the correct portion size? i dont have a scale for food so i was just kind of guessing). is frustrating counting calories! im on SSRIs so maybe it has something to do with that. I feel like i do need to lose weight, i gained ten pounds after going on medication and would feel more comfortable back at my old weight.

anyways, thanks for commenting, i at least feel like there might not be something fundamentally wrong with me... and if there is, its diagnosable
 
I'd seriously recommend investing in some scales. You can get digital scales for not terribly much (in the UK, 10 or 15 pounds, I think about $25 in Australia, not sure about elsewhere). The ones I have weigh to the nearest gram or mL, so I always have a very good idea about what's going in my mouth (at least when I prepare it myself).
 
cool thanks for all the advice guys, i bought a food scale, and a ton of those weightwatchers meals (which show exactly how many calories are in them), plus its good because i dont generally have time to cook. hopefully things will pick up soon...
 
Just a thought. You said you started out at 140 lbs and lost "maybe" 2 lbs when you weighed in again. Did you actually weigh yourself the day you started your program? 140 is a pretty even number and when you weighed yourself again there should be no question as to "maybe" 2 lbs. It's in the wording.

Is it possible that you thought you weighed 140 lbs when you started your diet but actually could have weighed a bit more? You've only been doing this 3 weeks and you don't have much to lose so even if you actually weighed 143, 144 instead of the estimate of 140 you used.. this would make a huge difference in how you view your results.
 
Read this link about weight gain and antidepressants. I think it gives a very balanced answer. If you are taking one of the SSRIs listed as more likely to cause weight gain, you can always ask for your doctor to change it.

I know that the ones like wellbutrin and other newer antidepressants people seem to like them.

I take an older one, Effexor and it is good - doesn't cause weight gain but a lot of people don't feel good on it.

If your weighing methods (of food and yourself) are vague, that is certainly a likely explanation.

I find weighing myself in the morning when i get up is the best time of day for consistency. If you weigh during the day there are too many temporary variables - ie water will have an even greater impact on the reading.
 
UPDATE: guys, thanks for all your tips, since I posted (ca. two weeks ago) I became super strict about measuring and counting calories, and as of today lost 3 more kg (almost 7lbs) in two weeks! so, I'm going to keep going and try and see if I can do 10 more!
 
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