Why am I not losing weight?

I know you're trying really hard. And I have been your weight - but I also want to make it clear that I am not a doctor.

I'm quite sure you're in starvation mode. You're just not giving yourself enough calories. I bet you feel lightheaded at times, sluggish, or tired?

I don't know your height, but even without it, a 304 lb. body needs more than 1200 calories to get through a typical day, particularly when you add the amount of aerobic exercise you're doing.

I urge you to talk to your doctor and ask to be referred to a nutritionist, or possibly to a Y or other gym for a sensible fitness program (because you should probably also be lifting at least a bit, and that means charging up your diet into more protein than you are probably currently consuming).

I use SparkPeople (just Google 'em) to get ideas about meals, etc., and videos for the right way to exercise.

1200 calories is not just 1200 calories - you need to be putting in what you need, and enough of it. Too little will not speed up your weight loss, it'll just slam shut the door of your metabolism.

You can do it, Steve!

PS I started at 346. I got down to about 186, am now at around 261. It is a lifelong situation, losing weight. But you can do it.

The past couple of days I was doing the extended length walking. However, I also include some weight lifting/full body exercises. I do curls, dumbell rows, benchpress, military press, shrugs, situps, pushups, lunges, body squats, and occasionally burpees. The days I aint doing marathons with the walking/running I plan to do that. But you believe that the cause of my weight staying the same is just not getting enough calories in me in general? Because I did lose 10-12 pounds with my method prior and now its as if I'm at a standstill. It just seems like if I started eating more through the day I'd just gain more than I already do and slow it down that much more.

Your body weight fluctuates by around five pounds just due to normal eating and drinking. Even with all you are doing, the most you can expect to lose a day is one pound and you should really be thinking a half pound. (You are overdoing the not eating thing.) Graph your weight everyday and plan on going a week before seeing a change knowing that sometimes you are going to see a spike in weight and that doesn't suddenly mean you've gained weight, it is just normal fluctuation.

To add to what engineer said, daily weight can fluctuate by a good 7 pounds. That's due to water and salt, mainly. The big weight loss push that we all get at the beginning of a weight loss plan is generally due to a loss in water weight.

What do you typically eat in a morning? Fer reals, this is what I'm eating (right now, in front of the computer, which I should really stop doing, but
I've got schoolwork due) - an omelet made with egg beaters equalling 2 eggs. 3 oz of salmon cooked with the eggs (this is salmon, not lox, and so it is a lot less salt), about 1/4 c. of onions, broccoli and peas mixed together, about 1 oz shiitake mushrooms. All of that was mixed together and cooked in a T of coconut oil (usually I use just the spray but today I'm going for the oil as a change ). No salt. Dash of dill added. Side of various fruits - it was what we had on hand, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and some enormous red grapes. Probably about 1/2 c. of the fruit, which is all fresh.

I am also eating all of this with chopsticks which makes me eat slower. I'm washing it down with a 32 oz thermos of water mixed with unsweetened decaf tea. I put in some stevia because otherwise it's kind of icky.

I drink 12 eight oz glasses of water/weak decaf tea/day. Most diets recommend only 8, but more is better on higher protein days, like I'm having today.

You'll notice that nearly nothing in my breakfast (which is huge, I might add, and is around 450 - 500 calories or so) is what anyone would call 'diet food'. I eat egg beaters because I like them and on my father's side I've inherited a tendency to have elevated cholesterol. Stevia is sweet but it's natural - toss your standard artificial sweeteners. Most of them are really bad for you, and they can make you crave regular sugar even more.

Tomorrow, breakfast will be instant Scottish steel-cut oats. Changing up your food is helpful. It makes everything more interesting, so you're more likely to stick with your improved eating habits, you're more likely to get the nutrients you need, plus changing things up seems to make it more likely for you to lose.

May I ask how old you are? Do you live alone? Dieting can be difficult if everyone else in your home is on a different page than you are. My husband isn't looking to lose weight, but he will eat with me when it's dinnertime. Otherwise, we're both on our own (it's just the two of us). Most of what he eats as a junk food 'treat' he does so outside of the home, like he might have lunch out while at work and I just shrug. I'm not there with him during the day so he does whatever.

I know that eating more feels counterintuitive. This is why I am suggesting your doctor plus a referral to a nutritionist (or dietician; the roles are similar but dieticians are more regulated in the US). This person can help you to put together meals that work within your time, your budget, your cooking skill level, your preferences, and your need to lose weight. And a workup at the Y or with a personal trainer (I am suggesting the Y as they have trainers and are a ton less expensive than private gyms) is a good idea because they can help you with proper form and how to best work within your size, your strength level, your interests, etc. Plus they can help to keep you from getting injured.

Pulling for ya!

I tend to be eating the same things daily. I usually srart day off with a whey protein shake and a handful of dark chocolate almonds. For snacks I'll have either yogurt or fruit such as apples/oranges. Lunch I usually have whole wheat pasta with chicken and then some kind of sauce for flavor, but usually only have a cup and half of it to stay close to serving size. With that I'll usually mix spinach with it to get some green veggies. Dinner is usually yogurt and some kind of fruit because my job is 5pm-3:30am and I don't want to be eating ridiculously at 10:40 at night. You all think I'm under eating though and need to increase my calorie intake? What does everyone recommend for a calorie goal for the day? 1800?

that really doesn't sound like enough food

see a dietician through a doc's referral as soon as you can

___

one of the main things I remember from Jes's weight loss program (she tracked it here for quite a while) was the bags of salad she was eating. I think it was a full bag of salad with at least one daily meal.

Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but it appears the OP is saying she's been doing this "the past couple of days" and she wants to lose 8 to 10 pounds within 12 days.

Seriously?

That's not fat, that's water, and in the next 2 weeks, probably some muscle.

You weigh 2 pounds more after you eat? Well yeah, you just drank a pound of water and a pound, by weight, of food.

Same as if you weighed yourself, then picked up a plate of food and large beverage, and stepped back on the scale.

I say hide the scale and slowly sculp your physique through moderate exercise and senseable eating.
What a radical concept.


I find it funny when some says they have to reach a certain weight by some specific date in the near future, for some specific reason, like for a wedding.

Why not say "for no specific reason I'm going to take better care of myself, and revisit how I feel and look in six months"?

It's a guy, but otherwise, yeah, you're right on the nose.

12 days to lose 8 - 10 pounds?

That's a recipe for exercise bulimia right there.

No wonder you're not going to your doctor, Steve.

You can do some lovely damage to your metabolism this way.

Please don't crash diet in order to fit into a tux or a wrestling or boxing or martial arts weight range. You can get a bigger tux, and there will be other matches. Don't screw up your health like this.

how long have you been following your formula?

First off, I was following my forumala for a couple of weeks and it was working. The reason I need to lose the weight by a specific date is so that way I can get into an apprenticeship and they will only allow people under 300lbs to be in it. So yea, it is for a specific reason, thank you for your condescending remarks. They are much appreciated. As for everyone else, thank you for taking the time to give factual information instead of choosing to be like other posters and be rude. I am a male, 22 years old. 6'1" and am somewhat active because I work a warehouse job 4 days a week for 10 hours a day, then do exercises after work, and have currently taken up walking on weekends. The walking has just been this weekend, but everything else has been for a couple of weeks now.

condescending? well ok <shrug>

good luck to you

Not you, I meant the other person who was being somewhat snarky. I appreciate your words, I just replied to yours because it was the last message posted on forum and I'm kind of new. Sorry, was not meant towards you at all.

Yeah, that engineer can get pretty pissy sometimes.

Thanks for this - and the pm

Alright, so since I've changed my diet just a bit and trying to stay around a 1600-1800 calorie count I started to see a little bit of progress, but then, for whatever reason I have plateau'd once again. It's like no matter what, I stay the same weight and cannot lose anymore. I have been the same weight for around a week and half or so now. Not entirely sure what the problem is.

For breakfast I have 2 eggs on whole wheat toast, no butter.
Lunch I have fruit and yogurt.
Snack during the day I have either more yogurt and/or some peanuts.
Dinner I have chicken, spinach, onions, and spicy banana peppers, all fried with olive oil in a pan together to heat up/cook, and that is usually had on two pieces of whole wheat bread as well. I usually eat that anywhere from 5pm-5pm, and then I don't eat anything for remainder of night, but continue drinking water as I feel either thirsty or slightly hungry.

Any suggestions to what I may be doing right/wrong in this?

It still doesn't look like enough food - and not enough fibre. The low calorie count has your body in starvation mode. You need to try and trick it with more food - seriously. Add a full bag of salad to your main meal (which should not be the one closest in time to when you go to bed) - use lemon juice and herbs as a dressing for the salad. Try oatmeal as one of your snacks - the fibre helps keep things moving.

Add fruit to that egg and toast breakfast.

Lunch definitely needs to be bigger.

Your body is fighting to hang on to what it's got since you're not feeding it enough.

Have you talked to a doc about a referral to a dietitian?

Did you look into sparkpeople as Jespah suggested? I've been using a fair number of their recipes and they are really helping with my weight-loss journey.

Really. Eating more - of the right stuff - will help you lose weight. Not super fast, but in a long-lasting lifestyle-changing way.

I do not have you in mind, since I'm not your nutritionist or doctor. However, my situation was: I had a few years veggie balanced diet, organic foods, fasting days. However, the weight does not disappear, exercise and even muscle there, but the belly and legs were thick. When I changed a nutritionist, then I learned that I need to do a special cleaning from parasites (bacteria, intestinal worms, etc.). And then I became thin and health - the perfect 49 kg for my height!)

Yes, there is a misconception that people who sick with parasites are too thin. But this is not always true in reality.

That's some of the worst and most destructive and self-centered shitty advice I have ever seen on this forum.