Not losing weight for some reason

  • Hiya! I have been trying to lose weight for three weeks now and I haven't lost a single kg... that's why I come to you for help!

    Here is my usual day:
    breakfast: two activia full-fat yoghurts with fruit
    lunch: home-made salad usually with a combination of: tomato, cucumber, boiled eggs, avocado, apple, banana, nuts, raisins
    snack: apple or banana
    dinner: meat (chicken breast, sausage, ...) with a veggie (broccoli, tomatoes, cauliflower) and some sort of carb, potato rice or pasta, but always whole-wheat.

    I have been trying so hard. i loooove bread and i've cut it out entirely. Before this i ate way too many carbs and fat.

    my stats:
    24 yrs old
    female
    70kg
    164cms

    I go swimming once a week and walk (briskly) for half an hour every day. i try to take the stairs and walk everywhere too. I havea deskjob.
  • Hey there

    I'm no diet expert, but I'll try to help as much as I can.
    First of all, you need to figure your BMR and see how many calories you need to be eating. You are probably eating calories to maintain your weight. Try out this link http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/calories-goal.php
    Second, if your exercising and doing strength perhaps you gained muscle and lost fat? Try taking your measurements instead of relying only on scale.
    That's the advice I can give you.
    Good luck
  • You should probably count your calories through something like myfitnesspal or caloriecount. It sounds like you are trying to make healthy choices, but a few things you mention are pretty high calorie and more than a tablespoon could put you over your calorie-needs for the day.
    Raisins are more calorie dense than you might think
    Nuts are very calorie dense
    Avocado is pretty calorie dense
    Two goghurts in the morning could add up too

    You are making the right food choices, but now oyu have to fine-tune your portion choises I think!

    Goodluck figuring it out, and welcome to the boards!
  • Looks like you are making some good choices but how many calories are you eating ?
  • Like all the other posters mentioned, maybe try counting your calories?

    Maybe you're eating just enough to maintain your weight, as for your height I don't think you're all that overweight (154 lbs = 70kgs). How much do you want to lose? 5-10 kgs?
  • P.S. Your diet sounds really well-balanced.

    And like Angelsmom said, if you've been exercising a lot you've probably lost inches and look slimmer, even if the added muscle is outweighing your fat loss. Take your measurements, perhaps?
  • Recalculate your calories eaten and calories burned. Make sure you're eating at a deficit. If you are and the scale isn't budging, then it's just water holding on that will drop eventually.
  • I would also up the intensity of your workouts if you can, to perhaps 45 mins a day to an hour, and perhaps throw in some interval training. Make it intense!
  • Quote: Here is my usual day:
    breakfast: two activia full-fat yoghurts with fruit
    lunch: home-made salad usually with a combination of: tomato, cucumber, boiled eggs, avocado, apple, banana, nuts, raisins
    snack: apple or banana
    dinner: meat (chicken breast, sausage, ...) with a veggie (broccoli, tomatoes, cauliflower) and some sort of carb, potato rice or pasta, but always whole-wheat.

    I have been trying so hard. i loooove bread and i've cut it out entirely. Before this i ate way too many carbs and fat.
    It looks to me like your diet is pretty UNbalanced actually... I see tons of sugar and not much protein. While fruit is good, it's not the end all be all to weight loss. Just ONE of those Activia yogurts has 20g of sugar in it... TWENTY GRAMS! You eat two of them plus fruit? That's WAY more sugar than you need at one meal, and then you eat more fruit as a snack and/or on your salads...

    Try replacing that yogurt with a plain Greek yogurt and add a few pieces of your own fruit to it. Maybe ditch the yogurt a few times a week and have some eggs/egg whites with a bit of low fat cheese and a piece of whole wheat bread. (There is NOTHING wrong with bread/fat/carbs as you stated above, you just need a balance of foods in your diet.)

    I'd also add some protein like chicken or fish to your salad, and keep an eye on the added nuts and raisins there.

    Your dinner looks good, but your snack is also lacking; try having a piece of string cheese with your piece of fruit for a bit more balanced meal, or better yet, replace that fruit some of the time with some veggies like celery, carrots, radishes, etc. and pair it with a bit of hummus.

    The bottom line is, like everyone said, counting calories. I think you might be surprised at how much you are actually eating. Forget the idea of "starvation mode" -- it's not something that you actually have to worry about unless you really are starving -- the reality is that you aren't eating at enough of a deficit for whatever reason. Either count calories and focus on eating more balanced meals or increase your activity levels to create more of a deficit.

    Good luck!
  • It looks like she might have some protein in there to me? She has eggs in her salad and meat with her dinner. Im not sure about the protein content of yoghurt, but im guessing that has a bit in it too.
  • I think there are some good ideas here. Everyone so far has mentioned calorie counting. That works for alot of people, me included...however you need to find something that works for you. Try calorie counting, and see how that works for you. Maybe do some research on some other programs and see what would fit for your life. One thing though, starvation mode is something to think about. Yes, you want to create a deficit in your calories...however decreasing too much can create problems. If you eat to little, then your body will hold on to everything that you eat, and you will not lose weight.
  • Quote: Hiya! I have been trying to lose weight for three weeks now and I haven't lost a single kg... that's why I come to you for help!

    Here is my usual day:
    breakfast: two activia full-fat yoghurts with fruit
    lunch: home-made salad usually with a combination of: tomato, cucumber, boiled eggs, avocado, apple, banana, nuts, raisins
    snack: apple or banana
    dinner: meat (chicken breast, sausage, ...) with a veggie (broccoli, tomatoes, cauliflower) and some sort of carb, potato rice or pasta, but always whole-wheat.

    I have been trying so hard. i loooove bread and i've cut it out entirely. Before this i ate way too many carbs and fat.

    my stats:
    24 yrs old
    female
    70kg
    164cms

    I go swimming once a week and walk (briskly) for half an hour every day. i try to take the stairs and walk everywhere too. I havea deskjob.
    Try to swith up your breakfast. How many fruit are you eating with your yogurt? I'm a yogurt and fruit lover but it does contain alot of sugar. I also had a problem with this. I now only allow one fruit on the days when I have yogurt because of the sugar content.

    Lets say you have 2 Activia Yogurts, 1 apple and 1 cup of grapes.

    According to MFP:

    Activia - Strawberry Yoghurt (125g Pot) X 2
    CALORIES :244
    CARBS: 34
    FAT: 8
    PROTEIN: 9
    SODIUM: 160
    SUGAR: 34

    Apples - Raw, with skin, 1 serving
    CALORIES: 80
    CARBS: 21
    FAT: 0
    PROTEIN: 0
    SODIUM: 2
    SUGAR: 16

    Fruit - Seedless Grapes (Red or Green), 1 Cup
    CALORIES : 104
    CARBS: 27
    FAT: 0
    PROTEIN: 1
    SODIUM: 3
    SUGAR: 23

    Look at the sugar : All in total for the breakfast adds up to about 73g of sugar. And thats breakfast only. Not adding the snacks, apple/raisins/bannana's sugar. This means your probally going over 100g of sugar a day. Which I believe is a bit too much maybe?

    - Why not try peanut butter on whole grain toast with your jogurt?
    - 3 Egg whites boiled with half a grapefruit
    - Wheetbix
    - 1 x Fresh fruit & 1x Activia Yogurt
    - 1 Serving oats with fruit
  • Yep, Melodymist has it right, and that's exactly what I was trying to say. You're way overdoing the sugar.

    Possiblesuccess, while I know you're offering suggestions, again, the idea of "starvation mode" is largely a myth for someone eating a relatively normal amount of food. That's not to say that her metabolism won't slow down to compensate for a decrease in calories, but the idea of true "starvation mode" is entirely different.

    Starvation means that you are ingesting so few calories that your body actually begins to cannibalize it's own muscle tissue. This only happens in SEVERELY calorie restricted individuals, such as long term anorexics, prisoners of war, etc. Anyone saying that they're having trouble losing weight is definitely not starving. Slowed metabolism? Sure. Starving? LOL... not even close.

    Likely the op is eating more than she needs to, not moving enough, eating an unbalanced diet, or a combination of the above. A caloric deficit that does not include enough protein to build and maintain muscle mass will put a quick halt to weight loss. I suggest a total clean up of her diet and to add more weight training and High-Intensity/short duration cardio to her regimine.