Hello all

I'm a very overweight mid-30s woman (over 17 stone) and have started a new fitness regime since January. I've barely experienced any weight loss (about 1 stone), though I'm losing inches. I get that I'm building muscle, which is denser than weight, and that I should be happy because my body shape is shifting, etc, etc, but I'm still concerned that I've had so little weight loss in nearly 6 months of hard work, especially as I'm so heavy.

I follow a low carb food plan and exercise 4 times a week (twice with a personal trainer, twice in my own time) - I very rarely stray (I have the occasional coffee and have eaten carb-ladden food a couple of times in 6 months) and work very hard at it but the slow progress is really putting me off.

Am I doing anything wrong?

Hello! And Welcome. Congrats on the stone you have lost (that's 14 lbs right???)! While it may not be as much as you'd like, it's still an accomplishment!

Have you tried counting your calories for a week or so to see, even though you are doing low carb, what your calorie deficit is? This is going to be a huge key to knowing the answer to your question!

It sounds like your exercise is great! Your rate of loss may be slow, but it IS happening. If you want it to be faster, it might be a matter of figuring out exactly how much you are eating.

Keep it up!

Thanks for taking the time to reply, and for your encouragements!

I've never actually thought of calorie counting (my personal trainer seems to think this is a huge waste of time) and didn't know that this could be such a big factor.

I'll give it a try - thanks for the tip!

No problem! I'm actually incredibly shocked (as a former personal trainer) that a trainer would say calorie counting is a waste of time!!!

I haven't counted cals my entire weight loss journey so far, but I have for the majority of it and constantly for the last 2 months, and have had wonderful success. There are tons of free websites and apps for your phone, that make it so super easy and non-time consuming. Even if you just do it for a little bit to see how much you are eating it would be good to at least know!

Stick around here too, tons of support, encouragement, and things to learn. I learn new stuff almost every day!

I can sure understand why you feel like it's not enough. It amounts to what? Two pounds a month? Two pounds is nothing to be ashamed about!

Eating healthy or eating low carb as a means of losing weight without counting calories didn't work for me. I'd eat healthy but I would still over eat. When I started counting calories, I was actually surprised by how many calories were in my portions and how much I was putting away in a day! Looking at calories, and trying to maintain a deficit is what got me moving towards weight loss again. Although slowly, it's been coming off.

Calorie counting is definitely not a waste of time! Your trainer is just plain wrong!

If you're not happy with your rate of weight loss, then you need to eat fewer calories. That's just the way it goes. Start recording your food for a week or two (I like myfitnesspal.com) and see how many calories a day/week you are actually eating. From there you will be able to figure out where to cut calories and to experiment with different calorie levels. You don't have to become a dedicated calorie counter, but it is the most sensible place to start.

Good luck--and congrats on the weight loss so far!

I'm surprised that you're surprised at this.

Most personal trainers at commercial gyms have known two things about fat loss. Noth ing

Also I've seen them teaching some incredibly poor form and they will almost always over work a newbie.

To the OP - calories matter. Fat loss or fat gain happens due to an energy deficit or energy surplus. Energy is measure in calories.

That said - if you're heavy and have been working your butt off in the gym you have probably lost quite a bit more fat than you think. I would not be surprised if you've added 4-5 lbs of muscle during the last six months if you were formerly sedentary. That said - the muscle gain will cease since you're in a deficit and fat loss will continue which will have the net result of increasing the rate or weight loss.

Understanding the difference between weight loss and fat loss is a very important concept to grasp.

I was so right to give this forum a go - so many helpful people, thank you all!

Everyone seems to be in agreement re counting calories, which makes sense. The food plan I'm on, although varied, is fairly prescribed (but also personalised according to my taste) and I have been following it without thinking about calories.

This is exactly what my personal trainer keeps telling me - I get the point, especially as my body shape is changing and I have gone from zero exercise to intensive fitness routine (at least for me!) in the space of a week, but 4 months on and no change on the scale is beyond depressing.

I was always slim (though never skinny) but let myself go quite badly through the past 10 years; I'm determined to go back to my normal self (give or take a few pounds due to 2 pregnancies and not getting any younger...) and I knew this was going to be an uphill struggle but seriously never thought it would be taking so long, especially as I have so much weight to lose.

I shall have a word with my PT on Friday about this...

Don't sell yourself short: losing 14 pounds is great! I totally understand that you want to lose faster, but don't let that get in the way of celebrating what you have accomplished.

HA! Ya, that's true!