I've been a couch potato for the last 15 years. I'm F 46 years old. A month ago I decided to change that. I bought a gym pass and now I work out 6 days per week. 6 days, I do interval HIIT cardio for 30 mins then Mon, Wed, Fri I do a total body weight lifting workout which takes about 30 min.

I have also totally cleaned up my diet getting rid of junk, processed and all "white" stuff such as sugar, bread, etc. I am getting somewhere around 1,400 - 1,500 calories per day, I drink about 8 - 10 glasses of water.

Here's the problem, I found some online calorie burn calculators and I am burning almost 3,500 calories per week in exercise. I have also cut out about 500 calories per day in my diet. That's simple math which should lead to a 2 lb weight loss per week which is still considered healthy. In one month I have lost nothing. Not one single pound.

I am at a loss. I'm not ready to give up and I know it didn't put on this weight overnight but gimme something...even a pound!

I have about 60 pounds to lose.

Have you visited a physician before starting your regimen? Its a long shot, but maybe you might need to get your thyroid checked out? My sister has a hard time loosing weight because she's yo-yo dieted so many times that she pretty much fried her thyroid gland

This, right here. Also, weight loss is not an exact science. A lot of us lose in a non-linear way. But, at the end of the day, it's calories in - calories out. You need to measure/weigh your food and get an accurate idea of what your intake is. Estimating just doesn't work most of the time .

Best of luck to you, with your goals! You can do it! You're on the right track!

Yes, I did see my doc before I started this and for the record, I do have a thyroid problem. I had my thyroid removed in 2006 due to Hashimoto's Disease. I am on Synthroid and get my levels checked regularly. The check up right before I started was fine and my levels were normal.

The 1,400 - 1,500 wasn't a guess, I am actually keeping a journal. The 100 cal difference is my weight training days, I throw in a protein shake right after my workout and it's 110 calories..so Mon, Wed, Fri I get an extra 110 which puts me at 1,500 rather than my usual of 1,400.

Have you noticed a difference in your clothing? Maybe you are building muscle at the moment whilst burning fat? The scale should start to show a difference soon, if not visit your Dr.

We can't dictate what we will lose. Our bodies decide that. How much do you weigh now ? What is your goal weight ? How tall are you ? This information will dictate how many calories you actually need to lose weight. It sounds like you are doing the right thing. You just may need to change the amount of calories you are eating. It depends on the weight, height issue.

Well, you have started doing weight-lifting and a lot of exercise (6 days a week) and that will cause you to hold water for a while until your body adjusts to your new regime. Add in the fact that you have lowered your calories by what? 500-1000 cals a week -- there is the reason.

First off, I would just WAIT a while; give it a few more weeks, but if you see no movement, then try some new strategies. Yes, do keep track of your sizes and measurements; you will likely see some changes there even when the scale isn't budging.

As BARGOO says, depending on your starting weight & height, and your bone structure; plus your other daily activites, you may need to up your calories by 100-200 a day (up to 1800). Cycling those calories (high/low) can help too. Watch your salt intake as well. Good luck ...

Agreeing with the other posters about the scale. It does not show fat loss exclusively, so it's not the most accurate tool.

Just wanted to add that it's also very difficult to estimate calories burned. Heavier people burn more calories doing the exact same thing as thinner people, but heavier people also tend to be much more adept at conserving energy than thinner people, so they are not always doing the exact same thing, even when they think they are. Calorie estimators on cardio machines are notoriously inaccurate as well. It may be simple math, but your numbers are not so easily determined.

It does sound like you're doing all the right things, though. Hope you see progress for your efforts soon. It can be very frustrating otherwise.

its great that you JOURNAL your food intake, but are you WEIGHING your food...? i could write down "4 oz cottage cheese- 100 calories" but if i didnt WEIGH IT OUT on a food scale to 4 oz, or 112 grams, than i really dont KNOW tht that what i ate!
Even if i used a measuring cup (serving size is generally 1/2 cup for cottage cheese) i could still be way understimating, and thus under-reporting in my journal...... a half cup cottage cheese filled all the way up, and probably heaping to add, cuz thats what 99% of people do--> could easily be closer to 200 calories! and dont get me started on things like peanut butter and oatmeal if you use measuring cups! Or portion sizes (ie; deck of cards size for chicken breast, etc).

My point is, no, you dont HAVE to be OCD about food weighing (many people lose without it) but if you arent seeing the scale move, and youre not, than weighing your food on a digital scale is the FIRST place to start, as far as troubleshooting.
Fat loss is 100% diet. You dont even have to exercise at all to lose fat.

The fact is, if you arent losing fat, then you arent in a caloric deficit. Period. No matter if you think you are being accurate with your cals and food intake or not.

Also theres absolutely no reason for you to be doing HIIT for fat loss. Its great for CONDITIONING, but you dont need conditioning to lose fat! In fact, being conditioned works against fat loss..... and HIIT is too stressful on the body to be productive when you arent providing adequate fuel and nutrition for recovery, which you cant really do, in a deficit.

The online calculators are estimations. Great as starting points if you've never dieted before, but pretty worthless otherwise. Your body tells you the real story.

You have absolutely no way to know for sure whether you're burning 3500 calories in exercise. In fact, if you're not losing and your calorie intake is what you estimate it to be, you're obviously NOT burning 3500 calories in exercise.


You may want to try cutting carbs. I've done a lot of experimenting (using a food scale and logging every bite), and I've found that I lose more weight and at a more consistent pace on reduced-carb eating than on high-carb eating. There's about a 300 calorie difference.

On 1800 calories of low-carb, I lose about as well as on 1500 calories of high-carb. The weight also comes off more consistently, whereas with high-carb the weight tends to come off in whooshes (I'll lose nothing for 3 to 6 weeks and then almost overnight will lose 4 to 5 lbs).

It's possible you just haven't received your "whoosh" yet. Or it's possible that adjusting your carb intake will allow you to lose more reliably.

Personally, I'd recommend experimenting with a different way of eating. More non-starchy veggies, and fewer high-glycemic carbs - and based on your results keep experimenting.

Or you may be doing everything right and your body just isn't working on a weekly or even monthly schedule. You may be one of the (not so rare) people who tend to lose in whooshes every five to eight weeks.

It isn't at all unusual for a person to have a body that tends to stay at a stable weight for several weeks between "whooshes" of weight loss.

If you don't lose weight in the second month on plan, then you might want to consider playing around with macronutrients (the carb, protein, fat ratios).

I personally highly recommend Paleo dieting, it's difficult to stick to, but for me the results have been persuasive (though I'm still a "slow" loser no matter how I eat).

Thanks everyone for the input. I am 5'5, current weight 203 lbs. Back in my younger and fitter days, I was 140 lbs which with my height is in no way skinny, also not fat either but and in telling someone my weight and height you would never guess I wore a size 2 or 4 depending on the clothing, but I did.

Yes, I have my scale right on my counter. I buy flats of meat, weigh my portion size and freeze, to me that's one less thing I have weigh at each meal. As for weighing the rest...well I don't eat dairy other than a hard boiled egg maybe every other day for breakfast and the rest of my meals are salads with lots of stuff in it (cucumber, tomato, onion, peppers) with a tablespoon of EVOO and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, a protein (chicken, fish, etc). I'm not really a bread or pasta eater so that's not the problem and I limit myself to 2 fruits a day, measured of course in low glycemic fruits such as berries. I don't really follow any particular diet but if I had to compare it something I guess it would be closest to a paleo type of diet.

I just measured myself, last measure was 1 week ago. I have lost 1 inch off each thigh, 1 inch off waist, 1 inch off hips and 1/2 inch off bust. So I guess something is happening that isn't being reflected on the scale.

Welcome to my life!

Just kidding.

But yes, if you are seeing your measurements go down, something is happening.

You might like this site:

paleoforwomen.com

The blogger at the site focuses on the Paleo way of eating/lifestyle, but brings up some good points about women who have PCOS, thyroid disease, and other women-centric issues.

You might get some information out there.

The other thing is that your body isn't a machine. It's going to do what it will do, and you'll just have to figure out what it is. If you haven't done anything in 15 years, you can't expect your body to react like it did when it was 31. Things change.

Good luck and don't lose faith.

I agree with everyone about being really disciplined with weighing and measuring your food and giving your changes some time as our bodies tend to fight change and hold onto water and fat.

I also find that we like to go into a "diet" full scale with rigorous exercise and restrictive eating all at once. I have actually found a more graduated approach has helped me because I have a bit more clarity on what's working well and I don't burn out so quickly. For me, I spent the first 2-3 months focused only on my eating since as you probably know, it's 80% of the weight loss equation. I focused on both calories and carb/fat/protein intake (following a lower carb approach). Once I saw weight loss was occurring fairly steady, I knew I had a good sense of what worked well with the eating plan and then I began to incorporate the exercise (increasing the intensity of the routine over time).

Last, as been stated, weight loss is not linear (or logical) at times so you should continue to look at your measurements, fat loss (I use a Tanita scale for this) and your clothes to give you a more accurate view of your success.