Frustrated- please help

I started my new healthy lifestyle on April 18th with the hopes of losing 30 pounds.  I have been working out 6 days a week and taking in about 15-1600 calories a day.  I am 5-6 and weigh 175 pounds, so my weight loss goal is not at all unrealistic.  Here's the problem- I am now about 6 weeks into my program and have not lost a single pound.  I also don't feel any different in my clothes.  My friends say that it's because I am doing strength training so I am gaining muscle, and my body is getting used to eating better and exercising.  I have had several complete meltdowns over the last few weeks out of total frustration- I just want to know that I am on the right track.  Can anyone give me some advice to keep me going?  What am I doing wrong?  I should be losing at least 1-2 pounds a week.  Thanks for your input...

I'm curious. Where are your 15-1600 calories coming from? What type of food are you eating and are you drinking the 8 to 10 glasses of water a day? It is true you will gain muscle but you should feel a difference in your clothes. Whatever you do, don't give up. You have made it 6 weeks keep going!!

I don't calculate the exact grams of protein, carbs, fat, etc, because that would drive me absolutely crazy and would lead to one more obsession in my life, so I plan what I am going to eat the next day the night before.  I make sure that I am eating protein and carbs at each meal, keeping the saturated fat as low as possible.  I usually eat a serving of almonds every day.  I drink a lot of water, I would guess about 120 oz per day.

Wow that happnes and yes it is very disheartening. You sound like you're doing all the right things, working out 6 times a week, watching your caloric intake..and you said you weight 175 so 1500-1600 cals really isn't that much!

Hummm...You know sometimes our bodies are so stubborn and they really resist change so we have to be more stubborn back. Some people see weight loss right away while others do take a lot longer but either way your body has to give and change if you keep the excercise and calorie counting up.

I agree with star-max ...he/she raises a good question. Where are those 1500 calories coming from? Some say so long as we create a caloric deficit we lose weight but I can tell you that I also did not see a single pound come off despite weeks of diet and excercise until I layed off the carbs and increased the protein.

But you'll figure out what does and doesn't work for you, just keep going with it and you will eventually see the scale move in a downward direction...it has too ...might not be soon enough but it will EVENTUALLY happen!

kbattr, if you aren't counting calories, you may be taking in more than you think.  Most people overestimate their calorie consumption.

If you are counting calories, your body just may take awhile to get started.  If you are eating a balanced diet, getting all of your vitamins and minerals and enough fiber -- just be patient, the weight will come off. 

Or, you may want to take a look at Dr. Furhman's "Eat to Live" book.  He argues that people who have a really hard time losing weight (which may include you) should totally do without food from animal sources and grains for 6 weeks, then go to a life program of 90% of calories from plant sources (whole foods) and only 10% from animal sources.  He cites a lot of research and studies to back up his theories.  His life program is what I'm on now -- but I had to make very little modification to my own diet as I was already eating a lot of whole foods from plant sources and very little meat.  I did have to cut back on dairy some to fit it into the 10% range, but I also needed to increase my consumption of raw vegetables, so I replaced some of the dairy with more salads. 

are you also doing plenty of cardio?

Certain things are worth obssessing over.  I'd rather obssess over my health then many, many other things that I give my time to.  Might be worth it to try for a little while to train yourself to know correct quantities/qualities of foods.

If you don't want to stress out with the counting, at least count the fat grams. You may be getting too high of a percentage of your calories from fat. For example, one ounce of almonds has only 164 calories, but 78% come from fat. You could try lowering your fat intake for a few days. Based on a 1600 calorie a day diet, 25 grams of fat per day would be just under 15%. It sounds like you have the discipline, and your doing the exercise, so now you just have to do some fine tuning. Keep up the good work.

I thought I was writing the posting you posted...It was my thoughts exactly. What's weird is I'm the same height but differ on the weight. I have lost 8 lbs but I feel like it's taking a long time. Especially since I didn't lose any weight last week. I watch my calories everyday not missing a bite and I am staying around 1200 calories a day. This is the 2nd time I've had to drop 30 lbs that is, after having my 4th and last child. I also work out 4 to 5 times a week...mostly cardio. I watch more of my fiber and protein intake then anything else and after reading a posting last week I started drinking 80 ozs of water a day. Now that I've read figurethefat's posting I looked back on my fat intake and it ranges between 20 to 55. So I'm assuming I must be eating too much fat. That will be my goal this week. Also, will the weight not come off as fast if I eat wheat bread or wheat products everyday? I may need  cut back on that as well.

Are any of you using a food scale?  I heard that people usually underestimate their calories by 500-1000 and overestimate their expenditure.  THIS is the real reason why most people do not lose weight.  If you aren't currently using a food scale, I would recommend buying one.  I have a digital scale and measure everything out perfectly.  I don't trust using measuring cups or eyeballing portion size.  I was shocked to see how small 3 oz of chicken was...just a few bites.  The portions of chicken that I used to eat, although healthy, must have been 8-10 oz.

First, are you a guy or girl.   Given your little icon I'm guessing you haven't filled out your profile yet.

For a girl you AT MINIMUM need to eat 1200 Calories + all the calories you burn exercising.

I've seen countless people now come through and post how much they are eating and it turn you that they weren't eating enough to counteract what they were doing.   Also there have been people that were on some really LOW LOW calorie diets that were losing weight and stopped and can't figure out why they aren't still losing weight.  Turns out even when they eat more it takes their body time (some little, some can be months) to straighten out.


For a guy you'd need 1500 calories + all you burn exercising.

If you sit around all day then you should be fine with that.    If you are in a job where you are c onstantly on your feet... then you actu ally need to eat more.


So many people eat too little on this diet and end up not being able to lose weight.

klbattr, you might actually be undereating by a bit. Try to log your calories here for a week or so, just to see if your estimates are accurate. Once you've done so, all you have to do is hit the analysis button, and CC will break down your carbs/protein/fats for you by pie chart and grams, so you can SEE what you've been eating.

I don't know about your workouts, but I aim for right around 500 cals in workouts per day. If yours looks like mine, then 1500 calories of intake will leave you with a net intake of about 1000 calories, which is 200 UNDER the level determined to be starvation level by just about every nutritionist I can find. You may actually see some improvement by adding in a couple of hundred calories.