It's been 2 months...I must be doing something wrong...

Yep, its been 2 months and I haven't lost any weight. I still look the same. I thought I did everything right. I ate 5 times a day (every 3 hours) and worked out daily. I did weight lifting 3 times a week and did cardio everyday (about 22 mins each session).

This is what I ate everyday:
Meal 1: 3 eggs
Meal 2: protein bar (about 290 cals)
Meal 3: chicken breast, 1 cup of brown rice and 1 cup of broccoli
Meal 4: fruits (2 oranges and 1 apple) or I sometimes ate 1 boiled egg and 1 apple
Meal 5: chicken breast, 1 cup of broccoli and an apple or orange

I did minor changes to my diet during the 2 months. For example, sometimes I ate 2 or 4 cups of broccoli on a single meal, sometimes I didn't eat brown rice. Other times I ate 2 chicken breast units per meal and later on I switched it to just 1 chicken breast a day (but I went back to 2).

I don't get it. I thought I was eating enough calories in order to lose weight. I don't know what I did wrong. Maybe the chicken breast has more calories than I though? I calculated about 200 cals per unit but I am most likely wrong because I don't have a scale. The last couple of weeks I've done less excercise than I used to do and the last couple of days I haven't eaten well (due to my defeat).

Any suggestions/advice will be greatly appreciated. I know I was defeated but I'm not going to give up yet. Theres a saying (from a song) that goes "You've got to lose to know how to win" and I'm sticking with that.

But I would like to stick with basic foods (like the ones I am eating) and foods that are easy to calculate (how many calories they have).

Thanks in advance. Oh and here are some of my stats: 5'4", 190 lbs., 19 years old.

To me, it does not sound like your diet is bad... unless you are not getting enough calories.

A couple of things come to mind... if you do the same thing day in and day out, your body knows the routine and doesn't lose... Try changing it up every few weeks... maybe tweak the diet, maybe do different exercises.

Other than that, I might have my thyroid checked if I were you... Or get a physical done to make sure you don't have any health problems keeping you from losing weight.

I have lost consistently for the last 4 months... all I do is write down everything I eat (every bite and finger lick counts!), stay around 1200-1500 calories depending on my activity level that day, eat every 3-4 hours, and exercise!!  I eat Quaker Weight Control oatmeal every morning and then have meals that are about 250 calories every 3-4 hours after that.  A lot of times I have a bulk of my calories left for dinner time so I can enjoy it with my husband when he gets home.

Don't know what to tell ya... At this point I would probably see a dr if I were you.... that is, if you're truly being honest with yourself about what you're putting in to your body!  I had a roommate who would have listed a healthy diet, but she was always sneaking cookies and other snacks with out putting them on her list of things eaten that day! =)

Good Luck!

I would recommend decreasing the caloric intake a couple of times a week and increasing it dramatically one day a week to "shock" your system.

Is it possible to not have enough calories daily?

Reson I ask....

w/m 5'9" 190 - I have also been eating healthy, averaging 1800-2000 calories a day, exercising 6 days a week, running, biking and lifting.  I have been doing this for the past 12 months.  I sucessfullly initially lost 50 pounds.  Within the past 2 months, I have started to gain weight  ( no muscle ).  I love to run so I limit myself at the gym.  Since I started to gain weight, I decreased my caloric intake and have continued to gain weight.  What the ?? Does anyone have a idea what may be happening?

I think maybe you're not eating enough.  I calculated your BMR and it came out to 1933, and I added up your calories (estimating your chicken at 275 per meal because you didn't give how many ounces) and I got about 1855 cals. 

Taking into consideration your activity level, I think you're undereating.  This is where i'd start and see if raising calories might help you.  Also get in a little more variety if you can, just for nutrition's sake.  And don't drop the brown rice, at any time.  That's the only complex carb you're getting, you need that.  Think about adding more of those as you raise your calories. 

Start with that, and if that doesn't work try something else. 

I wasn't on my diet for 1 day during the 2 months. That day I ate pizza.

I stayed true to my diet because I was very motivated.

And I guess I am eating less calories than I'm supposed to. I put myself as 'sedentary' when I began my diet. I still consider myself to be sedentary during the two months because I spent most of the day sitting down when I wasn't working out. 

But it's not because I want to lose weight faster or anything like that. But I am a bit paranoid if I eat more.

But I don't know how much calories the chicken breast has. I calculated about 220 cals before. I will definitely eat more brown rice now.

I have two questions:

1. How many calories should I eat per meal if my BMR is 1933?

2. Will eating less calories not make me lose weight? I think this is why I haven't lost any weight. But to be honest I have no idea how many calories I ate a day. Mainly because I don't know how many ounces the chicken weighs. I probably ate more than 1650 a day but again, I'm not sure.

you have to count them as exactly as possible - until that we cannot tell you what is or is not wrong. if you guesstimate the fattiest biggest meal you had it is really pointless.

also make yure you count everything. if you use oils as dressing or for marianting the meat, or for the broccoli, they can add up very much. also any lattes and other drinks such as fruit juice.

only after you really count things and eat consistently low cal diet for some time -and THEN see no results -  you can complain it is not working.

 

the other answers are "ohhh starvation" and "gaining muscle" but i have seen too many people using these and¨swers for the wrong reasons that i am not buying it.

ka2007 is right of course.  If you've been estimating any thing else you could be over your calorie count by more than you realize too.  And if you've left anything thing out like the oil you cook with, that can change the number as well.

But you have to figure out what is NOT the problem in order to find out what IS the problem.  I told you to start with raising your calories to see if that fixed the problem.  It's not a hard and fast rule for everyone, but one has to start somewhere, and if you're not considerably obese, and you're eating below your BMR it's a pretty darn good place to start. 

Also keep track of your measurements, this will tell you if you're getting smaller even when you don't drop weight.  That way you will know if you're replacing body fat weight with muscle weight.

Hi, Escobar,

According to the tools on this site, you burn about 3000 calories per day. For healthy weight loss, you should be eating between 2000 and 2500 calories per day.  A 500 calorie difference between what you burn and what you eat will result in about 1lb per week in weight loss. 1000 calorie deficit can give you 2 lbs of weight loss.

Based on what you've said, I agree with shandykat, and would recommend adding 200-400 calories per day.  Given what you are eating, I would recommend adding several more servings of vegetables and maybe a bit more fruit.  You're only eating one serving of vegetables per day and  your nutrition will be better with more veggies.

There are a few things you can do to be more precise (to build on what ka and shandy said):

* make sure you are counting sauces, dressings, etc. they really add up (very important)

* weigh foods that do not have an obvious measure
* in this site, set your activity to sedentary, and then add your exercise activity to get a clearer picture of your burn.

Good luck!

seriously, the whole thing of undereating or overating at what you estimate to be 1800 or so calories doesn't seem likely --you're almost spot on- you need to tweak to accomodate how your individual body works & you should see results! anyway- i've been doing this for 6 months & weigh the  +/- 5 lbs-- but I lost 8-10% body fat. i don't think or know if in your case tho you've converted lbs from fat to muscle like i have tho- i think you just are not tweaking your approach well enough--

you've posted the diet- you've got the idea- if you have the time & can handle working out- maybe that's the part to start tweaking too...if you weight train, 5 days a week- how heavy/hard are you working out-- are you keeping your heart rate up like circuit training workout or slowly moving machine to machine (please tell us you use free weights), waiting around, taking breaks between your sets, etc.. & what kind of cardio are you doing for 22 mins? that is just a strange volume to me--- unless you are going b@lls out for 20 mins running or biking or whatever-- and cooling down for 2 mins to a good HR recovery-- get your body fat tested- decide what sort of workout you can do to maximize results on the bodyparts you want- add in at minimum 30 mins of cardio a day & work up to 45 mins to an hour with a progressive plan to avoid cardio plateaus and and less efficient workouts-

weight loss-- especially muscle mass maintenance & fat loss -- is truly an individual science-- the tools on here like alevin showed you are a good baseline to start with-- but NOT the definitive science that works for the masses-- use alevin's info as your guide & start to expirament in either direction so you know where your body sits in the glycemic spectrum for optimal fat loss & mass gain...

your diet contains the components you need, but to build mass, add protein in & eat CLEAN - close to what you are - but add in real oatmeal, brown rice, 100% whole wheat/grain bread- eat all the carbs before 12 or 3pm depending on how you respond- but the fruit can kill you- especially at the end of the day! yes it's a healthier carb/natural sugar, but an unnecessary one after 3 PM (unless you hit heavy cardio afternoon/evening- the insulin from it is ok bc you burn those fruit carbs)... eat your fruits in am & at lunch at the latest-- afternoon- stick to proteins with vegetable carb sources like you are-- on lifting days, eat protein with complex carb before lifting & immediatley follow with high protein/carb after for muscle repair--

your chicken breast is most likely 8-10 oz if it's a whole breast from a store pack-- that equals 200-250 calories UNCOOKED- if you cook with olive oil, teriyaki or whatever-- ou have to add in those items.

a serving of meat is like 3 oz- DECK OF CARDS size - you can eat up to 10oz chicken breast at your size for your dinner w/veg only- other meals, stick to 3-5oz max-- consider egg whites, water packed tuna, wild salmon, chicken or turkey-- i use one egg yolk for every 4 egg whites-- yolks are loaded fat/cholesterol wise, whites rock for protein)

a serving of complex carbs is size of a RAQUET/TENNIS BALL size + half a serving for your size

veggies are really unlimited as long as you don't cook with any fats-- spices are ok, as long as natural spices, not MSG or sodium laden items... watch fruits again- keep in am!

add in your low fat /no fat dairy in the am too!!!

a protein powder might help you eat more too-- and can be used to gradually up your cals!

you can hit above 2000kcal safely as a guy-- you can & should to build/maintain mass if you are lifting! cardio is icing on the calorie burning cake & best for your heart & fat loss!

tweak it- we all have different glycemic responses that greatly impact fat loss- tweak your 6 meals to equal 2000Kcal+ a day & go from there!

ps- a cheap & good /easy to use food scale costs about $5 at any grocery store!

good luck! don't throw in the towel yet-- regroup & reattack!

Do you use a heart rate monitor when you do your cardio? What are your exercise stats? (Walking for 22 min and running for 22 min are obviously not going to be equal) ...What kind of workout do you do? You said that you eat 5 times a day: What times do you eat? How late is your latest "meal" before you go to sleep? How much sleep do you get in a night? Do you do your cardio first thing in the morning, or some other time in the day? What days do you do your weights? What is your weight schedule? How heavy of weights do you use for each of your exercises? How long after lifting do you wait to eat? Do you do your cardio on an empty stomach or not?

The answers to all of these questions play in to an answer to your question just as much as the actual bulk statistics of your diet. Remember, that the key to controlling your weight is a fairly simple equation: If (calories out > calories in) = weight loss. Other factors can come in to play that can sabotage you even if you are eating your 'spot on perfect number' of calories. Just for curiosity's sake, answer the questions above and we'll all see if anything pops out as a red flag as to why you might be having trouble.

again, i agree with alanbates - post your workouts & eating times-- let us knwo what your goals are! fat loss, bigger back/arms- whatever--

we can get a better idea- and at 190 - do you know your body fat percentage? that would help too!

I hear ya buddy.

I try to eat well, but my fat gut doesn't budge dammit!
I am also 19, I think the studying aspect of stuff is screwing me up.
I have NO time to exercise between study and work!

Arrrr! I can't suggest much, but I can sympathise!!

-Emma.

remember it is not about your weight, it is your fat ratio.  If you are working out, your fat weight may have turned to muscle wight....that happened to me.

This just bears repeating:

"a serving of meat is like 3 oz- DECK OF CARDS size - you can eat up to 10oz chicken breast at your size for your dinner w/veg only- other meals, stick to 3-5oz max-- consider egg whites, water packed tuna, wild salmon, chicken or turkey-- i use one egg yolk for every 4 egg whites-- yolks are loaded fat/cholesterol wise, whites rock for protein)

a serving of complex carbs is size of a RAQUET/TENNIS BALL size + half a serving for your size

veggies are really unlimited as long as you don't cook with any fats-- spices are ok, as long as natural spices, not MSG or sodium laden items... watch fruits again- keep in am!"