Scale not budging, what am I doing wrong?

I'm 5'2, current weight 135. I started at 135, gained 2 pounds over the 4th--or perhaps associated with my period. I've been counting calories for 8 days now--eating fewer than 1400--some days I got fewer than 1200 calories, but haven't been above 1400. I had a body composition analysis that gave me a "burn" number that's a bit lower than calorie count gives me--1710 (too much body fat for my BMI lowers my metabolism). I rate myself as "lightly active." My resting metabolism is 1300. I'm burning about 300 extra calories a day with exercise, but have had a few days of rest.

At any rate, other than the loss of the 2 pounds when my period started, the scale hasn't really budged. It went down to 134.5 two days ago, and back up to 135 yesterday. Today the same.

Am I eating too much? Exercising too little? My time is really limited because DH and I tag team being home with our daughter. In fact, I'm not getting enough work in so that I can be home with DD while DH is finishing his degree. Getting in more exercise will be tough.

Weight fluctuates throughout the day.  It's completely normal.  If you don't want to deal with those fluctuations it's best just to stick to weighing yourself one day in the week.

when I first came to CC i had the same problems where I wouldn't move for a while - Here's the advise I was given...

Set your activity level at sedentary - THEN log your exercise.  This will give you a more accurate count of what you're really burning. 

When you set your activity level at lightly active - the activities you do are factored in and it's a more general number.  so if you burn 300 cals in exercise on Monday and 400 cals in exercise tuesday - the site's computer doesn't know the difference.

Also - when you have your activity level at lightly active and you log your exercise ON TOP OF THAT - you think you're burning more than you really are and then you end up eating more than you should.

By setting my level at sedentary and logging my exercise - I've successfully lost 40lbs and broken 3 plateaus! :)

:) Hope that helps.

:):)

Hey - I just went into the BMI and Burn Meter tools on this site and plugged your info in (assuming your in your 20's since you didn't tell us how old you are) and first it says your BMI (body mass index) is at 24.2 - or within the healthy range of 20-25. How much weight are you looking to lose?  also - the burn meter, when assuming you're in your 20's, says you burn 1700 calories per day at sedentary level.  If you are burning only 1700 cals a day and you're eating 1400 cals a day, that's only a 300 cals deficit - 3500 calories = 1lb so to lose 1lbs a week you need to have a 3500 calorie deficit per week.

At the rate you're going - with a 300 cal/day deficit (that's eating no more than 1400 cals) you'll lose 1lb ever 12 days.

So here's an idea - to lose 1lb a week you need a 500 calorie deficit every day -

Set your activity level at sedentary, eat no more than 1400 cals and then burn 200 calories in exercise every day and you'll have a 500 calorie deficit which in the long run will give you a 1lb loss per week! :)

Feel free to send me a message with any questions. :)

Thanks for all of the advice. It's true that I'm probably too worried about the number on the scale, and I do know that weight fluctuates daily. It probably doesn't help that our scale only shows half pounds and not tenths of pounds.

In terms of BMI, etc., my BMI shows that I'm in the normal range (at the very high end, however, and I'm relatively small-framed). But my body fat percentage is 35%, which is quite high. The high percentage of body fat, according to the consultant I'm seeing at my university, means that I expend fewer calories than my BMI would suggest. I'm also 35, which means that my metabolism is a little slower. I hope to lose 10 to 15 pounds; I'll start with 10.

I did reset my burn meter to sedentary, though the numbers there are higher than what the lab provided me with. I will try to eat 1200 calories and burn 300 calories through exercise every day. Hopefully that will help with the weightloss.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

I am not trying to be a downer, but I had my first daughter last July. I am 26 now and I weigh 151 at 5'3"!!! I breastfed for 8 months, ate healthy, did kettlebell 3 hours a week for 3 months, then adjusted my calories down to 1200 a day, tried pilates, and I still weigh 151. I haven't lost any inches either!!! So finally I went to the doctor who ran tests on me, and he said I am in perfect health except for my BMI. He agreed that I am overweight, so he put me on a weightloss pill. I always thought they were for the lazy, but now I know some people just can't lose the weight (especially moms) not matter what we do. In a nutshell, my doctor said having kids can really screw you up. So if after a year of exercise and dieting you don't get the results you want, see your doctor.

Scarlett,

I don't think you're a downer at all. It's good to get another perspective. It's true that I haven't been trying very long, but I do have this nagging fear that I can't lose weight. A year ago DH and I were working out with a personal trainer--4 days a week, and working out 6 days a week. Admittedly, my diet wasn't very clean and that may explain everything. Nonetheless, I didn't lose any weight, nor any body fat, nor any inches.

I'll give the diet and exercise some time; this is definitely the most restricted my calories have ever been.