Unable to lose weight

Hi. I'm an 18 year old male, 5'10, 201 lbs. I'm having difficulties losing weight right now. After 5 straight weeks of rigorous daily exercise (60mins), and watching what I eat, (eating about 1600 cals a day), I still haven't seen any change in my weight. What do you think the issue is? I don't know what else I should change.

This whole thing is getting really disheartening.

your not eating enough !!!

I eat more than you and i work out less (im a 112lb girl) Doing 60mins every day you should be eating ALOT MORE THAN 1600CALS.

Try eating at least 2000cals see how that pans out, i had my husband who was 187lb's, working out just 3 days a week loosing fat quickly and steadly on about 2400cals a day.

I'm not eating enough?

I don't want to eat any more than I am. It makes me sick just to eat anything as it is. I feel ridiculously fat every time I eat ANYTHING that isn't fruit or low-cal, low-fat.

I don't know what to do.

Original Post by xorph:

I feel ridiculously fat every time I eat ANYTHING that isn't fruit or low-cal, low-fat.

I don't know what to do.

 See a therapist.

A therapist?

What the hell? Thanks. That really helps.

Floggingsully, that was particularly unhelpful and rude.  Xorph, you don't have to eat foods with lots of fats, just up the portions on what you're already eating a little.  You need a lot of protein and carbohydrates when you're working out regularly.  Fish is a good source of protein when you're dieting, as are nuts.  Rice has about 150 cal per cup, so that's another quick way to up your caloric intake. 

it's harsh but it's sort of right, 1600cals is NOT ALOT, you need to eat more your body needs it, and you need to SEE THAT.

You Can eat more you just won't it's in your mind you panic about gaining weight you won't gain on 2000cals hell i'd be suprised if you gained on 2500cals you need to see passed the mental barrier and EAT!!!!

trying to diet on too little food is as hard as trying to diet while eating too much.  someone once said to me that dieting on too little calories is like planning a cross state roadtrip with only 1/2 a tank of fuel.

Your working hard in the gym so you need to FUEL that work, the more you eat the hotter you metabalism burns and the better your body burns off fat, the trick is to give it ENOUGH, that its burning hot but not so much your giving it 100% or more than it needs.

Right now you arn't eating enough and your body is shuting down none-vital systems, and slowing down others, the combination of which means your body isn't burning through cals as fast or as effectively as it could/should be.  you need all systems running at full power THEN you'll see effective weightloss.

I used to eat 1200cals a day and couldn't lose a lb now im eating 1600-2000per day and im losing fat quickly and ive lost 12lb in about 4 weeks.  

trust me your body will thankyou for it.

You do need to eat more. You are a male, and most men can't lose off a low calorie diet. You are going to have to add 300 more calories into your day, and see what that gets you. It looks like you are maintaining your weight on that low calorie diet. You have to push yourself to eat a little more, and see what happens to your weight. The question is.. How clean are you eatting? Are you cutting portion size, and eating the same old way but less of it? You have to really see what the hold up is.. I would use this site, and see how many calories they would assign for you to lose the weight, and do it. I'm a girl, and I lost a lot of weight on a low calorie diet.. But I was watching my fat intake more.

I eat very low fat food.

Mostly fruit. I'm not eating the same way, no. I used to eat really junky food, now I just eat lean food, low-fat, low calorie. Eating anything junky now makes me extremely sick.

Original Post by xorph:

I eat very low fat food.

Mostly fruit. I'm not eating the same way, no. I used to eat really junky food, now I just eat lean food, low-fat, low calorie. Eating anything junky now makes me extremely sick.

 It sounds like you haven't learned how to eat right and what you think of as "healthy" is making you sick so you can't lose the weight that you want to lose.  Coming to this site is a good start.  Log all of your food every day and look at the analysis.  Make sure you are getting a good balance of carbs, protein, and fat.  None of these categories should ever be below 20%.  Try to keep Fat below 30% but always stay above 20%.  And keep Protein in the 30%-40% range.  This is a start.  And don't be afraid to eat more.  You are not eating enough.

I used to have a nutritionist, but she never really helped me balance my meals. She mostly just made suggestions, rather than mapping out what I -should- eat, so, I've just been eating from a list of things that I know are healthy.

I never thought that there was one way to lose weight. I just was hoping that cutting calories, and exercising (a lot) would make me lose weight. Apparently this is not the case.

Also, I only eat when I'm hungry. Should I be eating when I'm not hungry, too? I just can't make myself do that.

When you don't have enough food to eat your metabolism begins to shut down to conserve energy.  You burn fewer calories and you don't feel hungry.  This is a survival mechanism but it is counterproductive to healthy growth and weight loss.  You need to eat enough to ramp up you metabolism.  Then you will feel hungrier and also burn a lot more calories.  Then you can create a healthy deficit that will allow you to lose weight while maintaining good health.

Your body needs fuel to keep it going. It can only use a certain amount of stored fat each day - if you're not eating enough to make up the difference it slows your metabolism down to make it last longer. This website is a great tool for weightloss, so use it. Take a week and log EVERYTHING you eat into the food log and check your statistics. Is your pie chart balanced at roughly 25/25/50 (it doesn't have to be exact, just in the ballpark)? Are you getting enough fiber? Enough protein? Enough vitamins and minerals? Not too much sodium? Just eating less isn't the answer - eating RIGHT is.

Also use the tools here to find out how many calories your body actually needs each day so you know where to start. 1600 calories is my target, and I'm a sedentary 200lb woman, not an active young man. You definitely need more than that, and the tools can tell you how much.

The thing is, I've lost this weight before, doing what I'm doing now. Infact, last time, I worked out even LESS than I am. It's really confusing. I dropped 30 pounds about a year ago, and then gained 50 pounds over the summer.

Something is missing from the equation that I had last time.

When you work out less you need less food to keep you metabolism running which is probably why you had success before.   We back to where you need to eat more for your activity level.

Also, you don't want to do what you did last time because it didn't work.  You are now 20 lbs. heavier than when you started.  Your goal should be to learn a lifestyle that results in you maintaining your ideal weight.  Starving to lose 30 lbs. and then eating and gaining 50 lbs is not the right answer.  You should strive to find an eating habit that you can maintain for the long haul, not short term, that results in a healthy you.

I'm going to call my old nutritionist and see if I can get an appointment set up. It's all about losing the weight, and, I'll do anything to shed these pounds.

Original Post by xorph:

Something is missing from the equation that I had last time.

I'm going to take a stab at it and say the thing missing from the equation this time is muscle.  Your unbalanced, low calorie diet from a year ago caused you to burn a lot of muscle while losing those 30 pounds, you then gained back most of those 50 lbs in fat and now that you're doing what you did before you aren't losing any weight because you don't have any more muscle left to burn.

Eat better, eat even better, eat more fat, lift weights, do intervals, sleep more, lather, rinse, repeat. 

Original Post by xorph:

I'm going to call my old nutritionist and see if I can get an appointment set up. It's all about losing the weight, and, I'll do anything to shed these pounds.

 Correction: it should be all about being healthy. Not necessarily the same thing.

Original Post by xorph:

I'm going to call my old nutritionist and see if I can get an appointment set up. It's all about losing the weight, and, I'll do anything to shed these pounds.

 It actually sounds like you have a pretty serious body image issue.  You shouldn't be willing to 'do anything' to lose weight, and you certainly shouldn't feel guilty and ill when you eat what you have convinced yourself is too much.

I would suggest you talk to a nutritionist with experience with eating/body image disorders and it may help more than just having someone tell you what to eat.  Or a therapist/councillor.

You think so?

You're probably right. I've always had self-esteem issues, and, it doesn't help that everyone I know is fit and in-shape, and openly mock me for being overweight -- even when I was much lighter than I am now.

And don't forget that as an 18 yr old male you are still growing and maturing into your adult body.  I'm am also 5'10 and at age 18 150 pounds was a healthy weight for me.  Today, 32 years later I am very fit at 170.  There are athletes that are 5'10" 200 lbs and all muscle and very fit.  It's not just how much you weigh but what your body composition is.  You may benefit more from hitting the weights and building muscle and worrying less about what the scale says.  Going on a crash diet and losing a bunch of weight quick is the worst thing you can do for body composition because you lose so much muscle when you do that.