Why have a lost nothing? 5 weeks and counting.

[boxoftoads]

So I've been hitting the gym for 5 weeks now and tracking food on my fitness pal. Mainly reducing white processed carbs and sugar. I'm nearly 40 and anaemic.

Each week I've done at least HIIT spin twice, an hour with a PT, a further 30 minutes with another PT and a session or two of weights and light cardio by myself.

I wear a heart rate monitor and try to hit 10,000 steps every day. Water coming out my ears.

I took 3 days off at Christmas but I was in the gym doing spin Christmas Eve and Boxing Day.

Not a single pound has come off and stayed off.

Any ideas? Fat ratio remains almost exactly the same. BMI is 28

What am I doing wrong????

[NewBallsPlease00]

What are you eating?
Portion size or wrong foods?
Too much sugar?
What size are you now- is it fat turning to muscle

[theyoniwayisnorthwards]

It’s very hard to excercise long and hard enough to create a significant calorie deficit. Your workouts will make you strong, toned, fit and your body will look better but if you need to drop fat then you’ll need to drop significant calories somewhere and be patient. Have you considered something like the 5:2?

[RavingRoo]

You need to count calories

[boxoftoads]

I am counting calories, weighing food. No white processed carbs or high sugar stuff.

I'm following a weight loss food plan my PT has given me. Lots of veg, high protein, no rubbish.

I've even checked I'm not pregnant.

I was hoping for 1-2 pounds a week, I've got 21 pounds to lose and I've not lost a single ounce.

[BIWI]

Lots of veg could end up being lots of carbs though. What’s the basis of your PT's plan?

[Gottabenow]

How many calories per day?

[Fosterdog123]

You need to drop carbs - not just white processed ones. So no potatoes, rice, pasta or root veg and up the protein and good fats - avocado, eggs etc. Not too much fruit either!

[GetOutOfMYGarden]

Are you weighing everything?

[boxoftoads]

MFP is giving me 1200 per day plus exercise.

When I say no carbs, I mean no rice potatoes etc. Everything now is wholemeal.

There is no pasta or rice etc. Eggs, avocado are in there.

Plan is 5 small meals a day, no more than a small handful of any veg. No caffeinated tea or coffee, not a huge amount of fruit.

[Fosterdog123]

Give an example of a typical day then.

[InfiniteSheldon]

Follow a weight loss plan devised by a weight loss professional your PT clearly knows Jack shit about weight loss.

[jpclarke]

What time of the day are you weighing yourself? How much water are you drinking? It could possibly be water weight. Do you feel like your clothes are fitting better? Have you been measuring inches? Sometimes we start losing inches before weight as muscle weighs more than fat.

[boxoftoads]

Always as I get of the shower naked about 7am.

Yesterday

Quinoa porridge with cinnamon
Lunch - steak strips and salad
3pm - 3 rice cakes with a spoon of peanut butter and an apple
Dinner - veg curry but no rice etc.
9pm post training I had some nuts and a protein snack ball thing

2 litres of water

The only difference I've noticed in my clothes is that the tops of my arms are getting bigger.

[ItsLikeRainOnYourWeddingDay]

Could you be building muscle at same rate your losing fat? Do your clothes fit different?

[boxoftoads]

Not really just arms, bottom half is still the same.

The rice cakes are wholemeal too I didn't say.

I'm just wondering what the point is, it's expensive, time consuming and I really look no better.

[eurochick]

Post 40 my weight loss and gain is bizarrely lumpy. I can be in calorie deficit for weeks and nothing happens, then the scales will jump down three pounds. And then I'll be stuck for a while again. It makes no sense to me, but don't lose heart.

I had the same scales in my 30s and this didn't happen. It seems to be some bizarre 40 plus phenomenon for me.

[boxoftoads]

Thank you everyone your replies mean a lot. This whole thing feels so lonely.

I'm 39, so very likely age linked

[Fosterdog123]

WHolemeal means nothing - it's still carbs. Just trying cutting carbs right down for a fortnight and see what happens. No rice cakes, no root veg. Eggs and avocado for breakfast, tuna salad for lunch with mayonnaise, chicken breast with cauliflower and broccoli mash for dinner. Snack on cheese, hard boiled eggs and have a few berries. Check carb content with everything (not calories) and make sure it's

[InfiniteSheldon]

Please please please ditch this trainer

[TheWildRumpyPumpus]

Are you eating your exercise calories? I’m not a PT or nutritionist but have lost nearly 6 stone over the last year - I didn’t ever eat more because I’d exercised, it kind of defeats the object!

[thinkingaboutfostering]

Try SlimmingWorld. Seriously I joined up in September and have now lost well over a stone.
Cut out the avocado they are high in sugar and carbs.
Eat much more veg 1/3 - 1/2 your plate and go for lean meats. Dried pasta, rice ect will not be the problem. Yes really!!! Cut out oils, bread and be very mindful of your dairy intake.
I don't pretend to fully understand why the SW diet works. But it does!

[Bluntness100]

It doesn't seem much unless big portions.

You don't cheat, no days where you have a few extras, or booze?

Logically if you're exercising more and eating less you should lose weight, so if you're staying the same, then one of those isn't happening, so it must be the food. Do you graze and not realise it?

[nutnerk]

Slimming world is a good shout.

Excersize only conditions your body (tones and strengthens) and has little to no affect on weight loss.

[RJnomore1]

Two things:

Are you premenstrual?

How much water are you drinking?

Could you give me an example of the training you are doing. There's a bit of nonsense on this thread so don't panic yet. The fact you don't feel any better 5 weeks in is a bit worrying though.

[Oooocrikeyitscold]

Oh so frustrating. I would stop looking at your weight and pick a favourite pair of jeans that you want to get into/feel comfy in.

At 38 myself I do think it’s harder than in our 20s-i certainly have to run further.

I managed to loose the final half stone by making just two changes

1. swapped carbs for breakfast with fruit and full fat yogurt (one spoon)
   
2. cut out all white carbs and had no carbs post 7pm
   
   Wishing you well