Why am I not losing weight?

[BurningWeight]

I’ve been dieting since January 1st and haven’t lost any weight. I am 5ft 6, 163lbs and have a sedentary lifestyle. According to online calculators, my maintenance calories is 1,700, so I’ve been having at a maximum of 1,300 a day.

An average day is:

Breakfast; 3 chicken sausages, 2 turkey bacon and an egg.

Lunch; fat free Greek yoghurt, 1tsp honey, berries.

Dinner; pasta with homemade sauce and lettuce / tomatoes / cucumber.

I am weighing oil etc so it isn’t that. I’m not having any additional calories such as teas or coffees. Can anyone identify where I am going wrong?

Before going on a diet, I was maintaining my weight and just eating pure shite to be honest. Chocolate, sweets, sugary yogurts, biscuits, crisps, take aways… so it has been a significant lifestyle change and shift, I can’t understand why nothing is being reflected on the scales.

According to your figures you should lose a kg around 22nd January.
If you haven’t you’ve even eaten more calories than you realise.

You need to move and it needs to be high exertion at least 3 days a week. I have 5 children and work full time, still find time for myself to work out. Sometimes it will be a case of following a HIIT video on YouTube in the evening, other days I have more time to go running so make that a priority and I have dumbbells at home so I try to do that 2-3 days a week for tone and strength too.

You won’t get anywhere without exercise.

In the grand scheme of things you haven't got loads of weight to lose, as PP said you're only a little into the overweight category and it's only been 11 days!
Drink plenty of water, don't get discouraged, give it time

How are your stress levels on 12hr days with 4 kids? 😬

If you get a smart watch, it will give you reminders to get up every hour and do a little bit of walking, it will also track how much you have burned up doing that little bit, it all adds up. You may not have time to fit in an hour's walk, but 10 mins every hour really does add up

I find the maintenance calories a load of fiction. Just did an online calculator and told 1900 which I know from food trackers I completed in my 20s and in last few years it's actually 1400-1500 anything above that and weight creeps on. If it actually was 1900 weight would be flying off. If I want to see weight really come off it's less than 1000 which is awful so I'm trying for 1100-1300 ish which is losing about 0.5lb a week which is really hidden by my point below.

The other thing is loss is very dependent on time of month I suddenly find I drop a few pounds over a few days which has been masked by water retention etc.

I've hardly moved for 3 weeks due to the chest infection from hell and I've lost half a stone. My trousers that were too tight are noticeably loose.

I've eaten less than normal but not massively so, probably 1000 to 1500 cals a day, mostly soup, toast, ice cream and half a portion of fish and chips one day. The only things I've done 'right' as far as weight loss is concerned is sleep well and lots of fluids.

So I don't think it's necessary to move loads or avoid cards completely to lose weight.

@PattyBladelllSalad items are of course vegetables but they’re not always massively nutritious compared to many other veggies and even a generous handful of something like lettuce is a very small portion by weight so you’re not getting very much in terms of health benefits. Great to bulk out your plate and trick your brain a bit into thinking you’ve got a bigger portion but I agree that OP would be better off adding in a wider variety of vegetables.

You were ill with a chest infection, your body would have been using up extra fuel to fight the infection.

It’s not even been 2 weeks! I’d focus on cutting down on the ultra processed meat products; have another egg and some veg instead like mushrooms

^ this

also there is a lag on the scales, so your efforts this week will show up in a week or 2

don’t try to be more restrictive as it is likely to backfire

add more veg to bulk out meals, more water, more walking … and by the end of the month you will see weight loss

you are not very overweight either so it will be a slow loss. as your motivation is appearance try to add some exercise, and you might find taking photos (in underwear/gym gear) you will see the difference as the weeks go by

Do you track your macros?
Definitely increase your output. Do you track steps or exercise at all?
It always takes a while for something to change, your body needs to burn through fat before the lbs start disappearing.
I started in June last year and lost 2 stone but I haven't completely stopped all the treats and I'm at the gym around 3-4 times a week too so my body has totally changed shape.

I've lost almost 100lbs with zero exercise and a sedentary lifestyle. I use intermittent fasting with a max eating window of 2-8pm but sometimes OMAD if I'm not hungry. I aim for 1200-1500 calories. If I feel hungry I'll have a drink first as often thirst is mistaken for hunger. I prioritise protein and good fats over carbs - your body won't start burning fat until it's depleted it's carb stores - intermittent fasting will help get you into ketosis faster. Weigh and track EVERYTHING that passes your lips. At almost 53, and post menopausal, I'm the smallest I've ever been (9st7, 5'6", size 8) and I've only recently joined the gym to do some strength training. 90% of weight loss is diet.

If you mean you started in January 2026 then you need to give it longer than 12 days. I suspect if you continue then you will see and feel the difference.

For me personally, not all calories are created equal and I lost weight by minimising carbs (so no bread or pasta) rather than purely calorie counting. Chicken breast with salad is much better for me than the equivalent calories in pasta.

Increasing exercise can be as simple as walking to the shops once a day rather than driving to start with.

I would personally start logging on one of this apps such as My Fitness Pal, or My Net Diary as they give you the nutritional value of your food. You need more protein and fibre I would say looking at your food diary. Salad has bugger all calories in it, maybe have it with something like fish or chicken rather than pasta. Log down absolutely everything that you eat, and drink 3 pints of water a day. Aim for 10k steps a day and if you do all that and are consistent the weight will come off. It is purely down to a calorie deficit.

Another poster suggested a walking pad . If you did 30- 45mins a day , you will soon see the benefits

Your body is probably holding on to the cake for now as it’s so cold & miserable. With what you’re eating now, as compared to what you were eating, I think you’ll see a shift in pounds fairly soon. It can sometimes happen that way, all in one go!

"I’ve been dieting since January 1st and haven’t lost any weight. I am 5ft 6, 163lbs and have a sedentary lifestyle. According to online calculators, my maintenance calories is 1,700, so I’ve been having at a maximum of 1,300 a day."

So you have a theoretical calorie deficit of 400/day. IIRC, a pound in weight is equivalent to 3,500 calories, so at a 400/day deficit it would take 9 days for you to lose 1lb, and you have been dieting for 11 days.

I'm not sure you would see any weight loss yet, as weight varies by 1-2lb over the course of a day depending on how hydrated you are etc.

You either need to eat less, or burn more through exercise, or both.

It’s been 12 days?

you will have to move a bit more.

9- 9.30 take a walk before bed.

or get up and 30 mins earlier and do a 20 min YouTube workout. You have to get your heart rate up a bit.

This. I don't know if it's years of yoyo dieting but TDEE is a bunch of bollocks for me. I've lost 6.5 stone altogether (over three years) and I did it by cutting down to 1000 calories during the week, 1200-400 on Fridays and Saturdays. High protein, high good fats, low carbs and sugar. Anything over 1200 and I maintain. Anything over 1500 and I gain. It's shit but it is what it is.

That said, you haven't been doing it long enough to really notice a difference yet. Give it another week and see where you are.

That's not necessarily true, I started dieting in the new year and I've lost around 6lb and haven't done a single but of exercise.

Op it could be because you're only a little bit overweight, I am 5"4 and started at 196lb so it's going to be easier for me to lose pounds as I have more to lose and was probably eating 2500 calories or more per day. I'm also restricting and have been trying to keep it to around 1400 per day. I'm expecting the weight loss will platuea when I'm about your weight

Yes, and virtually no fibre - there's very little in salad, so just the berries. Plus heavy on processed meats. I'd say that really isn't a healthy diet OP.

If you like pasta dishes, use a potato peeler and slice carrots and courgette into long lines. Half (or replace completely) the pasta with this. It's basically calorie free, ha, and a tasty and easy way to add more veg. It cooks in like 1-2 mins too, so very quick. I've been doing it for years, way before it became trendy! You could have a yummy bit of fruit for pudding.

But, a, I agree too early to lose weight for everyone and b, get walking. If possible, walk to work. Walk in your lunch break and go buy yourself an apple or something? I also agree with others that you need to try add a bit more veg or healthy grains into your diet.

I think you'll see a drop shortly - your body is catching up. It's only been 11 days. For context, I eat 1,200-1,400cals per day (depending on exercise or how my body feels) and I haven't lost in 2 weeks - my weight is bouncing around within 1lb. But typically it does this then after a couple of weeks it drops a whole pound and the process starts again. Annoying, frustrating, demotivating... but it is what it is.

I have made an effort to do more steps. I can't drop cals much lower as I need to keep protein high to avoid muscle loss, so I opt for more steps/movement to try and get me a good deficit.

Calories in Vs calories out is all that matters for weight loss, regardless of carbs, protein etc.

Exercise is great, but it's surprisingly poor at burning calories.

Take it slowly and maintain your muscle mass.

It's only been 10 days... I think we are conditioned by all of those "lose 100 pounds in 7 days" diets from the 90s and 00s. In reality, it takes your body some time to process the change not least because diet is stress on the body and stressed body holds onto water. With 400deficit a day you'd lose 1.5lbs in 10 days at best and I can flactuate 3-4lbs PER DAY just based on my sleep, exercise, time of the month and weather.