Please help me get past my disappointing weigh in

[Cahira]

I've been calorie counting and exercising 4 times a week since just after xmas.

I eat a small bowl of porridge with superfood topper every morning. Lunch is either ryvita and hummus or soup. Dinner is mainly chicken with veg - in a wrap, with noodles etc. and I sometimes pick up the cheap frozen ready meals that are less than 400 cals per meal.

I go running 4 times a week, usually between 2 - 4 miles each time. I'm not very fast but I feel it!

I am a size 14, 5'8 and weighed 12 stone 6 at the beginning of this month. Weighed myself today for the first time since then and I'm 12 stone 7

Can anyone tell me where I'm going wrong? I use my fitness pal to record my calories so I've attached Friday as an example.

I was feeling so motivated but my weigh in has totally brought me down

Are you drinking enough? Weighing at the same time and same scales each week and wearing the same clothes or ideally just underwear?
What did you make your porridge with? And do you count any calories in tea/coffee/fizzy drinks?

It could just be a fluke. I remember doing insanity for the first time and didn't lose a single pound. It can be very disheartening but the weight will start shifting eventually

You aren't eating enough for a start. Your body might be holding onto every calorie you give it. Do you drink alcohol? Ever binge because you're starving? Is it the time of the month?

I'm the same size as you approximately 5'8 and weight 12"12 now - I've lost 4/5 lbs in 3 weeks eating 1700 calories a day and exercising.

Who advises 1200 cals?

Porridge is made with semi skimmed milk. I don't drink any sweet/fizzy drinks and have one sugarless coffee a day.

I've only weighed in once so far and it was at the same time of day with the same clothes.

I hope it does. I want to lose 16lb by end of March as I'm MoH for my sisters wedding but I won't achieve this if my weight goes the wrong way!

Am I not? 1200 is what my fitness pal recommended.

I don't drink, I don't binge and its nearly the time of month but I'm not feeling my monthly bloat yet.

Oh it's frustrating. Have your clothes felt looser at all?

Can you switch to skimmed milk? It's quite a difference imo.

healthyeater.com/flexible-dieting-calculator

Try that and see what it says.

My trainer also said 1700 calories - I do HIIT btw. And to aim for no more than 7g of fat per 100g.

Good luck - it is really disheartening when the scales don't change but it could be water weight or you could have gained muscle and lost fat so the scales haven't changed.

Take progress pics too. In your under crackers in a full length mirrror

Are you pre-menstrual/on your period? My weight can go up 1/2 stone in week before period. By end of period back to normal.

Take measurements as you’re exercising so you may be building muscle and losing fat which weighs similar but looks FAR different.

Maybe up your protein too.

White fish including tuna (tinned also) is very high in protein and low in fat

I've just started with a group for losing weight.
You should weigh yourself every day, drink plenty of water, don't include the exercise on for your calories, measure yourself weekly. You will go up and down in weight.

Clothes feel the same! Ugh skimmed 😂

That calculator is interesting. As I run 4 times a week, I consider that moderate activity level which tells me I need to consume 1900 calories.

Sounds like Team RH @Goingtobeoldearly ?

Could well be right OP! 80% of the good stuff 20% not so good

Who's RH? Sorry, I don't know how to tag you in

There's a weight loss group called Team RH. They advise weighing daily so you learn how your weight can fluctuate. Just a guess!

OK so progress pics and measurements I can start doing. Period is probably coming in a couple of days, but I'm not feeling my usual bloat yet.

I appreciate I need to add in more protein. I plan on making more egg lunches and tuna and jacket potato as well.

I drink plenty throughout the day but I won't weigh myself every day. I can't bear more disappointment!

Weigh yourself every day first thing, naked. You get a much better picture of what is or isn't happening. A single weigh in is just a moment in time, like a photo that catches you at an off-moment.

Cross posted there... I do weigh myself every day and it's very enlightening - and motivating. E.g. I always go up at the weekend (wine and snacks), and I go up after a meal out.

Is your food weighed and accurate? You've missed off the milk that you made your porridge with, that will be 100 cals or so. Did you weigh your chips? Are you active throughout the day apart from your runs? You basically need to eat 500 less calories than you burn every day to lose 1lb a week.

I hope this helps you understand why you are NOT losing weight.
You can't expect to lose weight if you eat chips, cocoa bites and pies, no matter the calories. You are having a lot of sugar in your diet, from the breakfast topper to the pie, you are eating sugar all day long.

Everything in your diet is ultra-processed, nothing is fresh, no veggies, so maybe try for a week to go fresh. Boil 2 kgs of green bean, wash and prepare fresh celery, have a fresh lettuce, and maybe cook a couple of chicken breast covered in mixed herbs in the oven and then sliced.
If you like soup, try making your own and ditch the cocao bites, it is pure sugar, if you really "need" a snack , have some frozen raspberries.

Also don't include your exercise in your calorie allowance. It is far more complex than calorie in and calorie out.

So time for a different approach:
Breakfast: rolled oats with frozen blueberries
Lunch: a big salad with lettuce, radicchio, cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumber and 2 boiled eggs (white only) or green beans, tomatoes and a can of tuna in spring water
Dinner homemade soup such as minestrone (dice carrot, celery, leek, tomatoes, zucchini, add a low sugar cube stock and cover with water) or a grilled chicken breast and a fennel salad with an orange vinaigrette.

Leave everything that has more than 5 ingredients listed on a shelf, remove from your kitchen and bin everything that has sugar in any to its name listed.

Yes it will take time to prepare all the food, but once the prep is done, veggies washed and cut or cooked, the eggs boiled, the chicken cooked and why not add some fish as well. Swap your banana for a very green pear and leave dates out of your diet.

are you weighing / measuring your portions? getting enough protein?

But also - is this really sustainable?

I lost 6-6.5 stone many years ago and maintain my weight without dieting btw, i measured foods for a long time but don't now - i just usually eat my favourites in the right quantities whilst aiming for a certain amount of protein and fruit/veg over the course of a week, that gives me a little bit of leeway - i also weigh every day, i know slimming world etc tell you not to do that but i know if i'm up a couple of pounds one day then i need to avoid to much in the way of treats the next day.

I am another advocate of daily weigh-ins - you look at your average weight over the week rather than snapshots on your chosen weigh in day/time. You can use the Fitbit app to log each weight and it does all the work for you and provides your average - as long as your weekly average goes down, you are doing ok.

Honestly, take a leap of faith and try it - you soon stop being hung up and obsessed as you get on the scales, log it and move on with the rest of your day.

Your calories are ridiculously low though but MFP is notorious for that. I am a stone heavier and get approx 2000 per day.

Thanks everyone, lots of ideas to go through and given me a push to think differently. I mainly eat chicken and veg as my main meals but do look for convenience as a busy person.

I don't do additional cardio workouts but I do a lot of general walking and just started include basic weights at home with the help of DP.

To start, I'll add in more protein, up the calories a bit and get some healthier recipes to whip up.

Thank you all so much for your suggestions. I'll hopefully have a more positive update in a week or so

A few years in I can barely stomach semi skimmed

Another daily weigher here. I cant eat more than 1380 or I usually go up.

The only way I can lose weight is to cut carbs and sugar pretty much completely. I do have some fruit but not much. And I stick to 1200 calories. It always works for me but it isn't (for me) sustainable in the long term