Calorie deficit but not losing weight

[cdba88]

I have a wedding in 16 weeks time. I happened to have 16lbs to lose so it was an achievable and sustainable target of 1lb per week. I needed to lose it anyway, so the wedding was just a useful goal.

I am currently 5ft 2in and 149lb.

I've been using the nutricheck app to record my calories and have stuck to it for 2 weeks. I've gone to the gym 3 times a week where I do an intense 15 mins of cardio (I've seen much improvement in my stamina which I am pleased with!) Then 30 mins of weight machines, usually a mixture of legs, arms, chest, abs.

I've only lost 0.5 lbs in these two weeks. That's like a big poo

Im really reluctant to drop my calorie target further as I do get hungry as it is and dropping it further would make the whole thing unsustainable.

Where am I going wrong!?

This week I'm planning to drop my carb intake a little and up my fibre and protein to see what difference it makes. If anyone has any tips I'd be most grateful.

The point is you didn't ask for sustainable. You asked how to lose a certain amount in time for a wedding.

So there's a deadline.

You can't lose fast when short unless you actually try is the truth of it.

As a culture now everyone actually forgotten what a decent portion size looks like and also are afraid of feeling hungry.

If you include enough protein you won't be hungry on 1200 calories. (Although to be fair I never count green veg calories. So I watch my calories for everything except green veg as I'm not going to weight spinach etc.)

Also - the real game changer is snacking. Just don't do it. I eat lunch and dinner. Don't count calories at all but nothing in between.

Even having fruit as a snack will raise your insulin, stop fat burning and make you hungry.

Totally sustainable as can eat what I want and don't gain weight.

If I want to lose weight I still don't count calories but I do foregoing carbs. Replace pasta/potatoes/bread with veg. And always keep the protein high.

Sorry if my responses are coming across as being annoyed or ignoring advice, it wasn't my intention!

As the thread has moved along I've realised that my initial time frame isn't going to work for me. The wedding goal was just convenient as I had 16lbs to lose and the wedding was exactly 16 weeks away, but I'm not scrambling to lose weight for this wedding specifically.

I'm happy with my 1500 cals and 3 gym days am going to stick with it.

I know I need to reduce my carbs and up my protein.

As it happens I weighed myself this morning and had lost 2lb but I suppose I'll see in the coming weeks if it continues to go down or not.

Thanks all

@anyhue

It’s very likely muscle gain

No it's not. It's very hard to gain muscle and takes a long time. It's much easier and quicker to lose fat. So, on a diet and exercise regime, usually the way that muscle gain manifests is 'I've lost a tiny bit less weight than I thought I would'. If your weight loss method is adequate, muscle growth cannot compete with it, because we can't build muscle at 1 - 2lb per week.

OP, go hard on the cutting back the carbs. If you just cut back a little, you won't be able to see if that's where the problem is. Carbs encourage the body to produce insulin, which stops you accessing fat. You can reduce your calories quite far and still not use your fat, if you're eating carbs at every meal. The body deals with the loss of calories by using less for general functioning, so your hair and skin lose condition, your hormones aren't as well regulated, your sleep quality reduces, etc.

I'd just give up on 16 pounds in 16 weeks. Just do the process sleep well, adequate protein, adequate water, stick to your 1500 calories as that works for you, make sure you're not managing to slack off in the gym as the fitter you get you will adapt and will need to work much harder. If you are doing all that then it's very likely the scales won't change quickly but your body composition will change and you will look and feel fantastic at the wedding. Best of luck

Yes I'm shocked at how fast my fitness levels are improving. I'm able to do more and more each time I go!

Low carb is going well and I've reduced my calorie goal to 1400.

I've lost 2.6 lbs so far, not much but it's going in the right direction and I did want to do it slowly! Still feeling very motivated and committed.

Thanks!