Why am I not losing any weight?

Question

I have been on a 1,200 calorie diet for a while and I have been following it well. I don't eat the healthiest foods, but I stopped eating sweets and I take a One-a-Day to try to make up for it.

I go to the gym every day (LITERALLY!) and I use the elliptical machine for 20-30 minutes and then do some weights.

I'm 19, 5ft tall, and 139lbs and I can't seem to lose weight. What am I doing wrong?

Answer 1

You probably are losing weight. You're losing fat and gaining muscle. You just can't tell when you're on the scale. You should go to the doctor, so they can measure your body fat percentage and give you some pointers of what to do.

Answer 2

The foods you are eating can have something to do with it. Even if it's only 1200 calorie. Make sure to eat lots of fruits, veggies, and whole grain foods. Protein is great too. Also, 20-30 minutes on the elliptical may not be enough anymore. Your body has probably gotten used to that amount of time. Try to add another 10 minutes, and maybe increase the speed or resistance. Increase your free weights or machine weights amount little by little as the weeks go on. If you do the same thing all the time, you won't see results. Also, it could be that you are gaining muscle mass, and toning up. Measure your inches. Weight doesn't have much to do with it. My sister is a size 4, and is 5 ft 7 inches, and is 140 pounds. But, she is all muscle. Good luck with your training, and keep it up! It sounds like you are on the right start!

Answer 3

It sounds like you have reached a weight loss plateau. You have gotten comfortable where you are eating the same old foods, and doing the same old boring exercises! 20-30 minutes on an elliptical is nothing! That's not going to burn anything. You have to imagine youself standing on a big plateau, and how do you move up to the next tier? How? With plateau breaking exercises. If your diet is as clean as you say it is, then I suggest that you focus on your exercise. Now, I bet you go to the gym and have no foggy idea what you are doing in the weight room right? Here's what you do. Schedule your weight training for 6 days a week. This will be three days of upper body weight training, Monday, Wed, Fri. Your lower body weight training will be on Tuesday, Thurs, and Sat. Your weight training should be about 40 minutes in length. Weight training sculpts your body, and cardio melts the fat. Now, you cannot melt fat with cardio exercise if you are not taking it seriously. I say a good 40-60 minutes of cardio will be necessary for you to bust out of the plateau. And get off of that elliptical and try the treadmill. Can you run, jog, start slow with it and advance a little? That would be better. That's an example of plateau breaking. Or, if you have to use the elliptical every time, then speed up the pace, raise the level, raise the intensity of the peddling. Try to go faster, and longer. Good luck.

Answer 4

How long have you been working out/dieting for? Have you eliminated carbs and fatty foods? (eating lean meats ,etc). In some cases (we are all different) some people can drop the weight immediately, some of us, the weight is stubborn so we really need to not only watch the "calorie" intake, but also the fat and carbs, as bad carbs turn to sugar and that makes you retain weight. Eating healthy (adding veggies to your diet as well as good protein "lean meats, ie, chicken breast without skin and lean turkey or fish) will help you eliminate the weight. How long are you working out for? You may want to "shock" your body by trying different workouts (your body will sometimes get used to the activity and it wont lose the weight) try doing spin classes (cardio for at least 45 minutes) allow your heart rate to go up, make it harder each time and drink LOTS of water, that is very important! especially while doing your cardio (this will allow you to eliminate all toxins from your body). Even when doing weights, it's the intensity that makes the difference. I've watched people that just sit and wing weights around (or do the machines with no strain) you want to make sure you break a sweat while doing machines/weights as well. Good luck with losing that weight!

Answer 5

When you try to lose weight you watch the scale the whole time. You need not do that. If you are doing any kind of exercise then you are possibly losing weight gain muscle. When you are lifting weights and wanting to lose weight then you need to lift a little like 2 ponders several times fast rather than a lot of weight a few times. This will tone the muscle that you have and burn better calories in the muscle which in turn will help reduce fat cells. You need to have the gym or your doctor test your BMI. There are several ways to do this and it is a good guide to go by to see what kind of progress you have been making. Just by guessing if you have a normal bone structure then your BMI is about 27 so that means about another 10 pounds and you will be Normal weight at about 128-132 good luck and be safe.

Answer 6

some potential problems i see:

1) your calorie intake is very low. that could very well be why your body is trying so hard to hold onto the weight/fat, because it's thinking that you're under-nourished. try bumping it up to about 1600, and see what that does for you after a few weeks.

2) you should try your best to eat the healthy foods. first there's nutritients and antioxidants (that vitamins cannot account for). then, foods high in fiber will keep your insulin levels low (aka, decrease the amount of fat your body stores!) and keep you feeling full (less trips to the fridge). examples of high fiber stuff: whole wheat bread, brown rice, oatmeal, vegetables, and fruits. then there's protein (coming from chicken breast, turkey, lean beef, egg whites, as well as fat free dairy products) which also helps with feeling full, but also has the extra benefit of requiring more calories simply to digest/break it down compared to carbs and fat. and fat, yes, you need that in your diet too. don't go anal with low fat everything. you need healthy fats everyday from sources like fish, nuts, olive oil, and flax seeds.

3) kinda related to the above stuff is how often you eat. it's better to break your day up into 5-6 smaller meals instead of sticking to the normal three squares a day. bigger meals are harder for your body to process, and hence, it'll end up storing the excess stuff as fat. there's also the whole idea about keeping your metabolism constant throughout the day.

4) finally, for exercise, cardio isn't the best way to loose fat. it's good for your heart and such, and should be done a few times a week. but the focus of your routine should be weight lifting. lifting weight builds muscle, muscle burns fat (even when you're not working out and just sitting or sleeping!) and no, you won't get all bulky and such (bodybuilders get that way by eating well over 3500 calories). anyways, here's a solid yet simple routine i'd suggest. do each for about 3 sets of 8 with a weight that makes you struggle in your last set. the point is to struggle and break a sweat, otherwise your muscles won't actually grow stronger.

- barbell squat (quads, hamstrings)
- dumbbell bench press (chest, shoulders, triceps)
- dumbbell straight-legged deadlift (hamstrings, lower back)
- dumbbell bent over row (upper back, biceps)

instructions can be found on exrx.net

these four exercises will hit basically every part of your body in a time efficient manner while maximizing the muscle development.

hope it helps!

Answer 7

I agree that you're a bit overweight. The average weight is 100 lb at 5 feet, then add 5 lb for each inch. So, you're 39 lbs overweight.

You're small so you might have to cut further. At 139 lb you might need 1400 calories just to stay there, so 1200 calories isn't that drastic to show BIG weight loss.

I disagree about low carb diets. I lost 76 lb in 4 months on Kimkins and so have many others. You only regain if you go back to eating what you used to eat.

Keep up the good work!

Answer 8

Sounds as if you are down to that last twenty to twenty five pounds of 'stored fat;' your body thinks it is starving and is reluctant to shed that final amount. Strictly a suggestion but do a three day fast ; V-8 is o-k but no solid food, and NO DIET soda, it has sodium in it which leads to water retention, unsweetened Tea is fine or Coffee - - - three solid days, NO food - - - just liquids - - - then start eating, keeping calories low is fine but are you truly reading the label on the food you are eating, you may inadvertently be consuming more than 1,200 calories. Strongly suggest after three day fast three to five days of vegetables ONLY and then, here is the hard part, one solid week of running, no matter how many miles you cover, one solid hour a day for five days then two hours a day for five more. In other words, your body is in a rut - - - you will not lose the gut by sticking to your current regimen. You must kick start, reboot your bodies ability to shed fat. Peace.

Answer 9

You didn't say how long you have been exercising, but I expect you are replacing fat with muscle. This is a good thing. Muscle weighs more, but takes up less room than fat. Eventually, you weight will drop if you continue the 1200 a day calorie diet. It may help to replace current foods w/more healthy choices. Look up some good recipes - there are actually some healthy foods taste great!

Answer 10

Read the Carbohydrate Addict's Diet. It discusses how your body releases insulin in response to different foods, and how to use that process to your best advantage. If you want to understand more deeply why it works, read The Zone by Barry Sears.

I am betting you can eat way more food than you are and still lose weight IF it is piles of low-glycemic index fruits and veggies. And if you read the carb addict book, you'll see it's also possible to have the sweets, in their place. :-) (I lost 35 pounds and ate a huge amount everyday, including a big bowl of ice cream almost every night...)