Why haven't I lost any weight?

Question

I've been dieting for over a week & haven't lost a pound. After drinking 3 cans of pop a day (300 Cal/day), I drink unsweetened green tea instead. I've cut way back on juice too. Now I have only 1 cup/day. I used to drink tons of juice. I've been counting calories very carefully. I've been limiting myself to 1600/day. I've been at least as active as before. Since I am a fairly active 200 pound guy, I've read that my metabolism is probably about 2400 a day, and I'm sure I was eating at least that before and I wasn't gaining any weight then. In any case, my daily calorie deficit has grown by probably about 800 Cal a day, which should translate into some noticeable weight loss after a week, like 2 pounds. I know weight fluctuates throughout the day due to water retention, but my max. and min. weights are not budging & I'm using the same scale. Why am I seeing no change? Is it possible my body isn't ridding itself of the products of fat metabolism like it should be?

Answer 1

Firstly, a week is technically not going to show as much as a loss as you are going to want..this is because your body is getting used to the changes you are making to it.

You don't go into details of your exercise "activity" . Without this, I cannot comment further but technically you are toning your body and trimming down. Although you might not see it on the scales, if anything you might see an increase, because muscle is 4x heavier than fat, you will notice certain areas of your body become leaner.

BUT you cannot go by scales alone, you will need to keep a check of your measurements around your chest, waist, hips, arms, thighs etc.

Exercise wise: try these tips...
You must not "weight train" everyday. This is because you are ripping the muscles as you train, and as you eat protein (which you should do within the first hour after training), the ripping is becoming fixed and becoming stronger.

You will also need to give a body a day of rest in between - perhaps use these as your cardio days.

Diet can help lose weight as well e.g. using the protein : carbohydrate ratio of 1 part protein to 2 parts carbs as the carbs transport the protein to its rip destination. Without carbs, the protein will take longer to work on your muscles.
Juice is ok as well and so are unsweetened green teas but I firmly believe your body is lacking water...try drinking 8 glasses a day maybe more if you can.

If you are still finding you have this problem, 6 to 8 weeks later you should consult a doctor..but on a serious note, you should've seen a doctor before commiting yourself to something like this incase your body can't cope with it..your GP can check all this over with you.

Answer 2

It's only been a week.

I'd say you should add the juices back, or at least make sure you drink a lot of water.

You cut back too far, and you're body thinks you're starving, so it cutting back its metabolism.

Make sure you're still eating a lot, just healthy stuff.

Try to up your activity -- even a little.

Don't focus too much on what the scale says. If you loose fat and gain muscle, your weight won't go down, but you'll look better and be less fat.

Besides, scales aren't that accurate anyway.

But I'd say the biggies are that it will take a little longer to show up as weight loss, and that you cut back too far.

That and try to walk, dance around your house, use stairs instead of elevators (if possible), park further from your destination -- do even little things to up your activity.

And eat a lot, just not a lot of fat and sugar.

And be patient.

Answer 3

It's possible that you have created a calorie deficit that is TOO large, and your body is going into "starvation mode", which means your metabolic rate goes super low.
You should eat healthy, but eat enough. Eat 5 to 6 meals a day, but make them small, healthy meals (that really helps your metabolism). But when trying to lose weight, it's not your diet that's going to make you lose the weight, it's your activity level. You need to start working out (running for 30 minutes every day should be a good start) often, and don't EVER EVER EVER give up!

If you want to do some reading on the subject, try this book (it helped me learn a lot of interesting stuff): www.burnthefat.com

Good luck!

Answer 4

Good for you on cutting out sodas and juice...just be sure you are replacing that liquid with water...if your body feels like it is going to dehydrate, if you are not getting enough H2O, that might help explain at least a little bit. Water helps to flush the toxins from your liver, kidneys and tissue.

Also, just because the scale isn't budging, it doesn;t mean you aren't losing FAT...you could be gaining muscle.

And with some people a drastic cut on calories over night will push the body into starvation mode, and it will try and hold on to the fat. If it is thinking it is due another meal or two, and those extra meals aren't coming, the body will hold on to fat deposits to store energy in case of a long term fast/starvation mode. (You can thank our lovely little reptilian brains for that one)

Plus, be sure you are doing your math correctly...it takes a 3500 calorie deficit to equal a pound of fat loss.

Finally...cut the fat down, and amp up your fiber...not to be gross, but some of that extra poundage can be sitting in your gut. White flour products, red meat, cheese, etc....these are digested slowly, and are hard to "get out" of your body...they can stop you up really well. (I heard that when Elvis died, he had 35 pounds of undigested matter in his intestines alone...)

Answer 5

FIrst off, just cutting calories will not mean you lose weight. YOu sould cut all your soda out of your diet and limit any refined sugar intake to as close to zero as possible. You need to eat healthy not just eat less. Also, you need to exercise, diet alone will not usually make you lose weight. Speak with a dietician about crafting a balanced diet. Make sure you are drinking enough water too, you should be drinking half your body weight in ounces of water a day. Also when you drastically cut your calorie intake it can shock your body in to thinking you are starving. This will cause your body to hold on to your fat supplies rather than use them up. You need to ease your calorie count down, while learning to eat well balanced meals.

Answer 6

What kind of activities do you do? Are you lifting weights, or running? Depending on what you are doing you may be building more muscle, which would make you gain weight. But because you are dieting also, it may explain why you haven't seen a gain or a loss. Muscle weighs more than fat, but it also increases your metabolism. Just because you are not loosing weight, doesn't mean you are not loosing fat.

Answer 7

From the information you provided, yes you should be losing about a pound. But as long as you're sticking to your diet your results will come, later if not soon. Just be patient and continue, don't give up, you will see a difference!

Best of luck.

Answer 8

If you are a woman it is common not to lose as much weight at first. Set a goal and keep woring towards it.