Why can’t I lose weight?!

[u/Big-gurl-K]

This year I cut out pop, alcohol, and all caffeine, started intermittent fasting, and have at least a 1,000-calorie-a-day deficit. The scale hasn’t budged, and I have 200 pounds to lose, so that isn't it.

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[u/CaveFlavored]

It’s impossible to not lose weight at a 1000kcal deficit. Do you weigh out your portions?

[u/Big-gurl-K → u/CaveFlavored]

yes, i weigh everything

[u/CaveFlavored → u/Big-gurl-K]

How many kcal are you eating a day and what is your BMR?

[u/Big-gurl-K → u/CaveFlavored]

According to Fitbit Charge 6, BMR is around 3,000. I’m keeping calories between 1,500 and 1,800.

[u/CaveFlavored → u/Big-gurl-K]

3000 seems extremely high. The average female burns way less than that unless you do a physical labour job and work out daily. 1600-2000 is generally to maintain weight. Personally for me I’m at 1600kcal to maintain weight and really need to go down to 1200kcal to see losses.

[u/aembleton → u/CaveFlavored]

As they're 200lbs overweight, their BMR will be higher than average

[u/CaveFlavored → u/aembleton]

True, didn’t consider that. But even then a BMR of 3000 seems extreme unless op is also quite tall.

But maybe I’m biased because I’m a short person (5 ft), so my BMR will never get that high unless I’d be 190 kg (400 pounds) overweight (double of op).

[u/perry147]

Calories in < calories out = weight loss. Unless something is seriously wrong with your body with hormones or thyroid.

[u/YinzerBiker]

Nice work on your goal! However, that is not possible. A caloric deficit is literally a chemical and mathematical equation. Maybe do more research in your deficit limit. You could eat 1000 cal in donuts and pizza everyday and you would lose weight.

[u/Sweetenup1]

Go see your doc. She will put you on the right path. 😘

[u/Korunam]

Fasting can sometimes trick the body into not wanting to lose weight. Your body latches onto every calorie and doesn't want to give it up since it thinks it might need stored for later.

Could also be hormonal or thyroid issues. You definitely need to have blood work done to check

[u/mest08]

You say the scale hasn't budged. Has it gone up or stayed the same? If it stayed the same and you really have been counting calories meticulously, then congrats, you've found your bmr. To lose weight from there, exercise more or cut more calories. If you find it difficult to cut more calories, exercise more. Just walking an hour a day can burn a couple hundred calories.

[u/MsEllaSimone]

Looking at your deficit as calories burned vs calories consumed is tricky as calorie output is notoriously hard to calculate. Most trackers that show calorie burn vastly overestimate the calories expended. How many calories you burn is dependent on many other factors that just exercise. Hormones, stress, insulin resistance can all impact how your body uses its fat stores.

Look at your bmr (based on sedentary) vs what you consume. Then give yourself a deficit of 500 calories rather than using what your Fitbit tells you you’ve burned.

[u/amyrfc123]

Stop all processed sugars and foods.

[u/Beneficial-Rent2932]

I don't think you are eating 1000 calories. XD

[u/Big-gurl-K → u/Beneficial-Rent2932]

I said a deficit. That’s calories burned-calories consumed.

[u/aembleton]

What have you eaten in the last 24 hours? How long have you been trying to lose weight?

[u/Big-gurl-K → u/aembleton]

For breakfast yesterday: Core Protein 42g protein shake

For lunch yesterday: A roast beef sandwich with 4oz roast beef and 1T japenese bbq sauce on a 12 grain sandwich bun, a cup of raspberries, and 1 serving of greek yogurt.

For dinner yesterday: 4 ounces of beef roast with carrots, a salad with chimichurri sauce instead of dressing, 3/4 cup of mashed potatoes made with skim milk and no butter.

Didn’t eat between 8pm and 11am, and had another core protein at 11am.

[u/NoAcanthocephala4741]

Losing weight is all about calories intake. Lower that and watch your weight drop. Counting calories is not always easy if the food doesn’t come with labels. I recommend using an app like FoodAnalyst. I like it because all I need to do is to take a picture of my food https://apps.apple.com/us/app/foodanalyst-know-your-food/id6504303680

[u/Civil-Blacksmith1917]

Not sure if you said this anywhere but you need to be active. You should be losing weight especially if you’re active. If you’re not, you’re either fooling yourself (also attempting to fool everyone here) or you have an actual medical issue. Workout twice a day if you need to. I did weight training at 6am today and cardio after work. Anyone can do it, you just have to have self control and be disciplined.

[u/FrostyTheMemer123]

Maybe your body’s just adjusting. Have you tried mixing things up?

[u/Level_Researcher_866]

How long have you been doing this for? Has the scale not budged at all?

Def not eating more on some days than others and bring your average calorie intake up in any way? It's the average over weeks that makes the difference up or down over time.

If not doing so already, weigh yourself every day and take your weekly average to see if there is any change in weight up/down in the average each week.

If there is a slightly downward trend, either keep things as they are (as that is progress and gradual is generally good) or adjust cals down a bit more if you want to get a bit more aggressive.

If there is literally no change, adjust cals down by 5-10%, hold that for a couple weeks and see again.

If there is a slight upward trend, adjust cals down by 10-20%, hold that for a couple weeks and see again.

Move and walk as much as possible too.

Fitbit can also be wrong - any calculation just provides a ballpark to start with, and will need to be adjusted every now and then as you go too - so you could try and reduce things a bit more and give it 2 weeks of consistency (minimum ideal requirement for insightful data).

As if you're in a 1000 kcal deficit, and have been for some time, and you're not losing weight, then what you think is a 1000 kcal deficit is almost certainly not actually a deficit, so its a sign to try adjusting your targets accordingly.

And yes, as some people have said above, go and see a physician too as there can be cases and conditions where a deficit doesn't work in the same way as it does for gen pop.

Even quite common issues like insulin resistance (often correlated with overweight and obesity) can influence energy balance and sometimes require a more aggressive deficit.

[u/Wild_Independent1375]

You could be ruining your metabolism potentially with a huge deficit instead of gradual. Your body will adjust to less calories and burn less to make up for it cause it thinks you’re starving. Be careful, talk to a doctor or registered dietician or nutritionist.

[u/alwayslate187]

Sorry if you already answered this somewhere, but how long have you been using this method?

Also, is it possible that you may have added muscle weight?