The answer to all the “why am I not losing weight?” posts

butterfly2222

New member
I joined this subreddit a couple months ago and I have to say, I see a lot of “why am I I not losing weight?” posts.

I thought I’d write this post as somewhat of an ultimate guide to all questions about weight loss and plateaus.

I understand that people want advice specific to their situation and some people are beginners and know nothing about weight loss and nutrition so I’m not criticizing. I’m also not an expert but I like to read research and I’ve been successfully lost weight on multiple occasions and at this point I’ve nailed it enough to know exactly how much I’ll lose and how fast.

First, I know there’s no wiki here but maybe go read the one from r/loseit as it still applies to us short women.

Now, here are the possible reasons why you’re not losing weight / you’ve hit a plateau:
  1. You’re losing weight but you’re not tracking it properly.
Are you weighing yourself in the same conditions, multiple times a week? That would be naked, right after waking up, after using the toilet. Ideally I would do it everyday, if not possible, at least twice a week. If the answer is no then you’re not tracking your weight properly. If the answer is yes, look at the overall trend, is it going down? If you’re weighing only once a week, it could happen on a day when you’re bloated or retaining water and you could not notice your progress.
  1. You’ve lost weight but it’s just not been long enough.
Have you lost weight in the past 2-3 weeks? If the answer is yes then you’re not in a plateau, maybe you are losing fat but the scale isn’t moving yet. Things like your cycle, consuming more carbs, consuming more sodium, increased cardio will keep you from seeing your weight go down. It will all eventually flush out, EXCEPT for the weight you’d gain from increased cardio (that would be extra blood volume, therefore, it’s not fat, therefore it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things). If you are impatient, remember that weight loss takes time, especially if you’re short (taller people can go a larger deficit and lose weight faster even tho it’s not recommended). A maximum of 1 lbs a week is probably what you should aim for.
  1. You’re not losing weight because you’re not in a caloric deficit.
Now if it’s been 3 weeks without any change on the scale, most likely, like 95% sure you are not losing weight/fat. The reason is that you’re not in a caloric deficit. I know this is most likely not the answer anyone wants but that’s what it is.

“But I’ve been working out/eating healthy” - That unfortunately doesn’t guarantee that you’ve been burning more calories than you’ve been eating.

“But I’ve been eating only x calories a day” Then either that amount of calories is more than what your body burns in a day, or you’ve been tracking it wrong. Of these 2 options, I would bet on the second.

Option 1: You’re calculating how much you should eat wrong

If you think it’s the first option, go use a TDEE calculator and subtract 250-500 calories to that number, that’s how much you should eat to lose weight (it’s suggested adult women don’t go lower than 1200/day to avoid nutritional deficiencies so keep that in mind). Decide if you log your activity level in the calculator OR track it daily. If you choose to log it in the calculator, don’t add up what you’ve burnt on the daily on that will cancel out your deficit. TDEE calculator, smart watches and cardio machines tend to be very inaccurate at calculating how many calories you burn during exercise (usually it overestimates), so I suggest to make sure you track you intake super accurately first and then adjust accordingly. You can try to aim for maintenance at first so you know your calculations are right. It’s important to re-calculate as you lose weight because that number will decrease as your weight goes down. I’m guessing a lot of plateaus occur because people just never recalculate that.

Edited to add another thing: I’ve seen before a lot of people confusing BMR and TDEE. They are different things, please don’t calculate your deficit from your BMR as this is what your body needs to stay the same in a coma.

I’ll highlight this once more: being short, in a deficit and exercising little or being sedentary puts you at a higher risk of nutritional deficiencies than others: make sure you eat a balanced diet with fruits and vegetables on the daily. When in doubt, seek professional advice

Option 2: You’re calculating your intake wrong.

The second option is the most likely and the appropriate action is to focus calculating how much you eat properly. Don’t forget to log anything: log beverages, log whenever you taste the stuff you’re cooking and log your fruits and vegetables. Even log the “calorie-free” stuff (not plain water obviously, but some stuff is listed as calorie-free but actually has 3-4 calories and it could add up). Use a kitchen scale, it will create less dirty utensils/measuring cups and it will be so much more accurate. Be extremely accurate with calorie-dense foods (especially stuff with a lot of fat: oil, nuts and nut butters). Don’t think you can estimate. You cannot. I have been tracking calories on and off for years and whenever I try to estimate, most of the time I am WAY off. Studies have also shown that people who think they track accurately are way off, pretty much always underestimating how much they eat as well as overestimating how much they burn from movement.
  1. “I do all of that but I’m still not losing weight. Is it my cheat day?” Yes. Yes it is. Especially if you think of cheat days as days where you try to gorge on as many of your favorite foods as possible: you may be surprised that it’s cancelling out everything else you’re doing. “Isn’t 1lbs of weight 3500 calories, I can’t eat that much in a day” Unfortunately, it’s possible. “But I will go crazy without cheat days”. Include treats daily within your calorie budget, space out your cheat days, or replace them with cheat meals. Another possibility is to track daily (even cheat days/meals and do a weekly total, or to save up a bit of your daily budget for a cheat day or meal you’d track, assuring you to stay on track with your goals.
  2. “I do all of this, I don’t have cheat days and I’m still not losing weight”: either a) go talk to your doctor, get your thyroid checked. Or b) start being honest with yourself and return to the points above.
  3. “I don’t want to do those things, can I just do something else?” You can but no one knows it if it will work.
  4. There’s no starvation mode. That would only happen if you were extremely underweight, then your metabolism would slow down so you’d lose slower, it still wouldn’t gain weight out of thin air.
  5. Finally, if you have a history of ED or think you may struggle with ED, please talk to a professional, it’s too tricky for internet strangers to give you advice on weight loss.
TLDR: There are 5 reasons why you may not be losing weight or think you may not be losing weight:
  1. You’re losing weight but you’re not tracking your weight properly.
  2. You’re losing weight but you’re not patient enough. 2-3 weeks without the scale going down = you’re actually not losing weight.
  3. You’re calculating how much you should eat wrong.
  4. You’re calculating how much you’re eating wrong.
  5. There’s something seriously wrong with you: talk to your doctor and don’t seek advice on reddit.
 
@jwazzi Seriously, I don’t want to criticize anyone, I understand being new to fitness and nutrition can be confusing and I know everyone’s situation is different but most of the time it boils down to the same stuff.
 
@butterfly2222 I agree, and they might be less inclined to look at other subs wikis since this one is tailored to petite women, the other wikis could be overwhelming so it's a great idea for this one to have one! If even just to say the basic principles are the same as non-petite, and yes we will all groan with each other for how low the calories to cut can be 😢
 
@jwazzi I think we can just base it on science. 250 calorie deficit / day = 0.5 lbs a week. 500 calories deficit = 1 lbs a week.

But yeah we could add stuff that’s specific to petite women, like I did with this post, reminding everyone that cutting while being short is tricky, so we gotta be careful of deficiencies and excessive restriction (which anyway is true at any height, just more likely to happen when you’re short, because of how little wiggle room we have).

I feel like there’s still a bit complete bs being perpetrated on this sub whether it’s in the posts or comments: stuff about spot-reduction, asking if you can lose weight at an absolutely crazy rate (can I lost 20 lbs in 1 month?!). Also a lot of questions that have no clear answer like “is it time to cut/bulk/recomp”. No one has the authority to say if someone has lost enough weight, or has gained enough muscle, that’s so subjective and the course of action depends on so many factors.
 
@jwazzi I would love a FAQ with the advice above and a stock answer to the “I’m skinny fat what do I do? No I don’t want to eat more and lift more etc etc” questions
 
@jessica555 I mean that combo of question + “no I don’t want to do that” is just a classic: people ask for advice, they’re given advice and then they’re like: I don’t want to do those things, don’t you have other suggestions? You can’t have your cake and eat it too.
 
@butterfly2222 I mean, I do have my cake and eat it too, cause I can only afford half a slice at a time ;/

But yeah, the "I don't want to do that," or "I shouldn't have to do that," is pretty irritating.

Like... well... I can't change the way science, sorry. 😂
 
@ironrose I ran 4 miles last night and checked my weight for the first time in 2 weeks this morning (no food no water, used the restroom) is that why my weight is up almost 3 pounds? Got so sad when I saw the number 😞
 
@butterfly2222 These are great points, and many of them I have had to reckon with. I kept telling myself I was eating “healthy” but my healthy choices included “healthy” food I’d get when eating out yet I can’t see or measure what they’re adding, and restaurants tend to add hidden salt, sugar, butter/fats which all adds up, even if it seems healthier. Even my actual healthy choices would also get offset by snacking or eating a dessert after dinner, which can be way more calorie dense than we might think. Unfortunately as petites, snacking or even one dessert can really add up. Another thing I didn’t really think about was how when I’d make food at home, I’d portion my plate the same as my very tall partner! Idk why, but I just played half on theirs and half on mine - yet that would send me way over my calorie limit without me even realizing it. I know it’s so sad and frustrating that we can’t handle the calorie load that our bigger taller friends can! I had to really get disciplined about measuring and tracking before I saw real results. It’s not easy or fun to eat a very specific amount ugh but losing weight really is just down to the numbers.
 
@lin I’m glad it resonates with you! I spent years eating “healthy” without results and I just really wish I knew about that sooner. It’s just sad to me to see so many people in the same shoes I was in. I felt I was going crazy eating healthy foods I didn’t even like (looking at you whole-grain bread and tofu spread) not knowing they just added up to too many calories, or just starving myself, not having any treats, and exercising like crazy not knowing it barely made a difference.

Tracking properly means eating a piece of “unhealthy” milk chocolate everyday, and still being on track with my goals.

Also, weight loss is hard at times but a big part of the battle for me was just knowing how it works and that it wasn’t that complicated. There are also many factors that come to play into doing all this without being miserable, therefore making it sustainable long-term but that’s for another day.
 
@butterfly2222 This is very good information. I'm a 4"11 66 year old woman with a sugar addiction. I tell myself that I eat 'healthy' and workout [combo of strength, pilates and cardio] 6 days a week so a 'treat' isn't bad. But it is, becuase one treat leads to.. well you get the drift.

My perfect weight is around 107. If I gain weight, it goes right to my stomach. Viseral fat in this area is not good and it can lead to other health problems.

The only way for me to lose weight is to eat around 1300 calories, have a lot of protein and cut out wine. But it's very difficult, especially at my age.

I'm thinking of ordering a meal delivery service like Bistro MD or Bistro Balance for lunches. Any thoughts are welcome!
 
@kullboys I’m always a sugar lover, fruits help but it of course doesn’t completely scratch the itch (strawberries are delicious when in season and only 32 calories for 100 grams). The only thing with sugar is that it may make you hungrier by causing an insulin spike.

Honestly, meal delivery/ready meals are a godsend. I always keep some low calorie frozen meals, not to eat everyday but to have something on hand when I don’t feel like actually making something. Of course, it has too much sodium but I’m not too worried. Also, I cook in big batches and freeze into single portions, meals but also just grilled chicken. I buy stuff like riced cauliflower, frozen roasted vegetables (from Costco) and with the chicken or some shrimp,I make that into a meal really quickly.
 
@butterfly2222 There are multiple other options too:

You’re gaining muscle, which is more dense, while losing fat. This would result in a net gain

You have hormonal imbalances that accelerate gastric emptying, increase ghrelin (the hunger hormone)

Your muscle mass is low and your metabolism is low

You’re older and going through hormonal changes that exacerbate fat loss

PCOS

Etc
 
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