Why can I not lose weight? š«
Iām SO frustrated and I do not know what Iām doing wrong. I canāt even remember the last time I was able to lose weight. The last 4 weeks though I have felt like Iāve been doing everything right and the scale is STILL not budging. I didnāt take before pictures but my clothes are still fitting the same so I know Iām not losing inches either. I just donāt know what Iām missing or what else to do. Itās really messing with me mentally.
Iām 5ā9ā and I weight 173 pounds. I have always been very muscular in my lower half so Iāve never been ālight weightā even in my slimmest days. I weighed probably around 155-160 when I was in the best shape of my life so I know that anything below that is not likely at all and Iām fine with that. But WHY am I stuck at 173? Itās like my body is refusing to drop a single pound. Iām truly looking for insight from anyone that can help me understand what Iām doing wrong or what I should change.
This has been my regimen the last 4 weeks:
Food: I do 16:8 intermittent fasting and my eating window is from 1-9pm. I only drink water and black coffee outside of that window, I do not eat breakfast, for lunch I do a 310 meal replacement shake thatās roughly 150 calories. I will have 2 mid-afternoon snacks which is usually a handful of dried fruit and nuts or cucumbers, carrots, and a scoop of hummus. For dinner most nights I will do either grilled salmon, Mahi Mahi, or chicken with brown rice or quinoa and a green veggie of some kind. If I want something sweet for dessert Iāll do pineapple and strawberries or Iāll treat myself to a skinny cow ice cream bar (100-150 calories). I will usually have one cheat meal on the weekend.
Exercise: I workout at least 4 days a week, usually for an hour. 20 minutes spinning, 20 minutes brisk walking my neighborhood, then 20 minutes HIIT. I burn roughly 400-500 calories on those days. The other days I will do either yoga and/or walking the neighborhood so Iāll burn 200-300 calories on those days. I am physically active nearly every single day where as 4 weeks ago I was not working out at all.
Areas that bother me the most: my lower belly is BY FAR my biggest enemy and I want to slim and tone my arms and thighs and tighten up my bum.
I drink a ton of water everyday, I donāt drink sodas or tea, I donāt drink much alcohol at all, and I do black coffee. My thyroid is fine, hormones are good, Iām not on birth control, and itās been almost 10 years since I had my daughter so I can no longer use the ābaby weightā excuse.
It doesnāt matter how many different people tell me āthe scale doesnāt matterā āstop looking at the numberā āitās all about how you look, not how much you weighā. It matters to me. I donāt want to weigh 173 pounds. Iām 5 pounds under my husband. That BOTHERS me. I do know that 4 weeks is not a lot of time and I have no plans of stopping, but donāt you think I would see at least ONE pound dropped or feel my jeans loosening up at my waist even just a tiny bit by now? Please tell me what Iām doing wrong. Iām on the verge of breaking down because I feel like Iām working so hard and nothing is happening. š Open to any feedback/recommendations!




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