Why haven't I lost any weight?

[Anonymous]

When I went off to college, I gained a lot of weight. I am now 174 and 5'2. I want to get down to the weight I was before freshman year which was approximately 130 pounds. For the past week, I've limited myself to 1,000-1,200 calories a day and exercised at the gym everyday. I burn about 300 calories doing cardio then lift weights for 45 minutes. I also go on a half hour walk uphill every morning. I drink 16 cups of water. My scale shows I haven't lost any weight in the last week, it just fluctuates a little. Why is this? Will my diet plan eventually work? I'm a girl, by the way.

Updates

+1 y

I don't really eat unhealthy food. My breakfast is usually green tea, and greek yogurt with blueberries. I usually have almonds as a snack then either a granola bar or a slice of wheat bread with organic peanut butter. For dinner I have salad with quinao, kale, tomatoes, onions, and balsamic vinaigrette. I sometimes snack on a banana or apple. I do not drink soda, just once homemade juice.
This is how I used to eat before college and it kept me at a healthier weight, just to clarify.

[Anonymous]

What's your BMR? If you cut down on TOO many calories compared to your BMR, your body will go into starvation mode and attempt to put everything you do eat (however small the amount) into fat storage. There's a minimum threshold you simply must eat in order to not trigger that response.

For example (let me use ridiculous numbers), if your BMR is 5000 (it isn't, just go with it) and you suddenly only start having 1000-1200 calories, your body is going to think there is a famine and it will try to avoid burning fat. If your BMR is 1400 and you start doing 1200 calories, you are more likely to be able to burn fat.

Plus, you should have a cheat day, to help regulate your hormones (only one a week) where you allow yourself to have a caloric surplus (more calories than your BMR), rather than the daily deficit (less than BMR).

[Klaatu51]

do u drink sprite,7up and stuff like that often?

www.smiley-lol.com/.../napoleon1.gif

[winluvnsparkle]

You could be gaining muscle mass while losing fats a the same time. Scale is not always accurate to measure how much you lose. Be persistent, and do change you diet into a healthier options. Measure your weight loss by the way you feel and the way you looked. It can be gradual, like losing 1 pound of fat and gaining 1 lb of muscle mass. It would take few months to notice your efforts.. Keep going and make it fun. I lost 10 lbs a year ago in a matter of 3 months by jogging every other day, lifts weight 3 x a week and I eat good food, more fiber and enough protein, plus some cheat days but limited only to portion control. I also gained lean muscle mass on my thigh and butt. Lose weight to feel healthy, feel good.. The good glowing looks will follow..

[Cxxlin]

You might need to go to the doctor and get your TSH levels checked, I'm a girl and I play all sports at school and one day I saw I was gaining weight when I'm beyond active. They checked my TSH levels and it turns out I have an under active thyroid, they will give you medication and it regulates it and helps you thyroid work the way it should.

[DrKran]

Try swimming in the ocean daily, that's what I did to lose weight.
Power stretches are the best way to get rid of fat when you don't have anything to use.

Swimming in pools are less effective.

[CarnalKoala]

Boxing is good. Tons of burnt calories come from that, and it's not as weight based so there's not as much negative impact on joints and such.

[emerald77]

Drinking 16 cups of water is NOT healthy. Also, eating too little (which you are) will only slow down your metabolism and cause you to actually gain weight.

[been_waiting]

I think you're consuming too much water? Aren't you supposed to drink 8 cups a day?

[Anonymous]

How did you gain that much weight

[Asker]

Try going to college in Louisiana lol. There were literally no grocery stores anywhere, just fast food. Coming from California, it was totally different and I had no idea what to eat. Also no gym and too sweltering hot to go on runs.