Exercise but no weight loss

[30thisyear]

Hi
Just wondered if anyone has experienced anything similar. For the last four weeks I have been doing 3/4 exercise sessions per week, average week being:
Body Attack (1 hour)
Ladies Boxing Circuits (1 hour)
Zumba Class (45 mins)
Swimming - 50 lengths (approx 30 mins)

I have been eating healthy - not counting or measuring though but an average day is:
Bowl of cereal for breakfast
Salad for lunch with chicken & couscous
Anything for evening meal e.g. roast dinner, spag bol, curry
I have been snacking on fruit and for last two weekends I have had some chocolate - one average chocolate bar each weekend e.g. double decker or kit kat.

I weigh 18 half stone and I have really controlled my eating. I know I am not following any particular diet but I would have thought that with the exercise and reduced food intake that I would be seeing results on the scales - I still weigh the same!

I do feel like my body shape is changing - I feel slimmer like I should have lost weight, I presume this is toning from the exercise but unfortunately I havent been taking any measurements.

Does anyone have any advice as to what I am doing wrong, I would love to know what else I need to do to start my weight loss.
I know if I had gone to WW or SW and not exercised I would have lost weight by now but I no longer want to obsess about following a diet / counting points syns etc I just want to get the balance of healthy eating and excercise - it has to be a complete lifestyle change if I want to lose the weight and keep it off as I have spent too many years losing weight and putting it back on (10 years!!) so this time I want to do it differently.

Would love to hear what your views on this are please.

 

[Downtown]

Well done for committing to so much exercise, one thing is for sure that you will be burning the calories by doing the exercise. The premise is simple, you need a calorie deficit by approx 3500 calories per week for approx 1 lb in fat loss. This last point is important as you will be losing the fat if you meet these rules and as you say you can see the change in your body, which is fantastic.
However, it is also true that muscle is heavier then fat and although you're doing mostly cardio you will be creating more muscle mass (although at a slower rate than weight work). Also, remember muscle uses more energy 'as standard' so more muscle more calories burned throughout each day.

I haven’t lost much yet but like you I have been going to the gym 4 times a week and following a healthy diet, I have seen some improvement in weight but mostly I see a change in some aspects of my shape. I decided to buy a set of scales which will tell me my body fat % too, so hopefully if I don't lose much weight I should be able to motivate myself by seeing that my fat % has decreased.

Main thing is though, keep at it, we will both see the results in the mirror and on the scales in the near future. Good luck.

 

[trimlee]

Hi there, I have been working out consistently for 6 weeks with little weight loss but clothes fitting a bit better and me feeling more energetic.
3 possible reasons I can think of:
1. Initial muscle gain with fat loss -the weight will come off
2. Under-eating so body is holding on to fat reserves - perhaps go up by a couple of hundred cals and see how that works
3. Over-eating without realising (in-between meals or snack eating maybe) - try logging for a week or two to monitor a bit more objectively

In my case I suspect a bit of 1 and 3. Don't give up on exercising though!