Working out but not seeing results

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NaoNao

New member
Hello there! I started working out but also dieting at the end of march. At first, it wasn't a strict diet, but after a while I got more serious, I'm eating really clean, I had a few cheat days but none of them was extreme. I do 3-4 workout videos at home from Chloe Ting, usually HIIT videos, and I feel them working, I can also see the results on my abs and my legs got more toned. Now, I'm not trying to bulk or something, I just wanna be slim but also a bit toned. So the problem is that I lost only around 4 cm in every part of my body, except my arms where I lost like 2 cm, those are really hard to slim down, and my weight increased. I started at 61.4 kg and now I'm at 62.8 kg. I know that when you start working out you may experience weight gain, but it's been almost 5 months and nothing changed. Also, the measurements are not so spectacular, I dont think 4 cm in 4-5 months is a lot. What should I do? Should I change the way I exercise? I must mention that I don't do cardio regularly. Should I do more cardio instead of HIIT? Or should I focus more on my diet and exercise less? I really need help☹️
 
I forgot to mention that I'm a 21 years old female
 
Hey NaoNao, welcome to the forum!

I will leave it to others with more expertise to comment on your exercise, but suggest you tell us more about your diet and goals. Do you want to lose or gain weight? How tall are you? How many calories a day are you eating and generally what foods. That kind of thing would help. A 21 year old woman at about 62 kg does not sound overweight to me.

And congratulations on the great start you have, your story is quite impressive to me.
 
Welcome NaoNao! I agree with Rob that it would be helpful to have more information but it sounds to me like you have been eating at just above maintenance and built some muscle (if you´d gained fat your measurements would´ve gone up, not down; losing centimeters all over while gaining weight can only mean muscle gain) while simultaneously losing fat. Not an easy feat, great work! Don´t worry about looking like a bodybuilder: that doesn´t happen without people working toward it intensely for a long time - especially in women.
 
alligatorob said:
Hey NaoNao, welcome to the forum!

I will leave it to others with more expertise to comment on your exercise, but suggest you tell us more about your diet and goals. Do you want to lose or gain weight? How tall are you? How many calories a day are you eating and generally what foods. That kind of thing would help. A 21 year old woman at about 62 kg does not sound overweight to me.

And congratulations on the great start you have, your story is quite impressive to me.
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Thank you for your reply, I'm new so I didn't really know what I should write haha My height is 155cm. My goal is to lose weight, look slimmer and toned. Being quite small, I think my ideal weight would be around 53kg or so. I don't really count my calories, but I usually eat fruits and some nuts for breakfast, at lunch I eat either eggs cooked in various ways with a salad, or something to spread on bread, like avocado paste, sometimes pasta. I'm living with my family, so I mostly eat what my mom cooks, that could be some kind of stew, grilled fish/chicken with salad, stuff like that, and for dinner a greek salad, soup, something light. I try to have some kind of protein daily. I don't usually eat fried food, fast food, just when there's an event to celebrate or going on vacation. I loove sweets but I try to avoid them as much as I can, there are some days when my parents buy some sweets and I just can't resist. I should also mention that I'm not so active besides those 50 mins - 1h of working out, especially now with the quarantine and online classes.
 
LaMaria said:
Welcome NaoNao! I agree with Rob that it would be helpful to have more information but it sounds to me like you have been eating at just above maintenance and built some muscle (if you´d gained fat your measurements would´ve gone up, not down; losing centimeters all over while gaining weight can only mean muscle gain) while simultaneously losing fat. Not an easy feat, great work! Don´t worry about looking like a bodybuilder: that doesn´t happen without people working toward it intensely for a long time - especially in women.
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Thank you so much! I needed someone to tell me this haha I was quite worried. I shared more info above
 
If I understand you correctly you gained 1.4 kg in almost 5 months. That's 0.3 kg or around 2100 kcal per month. In order to instead LOSE 2 kg per month you'd have reduce your calorie intake or increase your calorie burn by around 16100 kcal a month - or around 500 kcal a day. That's an hour of cardio a day extra or 100 g of chocolate less (I know you're not eating that much chocolate; it could be any food that adds up to those calories).
 
LaMaria said:
If I understand you correctly you gained 1.4 kg in almost 5 months. That's 0.3 kg or around 2100 kcal per month. In order to instead LOSE 2 kg per month you'd have reduce your calorie intake or increase your calorie burn by around 16100 kcal a month - or around 500 kcal a day. That's an hour of cardio a day extra or 100 g of chocolate less (I know you're not eating that much chocolate; it could be any food that adds up to those calories).
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Yeah, I thought of that too. That's really helpful, I'll keep your advice, thank you a lot!! I feel more motivated now!
 
LaMa is right calories do count. You can only lose weight with a calorie deficit. Doesn't mean you have to count calories, but for me it really has helped.
 
fazla rabby said:
  1. Do not skip breakfast. Skipping breakfast will not help you lose weight. ...
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i see this one all the time and it makes me laugh... all the time.

by definition, breakfast if the first meal of the day after you wake... it's not eggs and bacon at 8am. whether it happens 10 minutes after you get up or 4-5 hours after you get up... whether it's a bowl of fruit or a bowl of chili, it's impossible to "skip" breakfast... unless you're on a multi-day fast. i eat breakfast around noon.

by the way, hi NN... you are close to a Normal BMI... about 3kg. the closer you get to a Normal BMI, the more difficult it will be to lose weight. it took me 4 months to drop from a BMI of ~31 down to 26, then 7-8 more months to drop down to about a 23/24... where you want to be. of course i'm old and don't exercise much... everyone is different, but the math says 1kg becomes a greater percentage of your weight as you drop weight.

a few suggestions... if you snack after dinner and eat an early breakfast, try to stop the snacking and extend your breakfast as late as possible. also keep in mind that it takes a lot more good days to cancel out one bad (cheat) day. if you think it is 1:1, it's more like 5-7:1.
 
Welcome!) I have a similar situation. At the beginning of training, I can still see changes in my body. But after a couple of months everything stops. And my motivation is dropping, the weight is gaining back
 
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