At the end of my rope! Been trying to lose inches or weight with no results!
135mad
Posts: 13
I have been counting calories and doing cross fit now for 5 months, with no results. Was on WW before that, no results there either. So thought I would join cross fit. I have been going 4 days a week. I eat 1700 calories a day, only been doing this for 1 week. I was doing 1400-1500 calories and a dietitian told me that wasn't enough. I am 5' 5" and weigh 155. Can anyone help me out there?
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Replies
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Looking at your diary, I totalled today's calories via your macros. You actually ate150 cals above your goals. So that is one thing to consider - if you go over your macronutrients then you are over your calories, often by more than what MFP indicates.
- To calculate this, 1g protein and carbs= 4 calories, 1g fat = 9 calories. So if you ate 200g of carbs and 98g of protein and 56g of fat, you would have eaten 1696 calories. You don't need to calculate macros, so just make sure that you are not going over your macros by a lot overall.
Also, you measure food. Weighing is more accurate, but if you want to measure then be sure you measure EVERYTHING. I WEIGH everything. All about being consistent.
You also have homemade and very generic items. E.g. "bread - 1 slice"...what brand is this? It also lists 0 macros, yet 101 calories. I have a slice of bread that can be about 80 calories. You need to make sure you are selecting accurate entries. If you make a sandwich, then log the individual items, don't search "sandwich." You have no idea what people used for that entry. Unless your homemade entries are your own personal recipes, stop using them and create your own recipes instead with the specific ingredients you use.
Calorie counting is all about being accurate and consistent. You've also only been logging for like.. a week? Unless you've been logging somewhere else, then you have no way of knowing waht your intake has been. Exercise doesn't affect your deficit - if you have a 500 calorie deficit from your non-exercise maintenance needs, then your deficit on days you exercise will still be 500 calories assuming you eat back your exercise calories.
Oh, and of course you need to be eating at a deficit. So calculate your estimated maintenance needs from a website like health-calc.com or exrx.net (links on my profile) and subtract 20% from the numbers you get. both calculators require averages, meaning if you sleep 5 hours most days but sleep 10 hours on saturdays, then that's an average of 5.7 hours a night. Same goes for all other activities. You can include exercise if you are consistent, but otherwise just stick to calculatign your non-exercise needs and log/eat back exercise cals. You can change your calorie goal under the custom setting.0 -
You need to be weighing everything, eyeballing doesn't cut it. Also, measuring cups ARE NOT accurate for solids. You are probably eating more than you think or your calories are too high. Possibly both. Log consistently.0
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According to IIFYM.com, with your stats, your TDEE is somewhere around 1866. According to your diary for the past several days, you're eating about that amount. That, coupled with lots of entries that aren't weighed and could be inaccurate, says that you're probably eating too much. I'd get a food scale and start weighing, plus cut the calories down to around 1600.0
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Hi Melinda,
Welcome. I took a look at your food diary. I know that you have been doing MFP for a week only, but what I see is very telling.
It seems to me you are overestimating your calorie burns, which I suspect you get from tje MFP exercise database. Those numbers are way over estimated, and someone of your height and weight likely won't burn 450 something calories with 45 minutes of circuit training. In fact, the only calories that should be counted and eaten back are cardio. Circuit training is weight lifting going from machine to machine (at least that's what it is at the gym where I go, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), and those calories are difficult to estimate, and often burn very little in the weight lifting sessions themselves.
I also suspect you don't weigh your food but use measuring cups and the calorie counts off the package. You have a lot of generic entries in your diary. for example, you have a medium banana. Well, "medium" is definitely in the eye of the beholder. I've had a bunch of four different bananas that appeared to be the same size, but they all turn out to be different weight.
This is your first week, which means you are leaning how to get control of your calorie counting. Now is the time when you get a clear picture of your eating habits, and that means that you can work on changing them and making an important lifestyle change.
My suggestions are:- Get a food scale. $20 dollars at Sears, Kmart, or any department store.
- Weigh all your solid foods and measure liquids.
- Log everything you eat.
- Eat back only a portion of your cardio calories if you use the MFP database for estimates.
Finally, be patient, tolerant, and kind with yourself. Just practice your logging habits so you are aware of how much you are really eating, eat less calories than you burn, and you will lose weight.
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Accurate measuring is important. You calories seem high. I'm 5'9" and 216lbs and I'm supposed to be on 1700. I eat 1600.0
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I almost only weight lift, I log the calories. It's an estimate, but it's been working - the calorie average is about equal to my TDEE-20%, so I don't recommend not estimating calories for exercise even if it isn't cardio, then adjust how much of them you log/eat based on your results over time.Hi Melinda,
the only calories that should be counted and eaten back are cardio. Circuit training is weight lifting going from machine to machine (at least that's what it is at the gym where I go, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), and those calories are difficult to estimate, and often burn very little in the weight lifting sessions themselves.
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Accurate measuring is important. You calories seem high. I'm 5'9" and 216lbs and I'm supposed to be on 1700. I eat 1600.
your estimate seems quite low. I'm 166, 5'7, and I net (before exercise) almost 1900. When I was 180 I was still eating quite a bit of food as well. You might want to recalculate your needs from a proper calculator such as exrx.net or health-calc.com
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Accurate measuring is important. You calories seem high. I'm 5'9" and 216lbs and I'm supposed to be on 1700. I eat 1600.
your estimate seems quite low. I'm 166, 5'7, and I net (before exercise) almost 1900. When I was 180 I was still eating quite a bit of food as well. You might want to recalculate your needs from a proper calculator such as exrx.net or health-calc.com
Yep, I agree. I lose netting 1600 or so, and with exercise added in, over 2000 a day, and I am 5'10 and 136/137
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That's wonderful it's working for you.
I almost only weight lift, I log the calories. It's an estimate, but it's been working - the calorie average is about equal to my TDEE-20%, so I don't recommend not estimating calories for exercise even if it isn't cardio, then adjust how much of them you log/eat based on your results over time.Hi Melinda,
the only calories that should be counted and eaten back are cardio. Circuit training is weight lifting going from machine to machine (at least that's what it is at the gym where I go, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), and those calories are difficult to estimate, and often burn very little in the weight lifting sessions themselves.
Where do you get your weight lifting calorie estimates from?
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Our stats are almost identical - I'm just a couple of years behind you( I'm almost 49), I'm almost 5'6" and I've been stuck in the mid-150s for the last couple of years. Sometimes I get down to a little lower (I'd like to be ultimately at 145), but I just don't think I could stay there. How are your hormones? Your thyroid? I read a study that said, even if you exercise an hour day - if you are fairly sedentary the rest of the day (i.e. desk job) that pretty much negates most of your workout. So I'm "trying" not to get hung up so much on the scale and focus more on eating healthy and being more active. I guess I should be happy that at least I'm not gaining.0
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joanthemom8 wrote: »Our stats are almost identical - I'm just a couple of years behind you( I'm almost 49), I'm almost 5'6" and I've been stuck in the mid-150s for the last couple of years. Sometimes I get down to a little lower (I'd like to be ultimately at 145), but I just don't think I could stay there. How are your hormones? Your thyroid? I read a study that said, even if you exercise an hour day - if you are fairly sedentary the rest of the day (i.e. desk job) that pretty much negates most of your workout. So I'm "trying" not to get hung up so much on the scale and focus more on eating healthy and being more active. I guess I should be happy that at least I'm not gaining.
Is that a peer reviewed study?
I am 52, work a sit down job, run 3-4 days a week, weight lift, have my activity level on active, and I've been maintaining for about a year. I lost 44 pounds with the same settings and eating my cardio exercise calories back.
Nothing negates workouts.
It's good not to get hung up on the scale, but focusing on healthy eating and being more active will not help with weight loss unless you (not you personally, but generally) eat less calories than you burn.
The difficult part can be finding that balance. 0 -
Accurate measuring is important. You calories seem high. I'm 5'9" and 216lbs and I'm supposed to be on 1700. I eat 1600.
your estimate seems quite low. I'm 166, 5'7, and I net (before exercise) almost 1900. When I was 180 I was still eating quite a bit of food as well. You might want to recalculate your needs from a proper calculator such as exrx.net or health-calc.com
I've calculted it using a "proper calculator" more than once. Also, MFP and Calorie King and other websites have given me the same (within about 50 cals) so I don't think it's low.0 -
joanthemom8 wrote: »I read a study that said, even if you exercise an hour day - if you are fairly sedentary the rest of the day (i.e. desk job) that pretty much negates most of your workout.
What do you mean by "negates" your workout?
I am sedentary most days....I exercise an hour about half days (although not lately). So I am genuinely curious and genuinely asking.0 -
RockstarWilson wrote: »joanthemom8 wrote: »I read a study that said, even if you exercise an hour day - if you are fairly sedentary the rest of the day (i.e. desk job) that pretty much negates most of your workout.
What do you mean by "negates" your workout?
I am sedentary most days....I exercise an hour about half days (although not lately). So I am genuinely curious and genuinely asking.
There is some evidence but it's still a work in progress. Wil keep looking for studies.
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.00555420 -
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Ok... thanks for all the advise. I will start weighing my food, and not eating the calories I burn during exercise. I will also get my blood work checked again. I have always been able to lose weight before, so it is very confusing to me.0
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Don't eat back the calories you burn ONLY if you include your exercise in your TDEE count. Your TDEE-deficit usually does not include working out. Reason being....if your goal is 1700, and you work out for 700, you will only eat 1000 Calories to sustain you for the other 23 hours, which is way too low. Most people burn about 75-100 calories an hour at a sedentary lifestyle. that equates to 1725-2300 Calories that you use in a given day. You will, in effect, be starving yourself. Please don't do that.
Where we say "eat less than you burn" means you take in less energy than your body uses in a given 24 hour cycle. If you are already at the deficit you want to be at (to your knowledge), why make that deficit bigger?
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@froody. Those are interesting studies. For the PLOS ONE study, I had to look up what insulin sensitivity was. The study was on that, and it is just saying that if you move more, the insulin is released more because that is what is used to release glucose into the bloodstream. IMO, the figures aren't enough to make a huge difference in energy expenditure. The exercise will be effective in weight loss, still, if calorie goals are met, but the difference is in insulin resistance (where the body needs to produce more insulin to release blood glucose).
The second study I am kind of skeptical about....they are using data on TV time and CV events and drawing a correlation "Americans watch more TV, and there are more CV events, therefore more sedentary TV time increases CVD mortality risk." While it may have some correlation, it fails to consider the diet of the individuals, and reports significant inaccuracies that are possible, as the persons cannot be monitored individually. They even say that a majority of their subjects end up dead. But I do not understand how this explains that exercising for an hour will be negated each day by adverse health effects of being sedentary.0 -
Melinda,melinda9236 wrote: »Ok... thanks for all the advise. I will start weighing my food, and not eating the calories I burn during exercise. I will also get my blood work checked again. I have always been able to lose weight before, so it is very confusing to me.
If you set your goals up in MFP, then you do eat a portion of your exercise calories back because the calorie deficit is already built in. You want to net the amount of calories that MFP gives you.
If you use one of the online calculators and do the TDEE method, you do not eat any of your exercise calories back because they are included in that calorie goal.
The goal is to properly fuel your body while in a calorie deficit so that you can lose weight but still feel energetic and have proper nutrition.
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I am 50 , and I eat a pretty clean diet, add me as a friend so you can see what i eat, I also get 300 minutes of exercise every week, 3 days' a week I do an hour of cardio, also are you in menopause? or still in peri-menopause, this can make a difference in your ability to lose bodyfat..0
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I am menopausal and I've had an easy time of losing weight and keeping it off.supermodelchic wrote: »I am 50 , and I eat a pretty clean diet, add me as a friend so you can see what i eat, I also get 300 minutes of exercise every week, 3 days' a week I do an hour of cardio, also are you in menopause? or still in peri-menopause, this can make a difference in your ability to lose bodyfat..
What you eat is choice. Weight loss is calories in, calories out.
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I'm no expert, but I'd be curious about what you do for exercise. I love the pedometer app on my phone making sure I get lots of steps in per day. I understand that 10,000 steps per day is good goal for someone who's not otherwise big on exercising and workouts.0
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supermodelchic wrote: »I am 50 , and I eat a pretty clean diet, add me as a friend so you can see what i eat, I also get 300 minutes of exercise every week, 3 days' a week I do an hour of cardio, also are you in menopause? or still in peri-menopause, this can make a difference in your ability to lose bodyfat..
O.K. I am not saying that being perimenopausal makes it impossible to lose weight and I know it's calories in and calories out. But I also have to say that, once I was DONE (it's been 2 years, now) it sure was a helluva lot easier. Every woman is different but I had the mood swings from hell (just ask my husband lol) and retained a whole lot of water. Even with reduced sodium. Both of these things definitely made it harder. The mood swings contributed to my over eating (comfort food). I STILL don't eat like I should but better than I was and I exercise about an hr a day, 7 days a week, walking, weights and yoga. I am losing. In fact, as of today, 10 lbs of 85lbs left to go. It has taken me 2 years. I got stuck a LOT. But I won't give up. Don't you give up either! Try and be patient, really track your food and maybe just up your exercise a bit. You got this!
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I'm no expert, but I'd be curious about what you do for exercise. I love the pedometer app on my phone making sure I get lots of steps in per day. I understand that 10,000 steps per day is good goal for someone who's not otherwise big on exercising and workouts.
I go to cross fit 4 times a week, It is cardio, weight lifting, squats, pull-ups, sit-ups, etc...And I stay on my feet the rest of the day, no time to be couch potato. I do want to start walking at least one other day of the week. The pedometer is a great idea. Thanks0
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