Weight is not coming off....Why??

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colindp
colindp Posts: 23 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,

Desperation is now setting in...the details....I am a 55 yr old male current weight is 114kg.

OK, so it's not all bad I started out at 124kg and a trip to the doctors to see what was the best way to ward off type 2 diabetes, I have been reasonably active for a while but due to a significant knee trauma a year ago mobility has been seriously affected hence the 124kg.
So my doctor undertook blood testing...nothing there....sent me to a dietitian got loads of good advice.

I have for a number of years commuted to work by bicycle but again due to knee injury this had to be put on hold...however I was finally able to get back seriously riding again and my commute each day totals 35km and burns around 2100 calories I often try to get a longer ride in at the weekend with the maximum distance covered so far being 64km and burned over 3,000 calories. However for the last two months I have failed to lose a single gram considering I am following dietitian advice and sticking to their programme, I guess my daily intake is around 1800.
So to recap burning approx 2100 per day, intake approx 1800 per day...weight loss per week 0???
Anyone out there got any ideas...please!!!

Thanks
Colin....
«13

Replies

  • FatFreeFrolicking
    FatFreeFrolicking Posts: 4,252 Member
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    Do you use a food scale?
  • mumma2boyz
    mumma2boyz Posts: 109 Member
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    My guess - you aren't eating nearly enough if you are correctly tracking your calories (both food and activity). Increase your caloric intake by 250 calories every 1-2 weeks and watch how your body responds. I would think your maintenance calories as a man would be well over 2,000 calories a day. Add on all that exercise with only 1800....that's extremely stressful on your body. Give it a try.
  • colindp
    colindp Posts: 23 Member
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    Rarely, mostly due to sticking to advice from dietitian....only my evening meal would be subject to weighing
  • sodakat
    sodakat Posts: 1,126 Member
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    Something is off with your math. If you are eating 1800 calories and just your bike ride alone burns 2100 calories you are in a couple thousand calorie deficit, not a 300 calorie deficit.

    Either you burn less than you think or you eat more than you think. Guessing is a bit of a problem because you can't make accurate changes.

    How do you know you eat "about 1800" and how do you know you burn 2100?
  • FatFreeFrolicking
    FatFreeFrolicking Posts: 4,252 Member
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    colindp wrote: »
    Rarely, mostly due to sticking to advice from dietitian....only my evening meal would be subject to weighing

    If you aren't weighing your food, you don't know how many calories you are consuming. Everything can be weighed… fruits, veggies, meat, cereal, crackers, chips, pretzels, ice cream, etc.
  • colindp
    colindp Posts: 23 Member
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    I would guess that the figures quoted are as close as they can be, I use Endomondo to track activity and that app links in with MFP...I had doubts about the accuracy but my Doctor seems to think that either is not too far off
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
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    Sounds like you are eating too much if your goal is to lose weight. All calorie intake and activities are estimates and it is not hard to be off by 200-300 even when trying to be accurate or even one day of over eating can use up your deficit. Could be what is happening with you.

    Try to accurately weigh and measure your food when you can. Lower your calorie intake by another 100 for a week or two and see if you see a change.

    I know it gets said a lot on here but adding in some strength training would help a ton. This will help reuce age related muscle loss called Sarcopenia. As you lose muscle you lose strength, increase injury risk, and your calorie needs start to drop.
  • mumma2boyz
    mumma2boyz Posts: 109 Member
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    I agree with FatFree (nice name btw :smile:
    It is so important that you measure and weigh your food. I guarantee you are incorrectly estimating your caloric intake - and men are usually ones to over-estimate their calories (women the opposite - we love to underestimate). If you are doing either, it can severely damper your progress. Give it a try. For 2 weeks. It's really not that bad. Go get yourself some cool measuing cups, measuring spoons, and a scale. Worth every bit of this very small investment.
  • colindp
    colindp Posts: 23 Member
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    sodakat,

    Stats from my ride today recorded with Endomondo

    DISTANCE 18.52 km

    DURATION 38m:46s

    AVG. SPEED 28.7 km/h

    MAX. SPEED 46.3 km/h

    CALORIES 1134 kcal

    HYDRATION 0.44L

    MIN. ALTITUDE 7 m

    MAX. ALTITUDE 79 m

    TOTAL ASCENT 11 m

    TOTAL DESCENT 63 m
  • colindp
    colindp Posts: 23 Member
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    Fat Free....Only my evening meal is subject to weighing...Breakfast is a manufacturer measured portion in a sachet, lunch is again a manufacturer measured portion, my evening meal portions are small and whilst I concede I should be measuring I am confident I am not cancelling out my output.
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
    edited November 2014
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    colindp wrote: »
    Fat Free....Only my evening meal is subject to weighing...Breakfast is a manufacturer measured portion in a sachet, lunch is again a manufacturer measured portion, my evening meal portions are small and whilst I concede I should be measuring I am confident I am not cancelling out my output.

    You can be confident all you want but the results dont lie. If you were in a deficit you would be losing weight.

    Gadgets are fun and all but it is still just an estimate. Same goes for food labels.
  • bulbadoof
    bulbadoof Posts: 1,058 Member
    edited November 2014
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    The math is absolute. Calories in - calories out = weight gain or loss. If you are not losing weight, one of your numbers is off. Period.

    If you are logging your food correctly, maybe you are overestimating your exercise (it is veeery unlikely that you are burning 1000+ calories in 40 minutes of cycling), or perhaps MFP's tdee calculation for you is incorrect (there are multiple formulas, it might be wise to seek out a few calculators yourself).

    Everyone's metabolism is different, everyone's efficiency when it comes to exercising is different, and everyone's estimated portion sizes are different. One of your presumed numbers isn't accurate, there's no other explanation.
  • popsicle129
    popsicle129 Posts: 1 Member
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    Maybe you could try eating more fibers like beans and such... Maybe you have a slow metabolism and it needs a little help. I have a very fast one... My MFP plan was to lose .5 lb per week and I am losing much more and I eat exactly the calories I can... So my guess is the suggested calories are for a standard individual but they may vary. Since you don't want to starve yourself you might want to speed your digestion.
  • colindp
    colindp Posts: 23 Member
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    mustgetmuscles1 wrote: »
    Sounds like you are eating too much if your goal is to lose weight. All calorie intake and activities are estimates and it is not hard to be off by 200-300 even when trying to be accurate or even one day of over eating can use up your deficit. Could be what is happening with you.

    Try to accurately weigh and measure your food when you can. Lower your calorie intake by another 100 for a week or two and see if you see a change.

    I know it gets said a lot on here but adding in some strength training would help a ton. This will help reduce age related muscle loss called Sarcopenia. As you lose muscle you lose strength, increase injury risk, and your calorie needs start to drop.

    Thanks mustgetmuscles1
    I have undertaken strength training before my worry is with my knee , although I am able to cycle without too much difficulty I am concerned with overloading given I destroyed my ACL, MCL and meniscus in my right knee...I appreciate fully I can works on other areas but obviously would not want to completely avoid working the legs.
  • colindp
    colindp Posts: 23 Member
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    mumma2boyz wrote: »
    I agree with FatFree (nice name btw :smile:
    It is so important that you measure and weigh your food. I guarantee you are incorrectly estimating your caloric intake - and men are usually ones to over-estimate their calories (women the opposite - we love to underestimate). If you are doing either, it can severely damper your progress. Give it a try. For 2 weeks. It's really not that bad. Go get yourself some cool measuing cups, measuring spoons, and a scale. Worth every bit of this very small investment.
    -
    Thanks....I have all those things already so I'll give it a go and see what happens....but thank you everyone your advice is very much appreciated
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
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    colindp wrote: »
    Fat Free....Only my evening meal is subject to weighing...Breakfast is a manufacturer measured portion in a sachet, lunch is again a manufacturer measured portion, my evening meal portions are small and whilst I concede I should be measuring I am confident I am not cancelling out my output.

    Your output is incorrect, that's not an 1100 calorie ride. 11m gain, 17mph avg. If I were to throw a number out there, I'd say it's probably closer to 350 calories.

    If you have a similar level of inaccuracy with your intake, you'll probably hit a point where you are not losing weight, or may begin gaining weight.

    Only you will know if you hit a point where you are not losing, or begin gaining.
  • colindp
    colindp Posts: 23 Member
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    dbmata wrote: »
    colindp wrote: »
    Fat Free....Only my evening meal is subject to weighing...Breakfast is a manufacturer measured portion in a sachet, lunch is again a manufacturer measured portion, my evening meal portions are small and whilst I concede I should be measuring I am confident I am not cancelling out my output.

    Your output is incorrect, that's not an 1100 calorie ride. 11m gain, 17mph avg. If I were to throw a number out there, I'd say it's probably closer to 350 calories.

    If you have a similar level of inaccuracy with your intake, you'll probably hit a point where you are not losing weight, or may begin gaining weight.

    Only you will know if you hit a point where you are not losing, or begin gaining.

    Thanks for that...definitely not losing been the same for over four weeks, in that case does anyone know of a good reasonably accurate way to calculate calories burned during such activities?

  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
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    colindp wrote: »
    dbmata wrote: »
    colindp wrote: »
    Fat Free....Only my evening meal is subject to weighing...Breakfast is a manufacturer measured portion in a sachet, lunch is again a manufacturer measured portion, my evening meal portions are small and whilst I concede I should be measuring I am confident I am not cancelling out my output.

    Your output is incorrect, that's not an 1100 calorie ride. 11m gain, 17mph avg. If I were to throw a number out there, I'd say it's probably closer to 350 calories.

    If you have a similar level of inaccuracy with your intake, you'll probably hit a point where you are not losing weight, or may begin gaining weight.

    Only you will know if you hit a point where you are not losing, or begin gaining.

    Thanks for that...definitely not losing been the same for over four weeks, in that case does anyone know of a good reasonably accurate way to calculate calories burned during such activities?
    I use my heart rate monitor.

    I know for an hour where I'm pounding really silly hard on my trainer, doing sprints, intervals, etc, and keeping my average heart rate over 140, I will get a caloric burn reading of 900 cals or so, and I'll log it as 450.

    A ride where I'll run a circuit a bit like yours, it will tell me I've burnt about 500 calories, so I'd log it at 300.

    Unfortunately, it's not very hilly around here, so I'll never get more than about 10-15m of gain in a ride unless I want to put a 20+ mile ride together.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
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    Honestly, what I'd do. Log it all as 1 calorie.
  • colindp
    colindp Posts: 23 Member
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    dbmata wrote: »
    colindp wrote: »
    dbmata wrote: »
    colindp wrote: »
    Fat Free....Only my evening meal is subject to weighing...Breakfast is a manufacturer measured portion in a sachet, lunch is again a manufacturer measured portion, my evening meal portions are small and whilst I concede I should be measuring I am confident I am not cancelling out my output.

    Your output is incorrect, that's not an 1100 calorie ride. 11m gain, 17mph avg. If I were to throw a number out there, I'd say it's probably closer to 350 calories.

    If you have a similar level of inaccuracy with your intake, you'll probably hit a point where you are not losing weight, or may begin gaining weight.

    Only you will know if you hit a point where you are not losing, or begin gaining.

    Thanks for that...definitely not losing been the same for over four weeks, in that case does anyone know of a good reasonably accurate way to calculate calories burned during such activities?
    I use my heart rate monitor.

    I know for an hour where I'm pounding really silly hard on my trainer, doing sprints, intervals, etc, and keeping my average heart rate over 140, I will get a caloric burn reading of 900 cals or so, and I'll log it as 450.

    A ride where I'll run a circuit a bit like yours, it will tell me I've burnt about 500 calories, so I'd log it at 300.

    Unfortunately, it's not very hilly around here, so I'll never get more than about 10-15m of gain in a ride unless I want to put a 20+ mile ride together.

    Thank you....was thinking of investing in a HRM, now I will!

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