Can't figure out what I'm doing wrong!

moonduck

Hello All,

I'm always just reading the forums vs. posting, but felt I had to ask in case someone out there is maybe in the same boat?

I walk a minimum of 10,000 steps every, single day. I swim and take aquafit classes. I always stay at or under my allotted calories each day. However - I do not lose any pounds. One day I will be down a couple, but the next day right back to my starting weight, so it's obviously just water weight bringing me up and down.

As for what I eat, I do eat junk food, BUT I stay within my calorie allotment, AS WELL as my macro allotment for fat and sugar. I used to drink a lot of pop (but within my calorie limit), but even that I've cut out for the past 2-3 weeks and still no change. I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong as far as calories allowed when I am allowed 1200/day, but after my walking 7km, it bumps it up to 1400 usually. I'm wondering if I still need to be staying below 1200?

I just can't figure out what I'm doing wrong and any advice would be most appreciated.

Thank you!

LeanButNotMean44

Are you weighing/measuring your food? That seems to be the biggest culprit among those with this issue.

izu87

I'm no expert, but I'm sure what everyone else will say - you most probably are eating more than you think. Though this cannot be certain as your diary is set to private. If you want people to give you better advice - open it up. Otherwise it will be guess work.

moonduck

I've been weighing my food each day for the past month (well at least the foods I can weigh) to be sure. Especially junk food like chips, etc.

moonduck

izu87 wrote: »

I'm no expert, but I'm sure what everyone else will say - you most probably are eating more than you think. Though this cannot be certain as your diary is set to private. If you want people to give you better advice - open it up. Otherwise it will be guess work.

I just ticked off "public" on diary, if that will help?

Lasmartchika

What's your Height and weight? Are you eating your exercise calories back? Did mfp give you 1200 calories, or did you choose that number?

moonduck

I'm 5'5 and 136lbs. MFP gave me the 1200 calories. I think I eat my exercise calories back, as usually I will go around 1300-1400 calories when I've done around 300calories worth of exercise.

fearlessleader104

Drink water

tiptoethruthetulips

Your food diary indicates a lot of processed foods which is fairly high in sodium and sugar, it also seems to be lacking fruit, veg and dairy as well as healthy fats. Sometimes more than 1/3 to 1/2 of your calorie intake is processed snack foods.

Snack on fruit, yoghurt, raw or natural nuts, cottage cheese, boiled eggs, avocado.

Plan healthy meals with a good source of protein along with vegetables.

moonduck

I drink a tonne of water every day - just never add it to MFP as I didn't think it correlated it to anything?

moonduck

tiptoethruthetulips wrote: »

Your food diary indicates a lot of processed foods which is fairly high in sodium and sugar, it also seems to be lacking fruit, veg and dairy as well as healthy fats. Sometimes more than 1/3 to 1/2 of your calorie intake is processed snack foods.

Snack on fruit, yoghurt, raw or natural nuts, cottage cheese, boiled eggs, avocado.

Plan healthy meals with a good source of protein along with vegetables.

You're definitely right - it is made up of a lot of processed foods. But I guess what I'm wondering is - even if this is the case, with the fact I stay under my calorie goal most days and walk a minimum of 7km a day, shouldn't weight still drop off based on that?

Lasmartchika

How much more do you want to lose? Maybe you should put the goal settings to lose .5 lb/week, if you haven't done so already. And eat most of your exercise calories back. Try that for about 4 weeks to see if that gives you results.

tiptoethruthetulips

BMI isn't the be all end all of indicators, but it is a reasonable guide for most of us. You are already within an healthy BMI, how much weight do you want to lose?

Weight loss will be slower and lower for those with less weight to lose. 10000 steps is maintenance mode, aim for 15,000 steps and maybe shake it up with some weight/resistance training.

Francl27

Ok I can't imagine how you could not be starving with such a diet. Either way, you're probably eating more than you think. I see a lot of generic and 'cup' entries and those are probably not accurate at all, which I'm guessing is your issue.

moonduck

Lasmartchika wrote: »

How much more do you want to lose? Maybe you should put the goal settings to lose .5 lb/week, if you haven't done so already. And eat most of your exercise calories back. Try that for about 4 weeks to see if that gives you results.

My minimum goal is 11lbs and ideal goal would be 16lbs. I do have it on the 2/lbs per week setting, but that never happens. I can definitely try the 0.5/lbs per week, but doesn't that just take the weight loss process longer? When you mention "eating my calories back" - can you tell me exactly what that means?

PS - love your avatar

moonduck

tiptoethruthetulips wrote: »

BMI isn't the be all end all of indicators, but it is a reasonable guide for most of us. You are already within an healthy BMI, how much weight do you want to lose?

Weight loss will be slower and lower for those with less weight to lose. 10000 steps is maintenance mode, aim for 15,000 steps and maybe shake it up with some weight/resistance training.

Ohhhhhh - I didn't realize that 10,000 was maintenance mode!! I assumed that was enough for weight loss. So 15,000 is more what a person should be looking at for weight loss? Very interesting - I didn't know that. So walk more like 10km a day vs 7km. I can do that! Thank you for the idea

Lasmartchika

Since you're close to your goal, like somebody else said, the loss is going to be slower the closer you are to your goal. You're already at a healthy weight, so you don't need to have an aggressive goal of 2lbs/week. Eating your exercise calories means you eat the amount of calories you burned with exercise, because you need to fuel your body back. So if you burned 300 then eat back around 150-200 calories. That's why when you enter your exercise, your 1200 daily calories turns to 1400 or 1600. Hopefully I was able to explain myself. :flowerforyou:

And thanks!!

moonduck

Thanks! That makes sense! But by eating back my calories, wouldn't that mean my weight loss would be even slower than it is right now, which is my concern?

I will definitely give it a try though - eat back 50% of my exercise calories and walk 15,000 steps a day instead of 10,000. Thanks!
-

Francl27

If you're not losing now, you're not going to lose by eating more.

moonduck

That's sort of what I am thinking. But I can't eat much less than 1200-1400, I don't think.

rosebette

You can change what you eat. Substitute something with nutritional value for those Doritos, which are "eating" 240 calories or more a day. You will feel fuller, be consuming less sodium (which causes water weight). If you substituted some cottage cheese or lean protein for those calories, you might see some results. As other posters noted, you are at normal weight, so it's hard for you to eat at a deficit. You might not see anymore loss, but by changing the content of your diet, you might see some positive changes in your body's appearance.

moonduck

Thanks for the tips. I will give that a try, as well.

Lasmartchika

They explain it so much better than I ever could on this page.

community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/3817-eat-more-2-weigh-less

shmulyeng

You're really eating lots of junk food. The problem isn't with the food itself. Just that it can't keep you full.

I saw you had peanut butter in your diary. Do you weigh it or measure it out in a spoon?

moonduck

Lasmartchika wrote: »

They explain it so much better than I ever could on this page.

community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/3817-eat-more-2-weigh-less

Thanks! I will check it out

moonduck

shmulyeng wrote: »

You're really eating lots of junk food. The problem isn't with the food itself. Just that it can't keep you full.

I saw you had peanut butter in your diary. Do you weigh it or measure it out in a spoon?

I find that I'm not hungry on what I eat - I don't need or want more. I just am hoping that by sticking to 1200ish a day with 10K steps, at least a pound or two would start to come off.

Hmm, I don't weight or measure it actually - always just been eyeballing it.

moonduck

I should mention I also don't have a gallbladder nor a thyroid, so maybe that could have something to do with it, too?

auddii

moonduck wrote: »

shmulyeng wrote: »

You're really eating lots of junk food. The problem isn't with the food itself. Just that it can't keep you full.

I saw you had peanut butter in your diary. Do you weigh it or measure it out in a spoon?

I find that I'm not hungry on what I eat - I don't need or want more. I just am hoping that by sticking to 1200ish a day with 10K steps, at least a pound or two would start to come off.

Hmm, I don't weight or measure it actually - always just been eyeballing it.

I found that eyeballing it doesn't work well. It's pretty easy to measure if you have a scale. Weigh the jar (I tare it out so I don't have to maths), then remove a spoonful and adjust until you have 32g removed from the jar.

VeryKatie

My only thoughts:
1) Can your food amount estimations be more accurate?
2) Do you eat back all of your exercise calories (try eating back only half)
3) Medical issue?
4) Any combo of the above.

I do know a friend who actually lost weight when she started eating a little more. I don't know why or how that worked, but maybe it would be worth a try to increase your calorie consuptions by maybe 100 - 200 daily? I'm thinking it had to do something with her being relatively active. You sound active too.

djprice_69

For one week, try swapping out a processed snack with a veggie or fruit every other time. Next week, swap out processed junk for fresh fruit & veg for a snack two out of three times. If you over eat on processed foods by eyeballing them, the caloric impact can be huge. If you over-eat on veggies, the caloric impact is extremely small - you'll just be fuller, longer.

VeryKatie

moonduck wrote: »

Lasmartchika wrote: »

How much more do you want to lose? Maybe you should put the goal settings to lose .5 lb/week, if you haven't done so already. And eat most of your exercise calories back. Try that for about 4 weeks to see if that gives you results.

My minimum goal is 11lbs and ideal goal would be 16lbs. I do have it on the 2/lbs per week setting, but that never happens. I can definitely try the 0.5/lbs per week, but doesn't that just take the weight loss process longer? When you mention "eating my calories back" - can you tell me exactly what that means?

PS - love your avatar

I think it's worth a try. What process would take longer than no weight loss, right? Even if you only lose a little, it's still more.