Not losing, please advise

allunits

I started tracking 56 days ago and probably lost 2-3 real lbs. My tracker says 6, but considering the time of day I weighed the first day and now, etc, I don't think it's more than 3lbs. I would be very happy with 1lb every 10 days, but that's not really the pattern and I seem to be losing and gaining the same 1-2lbs.

It feels like I am in maintenance mode, but I don't feel like I am eating that much. I started out at 1400 calories and recently (last 4-5 days) switched to about 1200 calories. No difference. I started out at 199lbs and today I am at 194.

I am not exercising yet, but I have been eating a lot less than I used to (I maintained for the previous 6-8 months eating a lot). I'm not eating great, but I am tracking everything honestly. Am I overestimating by that much? I opened up my diary if anyone would take the time to look. Should I lower my calories? Raise them? I'd like to be able to lose some weight consistently without committing to exercise for the next 5-6 months.

Help, please!

queenliz99

allunits wrote: »

I started tracking 56 days ago and probably lost 2-3 real lbs. My tracker says 6, but considering the time of day I weighed the first day and now, etc, I don't think it's more than 3lbs. I would be very happy with 1lb every 10 days, but that's not really the pattern and I seem to be losing and gaining the same 1-2lbs.

It feels like I am in maintenance mode, but I don't feel like I am eating that much. I started out at 1400 calories and recently (last 4-5 days) switched to about 1200 calories. No difference. I started out at 199lbs and today I am at 194.

I am not exercising yet, but I have been eating a lot less than I used to (I maintained for the previous 6-8 months eating a lot). I'm not eating great, but I am tracking everything honestly. Am I overestimating by that much? I opened up my diary if anyone would take the time to look. Should I lower my calories? Raise them? I'd like to be able to lose some weight consistently without committing to exercise for the next 5-6 months.

Help, please!

Do you use a food scale? You have a lot of generic entries and I saw a quick add. This tells me you do not weigh your food. Bananas vary greatly in calorie content.

Danilynn1975

queenliz99 wrote: »

Danilynn1975 wrote: »

Are you cold?
are you losing hair, fingernail changes?
Are you so tired you could sleep as an Olympic event?
are your eyelashes falling out, weird bloating?

do you have a lump in your throat?

and most importantly, have you hit some wall where no matter how hard you log, weigh and measure, work out through pain, tired, and exhaustion can't lose weight?

Go check your thyroid. Don't wait. Don't settle for living a half life of hell.

I have been unable to lose weight past where I am for 2 years. I log so faithfully it is unreal. exercise is a ritual. nothing worked, so I called it done, and have been maintaining/gaining/ping pong bounce with no change in diet between 153 and 164 for that same 2 years.

A lump in my throat as I type this could very well be cancer. They don't know, all they do know right now is it is on my right lobe of my thyroid which is swollen to nearly double it's size with a "normal TSH", which is only 1 test of about 7 for a thyroid panel. You have to fight to get the rest done.

At best right now they suspect I could have an auto-immune disorder called Hashimoto's as my weird stuff is a mix of both Hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism.

Check your throat if any of this sounds like you. Plateaus that won't break? despite what you may read in these forums, it may not be your "failure to accurately log" your "weak exercise routine".

Please don't settle for faux science and get yourself checked out.

So, in the next few weeks, I get to be even more of a pincushion for the medical field, I'm going to drink gross stuff to light up my throat for scans and at some point have needles shoved into that growth to find out. Don't wait thinking it's you and "crap logging" that is causing this. It may just be your thyroid. a few blood tests beat the heck out of being told 1 day before your 40th birthday you might have cancer.

Disregard this

so you my new doctor? really don't recall seeing you in the exam room or when I got an ultrasound on my throat.

Please tell me how you became an expert on what my medical health is. I'd love to know how an enlarged diffuse thyroid 2 times it's normal size with a 2.1 cm growth is normal and to be disregarded.

enlighten me. please oh medical guru

queenliz99

Danilynn1975 wrote: »

queenliz99 wrote: »

Danilynn1975 wrote: »

Are you cold?
are you losing hair, fingernail changes?
Are you so tired you could sleep as an Olympic event?
are your eyelashes falling out, weird bloating?

do you have a lump in your throat?

and most importantly, have you hit some wall where no matter how hard you log, weigh and measure, work out through pain, tired, and exhaustion can't lose weight?

Go check your thyroid. Don't wait. Don't settle for living a half life of hell.

I have been unable to lose weight past where I am for 2 years. I log so faithfully it is unreal. exercise is a ritual. nothing worked, so I called it done, and have been maintaining/gaining/ping pong bounce with no change in diet between 153 and 164 for that same 2 years.

A lump in my throat as I type this could very well be cancer. They don't know, all they do know right now is it is on my right lobe of my thyroid which is swollen to nearly double it's size with a "normal TSH", which is only 1 test of about 7 for a thyroid panel. You have to fight to get the rest done.

At best right now they suspect I could have an auto-immune disorder called Hashimoto's as my weird stuff is a mix of both Hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism.

Check your throat if any of this sounds like you. Plateaus that won't break? despite what you may read in these forums, it may not be your "failure to accurately log" your "weak exercise routine".

Please don't settle for faux science and get yourself checked out.

So, in the next few weeks, I get to be even more of a pincushion for the medical field, I'm going to drink gross stuff to light up my throat for scans and at some point have needles shoved into that growth to find out. Don't wait thinking it's you and "crap logging" that is causing this. It may just be your thyroid. a few blood tests beat the heck out of being told 1 day before your 40th birthday you might have cancer.

Disregard this

so you my new doctor? really don't recall seeing you in the exam room or when I got an ultrasound on my throat.

I am sorry for your troubles but this does not address OP's question.

emdeesea

You should not jump to assuming someone has a medical condition when you haven't even asked the most obvious questions first - like ARE YOU USING A FOOD SCALE.

Princess_in_training84

i also have thyroid problems and would suggest if you get to a point where you simply cannot lose then i would defo go see a dr.....its vital that you get treatment for thyroid problems if thats what it is as the thyroid effects so many aspects...before i got treatment i put on weight even by looking at food, i felt so tired and cold and basically its a horrible existence...but as previously mentioned you may have to fight to get all the thyroid tests done....it took my mum actually shouting at the dr before any of them were done (no she's not crazy...her mother died due to undiagnosed hypothyroidism)

Sued0nim

I don't think you're logging properly

There should be no cup measurements for solid food nor "servings" unless this is from a recipe you've entered yourself

You need a food scale and to weigh all solids including fruit etc

You need to choose from the database with care and cross check and never choose other people's recipes

And you should make sure you log everything

Danilynn1975

I posted that because it is important. not everything is because someone is negligent in their tracking. Not everyone is perfect. It is a valid thought.

Most thyroid patients are women, and millions go undiagnosed because they just don't know. No on tells people to check their throat for swelling. But breast health is pushed. thyroid health isn't. Thyroid health is extremely important.

queenliz99

Danilynn1975 wrote: »

I posted that because it is important. not everything is because someone is negligent in their tracking. Not everyone is perfect. It is a valid thought.

Most thyroid patients are women, and millions go undiagnosed because they just don't know. No on tells people to check their throat for swelling. But breast health is pushed. thyroid health isn't. Thyroid health is extremely important.

Then start your own thread if you want to be heard

emdeesea

Danilynn1975 wrote: »

I posted that because it is important. not everything is because someone is negligent in their tracking. Not everyone is perfect. It is a valid thought.

Most thyroid patients are women, and millions go undiagnosed because they just don't know. No on tells people to check their throat for swelling. But breast health is pushed. thyroid health isn't. Thyroid health is extremely important.

It is a valid thought indeed but the obvious should be investigated first. Occam's razor states that among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected. Other, more complicated solutions may ultimately prove correct, but—in the absence of certainty—the fewer assumptions that are made, the better.

So OP - Do you have a food scale? I'm guessing no.

Danilynn1975

emdeesea wrote: »

Danilynn1975 wrote: »

I posted that because it is important. not everything is because someone is negligent in their tracking. Not everyone is perfect. It is a valid thought.

Most thyroid patients are women, and millions go undiagnosed because they just don't know. No on tells people to check their throat for swelling. But breast health is pushed. thyroid health isn't. Thyroid health is extremely important.

It is a valid thought indeed but the obvious should be investigated first. Occam's razor states that among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected. Other, more complicated solutions may ultimately prove correct, but—in the absence of certainty—the fewer assumptions that are made, the better.

So OP - Do you have a food scale? I'm guessing no.

I was told that by this forum 18 months ago. Berated and took a lot of backlash. Not one person suggested it could be medical.

Being told you aren't a special snowflake and to suck it up buttercup and try harder like I and numerous other people daily on these boards are told may very well have let me get here. Scared to death it could be cancer.

So I would really like to not see anyone else beat themselves up and have potential health problems go unnoticed.

cavia

Get a food scale. Weigh all your solids and only use measuring cups for your caloric liquids.

emdeesea

I was told that by this forum 18 months ago. Berated and took a lot of backlash. Not one person suggested it could be medical.

Being told you aren't a special snowflake and to suck it up buttercup and try harder like I and numerous other people daily on these boards are told may very well have let me get here. Scared to death it could be cancer.

So I would really like to not see anyone else beat themselves up and have potential health problems go unnoticed.

This is scientific method. And furthermore, I am a medical professional. Although no one can diagnose anyone over the internet, the most obvious reasons are investigated FIRST. If you walked into any doctor's office and stated your complaints, no competent doctor would jump to any conclusion. First you rule out possible reasons. Once those are out of the question, you move on to the next possible hypothesis.

Additionally, I'm sorry you had a bad time, but not everything is all about you.

And we have not heard yet whether or not the OP has food scale.

allunits

Thank you everyone. I don't have a thyroid problem. I guess I do know it's the way I log, I just feel like I overestimate a lot. I do use a food scale but not for everything I eat because sometimes it's not feasible and sometimes I'm lazy about it. Then I quickadd some calories to make sure I overestimate. But not always. You're right, I need to log much more faithfully for another 50 days and see what happens.

Can I ask one other thing? What do you think my calorie goal should be while I am sedentary? On the lower or higher side of my weightless range? And are the TDEEs that important?

I'm really, really not looking for a quick fix. I am doing this, I just want to see a little bit of more consistency in my loss.

queenliz99

assuming you are female, we need stats like age and height?

emdeesea

I'm going to recommend a calorie calculator that I've been using for this past year. It has worked like a charm, but you do have to be consistent. WEIGH EVERYTHING. I have a food scale and use it for everything, and you'd be surprised how "off" some things can be.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Just keep doing it and you will see results. It takes some time, but it's worth it in the end.

queenliz99

Check this out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY

psuLemon

Danilynn1975 wrote: »

emdeesea wrote: »

Danilynn1975 wrote: »

I posted that because it is important. not everything is because someone is negligent in their tracking. Not everyone is perfect. It is a valid thought.

Most thyroid patients are women, and millions go undiagnosed because they just don't know. No on tells people to check their throat for swelling. But breast health is pushed. thyroid health isn't. Thyroid health is extremely important.

It is a valid thought indeed but the obvious should be investigated first. Occam's razor states that among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected. Other, more complicated solutions may ultimately prove correct, but—in the absence of certainty—the fewer assumptions that are made, the better.

So OP - Do you have a food scale? I'm guessing no.

I was told that by this forum 18 months ago. Berated and took a lot of backlash. Not one person suggested it could be medical.

Being told you aren't a special snowflake and to suck it up buttercup and try harder like I and numerous other people daily on these boards are told may very well have let me get here. Scared to death it could be cancer.

So I would really like to not see anyone else beat themselves up and have potential health problems go unnoticed.

Lets not go off topic here.

It's always good to get blood work prior to starting any diet plan. But a the same time, only about 12% of people have a type of thyroid issue. So before going to dumb a ton of money into various test, it's best to address the most simple of issues. In the 5 years I have been on this forum, the two biggest issues the have lead to weight loss issues are inaccurate logging and inconsistent logging.

As others have already address, there seems to have some basic inconsistencies in her diary. She should probably address those first, and potentially get a blood panel. But the reason I am a huge fan of the basic check up is you can see your progress for cholesterol.

BTW Op, do you have any known medial condition such as PCOS, hypothroidism, insulin resistance?

SergeantSausage

Danilynn1975 wrote: »

queenliz99 wrote: »

Danilynn1975 wrote: »

Are you cold?
are you losing hair, fingernail changes?
Are you so tired you could sleep as an Olympic event?
are your eyelashes falling out, weird bloating?

do you have a lump in your throat?

and most importantly, have you hit some wall where no matter how hard you log, weigh and measure, work out through pain, tired, and exhaustion can't lose weight?

Go check your thyroid. Don't wait. Don't settle for living a half life of hell.

I have been unable to lose weight past where I am for 2 years. I log so faithfully it is unreal. exercise is a ritual. nothing worked, so I called it done, and have been maintaining/gaining/ping pong bounce with no change in diet between 153 and 164 for that same 2 years.

A lump in my throat as I type this could very well be cancer. They don't know, all they do know right now is it is on my right lobe of my thyroid which is swollen to nearly double it's size with a "normal TSH", which is only 1 test of about 7 for a thyroid panel. You have to fight to get the rest done.

At best right now they suspect I could have an auto-immune disorder called Hashimoto's as my weird stuff is a mix of both Hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism.

Check your throat if any of this sounds like you. Plateaus that won't break? despite what you may read in these forums, it may not be your "failure to accurately log" your "weak exercise routine".

Please don't settle for faux science and get yourself checked out.

So, in the next few weeks, I get to be even more of a pincushion for the medical field, I'm going to drink gross stuff to light up my throat for scans and at some point have needles shoved into that growth to find out. Don't wait thinking it's you and "crap logging" that is causing this. It may just be your thyroid. a few blood tests beat the heck out of being told 1 day before your 40th birthday you might have cancer.

Disregard this

so you my new doctor? really don't recall seeing you in the exam room or when I got an ultrasound on my throat.

Please tell me how you became an expert on what my medical health is. I'd love to know how an enlarged diffuse thyroid 2 times it's normal size with a 2.1 cm growth is normal and to be disregarded.

enlighten me. please oh medical guru

Are you OP's Doctor?

Didn't think so.

You're the one dispensing medical advice and making excuses for OP based on your personal farked up medical situation, right?

OP I concur. Disregard this nutty advice. You don't have a thyroid problem. That person ^^^ does.

ashleycde

To lose weight you need to burn more calories than you consume. A pound of stored fat is about 3500 calories, so you would need to be in a calorie deficit of 3500 calories per week to lose 1 lb each week.

If your logging shows you are in a deficit but you are not losing weight, you are likely not logging accurately.

I suggest getting a food scale to accurately measure calories. As an example, the cream cheese on my morning bagel looks like 2 tablespoons (30 g) but when I weight it, ends up being more like 45 - 50 g, a difference of 40-53 calories. Meat, if not weighed, is very difficult to gauge as well. All these calories add up, and can put you in a calorie surplus if you're not careful.

Danilynn1975

believe what you want. it's real. and often missed.

missemmapeel

That's really difficult for you, sorry for your struggles.

I agree with the weighing, and becoming more diligent with the logging. It takes a bit of practice to get it right. I noticed last week you at 8tbs of salsa, 1/2 cup of cheese with only 1 oz of nachos. To me this seems way off, and you probably had a heck of a lot more nachos.

What has worked for me on the weight loss was eating way more protein, increasing fresh vegetables and walking every day.

You're trying the logging and calorie restriction, it may be time to refine the logging and change a few food choices so you stay full longer. And increase your physical activity even by a bit may help. For me it was about shifting the energy balance and I had to do everything to lose the baby weight.

Hope this helps, happy if you want to add me as a friend I've been in maintenance for a couple years now.

allunits

I am 5'3, currently 194. I exercise very irregularly and not seriously. I used to be a consistent weightlifter and I know that what I'm doing now is nothing, so I would count myself as sedentary.

ashleycde

Just watched the video above. That pretty much hits the nail on the head to what I was talking about. Logging accurately is so critical, and near impossible without a food scale.

allunits

Danilynn, I'm sorry about your thyroid and I'm glad you are working to figure things out.
I do not have a thyroid problem and have no medical issues, no high cholesterol, nothing. The only thing is that my glucose was 94 at my last bloodwork but it was not after fasting and even then it's not very high. Getting new blookdwork done next week, coincidentally, but I do not suspect any medical issue whatsoever. It's my diet, I'm just trying to fine tune things with some help from people who know more than me.

segacs

Ignoring the person trying to derail the thread and make it all about her...

Agree with the meticulous use of a food scale, at least for a little while. Weigh everything that isn't liquid on a digital food scale. Measure liquids with measuring spoons or cups. Make sure you're weighing cooking oils, condiments, that bite of food you stole off your boyfriend's plate...

No, you probably won't have to be quite so fussy about it for the rest of your life. But it sounds like you've hit a wall and you're looking for ways to get past it, so yeah, you will want to do this really, really carefully for a while.

1200 calories sounds like it's probably too low for you. I don't know your age or height, but if you weigh in at 194, then it's very unlikely that 1200 calories is an appropriate goal for you. Put your height, weight and age into MFP, choose "sedentary" as an activity level, and set your goal to lose 1lb/week. It'll spit out a number. Follow that number.

But at the moment you're almost certainly NOT eating 1200 calories... you just think you are. You need to get a handle on how much you're really eating, no cheating or guesstimating, and then you'll be able to adjust.

Also, 5 pounds in 8 weeks ain't bad. Maybe it's not quite as much as you'd expected to lose, but it's not terrible by any means. Remember, you put the weight on slowly, it's gonna come off slowly.

bwogilvie

allunits wrote: »

Can I ask one other thing? What do you think my calorie goal should be while I am sedentary? On the lower or higher side of my weightless range? And are the TDEEs that important?

I would say that you should pick a value, and in four weeks, see how you're doing. If you're losing weight more slowly than you would like, then lower your goal. If you're losing weight too quickly, then raise it.

A lot of people forget that calorie calculators are producing an estimate based on a model. Individuals will vary from the model; two people of the same gender, age, height, weight, and build might vary by several hundred calories in their sedentary TDEE depending on how much they fidget (no, really!), how efficient their digestive tract is at extracting energy from food, and other factors. The only way to know your true requirement to maintain (and thus to lose) is trial and error.

allunits

Thank you all! You are right and I needed to hear it. I am not religious about weighing and I do estimate quite a bit. That video is awesome and v convincing. I am going to weigh as much as I possibly can for the next 50 days and compare. Thanks, everyone!

cerad2

Could someone please explain what a food scale has to do with the topic? The original poster tracked for two months while losing a small amount of weight. It's clear that, however they were doing it, that they were consistently eating at a slight deficit. Otherwise the weight would have been different. Isn't that what the mantra "calories in - calories out" means?

So how would weighing food make things different? The original poster then cut back a bit. Since they were already logging for two months then it's again clear that they really did cut back. The cutback has only been for a few days so I would think that just being consistent a few more weeks will show some results.

wizzybeth

The video totally rocked.

Sued0nim

cerad2 wrote: »

Could someone please explain what a food scale has to do with the topic? The original poster tracked for two months while losing a small amount of weight. It's clear that, however they were doing it, that they were consistently eating at a slight deficit. Otherwise the weight would have been different. Isn't that what the mantra "calories in - calories out" means?

So how would weighing food make things different? The original poster then cut back a bit. Since they were already logging for two months then it's again clear that they really did cut back. The cutback has only been for a few days so I would think that just being consistent a few more weeks will show some results.

How is it clear that they are eating at a defecit if they are guessing what calories they are eating ..clearly in the estimation and guesswork and cup measurements they've eaten up the defecit that the screen is showing

Weighing makes it more accurate (amongst the whole calories estimate anyway) so that she can check if her calorie defecit goal is accurate in the first place