Stalling

tkrejcarek

i have been counting calories for four weeks - eating healthy foods, exercising 4-5 days and lost four pounds the first week and nothing the past three. Fitness Pal keeps saying I'm not eating enough but I don't trust that. According to them and my Fitbit I eat only half of the calories I burn so even with error in definitely not eating too many calories. What do I do?

missiontofitness

Are you logging under 1,100 calories a day?

missiontofitness

missiontofitness wrote: »

Are you logging under 1,100 calories a day?

And, can you open your diary?

999tigger

Your numbers sound wrong. What missionto said if you want people to try and find an answer for you.

Also SW, CW, TW. Height and age. Are you weighing your food, what exercise are you dong, are you eating back and how is the calorie burn measured?

It may be just being patient and carry on doing what you are now or it may be that your numbers are wrong.

tkrejcarek

How do you open your diary? I am logging between 800-1000 calories a day. My exercise alternates between circuit training, Les Mill classes and elliptical machines. I weigh everything. I don't pay too much attention to calories burned as I read Fitbit over exaggerates. I just try to stay in range.

tkrejcarek

I'm 5ft 1 - 44 yo female - I've even had my thyroid checked.

jeannettemancini

MFP will tell you you you are eating too few if you are under 1200. 800-1000 is really low. Esp if you are exercising on top of that.

tkrejcarek

My diary is public now

maoribadger

Well as a starter for ten you aren't eating anywhere near enough. Whether you buy into starvation mode or not when you do lose eating those figures you will lose muscle not fat and will just rebound when you up your calories. How much are you looking to lose? How much do you currently weigh

missiontofitness

tkrejcarek wrote: »

My diary is public now

I can't see your diary; did you open it publically?

tkrejcarek

I thought I did but it didn't take. I just did it again

missiontofitness

tkrejcarek wrote: »

I thought I did but it didn't take. I just did it again

Two things I noticed just from yesterday's entry:

1. You're eating too little. 1,000 calories is not enough. Not only that, 1,200 calories per day is an aggressive goal when you only have 14lbs to lose. You should have it set to .5lb/week at this point, because weight loss is going to be slow at this point. I also saw a 955 and 973 calorie day as well. No bueno. This is why you are getting a notification from MFP saying you are eating too little.

2. You are using generic entries, and are most likely eating far more than you think. 1 cup of apples can't be measured accurately without a food scale, nor can three cups of chef salad. Was this a generic entry you picked from the database? What ingredients were used? How much meat/what kind of meat? This is not going to give you an accurate calorie count.

tkrejcarek

Thanks - I did weigh the apple and salad but I used a generic entry that was the most close to what I figured it would be. That's why I've been staying way under the calories because I figured I'm making mistakes. I guess I'm being too cautious

missiontofitness

tkrejcarek wrote: »

Thanks - I did weigh the apple and salad but I used a generic entry that was the most close to what I figured it would be. That's why I've been staying way under the calories because I figured I'm making mistakes. I guess I'm being too cautious

Don't be cautious; be accurate! You have no idea what the people put into those generic entries in the database, so your count won't be accurate. Weigh each of the ingredients that go into the salad and log it (or, do what I do sometimes; make a recipe if it's something you make often, save it, and just adjust the weights of the items in the already built recipe next time you make it. Easy!), and with fruits/veggies/meats/ect, make sure you are using the USDA entry, or entry that uses grams and/or ounces as a means to log.

Definitely set your weight loss goal down from 2 to .5, and keep doing what you're doing right now, which is weighing your food! That's a step in the right direction.

Annr

It is hard for me to come to the realization that I need to eat MORE to lose weight. But truly, if you eat less, your body literally goes into "save mode" and you don't shed anything. You seem to be eating the right stuff, but like a furnace you just need more coals on the fire, to keep your metabolism up and for it to burn efficiently. Great job on being more aware of the amounts you are consuming, that is awesome. That is the problem for many on this site, especially me.

missiontofitness

Annr wrote: »

It is hard for me to come to the realization that I need to eat MORE to lose weight. But truly, if you eat less, your body literally goes into "save mode" and you don't shed anything. You seem to be eating the right stuff, but like a furnace you just need more coals on the fire, to keep your metabolism up and for it to burn efficiently. Great job on being more aware of the amounts you are consuming, that is awesome. That is the problem for many on this site, especially me.

Starvation mode is a myth. Calorie deficit = weight loss.
Logging properly and fueling your body properly for weight loss, however, is the truth.

Annr

Yep to the above comment. The most important meal of the day is break fast....because you are indeed breaking your fast. For me its mostly a hearty cereal with some honey and soy milk....

Sued0nim

Annr wrote: »

Yep to the above comment. The most important meal of the day is break fast....because you are indeed breaking your fast. For me its mostly a hearty cereal with some honey and soy milk....

There is no most important meal of the day ...glad you like your breakfast but it wouldn't matter if you ate nothing until supper time in terms of weight loss

To the op - agree that you should try weighing and accurate logging for a few weeks