Please help!

Jilliankosto

Hi

I have been on MFP for a few years now but I usually stop tracking calories here and there. Being careless about accurately tracking has gotten me back to 165 lbs (I started at 170 and was down to 155, my goal is 145.. I am 5'10"). So I started last month (Jan 19th) seriously tracking my calories. Everything. You know how at the end of the day it calculates how much you would weigh if you ate like this every day for 5 weeks? Well, mine have said you will weigh: and its usually anywhere between 158-161 (depending on how much I go over or under my calories for the day). SO, I weighed myself this morning (exactly a month) and I weigh 165!!!!! I am so angry about it. What am I doing wrong?!? Even the days I go over by a couple hundred calories it tells me I would weigh like 161 or 162 in 5 weeks. I don't get it!? I would expect to loose at least 1or 2 lbs. What am I doing wrong. I have also been doing cardio and weight lifting 3 days a week. When I do weight lifting I don't track it on here. When I do cardio I don't eat my calories back. I am seriously so discouraged. Thank you for any advice in advance.

malibu927

First, the 5-week predicted loss is just that...a prediction. It's never accurate for everyone because you would have to eat that amount of calories every day.

Second, looking at your diary, you're most likely eating more than you think. You have a lot of cup/tablespoon entries. 1-2 ounces of beef? That's a very small amount. Then you have entries such as "Generic - Deep Fried Russet Potatoes, 1 cup cooked". When you use an entry from the database, you're not accounting for potential differences in how the person who made that cooked it (how much potatoes, how much and what type of oil, any seasonings). If you don't have a food scale, you'll probably want to purchase one and start weighing everything you eat. And when you make food, utilize the recipe maker so you can ensure that is exactly what you're eating.

terbusha

I never take the predictions of MFP seriously. It is pretty much always wrong for me. What I do and what I recommend to people is to eat at a calorie level that allows you to make good progress towards your goal. If you are trying to lose weight, eat so you drop 1-2 lbs/week. This assumes an average calorie burn from you getting in all of your workouts. This will be different for everyone, so you'll have to do some trial and error to figure it out. I'd start ~1600 cal/day. Hit this goal, along with your macros and getting in your workouts, for 2 weeks. If you lose 1-2 lbs, you're good to go. If you lose too much, increase your intake and repeat. If you don't lose enough, reduce your intake a bit and repeat. After a few weeks, you'll figure out what works for you in your situation.

The key for this to work is you need to be very consistent with your nutrition. When the calorie budget is gone, it's gone. You're done eating for the day. Planning will make this work easier. Also, I'd ramp up your workouts to 5-6 days/week. That'll give you more efficient weight loss. I'd work in a good amount of resistance training and high intensity intervals/plyometrics. Low intensity cardio is not that effective.

Liftng4Lis

I've never had the prediction be accurate. Looking at your diary, you have a lot of things measured in cups. The only thing you should be measuring in cups is liquids. Start weighing, makes a huge difference.

SueInAz

malibu927 wrote: »

First, the 5-week predicted loss is just that...a prediction. It's never accurate for everyone because you would have to eat that amount of calories every day.

Second, looking at your diary, you're most likely eating more than you think. You have a lot of cup/tablespoon entries. 1-2 ounces of beef? That's a very small amount. Then you have entries such as "Generic - Deep Fried Russet Potatoes, 1 cup cooked". When you use an entry from the database, you're not accounting for potential differences in how the person who made that cooked it (how much potatoes, how much and what type of oil, any seasonings). If you don't have a food scale, you'll probably want to purchase one and start weighing everything you eat. And when you make food, utilize the recipe maker so you can ensure that is exactly what you're eating.

I see your complaint many times every day. It almost always comes down to inaccurate logging of calories of one form or another. The person is really eating at maintenance instead of a significant deficit. Either the person isn't entering everything they eat (I have a cheat day once per week where I don't log), isn't being accurate with the food entries they are entering or is getting overinflated calorie burns from exercise and eating those calories every day.

You said the last one isn't a problem so we'll look at the first two. Are you honestly logging absolutely everything you eat? That includes the mini chocolates from a co-worker's candy dish, the bite you take from your kid's plate when they don't finish, the cookie you grab as you're making dinner... everything. (I often find that having to actually log that food makes me less likely to eat it, too!) Those calories add up and if it happens often enough can erase your deficit.

Looking at your diary it doesn't appear you're weighing your food. A "medium" banana can have a very different calorie count depending on where in that range it falls. 1 tablespoon of peanut butter barely covers a slice of bread. 2 ounces of beef is about half the size of a pack of playing cards. Underestimating these serving sizes can have a large impact on your ability to lose weight. Even pre-packaged food with serving sizes "per each" can vary greatly from the size given on the package as a serving. I've weighed things like dinner rolls and found they can vary by a good bit as can things like frozen, breaded chicken patties.

Even if you use measuring cups how you measure can greatly effect the calories you're eating. If you pack all you can into the cup you'd be eating a lot more calories than if you laid the food in gently. That simple fact alone is why weighing is the best way to get an accurate count. Calorie dense foods are the most important when it comes to weighing.

So keep your current calorie goal and keep doing what you're doing everywhere else but make a commitment to logging everything and weighing as much of your food as you can.

Jilliankosto

I appreciate the words of advice. I do sometimes guess when I record because I don't have a scale or if I make something homemade I'm really not sure. For example, malibu927 pointed out about the deep fried potatoes and how I can't be sure if that is accurate; well that is true I don't know but I made homemade french fries and so I'm not sure how to record that precisely (?). I also make homemade energy bars which is a double edged sword because on one hand they are homemade without additives but on the other I could be off on my calorie count. To be honest I just need to buy a scale and I think that would solve a lot of issues. Also, regarding the standard response that "you are probably eating more than you think" - I have done that in the past where I'm not recording everything, but this time I truly have made a concerted effort not to. Thanks again, this has been very helpful for me.