Eating enough or to much to lose weight

ChrisShew

I am 39 5' 7" weight 161 want to lose 25lbs total I eat 1800 calories /day & walk 10km + and 30+ flights of stairs a day , but not losing as good as id hoped any suggestions plz

NiqueKristan

Google tdee calculator. That way you can figure out your bmr, macros and see how many calories you need to eat per day in order to lose weight.

snowflakesav

Hi there. I don't know what you mean by "not losing as good as I'd hoped" can you elaborate? seems like you are on a solid plan for reasonable steady weight loss.

TeaBea

TDEE is your current maintenance (including exercise) .....this is a good number to have

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

Subtract 500 for 1 pound a week..... some users will take off a percentage. With 25 pounds...take less than 20%.

ChrisShew

So far im losing 1-1.5 lbs per week but friends that are less active & eating bit less losing 2-5 lbs! I have never 'dieted' before so is a bit disheartening to see such quick progress for others (im happy for them) just not sure if im doing something wrong!! I keep fairly active & eat healthy

999tigger

Going out, but these sorts of questions are always eating more than you think or burning less.

Maybe someone can look at your diary.

Please state he following details if you wnat a more tailored answer.

Are you logging and weighing all your food?
Age
height
weight
How are you calculating your burns, using mfp hrm etc?
Are you eating back? What % of calories.
How long have you been dieting?
Start weight and current weight.

Please dont get disheartened you will be more effective if you remain in good spirits. It may be your results are exactly what other people expect based on your details.

The answer will probably be eat less or move more, but it would help if you let people look at your diary so they cna figure out whats going on. The 2-5lbs people might just be water weight and it might be the beginning of their diet when you lose more anyway.

1-2lb is considered healthy weight loss rates. I will look when I get back assuming its not been answered, which it should have been.

deksgrl

ChrisShew wrote: »

So far im losing 1-1.5 lbs per week but friends that are less active & eating bit less losing 2-5 lbs! I have never 'dieted' before so is a bit disheartening to see such quick progress for others (im happy for them) just not sure if im doing something wrong!! I keep fairly active & eat healthy

Those people probably have a lot more weight to lose, so they CAN lose at a higher rate. Since you only have 25 pounds to lose, 1 - 1.5 lbs is reasonable and attainable. You would have to cut an unhealthy amount of calories to lose more, and then you risk losing too much lean body mass (muscle, bone, everything in your body that is not fat). You don't want to compromise your bone density, it can lead to early osteoporosis.

SueInAz

ChrisShew wrote: »

So far im losing 1-1.5 lbs per week but friends that are less active & eating bit less losing 2-5 lbs! I have never 'dieted' before so is a bit disheartening to see such quick progress for others (im happy for them) just not sure if im doing something wrong!! I keep fairly active & eat healthy

Do not compare your weight loss to someone else's weight loss. Your circumstances are different from theirs. If they have a lot of weight to lose they will lose it faster at first. If you really feel a need to compare look at a percentage of weight lost, not a raw number, but comparisons often lead to disappointment so try to avoid it. Also, men seem to lose weight more easily than women, it's sad but true.

You are doing great and you should be very proud of yourself for what you've accomplished so far. Keep doing what you're doing. Eventually, your weight loss will slow as you get closer to your goal weight. Be prepared for that. Also keep in mind that weight loss isn't linear. Along the way you'll lose more some weeks than others and you might even gain a little. As long as the overall trend is downward you're doing fine.

ChrisShew

Ok ill try to answer all questions lol
Im 39 5'7" start weight 165 current 161.4 started 'dieting' 16 days ago
I log all food etc on mfp & use fitbit to count steps etc
Mfp says im good at 1800ish calories/day i eat usually 1600-1700
Main foods are homemade smoothies only fruit yogurt blends & homemade fruit juices plain almonds for snacks or dried mango
With lite lunch breakfast suppers

elphie754

ChrisShew wrote: »

Ok ill try to answer all questions lol
Im 39 5'7" start weight 165 current 161.4 started 'dieting' 16 days ago
I log all food etc on mfp & use fitbit to count steps etc
Mfp says im good at 1800ish calories/day i eat usually 1600-1700
Main foods are homemade smoothies only fruit yogurt blends & homemade fruit juices plain almonds for snacks or dried mango
With lite lunch breakfast suppers

Why? Smoothies are not needed to lose weight. Are you weighing all your food including fruit?

ChrisShew

I enjoy the smoothies & juices and im not good at just eating fruit this way i do:)

ChrisShew

And yes i measure all foods

999tigger

Are you weighing your food with a food scale?
How are you calculating your exercise burns?
Are you eating back those exercise calories and if so what %.
What activity level did you set yourself?
What deficit weight loss did you set with mfp i.e how much weight did you want to lose per week?

Its just about the math really.

If you dont want to open your diary thats cool, just makes it more difficult to give you a proper answer.

Agree with the others about comparing yourself to others.

deksgrl

999tigger wrote: »

Are you weighing your food with a food scale?
How are you calculating your exercise burns?
Are you eating back those exercise calories and if so what %.

Its just about the math really.

She is losing 1-1.5 pounds per week, which is a perfectly acceptable amount with a target of 25 pounds to lose.

So I think what she is doing is fine, she just has unrealistic expectations because she is comparing to people losing 2-5 pounds per week.

_lyndseybrooke_

ChrisShew wrote: »

Ok ill try to answer all questions lol
Im 39 5'7" start weight 165 current 161.4 started 'dieting' 16 days ago
I log all food etc on mfp & use fitbit to count steps etc
Mfp says im good at 1800ish calories/day i eat usually 1600-1700
Main foods are homemade smoothies only fruit yogurt blends & homemade fruit juices plain almonds for snacks or dried mango
With lite lunch breakfast suppers

...where's the protein?

slittle80

If you want to actually do this for long term success, skip the juicing and the massive calorie deficits and maintain a 1-2 pound per week loss. It's maintainable and not damaging to your metabolism long term. Your friends that "do less activity and eat less" are likely not doing it the correct way and will rebound eventually. Do something you can stick with long term and reap the benefits over years to come instead of a few short months followed by devastating rebound weight gain.

dfranch

1 - 1.5 lbs a week is a good steady weight loss, especially if you only have 20 lbs to go. The more overweight a person is the faster they can lose weight. For example, I lost 95 lbs. At the beginning I was losing 2+ lbs a week. the closer to my goal weight I got the slower it came off, and the harder I had to work out to lose it. By the end of my weight loss I was lucky to lose .5 lbs a week.

SueInAz

LyndseyLovesToLift wrote: »

ChrisShew wrote: »

Ok ill try to answer all questions lol
Im 39 5'7" start weight 165 current 161.4 started 'dieting' 16 days ago
I log all food etc on mfp & use fitbit to count steps etc
Mfp says im good at 1800ish calories/day i eat usually 1600-1700
Main foods are homemade smoothies only fruit yogurt blends & homemade fruit juices plain almonds for snacks or dried mango
With lite lunch breakfast suppers

...where's the protein?

I was wondering that, too. Hopefully it's in the "light lunch breakfast suppers" because I'd be dying on a diet of fruit juice and yogurt smoothies.

Also, ChrisShew, fruit juices are the worst way to get fruit. They are very high in sugar, and therefore calories, and low in anything that's going to fill you up. Your body is going to burn that sugar quickly and leave it wanting more. If you want more fruit eat it whole or don't worry about it at all. You're better with vegetables to meet those nutrient requirements than fruit juice.

shadow2soul

Okay, think of it this way. 1-2lbs per week loss is the recommend for safe/healthy weight loss. You are losing within that range. People who have a lot to lose can lose weight a little faster without doing anything drastic. However, the closer you are to a healthy weight, the harder it will be to even attain 2lbs per week loss without resorting to things that are unhealthy.

ChrisShew

For protein i eat almonds as snacks & usually chicken for suppers i do get it in meals

onyxgirl17

You are losing at a pretty fast pace to be honest. I wish I lost weight at that pace

999tigger

deksgrl wrote: »

999tigger wrote: »

Are you weighing your food with a food scale?
How are you calculating your exercise burns?
Are you eating back those exercise calories and if so what %.

Its just about the math really.

She is losing 1-1.5 pounds per week, which is a perfectly acceptable amount with a target of 25 pounds to lose.

So I think what she is doing is fine, she just has unrealistic expectations because she is comparing to people losing 2-5 pounds per week.

I already made that point, but I was interested in whether her expectations were reasonable based on what she was doing, which is what she was asking about. It may be her results are exactly in line with the math and that would help the OP understand why she was being unrealistic in expecting more.

I'll just stick to perfectly acceptable and unreasonable expectations.

slucki01

I'd love to be losing 1 - 1 1/2 lbs a week!

slittle80

how much protein are you actually getting. almonds are a greater source of fats than they are protein...

Briargrey

When I weighed almost 300 pounds, I lost 10/month....but now, if I'm lucky, it's 4-5 per month. There is less of me. I have less to lose. Ergo, it will come off slower unless I drastically cut and don't get good nutrition and will then be in general a witch extraordinaire.

1-1.5 pounds per week is excellent when you only have 20 to go. I'd stop worrying about that piece of it.

ChrisShew

I was actually just wondering if i was doing ok ?!?! I have never had to try to lose weight & never counted calories etc i thought i was maybe doing something wrong when seeing friends results as compared to mine i am happy to be losing what i have just needed some info & support figured this was place to look

slittle80

Your progress is right on par, but try to skip the "diet" and work towards something you can maintain long term. If you can eat more food (protein included) and skip a bit of the smoothies, I think your body will thank you in the end.

SueInAz

ChrisShew wrote: »

I was actually just wondering if i was doing ok ?!?! I have never had to try to lose weight & never counted calories etc i thought i was maybe doing something wrong when seeing friends results as compared to mine i am happy to be losing what i have just needed some info & support figured this was place to look

You are doing okay. You're losing weight at a great pace so as long as you are happy with how you feel, there's no need to change anything.

Asher_Ethan

lossing 1 pound a week is really good. When I loose weight, the slower I loose it the easier it is for me to keep off.

ChrisShew

Thanks everyone