Confused about my stats and losing weight?

Valolden

So I've started properly logging my food since last Sunday after learning the real, hard truth about weight loss & it does make sense. I was wondering why, despite going to the gym, doing cardio & strength training, I never saw much of a difference in my stomach/hips. I thought it was because I love chocolate so much and it was sugar. But I was just eating when I got hungry, though I do eat 'clean', I never accounted for calories, and that is where I lost out.

I'm 5 ft 1, 8 stone 2 lbs (what I weighed this morning) and the last time my BFP was measured (about 5 weeks ago) it was 25% - hopefully it may have gone down since.

MFP has me on 1450 calories a day, which is hard to get used to, because I'm constantly hungry! I have noticed a difference in my size since Sunday, but it's hard to figure out how I'm meant to calculate this number properly because I use a fitbit flex and I have enabled calorie adjustments.
When I went to the gym yesterday, I felt tired when doing my strength routines and I noticed that had lost a little muscle too. I feel like I'm starving myself most of the day and it sucks. What am I doing wrong?? Will I get used to it eventually?

SueInAz

What is your weight loss goal set at? It's very possible you're just plain trying to lose weight faster than you should be. For every half pound you tell MFP you want to lose per week, you lose 250 calories a day from the amount of calories you need to maintain your weight (250 x 7 = 1750 calories = 1/2 pound of weight lost). Since you have less than 10 pounds to lose you shouldn't be trying to lose more than .5 pound per week. Change the setting and you'll get more calories to eat each day as a base goal. You'll then also add any calories you burn in exercise to maintain that 250 calorie daily deficit.

PAV8888

You are already at a normal weight.

You should not be trying to lose more than 0.57lbs a week at this point.

Losing too fast increases the likelihood that you will lose muscle mass.

From what you are saying and unlike a lot of us here, you don't seem to have had a major problem figuring out how much to eat based on body cues, yet.

Why don't you set MFP to maintain weight and a setting of ACTIVE or very ACTIVE and eat as you would (normally) based on body cues... but also log your food.

While concentrating on your work outs and gym and possibly trying one of the weight lifting programs at the same time.

Logging your food will cut off mindless grazing and strength training will have you recomping and feeling better...

PAV8888

The post above mine is giving you the correct method if you decide to do things the way mfp is set. And half an lb a week is actually the more appropriate goal for you if you decide to eat at an explicit deficit at all. I was suggesting a tdee based method.

Valolden

SueInAz wrote: »

What is your weight loss goal set at? It's very possible you're just plain trying to lose weight faster than you should be. For every half pound you tell MFP you want to lose per week, you lose 250 calories a day from the amount of calories you need to maintain your weight (250 x 7 = 1750 calories = 1/2 pound of weight lost). Since you have less than 10 pounds to lose you shouldn't be trying to lose more than .5 pound per week. Change the setting and you'll get more calories to eat each day as a base goal. You'll then also add any calories you burn in exercise to maintain that 250 calorie daily deficit.

I do have it set at .5 lbs a week because I didn't want to it to be too drastic, I only really want to trim the extra flab around my stomach/hips, which is the last place it will leave.

PAV8888 wrote: »

You are already at a normal weight.

You should not be trying to lose more than 0.57lbs a week at this point.

Losing too fast increases the likelihood that you will lose muscle mass.

From what you are saying and unlike a lot of us here, you don't seem to have had a major problem figuring out how much to eat based on body cues, yet.

Why don't you set MFP to maintain weight and a setting of ACTIVE or very ACTIVEband eat as you would (normally) based on body cues... but also log your food.

While concentrating on your work outs and gym and possibly trying one of the weight lifting programs at the same time.

Logging your food will cut off mindless grazing and strength training will have you recomping and feeling better...

I do believe my weight is normal too, it's just the excess around my abdomen and hips, I want to tighten and tone up in time for July when I go on holiday. I started exercising properly last year, so I have learned a lot since. I was thinking about maintaining too, but I was afraid I would not get results.

Valolden

PAV8888 wrote: »

The post above mine is giving you the correct method if you decide to do things the way mfp is set. And half an lb a week is actually the more appropriate goal for you if you decide to eat at an explicit deficit at all. I was suggesting a tdee based method.

Yes, it does seem good - I have read about TDEE, is that different from the MFP method?

PAV8888

Val901 wrote: »

PAV8888 wrote: »

The post above mine is giving you the correct method if you decide to do things the way mfp is set. And half an lb a week is actually the more appropriate goal for you if you decide to eat at an explicit deficit at all. I was suggesting a tdee based method.

Yes, it does seem good - I have read about TDEE, is that different from the MFP method?

You may want to check in the exercise group and or in maintenance as to how to best go about doing things.

As mentioned the act of logging by itself will cut down on mindless eating and 'auto-reduce" your caloric consumption

MFP gives you calories to eat based on your stated deficit and an estimate of your NON exercise activities.
Then you are supposed to separately measure and eat back the true net exercise calories you spend.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/PAV8888/view/eat-back-your-exercise-calories-741835

However you can get most applications to do whatever it is you want them to do

If you have a good estimate of your TDEE, you can just pick an activity level in MFP such that your activity level is equal to (or close to) your TDEE. You would now have to be careful to only eat back true net exercise calories that are ABOVE your stated TDEE.

The reason for doing that is so that you can better plan your day.

Knowing I have 2300 calories to split between my meals today is better for me than starting with 1490 calories and "earning" 900 more as the day progresses.

And if it is a less active day I will adjust on the fly during my evening snack, or absorb the extra in my already substantial 750 cal deficit. Or I will have a bigger snack if I was extremely active; but it will be a much smaller adjustment than otherwise. Or bank it for my next less active day

SueInAz

Val901 wrote: »

I do believe my weight is normal too, it's just the excess around my abdomen and hips, I want to tighten and tone up in time for July when I go on holiday. I started exercising properly last year, so I have learned a lot since. I was thinking about maintaining too, but I was afraid I would not get results.

It sounds to me that what you really want to is to reduce body fat and not necessary lose pounds. Look into body recomposition to reduce fat. Lift weights, heavy weights, a couple of days a week. I started doing this last year and while I haven't lost many pounds my body is much smaller and tighter. I've lost the middle-aged lady flab under my arms and instead have muscles you can barely see moving up and down as I move my arms. I can fit into clothes I could previously only wear when I weighed 10 pounds less and I can eat a little more and still maintain my size since my muscles burn more calories. I've learned that the scale doesn't tell the whole story and that inches matter more than pounds.

Liftng4Lis

Val901 wrote: »

I do believe my weight is normal too, it's just the excess around my abdomen and hips, I want to tighten and tone up in time for July when I go on holiday. I started exercising properly last year, so I have learned a lot since. I was thinking about maintaining too, but I was afraid I would not get results.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com

Valolden

PAV8888 wrote: »

You may want to check in the exercise group and or in maintenance as to how to best go about doing things.

As mentioned the act of logging by itself will cut down on mindless eating and 'auto-reduce" your caloric consumption

MFP gives you calories to eat based on your stated deficit and an estimate of your NON exercise activities.
Then you are supposed to separately measure and eat back the true net exercise calories you spend.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/PAV8888/view/eat-back-your-exercise-calories-741835

However you can get most applications to do whatever it is you want them to do

If you have a good estimate of your TDEE, you can just pick an activity level in MFP such that your activity level is equal to (or close to) your TDEE. You would now have to be careful to only eat back true net exercise calories that are ABOVE your stated TDEE.

The reason for doing that is so that you can better plan your day.

Knowing I have 2300 calories to split between my meals today is better for me than starting with 1490 calories and "earning" 900 more as the day progresses.

And if it is a less active day I will adjust on the fly during my evening snack, or absorb the extra in my already substantial 750 cal deficit. Or I will have a bigger snack if I was extremely active; but it will be a much smaller adjustment than otherwise. Or bank it for my next less active day

Okay I'll check that out, thanks!

I'm not good at maths so hopefully I'll get the hang of all this number crunching lol. According to IIFYM.com, my TDEE is 1724 - I have the activity level on MFP selected on 'lightly active', and on the days I don't walk down to my local gym, I can be sedentary for some time, using the computer. I do find logging my food the night before makes it easier to keep on track.
Yes, the way you mention it there is what I have been assuming was the way to do it. I 'earned' about 400+ calories yesterday from exercise and I ate a bit more and wondered if I should. I was basically sticking to the daily goal and it is sapping me of energy. It will involve some experimentation like the way you have it figured out. The Fitbit app seems to conflict a little with calories too, I find.

SueInAz wrote: »

It sounds to me that what you really want to is to reduce body fat and not necessary lose pounds. Look into body recomposition to reduce fat. Lift weights, heavy weights, a couple of days a week. I started doing this last year and while I haven't lost many pounds my body is much smaller and tighter. I've lost the middle-aged lady flab under my arms and instead have muscles you can barely see moving up and down as I move my arms. I can fit into clothes I could previously only wear when I weighed 10 pounds less and I can eat a little more and still maintain my size since my muscles burn more calories. I've learned that the scale doesn't tell the whole story and that inches matter more than pounds.

Yes that is exactly what I am trying to accomplish. I just thought that in order to see my abs, I have to 'lose' the fat, and eat at a deficit. Unfortunately I have lost some muscle too. I was getting quite strong, but I will try to regain! I was wondering also if my BMR was higher because of the muscle I had gained. I would be hungry half an hour after eating and it is tough to keep this up, so I will look into that, thank you

Valolden

If you guys want to see a pic to get an idea, let me know