Frustrated Back Again

I am 65 years old 5 foot 3 170 pounds. Want to be 145. Trying for months. Drink at least 7 glasses of water and work out 3 times a week plus I walk Everyday. Am Always moving. Have just starting eating over the calories. But Nothing even gaining inches. Any Suggestions

Replies

bwogilvie

Have just starting eating over the calories.

I'm not sure what you mean by "eating over the calories." Do you mean that you're eating more calories than MyFitnessPal suggests? If you're eating more, and not making progress, the solution is to eat less.

MFP's recommendations are based on averages. As we age, we tend to need fewer calories (largely because we lose muscle mass), so older people tend to need fewer calories. There are exceptions, but that's the general trend.

Keep in mind, too, that MFP asks you to assess your activity level without the exercise that you log separately. If you log your walks and workouts, but otherwise spend most of your time sitting, you should set your activity level as sedentary. I do a lot of cycling and some walks and stationary rowing, but I log all those, so I set my level to sedentary.

diannethegeek

Looking through your diary, it looks like you've been eating 1200 calories or less and have just started to increase that. Is that correct? If so, your weight will probably plateau for a couple of weeks while your body adjusts to the new diet. I would recommend that you stick with the increased calories for a few weeks and then reassess.

joycandelaria

First I do eat above what I should. Second I've ate less and still not lost anything. Last but not least if you read my post Again.I do not sit all day. Constantly on the go working. You don't even know me. So how can you judge me. I am not a lazy old person.

nomeejerome

First I do eat above what I should. Second I've ate less and still not lost anything. Last but not least if you read my post Again.I do not sit all day. Constantly on the go working. You don't even know me. So how can you judge me. I am not a lazy old person.

well that escalated quickly....

AmyRhubarb

:huh: Wow, nobody said anyone was lazy or old. You asked for suggestions and I think you've received some good ones so far. :flowerforyou:

And I agree with the others - if you've recently made changes to your calorie intake, you need to give it at least 4-6 weeks before deciding if it's working or not. Takes time for the body to adjust. If you're gaining, after that time, drop 100 cals from your goal, reassess after another 4-6 weeks, etc.

Aim for your daily goal, eat back calories burned so you're well fueled, especially if you are active all day. Eat well, drink water, keep moving, get good rest and hang in there. It will happen.

bwogilvie

First I do eat above what I should. Second I've ate less and still not lost anything. Last but not least if you read my post Again.I do not sit all day. Constantly on the go working. You don't even know me. So how can you judge me. I am not a lazy old person.

That's not what I said, and I wasn't judging. All I pointed out was that (1) most people need fewer calories as they age, and (2) IF (notice the word "if") you log exercise separately, you need to be honest about your activity level *excluding the exercise that you log*. As I said, I get a lot of exercise--8-12 hours a week on my bike, plus walking and some stationary rowing, but I log it separately, so I set my activity level to "sedentary." And I'm getting the results that I want. I'm sure you're not lazy, but you have a choice to either not log exercise and set your activity level high, or log exercise but set your activity level lower. If you say you're highly active, but then log every activity separately, you're effectively counting exercise twice.

My dad was very active until his final illness--after he retired, he walked 2-3 hours a day. But that doesn't change the fact that he needed fewer calories at 70 than he did at 40, despite continuing to be active. It's true for most of us. That's why MFP asks for your age when you sign up--so it can *estimate* how many calories you need, given your activity level, height, and current weight. It's only an estimate, though, and if your results don't match what MFP predicts, then you need to adjust its settings. I'm losing about 1.1 pounds a week with MFP set to lose 1.5. That means my basal metabolic rate is somewhat lower than the average for my height, weight, and age that MFP used in its calculations. If I wanted to lose 1.5, I'd have to cut out an additional 200 calories a day, below what MFP tells me I should eat. I'm content with 1.1, though, so I'm leaving the calorie goal where it is.

joycandelaria

Maybe you can look and see what I am not doing right and help me calculate what is right!! thanks

Jumo84

Firstly I'd recommend a change in attitude...

joycandelaria

I don't have a attitude .This is how I am. Instead of judging give me some help!

beattie1

Nice!

joycandelaria

Thanks!

nomeejerome

I don't have a attitude .This is how I am. Instead of judging give me some help!

People were trying to give you help and you came out swinging at them and accusing them of judging you. There is a ton of fantastic info available on these forums and a ton of people who are willing to help each other. However, it is hard to try to help people that come out swinging to those willing to offer advice. I hope you get everything figured out for yourself.

joycandelaria

Thanks for your advice !

bwogilvie

Maybe you can look and see what I am not doing right and help me calculate what is right!! thanks

How are you estimating calories burned by exercise? MyFitnessPal's database often overestimates those. That could be one source of a lack of progress.

joycandelaria

I have put in all the exercises that I do . Then as I do them check them off. I never eat back the calorie that I have left from exercising. Does that help any. You can look on my site if you want. Thanks for your help . It is a little up setting to me. I almost given up.

Serah87

If you do the TDEE -15% (since you don't have a whole lot weight to lose)

BMR(don't go below this)-1379 calories

TDEE-2138 ~ now minus 15% off of this and you have 1817 calories you should be doing.

***Doing this you should NOT eat back your exercise calories as that is already included.

Here the link that i used to figure your calories: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

ETA: This is going by the info you gave me!!

bwogilvie

I have put in all the exercises that I do . Then as I do them check them off. I never eat back the calorie that I have left from exercising. Does that help any. You can look on my site if you want. Thanks for your help . It is a little up setting to me. I almost given up.

OK, you put them in. But how do you know how many calories they burned? If you just use the MyFitnessPal database, you might be overestimating. If I go for an hour-long bike ride at 15 mph, I might burn 600 calories, but MFP tells me I burned 851. That's an overestimate of 40% - 251 calories I didn't actually burn.

If you're not eating exercise calories back, and your diary is completely honest, then I suggest that you see a doctor to have your metabolism checked, in case there's something strange going on. You could also have your resting metabolic rate (RMR) tested, which isn't cheap but it's not too expensive, and it's the best way to tell how many calories your body needs just to keep things going.

songbirdtree

Hopefully these tips will help!

- When I hit a plateau, I find that decreasing carbs to around 100g per day and increasing protein, good fats and fiber help
- I would recommend replacing some of the fruit you eat with green veggies since fruit has a lot of natural sugar (and your sugar levels are in the red most days I checked)
- It looks like you often have desserts like cookies or the hot fudge sundae. These don't seem like a ton of calories at the time but they're really unhealthy to eat almost daily. I would suggest getting in the habit of having a cup of tea whenever you get the craving to eat sugary foods. I have the same problem with wine - I got into a bad habit of drinking a glass every night and the sugar was just keeping the weight on me.

joycandelaria

Thanks to all of you for the advice!

joycandelaria

Thanks for the suggestion of tea. I try to drink tea at least two times a day. So that is no problem.