Why am I not losing weight?
hmparkin23
Posts: 91 Member
I've been tracking for two-three weeks, and have starting exercising again in the past week. I've not been perfect, but have been in calorie deficit overall... And yet I weight 1.5lbs more now than I did two weeks ago. Can anyone help explain/advise what I can do? I think my food diary is public, so please do take a look and let me know what you think!
Thanks,
Helen.
Thanks,
Helen.
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Replies
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Water retention from a combination of:
- Muscle repair from new exercise routine
- Possible high sodium related retention
- Possible TOM related retention (if your getting close)
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Homemade entries - Are these your own recipes or just randomly pulled from the database? If it's the latter it could very well be inaccurate.
Generic entries - Be careful with these. Especially for things like salad. Unless it's an entry you created, you don't know what was used to come up with the nutritional information which could be very different from what your actually eating.0 -
I'm not going to sugar coat this. You are taking in more calories than you are burning.
It all comes down to calories in, calories out.0 -
bcalvanese wrote: »I'm not going to sugar coat this. You are taking in more calories than you are burning.
It all comes down to calories in, calories out.
If she just began exercising this week, she may be experiencing water retention in her muscles. It could be that she is taking in more than she is burning, but without knowing the intensity of her workouts, I think it is too early to be sure.0 -
This chart was made by @lemonlionheart for threads like this.:
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There are some suspicious log entries. What is "6 glass" of gin & tonic? Also appear to be takeout foods, which are giant caloric unknowns.
That said, you're still early into the process. Stick the plan for another couple of weeks and see where you're at.
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janejellyroll wrote: »
I get that...
If each "glass" is a serving of the stuff, it would appear the calorie entry is about half of what it should be.0 -
your entries seem to be very generic and vague. I strongly suggest weighing everything you eat. I'm not sure if you eat out much, but it's much easier if you prepare your own meals in advance. That way you can weigh and measure everything that you're putting into your body, and it's much more accurate. for example, one of the entries on your diary is for a "basic salad". if that is something you just searched for in the database then it is likely way off.
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This chart was made by @lemonlionheart for threads like this.:
Love the chart! This makes everything clear and should be a sticky. Good goin'.0 -
This chart was made by @lemonlionheart for threads like this.:
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Thanks for the thoughts, everyone. Hoping retention has something to do with it. I'm a bit surprised at comments about tracking too generically... What's generic about 109g of salmon, or 75g of wholewheat pasta? Each to their own, I suppose, but I do think life is too short to weigh lettuce and cucumber!! Anyway, thanks again, and I'm definitely going to stick at it!
Helen.0 -
The OP starts out being pretty vague. Has she been tracking for two weeks or three weeks? I can still tell you the very day that I started this three years ago.0
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hmparkin23 wrote: »Thanks for the thoughts, everyone. Hoping retention has something to do with it. I'm a bit surprised at comments about tracking too generically... What's generic about 109g of salmon, or 75g of wholewheat pasta? Each to their own, I suppose, but I do think life is too short to weigh lettuce and cucumber!! Anyway, thanks again, and I'm definitely going to stick at it!
Helen.
Sizes from your last two days of logging include "1 egg", "1 pot", "1 bar", "1 pack", "1.5 slices", the already noted "6 glass" .... all generic entries. Did you actually weigh the salmon and pasta or were those the serving sizes listed on the package?
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There are also a few days that went over by 1,000 or more calories. That kind of day wipes out several calorie deficit days.0
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Yes, I weighed them! It was 'one pot' and 'one pack' because I was travelling and bought off-the-shelf salads for lunch! What's wrong with that?
I know I posted asking asking for advice, and I've certainly received it, but I'm rather saddened by the amount of judgement/negativity. A little encouragement would really have been appreciated.0 -
hmparkin23 wrote: »Yes, I weighed them! It was 'one pot' and 'one pack' because I was travelling and bought off-the-shelf salads for lunch! What's wrong with that?
I know I posted asking asking for advice, and I've certainly received it, but I'm rather saddened by the amount of judgement/negativity. A little encouragement would really have been appreciated.
Why are you being so angry?
Did you see the post that mentioned you were over 1000 on days? That can wipe out a deficit.
What you're doing isn't working. You have been given many suggestions, we can't fix it for you.
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Okay, don't go over your calorie allotment and try not to eat so many convenience foods. Give it two more weeks of that and see if that makes any difference.0
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hmparkin23 wrote: »Yes, I weighed them! It was 'one pot' and 'one pack' because I was travelling and bought off-the-shelf salads for lunch! What's wrong with that?
I know I posted asking asking for advice, and I've certainly received it, but I'm rather saddened by the amount of judgement/negativity. A little encouragement would really have been appreciated.
There wasn't judgement/negativity ... there was honesty. If you want to hear "YOU GO, GIRL! KEEP DOING WHAT YOU'RE DOING!" ... well, that would be encouraging you to continue doing something that is not, and will not, work. You are not logging accurately and you've been encouraged to remedy that.0 -
hmparkin23 wrote: »Thanks for the thoughts, everyone. Hoping retention has something to do with it. I'm a bit surprised at comments about tracking too generically... What's generic about 109g of salmon, or 75g of wholewheat pasta? Each to their own, I suppose, but I do think life is too short to weigh lettuce and cucumber!! Anyway, thanks again, and I'm definitely going to stick at it!
Helen.
I'm was talking about entries that spefically come up as "Generic - " or "Homemade - ". These types of entries are user inputs and unless you put the entry in the database, you don't know what exactly was used or the amounts which can make the nutritional data very different than what you actually consumed. So just be careful about using stuff that's listed like that in the database. A helpful tip, if logging on the PC, user created entries are marked with an * .0 -
I am a 57 year old male, and used to weigh 225 pounds. I want to get down to about 170 pounds.
Here is what I did, aand you would not believe how easy it is...
I got an activity tracker that tracks calories in and calories out.
I set it to lose 1 pound a week.
It automatically deducts from my daily calories enough calories to lose 1 pound a week.
It automatically adds to my calories when I do activities (walking, biking, etc...).
I enter my food when I eat.
It does all the math for me and keeps a running total of how many calories I have left to eat.
If I want to eat more, I do more activities.
I have been following this for over 20 weeks now and have lost over 25 pounds so far. It is so easy to lose a pound a week, it's literally pathetic how easy it is. I weigh myself every day and log my weight. It varies +/- a pound or two daily, but over the weeks has gone down a pound a week just like it says.
It has also made me become more active. I get at least 10,000 steps in a day, and went out and bought a bicycle and ride as much as I can (in addition to the steps). I turned my desk at work into a standing desk too.
This morning I did a 7.8 mile bike ride and a 3 mile walk at a 4 mph pace. I burned my breakfast and lunch calories off before I even ate them...:).
I can guarantee this will work for anyone who wants to lose weight, and is why I say it's all about calories in, calories out.
You can follow all the flow charts you want and monitor your muscular fluid, and make it all complicated. But if you simply burn more calories than you eat, you WILL lose weight.
Just simple math.0 -
So now solid advice = negativity?
Good grief.0 -
Hi, ive just looked at your diary and found alot of generic entries - is the crayfish definately 60g etc? as you might be inaccurate that way,0
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HerkMeOff2 wrote: »hmparkin23 wrote: »Yes, I weighed them! It was 'one pot' and 'one pack' because I was travelling and bought off-the-shelf salads for lunch! What's wrong with that?
I know I posted asking asking for advice, and I've certainly received it, but I'm rather saddened by the amount of judgement/negativity. A little encouragement would really have been appreciated.
Why are you being so angry?
Did you see the post that mentioned you were over 1000 on days? That can wipe out a deficit.
What you're doing isn't working. You have been given many suggestions, we can't fix it for you.
Personally, I don't think this anger is misplaced. The previous post comes off as quite condescending. I don't know if it was intended that way or not, but it comes across as telling the OP that she's doing stuff wrong by logging calories by the pack and not weighing her food.
As was previously stated, the likely cause of not losing weight is not a problem with how the food is being logged or weighed, but due to water retention resulting from a change in exercise. The effect is likely to last a couple of weeks, at most.0 -
hmparkin23 wrote: »I've been tracking for two-three weeks, and have starting exercising again in the past week. I've not been perfect, but have been in calorie deficit overall... And yet I weight 1.5lbs more now than I did two weeks ago. Can anyone help explain/advise what I can do? I think my food diary is public, so please do take a look and let me know what you think!
+/- 2 lbs means you're staying the same weight, which seems odd. How tall are you ?
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Whenever possible I into the ingredients by scanning instead of just looking them up because they're not always the same thing you're putting your food it may make it in accurate0
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TimothyFish wrote: »HerkMeOff2 wrote: »hmparkin23 wrote: »Yes, I weighed them! It was 'one pot' and 'one pack' because I was travelling and bought off-the-shelf salads for lunch! What's wrong with that?
I know I posted asking asking for advice, and I've certainly received it, but I'm rather saddened by the amount of judgement/negativity. A little encouragement would really have been appreciated.
Why are you being so angry?
Did you see the post that mentioned you were over 1000 on days? That can wipe out a deficit.
What you're doing isn't working. You have been given many suggestions, we can't fix it for you.
Personally, I don't think this anger is misplaced. The previous post comes off as quite condescending. I don't know if it was intended that way or not, but it comes across as telling the OP that she's doing stuff wrong by logging calories by the pack and not weighing her food.
As was previously stated, the likely cause of not losing weight is not a problem with how the food is being logged or weighed, but due to water retention resulting from a change in exercise. The effect is likely to last a couple of weeks, at most.
It came off as quite condescending because that's on you not the poster ...same with the OP...the anger is misplaced...it was a simple question...I saw no condescending font...
I would have asked the same quesiton...and the response was Yes I weighed them!...
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OP: yes, using the nutrition information on the label of a purchased item is just fine, but you need to create the item in the database if it isn't already there by brand or store so you can get accurate information. I agree, it is best to avoid someone else's "homemade" entry because you have no idea what is actually included in the recipe.
It sounds like it may be a combination of water retention (6 G & T's? that would swell me up like a balloon for at least 3 days) and loosey-goosey logging. Try to tighten up your logging and otherwise be patient, making sure you are drinking enough water. Drinking water is one of the best ways to prevent water retention (yes, I know it is counter-intuitive).0 -
The only things I can add to the advice already given is that in my experience the printed weight on the pack is often less than what the item(s) actually weigh. Also, the barcode entries (if you are scanning in) may have been inputted by MFP users so they still need to be double-checked.
I hope this helps, and I'm sure there is just some tweaking to do before you're back on track.0 -
Thanks everyone. Advice appreciated.
H.0
This discussion has been closed.
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