Getting frustrated!

curlyblue21

My weight loss has really slowed down, I haven't lost any since 18th July... Just keep putting on between 1-3 pounds and then loosing it again, I have still got 24 pounds to loose to get to the goal I have set, have tried different things but still no loss, I'm just getting bored of logging and not loosing! I have lost my weight on 1200 cals a day but I do use what I gain from exercise, should I stop this to see if it would help me to start loosing again...I'm really struggling to get the motivation when I don't see a loss

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

MFP along with other calorie burn tools are inaccurate. Eat back only half of your calories burnt.

Do you weigh your food as well?

Try not to get disheartened, a few little tweaks like that will get you losing again

curlyblue21

Yeah I weigh everything but I just feel like it's getting me down, all this weighing and logging..I didn't mind as much when I could see weight loss but it's beginning to get on my nerves, I want to be able to loose weight and then maintain without having to log everything but I know that I won't be able to! So will try to stick to 1200, perhaps I should stop the walking as much and then I won't need to eat calories but then stopping the only bit of exercise I do seems silly...so confused!

oh_happy_day

I don't think you should stop exercising if you enjoy it. Plus it's good for your general health. Have you thought of adding in some weights or other exercises? Resistance exercises can really change your body.

You've said that you're weighing everything which is great. How are you measuring your calories burned during exercise (e.g. heart rate monitor, the MFP estimates)? And are you eating them all back? Maybe try only eating half back? If your diary was open we might be able to give more specific feedback.

Some people swear by increasing their calories a little (e.g. from 1200 to 1400) for breaking through a plateau but I haven't tried that myself. If you're really getting worn down, you could try upping your calories and taking a little break for a few weeks. I'm not suggesting eating above maintenance, just more than 1200. http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ will give you an idea of how much you could increase your calories without gaining.

As you get closer to goal the losses will be slower. It may be helpful to focus on other measures, not just the scale. For example: How are you feeling? Do your clothes fit differently?

snickerscharlie

oh_happy_day wrote: »

Some people swear by increasing their calories a little (e.g. from 1200 to 1400) for breaking through a plateau but I haven't tried that myself. If you're really getting worn down, you could try upping your calories and taking a little break for a few weeks. I'm not suggesting eating above maintenance, just more than 1200. http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ will give you an idea of how much you could increase your calories without gaining.

If she's not losing weight now, it's because she's already eating at maintenance. Increasing calories will only serve to increase her weight. It's science.

To the OP: Calories gained from exercise are notoriously overstated. That may not be a problem in the beginning, but as you lose weight, the remaining weight gets harder to lose. So any 'flaws' in your routine become increasing impactful. I suggest you continue doing what you're doing - making sure your logging is solid - but only eat back 50% of your exercise calories. This should get you out of the plateau you're currently on.

snickerscharlie

And here's a helpful chart for you to have a peek at:

oh_happy_day

snickerscharlie wrote: »

oh_happy_day wrote: »

Some people swear by increasing their calories a little (e.g. from 1200 to 1400) for breaking through a plateau but I haven't tried that myself. If you're really getting worn down, you could try upping your calories and taking a little break for a few weeks. I'm not suggesting eating above maintenance, just more than 1200. http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ will give you an idea of how much you could increase your calories without gaining.

If she's not losing weight now, it's because she's already eating at maintenance. Increasing calories will only serve to increase her weight. It's science.

To the OP: Calories gained from exercise are notoriously overstated. That may not be a problem in the beginning, but as you lose weight, the remaining weight gets harder to lose. So any 'flaws' in your routine become increasing impactful. I suggest you continue doing what you're doing - making sure your logging is solid - but only eat back 50% of your exercise calories. This should get you out of the plateau you're currently on.

I'm aware of that. I was suggesting it more from the perspective of taking a break from 1200 because she's saying she's feeling worn down and losing motivation which is understandable if she's been doing 1200 the whole time. (And she probably didn't need to be considering she still has 24lbs still go.)

snickerscharlie

I was addressing this part of your post -

oh_happy_day wrote: »

Some people swear by increasing their calories a little (e.g. from 1200 to 1400) for breaking through a plateau but I haven't tried that myself.

- because increasing calories to 'break through a plateau' simply doesn't work.

curlyblue21

I just use mfp to count steps and sometimes use mfp to log other exercise but can't afford to do gym at the moment and don't really enjoy it anyway, I have been looking into spinning classes as I love that. I did up my calories to 1500 while I was on holiday because I felt fed up and thought I deserved a break but I did put on 3lb and since I have been back I have lost it and put it back on, I put my goal back down to 1200 as soon as I got home. I will try not to eat back all extra calories and see if that helps. Sometimes I feel slimmer even though there hasn't been a loss but other days I feel big, I can't seem to feel slim even though I have lost just over 4 stone. I did measure myself for the first time the other day, I just wish I had done that at the beginning! Thanks guys

TimothyFish

There are several reasons why replacing all of your exercise calories can result in not losing weight. The simplest thing to do is to just assume that you aren't burning as many calories as you think.

PinkPixiexox

I was on a 1200 calorie diet for 3 months, I lost 25lbs. The weight loss wasn't slowing down but my poor body was. I was weak and hungry. I work-out 4 times a week and my personal trainer told me to eat 1500 calories and weigh myself in a month to see how I've got on. Technically, as I've increased my calories, I should gain, right? That's what i'm afraid of.

But I've also heard that upping your calories (but still having a sufficient deficit) is brilliant for fat loss. I don't know your stats but 1200 seems very low (I'm 5ft2 and was told 1200 was too little for me..!). I echo what Oh-Happy-Day said, check out scoobys workshop calorie counter and it should give you a higher but more realistic calorie target. It may just do the trick..

I'm no expert. This is just what I've been told too.

PinkPixiexox

Also, with the new diet of 1500 calories I day - I don't eat back exercise. I just stick with the 1500. All this 'eating back calories' just confuses me, IMO.

Kalikel

Don't stop exercising. Many people pick up a couple pounds when they begin new exercise. It just happens. If you stick with the exercise, you will see the pounds begin to come off again.

Logging is fine for some, but can feel like a major pain the butt to others. Watch your portion sizes while you log. If you ever get to a point where you don't want to log anymore, you'll be able to dish up normal portion sizes if you know what they look like.

I have days where I feel as big as a house and other days where I feel positively skinny. I'll bet many people have experienced feeling totally different about their body on different days.

It gets frustrating sometimes, all the hard work with results that are so tiny...but they add up! Stick with it and you'll get to wherever it is you want to be.

If you go six or eight weeks without losing, consider eating fewer exercise calories. Maybe back out 25 or 50 percent of them. But wait the 6-8 weeks. You could just be ready for a whoosh, especially if you began exercise. The math works out very well for some people, but some of us have to do lots of tweaking as we go along.

Don't give up, NEVER quit!

daniwilford

I think adding some strength training using your own body weight, no gym membership or equipment required, there are some here in the blogs: https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/7-minute-bodyweight-workout/
https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/your-first-total-body-strength-workout/
https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/the-30-day-plank-challenge/
I also started to play a game with the food scale, try to guess the serving size and then weigh to see how close I am. Find ways to make the boring fun.

curlyblue21

Thanks some good ideas... I'm 5'3 36yrs and I weigh 164 pounds, my only exercise is trying to do 1000 steps a day by using mfp step count, I do this by using my exercise bike and working 2 hrs a night cleaning, I have tried to do this everyday since starting my weight loss journey.

revolutiontruth

I don't worry about eating any of the calories I burn. I set a 1500 calorie goal of actual calories and try to stay close to that. I think the MFP calories burned estimate is a little misleading.

Liftng4Lis

Can you open your diary?

curlyblue21

Open...

jessathemessa

I'd say play around with your calories. As others have said, you may be eating back too many exercise calories, so either cut back or stop doing that. If you find yourself hungry or weak/tired, just up your calorie intake and maybe aim for 1 pound a week loss instead. I found I was happier and able to exercise more on 1400-1500 calories a day rather than the 1200.

ultrahoon

Play around with eating different percentages of your exercise calories back. Also tighten up your logging, I see a bunch of '1 cup' '1 banana', '1 slice' etc in there, also a 150g pack of something is extremely likely to weigh more than 150g.

terar21

I glanced through your diary and I think you may be selecting things in the database that aren't accurate. What tipped me off is that most of your days have incredibly low sodium. Sodium doesn't effect you gaining/losing actual fat so that's not what I'm getting at. It's that I have to believe some of those food database entries are incorrect to be showing no sodium on things that would logically have sodium in them.

Double check that the things you are eating match up with the actually nutritional data on the food itself.

Now, if for some reason you really are eating 500-1000mg of sodium a day on a regular basis then having a 2500mg sodium day, that would definitely explain why you appear to keep losing and gaining the 3 pounds. I think you're playing a water weight game if you keep having very low sodium days and then go up in sodium one day. It could be masking fat loss over the course of the past month.

I guess I'm just really thrown because I can't say I've ever seen a food diary where a day would literally have the only sodium of the same from pasta sauce at dinner.

curlyblue21

Yeah that's true, I'm also trying too many different ways to loose weight...changing my daily calorie goal, a bit of 5-2, a bit 18-8 fasting, weight watchers, low carb high far, I think I'm struggling to find one that I'm happy with!! And changing each week is not helpful.

999tigger

curlyblue21 wrote: »

Yeah that's true, I'm also trying too many different ways to loose weight...changing my daily calorie goal, a bit of 5-2, a bit 18-8 fasting, weight watchers, low carb high far, I think I'm struggling to find one that I'm happy with!! And changing each week is not helpful.

The only thing that matters for weight loss is that you are at a consistent calorific deficit. Keep it simple.

vivmom2014

curlyblue21 wrote: »

Yeah that's true, I'm also trying too many different ways to loose weight...changing my daily calorie goal, a bit of 5-2, a bit 18-8 fasting, weight watchers, low carb high far, I think I'm struggling to find one that I'm happy with!! And changing each week is not helpful.

Step back from the confusion. With 24 pounds left to lose, I would opt for more calories at a slower rate of weight loss. You've got to be able to eat in a way that isn't torturing you!

All of the advice about careful food logging & weighing is good. So is keeping it simple. And, congratulations on your successful weight loss so far!

curlyblue21

I do scan most of what I eat and don't really check its logged correctly, I have noticed sometimes that when I scan sometimes it comes up as a completely different food or company. Will try and look into logging better. So if I stick to 1500 cals a day and not eat back calories I should loose weight?

curlyblue21

I do scan most of what I eat and don't really check its logged correctly, I have noticed sometimes that when I scan sometimes it comes up as a completely different food or company. Will try and look into logging better. So if I stick to 1500 cals a day and not eat back calories I should loose weight?

daniwilford

curlyblue21 wrote: »

I do scan most of what I eat and don't really check its logged correctly, I have noticed sometimes that when I scan sometimes it comes up as a completely different food or company. Will try and look into logging better. So if I stick to 1500 cals a day and not eat back calories I should loose weight?

This should result in a small loss, about .5 to 1 lb. a week on average. I am assuming you mean you are walking 10,000 steps a day. I am also 5'3" when I have a similar activity level I have a TDEE of around 2000 calories, I am a little heavier but older than you.