Am I doing something wrong?

Himurahotaru

Last week I started logging and going to the gym 4-5 times a week. My apartment has a small cardio room with just ellipticals, treadmills, and bikes. Ive been mostly doing cardio to get back into working out. But I've started bringing my dumbbells and my kettle bell and started working with those too. Last week with cardio I was doing rather well. My hrm says burning about 500 cals in a 45 minute session was my goal.

This week I got a food scale, I'm starting to think it wasn't a good one because the food I measure out to bring for lunch to work is like romaine and spring mix and it doesn't seem to register, it's too light. But I weigh everything else as accurately as I can. It's not digital, it comes with a little measuring cup to put on top. Weighs in grams and floz.

I'm about 5'6" and about 200lbs. I'm trying to get to 130 ish my workouts this week I feel were not as strong and I'm very upset with myself that I'm not seeing any progress. I need to know what I can do. I drink about 64oz of water a day. I'm a vegetarian and I try very hard to reach my protein goal, or up my protein in general. Mfp gave me 1540 cals to eat a day. After exercising most days I end up with a deficit of around 300-400. Maybe a little less.

What else can I do? I guess I'm just confused by everything. Depression and frustration are not helping. I want this to work, but am I doing something wrong?

VeryKatie

HRM - 500 cals MINUS what you would have burned sitting around for the same amount of time.

In terms of the scale... I agree it should be capable of measure to the gram and detecting even one leaf of lettuce... I'd look for a new one.

http://www.amazon.com/TT-PN-Precision-Digital-Back-Lit-Resolution/dp/B01860PKX2/ref=sr_1_55?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1453568902&sr=1-55&keywords=food+scale

That one seems very similar to mine. Measures by the gram up to 5 kg (11lb). So easy to put a heavier pot on it. Plus it uses AAA batteries which are cheaper to replace than those silly flat circular ones. And it has auto-off. FYI - I got mine off Canadian Amazon for $15 NOT on sale, so if you miss the sale on this one, find a similar one for around $10-$20. It's NOT worth $50 and its easy to find ones for $10ish. Mine is perfectly able to measure lettuce and stuff, and it does add up.

I'm the same height as you! Woo. Remember that you've only been at this a week. Sometimes it just takes a little bit of time for it to show on your body, and sometimes it depends what you eat. Lots of grains or salts sometimes means lots of water retention, even if you're in a deficit.

The other thing you can do is, when you're exercising, only eat back half of the calories. 1540 is perfectly reasonable. When I was 140 lb, I was still able to lose about 0.2 - 0.4 lb a week by eating 1650. Since you're higher than that currently, it should come off. It's just a matter of being patient and being accurate. It might also call for a new digital bathroom scale if yours is old or can't measure to the tenth of a pound.

It honestly does not sound like you're doing anything wrong, I think it just hasn't been long enough to tell. So keep your chin up and keep at it.

One other side note is to make sure the database entries you're using are the right ones. A LOT of them are incorrect!! And log everything including coffee, gum, veggies, fruits, taste tests, etc.

jemhh

You've been at this two weeks. It will likely take you 18 months, possibly more, to get to 130. Settle in and be patient.

cthakkar1985

I like to make sure I'm getting a consistent scale reading so I check my weight once a week and I always check in the morning. The night before my weigh in I stop eating and drinking anything by around 7pm

Himurahotaru

I'm kind of confused on how to weigh food in grams though. I've been picking the serving size of 1.0g and then using the servings to however much it weighed. Is that right? I don't quite understand how else to do it.

Like I cut up half a banana. It weighed out to 60g. So I picked banana and picked 1.0g and then put the serving size at 60. It was the only way I thought to get it to 60g.

seska422

Himurahotaru wrote: »

I'm kind of confused on how to weigh food in grams though. I've been picking the serving size of 1.0g and then using the servings to however much it weighed. Is that right? I don't quite understand how else to do it.

Like I cut up half a banana. It weighed out to 60g. So I picked banana and picked 1.0g and then put the serving size at 60. It was the only way I thought to get it to 60g.

That's how you do it!

It makes it easy so that you can enter something that weighs 17 grams as 17 servings and something that weigh 67 grams as 67 servings. That way, there's no math to be done.

jemhh

Himurahotaru wrote: »

I'm kind of confused on how to weigh food in grams though. I've been picking the serving size of 1.0g and then using the servings to however much it weighed. Is that right? I don't quite understand how else to do it.

Like I cut up half a banana. It weighed out to 60g. So I picked banana and picked 1.0g and then put the serving size at 60. It was the only way I thought to get it to 60g.

That's correct. You can also leave the serving at 100g and put in a weight of .6. It takes decimals.

Himurahotaru

Well that's good to know. At least I'm doing something right.

Mavrick_RN

What kind of progress are you expecting after a week?

Those little spring loaded postal scales that weigh in grams aren't all that accurate. Seriously though, being off a few grams of lettuce will not sabotage your weight loss. Nuts and other high density foods are what you need to be very accurate in weighing.

It is fun giving yourself 100 servings of something.

AnnPT77

Himurahotaru wrote: »

(some previous text snipped for quotation purposes)

I'm about 5'6" and about 200lbs. I'm trying to get to 130 ish my workouts this week I feel were not as strong and I'm very upset with myself that I'm not seeing any progress. I need to know what I can do. I drink about 64oz of water a day. I'm a vegetarian and I try very hard to reach my protein goal, or up my protein in general. Mfp gave me 1540 cals to eat a day. After exercising most days I end up with a deficit of around 300-400. Maybe a little less.

What else can I do? I guess I'm just confused by everything. Depression and frustration are not helping. I want this to work, but am I doing something wrong?

Please don't worry! You're fine.

You & I are practically weight-loss twins, except I started earlier (April 2015) & a bit lighter (SW 183, 5'5"), plus I'm older (60 y/o). But I'm also vegetarian (ovo-lacto, in my case - have been since 1974).

When you say you have a 300-400 deficit, is that after eating back some/most of your exercise calories? If so, you should be losing a bit more tha 1/2 pound per week approximately. A low loss rate takes some time to show up amongst routine weight fluctuation (at my starting weight, I once went up 5 pounds in water weight in one day and 2-3 pounds of water weight wasn't unusual).

When you have a new workout routine, your body is likely to hold onto some water weight. And changing your eating pattern can do that, too - especially changes in carbs or sodium. So, you may've already lost some weight but offset that with water gain, so not see the result on the scale. (Suggestion: Do some basic tape measurements, too - sometimes size & weight move separately, oddly enough.)

So, patience! Continue on your healthy course for at least 2-3 weeks before deciding you need to adjust. Until a few days ago, I was eating at 1560 (net calories, i.e., eating back exercise) and still losing 0.5lb or more a week.

I'm now at CW around 123, and eating at least 80g protein daily on the ovo-lacto veg routine, usually more like 100g, without resorting to protein powder or fake meat. If you're ovo-lacto, feel free to friend me for ideas if you're struggling with protein - my diary is open to friends.