Guidance on weight loss.

lasirena624

In an 41 years old, with two small children under five, and work full time. I was at my highest weight ever this past year of 180LBs. About a month ago I started to identifying caloric intake goals (1200/daily), track food, and pick up my exercise(3-4 times of cardio/weights a week). I lost about 12LBs, now I am at 168LBs. I did not loose any weight this week, I am sooooo hungry, and wondering if something needs to be tweaked to help me feel less hungry and continue loosing weight. I have an open diary and feel comfortable sharing for feedback. Is there anything I should be shifting to continue loosing?

janejellyroll

You're not going to lose weight every single week, even if you do everything perfectly.

Did you pick 2 pounds a week as your goal for loss? If you choose a more moderate goal, you will get a higher number of calories. This will make weight loss much more pleasant. Also, are you eating back at least some of your exercise calories? MFP is designed for you to do this, especially if you are eating the lowest number of calories recommended for a woman (which you are).

Ninkyou

Weight loss isn't linear. Some weeks you won't have any loss and some you'll even gain. One week isn't enough time to go freaking out about no losses. Give it 4-6 weeks of no loss before changing things up.

You could easily be retaining water. Sodium, carbs, period, ovulation, injury, increased exercise, etc can all cause temporary water retention (which will mask weight loss).

quiksylver296

I'm 41 years old, 5'9", and currently 177 lbs. I'm losing slowly but steadily on 1930 calories per day. I would die (or someone else would) if I had to try to survive on 1200 calories per day.

You can calculate your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) on sites like scoobysworkshop.com. After you know your TDEE (which is your maintenance calorie number), you can subtract a percentage, 5%, 10%, 15%, to create weight loss. My maintenance is approximately 2200 calories, so every day under 2200 is leading to weight loss.

ETA: I feel like I should also add that I didn't really become successful at this weight loss thing until I bought a food scale and started weighing and logging everything.

lasirena624

Thanks ladies,

Janejellyroll: I did initially pick 2lbs a week as my weight loss goal but learned quickly that may be too fast for me to sustain. When I lowered my weekly goal to 1LB loss/week the caloric intake went up. Thanks for the notes about eating back some of the exercise calories, I was actually unsure if I should eat any back or just take the full deficit.

Ninkyou: What you wrote about weight loss not being linear makes sense, and speaks to a challenge I have in my thinking overall! Not freaking out yet, but curious about trajectory. Dully noted about water retention. If I stay the same for four weeks I will check back in for more input.

quicksylver: The 1200 caloric intake comes from sites just like scoobysworkshop.com and MFP too. I lowered my weight loss weekly goal to increase my caloric intake to help with hunger, but it did not add too many more calories. On this thread, though, I am learning that I should be eating back the exercise calories and that would make a huge difference to me. Your point about a food scale resonates with me. I log and use package information or standard calorie sites to help me identify everything but I could be more accurate overall. Do you have a digital scale?

SezxyStef

I use a food scale...it helped me go from 1/2lb a week logging incorrectly to 1lb a week logging correctly.

as for the 1200...yes if you are using MFP you should eat back exercise calories.

even 1/2lb a week is a good rate of loss...I am happy as a clam if I lose 1/2lb but my deficit isn't big.

My goal has been to eat as much food as I can and still lose a little bit of weight.

even 1/4lb a week is good.

ReaderGirl3

Possible causes for not seeing number drop -hormones/tom/pms, water retention from sodium intake/exercise, digestion timing, constipation, batteries on scale going dead, moved scale to a different location, used a different scale, took a shower before weighing, weighing yourself at a different time of day than usual, illness etc etc. All of these things can cause temporary 'stalls' for your weigh-ins, that have nothing to do with actual weight loss stalls.

Focus on your first weigh-in of the month vs your last weigh-in of each month to get a better picture of your losses.

lasirena624

ReaderGirl3: I like the thought of first weigh in of the month versus last weigh in of the month. Helps me understand the concept above that Ninkyou noted, weight loss is not linear. I was aware of the routine reasons weigh ins may not show a drop but am just not sure what my particular reason was, overall what I am hearing is keep going and if things do not improve in 4-6 weeks shift gears.

quiksylver296

lasirena624 wrote: »

Thanks ladies,



quicksylver: The 1200 caloric intake comes from sites just like scoobysworkshop.com and MFP too. I lowered my weight loss weekly goal to increase my caloric intake to help with hunger, but it did not add too many more calories. On this thread, though, I am learning that I should be eating back the exercise calories and that would make a huge difference to me. Your point about a food scale resonates with me. I log and use package information or standard calorie sites to help me identify everything but I could be more accurate overall. Do you have a digital scale?

Yes! It's purple! LOL

I have no idea what brand. I bought it off Groupon for about $20. As long as the one you buy is digital and has a TARE button, it should be good to go. Learn the TARE button, it makes weighing so easy. Put plate on scale - TARE out its weight. Put chicken (or whatever) on plate - record weight - TARE out weight. Put veggies on plate with chicken - record weight - TARE out weight. Add next food, etc, etc...

Are you very short? I'm surprised your TDEE is the same as MFP, as they are different. MFP uses NEAT and you are supposed to eat back exercise calories.

JeepHair77

I've got a digital food scale I got from Amazon for about $11. It's really easy to use. I especially use it for things like produce - the size of your apple or banana or whatever can vary a good bit, and you'll be surprised the calorie difference.

lasirena624

quicksylver: Thanks for the tip on the scale.

I am short! I thought I put my height on the original post but I did not. I am only 5'3 and change (I round up to 5'4). Ok, I went to check my TDEE on scoobysworkshop.com and my TDEE calculates up to 2200 minus 15% leaves me with approximately 1800 calories per day with light activity (3-4 times a week exercising). Would increasing my calories back to where I was prior to any loss help me loose more though?

quiksylver296

lasirena624 wrote: »

quicksylver: Thanks for the tip on the scale.

I am short! I thought I put my height on the original post but I did not. I am only 5'3 and change (I round up to 5'4). Ok, I went to check my TDEE on scoobysworkshop.com and my TDEE calculates up to 2200 minus 15% leaves me with approximately 1800 calories per day with light activity (3-4 times a week exercising). Would increasing my calories back to where I was prior to any loss help me loose more though?

I'm not sure I understand this question.

Start with the food scale. Start weighing and logging the stuff you are currently eating. Get a good idea of where you are at right now, then start adjusting from there. My suspicion is that you will discover you are eating more than you thought, but I could be wrong.

lasirena624

quiksylver: I am hungry a lot so I hope I am not eating more than I thought! Prior to me starting to track on MFP I tracked my food in a journal by hand and consumed what the TDEE is - but I kept gaining and gaining. Once I started using MFP and reduced my caloric intake I started to loose weight finally. With your earlier post I thought you were suggesting I use the TDEE again as my calorie intake goal and I wondered if going back to that amount of calories would make loosing weight harder again.

My food journal on MFP is open to view and I invite feedback. I often use the package directions (i.e. hard boiled egg, celery with peanut butter, apples, beans, etc.) to calculate calories but maybe packages are not the best options and the scale would be more accurate. I will try it.

janejellyroll

lasirena624 wrote: »

quiksylver: I am hungry a lot so I hope I am not eating more than I thought! Prior to me starting to track on MFP I tracked my food in a journal by hand and consumed what the TDEE is - but I kept gaining and gaining. Once I started using MFP and reduced my caloric intake I started to loose weight finally. With your earlier post I thought you were suggesting I use the TDEE again as my calorie intake goal and I wondered if going back to that amount of calories would make loosing weight harder again.

My food journal on MFP is open to view and I invite feedback. I often use the package directions (i.e. hard boiled egg, celery with peanut butter, apples, beans, etc.) to calculate calories but maybe packages are not the best options and the scale would be more accurate. I will try it.

A scale is always going to be more accurate -- food packages don't have to be completely accurate (that is, a piece of bread can weigh more than what the package says, making it higher in calories). And measuring cups can result in one eating much more than they think they are.

blues4miles

lasirena624 wrote: »

(i.e. hard boiled egg, celery with peanut butter, apples, beans, etc.)

My eggs are almost never what MFP says "1 egg" is. Sometimes less, most of the time more.

Peanut butter is always more than I think, even when I use a tablespoon. But using a food scale is SO MUCH EASIER than using a tablespoon, I love my scale now. Even a can of beans will sometimes have more/less in it than it says. Same with the apple. What's a medium apple? All this stuff adds up. Better to log by weight.

lasirena624

Ok, lesson learned - getting a scale.

Seffell

lasirena624 wrote: »

I did not loose any weight this week, I am sooooo hungry

Is it the time around your period by any chance? The days before my period I get ravenous, it is impossible to satisfy my hunger no matter how much I eat. Then even if I decide to eat 1200cal as usual I still gain around 2-3lbs on the first days of my period. The weight naturally disappears after several days.

Apart from that, the others are completely correct. Scale is essential. Unfortunately one of my tablespoons of peanut butter turns out to be 2-3 or even 4 of the ones indicated on the jar... Bummer!