Y am I not losing weight?
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From what i learned, not losing weight doesnt mean its not working. If your body is building muscle while losing fat, you can even gain weight. Instead of using the scale alone, you should find out your "measures" and see if there is any change on those.
It's difficult to accidentally gain muscle.4 -
RosieRose7673 wrote: »RosieRose7673 wrote: »GuitarJerry wrote: »pumpkinRIP02 wrote: »The calories plus what it says 2 eat from exercising, but I don't eat it all. I leave 200 to 400 left every time, sometimes more. I don't have a scale I use the bar codes and measuring spoons and stuff. I am 5ft 4 in Age 28
You aren't supposed to eat the Exercised off calories back on!
You actually just doubled you're calorie intake by doing that!
Huh? Yes you are. That's the point.
no it totally depends on how you set your goals. I use lightly active although I sit all day, and that accounts for any exercise I do. Fitness trackers and estimating calories for treadmills etc are wildly optimistic. I ignore all extra calories earned and my weight loss is exactly as predicted. I see non-obese people on my wall posting that they burned 1400 calories in 120 minutes of running. Eating that back would result in weight gain, there is almost no question.
I wouldn't say fitness trackers are wildy optimistic. Treadmills and other machines are. Fitness trackers, especially with heart rate monitors, are pretty accurate in my opinion.
I believe I posted earlier my burns from a run. It's less than 500 calories for running 6.5 miles in an hour. That takes into account my heart rate. If that was wildy optimistic, I would be very sad. It averages out to be about 75 cal/mile ran. It would make me sad if I only burned about 40-50 calories/mile ran. My fitness tracker estimate is below what many calculators online say.
So yes, many machines are not accurate, but I'd say fitness trackers are pretty accurate.
For you perhaps. I have a charge HR and have compared with most of my MFP friends and they all report the same thing. Fitbits seem to be more accurate for females of a certain weight range. My fitbit says I should be losing almost a pound a day...
Maybe it's Fitbit then. Who knows! I have an Apple Watch so maybe they are different.
My Fitbit Charge HR is accurate for me, if not slightly an underestimation. The only time it was a bit odd for me was when I was trying to bulk and I only gained half of the weight I should have using its numbers. From what I've gathered due to user reviews and posts on MFP, Fitbit seems to be far off in overestimating for those who are obese and spot on for those who are leaner. Just to reiterate my stats, I'm 5'3.5", 111 pounds, and my Fitbit Aria puts me at an average of 18% body fat which is obviously way off and I would estimate I'm closer to 21 or 22%, as I still have leg fat but I have visible abs and a slim upper body. Of course there will be a margin of error for any fitness tracker, and I don't think Fitbit is close to perfect, but I usually question people who say it's so far off the mark that it's absurdly inaccurate.
There was a post on these boards a few weeks ago where a user claimed how Fitbit was so off and gave them so many extra calories that they gained weight eating them. They then went on to state how they'd get 7000+ steps for driving without walking anywhere. Well, duh, no wonder you got hundreds of extra calories and gained weight eating them back. I blame that error on the user, not Fitbit. If you know you didn't walk those steps, why are you not logging into Fitbit and reporting that as driving time instead of whining about how it gave you extra calories and you gained weight when you're the one who chose to eat them? I also see people who think the TDEE number Fitbit gives are the calories you should eat back. People who assume they burned 1500 from exercise when it's their BMR + activity for the day thus far.
I usually eat my calories back, but if I'm actually hungry for them. If I don't feel hungry, I'm not going to force myself to eat them. It's all about experimenting though. I do use the HR model which I've heard is more accurate. I'm curious as to what I'd get from a non HR model or even something like a Garmin or Apple Watch.
Hmmm... Interesting! You know what this reminds me of? The catch mcardle method of calculating BMR and TDEE. It's an option on Scoobys. It is supposedly better and more accurate for relatively lean people and uses body fat percentage. But if you use that calculation for people who are more overweight or obese, it can overexagerate calories.
I wonder if some algorithm like that is the reason for overestimation on with larger people and TDEE?
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You weigh less than 16.68 pounds? (A gallon of water weighs 8.34 lbs)twinnermom441 wrote: »You also may not be drinking enough water every day. You should be drinking at least half of your body weight in water. I drink a gallon of water every single day (well over the half my body weight). Sometimes more depending on my workouts-I sweat a lot!!!!!
The recommendation to drink at least half of your body weight in water daily (more than 14 gallons a day for most people) is dangerous misinformation. http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/water-intoxication
Yes, I would absolutely die from water intoxication if I took that advice. Sometimes I feel like I'm drinking half my weight in water, but I'm not actually doing that.1 -
From what i learned, not losing weight doesnt mean its not working. If your body is building muscle while losing fat, you can even gain weight. Instead of using the scale alone, you should find out your "measures" and see if there is any change on those.
Even if OP is strength training, women can only hope to put on about 0.5-1 lbs of muscle a month under optimal conditions (i.e. a structured lifting program and calorie surplus). If you're gaining weight when you're supposed to be losing weight, you're clearly not doing something right.4 -
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the water is half your body weight in OZ,I drink a little less than half my weight but not much, and when you exercise you will need additional water as well.0
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Are you DRINKING enough water? Your body needs the water to be able to burn the fat. Are you EATING enough FAT? Research shows it helps your metabolism. Are you "forgetting" to log anything, like sugary drinks, for example?0
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NewMEEE2016 wrote: »Are you DRINKING enough water? Your body needs the water to be able to burn the fat. Are you EATING enough FAT? Research shows it helps your metabolism. Are you "forgetting" to log anything, like sugary drinks, for example?
Water does not burn fat. Eating fat doesn't help with metabolism. Drinking and eating too many calories causes weight gain.9 -
ardrasdesign wrote: »You are likely not eating enough. Your body wants to hang on to what you got. I eat 1500 as a base amount. That is the amount to maintain the blood bone and lean tissue in my body. Then I add for my exercise. Sometimes I stop loosing. I only have 15 to 20 lbs to lose. I am at a plateau myself. Don't do it to lose. Do it to have some fun. Set little goals and don't quit. It takes a long time and being consistent. Good Luck. Don't eat carbs. Try a majority of your calories as fat and protein.
I eat 30% HEALTHY carbs- fruits, vegetables, full fat dairy. I eat ZERO refined carbs. There is a difference. I do agree that the OP may not be eating ENOUGH. I highly recommend seeing a nutritionist (my insurance pays 100%, no copay).0 -
NewMEEE2016 wrote: »ardrasdesign wrote: »You are likely not eating enough. Your body wants to hang on to what you got. I eat 1500 as a base amount. That is the amount to maintain the blood bone and lean tissue in my body. Then I add for my exercise. Sometimes I stop loosing. I only have 15 to 20 lbs to lose. I am at a plateau myself. Don't do it to lose. Do it to have some fun. Set little goals and don't quit. It takes a long time and being consistent. Good Luck. Don't eat carbs. Try a majority of your calories as fat and protein.
I eat 30% HEALTHY carbs- fruits, vegetables, full fat dairy. I eat ZERO refined carbs. There is a difference. I do agree that the OP may not be eating ENOUGH. I highly recommend seeing a nutritionist (my insurance pays 100%, no copay).
If OP wasn't eating enough, she would be losing weight.12 -
a dietitian is a better option than a nutritionist.6
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NewMEEE2016 wrote: »ardrasdesign wrote: »You are likely not eating enough. Your body wants to hang on to what you got. I eat 1500 as a base amount. That is the amount to maintain the blood bone and lean tissue in my body. Then I add for my exercise. Sometimes I stop loosing. I only have 15 to 20 lbs to lose. I am at a plateau myself. Don't do it to lose. Do it to have some fun. Set little goals and don't quit. It takes a long time and being consistent. Good Luck. Don't eat carbs. Try a majority of your calories as fat and protein.
I eat 30% HEALTHY carbs- fruits, vegetables, full fat dairy. I eat ZERO refined carbs. There is a difference. I do agree that the OP may not be eating ENOUGH. I highly recommend seeing a nutritionist (my insurance pays 100%, no copay).
Nope, the op is eating more than she thinks. Eating more is not the answer.7 -
Wow! I just don't even know what to say... I just keeps getting worse in here.
OP, I hope you are finding some helpful stuff in here. If you aren't losing weight, you are either (and I'm not saying any of this is your fault, or intentional) eating more than you realize, and/or burning fewer calories than you think. These things are the most common issues faced by new users who are not having success. It's not your fault, it just takes some tweaking to get it right.
The food scale is for improved accuracy. As already stated, even prepackaged foods can be off significantly, which can wipe out your deficit. I was truly saddened when I saw how tiny and actual serving of cheese really is.
The next area of inaccuracy is the database. It is mostly user entered, and therefor prone to errors along with regional differences in macro/micro and calorie make up. For example, my cereal, when I search it, comes up with about 10 entries, all with a different calorie count than what it says on the box. I'm in Canada, some of our products are different for some reason. So make sure you check the database entries that you are using.
Third, exercise calories as determined by MFP and many other calculators are a rough estimate. Start with only eating about half back, and monitor for a few weeks. Adjust up or down based on your results. If you are losing at the rate you expected, then awesome! If not, adjust your calorie intake up or down accordingly. The calculators use best guesstimates, your real life experience is the only one that will really matter in the end.
It makes sense to start with looking at these three factors first and foremost, because they are easily within your control. It is much nicer, in my opinion, to discover that your ability to achieve your goals is within your power than to have it be because of some mysterious medical malady (or an actual one). Your responses indicate that you are understanding the importance of these things. My post is more for the lurkers who are seeing some of the ongoing bunk.11 -
NewMEEE2016 wrote: »ardrasdesign wrote: »You are likely not eating enough. Your body wants to hang on to what you got. I eat 1500 as a base amount. That is the amount to maintain the blood bone and lean tissue in my body. Then I add for my exercise. Sometimes I stop loosing. I only have 15 to 20 lbs to lose. I am at a plateau myself. Don't do it to lose. Do it to have some fun. Set little goals and don't quit. It takes a long time and being consistent. Good Luck. Don't eat carbs. Try a majority of your calories as fat and protein.
I eat 30% HEALTHY carbs- fruits, vegetables, full fat dairy. I eat ZERO refined carbs. There is a difference. I do agree that the OP may not be eating ENOUGH. I highly recommend seeing a nutritionist (my insurance pays 100%, no copay).
If the OP isn't losing weight, it isn't because she's not eating enough. As stated many times in this thread, starvation mode is not a thing.3 -
I haven't read 6 pages worth of thread- but it's only a 2 week stall. Likely if you were losing weight previously that there's nothing wrong with your current eating habits, your body is just catching up. Give it another 2 weeks and I reckon you'll see a weight-loss whoosh. Be patient.2
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To the people still giving advice
1) OP doesn't weigh her food
2) It's only been 2 weeks
She needs to start tracking accurately and be patient. End of story.14 -
Which scale does everyone use to weigh there food0
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nostressma wrote: »Which scale does everyone use to weigh there food
Brand doesn't really matter, and it doesn't have to be an expensive one. I only have a few critieria:- Digital
- Turns on fast
- Tare function (almost every scale has it)
- Can easily set the units to grams (i.e. no buttons on the bottom that have to be used every time it turns on)
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luicaralex wrote: »I am having the same issue as well for some reason I keep eating over my calories. I did this once before and it helped but for some reason its not working as well. It seems like Im starving all the time.
Honestly.eating 1200 cals for me..I feel soo hungry..lol.but thumbs up to those who do.
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Who knows? No one actually knows although we all think we do based on what we have read, been told, etc. ... But chances are good if you are not losing any weight that you are eating more than you think you are and not burning off as much as you think you are.0
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